An Educational Leadership Framework - Term Paper Example

? Leadership, Team Building, and Communication al Affiliation The document entails a comprehensive discussion of organizational issues, behaviors, and leadership. First, it addresses work stress, its causes grouped into work related, social, and organizational work contexts, its acute responses and later, consequences on individuals and organizations as well as preventative measures taken to resolve them. It also analyzes the elements of a team and a work group based on behavior, development, decision making, communication, accountability, and leadership. The process of communication in an organization, which involves the sender, receiver, and communication channel through traditional methods and modern technologies is expounded. It distinguishes the causes of group conflicts in organizations from structural and personal factors, its broad consequences on individuals’ groups and entire organizations that are either functional or dysfunctional, and gives strategies for conflict resolution in the organization. Finally, the paper evaluates the traditional (trait, contemporary and behavior) approach, contemporary (organizational, educational, transformational and strategic leadership) approach, and emerging approaches to leadership stating how they impact on the organizational performance. Keywords: Organization, Group, Team, Conflicts, Traditional and Contemporary Approach, Communication, Sender, Receiver, Technology, Stress, Environment Workplace Stress Stress is a major challenge for individuals and organizations performance, due to its effect that may cause negative reactions if left unattended. It exists to interfere with performance, mounting pressure or various demands on individuals that they end up giving negative reactions, when their capability to cope with the situation is exceeded by the impact of the cause. The causes can be of different factors and situations grouped into those related to work content (e.g. Long working durations and work overload), social context of work (relations and interactions in handling responsibilities) and organizational context of the work, dealing with the effectiveness of organizational changes and structure in performance and working environment (Michie, 2002). Generally, simple activities and situations, like an organization that is not concerned with the working conditions of employees could cause stresses that may pose a health hazard. Assigning an individual worker various tasks to be completed within an impractical duration, so as to minimize costs or workplace bullying on employees can result into stress. There are immediate varying responses to exposure to stress that influence the individual’s behavior based on their psychological effect, mood, feelings, and psychical conduct. For example, stress resulting from bullying in the work environment can make some workers to retaliate in aggression, lose focus due to humiliation, become irritated, or even unmotivated. Workloads can make employees suffer from fatigue or even be uneasy, especially when deadlines are closer. In critical cases, depression and frequent headaches do occur when stress is severe. Stress impacts on employees’ physical and psychological capability, ending up lowering performance in the organization as a result of less productivity, competitiveness, creativity, and efficiency (“The Impact,” 2013). Issues causing poor concentration may lead to accidents in the organization, which may cost the management to cater for employees’ health, hire new staff, or even repair unplanned damages in organizations. Individuals and organizations need to make efforts to prevent and manage stress, as a way of ensuring safety and health in workplaces. Some approaches that can support such activities in the organization include; facilitating conducive working environment, recreational activities for employees, and clear definition of roles and channels of communication, to prevent factors causing stress like repetitive strain injuries and conflicts in responsibilities. Individuals need to learn how to cope with stress if it occurs, or be able to identify stress causing factors, so as to be able to avoid them in the future (Michie, 2002). At a personal level, seeking medical assistance, therapies, counseling, exercising punctuality, and time management, are effective stress management strategies. Communication Process in Organizations Every organization whether small or large uses specific means and methods to communicate information to relevant persons. In this modern age, large organizations that deal with numerous departments and large groups of employees distributed across different geographical regions, have to employ advanced electronic techniques to relay information to different destinations. However, though small organizations still rely more on traditional methods of communication, some of their information could be relayed through electronic means, especially if it involves a lot of confidence. Traditional methods include face to face, written, and over telephone communication, while electronic techniques in the modern technology use internet and online communication to facilitate written and audiovisual communication, such as in cell phone texting, online chats, and teleconferencing (Yasko-Mangum and C.I.C, 2007 ). Communication has an origin and a destination, which is enabled by certain medium. It could move vertically or horizontally in organizations. The process is all the same while using different methods, since there has to be a message sender and a receiver; however, variation occurs in the type of medium, which in traditional methods, can be in paper form when written/ newsletter/memos etc., or the human voice in the case of face to face communication. The online or internet communication is rather complicated because of signal transition containing the encoded message electronically, that has to be decoded on the receivers end. In the communication process, the exchange of information takes the look form, where the sender comes up with the message, and encodes it (when written, in a language that the receiver can understand, or encoded by electronic means as signals that can be transmitted and decoded to relay the meaning intended by the sender on the other end). The message moves via communication channels, e.g. in a person’s voice, video, electronic device, and in written medium, to the receiver who can in certain cases decode the message, read, get the meaning, and respond through the same process (“Chapter 13,” n.d.). The modern technology means have enabled communication to occur efficiently, effectively, and timely. Communicating parties enjoy instant exchange of information regardless of the physical barriers, as long as they have access to the required technology and internet services. They can not only hear each other as in traditional telephoning, but can have both audio and visual transmission, which deliver more and quality information. Groups and Work Team Organizing employees into work groups and teams are effective ways accomplishing tasks, engaging, and increasing performance in any organization. Often, employees may find themselves working in any one of them, but technically, would belong to several of each at any one time without their conscience. A team is more of, and involves higher level of engagement than a group, which is required to accomplish its purpose. For a team, it entails a small number of people (a group), who have complimentary skills and work in commitment to a common purpose, objectives, and approaches, which they hold themselves mutually accountable for, while a group contains individuals who come together, interact, and are interdependent to accomplish a specific objective (Zayed and Kamel, 2005). Groups are assigned leaders by the management, while the team members practice a shared leadership with the leader expected to assume the roles ranging from developing schedules, assigning, and directing activities. Performance is measured based on individual work of each member in a group, meaning one may tend to outplay others to impress their leaders. Contrary, team performance depends on both individual and collective contributions, because it is measured collectively (Zayed and Kamel, 2005). What the team members did as individuals and the effort applied together, either by two or more of them, benefited the entire team to achieve their purpose. Hence the creation of impression does not count because all members take the credit of good work. The teams exercise open communication which allows free exchange of information among the members, such that individuals and team performance may avoid being interrupted by lack of information that can be offered by team members. The team members utter their differences and solve existing problems through this means, allowing full participation and coordination of differences. This erases the probability of hidden agendas and promotes mutual respect, trust, encourage honest feedbacks to the team, and decision making by consensus (“Team building,” n.d.). For the group participation, it is limited and works to accomplish a given order from their assigned leaders, and objectives that match those of the organization, hence limiting their influence in decision making. Unlike groups, teams develop their own purpose or mission in an assigned project, which they commit to and work hard to accomplish. There are also more chances of personal development in skills and expertise for teams than groups, due to the structure of open communication, established trust and interdependencies and collective performance of tasks. While some group members may retain some information to outdo others, engagement of team members promotes creativity, diverse learning, and exposure to different tasks through collective efforts, which generally enables team development. Conflicts in Organization Initially, conflicts were viewed as a threat to the performance in organizations, but in the modern world, they could lead to an opportunity for success and the preconceived harm of ignored. They are a common feature in the growth and operations of any organization. The causes are broadly categorized into structural factors that are related to organization’s nature and its work organization (include conflicts resulting from specialized jobs, interdependencies in work, status inconsistencies, differing goals and authority relationship), and personal factors that develop due to individual differences (entail varying personalities, beliefs, ethics, cultures, perceptions and communication barriers ) (Nelson and Quick, 2008). Take an example in cases where there are power differentials, the superior authority or bosses assume control over the employees or inferior group. Conflict could occur when the employees reject authority that dominates them, especially where there is a lack of confidence in their performance. The effect can either be functional or negative for the damage it may cause. As positive consequences that enhance organizational performance in future, it enables the organization to be aware of the occurrence such a problem, lead to organizations developing proper communication structures, and enable dialogues to facilitate proper exchange of information and knowledge. According to Nelson and Quick, it may result to the creation of new ideas and encourage creativity, promote a firm’s preparedness and vitality to handle such problems, and motivate change (2013). On the other hand, as groups try to defend themselves in whichever form, they engage in harmful behaviors and actions. The conflicts can cause an abusive environment for job performance, lead to the politicizing of issues without necessity, and spend time in unproductive actions that limit the organizations’ market competitiveness. It leads to a waste of resources, interferes with group cohesion, can threaten participants psychological well being, cause abuses, hostility, aggression and retaliation, and divert concentration and energy away from productive work (Nelson and Quick, 2013). These negative effects can however be prevented by proper management of crisis. Such resolution strategies involve reducing groups’ interdependence, efficiency, improved distribution of resources among groups and departments, development of super ordinate goals instead of differing groups’ goals, facilitate exchange of roles for conflicting groups’ members periodically, as well as forming negotiation and resorting to courts among others. Some of these ways of resolving conflicts may be expensive (e.g. Using the courts), and each organization has to best design and deploy a strategy to handle emerging conflicts. Leadership Theories Traditional leadership theories consist of the trait, behavior and contingency approaches that affect organizational performance once applied. Although they are very narrow and considered simple, they laid the foundation for later developing theories in the contemporary world. The trait approach elaborates on the requirement and personality traits of a leader and what is expected of him or her (Meacham, 2007). There are crucial characteristic associated with leadership that makes them responsible, effective, confident, and able to handle work for quality and effective performance. Contingency theory argues that problems to be solved vary and applying the same procedure as in other problems would not be effective as a solution; hence a specific leadership style may suitable and effective in a particular situation and not others. Organizations have used the approach to exercise particular designed leadership for an existing situation that needs it. The behavioral approach focuses on the task and employee orientation to place concern on both the workers and the management of the work, such that performance would be enhanced when quality leadership worked in all situations. Contemporary leadership theories recognize the complexities of work and people management in different environments and situations, and make an effort to go beyond their self interest to motivate and create a vision to boost performances in organizations. They entail transformational leadership that prepares followers for future leadership by giving them freedom effective for their behavior control, motivation, interaction, and communication, which bring positive change to organizations performance, strategic leadership that relates external environment with organization purpose to determine opportunities and threats of organization production, educative leadership, which enable leaders knowledge and facilitate individual and organization cultures, and organizational leadership that is change oriented, supports shared leadership and culture proficiency to accomplish organizational tasks collectively and effectively (Tng, n.d. ). The emerging leadership theories are being developed to reflect the dynamic environment in which the organizations or firms operate in. According to Fairholm, it places emphasis on innovation, simple structures, quality, and customer concern that all enhance organizational productivity and competitiveness (2003). Some tend to be more embedded on visions, chaos, and value leadership. Reference List Chapter 13 Communication Processes. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.swlearning.com/management/champoux/powerpoint/ch13.ppt Fairholm, G. W. (2003). The Techniques of Inner Leadership: Making Inner Leadership Work. Westport, CT: Greenwood publishing Group. Meacham, M. A. (2007). Life Stories of Authentic Leaders in Higher Education Administration. Michigan: ProQuest Information and Learning Company. Michie, S. (2002). Causes and Management of Stress at Work. Retrieved from http://oem.bmj.com/content/59/1/67.long Nelson, D., and Quick, J. C. (2008). Understanding Organization Behaviors. Mason, OH: South Western Cengage Learning Nelson, D., and Quick, J. C. (2013). Organizational Behavior: Science, the Real World, and You. 8th ed. Mason, OH: South Western Cengage Learning. Team building and Empowerment. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.angelfire.com/mo3/acotrel/labourman/Teambuilding.htm The Impact of Stress on Employees. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alw-vat/why-pourquoi/stress-eng.php Tng, C. S. (n.d.). An Educational Leadership Framework Based on Traditional and Contemporary Leadership Theories. Retrieved from http://www.g-casa.com/PDF/malaysia/TNG.pdf Yasko-Mangum, Jamie L., and C.I.C. (2007). Look, Speak, & Behave for Men: Expert Advice on Image, Etiquette, and Effective Communication for Professionals. New York: SkyHorse Publishing. Inc Zayed A. M., and Kame, M.M. (2005). Teams and Work Groups. Cairo: CAPSCU     Read More