Leadership Ideas and Philosophies Assignment Sample

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• Subject Name : leadership

Organizational Dynamics

Executive Summary of Leadership Ideas and Philosophies

• The report highlights the important characteristics, principles and requirements of an ideal leader. It focuses that the personal attributes of a leader such as communication, commitment, empathy, etc. have a direct influence on the team members of an organisation.
• This paper provides with the ideas and philosophies of leadership. It shows that philosophies and ideas guide the decision making of a leader. A successful leadership is when the leader capitalizes on his strengths and work on managing his weaknesses.
• The paper also highlights the various styles of leadership which are used in different organisations for different purposes.
• The action plans which are required to achieve leadership goals and objectives are also highlighted in the paper. It is important to determine the goal and then develop an action plan to achieve that. Along with it, continuous revaluation and supervision needs to be done by the leader. Communication style, compassion, skills and consistency are required to achieve these action plans.

Introduction to Leadership Ideas and Philosophies

Leadership models provide us with a process or framework that can be applied to adapt to the dynamic environment, organisation or staffs. A philosophy in leadership is a belief system that guides the decision making of a leader (Dulewicz et al., 2005)

 It includes core principles, perspectives and values There are many ideas and philosophies of leadership. The main philosophies are-

• Authentic Leadership: The qualities of authentic leadership are being motivated by a bigger purpose, being true to one's self, making decisions that fit the value system and concentrating on long term sustainability.
• Ethical Leadership: The main factors that are included in ethical leadership are:
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): This is a kind of self-regulation where the business supervises and follows the norms and standards that are set.
• Fair Trade: This is defined as a strategy aimed to alleviate poverty and sustainable development.
• Work-Life Balance and the Psychological Contract: It is very important to balance work life. A psychological contract is an informal contract which is not enforceable and covers beliefs and perceptions of the role of an employee.
• 3P Approach- Purpose, Planet, People, Principles: This approach along with considering the world we live in, aims to maintain a balance between organisational purpose and personal needs of people.
• French and Raven- Sources of Power: Power can be categorised into five bases. These are coercive, reward, legitimate, referent and expert power.
• Servant leadership: This idea of leadership gives preference and priority to the colleagues and the organisation. There are ten attributes of the servant leader that were developed by Larry Spear. These are listening, stewardship, conceptualisation, commitment to growth, empathy, awareness, foresight, persuasion and community building.
• Value-based Leadership: This leadership is based on the concept that people are motivated by their values and also live by them. Value-based leadership is good when the values come from the top.

This report highlights the principles of leadership and portrays the definition, traits, characteristics, styles, attitudes and models of an ideal leader. The paper focuses on the various styles of leadership behaviours. This report also outlays the action plans that are required to achieve leadership goals and objectives. Besides providing some leadership ideas and philosophies, the paper also finds out the skills, behaviours, attitudes and other skills that are required to achieve the set leadership goals and objectives.

Definition of an Ideal Leadership

In simple words, leadership is an art of motivating a group of people to function in a manner so that the common goal is achieved. In the organisational setting, the definition of leadership means directing the employees and staffs with a strategy to achieve the needs and objectives of the company (Geoghegan, 2008).

In other words, organisational leadership is a dual-focused management approach:

• It works towards what is best for the individuals.
• It works towards what is best for a group as a whole.

Organisational leadership is a work ethic or an attitude and empowers an employee who is any position to lead from the top, middle or bottom of a company. It requires an understanding of their worldview along with the worldviews of others. Worldview is defined as the image which is created from different lenses through which individuals look at the world. An individual's worldview is described by his attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and the external environment which influences him. Thus, organisational leadership requires an understanding of the worldviews of all individuals of an organisation which are diverse and conflicting.

It is very important to capitalize on strengths and manage around weaknesses to have a successful leadership (Turner, 2007). The building blocks of strength are skills, knowledge and natural talents. To excel in a role, it is important to have strength in every aspect of that role. Excellent performers maximise their strengths and work on managing their weaknesses by working on them.

Principles of Organisational Leadership

There are few important principles of leadership which are required for the success of any organisation:

• Become the most favoured provider for your market: For the success of an organisation, it is very important to become a preferred provider in the respective market such that the customer favours to purchase that product versus its competition. Thus, competitive advantage helps the business to flourish in the market. For becoming a preferred provider, it is important to provide reliable products and services along with great customer experience.
• Establishment of right tone at top culture: It is necessary to establish the right tone at the top and institutional culture. Tone consists of ethics, honesty and integrity with which the business functions. In some companies, these ethical tones and cultural is given while in others they are not.
• Ensure a culture to improve continuously: An environment should be nurtured where employees develop a sense of ownership. Leader should ensure that the needed resources are provided to them and employees should be informed that they are expected to continuously improve their part of the business.
• Hire manpower possessing sound critical judgement: It is necessary to employ manpower properly. This will also help to save the cost of employing and training again and again for an organisation.
• Pointing out the facts about brutal reality: A leader needs to keep independent thinkers around him so that he could get brutal facts of reality. An environment should be created in an organisation that invites new and creative opinions. It is also equally important for a leader to consider these opinions.

Characteristics of Leadership

An effective leader has the power to influence others to get the goals achieved. Leaders can understand every piece of the puzzle and make the employees understand. The communication of the leaders instil excitement in the employees to work hard and accomplish things. It is believed that leaders are credible and can be trusted. They are honest with their communication and interactions. They do not change as per the environment.

Styles of Organisation Leadership

There are different styles of organisation leadership to suit every type of organisation. It is very significant to find the leadership style that best fits our personality and our business.

• Transformational leadership: A transformational leader is one who challenges the old ways and techniques of an organisation. He dares to bring new changes in the culture, thoughts and procedures of an organisation.

The qualities of a transformational leader are:

• Creative
• Empathetic
• Encouraging
• Democratic Leadership: This type of leadership style requires cultivating participation, delegation of responsibilities and synthesizing the talents of employees in an organisation.

The qualities of a democratic leader are:

• Supportive
• Autocratic Leadership: In this style of leadership, the leader prefers to take charge and every member of an organisation answers to a hierarchy that leads up to this figure.

The qualities of an autocratic leader are:

• Confident
• Decisive
• Laissez-Faire Leadership: In this style, leaders take the hands-off technique to decision making and completion of the task.

 The qualities of this style of leadership are:

• Open-minded
• Trusting
• Communicative
• Bureaucratic Leadership: In this style, there are highly formalised set of rules, regulations and structures.

The qualities of the leader in this style are:

• Organised
• Consistent
• Servant Leadership: This style of leadership empowers employees and have a direct interaction with the clients (Waterman, 2011).

The qualities of a servant leader are:

• Receptive
• Encouraging
• Persuasive
• Transactional Leadership: In this style, the leaders have to look at the work performed by the employees and ensure that they perform the work effectively and efficiently.

The top qualities are:

• Regimented
• Efficient
• Focused
• Situational Leadership: The leader in this style adapts strategy with the changing dynamics.

The qualities are:

• Adaptable
• Versatile
• Cross-Cultural Leadership: In this style of leadership, leaders know how to achieve unified goals keeping in mind the differences and culturally diverse partners.

The qualities are:

• Respectful
• Inclusive
• Charismatic Leadership: The charismatic leader would inspire others through communication skills, commitment, personal empathy and positive example.

The qualities are:

• Influential
• Inspiring

Attitudes of Leadership

There are certain attitudes and behaviours to become a successful leader. There are many aspects required to become an effective leader, right from experience and knowledge to planning and strategy (Tate, 2006). There is a significant role of personal attitude for successful leadership. Some of them are positive communication, gratitude, uniting the team, empowering and developing others, showing empathy and taking responsibility.

Leadership Goals and Objectives

• Action Plan

The crucial part of any business is setting action plans to achieve a goal. It is important to set Leadership SMART goals.

1. Specific
2. Measurable
3. Attainable
4. Relevant
5. Timeliness

There are four steps which should be included in a strategic leadership action plan. Firstly, goals need to be determined. Secondly, measurable action steps should be created and assigned within a timeline. Thirdly, progress should be verified by continuously reviewing the outcomes. Lastly, the plan needs to be adjusted.

Factors Required to Achieve Leadership Goals

Several factors contribute to the ability of a leader to influence others.

1. Communication style: Communication is a significant factor that affects the relationships within an organisation. Leaders should always communicate understandably and kindly.
2. Consistency: Consistency is a must for a leader. This influences the behaviour of other employees towards achieving the goal. If leaders are consistent with their direction, team members will operate effectively.
3. Compassion: If the leader cares about their team members, the team members demonstrate a higher level of commitment towards work.
4. Connection to Purpose: Connection the dots are very important in an organisation to achieve an overall mission. Thus, the leader should connect organisational objectives, daily tasks and projects to achieve the overall mission.

Conclusion on Leadership Ideas and Philosophies

The philosophies in leadership are personal and are specific to the situations. The leadership philosophy reflects the actual values and the conditions of several employees. One of the way to lead is through love. To be an effective leader, team members can be treated with respect and care. This will avoid the cut-throat competition which often occurs in any business and can avoid distrust among people.

 In the relational leadership style, the leader can ask the employee about the factors that are contributing to their lack of engagement. One can also lead with optimism. An effective leader will always look for the traits and qualities of every employee of the organisation. He will be optimistic about everyone’s potential and will never overlook strengths in their employees. Thus, by focusing on every employees' innate potential will provide more opportunities to use the unique talents of every employee.

An effective leader is one who always set the vision which he is trying to accomplish. Being a facilitator- learner leader means to set vision along with welcoming other ideas to achieve the goal. In the circumstances where disruption is common, leading as a learner as a leadership philosophy is very beneficial.

It is very common to face challenges in any organisation. The way a leader thinks of these challenges plays a major role in the success of an organisation. It is very important to be enthusiastic about the challenges whenever they come. This will help to motivate the team. It is very important to always be inspired as a leader and motivate the team members to look for the solutions instead of problems.

References for Leadership Ideas and Philosophies

Baig, S. A., Iqbal, S., Abrar, M., Baig, I. A., Amjad, F., Zia-ur-Rehman, M., & Awan, M. U. (2019). Impact of leadership styles on employees’ performance with the moderating role of positive psychological capital. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 1-21.

Dulewicz, V., & Higgs, M. (2005). Assessing leadership styles and organisational context. journal of Managerial Psychology.

Geoghegan, L., & Dulewicz, V. (2008). Do project managers’ leadership competencies contribute to project success?. Project Management Journal, 39(4), 58-67.

Müller, R., & Turner, J. R. (2007). Matching the project manager’s leadership style to project type. International journal of project management, 25(1), 21-32.

Mumford, T. V., Campion, M. A., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). The leadership skills strataplex: Leadership skill requirements across organizational levels. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(2), 154-166.

Tate, W. (2006). Looking inside the organisation for leadership. Developing HR Strategy, May, Institute for.

Waterman, H. (2011). Principles of ‘servant leadership and how they can enhance practice. Nursing Management, 17(9).

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