Importance of Leadership in an Organization-Sample for Students

Question: Identify a person who you consider to be a successful or effective leader. This could be someone you work with or for (for example: business, professional, sport, volunteer work, religious organisations etc.) or anyone who through some association you judge to be a good leader. It needs to be someone you can observe in person or from your past experience, not a public figure or someone you have read about. Answer: Introduction: The company which has been chosen in this particular assignment is Schneider Electric. The name of the leader that is the supervisor chosen is Arbie Hassan. A questionnaire has been formulated in order to interview the leader and to understand the nature of his leadership and his particular style. The questionnaire has a total of eight questions which aim to understand the different aspects of a persons leadership. The questions aim to understand the contribution of the leader to the team and to the company as a whole. It also helps in understanding what the leader does to motivate his team. Analysis: Importance of leadership in an organisation: The concept of leadership is the ability and also the willingness to take the ownership of the organisation which is combined with the intrinsic drive to perform what is best for the specific organisation. For the concept of leadership to be effective to any particular organisation it needs to be ensured that it is built on a solid foundation and consists if a clear mission and also a vision for the future, a specific strategy and also a particular culture which is conducive to the concept of success (Yukl 2013). The necessity for leaders to understand these concepts are essential for the effectiveness as well as the personal growth. In case the leaders help their team members work effectively the organisational goals can be properly achieved. The ability of the leaders to manage their team ensures that their team performs to the best of their ability (Crevani, Lindgren and Packendorff 2010). Leadership frames of reference: There are four frames of reference for a leader. These include those of structural, human, political and symbolic. The frames of reference in connection to leadership are crucial to determine how the situations are defined and what actions are taken. These frames of reference determine how the situations are defined and whatever actions are to be taken. The outlook of different leaders is different and so are their frames of reference. The leaders who follow the structural frame of reference give major amount of emphasis on the setting of goals. These leaders often give too much pressure on the goal establishment. Therefore it might lead to problems of the team members if they feel that their problems are not being understood by their leaders. The structural frame of reference focuses on the architecture of the organisation (Levay 2010). The human resource frame of reference is that where people are the most valuable. Leaders with a human resource frame of reference give the most value to the people who work under them and their team members. In this particular scenario if the leaders give importance to the people only, often it might happen that the goals of the organisation might be hampered in the process. The human resource frame focuses on the people and their relationships (Gardner et al. 2010). The leaders who have a political frame of reference, consider that the organisation might have several areas of ongoing or existing conflict which might be responsible for changes in the organisation. This frame of reference can prove to be toxic for the overall organisation as a whole and can deter the creativity of the organisation (Babcock-Roberson and Strickland 2010). The symbolic frame of reference is the system of shared meaning and value. This frame of reference allows the leaders to have their faith is the meaning shared by members infusing creativity, passion into their work as well as an overall positivity (Yukl and Mahsud 2010). Observation: From the interview which has been conducted with the supervisor of the organisation it has been found that he mostly holds the symbolic frame of reference with respect to leadership and gives a great amount of emphasis on the fact that there is shared interests and proper importance given to each member of the team. This does not imply that he allows his team members to neglect the organisational goals and become inefficient. It can be said that Arbie Hassan has great value for integrity and also the demonstration of honesty and trust in all the actions of the organisation. It has been seen from the interview that the values of integrity, customer focus and respect for the people find paramount importance to the organisation. From this it can be said that the leader is focussed towards the needs of the organisation. Hassan is of the opinion that an all-round focus is important for the success of the organisation. He is genuine as a leader as he gives due respect to people and focuses on the positives of each of the team members. It can also be said that leader did not in any way wrongly utilize his or her power. He tried to uplift the people as much as he could so that they got the zeal to perform their tasks better and much more enthusiasm. He was not afraid of challenges and did not deter from explaining them to the team. He also made sure that the team remained motivated at all times in order to perform whatever work was necessary effectively. It can also be stated that the leadership style of Hassan was to a certain extent situational as well as charismatic. Hassan can be considered to be situational because, based on the interview with him as well an overall verbal discussion, it can clearly be stated that, he was not strict to the point of being oblivious to the situation of the workers. He tried to be understanding towards the needs of the workers and help them whenever they needed it the most. He also had stated that on several occasions he sorted the work patterns for the people and tried to ensure that their work load would be a little less. Hassan as a leader was not even afraid of challenges. He stated that at the time of challenges he had to work a bit hard to persuade his subordinates that they might be afraid of taking up risks in their work. In case of the Schneider Electric, there were challenges faced when the electric utilities costs were to be reduced for ensuring that the level of operational excellence is to be maintained. The teams also had to balance the demands peaks and the low levels of intermittent production. Often it happens that the team members feel a bit frustrated as explained by the leader and therefore they need a little bit of motivation. Hassan is not someone to ignore the needs of his employees. Thus as a leader he is responsible as well as dependable. The success of Hassan as a team leader is adequately reflected in his popularity among his team. Everyone considers him to be dependable and noteworthy as a responsible person. It is the opinion of the team that Hassan is very capable as a team leader and as a friend. Hassan has been believed to be a friend, a philosopher and a proper leader who assists the team in moving forward specifically it times of need. This can be regarded to be the true spirit of a leader. The friendly attitude of Hassan was responsible for keeping the employees at ease. This outlook also helped the people become more and more concerned towards the vision of the organization. In difficult situations Hassan has been by the side of his team and has helped in their individual assessments, on the other hand he himself has made it a point to understand the point of view of each of his or her team members. Therefore it can be said that he has embodied the situational leadership style in this particular sense. Due to his friendly attitude and helpful nature as a leader, Hassan has received adequate help and support from his team members which has helped him in overcoming difficult situations. The regular meetings organised by the him, has also helped in making sure that the team has a proper commitment level and consideration towards their leader as well as their organisation. The regular meetings which have been organised by the Hassan as a leader have helped the team members understanding the proceedings of the organisation and their importance with respect to the organisation. They did not remain uninformed at any stage of the organisation. It can also be said that Hassan was responsible and understanding as a team leader and never failed to understand that his words and actions might have a severe impact on the team members. That he was considerate is evident from the fact that when a team member particularly performed well he tried to utilize it as a personal learning experience for his team members apart from congratulating the member, he motivated him to perform even better for his personal growth as well as the overall growth of the organisation. Hassan also ensured that the members of his team took examples from their own achievements to help them perform better in the times of stress. The difficulties of decision making are also inherent with the responsibilities of a leader. As a leader Hassan feels that the choice of a particular person who underperforms is extremely difficult. This shows that there is a sense of truthfulness and integrity in his decision making. In case of leaders who are not considerate, the decision of suggesting names of employees for attrition is not a major issue. This is something which Hassan has shown to be completely opposite. Hassan has not ever made wrong use of his power or influence. He tried to increase the output and effectiveness of his team at all possible stages. As a leader despite possessing a formal position and having a legitimate power to govern his employees, Hassan never misused his power which is the sign of a great leader. He also helped his team members attain their respective objectives. As a leader he was not coercive but only tried to push his team members to success. This helped his team as well as the overall benefit of each of his employees. With regard to the responses which Hassan received from his team members, it can be said that they complied to his decisions in majority of cases and they even agreed to his decisions on most occasions and this was because he was less of a leader and more of a friend to his team. With respect to the concept of resistance, it can be said that he did not face any sort of resistance from the members at any time because they complied with his decisions. A problem could be faced in case Hassan was an autocratic leader, but he was actually a situational leader who helped all his team members under any consequences. In view of the concept of commitment it can be said that the team members were extremely committed to the viewpoints of Hassan and adopted his viewpoint under all situations. Reflection: From the complete study of the information and the leadership style of Hassan, I can safely say that he was a proper leader in the true sense of the term. He fulfilled all his responsibilities to the best of his ability. As a team, Hassan headed one which were dependent and independent in both measures. The team members where independent when it came to taking their personal work decisions and were dependent when it came to relying on their leader for taking major decisions. In form of a leader, Hassan displayed confidence, control over suitable information, organisational centrality and also the capability of coping with uncertainty. It can be said that the control of valuable information pertaining to the company can cause the leader to be liable for such information. Hassan however, never misused any information which he had control over. 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