Q

The assignment emphasis on Leadership Paradigm- conduct literature review of current research related to a paradigm

Home, - Leadership Paradigm

Leadership Paradigm

Introduction

Today, with increased globalization and with advent of new technologies, it is found that the organizations are looking for expansion in other geographical territories of the world. However, before carrying out such expansion, they need to focus on their internal strengths and external threats and accordingly plan the strategies of the organization (Sarwar, 2013). 

The role of the leaders of the organization will be important as they will be identifying the gaps in the current processes, deploy management models to overcome them and subsequently formulate strategies to achieve desired objectives in a given environment. It is thereby important to analyze the role of the leaders from different perspectives. 

The leaders possess different characteristics such as - loyalty toward the organization, empathy, accountability, duty and determination, encouragement to others, respect, selflessness, humble, innovative, and have passion for their work. Despite possessing these different traits it is noticed that some of the leaders are failing to address the needs of the organization (Sarwar, 2013). 

It is thereby recommended to conduct a literature review in this direction. It will not only provide more information on the current gaps and the processes but will also assist in studying the different characteristics of the leader as applied in the different case scenarios. 

Further, the role of leaders is not only limited to formulating strategies in the organization but also need to deploy team-based working approach and thereby help employees perform as per the expectations of the organization. They can associate with the Human Resources (HR) department of the organization and thereby design the training plans for the organization. Also, they can deploy change management structure in the organization to make employees accept working on the new values, theories, and models in a given environment (Phillips, 2014). 

Today, with increased internal challenges and to overcome possible conflicts, the organization needs to have such leaders that can assist them in achieving such objectives in the organization.

Importance of Leadership

The importance of leadership in the organization can be realized from the facts that - it is important to recognize the need for better human relations, overcome internal conflicts among employees, focus on the external objectives of the organization, empower people to make them perform as per the requirements of the organization, lead the change from the front, deploy new technological tools to inspire people and improve their working efficacies in the organization, and also share the vision of the organization (Phillips, 2014). 

It will thereby help the employees to perform as per the guidance and instructions of the leaders in a given working environment. Further, the leaders will focus on - empowering communication, improving flexibility in the working environment, improving independent thinking, developing a strong command over employees, and also making sure that they are able to perform as per the needs of the organization (Hicks & Given, 2013). 

A given leader will be able to focus more on employee relations and skill development so that employees can motivate them in the present working environment. Further, the leaders will be developing the Code of Ethics in the organization that will ensure that employees are following high ethical and moral standards in their daily routine practices in the organization. 

Also, they will be focusing on strategies that will nurture growth in the present working environment. The leaders will further focus on - improving the organization structure, improving the spirit of coordination, focusing on goals, developing good human relations, focusing on motivation, fulfilling social responsibilities, avoiding imbalances, directing group activities, making economic and social changes in the organization, allocating resources as and when required, and thereby make sure that the organization is moving in the direction of growth and improvement in the future (Hicks & Given, 2013). 

The leaders will also develop short- and long-term goals depending on the requirements of the organization; they will later analyze the performance of the different strategies implemented and make necessary modifications wherever required.

Leadership Theories in the Present-Day Context

Since early time, there are different leadership theories developed and implemented in the context of different working organizations. These include - trait theory, behavioral theory, participative leadership theory, contingency theories, situational leadership theories, and even management leadership theories (Hicks & Given, 2013). 

The purpose of these different theories is to focus on developing a proper culture in the organization, training the employees on the different working modules, develop a concern for the employees, make employees task-oriented by motivating them on their motivation factors, improve work coordination and collaboration, improving relationship, help the followers achieve their desired goals, improve decision making abilities, and thereby make sure that the leader is able to perform as per the expectations of the organization (Devos, Tuytens, & Hulpia, 2014). 

There are four major leadership styles developed that include - supporting, coaching, directing, and delegating in a given working environment. These leadership styles will make sure that the leaders of the organization are supporting - behavior and work approach of the employees, effective communication across the organization, communication and sharing of vision and mission of the organization with the employees, overcoming workplace conflicts and other such challenges, motivating the staff, delegating more responsibilities to the ground-level staff and thereby allowing them to take decisions, improving self-confidence, focusing on cognitive skills, and improve social skills in the organization (Devos, Tuytens, & Hulpia, 2014). 

Today, with increased challenges in the work environment, it is found that the leaders need to adapt and follow new leadership theories that will improve the performance of the employees in a given organization. 

From the different theories' perspective, the transformational theory works best in the present working environment. Also, the leader will make sure that there are fair practices conducted in the organization (Devos, Tuytens, & Hulpia, 2014). It will thereby improve competency and creativity skills of the employees in a given working environment.

Literature Review

There are different leadership theories and principles designed and applied in the context of different organizations. Researchers have carried out researches to determine the correlation between the performance of the employees, determining the relation between workplace environment and the approach of the leader, determining the relation between overcoming risk factors and developing the risk mitigation plan by the leaders of the organization (Budhiraja & Malhotra, 2013). It will thereby help in overcoming the major risk factors in a given environment. 

It is further noticed that the leaders are changing their leadership style and approach with the changes in the external working environment. To understand the importance of leadership in the organization, it is assumed to consider a case study example of Steve Jobs, who was the CEO of Apple Inc. 

He started Apple Inc. in 1976 as a computer development company but today it has expanded into other domains such as - consumer electronics, computer software, online services, and other electronic products. It has thereby transformed into another form of company to meet the different and changing demands of the customers (Choudhary, Akhtar, & Zaheer, 2013). 

However, the role of Steve Jobs as a leader was important as he transformed this company into a multinational technology company. His leadership approach and his innovative thinking helped the company to achieve greater heights of success in the present-day environment. 

From the researchers conducted in this direction, it is noticed that he possessed some of the major personality traits such as - communication skills, decision making abilities, looking into the future and revising the vision of the organization, motivating others in the organization, creating a new culture for the organization of share vision and mission, improving performance through transformational leadership style, and focusing on the aspects of determination, integrity, and sociability in the organization (Choudhary, Akhtar, & Zaheer, 2013). 

It was due to these reasons that Steve Jobs was able to achieve desired success for Apple Inc. in a given working environment. Further, it was noticed that Steve Jobs motivated the entire work culture of the organization that helped them overcome the major challenges present in the work environment. These included - organizational culture, working toward innovation, focusing on new technologies, motivating staff to develop new products and services, and ensuring that there is work collaboration established among all the departments of the organization. 

Steve Jobs had implemented transformational leadership style with an objective to manage the new changes in the organization, direct the employees toward new objectives, and also implement change management techniques in the organization. It thereby helped in not only guiding the employees toward the working modules but also ensuring that employees accepted the change of working on new modules in the organization (Choudhary, Akhtar, & Zaheer, 2013). 

He had also implemented performance analysis mechanisms through which he was able to judge the overall performance of the employees in a given working environment. Thus, from a holistic perspective, Steve Jobs is considered to be one of the greatest leaders of all time and specifically for Apple Inc.

Research Gaps

While conducting the research on leadership needs and the changes that are observed in the leadership theories, approaches, and models, it is found that despite implementing these new frameworks, the employees lack motivation to perform as per the directives in the organization. It is further noticed that the employee turnover problem has increased for majority of the organization. 

The leaders have not addressed these specific problems and hence face one of the biggest challenges in the organization. Even, researchers have not carried out proper research in this direction. It seems that the leaders need to work with the HR department of the organization to determine the major gaps in the current working practices in the organization. 

They further need to determine the issues and problems faced by the employees of the organization. It will subsequently help them overcome the major challenges and will also ensure improving the employee turnover ratio in the organization (Choudhary, Akhtar, & Zaheer, 2013). 

The leaders also need to determine the different motivation factors by implementing respective frameworks in the organization. The major sources of motivation for the employees can be - salary and incentives, bonuses, healthcare benefits, insurance, family benefits, work culture, workplace environment, promotions, and growth focus. It will thereby make sure that the employees will be able to remain motivated and continue working in a given organization (Choudhary, Akhtar, & Zaheer, 2013). 

Researchers thereby need to carry out a research in this direction wherein they need to link the leadership approach of the leaders with the performance focus and motivation factors of the employees of the organization. It will thereby make sure of overcoming the respective challenges in a given working environment (Choudhary, Akhtar, & Zaheer, 2013). 

Also, the HR department along with the leaders can measure the performance of these employees and subsequently overcome them. The new and innovative leadership models will help the leaders in understanding the requirements of the employees and subsequently modify the strategies to improve the employee turnover issue in a given organization.

Future Scope of Research

The future scope of research needs to focus on the aspects of leadership and management practices that will improve the work motivation levels, focus on the needs of the employees, and also improve the work culture of the organization. 

Further, the employees also need to provide their feedback on the different work processes and thereby provide suggestions on improving them. In addition, it is noticed that the leaders of the existing organization are not changing their approaches to address the changing trends of working in a given environment. They thereby need to focus on new leadership frameworks that will address these issues and revise the organizational values and culture. 

Also, the leaders can provide a performance report to the senior management about the current strategies implemented in the organization. They can thereby organize training workshops and seminars for the employees and train them on certain leadership and management aspects. It will thereby improve their decision making and self-confidence levels in the organization. 

Further, the employees need to support the senior management and their middle-level managers in achieving the desired objectives of the organization. It will help the organization further to achieve required objectives of expansion in the near future. The HR leaders also needs to work with the IT department as the senior management will be planning to install new technological modules in the organization (Raes et al., 2013). 

It will thereby help in overcoming the challenges of resistance from the employees to accept working on new modules and technological platforms in the organization. The leaders can thereby deploy the techniques of change management to ensure that employees will accept the new change and will focus working on the new modules in the organization. It will subsequently improve the productivity levels of the employees and make them deliver the assigned tasks within the given timeframe and as per the expectations of the organization.

Recommendations

It is noticed that with increasing challenges of the organization, the senior management team is looking out for the leaders that will possess characteristics such as - open mindset, attention to every detail, focus on building relationships, effective communication skills, focus on results, developing work structures that will work for all, ensuring support of the stakeholders, motivating staff, empowering them through different training and development seminars, and finally achieving desired outcomes for the organization (Gartrell, 2013). 

It is important for the leaders to first determine the needs of the organization, focus on the current gaps in the working practices, empower employees to work toward the objectives of the organization, and thereby make sure of delivering the required objectives in a given working environment. 

Today, in order to succeed as a leader, they need to - inspire commitment levels, lead the employees from the front, perform strategic planning, deploy change management techniques, focus on employee development, and also increase self-awareness levels in a given organization. The leaders need to recognize the achievements of the employees and thereby motivate them through rewards and recognition in the organization (Greenwood, 2013).

Further, they need to motivate the staff on the different motivation factors as identified in this report. Researchers confirm that by translating vision into reality, planning for long-term, and thereby involving the strategic planning process, the leaders will be able to succeed in a given organization. Further, they need to facilitate change so that employees can overcome their personal resistance issues and focus on working on the assigned tasks in the organization. 

The leaders also need to coach the employees to improve their performance in the organization. They will be providing guidance and instructions to all of them so that they can perform accordingly in the organization (Greenwood, 2013). Finally, it is also important for the leads to recognize personal limits, work on the weakness, focus on their strengths, and learn from mistakes in the organization. 

The passion of a leader to perform and the commitment levels will make sure that a given leader will deliver as per the needs of the organization. Today, however, with changing trends of the working environment, it is found that the leaders also need to possess certain qualities such as - addressing multicultural needs, focus on social issues, have the ability to connect with all the concerned stakeholders of the organization, have a willingness to improve from their mistakes, and have a positive attitude in the organization (Haruna & Kannae, 2013). 

A holistic approach to leadership will help the leaders follow ethical practices and ensure trustworthiness across the organization. The leaders will also become more aware in a given workplace environment and will thereby inspire others to follow him in the organization. 

They however need to modify their working approach and strategies to meet the changing needs of the organization in a given working environment (Haruna & Kannae, 2013). As discussed and identified in the report, a given leader needs to deploy a specific leadership style to address the different needs of the organization.

 

Conclusion

Today, the organizations are looking out for the leaders that can focus on the aspects of - conceptual thinking, leading from the front, deploying transformational change, building community relationships, have an interpersonal insight, create stakeholder awareness on the current working approach and the objectives achieved by the organization, and also influencing others in a given working environment (Haruna & Kannae, 2013). 

Today, there are several risk factors prevailing in the market environment such as - market risk factors, workplace issues, conflicts, lack of communication, lack of collaboration, lack of accountability and trustworthiness among all the employees, the senior management failing to follow the Code of Ethics, and other challenges of the external environment in a given organization (Jackson, 2016). 

The leaders thereby need to prepare the Risk Mitigation Plan in a given environment so that they can overcome these risk issues and also ensure achieving desired objectives in a given environment. Further, as mentioned in the report, it is found that there are research gaps pertaining to leadership regarding employee turnover issue in the organization. 

Hence, there is a need to conduct a research in this direction by formulating appropriate objectives. Also, researchers need to determine the motivation factors that will assist these employees in continuing their work in the organization (Jackson, 2016). 

The HR department needs to work in close coordination with the leaders and thereby devise new strategies in the organization. It will thereby help in addressing these major issues and making employees follow the instructions of the leaders in a given working environment. The organization will thereby be able to solve this issue and subsequently achieve required objective of expansion in the near future. 

The senior management can however deploy performance analysis mechanisms to determine the performance and accordingly make suggestions wherever required. It will thereby fill all the research gaps and also ensure achieving desired objectives in a given working environment. Also, it is importance for the leaders to analyze the performance of the employees after the deployment of new leadership framework in the organization. It will help them improve on the different work practices and also motivate the staff to perform as per the needs of the organization. The leaders thus in a given leadership paradigm need to work as per the stated objectives and deliver as per the needs of the organization in a given working environment.

Leave a comment


Captcha

Related :-