MN7185 - LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT- TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Have you ever been in a group where someone took control of the situation by conveying a clear vision of the group's goals, a marked passion for the work, and an ability to make the rest of the group feel recharged and energized? This person just might be what is called a transformational leader.

Transformational leadership is a leadership style that can inspire positive changes in those who follow. Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate. Not only are these leaders concerned and involved in the process; they are also focused on helping every member of the group succeed as well (Kendra Cherry, 2019).

Quick Background

The concept of transformational leadership was initially introduced by leadership expert and presidential biographer James MacGregor Burns. According to Burns, transformational leadership can be seen when "leaders and followers make each other to advance to a higher level of moral and motivation."

Through the strength of their vision and personality, transformational leaders are able to inspire followers to change expectations, perceptions, and motivations to work towards common goals.

Later, researcher Bernard M. Bass expanded upon Burns's original ideas to develop what is today referred to as Bass’s Transformational Leadership Theory. According to Bass, transformational leadership can be defined based on the impact that it has on followers. Transformational leaders, Bass suggested, garner trust, respect, and admiration from their followers.

Components

Bass also suggested that there were four different components of transformational leadership.

1. Intellectual Stimulation – Transformational leaders not only challenge the status quo; they also encourage creativity among followers. The leader encourages followers to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn.
2. Individualized Consideration – Transformational leadership also involves offering support and encouragement to individual followers. In order to foster supportive relationships, transformational leaders keep lines of communication open so that followers feel free to share ideas and so that leaders can offer direct recognition of the unique contributions of each follower.
3. Inspirational Motivation – Transformational leaders have a clear vision that they are able to articulate to followers. These leaders are also able to help followers experience the same passion and motivation to fulfill these goals.
4. Idealized Influence – The transformational leader serve as a role model for followers. Because followers trust and respect the leader, they emulate this individual and internalize his or her ideals.

So what are some typical signs of a transformational leader? Groups led by this type of leader tend to be both successful and loyal. They give a lot to the team and care deeply about the groups ability to accomplish its goals. Turnover tends to be quite low as transformational leaders are able to inspire a great deal of committment in their followers.

Effects

In their classic text, Transformational Leadership, authors Bass and Riggio explained:

"Transformational leaders...are those who stimulate and inspire followers to both achieve extraordinary outcomes and, in the process, develop their own leadership capacity. Transformational leaders help followers grow and develop into leaders by responding to individual followers' needs by empowering them and by aligning the objectives and goals of the individual followers, the leader, the group, and the larger organization."

Researchers have found that this style of leadership can have a positive effect on the group.

"Research evidence clearly shows that groups led by transformational leaders have higher levels of performance and satisfaction than groups led by other types of leaders," explained psychologist and leadership expert Ronald E. Riggio in an article for Psychology Today.

The reason, he suggests, is that transformational leaders believe that their followers can do their best, leading members of the group to feel inspired and empowered.

What can you do to become a more transformational leader? Leadership experts suggest that having a strong, positive vision of the future plays a critical role. Not only is it important to believe in this vision yourself; you've also got to inspire others to buy into your vision as well. Being genuine, passionate, supportive, and trustworthy are all key characteristics that will help motivate followers to support your goals for the group.

REFERENCES

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-transformational-leadership-2795313
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60O2OH7mHys

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiBirP0yaLmAhXTe30KHYZ9ADAQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=%2Furl%3Fsa%3Di%26source%3Dimages%26cd%3D%26ved%3D%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.verywellmind.com%252Fwhat-is-transformational-leadership-2795313%26psig%3DAOvVaw32RxEw-qYcO0ZyjJzILqq6%26ust%3D1575775118557831&psig=AOvVaw32RxEw-qYcO0ZyjJzILqq6&ust=1575775118557831

MN7185 LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES

INTRODUCTION

It is great role in the nations or organizations that leadership plays. Leaders play a tremendous role as we know in number ways by using various styles. It does not mean that leaders are free from challenges, criticisms etc… or they are in a comfort zone having showing the direction or inspiring people or aligning the people, yet they encounter a diverse type of challenges.

The challenges of leadership are inside leaders. Stop blaming organizations and others for your shortfalls and failures. Take the bull by the horns. You are the bull (Dan, 2012).

Being a leader is not quite a cakewalk. In fact, to be very honest; managing people is one of the most challenging tasks. You really need to extract the best out of your team members and handhold them even in the worst situations. We all want to lead a team, but have we ever realized what are the challenges faced by a leader? Remember, a leader is just like the captain of a ship. One wrong decision and the entire blame comes on you.

The biggest challenge in leadership is to listen to everyone’s opinions and come to a mutually beneficial solution. You just can’t afford to ignore anyone, else he/she would turn out to be your biggest enemy and would neither respect you nor bother to listen to you. Agreed, there are all types of people around. You may like someone; you may not like someone at the workplace, but that does not mean that you start being rude to the person you are not comfortable with. Avoid favouritism. As a leader; you really need to be impartial towards everyone. Not every individual has the quality of being fair towards people. As humans, we generally tend to develop feelings of jealousy and hatred towards people we do not like. Remember, such negative feelings have no place in the professional world. Sit with your subordinates, listen to their grievances and always try to come up with innovative solutions. Never ever loose your temper. The moment you do so, trust me, very soon your name would appear in the bad books of employees.

The 12 Toughest Challenges of Leadership:

1. Humility during success.
2. Confidence during setbacks.
3. Stepping back so others can step up.
4. Putting plans into action – Follow through. Experience shows up to 90 percent of strategic plans never achieve execution.
5. Leading change. Leaders don’t just do things, they change things.
6. Admitting mistakes. One contributor suggests that self-awareness and honesty are essential to saying, “I was wrong.” (See more comments on Facebook)
7. Listening with the goal of learning.
8. Encouraging constructive dissent.
9. Learning from criticism.
10. Asking for feedback.
11. Maintaining focus on the future.
12. Building the team.

What’s most challenging about leading organizations today? And do the challenges differ around the world? When researchers went straight to the source to answer these questions, gathering input from 763 middle- and executive-level leaders in organizations from China/Hong Kong, Egypt, India, Singapore, the U.K., the U.S., and Spain.

Our study found these leaders consistently face the same 6 challenges — even if they describe their challenges and specific context in different ways:

1. Developing managerial effectiveness is the challenge of developing the relevant skills — such as time-management, prioritization, strategic thinking, decision-making, and getting up to speed with the job — to be more effective at work.

2. Inspiring others is the challenge of inspiring or motivating others to ensure they’re satisfied with their jobs and working smarter.

3. Developing employees is the challenge of developing others, including mentoring and coaching.

4. Leading a team is the challenge of team-building, team development, and team management. Specific challenges include how to instill pride, how to provide support, how to lead a big team, and what to do when taking over a new team.

5. Guiding change is the challenge of managing, mobilizing, understanding, and leading change. Guiding change includes knowing how to mitigate consequences, overcome resistance to change, and deal with employees’ reactions to change.

6. Managing internal stakeholders is the challenge of managing relationships, politics, and image. This challenge includes gaining managerial support, managing up, and getting buy-in from other departments, groups, or individuals.

CONCLUSION

Knowing that these challenges are common experiences for middle and senior managers is helpful to both the leaders and those charged with their development, according to our researchers.

Individuals can benefit from knowing their experiences aren’t isolated, and can feel more confident reaching out to others for help facing these challenges.

REFERENCES

https://leadershipfreak.blog/2012/10/22/the-12-toughest-challenges-of-leadership/

https://www.managementstudyguide.com/challenges-in-leadership.htm

https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/top-6-leadership-challenges/

MN 7185 LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - 10 COMMON LEADERSHIP STYLES

10 COMMON LEADERSHIP STYLES

INTRODUCTION

At some point in your career, you may take on a leadership role in some capacity. Whether you’re leading a meeting, a project, a team or an entire department, you might consider identifying with or adopting a defined leadership style.

Most professionals develop their own style of leadership based on factors like experience and personality, as well as the unique needs of their company and its organizational culture. While every leader is different, there are ten leadership styles commonly used in the workplace.
 

TYPES OF LEADERSHIP STYLES

1. Coaching Leadership

A coaching leader is someone who can quickly recognize their team members’ strengths, weaknesses and motivations to help each individual improve. This type of leader often assists team members in setting smart goals and then provides regular feedback with challenging projects to promote growth. They’re skilled in setting clear expectations and creating a positive, motivating environment.

2. Visionary Leadership

Visionary leaders have a powerful ability to drive progress and usher in periods of change by inspiring employees and earning trust for new ideas. A visionary leader is also able to establish a strong organizational bond. They strive to foster confidence among direct reports and colleagues alike.

3. Servant Leadership

Servant leaders live by a people-first mindset and believe that when team members feel personally and professionally fulfilled, they’re more effective and more likely to produce great work regularly. Because of their emphasis on employee satisfaction and collaboration, they tend to achieve higher levels of respect.

4. Autocratic Leadership

Also called the authoritarian style of leadership, this type of leader is someone who is focused almost entirely on results and efficiency. They often make decisions alone or with a small, trusted group and expect employees to do exactly what they’re asked. It can be helpful to think of these types of leaders as military commanders.

5. Laissez-faire or hands-off Leadership

This leadership style is the opposite of the autocratic leadership type, focusing mostly on delegating many tasks to team members and providing little to no supervision. Because a laissez-faire leader does not spend their time intensely managing employees, they often have more time to dedicate to other projects.

6. Democratic Leadership

The democratic leadership style (also called the participative style) is a combination of the autocratic and laissez-faire types of leaders. A democratic leader is someone who asks for input and considers feedback from their team before making a decision. Because team members feel their voice is heard and their contributions matter, a democratic leadership style is often credited with fostering higher levels of employee engagement and workplace satisfaction.

7. Pacesetter Leadership

The pacesetting leadership style is one of the most effective for driving fast results. These leaders are primarily focused on performance. They often set high standards and hold their team members accountable for hitting their goals.

8. Transformational Leadership

The transformational leadership style is similar to the coach style in that it focuses on clear communication, goal-setting and employee motivation. However, instead of placing the majority of the energy into each employee’s individual goals, the transformational leader is driven by a commitment to organization objectives.

9. Transactional Leadership

A transactional leader is someone who is laser-focused on performance, similar to a pacesetter. Under this leadership style, the manager establishes predetermined incentives—usually in the form of monetary reward for success and disciplinary action for failure. Unlike the pacesetter leadership style, though, transactional leaders are also focused on mentorship, instruction and training to achieve goals and enjoy the rewards.

While this type of leader is great for organizations or teams tasked with hitting specific goals, such as sales and revenue, it’s not the best leadership style for driving creativity.

10. Bureaucratic Leadership

Bureaucratic leaders are similar to autocratic leaders in that they expect their team members to follow the rules and procedures precisely as written. The bureaucratic leadership style focuses on fixed duties within a hierarchy where each employee has a set list of responsibilities, and there is little need for collaboration and creativity.

CONCLUSION

By understanding each of these leadership types based on the outcome you intend to achieve, you can select the right leadership style for your current situation.

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/10-common-leadership-styles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlpKyLklDDY

MN7185 LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - LEADERS AND MANAGERS

LEADERS AND MANAGERS

There is always a buzz when we talk about a leader and the manager. Leadership is a skill and the person who possess this ability is known as a LEADER. On the other hand, Management is a discipline, and the practitioner of this discipline is known as the MANAGER.

Leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow, ie: a leader is the spearhead for that new direction. Management controls or directs people/resources in a group according to principles or values that have been established (Steve Myers, 2019)

Is a good manager automatically a good leader? What is the difference between leadership and management?

The main difference between leaders and managers is that leaders have people follow them while managers have people who work for them.

Definition of Leader

A leader is a person who influences his followers to achieve a specified goal. He is a person with a vision and inspires his followers in such a way that it becomes their vision. He helps them in making the strategy to achieve the goal and possesses a good foresightedness along with the other qualities like- motivating the subordinates, creating teams, innovation, developing trust among the stakeholders, etc.

A leader is required at all levels of the organization which acts as a representative of the organization. He encourages the whole team to work together and supports them in accomplishing their tasks, as a guide or a philosopher (Surbhi, 2019)

Definition of Manager

A manager is a person who manages the organization such that he is responsible for planning, organization, direction, coordination and control. They are the ones who get their work done by the employees through several ways and has the authority to hire or fire the employees. There are various types of managers present in an organization such as top level managers, functional managers, project manager and general manager.

The role of these managers depends on their nature of work like top level managers are held responsible for the vision and mission of the organization, functional managers are responsible for different areas of their work like marketing, sales, accounting, etc. Project managers take the responsibility of accomplishing a certain project, and the role of a general manager is vivid i.e. the various activities performed in the business are managed by him.

Leader and manager have a great role to play in any organization, in the sense that a leader is the one who inspires, encourages and influence his men, to work willingly, in the attainment of the organization’s objectives. On the other hand, a manager is an important link between the firm and its stakeholders, i.e. employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, government, society, and so forth. He is the one who performs basic managerial functions.

This article excerpt might help you to understand the difference between leader and manager, take a read.

Key Comparisons

BASIS FOR COMPARISON	LEADER	MANAGER
Meaning	A leader is a person who influences his subordinates to achieve a specified goal.	A manager is a person who manages the organization and is responsible for planning, direction, coordination and control
Approach	Sets Direction	Plans details
Attribute	Foresightedness	Mind
Subordinate	Followers	Employees
Style	Transformational	Transactional
Decision	Facilitates decision	Makes decision
Aim	Growth and development.	Attainment of the required result.
Focus	People	Process and Procedure
Change	Leaders promotes change.	Mangers react to change.
Conflict	Uses conflict as an asset	Avoid conflict
People	Aligns people	Organizes people
Strives	For effectiveness	For efficiency

Conclusion

It is very clearly noted that leaders are not managers but managers often perform the role of leaders.

REFERENCE

https://www.go2hr.ca/retention-engagement/understanding-the-differences-leadership-vs-management

https://www.google.com/search?q=leaders+%26+managers&sxsrf=ACYBGNQCjda0_6F_PdUQ2-roOsjZGYsAzQ:1574215628574&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwic8tya2vflAhUVxzgGHSCUB8oQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1366&bih=608#imgrc=RT9THuC44FUXzM:

https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-leader-and-manager.html

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/leaders-or-managers-and-discover-your-talents

https://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/leadership/management/definitions-of-leadership-and-management/

MN7185 LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - THE LEADERSHIP FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE TO THE ORDER OF TODAY

THE LEADERSHIP

 FROM A HISTORICAL

PERSPECTIVE TO THE ORDER OF TODAY

One of the frequently repeated words in the present context perhaps in business, management or politics in local and global context undoubtedly is “Leadership”. Leadership is not a term restricted to a field or certain fields as the way we are using nowadays. This word has been in the existence even before the humanity existed and it is not only limited to humanity as well.

Leadership is a felt need when living creatures are surrounded by problems, danger, destruction, struggling and problems of survival etc. name to few seeking belonging, protection, caring, sustainability and growth regardless of animal kingdom, plant kingdom or beyond. In the animal kingdom this was obvious. From time to time which species failed to face the challenges exposed to them tended to disappear from the bio diversity and it is simply called SURVIVAL OF THE FITTER maybe due to the absence of leadership. Despite the human race is was not replaced by another race but the role of leadership has changed in nations, organizations, race etc. Example Electronic & Electrical dominance from Japan to China and Mobile technology from Nokia to Samsung.

In the human world from the primitive and nomadic society it is apparent to see the emergence of leadership to shape up the society seeking sustenance, shelter and safety from enemies. Very clearly we see today the one who acts first from the crowd becomes the leader and the rest tend to follow them in a natural form as the water flows invariably the cast, tribe, size, age or any other human features. This picture shows only one aspects of leadership where age matters not but it is something.

Picture Source - Age Factor

Leaders continued to appear from the families, societies, groups, organizations, countries to the globe as a whole. Human leadership is reflected in number of fields today: politics, business, science, mathematics, psychology, medicine, sociology, art, literature etc… it is noted that one thing is common in any of these field is it tries to address the following:

1. Seeking opportunities

2. Solving problems

Hence, from time to time what were demanded from a leader/leadership predominantly is different. It totally depends on the intensity of the problem and the urgency to the solution. This was further affected by the turbulence of the environment and its volatility associated with uncertainty. 

Since the human being is limited by time and space, he/she can hardly think and predict beyond these limitations the attributes demanded by the concept of leadership vary. There is no hard and fast rules to become a leader or there is no a set of features that only required to become leaders. This is an obvious truth that can be witnessed in studying the leadership theories. One of the leadership theory becomes obsoleted when those leader’s attributes became no longer influential, inspirational, results delivered and not compatible with emerging new features. Further the leader of one era becomes outdated in another era and similarly one successful leader in one chosen field becomes unsuccessful in another field of expertise and one leadership styles in one time is totally inappropriate and inapplicable in another time.

Who would have thought of possessing the knowledge of EQ or AI to become a leader of the world the order the day in business like Amazon and Alibaba. In this perspective a present day leader is expected to possess the following leadership qualities in the chosen sphere except the EQ or AI.

So, it is very clear to accept and acknowledge the fact we can see the gradual progression of the leadership qualities are expected to demonstrate the features from theoretically explained to the practical context which were stated in the great man theory, trait theory, skills approach or contingency approach.

The scholars keep undertaking the research on leadership have enriched certain new extension to the concept of leadership. One of these new areas of study is called “Systemic Approach”

In this perspective, according to Michael Buehler, (2016) a research paper submitted to the World  under the heading of Reinventing leadership – 10 imperative leadership aptitudes you will need as a systemic leader: Who are future Leaders?

‘The future demands collective leadership that is visionary, innovative, agile and adaptable. In this context, system theory reframes leadership by focusing on the dynamic interactions between all individuals, explaining how the interactions can, under certain conditions, produce promising outcomes.

This new type of leadership does not reside at the top of a hierarchical structure and does not work if it is authoritarian. Systemic leadership is exercised through inspiration, by means of accelerated interaction and at any level in any organization. Indeed, it develops its full potential only when it is mobilized from grass-roots level. Systemic leaders understand and encourage the dynamics of intensified interaction at all levels, to generate beneficial effects in the entire system. They inspire people, teams and entire organizations to pursue the change it will take to achieve aspirational goals.’

The conventional model takes leadership to be a property of the individual, say a manager seeking to be a better leader. In this view, the organization regards its role as that of developing the manager’s personal leadership abilities and hoping for the best. By contrast, in the systemic model, leadership is a property of the organization. Instead of viewing the organization as a passive vessel waiting to have leadership poured into it, the organization becomes an active player that has to contribute to leadership if it is to receive its due from managers. The connection between leadership and its host is symbiotic, with the organization proving a vital partner both to leadership and improvement. (Tate. W 2013)

Conclusion:

So when these leadership attributes are in to account one decision can be arrived that that it is the leadership definition is changing in ever dynamic world and could be associated to the common phrase saying “The only certainty in the world is uncertainty” and so is leadership theories.

It is to maintain a balance between analytical views of the past events in association with contemporary exploration of the present context towards a far-sighted outlook with an inherent quality of life-long learning, adaptability to change will be considered to be the critical factor success of leadership concept.

REFERENCES:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/09/reinventing-leadership-the-10-imperative-leadership-aptitudes-you-will-need-as-a-systemic-leader/

https://www.triarchypress.net/uploads/1/4/0/0/14002490/from-systemic-failure-to-systemic-leadership.pdf