Reflective Essay For The Learning Organisation

Discussion

Write about the Reflective Essay for the Learning Organisation.

The term leadership consists of a very deep meaning. The purpose and practicality of leadership, in general, are same. But, in the broader concept of the leadership may vary from person to person. I personally believe that a leader is present in every aspect of the human life. The core responsibility of a leader is to lead a certain group which consists of different kind of people with different types of mindset and thinking of their own (Rosch & Villanueva, 2016). Leadership does not mean only control or monitor some people. Meanwhile, leadership suggests the role to direct, motivate and nurture a group of people towards a specific aim. In this context, some famous quotes can be used for the proper description of the activities involved in the leadership. Precisely, the study explores the three ways of leadership utilising the organisational learning theories.

According to Chris Hadfield, leadership is not all about doing brilliant crowning act, but it is about motivating the team members to keep their focus on a goal. Furthermore, the art of leadership can be utilised to make the followers believe that the best performance without any doubt can surely be useful to achieve the goal. I identify that one more significant element of leadership is togetherness of the team members including the leader. Dwight D. Eisenhower has described the supreme quality of leadership in his own word i.e. without the integrity of the whole team, their activities and shared aim, success is not possible at all in any field (Burns, 2012). I have identified that leadership has two-way aspects in it.

The famous quotation regarding Leadership by John Maxwell implies that the focused leader should know the proper way to lead the followers (Lutz, Lyon & Maxwell, 2013). Apart from that, a strategic leader must lead to that way and show the right direction to others. With this quote, the author wants to make people understand the primary emphasis of the leadership and a leader. There are too many points of view present about the explanation of this quotation. But as per the subject matter if we break the statement into parts and discuss the meaning of each part then the relations can be established among the three sections. Here, the section ‘knows the way’ can be explained as having the relevant details and required knowledge about the whole subject matter of the specific goal. Alternatively, the term ‘goes the way’ implies to follow a particular path, vision, planning for the achievement of the common goal. Decisively, the term ‘shows the way’ means creating a clear vision of the way to others so that they can follow the path, vision, planning for the achievement of their goal.

A true leader knows that without having proper knowledge, clear vision and initial idea about the destination, it is almost impossible to take other peoples on an unknown journey. The leader must know the way i.e. the clear vision of the way including the obstacles, difficulties, threats and how to overcome those with the strength of the whole team. Evidently, I acknowledge that critical knowledge, skills, and abilities must be posses by the leader (Mujtaba & Sungkhawan, 2011). By possessing the traits, a leader can make proper planning of the actual work and individual functions that must be accomplished by the leader and his team members for the achievement of their ultimate goal. If the leader does not have the idea, vision, and viewpoint of the goal and the way of achieving the goal, the team members or the followers will not be able to show their courage to follow the way for the achievement of the goal (Santos-Lang, 2016). The leader should have the capacity to influence, encourage, empower and persuade others to do hard work for the achievement of predetermined future-state. I understand that the success of the team is not depending on the charisma or style of the leader it depends on the ability to motivate others.

The famous leader of management Peter Drucker explains that management is doing the things right, but leadership activities are about doing right things (Aigner, 2014). A leader has to be perfect in his vision, idea and planning about the path of achievement of the goal of the team. According to Ben Carson, the primary focus of leadership is the power and ability to recognise the talents of individuals. Precisely, a good leader should know how to combine those talents towards the same aim. A successful leader not only controls and monitors the team members or followers but also ensures the disciplines, honesty and morality within the whole team and its activities (Murray & Chapman, 2013). The leader should impose some essential aspects in his team members such as honesty unity, sense of responsibility and integrity for doing their works in an effective and efficient way. Bill Bradley has stated that leadership consists of unlocking the potentialities of the people to become more and more expert in their own specialised zone (Rosch & Villanueva, 2016). In this context, the leadership styles and approaches can be discussed with the emphasis on each approach.

The famous leadership styles are autocratic leadership, democratic leadership, strategic leadership, transformational leadership, team leadership, cross-cultural leadership, facilitative leadership, laissez-faire leadership, transactional leadership, coaching leadership, charismatic leadership, and visionary leadership (Burns, 2012). Some leadership approaches can be discussed in this regard. Autocratic leadership approach is centred on only the boss or the leader. The leader, who follows this type of leadership approach, holds all the responsibility and the authority of making decisions and planning without consulting his/her subordinates on their own. But in democratic leadership approach subordinates or the team members are involved with the leader in making planning and taking decisions. Unlike autocratic leadership style, all the activities for the implementation of the planning are centralised on the subordinate’s contributions.

The strategic leadership is all about helping the individuals who have the potentialities to deliver high performance towards the establishment of the expertise of their own. Strategic leaders use innovative types of strategies to fill the gap between actual condition and the predetermined condition. Unlike the other leadership approaches transformational leadership style is all about start initiating change in groups, and business (Santa, 2015). Transformational leaders have the ability to transform others to deliver more than they intended, with their motivational and influencing skills. Meanwhile, followers are empowered by the transformational leaders.

In team leadership, the team has been given the utmost priority. Such leadership approach involves a clear picture of the future goals and directs the team towards the achievement of the goal. Team leadership approach is all about managing the minds and hearts of the team members who are involved in the whole process. On the other hand, cross-cultural leadership usually exists in the teams where various types of culture are present among its members (Avolio & Locke, 2012). Organisations especially the international ones need leaders with effective adjustment capabilities in their leadership style so that they can make the whole team able to work in different environments (Desai, 2010). The central idea of facilitative leadership is a dependency on the outcomes and measurements of the process. In this leadership approach, it is believed that efficiency and appropriateness of the activities are directly connected to the effectiveness of the group. The other leadership style named laissez-faire leadership has given the authority to the employees. In this leadership approach, there is no interference present in the activities of the subordinates.

Transactional leadership maintains status quo. It also involves a process where exchange takes place i.e. followers get tangible and immediate rewards for following up the orders given by their leaders (Antonakis & House, 2014). According to coaching leadership, the main focus must be given on mentoring, supervising and teaching the followers. Mainly, in this type of leadership approach, for the sake of improvement of follower’s skills they are helped, encouraged and directed by their leaders (Ford & Harding, 2015). There are some differences present between a simply popular leader and a charismatic leader. Because the charismatic leadership has been practised by the leader, who has the proper attitude of transform the values and beliefs of the followers. In visionary leadership, those types of leaders have been involved who recognise the steps, process and methods of leadership. Successful leaders always implement their visions and planning into realities.

Conclusion

A leader may follow whatever approach in his leadership activities, but the main emphasis should be given on maintaining the systematic performance of the followers that will ensure the success of the whole team. Achievement of the common goal through achieving individual goals is critical aspects of an effective leadership approach. In a learning organisation, continuous learning process needs to be imposed on the working systems. Such strategic move will ensure the creativity and innovation of the leader along with the followers in their regular activities towards the fulfilment of the common aim of that particular group.

From the whole discussion, I acknowledge that the leader of a team or a group needs to possess some essential qualities such as the capability to motivate, encourage and influence others and make their vision clear about the mission of the team. Such qualities are influential so that employees can perform with required standard and skills for the accomplishment of their ultimate goal. Being a leader the person should not be frightened of taking the calculated risks as all the followers are depended on those particular decisions. Progress and success can only be achieved through the proper practice of leadership according to a particular situation. The leaders need to grab the opportunities through which the members of a learning organisation can use their strengths so that they can reach the peak of success.

References

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Antonakis, J., & House, R. (2014). Instrumental leadership: Measurement and extension of transformational–transactional leadership theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(4), 746-771.

Avolio, B., & Locke, E. (2012). Contrasting different philosophies of leader motivation. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(2), 169-191.

Burns, J. (2012). Leadership (1st ed.). New York, NY: Open Road Integrated Media.

Desai, D. (2010). Co?creating learning: insights from complexity theory. The Learning Organization, 17(5), 388-403.

Ford, J., & Harding, N. (2015). Followers in leadership theory: Fiction, fantasy and illusion. Leadership.

Lutz, S., Lyon, T., & Maxwell, J. (2013). Quality Leadership when Regulatory Standards are Forthcoming. The Journal Of Industrial Economics, 48(3), 331-348.

Mujtaba, B., & Sungkhawan, J. (2011). Situational Leadership And Diversity Management Coaching Skills. Journal Of Diversity Management (JDM), 4(1), 1.

Murray, P., & Chapman, R. (2013). From continuous improvement to organisational learning: developmental theory. The Learning Organization, 10(5), 272-282.

Rosch, D., & Villanueva, J. (2016). Motivation to Develop as a Leader. New Directions For Student Leadership, 2016(149), 49-59.

Santa, M. (2015). Learning organisation review – a “good” theory perspective. The Learning Organization, 22(5), 242-270.

Santos-Lang, C. (2016). Evaluative Diversity and the Board. Board Leadership, 2016(146), 4-8.