Leadership Development and Leadership Effectiveness free essay sample

Leadership development and leadership effectiveness Francis Amagoh Department of Public Administration, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research, Almaty, Kazakhstan Abstract Purpose – It is important that organizations embark on leadership development programs that will enhance leadership effectiveness. The purpose of this article is to identify some leadership development initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a review of the literature to offer some leadership development practices.Findings – Leadership development should be comprehensive and systematically integrated into the organizational culture in order to produce leaders who can deal adequately with organizational challenges. Practical implications – Organizations and leadership developers should use a systemic approach in order to address the current leadership crisis. This paper emphasizes a global perspective and an organizational commitment to lead ership development. It is suggested that organizations should have a long-term focus towards realizing the bene? ts from investments in leadership development programs.The article offers a number of approaches to the selection and development of leaders at all levels of an organization. We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership Development and Leadership Effectiveness or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Originality/value – All organizations face the problem of developing good leaders. This paper helps to identify some approaches to leadership development that will enhance leadership effectiveness and organizational performance. Keywords Leadership, Leadership development, Organizational performance Paper type Literature review Leadership development and effectiveness 989 Organizations of all sizes are engaged in a competitive environment and hence need the right kind of leadership to survive. Leadership Development and Leadership Effectiveness free essay sample The current Issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. Nearsightedly. Com/0025-1747. HTML Leadership development and leadership effectiveness Francis Imago Department of Public Administration, Astrakhan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research, Almost, Astrakhan Abstract purpose It is important that organizations embark on leadership development programs that will enhance leadership effectiveness. The purpose of this article is to identify some leadership development initiatives. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a review Of the literature to offer some leadership development practices. Findings Leadership development should be comprehensive and systematically integrated into the organizational culture in order to produce leaders who can deal adequately with organizational challenges. Practical implications Organizations and leadership developers should use a systemic approach in order to address the current leadership crisis. This paper emphasizes a global perspective and an organizational commitment to leadership development. It is suggested that organizations should have a long-term focus towards realizing the unifies from investments in leadership development programs. We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership Development and Leadership Effectiveness or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The article offers a number of approaches to the selection and development of leaders at all levels of an organization. Originality/value -? All organizations face the problem of developing good leaders. This paper helps to identify some approaches to leadership development that will enhance leadership effectiveness and organizational performance. Kenny. Enjoys Leadership, Leadership development, Organizational performance Paper type Literature Leadership development and effectiveness 989 Organizations of all sizes are engaged in a competitive environment and once need the right kind of leadership to sun,vive.Organizations with effective leaders tend to innovate, respond to changes in markets and environments, creatively address challenges, and sustain high performance (Birdman et al. , 2006). While there are several definitions of leadership, in essence leadership is an act of motivating people to act by non-coercive means (Popper and Lipstick, 1993). Alas et al. (2007) view leadership in terms of individual traits, leader behavior, interaction patterns, role relationships, follower perceptions, influence over followers, influence on task goals, and influence on organizational culture. Birdman et al. 2006) and Yuck (2006) describe leadership as a process of influence toward the accomplishment of objectives. This view of leadership generally focuses on the dyadic relationships between a leader and follower, but not on what conditions need to be in place for effective leaders to emerge or to be developed (Birdman et al. , 2006). It is important that all employees be equipped with leadership skills (McCauley and Douglas, 2004) because leadership roles and processes are critical in setting direction, creating alignment, and nurturing commitment in roofs of people (Johnson, 2000).According to Morrison et al. (2003), the essence of leadership traditionally has been the Management Decision Volvo. 47 No. 6, 2009 up. 989-999 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0025-1747 DOI 10. 1 108/00251740910966695 MD 47,6 990 ability to first understand the theories and concepts Of leadership and then to apply them in real life scenarios. The absence of effective leadership has had a significant impact on the ability of organizations to implement and sustain strategic change initiatives. Ernestine et al. 2005) suggest that leadership kills should include such elements as envisioning the future, establishing goals, communicating, rallying support for the vision, planning for its implementation and putting the plans in place. Dieseling and Carr (2004) add that leader development is built on a foundation of cognitive, socio- emotional, and behavioral skills. These skills, supported by leader attributes such as self-awareness, openness, trust, creativity, and practical, social and general intelligence, provide the basis for leadership.Thus, it is important that Organizations pay special attention to development Of future leaders in order o sustain long-term effective leadership practices and high organizational performance. This paper presents some of the leadership development initiatives discussed in the literature and argues that the institutionalizing of a comprehensive leadership development program in the fabric of an organizational culture is essential to ensure leadership effectiveness and high organizational performance.Leadership development Institutional leadership development can be defined as planned and systematic efforts to improve the quality of leadership (Groves, 2007). The widespread fla ttering of organizational structures and significant changes in work arrangements has required that organizations rethink how potential managers attain the necessary developmental experiences for senior leadership. The rapid changes in business, technology, political and social factors have called for the development of effective leadership skills (Copies, 1998). Consequently, leadership development programs have become an increasing priority for business and government organizations. Highly successful organizations focus on creating a comprehensive set of assessment and leadership placement practices that support the wide range of talents across the organization (Groves, 2007; Charka et al. , 2001 The key elements that contribute to a successful leadership experience include changing mindsets, a global focus, personnel development and improved business and leadership skills.Critical to the success of any leadership development process is the ability to encourage participants to reflect on learning experiences in order to promote the transfer of knowledge and skills to work contexts. The concept of a leadership development culture is similar to the idea of a learning organization (Birdman et al. , 2006; Sense, 1990). A learning organization facilitates change, empowers organizational members, encourages collaboration and sharing of informatio n, creates opportunities for learning, and promotes leadership development. According to Olio (2005), the primary goal of a good leader is to reinforce values and purpose, develop vision and strategy, build continuity, and initiate appropriate organizational change. AH olio (2005) adds that it is important that leadership developers first establish a metric for assessing leadership effectiveness, and then design experiments hat can establish a causal or statistically significant relationship between training initiatives and leadership competency.It is also necessary to develop a better understanding of the conditions or contextual factors needed to enable the development of effective leaders. With such an understanding, senior management can develop the conditions necessary to facilitate the growth of future leaders. Successful leadership development process also depends on the ability to encourage participants to reflect on learning experiences in order to promote transfer of knowledge and skills to work intents.It is essential that leaders be given opportu nities to practice new skills and knowledge in real work settings (action learning). Since leadership development entails both the understanding of concepts and the ability to practice them, it is important that business educators draw from a broad spectrum of pedagogical tools to align theory with application (Morrison et al. , 2003). In addition to covering technical job skills, such programs should focus on self-awareness, changing attitudes, building teams and improving interpersonal interactions.These competencies are believed to be instrumental keys to organizational performance and productivity (Burke and Collins, 2005). Popper and Lipstick (1993) indicate three components to a successful leadership development program. The first is developing self- efficacy in the domain of leadership. Self-efficacy is the extent to which a person believes he can perform well in a specific domain. The second is developing awareness of modes of motivating others. Different models of leadership are based on different models of motivation.Thus, developing different types of leaders requires enhancing awareness of different modes of motivation. The third component is developing specific leadership skills. Dervish skills are skills that leaders use in their interactions with followers. They include oral and written presentation, conducting group meetings, interviewing, giving feedback, etc. Improving leadership skills tend to increase the effectiveness of the interpersonal processes between leaders and followers, and consequently increases followers motivation.Some approaches to leadership development Integrated-solution approach Weiss and Nominal (2006) discussed an integrated-solution approach to leadership development, which consists of eight steps. The approach represents a strategic, synergistic and sustainable way for organizations to build the leadership capacity needed to survive in a competitive environment. It is strategic because it ensures that all development options are focused on helping the organization gain competitive advantage.This involves creating a comprehensive strategy for leadership development and implementing the strategy effectively. The approach is synergistic in that it strives to select and implement development options in a seamless manner that adds value to one another. Finally, the integrated-solution approach to leadership placement is sustainable because it takes a long-term perspective. It takes the view that leadership development is an iterative process that needs constant attention, focus, and resources.The eight steps in the integrated- solution approach to leadership development are: (1) develop a comprehensive strategy for integrated leadership development; (2) connect leadership developm ent to the organizations environmental challenges; (3) use the leadership story to set the context for development; (4) balance global enterprise-wide needs with local individual needs; (5) employ emergent design and implementation; Leadership development and effectiveness 991 (6) ensure that development options fit the culture; (7) focus on critical moments of the leadership lifestyle; and (8) apply a blended methodology (Weiss and Nominal, 2006, p. ). Experienced-based approach The experience-based approach to leadership development was proposed by Thomas and Cheese (2005) and represents a comprehensive way that knits together on-the-job experience, life experience, and specific skill development. The goal of experience-based leadership development is to equip employees to continuously tap into their experiences for insight into hat it takes to lead, what it takes to grow as a leader, and what it takes to develop as an effective leader. This approach is amenable to the developmental needs and opportunities of people at all stages of their careers.It is also responsive to the changing needs of organizations operating in complex and uncertain environments. Experience-based leadership development consists of three major processes, namely preparing developing, and preserving leadership skills. These processes together produce skills needed by leaders at all levels, as well as a concept of Dervish practice that encourages lifelong learning. Experience-based leadership development aims to equip employees to fuse together the totality of their experiences for insight into what it takes to be a good leader.It links the leadership development activities an organization already has in place (such as classroom training, assessment centers, career development, succession planning performance management) with real work assignments and innovative uses of information and communication technology. Formal mentoring Mentoring is a development relationship between a more experienced or skilled mentor and a less experienced or skilled protege, whereby both mentor and protege benefit from the relationship (Chaos et al. , 1 992; Day and Allen, 2004).Formal mentoring is a leadership development initiative, which includes learning goal orientation, mentoring functions, and leadership competencies (Kim, 2007). Formal mentoring programs are beneficial in two ways: (1) they are very flexible by allowing for one-on-one mentoring, peer mentor ing, or mentoring in groups, depending on the availability of mentors and the specific needs of potential leaders McCauley and Douglas, 2004); and (2) the team-based work in formal mentoring requires an immediate response from the leaders in setting direction, and leaders commitment to teamwork.Mentoring is comprised of three functions: (1) career support; (2) psychological support; and (3) role modeling (Cassandra and Raging, 1993). It can be the outcome of mutual learning, by providing the basis for proteges and mentors to learn from each other. Mentors can develop their leadership skills by leading proteges as leaders, while proteges can develop leadership capabilities through their mentors encouragement or feedback and role modeling.