Can Self-Leadership Be a Complete Substitute for External Leadership - Literature review Example

Self-Leadership Name Course Tutor Date Self-Leadership Introduction Over the years, the research on leadership has become an integral part of organization behavior and management literature for many decades. The research has drawn a lot of debate among for social and management theorists (Nohri & Khurana, 2010). Many of the management literatures hold that the organization performance is greatly reliant on its leadership. This is why organizations are continuously attempting to recognize on how to develop effective leaders for the long-term success. According to Daft (2005), many of these organizations try to look for track records on the leadership of an individual. They try to look for what an individual has done at an individual level before being appointed or elected as a leader. In so doing, they portray that if one cannot lead himself, he cannot lead others too. In a nutshell, every leadership started with self-leadership. Therefore, this essay will critically examine the idea that self-leadership should be reconsidered as an essential element for 21st Century employees and discuss whether self-leadership can be a complete substitute for external leadership and how this might impact on the workplace of the future. Definition of leadership Daft (2005) defines leadership as social influence a person has over the other which include support and aid to realize a common goal. However, self-leadership is defined as the ability to purposely influencing one’s thinking, behaviors and feeling to achieve both individual and common objectives (Hackman & Johnson, 2009). Studies indicate that self-leaders possess the drive for independence, but creative decisions in the environment of adversity. Cashman (1999) argues that this form of leadership is characterized by behaviors such as self-awareness, self-motivation, self-goal setting, assertive communication, positive self-talk and capability to collect and to take action on feedback. It may be considered as the foundation of other forms of leadership. Self leadership is captured in the Great man theory of leadership. Great man theory postulates that effective leaders are actually born but not made. According to Lussier & Achua (2004), this theory claims that leaders hold an inborn ability to rise to an occasion when required by means of intelligence, charisma, wisdom and other consideration and not just to influence. Why self leadership is an essential element for 21st century The business environment has faced profound and rapid changes as the 21st century unfolds (James, 2005, p.195). A number of challenges have emerged with the increase of the international economy. Jing & Avery (2008, p.675) posit that this situation has compelled business leaders globally into unexplored markets, and has had to literally redefine strategies to succeed. Both employees and managers have been reminded that self leadership is important to succeed in the global economy. This is because it gives the drives to continue despite the challenges such cultural diversity, language problem and political interference (James, 2005, p.201). What is needed with self leadership to succeed are the leadership skills such as interpersonal skills, conceptual skills and technical skills to be effective. Leadership considers a personal collection of skills which can be used in different circumstances. These skills can be used to align people, provide motivation and aspiration, and driving change (Rao, 2009, p.7). With interpersonal skills, one will be able to assess him or herself and understand how to interact and get along with existing and new members of the organization. James (2005, p.197) asserts that with globalization taking place and people from different cultural background meeting, there should be a certain way they interact without offending the colleagues’ culture. This is why interpersonal skills are often synonymous with communication skills or people skills. Such skills comprise of active listening, persuasion and negotiation among others. In the current business, many businesses try to enter new market but faces political, economical and social risks when the direct mode of entry is used (James, 2005, p.202). Therefore, some want to minimize such risks by entering into partnerships with established companies in target markets. Negotiation skills are very important to win those partnerships. Barrett (2006, p.386) said that in global negotiations, the communication goal, expectation, style and issues ranking often change on the basis of nation of origin. If used appropriately, the familiarity with cultural dimensions ought to increase effectiveness in negotiations. For instance, in the negotiation between a Canadian and a Chinese, negotiator from Canada would require signing a contract, while Chinese national would want to have more time engaging in non-business functions, hospitality and have small talk so as to first create a strong relationship (Barrett, 2006, p.387). Self-leadership therefore starts with individuals and then communicated through traits to the rest of the organization (Jemmer, 2009, p.40). In that case, traits are very important because it shapes personality and makes an insightful employee. Rank et al. (2009) claim that self-leadership is not about isolating oneself and doing something, but also using positive traits to work well within a group. It can mean purposely influencing one’s thinking, behaviors and feeling to achieve both individual and common objectives (Brown, 2007, p.235). A group may consist of people from different culture, therefore influencing one’s thoughts will enable him or her to respect the other people’s culture and get along with them. Brown (2007, p.239) contends that when one has self leadership attributes, they are self driven and do not rely of other group leaders to work but will be influenced by the need for achievement to work on his task. Employees who are influenced by inner thoughts and need for success do the right at the right time (Cashman, 1999). They believe when the project succeeds, it will be a win-win for society and him in equal measures. Self-leadership is also helpful in terms of intrinsic motivation to continue of challenging projects such as those assignments in foreign countries. It will drive employees to work hard to the end of the assignment despite facing cultural challenges and political instability. Jemmer (2009, p.45) states that self-leadership is also important because it helps people discover themselves and make changes beyond oneself. Some of the most admired leaders who have used self-leadership to get to greater heights include Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, former Microsoft CEO and Chairman Bill Gates, the former Apple Inc CEO, the late Steve Jobs and Amazon Founder, Jeff Bezos among others. While still in high school, Zuckerberg influenced his thoughts and feeling to get into the technology field (Antonas, 2009). During his times at Phillips Exeter Academy, he created a student social site where students could interact. This project was self-driven in an attempt to change ways of communication. This is what he perfected in College to become the most popular site called Facebook (Antonas, 2009). Lussier & Achua (2004) argue that self-leadership entails; devoting itself to serving for the welfare of others and beyond self-interest. Just like Zuckerberg, the Bill Gates influences his thoughts to create a Microsoft Company and to get into production of software. In so doing, he has been able to impact the technology industry with different personal computer software (Rank et al, 2009, p.469). Therefore, self-leadership helps to people to understand on how to respond to situations and provide solutions to problems. Self-leadership also creates conceptual skills which employees can nature to help them have ideas, formulate them and develop unique products. Change is real in terms of product development and strategy formulation. Influencing one’s mind to make products is not just enough. 21st century leaders need to form ideas on how to innovate to remain relevant in the market. In one of the researches dubbed “seven pathways to lead from inside” Kevin Cashman established that change mastery is very important in current organizations (Cashman, 1999). Cashman (1999) argues that change mastery aspect of self-leadership creates willingness to change and try out new ideas. In that way, a brand stays strong and able to survive in competitive market. Bill Gates can be used as an example of a leader who has been using self leaders to adapt to the new reality. He has had to step down from his position as the CEO and Chairman to leave to energetic managers to serve in those capacities. Gates now serves as the advisor on technology. Can self-leadership can be a complete substitute for external leadership? In most cases, people only judge business leaders based on their external aspects which are either failure or success. While at it, they fail to notice that self-leadership forms the foundation for external leaders. In short, traits are what forms personality of a leader. Based on such notion, the essay argues that self leadership cannot totally substitute external leadership, but rather it complements it. External leadership is driven by external motivation. Just like extrinsic motivation, external leadership is influenced by external rewards like money, position, grades, and praise (Lussier & Achua, 2004). This form of leadership is influenced by external forces such as competition, dignity and what people think about you. This form of leadership is backed by the contingency and situation theory of leadership. Contingency theory holds that no style of leadership is appropriate as a standalone. Experts claim that there is no defined style and a leader uses factors which are contingent to the situation, variables and quality of subjects (Lussier & Achua, 2004). Since an organization is influenced by both internal and external forces a leader must be able to adapt to the current situation. This theory is almost similar to situational theory contingency theory because it also holds that there is no best style of leadership (Nohria & Khurana, 2010). The only difference here is that, effective leader determines the leadership style to use in accomplishing organizational goals. This aspect depends on how a leader is informed and up to date with the various forms of leadership both with regard to advantages and disadvantages. Even though, self-leadership shows how one is highly committed to his work, it cannot completely substitute external leadership because of external forces like politics (Conner, 2006, p.718). Organizational politics are normally of little regards to self-leadership, but how the manager politically rewards those who are loyal. Marques (2009, p.39) believes that if the manager has not promoted people who think they should, they will not look how dedicated the manager is to the organization and are likely to sabotage him or her. The reality is that, organization politics are ever present in the company and manager and employees cannot ignore (Conner, 2006, p.721). With changes, people are moving from old rigid forms of leadership, meaning both self-leadership and external leadership must run parallel to improve performance. While self leadership seeks for motivation, external leadership seeks for the best organizational structure and culture to adopt. Conclusion The research has established that leadership is actually within individual before being expressed through behavior to other people. Self-leadership is within oneself and influences people to be motivated and have a high sense of achievement. However, while people might actually be dedicated to serve other people out of his passion and motivation, they must look at the external forces to know the requirement of the organization and the people. Hence, this essay concludes that self-leadership is equally important as external leadership and cannot completely replace it, but complement it. References Antonas, S. (2009). Did Mark Zuckerberg's Inspiration for Facebook Come Before Harvard? 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Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82, 465-489. Read More