Analysis and Review of Leadership Theories - Essay Example

?Part 2 Investigate the Operationalisation of Management and Leadership Development into Practice, Based on the Key Ideas Identified in Part After studying the conceptual ideas and theories based around the study of contemporary management and leadership development (MLD), a case study will be discussed to study how managers today base their management and leadership styles around some of these theories in practice. Research (David Giber, Linkage Inc, 2009) has proved that if we tie leadership development to business strategy and need of the business it results in excellent organizational growth. The pressure to integrate leadership development activities and initiatives in the overall strategic objective of the business is the most important and overarching trend in recent history. 9 Case Study Rolls Royce is a technology leader which employees 36,000 people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities operating in 50 countries. The company has long history of employee development but currently they are reexamining their development strategy. In 2005 a review of talent management which was up till now being managed locally within business units was done and new concept of talent management at global scale was introduced (Jane Yarnall, 2008). Rolls Royce realized the importance of talent management and that it should not be a standalone approach. Leaders can only emerge by identifying the potential talent at the grass root level and then nurtured and developed according to the organizational needs. The efforts which were previously been done at the regional level needs to be coordinated and aligned with each other and with organizational objectives to maximize its effectiveness and broadening its horizon. After reviewing their current policy and assessing its strengths and weaknesses they charted out a number of steps for their global talent management program. A new stream of graduates was hired as trainee managers or the leadership graduates, developing a pool for future leadership. And as this pool of candidate grew in experience and maturity, succession planning was successful. This program had a clear and predefined set of roles and expectations from the line managers, while at the same time, there was development of a human resource database, keeping in mind the global focus. Career development and progression plans were developed and communicated objectively to the employees, for assuring and ensuring no conflicts by being absolutely objective, alongside coaching and mentoring. This, in turn, assisted the business to focus on leadership development with a strategic eye for the future requirements10(Jane Yarnall, 2008). The above charted out plans further strengthens the view that Rolls Royce also believed in the theory that leaders are more made than born as suggested by Daft and a no of other writers on the theory of leadership development. Rolls Royce realizes the importance of the quality of human capital and strongly believes that the success of the company depends on how the management programs for all the employees have been established within the company. Before launching this global talent management program Rolls Royce actually conducted a self analysis survey to identify the weaknesses of the old development program. In this self analysis program they asked themselves the following questions. Where do they stand today? How healthy is their existing succession plan? A survey about internal and global demographics What metrics should they use? What kind of leadership is required for the future? An analysis of the need of future graduates Identification of real indicators of high potential What additional development programs are required An analysis of competitors leadership development program If we take a closer look at these questions then it reveals that it was actually a journey for the company through the stages of leadership development as suggested by Daft. Once it was decided at Rolls Royce that born leaders are a rare commodity and cannot be found easily, Since there is no denial for the importance of leadership in driving the company towards the achievement of strategic, the company started its search for individuals with the potential for leadership at entry level so that they can be groomed, nurtured and developed to be transformed into leaders who can drive the company to success through all turbulent times (Jane Yarnall, 2008). This theory is revealed in the first step of talent management program developed by Rolls Royce i.e. the selection of a pool of new graduates known as leadership graduates. It was and is essential for the business to ensure that all these candidates had the potential of leadership that needed to some development, which would be provided by the business through training and right exposure. The application of the said phenomenon clearly illustrates that the leadership instincts can always be installed in human beings however the presence of the roots is critical. The opponents of this theory as suggested by 11(Robert J Allio, 2005) believe that the leadership training programs are not effective at all. He feels that leadership cannot be taught it is something which is natural and innate in a person. He feels that leadership programs only test an individual and strengthen their self esteem but will not instill any skill in them. He is a strong believer of the futility of the training programs and states that there is not much evidence available to endorse the importance or effectiveness of any training program or course in producing or developing leaders. In the real world, this does not seem a very valid argument. The success of our company Rolls Royce depicts a different story. It also strengthens views proposed by Kakabadse that any leader who does not believe in continuous development and adaptation cannot be a leader in the long run. Rolls Royce despite its success was looking for continuous improvement and was looking to coordinate its leadership development activities at the global level in the wake of globalization (Jane Yarnall, 2008). This search for continuous improvement and adaptability to the changing environment paid off in terms of its success in achieving its strategic global objectives. The leadership theory followed by Rolls Royce is a combination of transactional and transformational leadership. Rolls Royce has a well defined succession planning which shows its commitment towards continued leadership development (Jane Yarnall, 2008). It has a well defined career path for each employee which is linked with employee’s performance. It acts as a form of reward, a give and take policy, as proposed by Karl Kuhnert and Phillip Lewis in their theory of transactional leadership. This theory is based on contingent reward and management by exception. At rolls Royce good performance and hard work is appreciated through career development because employee performance and training and development activities are interlinked (Jane Yarnall, 2008). Transformational theory focuses on achieving goals by more than just communication. The same philosophy is followed at Rolls Royce where approach towards leadership is functional. It believes that leaders will develop their skills inspired by other individuals. It involves charisma, vision, sense of mission, inspiration, high expectations, intellectual stimulations which promote intelligence. Rolls Royce ensures it by giving personal attention, coaching and individual consideration through its mentoring program. A successful transformational leader possesses self confidence, dynamic personality, strong conviction and talent of motivating others. This type of leadership is value based; leaders lead by example and inspire others. Rolls Royce ensures that each new employee works under the tutelage of a mentor (David Giber, 2009). There is enough study available which proves the significance and contribution of mentoring in developing leaders. Perception of success in the monitoring programs helps a lot in developing leaders that can successfully implement the strategic organizational planning. Through mentoring programs an employee gets the much needed direction and continuous feedback which is very important for the purpose and direction 12(Eli Reiter, 2008) of mentoring process. It is very crucial for leadership development that management shows commitment to employee’s growth which is ensured at rolls Royce through a well charted talent management program. It very comprehensively covers all aspects of leadership development through selection of the right candidates who have leadership potential, a well defined succession policy, training and development activities, a well defined career path and mentoring program. A good mentoring program not only helps in succession planning but also plays an important role in talent management and leadership development (David Giber, 2009). The approach that Rolls Royce has adopted for leadership development is influenced by what 13(Pearce et al 2003) identified as “super leaders”. Super leaders are those individuals who inspire followers to identify their own leadership capacity and set targets for themselves. Rolls Royce gives its employees the opportunity of selecting their own career path. This theory is called protean career theory. It inculcates optimism in employees and enables leadership qualities to flourish. This, in turn, enforces the fact that leadership instincts can be developed in individuals. DeGeyter (2007) agrees with the way that Rolls Royce is implementing its leadership development program. He argues that usually organizations do not fully understand and realize the importance of finding, training and developing leaders in their organizations. He argues that organizations refrain from such development programs because they are afraid once an employee is transformed into a leader the organization will lose him/ her along with all the investment they have made in the employee. It is a valid fear in most of the cases 14(Degeyter, 2007, Accessed 25.4.2011). This is a kind of negative reinforcement but truly supports the argument – the argument clearly suggests that training and development leads to creation of leaders in an organization. Rolls Royce is not afraid of taking this risk of making investment in its employees and developing them into leaders. From the strategic point of view it will benefit the organization in the long run in terms of satisfied employees, valuable leaders and a good image of the company which helps in attracting more talent (Jane Yarnall, 2008). According to Allio (2005), organizations these days very commonly ignore the leadership development responsibility of the organizations and employees are left to learn from their own mistakes through trial and error method. It shows that Rolls Royce is not following the norm and it has benefitted not only the organizations but all its employees in the sense that the organization has not left its employees to learn from mistakes but has designed the leadership development programs for appropriate career progression of the employees. There will always be differing opinions about the importance and utility of leadership development programs but the success of Rolls Royce has strengthened our view point that leaders are more made than born and organizations should seek to nurture and develop the potential of leadership in their employees for their strategic success (Jane Yarnall, 2008). Leadership Development Programs in Other Business Units Today, every business wants to survive and be competent with a long term strategic goal for outperforming the competition. For the same cause, the importance of human resource management enhances i.e. in particular for developing future leaders that can succeed the current leadership when it expires; it is critical to have the right mindset ready to take over as the seniors step down. In the same context, organizations such as Toyota and Honda have developed Management Trainee and Management Associate programs that are responsible for hiring MBAs from business schools who have the slightest symptoms of being a good future leader. Thereon, training and development sessions are provided and the best are given opportunities to move on with a predefined career path that leads to the top – that is succession planning and future leadership development (David Giber, 2009). Such and similar tactics applied by various businesses across the arena today signify the importance of leadership and leadership planning in particular. Conclusion A critical analysis of these leadership theories revealed that leaders are more made than born. With little leader potential, nurturing and development one can blossom into a successful leader. Leadership theories such as transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and so on are clear illustrations about how leadership can be instinct amongst individuals. There is sufficient evidence from companies and organizations to suggest that the training programs and leadership development activities carried out are fairly successful in improving leadership skills. I think we can conclude that successful leadership is a combination of natural traits and acquired talent. Organizations should actively seek for individuals with leadership potential and develop them through a well defined development strategy into leaders, instead of waiting for the born leaders, for the strategic success of the organization. It is a widely known fact that one competitive advantage that cannot be replicated is human resources, and the same is responsible for creating leaders and managers in an organization or business. The HR should, therefore, develop training and development sessions, seminars and other platforms that could allow leadership to blossom throughout the organization in hope that leadership roots turn into solid trees, allowing organization to grow immensely rather than being dependent on the top notch individuals – succession planning is critical. Bibliography 9(David Giber, Linkage Inc, 2009, Linkage Inc’s best practices in leadership development handbook, New York, Wiley Publications) 10(Jane Yarnall, 2008, Strategic Career Management: Developing your talent, Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann) 11(Robert J Allio (2005), The Seven Faces of Leadership, New York Tata-McGraw Hill) 12(Eli Reiter, 2008, The development of a leadership mentoring system to enhance the advancement of proteges. USA, UMI) 13(Pearce, T. (2003) Leading Out Loud, USA, Jossey-Bass) 14(DeGeyter, S (2007), Four Simple Steps to Developing Leaders In Your Organization, EzineArticles.com, http://ezinearticles.com/?Four-Simple-Steps-to-Developing-Leaders-In-Your-Organization&id=612923, [Accessed 25th march 2011] Read More