Leadership for Change & Innovation - Essay Example

Leadership for Change & Innovation of the of the Number Significance of leadership Leadership style and managerial attribute exhibited by leaders or managers plays a crucial role in bringing about change and innovation within an organization. This is largely possible due to the fact that an appropriate leadership style enables managers to enhance the level of engagement of their subordinates (Allen and OBrien 43-58; Cope and Waddell 523-529). Managers, by taking an effective leadership style are able to influence their subordinates to think innovatively and be creative in their own approach. This factor becomes a pivotal enabler of change and innovation. Clear specification of direction and goals is a key determinant of change and innovation. This enables employees to be informed about the organization objectives properly which in turn allows them to align their personal or career oriented objectives with that of the organization objectives (Mackenzie 345-428). By doing so, employees are able to engage thoroughly with the company thus they obtain the flexibility to think creatively thereby paving a way for innovation (e Cunha, Clegg and Rego 450-465; Kotter 18-23) The field of leadership has been researched extensively by academic scholars who have introduced several unique yet effective leadership styles that encourage change and innovation (Miller, Butler and Cosentino 362-368). A considerable proportion of researchers have also researched on the disparities between the leadership styles and their implications on the performance of companies (Natale, Sora and Kavalipurapu 45-52). This has enabled world leaders to analyse their leadership styles and make appropriate modifications according to the situation of their job responsibilities. In this particular researcher, the researcher is conducting a self reflection of the leadership style employed while his/her experience working with an oil company. By doing so the researcher endeavours to highlight the drawbacks of his/her leadership style and at the same time pin point the alternative leadership approaches which could have been adopted under those circumstances. In that way the researcher will be able to articulate a plan of development thereby formulating the necessary steps that can be taken in order to develop his/her leadership style. Discussion In my experience as a site manager of one of the most popular oil companies in the world, I have encountered several situations that required me to go beyond the conventional theories of leadership and adopt rather unconventional styles of leadership. In some of those situations, I emerged victorious and in some of them I was unable to execute my plans effectively in which case it led to minor failures. Currently, I can recount two such incidents where I could have taken an alternative leadership route and the outcomes could have been considerably different than what was achieved. In one of those situations, I, as a site manager, was assigned with the responsibility to train junior engineers in our oil refinery site. I was also supposed to monitor their performance in the meanwhile and upon completion of the training I was required to appoint the best out of the best as junior engineers in our site. Normally I adopt a friendly or team oriented leadership style while I’m working with experienced junior managers where my concern is both on the welfare of the employees as well as on the productivity of the organization (McAdam, Hazlett and Casey 256-273). However, given the fact that I was assigned with the responsibility of training new recruits, I thought of adopting a stricter form of leadership which in turn led me to follow the produce or perish leadership theory, I was only concerned with the productivity shown by the trainees and I showed every minimal or no concern towards their welfare (Zeidan 82-85). The only reason behind adopting such a leadership was to prepare in the harshest of the environment in order to bring the best out of each and every one of them. In order to be able to do so, I expected every one of them to deliver to their optimum potential. This is particularly because it would enable them to deliver every assignment on schedule without any lag of any form. However in doing that I failed to establish a trust or respect based relationship and they started to fear me instead of respecting me. Each and every assignment conducted by them was all out of fear and therefore I also failed to make any room for innovation. Moreover, I believe I also exhibited a transactional leadership style where each and every strategy that I adopted was confined within the limits that were set by the organization (Papalexandris and Galanaki 365-385). Therefore I failed to provide any form of flexibility whatsoever to the trainees whereby I could encourage them to think innovatively. Although I proved to be a visionary leader when it came to handling a group of experienced people but I lacked vision while encouraging the new recruits. As a result of an ineffective leadership policy, there was a sudden increase in employee attrition rate. Out of the 65 new recruits, 47 failed to continue the training and subsequently withdrew from the job responsibility. This was a big letdown for me considering that I had to select 40 new recruits as junior managers. Not only did that deteriorated the operational efficiency of the organization but also hampered my reputation as a trainer of new recruits. Following that incident the company managers refrained from giving me any form of responsibility regarding training new recruits for the next 2 years. Nonetheless, now I realize the alternative approaches which I could have adopted then and avoided such a letdown. The alternative approaches will be discussed later after I address the second incident and highlight the improvisational, dialogical, relational and emotional aspects of my leadership. In another incident I was assigned with the responsibility of heading a team of 12 junior mangers while our company was opening a new oil refinery station in another province. My job responsibility was to handle all the official proceeding that is conducted while a new site is opened and enable the company to make a smooth transition. Given the fact that I was assigned with this responsibility right after my failure with the new recruits as a good gesture shown by managers, I was hell-bent on proving my mettle as a leader for the company the way that I have been proving over the course of my stint with the company. Therefore, I planned to learn from the mistakes that I committed while training the new recruits. I decided to follow the same leadership style that I usually adopt with experienced leaders and that is a team or sound leadership style. I planned to show equal concern for the productivity as well as the welfare of the employees without having any clue that this strategy would also backfire. For the first few days my leadership style proved to be considerably effective as each and every assignment were being duly handed over to me on time. Thereafter when the proceeding became complicated, the managers started defaulting on their responsibilities. All of a sudden schedules were not being met and the transition was becoming tougher. This is time where I had to lead as an example by becoming a bit strict in my approach. However my previous experience compelled me to refrain from adopting such a strict approach. I thought of persisting with the current situation with the expectation that eventually everyone would start working with the same efficacy that they working with during the initiation phase. This was a wrong decision on my part and my decision of persisting in the current manner. Suddenly we were lagging in all departments which in turn led the company to experience cost as well as time inefficiency. I failed to establish a robust line of communication between myself and other team members. There was virtually no collaboration and coordination between the team members and this is what compelled the managers to send a new team for making amends of this debacle. One of the key determinants of a successful leader is his/her decision making capability as well as his adaptability to the situation (Saks 600-619). It also depends on the swiftness with which a leader can switch from being a transactional leader to being a transformational leader (Sawyer 149-161). It also depends with the effectiveness with which the leader can exhibit a team or sound style of leadership as well as adopt an authoritative approach when required (Shamir, House and Arthur 577-594). I failed in all these departments and this failure can be attributed to the inadequacies present in all dimensions of my leadership. Improvisational dimension As far as this dimension of my leadership is concerned, I believed I failed in a number of areas. Considering both the incidents that have been explained, I understood that I was unable to clarify the goals and also proved to be highly inefficient in terms of providing flexible plans to my subordinates, be it the new recruits or the experienced junior managers. I was not able to improvise properly according to the situation and therefore was unable to allow my subordinates to use their talents properly and be goal focuses which in turn would have enabled them to grab opportunities available at the moment. These are traits that are needed to be developed by an improvisational leader. Relational dimension Relational leadership is a style that requires a leader to establish a relationship that is based on knowledge, trust and respect (Walumbwa, et al. 235-256). As far as this dimension of my leadership is concerned, I failed to establish a learning environment that would have enabled my subordinates to attain an all round development. I was unable to encourage my trainees as well as the junior managers to think innovatively and come up with effieinct plans that would have enabled the company to attain higher operational efficiency as well as become a pioneer of innovation in the field of oil engineering and technology. Dialogical dimension In the new knowledge based globalized world, the ability to form a dialogue is one of the most pivotal traits that makes a leader successful. Having such a capability becomes a source of competitive advantage for the company (Vera and Crossan 727-749). Considering this dimension of my leadership, I believe I failed in engaging my group members thoroughly and was also unable to enhance their engagement levels for their work as well as the company as a whole. In one case I followed an over-strict method and forced my subordinates to perform beyond their limits which in turn actually led me to over exploit their capability and in another case my leadership style was so lenient that I failed to authorize the responsibilities appropriately. Either way my failure to form an effective dialogue with my subordinates proved to be a letdown for me as a leader. Appropriate leadership strategy Having analysed the dimensions of my leadership I realized that I should have maintained a proper equilibrium between a team or friendly style of leadership and an authoritarian leadership in minor occasions. I should also have established a robust line of communication between myself and my subordinates which would have made it convenient for me to delegate responsibilities appropriately as well as would have allowed the employees to communicate their concerns and issues to me directly. Had that been done, I would have been able to establish a manager-employee relationship based on trust and respect. In that way I would have been able to enhance the level of their engagement both towards their job responsibilities as well as towards the organization as a whole. I should also have adopted a transformational leadership style instead of a transactional leadership style as that would have allowed me to offer more flexibility to the subordinates. This is primarily because transformational leaders are able to encourage employees to think creatively thereby fostering innovation. This in turn allows them to bring about change within an organization. Leadership development plan Goal Leadership development activities Timeline learn about the most appropriate leadership style Identify role models within the organization and establish a communication with them. This month learn about the leadership approaches to be taken in various circumstances Join leadership training sessions provided by the company Next month enhance my ability to lead a team Schedule group meetings frequently and execute dummy/virtual assignments October - November increase diversity awareness among all team members and other staff Participate in ongoing diversity awareness program; invite external facilitators November-December Develop more confidence as a leader Grab any possible opportunities to train new recruits or lead a group into a new assignment December onwards Works cited Allen, Tammy D. and Kimberly E. OBrien. "Formal mentoring programs and organizational attraction." Human Resource Development Quarterly 17.1 (2006): 43-58. Print. 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