Evaluating Contemporary Views of Leadership Paper, Essay Example

Introduction

Authors (Chemers, 1997 and Strodgill, 1974) agree that the success of organization depends on the effectiveness of leadership. However, in recent years, several different theories emerged in order to explain leadership approaches. The below paper will review these theories and their applicability of creating competencies that lead to the success of the entire organization. The ideas of Barker (2006) and Schein (2010) in contrast with earlier approaches (Chemers, 1997 and Strodgill, 1974) will be analyzed to review the development of frameworks, models and theories in the leadership field.

Review of Historical Leadership Theory Development

Chemers (1997) states that leadership is a process of social influence. However, the role of leaders and mangers in the 21^st Century, due to the greater speed of communication and interaction between companies and stakeholders has changed. Corporate social responsibility, public and stakeholder relations have gained more importance in the 21^st Century. Therefore, based on the initial assumption of Chemers (1997), the authors would like to review the development in the ideology of leadership, as well as the theories related to it.

The first direction of leadership theory development is based on focusing on personality traits and approaches, while considering the impact of leadership on the success of the organization. Indeed, focusing on personality features of the leader (trait approach) is not new to the theory of leadership. Stodgill (1974) found a close relationship between leadership’s approach to motivate people and productivity. The author determined effective leadership approaches as:

• focusing on achievement
• being alert to social environment (this aspect has a growing importance in the 21^st Century)
• being cooperative.

Further, Stodgill (1974) confirmed that leaders’ desirable skills are diplomacy and tactfulness, ability to persuade people and socially skilled. Stodgill’s above behavioral model is still in use by organizations to select and develop the most suitable leaders.

Based on the above skill and competency approach, Cockerill (1993) developed a theory of leadership competencies that is valid for modern, dynamic organizations. This competency model is similar to the above behavioral model, however, it looks at competencies, instead of approaches.

Schein (2004, p. 198) states that the importance of organizational culture calls for managers and leaders who are able to effectively create, maintain and communicate values, goals and moral norms. This ability supports the success of an organization in a challenging and dynamic global business world, where commitment, engagement, social responsibility and inclusion have an increased importance. If employees feel a strong sense of belonging to the organization and feel like they are a part of it, they take ownership of the tasks, projects and goals. Therefore, the author (Schein, 2004, p, 200) calls for leaders to clearly outline the organization’s views, mission and vision and communicate them towards employees and stakeholders. A positive internal and external image of the organization also has an impact on financial performance, reputation, loyalty and culture. Further, reviewing the process of persuasion, the author differentiates between coercive persuasion and coercive power. According to Schein (2004), there are nine different techniques of coercive persuasion. It is important to note that this approach does not focus on applying power or making use of the position: the below methods are “soft techniques” to create a positive organizational culture, increase employee commitment and loyalty, while focusing on stakeholder engagement.

• reference group affiliation
• role modeling
• peer resources
• alignment of identity
• performance assessment
• reward systems
• communication systems
• physical pressure and work life balance
• psychological safety

Covey (1992) differentiated between two approaches towards management and leadership: transformational and transactional. Simply put, according to the author (Covey, 1992), transformational leadership focuses on long term visions and goals, while transactional leaders are occupied with improving present processes short term. This also indicates that transactional leadership has its focus on systems and processes, while transformational leadership (first mentioned by Chemers, 1997) is more suitable for dealing with the challenges of a globalizing world.

Barker (2006) created a new leadership competency model consisting of three main competencies:

• the ability of strategic thinking
• successful network and relationship building
• actively seeking information and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Further, the author determined a competency framework for health care organizations, which can be applied to any firm in the private or public sector, based on skills and competencies of leaders. The author states that creating and sharing the vision, collaboration, management practice involving the improvement of effectiveness through organizational support, learning and performance improvement, professionalism and community links.

Latest Approaches and Frameworks

Latest approaches towards 21^st Century leadership include a comprehensive (integrative, according to Chemers) model that takes into consideration not only the skills, competencies and approaches of managers, but the organization’s structure, position, the challenges of globalization and the dynamic feature of business environments. Perrin et al. (2010) created a six-zone model to describe the aspects of leadership. These include business, reflection, society, diversity, ingenuity and people. Some of the aspects are new to the theory of leadership. Reflection means that in 21^st Century leader needs to take responsibility for their mistakes, seek knowledge, examine and re-evaluate their role and be open (transparency). Another emerging aspect of studying leadership is the zone of society. With increased focus on social responsibility, stakeholder relationships and sustainability, the leader needs to act as a role model to encourage others within and outside of the organization to take socially responsible actions. Diversity is another current focus of leadership studies, and it does not only reflect on cultural inclusion policies within the organization, but outside as well. Positive approach towards diversity is identified as a main driver of effective leadership communication.

Perrin et al. (2010) also reflect on the challenges of the 21^st Century in the light of the above zones, outlining the desired approaches and behaviors of leaders. The framework provides an effective guide for 21^st Century leaders to deal with the changes and challenges of the 21^st Century, consisting of: business growth, competition, customer satisfaction, diversity, productivity and technological demands. (Perrin et al., 2010, p. 11)

Conclusion

The review of the above literature and publications has focused on the emerging theories of leadership. It has been found that Schein’s e Key Techniques of Coercive Persuasion have the ability to serve as practical guides for managers looking to create a positive organizational environment and culture. However, in the selection process of employees, it is also important to mention the trait approach and Stodgill’s skills approach. Personality trait approaches are still relevant in leadership studies today, however, the changes of global organizational environments call for a complex review of leadership approaches, considering not only systems and processes, but organizations as dynamic entities, facing challenges of change all the time.

References

Chemers, M. M. (1997) An integrative theory of leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. London

Gosling, J. and Mintzberg, H. (2003) Mindsets for Managers. Working paper, Centre for Leadership Studies.

Perrin, C., Daniels, S., Jefferson, K., Blauth, C., Marone, J., O’Sullivan, C., Aprhorp, E., Thompsen. J., Moran, L. (2010) A multi-level analysis of global trends in leadership challenges and practices. Achieve Global.

Stogdill, R.M. (1974). Handbook of leadership: A survey of theory and research. New York: The Free Press

Schein. E. H. (2010) Organizational culture and leadership. John Wiley and Sons.