Running Head: Leadership concept

Leadership concept

Rachael Brown

MGT380: Leadership for Organizations (BFJ1729A)

Instructor: Stacey Taylor

22 August 2017
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Leadership concept

Introduction

Leadership is one of the most essential element the success of the modern day firms. The

leadership provides a sense of direction to the entire organization as well as provides the much-

needed support to the organizational vision, mission, and the strategy of the organization. This

paper discusses the leadership issues at the current Veteran association health care where I have

been working for over five years. The paper discuss the leadership theory being utilized in the

organization, the influence of power and influence of the leaders, makes a comparison of the

transactional and transformational leadership before analyzing the traits of an effective leader in

the organization.

Leadership theories

The path-goal theory provides great insight to the type of leadership that is present in my

organization. The leadership here can be categories as being either directive, supportive,

participative and result oriented. Given that the organization is complex and has employees with

distinct, different, and varied needs, there is no one leadership style that is more dominant in the

organization[ CITATION Wei16 \l 1033 ]. It all depends with the needs and the characteristics of

the followers. Therefore, the leader has to customize their leadership to suit the kind of audience

and the prevailing situation[ CITATION Lee03 \l 1033 ]. This theory is contingent in nature, as it

requires the leadership to embrace maximum flexibility to suit the prevailing situations and

conditions.

Supportive leadership is evident in the leader who is keen to nurture talents and

encourage them as they grow in the organization. A leader who is not only helpful but also
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cordial and has a sense of concern for their followers wellbeing and social emotional needs

characterizes this leadership style. A supportive leader in the organization is important when the

flowers are undertaking hard task that are also emotionally draining[ CITATION Wei16 \l 1033 ].

In such situations, the followers are usually unsatisfied and in deep need of a human touch and

affiliation. In most cases, the supportive leadership offers the much needed nurturing to the new

employee in the organization.

In some instances, the organization requires a directive approach in the organization. The

directive approach has been crucial in providing a sense of guidance and psychological support

that is important in making the flowers stick to their goals. These leaders have been crucial in

making the followers understand what it expected of them as well as assist in the planning,

controlling and monitoring process[ CITATION Bol11 \l 1033 ]. They are also crucial in the

development of schedules and procedures to be followed. The directive approach to leadership

becomes very essential when the tasks and the roles in the organization are not only complex but

also ambiguous in nature.

The participative style in the path-goal theory entails a leadership that not only consults

with the followers but also a leader who seeks for the opinions, inputs, suggestions and meets

with these employees within their workstations to dialogue and have open

communication[ CITATION Wei16 \l 1033 ]. The participative approach is most essential when

the followers are having a personal involvement with their work. Usually, the followers are

usually autonomous and require clarity and some control.

The achievement-oriented approach to leadership is essential in providing some sense of

challenges to the followers to achieve and excel. This is most important to the followers who

have high expectations and have the need to excel in their personal and professional
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roles[ CITATION Lon12 \l 1033 ]. The leader exudes confidence in the followers and assists

them to learn how they can achieve higher goals. Given the large size of the healthcare

organization and the large pool of employees in the organization, the above traits have been

evidenced in my place of work.

Effect of power and influence that leaders have on followers in the organization

Leaders use these two important tools to motivate and guide their followers. The leader

uses their legitimate and the hidden powers to influence their authority over the followers.

Additionally, the leaders use their influence to coerce the followers to take a certain

direction[ CITATION Wei16 \l 1033 ]. The power of the leader is the ability of influence the

followers to pursue a given direction and achieve a desirable long-term goal. The leadership

power comes from varied sources including the power to reward, their expertise power, and

legitimate power, the power to coerce or refer the followers[ CITATION Fos02 \l 1033 ]. The

leader uses this power in accordance with the leadership position and the qualities of the leader.

The use of the leadership power causes either resistance, compliance or commitment among the

followers to the leader.

Correct use of positional powers and influence leads to compliance of the followers. Over

emphasis of the too much positional powers leads to resistance. The personal leadership power is

essential in making the leader and the followers to commit to the requirements of the set goals

and objectives[ CITATION Wei16 \l 1033 ]. It will be of no use for the leader to claim to have

powers but fail to exert their influence on the leaders or even be unable to accomplish the set

goals or implement the key decisions in the place of work. The leader has also to use their skills

and abilities to use their power and exert their influence over their followers.
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Given the nature of leadership in my place of work, the leaders have been able to use

their power and influence to motivate the people towards achievement of the goals, bring about

change, and lead the followers to better results. This has resulted into a more reception of the

leadership power and influence in the organization. The participative nature of the leadership has

seen the followers being able to commit and be receptive of the leadership influence[ CITATION

Dre07 \l 1033 ]. This has been majorly because followers are seeing positive outcome of the

leadership. The followers has felt a sense of inclusion and can have a sense of fairness and

equality in the organization. The leader has also been careful not to misuse their powers to

suppress the followers or consolidate power and influence themselves only. The leadership has

been able to ensure that their powers and influences are used for the benefit of the entire

organization.

Role and effectiveness of transformational and transactional leadership in the organization

Transformational leadership creates a vision, culture, and strategy that are highly

compelling to the organization as they always seek to engage the followers and engages them in

the entire organization. The transformational leadership has the ability to bring about concrete

changes in the organization as well as bring about a radical change in the organizational culture

since they are able to change the people working in the organization. These leaders rely on their

strong sense of values and high morale to keep the followers motivated towards the

change[ CITATION Wei16 \l 1033 ]. The transformational leaders are able to achieve the change

by using their intellectual stimulations, inspirational motivation, their idealized influence, as well

as individualized consideration.

In an organizational setting, the transformational leaders are able to use their sense of

charisma and behaviors to become great role models who are to be emulated by their followers.
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The leaders individual values and personality plays a critical role in making the followers trust

the leader and believe in his or her vision. For example, the leader who is able to understand and

connect with the employees by motivating them, encouraging them and guiding them in their

endeavors is able to not only achieve most out of the employees but is also able to keep the

followers strictly on the desirable path. Such leader proves to be the most influential and helpful

in the adverse moments or in the most difficult times in their careers or in the organization.

By using their inspirational motivation, the transformational leaders are able to move the

followers toward a desirable goal or new ideas with ease by articulating the most important

elements in an easy to understand manner. They are also able to paint an appealing image of the

future where the employees are able to clearly see what the future is and therefore buy the idea as

theirs. Through the well-articulated vision, the transformational leader are able stimulate the

creativity and innovation of the employees towards the desirable future. The transformational

leadership is also able to make the followers to think beyond their limitations. The leader

stimulates the intellectual capacity of the employees by challenging them to achieve higher tasks,

brainstorming with them to achieve even higher results as well as critical thinking[ CITATION

Wei16 \l 1033 ]. They also assist in the problem solving as well as stimulate them to challenge

the status quo in the organization.

A transactional leadership interacts and engages the followers thing maintaining

effective relations that seek to meet the emotional and the relational needs of the followers. The

transactional approach demands a reciprocity situation where both the leader and the follower

engage each other. A transactional leadership values the short-term interaction with the followers.

The leader and the follower do not interact with each other for a long time especially when there

is no reason for engagement. A transactional leader is able to achieve results with contingent
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rewards, which are offered for a short term to motivate the followers to achieve a given task. The

rewards may be for the exchange of the services, accomplishment of the goals as well as a

recognition for the accomplishment of the results[ CITATION Wei16 \l 1033 ]. The transactional

leader also achieves the desirable results thought the active management by

exception[ CITATION Lon12 \l 1033 ]. This is where the leader observes the follower and makes

the necessary corrective measures. The transactional leadership is less effective than the

transformational leadership as it the followers require more feedback to fully develop and have

meaningful change in the organization.

The traits and characteristics of an effective team leader within the organization

One of the main trait of an effective leader in the organization is being visionary. A

visionary team leader is able to inform the team of the desirable future as well as offer a form of

guidance and a sense of direction for the team. Such leader will also be able to find meaning

amidst challenges and therefore maintain a sense of commitment, focus, and objectivity.

Interpersonal skills are also essential in the organization. The employees in the

organizational are relational being who heavily relay on communication in their place of work.

interpersonal skills will be crucial in assisting the leader relate and interact with the team

members in a manner that pay attentions to their emotions, culture and needs[ CITATION

Wei16 \l 1033 ]. Good interpersonal skills will be crucial in guiding the team and help solve the

problems that may occur in the teams.

Additionally, effective leader is being intellectually embodied, have the necessary

expertise, knowledge and must have the necessary positive attitude. These traits trickle down to

the other employees from the team leader. It is also crucial that the team leaders be results driven
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as to provide enough challenge that will stir the team members to be creative, innovative and

strive to achieve higher and better results.

Explain how the leadership supports vision, mission, and strategy in the organization.

In the organization, the leadership plays the most crucial role in the vision, mission, and

the strategy pursued by the organization. Firstly, the style of leadership embraced in the

organization gives room for the employees to make suggestions and improvement that are in line

with the vision and the mission of the organization. This comes from a clearer understanding of

the organization mission as communicated by the high-ranking leadership. There are monthly

meetings where the leader meets with their team tom discuss the progress and address any

challenges that have been raised[ CITATION Wei16 \l 1033 ]. This has become a major norm in

the organization that ensures that the organization sticks to the vision and the mission.

The leadership in the organization has been allocating the necessary resources to the areas

where they are mostly needed to ensure the strategy has is working. These resources includes the

training of the staff, allocating the staff to the right departments as well as providing the

necessary responsibilities that are aimed at making the organization achieve its goals.

If you were the leader in the organization, what would you change and why?

Given the chance, I would change the reward recognition and rewarding systems in the

organization. I recognize that rewards are an essential element in the motivation of the

employees and ensure that employees are not only motivated but also have a higher sense of

recognition. I would change the over emphasis on the monetary reward to other forms of non-

monetary rewards, that go a long way in sending clearer massage than the monetary rewards.

However, the emphasis should not on the reward only but should have their focus on the results
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and customer service[ CITATION Lon12 \l 1033 ]. The rewards will also include features such as

training of the employees on exemplary service delivery, sponsoring the employees to

workshops, seminars and other associated conferences.

Conclusion

It is evident how leadership plays a critical role in the organizations. The correct match

between the leadership styles and the needs of the organizational is one of the most important

element in making organization successful. The leadership styles adopted in the organization has

proven successful due to the supporting traits of the leader, their leadership styles, and the needs

of the organization. However, it is important that the focus of the use of the power and influence

be reshaped to ensure it achieves the most desirable results.

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References

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International Journal of Management Reviews, 13(3), 251-269.

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2003). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and

Leadership. John Wiley & Sons.

Dreachlin, J. L. (2007). The Role of Leadership in Creating a Diversity Sensitive Organization.

Journal of Healthcare Management, 52(3), 1515.

Foster, D. (2002). A Method of Comparing Follower Satisfaction with the Authoritarian,

Democratic, and Laissez-faire Styles of Leadership. Communication Teacher, 16(2), 46.

London, M., & Mone, E. (2012). Leadership for today and the future. (1 ed.). Retrieved from

Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Weiss, J. W. (2016). Organizational Change (2 ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.