LESSON 8

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Organizational Leadership
Organizational leadership is a management approach in which leaders help
set strategic goals for the organization while motivating individuals within the
group to successfully carry out assignments in service to those goals. Organizations
need strong leadership for optimum effectiveness. Leadership, as we know, is a
trait which is both inbuilt and can be acquired also. Organizational leadership
deals with both human psychology as well as expert tactics. Organizational
leadership emphasizes on developing leadership skills and abilities that are
relevant across the organizations. It means the potential of the individuals to face
the hard times in the industry and still grow during those times. It clearly identifies
and distinguishes the leaders from the managers.
Leadership Vs. Management: The 5 Main Differences
Leadership and management are often considered to have overlapping
functions. While this can be true, these two terms have different meanings and
they shouldn’t be used interchangeably. Both imply a unique set of functions,
characteristics, and skills that share similarities.
However, they show prominent differences in some circumstances. For
example, some managers do not practice leadership, while some people lead
without a managerial role. A manager is generally someone who is selected or
appointed within an organization. In most cases, a manager is selected based on
specific technical skills, knowledge, and expertise. On the contrary, the greatest
leadership skill is to influence and inspire people.
Leadership is about getting people to understand and believe in your vision
and to work with you to achieve your goals while managing is more about
administering and making sure the day-to-day things are happening as they
should.
The 5 main differences between leadership and management:
1. Leaders Set the Vision, Managers Follow It
Leaders are visioners. Most of them have a clear vision of where they want
their organizations to be in the future. However, they themselves are not the only
ones responsible for making that vision come true. While leaders may be
responsible, through efficient leadership communication, to transfer the company’s
mission, vision and goals to the entire organization, managers are responsible for
keeping employees aligned with the core company values and goals.
2. Leaders Think Ideas, Managers Think Execution
While a managerial culture emphasizes rationality and control, leaders are
more about looking for opportunities for improvement on the organizational level.
They do so by coming up with new ideas and driving the shift to a forward-thinking
mindset. In other words, managers always look for answers to “how and when”,
while leaders look for answers to “what and why”
3. Leaders Inspire People, Managers Drive Their Success
While leaders have a great power to inspire people, managers are responsible
for driving their continuous success and positive work experience throughout
employee's entire career journey.
4. Leaders Look in the Future, Managers Work In the Present
One of the main differences between leaders and managers is that leaders
are more future-focused, while managers are more focused on the present.
Therefore, the manager’s most important goal is to achieve organizational goals by
implementing processes and procedures around budgeting, organizational
structuring, and staffing. On the other hand, leaders tend to think ahead and
capitalize on future opportunities.
5. Leaders Shape the Culture, Managers Endorse It
When it comes to the organization culture, the difference between leadership
and management is that leaders define and shape the culture, while the managers
lead their employees to live up to that culture. It is the leader’s duty to uphold the
core company values and beliefs of the organization’s culture through their actions,
authentic communication and their decisions. Passionate and inspiring leaders
have a great power to communicate the organizational culture company-wide and
influence employees’ behaviors.

Organizational Leadership Styles

1. Transformational Leadership
A transformational leader is one who navigates an organization toward
improvement by changing existing thoughts, procedures, and culture. Leading
through example, inspiration, and engagement, the transformational leader will
seek ways to get the best performance and potential out of each team member. It
takes courage to be a transformational leader, one who challenges old ways of
doing things in favor of better, more efficient, and more intuitive strategies.
2. Democratic Leadership
Also sometimes called participative leadership, democratic leadership
requires collaborative energy, delegation of responsibilities, and group-level
decision making. This demands a leader who knows how to cultivate participation,
empower team members, and work directly alongside organizational members at
every level. With democratic leadership, while organizational hierarchy may still
exist, influence, power and the ability to contribute to decisions may be widely
distributed across tiers and departments. This means the right leader will know
when to act, when to authorize, how to mediate conflict, and how best to synthesize
the talents of team members.
3. Autocratic Leadership
An autocratic leader holds singular authority in an organization. This is a
common leadership style in which all key decisions go through a top figure and in
which most members of the organization answer to a hierarchy that leads up to
this figure. While autocratic leadership is rarely very popular with employees, it’s
the preferred strategy in organizations where employees perform streamlined
functions, where control is more critical to success than creativity, and where there
is scant threshold for error. The autocratic leader prefers to take charge, and while
he or she may be receptive to input and feedback, this individual will make all final
decisions according to personal discretion.
4. Laissez-Faire Leadership
Laissez-faire leadership is a style in which organizational leaders take a
hands off approach to decision-making and task-completion. This style of
leadership gives organizational members a wide latitude when it comes to
managing projects, solving problems, and resolving disagreements. In most
instances, leadership simply provides a clear set of expectations, the resources
needed for job completion, and accountability to the public, shareholders, or any
other outside interests. This style of leadership can be effective in select contexts,
but it can be challenging to motivate employees or establish accountability when
implemented in the wrong setting.
5. Bureaucratic Leadership
Bureaucratic leadership refers to organizational leadership through a highly
formalized set of processes, procedures, and structures. Here, rules, policies, and
hierarchies form a clear set of expectations as well as an explicit chain of
command. At each level of a bureaucracy, organizational members are beholden
both to their immediate superiors and to a larger ecosystem of rules and
procedures. Bureaucratic leaders lead by channeling established rules, enforcing
existing structures, and presiding over specific segments of the hierarchy.
6. Servant Leadership
Servant leadership refers to a decentralized style in which a leader satisfies
the needs of stakeholders first. An approach to leadership formed in contrast to the
drive for power or material acquisition, this style places the leader on the front lines
of day to day operation. From this vantage, the leader works directly with
organizational members at every level to make decisions. Servant leaders empower
employees, interact directly with clients, and recognize their organization’s role as
part of a community.
7. Transactional Leadership
Transactional leadership succeeds best in a context of order, structure, and
rigid hierarchy. While it may sound similar in name to transformational leadership,
it’s almost exactly the opposite. Here, roles are clearly and strictly defined. The job
of leadership is to ensure individuals perform their roles correctly and effectively,
and that group performance produces positive outcomes. Often, a clear system of
penalties and rewards for performance is in place, including pay bonuses and
opportunities for upward mobility. A good transactional leader will use those
rewards and penalties to identify strengths and weed out weaknesses among
personnel. Transactional leaders may prize the status quo. Where change is
needed, a transactional leader will typically implement it within existing systems
and structures rather than through major structural transformation.
8. Situational Leadership
Situational leadership refers less to one specific style of leadership and more
to the idea of leadership as an inherently adaptable responsibility. Situational
leadership remains highly flexible at all times, capable of adjusting strategies,
procedures, and vision according to an organization’s circumstances, demands,
and even to a shifting culture. The situational leader possesses the agility to adapt
strategy to changing dynamics. This calls for a leader with the emotional
intelligence to recognize organizational needs and the skill to act on those needs.
The result is a leader who guides an organization through transformation,
collaborates at the team-level with personnel and, where necessary, takes decisive,
unilateral action.
9. Cross-Cultural Leadership
Cross-cultural leadership acknowledges the increasingly global nature of
business. The level of collaboration, competition, and partnership across
international borders have spiked due to web technology and the deconstruction of
global trade barriers. Cross-cultural leaders recognize that every country has
different business norms, leadership practices, and cultural realities. This type of
leader knows how to navigate these differences to unite culturally-diverse partners,
achieve unified goals, and create pathways to common ground. The cross-cultural
leader understands that diversity is a virtue and a resource rather than an
obstacle.
10. Charismatic Leadership
Charismatic leadership depends significantly on the compelling personality
of the leader. This type of leader will inspire others through commitment,
conviction, and positive example. Charismatic leaders will usually possess strong
communication skills, the capacity for exceptional personal empathy, and the
strength of personality to positively define company culture. The truly charismatic
leader effectively creates a sense of shared purpose, nurtures the passions of
organizational members, and unites personnel behind a single vision. This style of
leadership is often particularly valuable in times of crisis.
Application
1. You are assigned as a school head in a low performing school. Students are
poorly motivated, parents are community are not very cooperative, and teachers
have low morale. As a leader, what should you do?
2. You are introducing an innovation in school. Sociologically, Filipinos are known
for the “ningas-cogon” mentality. How does this mentality affect school innovation?
As a leader, what should you do? As a leader how will you counteract it?
3. Two of your teachers are doing very well. Four strongly resist Continuing
Professional Development. Two are simply waiting to retire. To make your school
perform, as a school head, what moves will you take? Explain.
Learning Evaluation
I. Write T if the statement is true and F it is false, underline the word or words that
make the sentence false and supply the correct word/s to make the statement true.
____1. Leadership is interchangeable with management because they mean the
same.

Answer: T

____2. A leader cannot be a manager and manager cannot be a leader at the same
time.

Answer: F; A leader can be a manager and a manager can be a leader at the same time.

____3. In the laissez faire leadership style, the leader fully interferes in the decision-
making of his/her followers.

Answer: F; In the laissez faire leadership style, the leader avoid responsibility and leave the members
of the organization to establish their own work.

____4. In the consultative style of leadership, members of the organization arrive at

a decision by way of consensus.

Answer: T

____5. In the democratic style of leadership, the members of the organization are
consulted in decision-making.

Answer: T

____6. The autocratic leader consults his/her follower.

Answer: F; The autocratic leader do the decision-making by themselves.

____7. A transformational leader is content with status quo.

Answer: F; A transformational leader is not content with status quo.

____8. In situational leadership, if followers are "unwilling and unable” to do the

job, leader must resort to delegating.
Answer: F; In situational leadership, if followers are able, willing and confident to do the job, leader
must resort to delegating.

____9. In situational leadership, if followers are “willing and able” to do the job,
leader must resort to telling.

Answer: F; In situational leadership, if followers are "unwilling and unable" to do the job, leader
must resort to telling.

____10.Transformational leadership is focused on innovations.

Answer: T

II. Answer the following comprehensively.

1. Explain what organizational leadership in the school context is.
2. Explain the difference between leadership and management.
3. Describe the different organizational leadership styles.
4.Explain what situational and servant leadership are.
5. Discuss how to sustain change in an organization.
Reflection Task
Make an essay on what you should do to become an effective leader.
Research Task
What is meant by CQI? What is Kaizen? How are these related to
transformational leadership?
References:
TBS STAFF, 2019. 10 Organizational Leadership Styles — Study Starters.
https://thebestschools.org/magazine/organizational-leadership-styles-study-
starters/
SMARP, 2020. Leadership Vs. Management: The 5 Main Differences.
https://blog.smarp.com/leadership-vs-management
Tokar, S. 2020. What is Organizational Leadership? https://www.snhu.edu/about-
us/newsroom/2018/07/what-is-organizational-leadership
Juneja, P. 2015. Organizational Leadership.
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/organizational-leadership.htm
UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES: LEADERSHIP VS. MANAGEMENT.
https://www.go2hr.ca/retention-engagement/understanding-the-differences-
leadership-vs-management
Prieto, N., Arcangel, C., and Corpuz, B. 2019. The Teacher and The Community,
School Culture and Organizational Leadership. Lorimar Publishing Inc.