Leadership and Change - Essay Example

Leadership and Change In the simplest terms, leadership is the process of inspiring others to work hard to accomplish important goals. With the rapid technological changes, intense global competition and diverse workforces, it is very important to have leadership traits in the working environment. A good leader will be able to lead his team from planning to achieving, thereby reaching the organizational goals. True to the adage, that “nothing is permanent except change” change is inevitable. Change is an important part of organizational innovation and creativity. A change agent does not feel threatened by change; he feels challenged by it and takes responsibility. A change agent is willing to take responsibility to make things happen during times of change. The situation requires being alert to people needing changes and proactively respond to it. While leadership and change have been analysed and discussed exhaustively using myriad theories and models, it has been widely accepted that no one theory or model is the unique solution. Leadership traits and change management are situation and individual based and being flexible to adapt and execute is the sure-fire way to success. Recognising the power of the mind to dictate the actions and behaviour of the individual, NLP or Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) is emerging as a method with a lot of promise. This is touted as a method of programming the mind, emphasizing the mind-body-spirit connection. The term, `neuro-linguistic programming’ is designed to embrace three ideas. all behaviour starts from the neurological processes; we use language to organize our thinking and to communicate with others; and we can choose to `programme’ our behaviour to achieve the results we desire NLP is formulated on the four pillars of relationship, goal setting, sensory acuity and behavioural flexibility. Relationship aims to establish a rapport between yourself and others. This defines a comfort zone which is important is keeping communication flowing. Goal setting is an important key to success. Knowing exactly what is wanted sets the directionality to achieve it. Sensory Acuity is essentially awareness to the factors around you. This enables the gathering of valuable feedback to the actions that in turn fine-tune the process of leadership and adaptation to change. Behavioural flexibility is important because with dynamic situations, the ability to absorb, adapt and absorb are essential to arrive at the goal. Never being afraid to keep changing allows the solution to evolve naturally. The awareness of the fact that people or events cannot be controlled by us but by a self-management, our responses to them can be managed. To achieve this our skill and our ability to manage ourselves directly affect the extent to which we achieve your goals. That is what NLP aims for. Myers-Briggs Model Myers-Briggs is popular model used to determine personality types that in turn determine how they react to people and changing circumstances. A description of the Myers Briggs letters The Myers Briggs model of personality is based on 4 preferences. How people use their energy, how they understand and process information, how they make their decisions and finally how they use it to address leadership issues at that point in time. Myers-Briggs denotes the letters” E” for an extrovert and” I” for Introversion, depending on whether the individual prefers to direct energy to deal with people, things, situations, or "the outer world", or they prefer to direct energy to deal with ideas, information, explanations or beliefs. While dealing with facts to clarify an issue is “S” for Sensing, preferring to deal with ideas, look into the unknown, to generate new possibilities or to anticipate what is not obvious, is “N” for Intuition. Preference to decide based on objective logic, using analysis is “T” for Thinking. Moreover, deciding based on personal beliefs, or on the beliefs of others is “F” for Feeling. Finally, the inclination to have a planned, stable and organised life denotes a tendency towards judging or “J” while going with the flow being flexible and responsive is “P” for perception. Myers-Briggs demonstrates the 16 combinations of the traits in a table which when analysed convey the various styles of leadership that may be beneficial or detrimental when applied to a particular situation. It must be understood that no particular style of leadership that can be defined as good or bad, right or wrong. This is because of the uniqueness of the individual and the uniqueness of the situation often determines the style that would be best suited to the occasion. This model of leadership styles can be used to increase the effectiveness of a leader. The key to success is the knowledge to understand and apply what will work and be flexible to change internally while being perceptive to the external factors involved. Bass theory of leadership Bass’s theory of leadership is based on the assumptions that awareness of task importance motivates people and a focus on the team or organization produces better work. Bass defined transformational leadership in terms of how the leader affects followers, who are intended to trust, admire and respect the transformational leader. He identified three ways in which leaders transform followers: (Bass 1990, p.19-31) Increasing their awareness of task importance and value Getting them to focus first on team or organizational goals, rather than their own interests Activating their higher-order needs Bass believes that transformational leadership is grounded in moral foundations that are based on four factors Idealized influence, Inspirational motivation, Intellectual stimulation and Individualized consideration. Nevertheless, the effect of the moral character, the leader’s vision and the ethical nature of the process all influence the outcome in transformational leadership proclaimed by Bass. According to Bass although charisma plays a vital part in transformational leadership, it is not a sufficient indicator of great leadership qualities. This can be easily explained by the power wielded by movie stars on the public, through their sheer power of charisma or influencing people but it does not necessarily guarantee their leadership qualities. Bass sees it as amoral, and attributes transformational skills to people such as Adolph Hitler and Jim Jones. Hersey and Blanchard‘s Situational Theory The leadership qualities that are required to make a good leader can vary in different organisations, teams and situations. This is one of the fundamental principles underlying most popular leadership systems such as Situational Leadership (develop by Blanchard and Hersey in the late 1960s). Hersey and Blanchards Situational Leadership model suggests that successful leaders can adjust their styles depending on the readiness of the followers to perform in a given situation. The leadership styles portrayed are combinations of task oriented and relationship oriented entities. The four styles made be understood as follows Delegating: Allowing the group to make and take responsibility for task decisions, a low-task, and low-relationship style. Participating: Emphasising shared ideas and participative decisions on task directions, a low-task, high relationship style. Selling: Explaining task directions in a supportive and persuasive way, a high task high relationship approach Telling: Giving specific task directions and closely supervising work, a high task lo relationship style. These styles work differently in different situations. While “delegating” works better in areas with willing followers, “telling” works when the workers are not ready enough. While “participating” style is recommended in low to moderate readiness, “selling” style worked for moderate to high readiness when followers are willing and capable. Heresy and Blanchard recommend that leadership styles can be and should be adjusted as followers in a given situation change over time. Heresy and Blanchard’s model has a positive attribute in that it believes that the usage of correct styles in lower readiness situations will “mature” the followers leading to a less authoritative style of management that bodes well in today’s scenario. Delegation involves the assignment of new responsibilities to followers along with additional authority to perform the new tasks. It is recommended for followers who have both high job maturity and high psychological maturity. In Bass’s theory, the leader transforms and motivates followers by making them more aware of the importance of task outcomes, inducing them to transcend their own self-interest for the sake of the organization or team, and activating their higher order needs. It is hypothesized that follower motivation and performance are enhanced more by transformational leadership than by transactional leadership. The Why and What of Change Change is inevitable and unavoidable. It is an essential part of organizational creativity and innovation. Failure to embrace change and offering undue resistance will cause an organisation to be left behind its competitors. Change is multi-faceted and may be caused by internal factors like takeovers, mergers and acquisitions or external like emergence of new technologies, economy fluctuations and recessions. Change may occur in two ways. In the top-down scenario, the senior management strategize and proclaim the changes and the lower rung of employees follow. This change driven from the top runs the risk of being offered undue resistance by the lower personnel. In the case of bottom-up change, the employees supported by the middle level of managers are responsible for the change and is usually brought on by the adaptation of technology and efficiencies derived through experience of day-today operations. These changes are crucial in the sense that these are due to the genuine participation and empowerment of the employees that bode well for the organisation. John Kotter says that the change process takes time and goes through several different phases in a successful change effort and that a mistake made during any phase of the change effort can have a negative impact on the organization. Kotter outlines an eight-step process with suggestions to help organizations transform and understand that the change process takes time and is not something that happens overnight. Kotters 8 steps of change Step 1 -- Increase Urgency: Raising a feeling of urgency is the first and most critical step in a successful change effort. People have to be shocked into the awareness that change is necessary and inevitable. Step 2 -- Build the Guiding Team: Since change is universal and dynamic and the spectrum is wide, this step insists the necessity of a group of influential, effective leaders who understand change, are fully committed to the change initiative, well respected within the organisation, and have power and influence to drive the change effort at their levels. Step 3 -- Get the Vision Right: Adequate vision sets the direction. The presence of a relevant vision will continue urging the people who have been pushed forward to receive change towards the right path. Step 4 -- Communicate for Buy-In: Communication is the key. With a vision and strategy in place, they must be communicated to the organisation in order to gain understanding and buy-in. Clarity in the message of change helps wear down resistance because ambiguity is confusing, clarity helps clear confusion. Communication must be maintained throughout the change process. Step 5 -- Empower Action: With today’s diverse workforce and removal of levels in the company, micromanaging is no longer a feasible society. Empowerment hands over power, and serves to remove barriers to assist the change effort. Step 6 -- Create Short-Term Wins: Planning for visible performance improvements over short term, allows easy recognition of achievement and keeps the morale up. By creating short-term wins, and being honest with feedback, progress is achieved and people are inspired. Step 7 -- Dont Let Up: Change needs to be followed through once it is started. This perseverance lets people understand and sustain the momentum. It also ensures the work done so far is not wasted by abandoning the effort halfway. Step 8 -- Make Change Stick: Change needs to be made and maintained. It may take awhile for change to be consolidated, and a supportive network holds the change in place without reverting to the old methods. Sufficient efforts to ensure leadership development and succession should be made. The process of change Companies that are able to compete successfully in todays rapidly changing business environment—characterized by globalization of the economy, exploding information technology, downsizing, restructuring, and new employer -employee relationships—must be ready to make significant changes in the way they operate. Changes can be due to a variety of factors. Depending on the internal and external factors, change can be made in the area of tasks, people, culture, technology and structure. Planned change occurs because of specific efforts by a change agent, while an unplanned change occurs spontaneously without a change agent’s direction. Planned change goes through the process of Unfreezing is the phase during which a situation is prepared for a change. Changing is the phase where a planned change actually takes place and Refreezing is the phase at which change is stabilized. Typically, change of any kind brings in resistance. This is because people are threatened by change and want to hold on to familiar things. Changes in the organisation are successful depending on how well they are planned, communicated and implemented. The strategies used for communicating changes by leaders are usually, Force-coercion strategies pursues change through formal authority with the use of rewards or punishment. Rational persuasion strategies pursues changes through empirical evidence and argument. A shared power strategy pursues change by participation in assessing values, needs and goals. What practical steps can I take to develop my leadership behaviour The value of leadership qualities cannot be over-emphasised. While people talk about “born” leaders, leadership is a culmination of education and experience coupled with flexibility and analysis. Leadership may be needed to lead oneself, a team or an organisation. I believe that the fundamental requirement of a leader is self-analysis and self- awareness. Ability to understand one’s own strength and weakness will set the direction to understanding others. Leaders use their talents and experience to influence others, and are focussed on those activities necessary to achieve a desired outcome. Leaders help others to believe in the vision, goal or objective. Leaders define the work environment and provide the framework to support their team. Leaders identify the priorities as well as provide the direction for completing tasks on time. Leadership behaviour is tied to the ability to weigh facts and make sound judgements without bias or prejudice. With the culmination of different cultures due the globalisation, it is essential that everyone is treated with deference and to me being able to do that is a sign of maturity. I will try to keep an open mind and this will ensure fairness in the workplace and among team members gaining respect for the leader. I shall exhibit integrity and treat everyone fairly without hostility. A vision is important, and more so the ability to think on my feet and take decisions promptly. It is also important that I take the initiative thereby motivating others to follow through. So is my endurance to follow through and keep learning on the job, and above all be loyal to the others who have contributed to the outcome. Experience is a great teacher and I have to make sure that I learn from my positive and negative experiences and learn to apply it towards future problems that will enable me to tackle problems more expertly. In conclusion, I understand that the true test of leadership success is the outcome or result. I am 100% accountable for the bottom-line results of the team and I accept responsibility for it. I will give credit where it is due while of course, being proud of my achievement which motivates me to reach higher next time. Traits for good leadership Sources Myers-Brigg-A Complete Guide retrieved December 21, 2005 from Team Technology website: http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/tt/t-articl/mb-simpl.htm Bass Transformational Leadership Theory retrieved December 21, 2005 from Changing Minds website: http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/theories/bass_transformational.htm Becker, Lynn A Review of the literature on Change retrieved December 21, 2005 from DP Associates Inc. STC 50th Annual conference website: http://www.stc.org/50thConf/Session_Materials/dataShow.asp?ID=306 Organizational Change - Kotters 8 Stages of Change Leadership retrieved December 21, 2005 from Christopher Newport University website: http://assessment.cnu.edu/about/role/improvement/change.htm 8 steps to create a high performance culture retrieved December 21, 2005 from Intension Limited website: http://www.intension.ltd.uk/diagnosis/8steps.htm TM Models John Kotter’s Transformation Process retrieved December 21, 2005 from Enterprise Solutions Competency Centre - Program Executive office, Enterprise information systems website: http://www.army.mil/aeioo/tm/model3.htm John P. Kotter in the Harvard Business Review, March-April 1995, Why Transformation Efforts Fail? Pp. 59-67 Kotter, J and Cohen, D The Heart of Change Harvard Business School press Leadership Trait List retrieved December 21, 2005 from Leadership Tools website: http://www.leadership-tools.com/leadership-trait.html Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, (Winter): 19-31. Vadim Kotelnikov, Neuro Linguistic Programming retrieved December 21, 2005 from 1000ventures.com website: http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/nlp_main.html Schermerhorn Management Sixth edition John Wiley and Sons Inc. New York Read More