Ever-Changing Concept of Leadership - Coursework Example

Reflective Essay Name Institution Professor Course Date Introduction Leadership will forever remain an ever-changing concept. The employees I have interacted with in the organization that I worked for have played an essential role in influencing my definition of leadership and the leader in my workplace has also created a lasting experience in my mind. Leadership is a topic that is widely discussed and at the same time, it is also a subject that is puzzling and elusive. In this essay, I set out to apply the various concepts that have been presented in the course as a framework for my critical analysis of the leadership I have experienced in an organization. This will be done by making use of insights about my personal change and my leadership actions that have resulted from the course. Additionally, I will include some essential outcomes in the reflective essay and they will include the knowledge exchange analysis in addition to critiquing the frameworks, thinking about ourselves as leaders and what aspects have changed in us. This will entail my personal skill development and ways in which I may apply them or not and also a reflection of what I have learned and the manner in which what I have learned has impacted on the organization. Discussion By reflecting much on my leadership experience in the company where I first worked, it seems I gained a lot of knowledge on leadership along the way. This supported the concepts that I had learned in the course that leaders make use of different leadership styles and at times, this styles change depending on the situation at hand (Chowdury, 2003). The leader in my organization showed and applied leadership in consideration of the fact that, we are currently operating in a complex world and employees are from different cultures. By understanding this, leaders in the organization are able to interpret and manage the various issues arising in the organization and apply the most appropriate action suited for the changing world. By doing so, the employees in the organization including me believed highly in him in solving the complex issues that were experienced and always sought for advice from him (Mant 1997). Additionally, among the various leadership models that are applied so as to manage the diverse workforce, the leader in the organization mainly made use of the democratic leadership style. In this regard, the leader shared the decision making abilities with the other employees in the organization. This ensured that we had a good and collaborative workplace to enhance the eventually success of the organization. This played an essential role in ensuring that there was trust among the leader and the employees. The leader also made decisions based on the reason and moral principles and had vision for the future (Obolensky 2011) In relation to the idea of knowledge exchange, the leader was very good at ensuring that it took place and that all employees were involved. Knowledge exchange is more of a two way process in that it ensured learning, sharing of ideas as well as experiences between individuals and organizations. Additionally, through the use of the various knowledge exchange frameworks, the organization was able to achieve the benefits of the frameworks which include clarity, efficiency as well as relevance. The success and use of the knowledge exchange framework in the organization was enhanced in that, the knowledge as well as experience was shared with those people who need it. The leader ensured that the organization used tools as well as templates that were easily applicable to the day to day running of the organization. For example, through the use of the training workshops and retreats, it offered fertile grounds that transformed the impact of the message communicated and the target audience of that information. In developing a knwoldge exchange framework for the organization, the leader focused more on the audience as well as on the information needs. Many aspects have changed for a leader and mostly in relation to how to handle people from diverse cultures and implementing change in an organization. I have also developed people management skills, listening skills and good communication to assist me in future. Global leadership is a concept that needs to be evaluated on a regular basis. Every individual is seen as a part of a culture but in reality a few of them actually analyze their paradigm and how this affects their behavior. The leader in the organization seemed to be aware of this and had cultural self-awareness. He always applied the cultural self-awareness concept on the decisions he made regarding the business and also in the relationship with other junior leaders and employees in the organization. This is a major skill and concept that I need to develop in future so as to ensure that I maximize on my relationship with others. With regards to culture, individuals tend to be products of the culture they belong to and thus they tend to behave in certain ways. Other individuals are judged or viewed on how the culture portrays them. Since the leader is a global leader in all sense, he overcame the obstacles and this was done by having clear knowledge on what certain cultures entailed and always made attempts to connect with the specific culture. The leader also portrayed a number of characteristic that are mostly associated with global leaders. These characteristics included; lifelong curiosity, good negotiators, deep self-awareness and sensitivity to cultural diversity. Through this, I learned that to be a global leader one should possess these characteristics so as to succeed and have a noteworthy impact on the employee’s one is leading (World Economic Forum 2016). I have learned that leaders never arrive at their potentially level of development but keep developing with time. The development in leadership is founded on aspects that leaders encounter in their day to day leadership activities in their organizations (Erhard, Jensen, Granger 2010). This idea is greatly supported by the rapidity in which cultural change takes place, the development of new opportunities as well as insights and this shows that every leader despite the years one has worked as a leader is on a continuous developmental journey (Daft & Lengel 2002). The leader in the organization demonstrated this in that, he seemed to be growing and developing thorough situational learning and he seemed to embrace a larger cognitive of the worlds meaning. The leader was also able to manage the stress that was prevalent in the organization and mostly in instance when change was being implemented in the organization (Chowdhury 2003). I learned that leaders can never be completely developed and in this regard when charged with a leadership position in future, I should make use of the position and situations I encounter to learn more and develop and be able to handle arising problems in the organization in the most appropriate manner. The leader understood that sustainability in an organization goes beyond the biological green concept that is advocated for by many organizations. According to the leader, sustainability tends to encompass the building of social, capital, organizational development, societal infrastructure, business viability in addition to environmental responsibility (Champoux, 2011). In light of these factors, he ensured that measures were in place to develop processes that were aimed at enhancing sustainability and in the most complex cultural contexts. The main aim that the leader had in doing this was to offer the organization with both the cultural and economic benefits that are usually attained as a result of environmental responsibility. The leader was also well aware of the fact that, the natural environment has over some period of period become an essential aspect that businesses need to consider (Jaques 1997). Thus, he advocates for the implementation of the strategies. Through these the organization is able to integrate the long term profitability with various efforts so as to protect the ecosystem and offer themselves the opportunities of attaining a source of competitive advantage , leadership as well as market differentiation through the use of environmental responsibility. The leader was also an effective one in matters of sustainability in that, he also engaged the services of a consultant to assist in the structuring of the program so as to incorporate all the stakeholders, achieve the support of the staff members in the proposed projects (Dunphy, 2008). The leader in our organization was well aware of the fact that not all complexities were bad for business but the real issue was that he at times failed to detect the complexities that exist in the company. In relation to growth of the company, the leader knew that with the augmenting growth, there was an urgent need of management attention so as enhance and maintain the growth. In this regard, the leader made use of approaches that were more focused on a flatter and a more flexible organization as opposed to the top-down management systems. At the same time, the individual’s behaviors as well as the individual choices in the organization were upheld in the organization than the executive plans (Chamberlain 1997). By doing this, the leader ensured that the individuals in the organization were impacted greatly by the interrelations with other people in the organization. The leader also focused more on self-organization and focused more attention to the changes and interventions. Though at times this brought unstable situations in the organization, he knew that the organization would gain in the long run from the healthy edge of chaos. The leader always sought to find a middle point between the stability and the chaos and this in a way created the greatest level of innovation and creativity. An organization that seems to be stable can be easily predicted, but at the same time, too much chaps are not good for an organization since it brings the organization to an unworkable state. Thus, the leader ensured that balance point of the chaos. Additionally, the leader chooses to increase the flow of information in the organizations rather than fighting against it. In this, he encouraged the queries from the employees and allowed the employees to track their own path. In doing this, the leader acted as a participant as opposed to being an observer (Chamberlain 1997). The leader also encouraged and ensured that there was the formation of good relationship between all the individuals in the organization. This played an essential role in the creation of an environment that encourages connection and care and this helped in improving creativity, adaptability and efficiency in the organization (Lewin, Parker & Regine 1998). Change is inevitable in the modern workplaces and therefore people need to embrace change for them to be at par with others in the industry (Champoux 2011). The leader was well were of the various individuals responses to change in the organization, for instance, the creators, adaptors, reformers and resisters (Beer 1980). By this, he ensured that he addressed them in different ways when he planned to implement any kind of changes in the organizations so as to reduce the level of resistance to the change. The leader understood and took his role as an agent of change very seriously and this ensured that the organization remained viable as well as relevant in the changing world. The leader facilitated the change process in the most effective manner by ensuring that, we were involved and informed about the change in advance and this played a major role in the change process since there was minimal or no resistance at all (Colbert, Kristof-Brown, Bradley & Barrick 2008). The leader in my organization also encouraged team work and talent development. Most projects that were undertaken in the organization were worked on in teams and the leader also ensured that, as a team we were able to development our leadership skills. This was on the assumption that, team leadership was fundamental to the businesses and mostly in the modern workplaces where people have to share ideas to achieve and learn from the projects (Bennett 2009). The leader also ensured that we changed roles from time to time to ensure that each one learned the leadership skills. This was essential in the development of talents of the various employees in the organization and through it, employees were able to develop their leadership capabilities. The rotation of roles in the team ensured that everyone was skilled for future uptake of leadership in any position that they he or she may be required to lead (Champoux 2011). Leaders express their leadership qualities and capabilities mostly in the context of the ethical frameworks and cultural values (Champoux, 2011). In regard to leading people, the leader always made a great consideration of the ethical and societal issues when making decisions since the workplace was inclusive of physical and intellectual capability of the various individuals in the organization. To ensure that the decisions made were the correct ones and that they did not favor any of the employees, the leader made his decisions depending greatly on the ethical frameworks (Harris 2010). The leader was a great supporter of corporate social enterprise and corporate social responsibility and this ensured that the organization in general created value for the stakeholders (Martin & Thompson 2011). This was of great benefit to the organization in that it attracted a great number of customers and mostly those that prefer to deal with the responsible companies. Additionally, the employees in the organization tend to be more motivated and productive. I learned that, in my future leadership role, I will to engage in corporate social responsibility and mostly in the community that an organization is operating in so as to reap additional benefits such as a good reputation and enhancing good relationship with the local authorities so as to make the operation of the business easier and effective (Benn & Bolton 2011). In light of these, the leader always ensured that the employees were involved in the community activities either at a personal or at a corporate level. For example, in instances of calamities, the employees would give individual contributions aimed at addressing the issue(s) at hand. The leader was well aware of the cultural diversity that existed in the workplace. In this regard, he took measures to ensure that all employees irrespective of their cultural orientation were comfortable and motivated in the workplace. He understood well the culture, sub-cultures as well as the impacts that the culture and the subcultures had on the employees working in the organization (Schein 1996). He strived to create and maintain an inclusive work environment in that, since he was a member of the recruitment team, he ensured that recruiting and promotions in the organization took note of the creed, sexual orientation, race and disability issues. Additionally, he constantly checked the salaries so as to ascertain that no pattern of discrimination were occurring or were emerging without his notice (Dubrin, Dalglish & Miller, 2006). He also encouraged the employee to raise any complaints as well as suspicions of discrimination issues in the workplace. Additionally, he constantly ensured that conflicts between the employees and the company’s culture were handled in the most effective and timely manner (Schein 1996). This was grounded on the notion that, leaders may from time to time encounter conflicts between the values of the company and the values of an employee (Chowdury, 2003). In regard to the concept of building organizational community in a complex environment, I learned that organizations in the modern day are seen as living communities (Pfeffer 2010). The leader in the organization played an essential role in regard to these aspects in that, he always strived at developing and providing patterns of individual and community meaning in the workplace. The leader was also committed in sustainable employment conditions which revolve around the concept of keeping the employees in employment until their retirement period. He always strived in making employees feel comfortable in the workplace and also engaged in practices that enhanced their knwoldge and skills in their respective jobs. This ensured that, employees were willing to work even in their advanced age since they had the skills necessary for undertaking the allocated tasks. In relation to the concept of sustainable people management, the leader always ensured that there were meaningful relationships that matched well with the level of influence (Champoux, 2011). Additionally, he focused more on the “we” culture, authentic management and that the employees working in the organization balanced their private life and their working life. This helped greatly in that, people spent their time in the workplace well and also had time to undertake other activities outside their work life. Conclusion From the literature on reflection, it is clearly evident that leadership will forever remain an ever-changing concept and that I gained a lot of skills and knwoldge by working with my leader in the organization. Leaders also need to be aware of the fact that they are operating in a global context and thus need to conversant with different cultures and put measures in place to deal with people from the various cultures. In respect to change, leaders should inform their employees in advance about changes in the organization so that they can eliminate resistance when change is implemented. Organizations and their leaders also needs to embrace the aspect of corporate social responsibility and through this, they are likely to benefit in the long run with more business and increased level of profits as consumers in the modern day shifts their attention and purchases to organizations that are responsible. Employees also need to be motivated at all times since they are essential to the day to day running of the organizations and a more motivated workforce leads to better productivity. References Bassi, L & McMurrer D 2007, Maximizing Your Return on People, Harvard Business Review, Harvard. 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