Leadership

Introduction:

"Against a backdrop of increasing globalization, deregulation, the rapid pace of technological innovation, shifting social and demographic trends and the growing knowledge workforce, few would dispute that the primary task of management today is the leadership of organisational change" (Graetz, F., Rimmer, M., Lawrence, A. & Smith, A. 2003, Managing Organisational Change, Wiley, Milton. p. 206)

Nowadays times and science and technology are very fast to development. So many companies will change at the twenty-fist century. Effective educational leaders know change is inevitable and necessary for learning, growth, and achievement. The organization’s goal is success. So change is the only way to get success for any organizations. So the leader’s job is making plan to lets organization get successful changed. So the leader will personate some different roles when the company makes change process. That is a difficult job to do for leader, because leader needs to think about every last likelihood that can influence the change.

Change is difficult, because the change will influence someone’s profit. Maybe the leader will face some problems. So the leader must address problems related to change such as resistance, appease emotion. I know a Chinese traditional saying �the boat on the water, the water can support the boat and the water also can overthrow the boat.’(SiMaQian, 2000, p2) So the change is also dangerous for the leader.

There are many definitions for the leadership “Leadership has been defined in terms of traits, behavior, influence, interaction patterns, role relationships, and occupation of an administrative position” (Stogdill 1974, p.259) Barker (2002, p.51)

Managing change today facing the primary task is leadership. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the importance of leadership effectiveness in today’s environment. In this assignment, I will talk about what is leadership and why it is important. And then I will discuss the role of leadership in organization change process. I will also suggest how leader can address problem relate to change.

Body:

What is leadership and why it is important:

What is leadership? There are many definitions, and everyone seems to have their own opinion of what leadership means. Stogdill (1974, p.259) concluded, “There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept.” The amount of new definitions has continued unabated since Stogdill made his observation. Leadership has been defined in terms of traits, behaviour, influence, interaction patterns, role relationships, and occupation of an administrative position (Stogdill 1974, p.259). The general definition of leadership in Miller’s book is “the process of influencing the activities and attitudes of individuals and work teams towards goal achievement and continuous improvement and learning” (Miller,2003, p.14). I think leadership is a process by which an individual exerts positive influence over other members of a group. A leader is someone who performs behaviors recognized by group members as helpful to the group in achieving its goals.

Philip Crosby thinks “leadership is deliberately causing people-driven actions in a planned fashion for the purpose of accomplishing the leader’s agenda.”(Philip Crosby, 1993, p9) He’s mining is we need have clear goal in mind for the purpose, because we are going to achieve everything through actions taken by people. And let people know what is going to happen and what they are supposed to do for accomplish the leader’s agenda.

I find one interest definition, “leadership can be depicted in many ways- inspirational, prescriptive, etc. - depending on what the leader thinks will work. A sound way of exercising leader ship is through the use of what we call the three “R’s of leadership”- Resources, Relationships and Results.” (Blake. 1986, P2)

Barker (2002, p.51) concluded that “the essential nature of leadership is its power to influence the behavior of people towards achieving goals considered by the leader to be important”. This definition tells us that there is nothing mysterious or unique about leadership and that it is a capability and individual can acquire and exercise.

Reiley stated that “Leadership is about helping an organization move towards its vision. Leadership is all about helping others realize their potential.” (Barker, L. 2002, p.62). This means leaders should have the ability to inspire and stimulate others to achieve worthwhile goals.

Every leader is different. We need to find our own way or style that will be most effective for us and get the most out of our group.“Leaders come in five versions, with predictable degrees of effectiveness. Their titles are destructor, procrastinator, caretaker, preparer and accomplisher.” (Philip Crosby, 1993, P9).

Why the leadership is important, As Hout (1999, p.163) states, business today is not only faster but also basically different: it moves in a non-linear trend. There are many challenges confronting organisations, such as increasing competitions, technological advances, changing governmental regulations, and changing worker attitudes. He concluded that organisations required a higher level of leadership than ever before to survive and prosper. As work environments become more complex and pluralist for managers, new approaches to leadership are necessary to replace those, which are no longer applicable. Hammer and Champy (1993) also maintained that the old ways of doing business are dead.

To be a successful leader, managers must develop highly their leadership skills. Since leadership contributes toward integrating various job activities coordinating communication between organisational sub units, monitoring activities, and controlling deviations from standard. No amount of rules and regulations can replace an experienced leader who can make rapid and proper decisions.

The role of leadership in organization change process:

In today’s world, change is inevitable in virtually every organization. While there has always been incremental change in living and learning organizations, leaders must now contemplate fundamental or systemic and cultural change and transformation just to exist and