Abstract
Leadership is understood as an interactive and complex process. It is understood as the product of complex social relationships embedded in the logic and dynamic of the social system. This paper concentrates on the leadership strategies learnt in contemporary leadership and the issues which these strategies are meant to address. It also shows how the improved knowledge of leadership issues and strategies can be effectively used in one’s career. Strategies that can be used to see to it that one continues to learn more about contemporary leadership issues and strategies are also highlighted.
Introduction
Leadership has taken a dramatic shift over the recent past. The strong-armed approach to leadership success has given-way to the concept of allowing the follower to become an invested contributor to the overall mission. Group achievement has been more enabled by intrinsic motivation rather than using the extrinsic rewards as a means to individual or group achievement. Lautzenheiser (n.d) gives four laws of leadership, which must be understood and integrated into every decision made by the assigned leader in order to find success in the modern blue-print of leadership. These laws include: people are more important than titles; we can’t lead others until we lead ourselves, leaders are measured by what they give, and leaders should assume total responsibility. It is designed to enable participants develop their knowledge and an understanding of what it is to lead and be led in a contemporary global environment which is characterized by unprecedented change and uncertainty.
Researchers have done quite a lot on leadership that is aimed to enhance organization’s success. One of the factors in contemporary leadership that comes out very strongly is that it is not simply the number or quality of individual leaders that determines organization’s success, but the ability of formal and informal leaders to pull together in the support of organizational goals that ultimately makes the difference. The key drivers and business strategies should have clear implications for what leaders must do well in order for the organization to succeed. Leadership development activities should be designed to ensure that individual leaders and the collective leadership of the organization are prepared to implement the most important strategies related to the key drivers (Center for Creative Leadership, 2009).
A strategy learnt in the contemporary leadership is the movement from a dependent/independent culture to a move of an interdependent leadership culture which will support a strategy that calls for coordinated action across functions and regions. In this strategy, it will be very vital to use action development initiatives so as to engage employees at all levels in leading required changes. This makes employees to embrace the changes and feel part and parcel of the organization (Center for Creative Leadership, 2009).
A coordinated function across all functions and regions integrates the functions of the organization and enables them to be directed towards the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. It enables employees to feel appreciated and their efforts are recognized while their views are put into great considerations before decisions are made. This will in effect result to a more motivated work force that will see to it that organization goals are achieved since these goals have been merged with the employees’ goals (Accel-Team, 2010).
Another important strategy is sharing a positive vision. The vision has to be clear, bold and simple so as to enable everyone in the organization understand it and rally around it. Sharing this vision everyday and encouraging managers and employees to do the same will energize everyone towards a common vision, goal and destination. It will also be vital to turn negative energy into positive solutions, which will require utilizing current challenges, problems and complaints as a way to generate new ideas, innovations and paths to success. Filling inadequacies with positive leadership, positive communication and positive action ascertains one of a stronger and a better future (Gordon, 2009).
Another contemporary leadership strategy is the continuous sharing of the visions for the future. This will mean that one does not need to stay in the office but needs to be seen and heard, at the same time hear and see. Communication is very vital in contemporary leadership. Enhancing communication is a strategy that will allow feedback from the employees and the customers. It is a way in which bottlenecks that exist in the organization can be identified and dealt with for effective organization’s output. When positive energy is often communicated to the employees, then negativity and fear will rarely breed and grow in the organization. Managers will also be in a better position to communicate with their teams and come up with policies and issues which inhibit their output and they will give credit where it deserves (O’Connor, 2010).
Effectiveness of Contemporary leadership in HR
In the Human resources, contemporary leadership will be of great essence. This is due to various advantages and various ways in which managerial problems and challenges can be dealt with. Employees’ empowerment is top on the list. This is because when employees are involved in decision making, they feel encouraged and challenged to improve their output. Human nature is simple but very complex too, the understanding and appreciation of this is a prerequisite to effective employee motivation in the workplace and through effective management and leadership. Communication and cultural integration, work to a high extent to understand the nature of the employees that will lead to development of policies in order to empower them (Accel-Team, 2010).
A situation in which the strategies learnt might work for the organization is during change implementation. This is usually a period that is faced with a lot of resistance mostly from employees. Change comes as a threat to the daily routine that employees are used to. In contemporary leadership, the employees are involved in making change as their opinions are sought. They are at a good position to tell the need for change, and as a result the proposed change will face very low resistance if any. If a manual system wants to be automated, as a result of improved technological advancement, this is well communicated to every employee, and the advantages and the disadvantages of the same are known to the employee. It will thus be easy to implement change in the organization (Chapman, 2009).
Another situation where contemporary leadership will be deemed useful is expansion and growth of the organization. The competence development and deployment in employees, gives them a capacity that they are able to handle more and more challenges. On the contrary, organizations are faced with unpredictable environments, in situations where the goals of the organization conflicts with the goals of the employees, it would not be proper to give the employee an upper hand in decision making. This would lead to poor policies development that would be costly to the organization (Gordon, 2009).
Strategies to learn more about contemporary Leadership Issues and Strategies
Leaders are made but not born. It is imperative for a strong leader to always think ahead, anticipating, ready with solutions when problems arise. The leader is able to obtain information on the staff and the customer and is able to use that information to grow the company or department. It is thus a vital strategy for one to acquire as much information, regarding the customer and the employees in order to be in a good position to practice contemporary leadership. Another strategy will involve attending leadership training and development seminars and workshops. Meeting with other leaders from the same or different industries will give one a broader perspective of contemporary leadership. Information from research based institutions will also be of great importance in enhancing one’s skills on contemporary leadership (O’Connor, 2010).
Action Plan to develop Actual Skills as an effective Leader
It will be vital to develop a strong personal philosophy. It is the foundation in which to build strategy, management, and operational activities. According to Chapman (2009), operational activities in any organization need to be reconcilable with a single congruent philosophy. For leadership to work well, employees must be able to connect their expectations, aims and activities to a basic purpose or philosophy of the organization. It should provide a vital reference point for employees’ decisions and actions.
Improvement on leadership style and behavior will also enhance leadership skills. The growing awareness and demand for idealistic principles in leadership are increasing the emphasis on business ethics, corporate responsibility, emotional maturity, personal integrity and the triple bottom line which represents profit, people and planet. It provides an excellent multi-dimensional framework for explaining, developing and assessing leadership potential and capability. This will involve making others winners which only come by the realization that the leader has more to gain by not winning. Exercise of integrity, having an effective appreciation and approach towards corporate responsibility, leading by example, being mature among others will also improve the leadership skills (Chapman, 2009).
References
Accel-Team, (2010). Employee Motivation: Theory and practice. Retrieved 10 May 2010 from, http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/index.html
Chapman, A., (2009). Leadership Development Methods and Tips. Retrieved 10 May 2010 from, http://www.businessballs.com/leadership.htm
Center for Creative Leadership, (2009). Developing a Leadership Strategy. Retrieved 10 May 2010 from, http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/research/LeadershipStrategy.pdf
Gordon, J., (2009). 5 Positive Leadership Strategies. Retrieved 10 May 2010 from, http://www.jongordon.com/blog/2009/06/15/5-positive-leadership-strategies/
Lautzenheiser, T., (n.d.) Foundation of Contemporary Leadership. Retrieved 10 May 2010 from http://www.musicforall.org/programs/gn/downloads/drtim/Foundation.pdf
O’Connor, Kathleen, (2010). 7 Leadership Strategies To Help You Handle Change. Retrieved 10 May 2010 from, http://superperformance.com/7leaderstrategies.html
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