Leadership, Mentoring and Coaching - Assignment Example

Leadership, Mentoring and Coaching By + CONTENTS Executive Summary 3 2. Overview of Interviews 4 3. Assumptions 5 4. Critical Questions and Analysis 6 4a. What does a leader need in order to practice effective leadership? 6 4b. What is the role of morals and values in leadership? 8 4c. What role does leadership play in corporate accountability? 10 5. Conclusion 12 6. List of References 14 7. Appendix 15 i. Interview Questions 15 1. Executive Summary In every institution, leadership, mentoring and coaching are major determinants of performance. Regardless of the size or nature of business that an institution may be involved in, the contribution that leadership, mentoring and coaching make cannot be underestimated. The importance of leadership has led to numerous efforts to undertake research on leadership, mentoring and coaching, with the aim of instilling the different theories that promise improved performance in different institutions. Many organizations participate in training of their employees on leadership, mentoring and coaching. The desired outcome of this training is improved performance, dedication and ethics in interactions between colleagues at work and between workers and the business’s customers and suppliers (Winkler, 2010, 78). In order for an organization to perform optimally, it has to make time in its schedule for seminars and training sessions for all members of staff regardless of the professional role they play in the company. Leaders in all companies are tasked with many responsibilities that vary in nature. One among the common set of skills that leaders have to develop is management skills. A leader with good management skills will inculcate motivation and dedication among his subordinates to ensure that they perform their tasks according to the goals, mission and vision of the organization (Ehrhart, 2012, 43). Possessing good management skills contributes to the boosting of morale at the workers, since employees feel obligated to work in cooperation with their colleagues to achieve the desired end for the company. Employees feel motivated to work as per the instructions of the leaders, since they enjoy the support of the leadership at the organization. This assignment sought to investigate the tenets of effective leadership, aside from the role that mentorship and coaching play in the success of an institution. In addition to that, the authors of this paper sought to find a connection between moral responsibilities of leaders and people that answer to them (Hart, 2009, 56), together with the responsibilities that a company owes to their customers and non-customers in the society. Interviews undertaken with 5 individuals in leadership positions provided insight into how leaders in companies view their relationships with their subordinates and how they feel they can improve these relationships to ensure that the company performs well and remains profitable. 2. Overview of Interviews All the members of the group participated actively in the drafting of questions for the interviews. The questions asked to the interviewees are included in the Appendix section of this paper. The questions were settled upon after the group held sittings to deliberate on the questions that were relevant for this research. The group members decided to pose qualitative questions because they would provide answers based on the honest opinions and beliefs of the interviewees. The number of interviewees who took part in the interviews was five. This number was adequate in the provision of an overview of what individuals in leadership positions thought and believed about different subtopics on leadership, mentoring, coaching, moral character and ethics and corporate social responsibility. The experience that every individual had in leadership was of importance during the selection of the people to participate in the interviews. Further, the group saw an advantage in interviewing people working in different industries so that the different leadership experiences in the different industries, if any existed, would be included in the research. All the interviews were taken in person. The interviews sought to satisfy the following objectives: To capture and document the experience and background of each of the interviewed people To explore each of the interviewees’ opinion on leadership and their understanding of the role that they play in their respective organizations To understand each of the interviewees’ opinion on what role a business plays in the society with regard to social responsibility To reveal the interviewees’ views on ethical practices and moral accountability within the context of their businesses, aside from understanding the effect of ethics and moral responsibility on their work The results of the interviews revealed different opinions on the part of the participants. However, most of the beliefs they held concerning the above objectives had a similar bearing. This compilation provides an analysis into these divergent and convergent opinions, with reference to the theories of Leadership, Mentoring and Coaching. 3. Assumptions In light of the results from the interviews and in the analysis and understanding of the topic under study, the following assumptions held: The number of interviews conducted is 5. Therefore, the results were derived from the responses of the participants as offered. The respondents gave their answers on the selected areas of interest subject to their individual experiences and perspectives, which formed the basis for making deductions. Each of the interviews were conducted by different members of the group. Therefore, in recognition of the fact that the methods of interviewing and the recording of responses could be different, each of the members of the group undertaking the interviews used a similar set of questions as listed on the Appendix. The group also recognized the possibility of the existence of bias in the questions posed to the interviewees. Therefore, the group decided to avoid this bias by constructing questions that would offer all interviewees a level ground before they answered the questions during the interviews. The group members also sought to avoid influence from the lessons learnt in the course of studying this unit by making more use of our own judgments. Later, the group members would compare the outcome with the information gained from lectures and research on Leadership, Mentoring and Coaching. 4. Critical Questions and Analysis The group members posed the following critical questions and based the analysis on the theories that came up as dominant: 4a. What does a leader need in order to practice effective leadership? The responses from the interviewing process provided numerous answers on the question on what a leader needs in order to provide effective leadership. Each of the interviewees shared their personal opinion which form the basis of this analysis. The first predominant response was that for a leader to offer effective leadership they have to have the ability to see into the future. Seeing into the future entails analyzing the prevailing situation and adjusting the activities and operations of the organization to fit into the future (Winkler, 2010, 79). The theory of the Great Man posits that a leader will see a situation arise before the people who serve under him do. The power of foresight is a unique one, which many individuals do not possess. A leader may see into the future with regard to the internal affairs of their organization (Ehrhart, 2012, 48). This may involve instances where the leader may see a situation where the organization needs to change some of its activities to perform better in the future. It is imperative to note that a company has to review its business practices every other time to ensure that the delivery remains at optimum. In some cases where an organization has remained rigid in its operations and resisted change, the level of performance reduced (Pinnington, 2011, 358). One of the factors that a leader may see is the dip in business as a result of lack of conformity to technology. We make an example of an interviewee who works in the communication industry. The communication industry is one of the fastest evolving industries. With companies in the industry investing heavily in research and innovation, the world has experienced considerable changes in the industry as was not previously expected. Over time, many companies have entered the communications industry either as manufacturers or as service providers. Many companies have, however, been rendered obsolete and have therefore left the industry because they failed to improve their operations by adopting new technology in production and service provision. Investment in the industry involves huge amounts of money and time, where every company spends billions of dollars annually on research and innovation. The main aim of such huge investments is to be better than other companies in the industry and win more customers. These efforts are mostly supported by research into more advanced technology (Hart, 2009, 59). Companies in the communication industry strive to come up with technology of the future. This is after assessing the needs of the customers and the emerging trends in terms of technology used during manufacturing and development of services. In that regard, a leader has to keep researching on better ways of undertaking operations and improving quality within their organizations so that the company can only undertake activities that are of relevance to the company (Pinnington, 2011, 335). Further, a leader can observe trends in the industry and change the way their company operates (Dion, 2012, 53). When a leader notes a shift in the way the industry is operating, their main desire would be that the company that they work for remains relevant. This is done by conforming to the industry trends. This way, a company can acquire a share of the market and compete adequately with other companies in the same industry. The result of this conformity would be that the company would have constant upgrades in its planning and implementation of its projects. In this case, the leader will have used his power of foresight to improve the business processes at the establishment (Riddle, 2008, 236). Another opinion given by the interviewees is clarity and straightforwardness in a leader’s interactions with other people both within and outside the business. In this scenario, moral responsibility becomes relevant. In business, leaders are expected to uphold the highest levels of integrity and ethics (Schyns & Meindl, 2005, 60). With regard to the employees, a leader has to point out weaknesses and offer support and inspiration to employees to encourage them to perform better in their jobs (Pinnington, 2011, 342). Effective leadership prevails upon leaders to instigate the formulation of strategies and aligning of staff and other stakeholders towards the achievements of the company’s goals. This is important in the sense that employees will get clear instructions on what is expected of them and perform with the belief that they can be better at whatever role they play within the organization. 4b. What is the role of morals and values in leadership? Ethics in business looks into ethical values in a society and the moral conscience of an individual (Williams, 2005, 111). The relationship between ethical values and moral conscience applies to all spheres of a business, especially the conduct of employees. A leader, just like any other employee in an organization, is assumed to be in charge of the actions that they make in certain situations, since they can control themselves. A person’s ethical values may contribute to an ethical decision taken by an organization (Passmore, 2010, 86). It is imperative that decisions made in an organization be in relation with leadership values in ethics. This strategy would help the organization to make empirical decisions on the most suitable solutions to an ethical problem. A leader should inculcate the culture of ethics and moral responsibility in their followers in their interactions with customers (Winkler, 2010, 92). One of our respondents had 30 years of experience in various leadership positions. He shared that one of the most valuable lessons on effective leadership is gaining the trust of the customer through ethical practices (Riddle, 2008, 232). Ethical practices include being honest to customers with regard to quality and quantities, so that the customer receives value for money. This honesty contributes to customer loyalty, which is good for any business. The Trait Theory of leadership posits that people have certain qualities that make them perform well in their roles as leaders (Williams, 2005, 137). Ethics form part of the qualities that can make one an effective leader (Schyns & Meindl, 2005, 51). All interviewers offered convergent responses on the matter of ethics, terming it essential in setting the tone of any business. Further, the responses received agreed that a leader should encourage ethical practices within their organization so that they provide a foundation for the derivation of the right equitable and social outcomes for all people involved with the business. This has the wider meaning that all stakeholders in an organization need to be involved in ethical practices as a culture to avoid failure in achieving sustained development (Hart, 2009, 78). Our interviewees shared that in some instances, they had to make rational decisions as stipulated in the policies of their organizations against their own moral values. Some of our respondents confirmed having dealt with ethical dilemmas in the line of duty. One shares a scenario where the business that they were running had to shut down as a result of it no longer being viable. For a business to have to shut down for viability reasons, the management must have made some poor decisions. These poor decisions lead to other employees who are lower in the pecking order to suffer. In this scenario, for instance, our respondent shared his disappointment with having to put the company’s employees out of work when the shutdown was not their fault. Some ethical dilemmas arise because of company policies conflicting with personal beliefs of leaders within the organization (Dion, 2012, 67). For instance, with the advent of technology, many companies have had to relieve some employees of their duties to allow for adoption of technology into their system. Such a scenario poses a serious dilemma, considering the fact that some of these employees may possess skills, yet they may have to be rendered jobless while the company cannot risk being behind the competition in terms of production methods and improved systems. Failure to adjust its technology may lead to increased operational costs, as the company would be paying salaries to employees who are not actively involved in work. For a leader to manage through these dilemmas, he or she needs to practice ethical leadership (Goethals, Sorenson & Burns, 2004, 49). In making decisions that may rest with a section of the employees as unpopular, a leader needs to do the right thing an consider the manner in which he would communicate the decisions to the affected subordinates. These decisions and how they are communicated should achieve cohesion among the employees, thus promoting a suitable environment for work, according to Ehrhart (2012). Authentic leadership can be applied to make employees to develop loyalty, responsibility and honesty in their work (Williams, 2005, 139). On the other hand, servant leadership can help employees in an organization to develop creativity and autonomy at work. Creativity and autonomy are contributors to effectiveness at work. In the event that ethical dilemmas arise at work, leaders should provide a peaceful environment by first entrenching the importance of unity at the workplace and then involving other employees in the making of decisions that would peacefully solve the issue. 4c. What role does leadership play in corporate accountability? The results of our interviews indicate that the opinion held by all the leaders leaned towards the understanding that corporate responsibility involved ensuring profitability for the stakeholders associated with a company (Schyns & Meindl, 2005, 44). Stakeholders include the shareholders, who stand to benefit from growth of the business and profits, the leaders in various levels of management and the other employees. Other stakeholders include suppliers and other partners involved with the business. Profit maximization was revealed as very important, since it delivers the outcome that every stakeholder desires. The common opinion on profit maximization was that it offered assurance of long term sustainability, ensuring that the business could survive. The main aim of starting and running a business is to make profits. Therefore, the management and employees have the obligation to ensure that the business stays profitable (Riddle, 2008, 239). In addition to that, all the individuals who took part in the interview responded that they believed that social responsibility was a shared responsibility between the government, the business and the non-profit organizations. The roles played by all three institutions differ, although they may lead to the same outcome (Passmore, 2010, 107). To begin with, the business may engage in social responsibility to endear itself to customers through social interactions. This strategy may have positive results for the business, since the business may gain the trust of the public. Further, the business may be involved in making the society a better place so that they maintain the business environment that it may be enjoying. A company may peg its long-term survival on its ability to satisfy social values and expectations (Goethals, Sorenson & Burns, 2004). For example, a company may sponsor the erection of streetlights in an area to improve security not just for the people around the location of the business, but also to protect its employees from crime. The government may involve itself in social responsibility as a performance of its general duty to the people. Members of the public demand social services from the government, therefore the government has to provide social amenities to the members of the public (Dion, 2012, 146). Social needs of the public such as provision of security, health care, education and housing are the responsibility of the government. In some instances, the government has engaged the private sector in an effort to provide these social amenities to the public. The not-for-profit organizations are actively involved in social responsibility with the aim of improving the welfare of the people. Most organizations of this kind work with societies facing a specific problem that they seek to address. These organizations receive fun ding from many sources including governments, private individuals and businesses. Their involvement in social responsibility is stimulated by their desire to alleviate the plight of sections of the population (Passmore, 2010, 112). The involvement of the government, businesses and non-profit organizations in social responsibility makes the solution of some pertinent issues in the society a simpler thing to do, since more than one problem may be solved at any one time. Leaders need to have motivation to instigate social responsibilities for their organization, since aside from being a public relations strategy it is an ethical act that may be appreciated by the society, therefore contributing to the development of a healthy relationship between their organizations and the public (Goethals, Sorenson & Burns, 2004, 112). 5. Conclusion From the interviews, most leaders have convergent ideas and opinions on most important tenets of leadership despite working in different industries, cultures and environments. The most notable areas of convergence were the role of businesses in social responsibility, ethics in business and moral accountability. However, there was an apparent difference in the methods of solving ethical dilemmas. However, their decisions when faced by these dilemmas were influenced by other factors that were beyond their control, such as company policies. The example provided, where a respondent had to lay off employees because of the business that became unviable highlights this fact. Notably, most respondents were inclined to believe that their responsibility was to the organization, mainly to ensure that the companies that they work for remain profitable. Not all the respondents considered social responsibility as a core business activity. However, most respondents recognized the need for social responsibility as a tool for improving their public relations indicated the desire by companies to satisfy the expectations of the society concerning social values. 6. List of References Dion, M. (2012). Are ethical theories relevant for ethical leadership?. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 33(1), 4-24. Ehrhart, M. G. (2012). Self-Concept, Implicit Leadership Theories, and Follower Preferences for Leadership. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 220(4), 231-240. Goethals, G. R., Sorenson, G. J., & Burns, J. M. (2004). Encyclopedia of leadership. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Hart, E. W. (2009). Seven keys to successful mentoring. Greensboro, N.C.: Center for Creative Leadership. Passmore, J. (2010). Leadership coaching working with leaders to develop elite performance. London: Association for Coaching ;. Pinnington, A. H. (2011). Leadership Development: Applying The Same Leadership Theories And Development Practices To Different Contexts?. Leadership, 7(3), 335-365. Riddle, D. (2008). Leadership coaching when its right and when youre ready. Greensboro, N.C.: Center For Creative Leadership. Schyns, B., & Meindl, J. R. (2005). Implicit leadership theories: essays and explorations. Greenwich, Conn.: Information Age Pub.. Williams, M. (2005). Leadership for leaders. London: Thorogood. Winkler, I. (2010). Contemporary leadership theories enhancing the understanding of the complexity, subjectivity and dynamic of leadership. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag. 7. Appendix i. Interview Questions General Questions What is the title of your job? To which industry does your job belong? Have you had any formal education? What is the duration for which you have played a leadership role? Personal Opinion on Leadership What, in your opinion, is imperative for one to practice effective leadership? What forms the basis of your opinion? What is your perception of the relationship between followers and leaders? What, in your opinion, needs improvement in business leadership as a whole? What duty do you owe to the people who report to you? Moral Responsibility and Ethical Dilemmas What is the role of morals and values in leadership? Has a situation ever arisen which forced you to act in business contrary to your personal ethics or morals? In your organization, whom would you regard as most important among the stakeholders? What about non- customers? Corporate Accountability/ Shared Value What is the main function of business? To what degree is profit maximization important and why? Do you view Corporate Social Responsibility as a function to be undertaken by not-for-profit organizations, the government or businesses? Read More