BENEFITS OF STUDYING LEADERSHIP

This blog seeks to bring forth my personal vision of leadership, my source of inspiration and the kind of role model I would be.

Leadership is viewed from different perspectives by different authors. According to Ulrich & Smallwood (2012) Leaders shape strategy, execute decisions, manage and develop talent; therefore being a successful leader requires knowing what is expected and doing it. Leadership is what assures efforts are focused on the right goals, objectives and activities (Hale 2004). It should occur at all levels within an organisation so that employees are constantly reminded of the vision of the organisation and what it has to attain.

I personally look at leadership, as the ability of a leader to be a motivator to his followers in the attainment of organisational goals. I believe I have what it takes to be a good leader. This is based on the peer feedback I received from my colleagues during our class activities. I received a good feedback regarding my ability to support individual team members. This was based on the ‘Tesco Motivational case study’ where I was the group leader, I was not appointed to be a leader therefore I was a situational leader; this was because I understood the motivation theories and had prepared for the task; this explains why my colleague Dana told  me “I was task-oriented”. Two other colleagues Ugo and Emmanuel told me “I was motivational and helped them to understand the case study”. This is because I explained the case study to the group before we started answering the questions (Mbongo 2012). However, my colleagues also told me I needed to develop on some areas and this was in regards to exhibiting more patience when dealing with individual group members (Mbongo 2012).

My vision on leadership has been greatly influenced by an innovative leader precisely Richard Branson. In an interview, when asked about his success as a business man and an entrepreneur Richard Branson said “Success comes from making enough mistakes” (Emerald 2012). This is an encouraging statement for those trying so hard to succeed in their business careers yet face failure rather than success. In addition, hearing such a statement from an achiever like Richard Branson with diversified business units within the Virgin Group was such an inspiration, bearing in mind that even great leaders like Branson made mistakes before ending up as successful businessmen.

Studying a module on leadership was helpful because it gave me a big insight and better understanding of leadership, thus making me to want to be a role model to my followers, a transformational leader who stands for ethical conduct and would be willing to work with team members in attaining company goals. I want my followers to look up to me as a leader who could lead them even in challenging times by turning challenges into opportunities, thus gives credence to Watkins (2012) assertion, who says that a manager’s role is to strongly influence his employees ability to see opportunities in turbulence and take advantage of them. I would be a leader whom several will look up to as a source of inspiration and motivation.

REFERENCE

Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2012 ‘EasyGroup hits turbulence: Succesful companies find failure comes easy’ Strategic Direction 20 (5) 20-22 (online) available from < http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=02580543&volume=20&issue=5&articleid=869449&show=abstract>   [21/12/12]

Hale, J. (2004) Performance Based Management: What Every Manager Should Do to Get Results.United States Of America: John Wiley& Sons Inc U

Mbongo, B. (2012) Leading in a changing World: Coursework one. Unpublished coursework. London: Coventry University London Campus

Ulrich, D., Smallwood , N. (2012) ‘What is Leadership’ Advances in Global Leadership. vol 7

Watkins, M.D. (2012) ‘How Managers Become Leaders’. Harvard Business Review 90(6), 64- 72

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ethical leadership defining it as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making” [and] the evidence suggests that ethical leader behaviour can have important positive effects on both individual and organisational effectiveness(Rubin et al 2010:216-17).

ETHICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LEADERS AND THEIR TEAMS

In this blog, I shall be examining ethical leadership in relation to teams and how ethics affects organisations effectiveness.

Ethical leadership is defined as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making” (Rubin et al 2010).

Ethical leadership is grounded on three building blocks which include; the need to be an exemplary ethical leader, treating people fairly and actively managing morality (Mayer et al 2012). The first two are based on the moral person component of leadership wherein ethical leaders have desirable characteristics such as being trust worthy and fair. The last block is based on the moral manager component of leadership whereby ethical leaders encourage normative behaviour and discourage unethical behaviour from their followers using transactional efforts such as communicating about ethics and punishing ethical behaviour (Brown, Trevino 2006).

Also, ethical leadership emphasizes on the importance of the two-way communication; leaders do not only express their opinions but also listen to the opinions of followers (Brown et al 2005).  Thus ethical leaders develop norms on how to treat others in organisations and this positively influences group relations (Mayer et al 2012).

In addition, working with an ethical leader reduces tension, conflict and personal attacks in the workplace (Mayer et al 2012). This is because employees become more at ease and willing to let co-workers express their opinions which they tend to respect those opinions. Therefore an ethical leader is essential because he is the role model to his followers.

Furthermore, ethical code is a set of moral principles which govern behaviour and enshrine a set of values and beliefs (McNutt, Batho 2005). Oil companies therefore have an ethical duty to keep the environment in which they operate sustainable. Failure to do so might not only affect the company financially but might equally harm the public image of a company thus negatively affects performance. In Ecuador for instance, Chevron was held liable for environmental damage and was ordered to pay $ 19 Billion. The previous ruling was $8.6 billion which was more than doubled because the company denied apologising publicly (BBC News 2012 cited in Mbongo 2012). An earlier decision by the CEO to apologise publicly to the Ecuadorian people would not have led to the company paying $19 billion for damages and also not have affected the reputation of the company.  The Chevron example further stresses the importance of ethical leadership in the oil industry as unethical behaviour could cause the CEO to lose his job; this was the case after the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, where CEO Tony Hayward was criticised for not properly handling the oil leak and was replaced by Bob Dudley (BBC News 2010)

In conclusion, ethics is an important part of leadership because a leader’s behaviour affects not just the employees but the organisation as a whole. Leaders are to possess ethical behaviours in order to be successful in the business world as seen above.

REFERENCES

Brown, M., Mitchel, Trevino, L. (2006) ‘Ethical Leadership: A review and future directions’ Leadership Quaterly 17:595-616

Brown, M., Trevino, L., and Harrisom ,D. (2005) ‘ Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes 97:117-134

BBC News (2012) Chevron appeals against asset freeze in Argentina [online] available from <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20276105> [17/12/2012]

BBC News (2010) ‘Robert Peston on why BP needs a new leader (online) available from <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10754329> [20/12/2012]

Mayer, D., Aquino, K., Greenbaum, R., Kuenzi M. ( 2012) ‘ Who does ethical leadership and why does it matter? An examination of antecedents and consequences of ethical leadership’ Academy of Management Journal 55(1), 151-171

McNutt,P., Batho,C. (2005) ‘Code of Ethics and employee Governance’ International Journal of Social Economics 32(8) p 656-666

Rubin,R., Dierdoff, E., Brown, M. (2010) ‘Do Ethical Leaders Get Ahead? Exploring Ethical Leadership and promotability’ Business Ethics Quaterly 20(2) pp 215-236

 

What do CEOs do that steers innovation in their companies? Are they the sole drivers of innovation leadership? And is there a direct link between the innovation capability of a firm and the charisma of its leader? (Bel 2010:47)

ANALYSIS OF LEADERS IN GLOBAL BUSINESS

This blog would look at two leaders form the oil and gas industry and how their innovative ideas and charisma improve the performance of their companies.

Management plays a vital role in enabling a successful innovation process. The business environment is very dynamic and ambiguous involving critical and integrative thinking, risk assessment, organisational culture (Sullivan 2011). Therefore management must be open to innovation as organisations, environment and opportunities change. This explains why Sullivan (2011) recognises management as an enabler for innovation.

This blog would therefore consider two leaders in the oil and gas industry who have brought up innovative ideas in their companies.

Jean-Michel Gires served as president and CEO of Total E&P Canada from 2009. He came up with the idea to implement innovative new tailings management and reclamation processes. This innovative new strategy would reduce the environmental impacts caused by oil sands such as contamination of waters and more importantly it would provide a quicker reclamation of land to an acceptable state (ACR 2012 cited in Mbongo 2012). According to Mr Gires “Our team is very pleased to receive approval of the Joslyn North Mine Project through this Order in Council. For nearly six years, Total has worked extremely hard to design and develop the best project possible – economically, socially and environmentally,” (market wire 2012). This statement made by Mr Gires explains that he was not the sole driver to the attainment of this strategy but he did that with the efforts of his team, thus showing his transformational leadership style.

In addition, this innovative approach by Mr Gires would be beneficial in helping his predecessor Mr Andre Goffart who took office December 1 2012 (Market wire 2012). Thus even with the absence of Mr Gires, the company would still pursue its innovative strategy implemented by Mr Gires.

Another leader in the oil and gas industry with innovative ideas is Mr Anthony Buckingham the CEO of Heritage Oil plc. He pursues a strategy focused on exploration and production of areas which have been overlooked (Heritage oil 2012). However, the CEO has come up recently with more innovative ideas by also considering areas which have been explored. This explains the divestment of the Miran block for the acquisition of 45% in OML 30 Nigerian oil field (Bloomberg 2012). This new strategy would improve the performance of company as was also explained by the Chief Financial Officer of Heritage, Paul Atherton who said that “This is transformational for Heritage, It’s not a case of taking away the focus, and it’s a rebalancing of the portfolio. We’ll have a greater proportion of oil, and the deal will be cash-flow generative.” (Bloomberg 2012). Thus this innovative idea would improve the financial performance of Heritage oil plc.

To conclude, the charisma and innovative ideas brought up by leaders are influential in improving the performance of their companies. However, the realisation of these ideas could not be done without the full collaboration with other company employees. This therefore explains that CEOs are not the sole drivers to innovation in an organisation.

REFERENCES

Bloomberg 2012 ‘Heritage Oil Buys Stake in Nigerian Field from Shell, Total’ (online) available from < http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-02/heritage-oil-buys-stake-in-nigerian-field-from-shell-total-1-.html> [20/12/2012]

Market Wire 2012 (online) available from <http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/total-e-p-canada-announces-new-president-and-ceo-1735738.htm> [19/12/12]

Market Wire 2012 (online) available from <http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/total-acknowledges-receipt-of-federal-order-in-council-for-joslyn-north-mine-project-1596618.htm [19/12/12]

Mbongo , B. (2012) International Environmental law: A proposal for the extension of an oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas. Unpublished Coursework. London: Coventry University London Campus

Sullivan, R. (2011) ‘Business Schools and the Innovation Conundrum’ Journal of Management Development 30(5), p492-498

 

 

Change is nothing new and a simple fact of life. Some people actively thrive on new challenges and constant change, while others prefer the comfort of the status quo and strongly resist any change. It is all down to the personality of the individual and there is little management can do about resistance to change (Mullins 2010: 753)

CHANGE AND RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

This blog seeks to examine change as an inevitable process in an organisation, the resistance to change and how such resistance should be managed.

Change is the most constant thing in life; it is dynamic, continuous and always present. Change Management Programs are special processes which managements in organisations deploy to infuse change initiatives into an organization. (Rigby 2005) Change is a necessity for all organisations if they are to grow and expand. Due to the fact that the environment constantly changes, managers are supposed to foresee these changes and prepare well ahead of time to face these changes. Change can originate internally within the organisation through staffing needs, new technology or change in structure of the organisation and externally it may include increased demands for quality and high levels of customer satisfaction and the need to increase performance (Boddy 2008).

In JC Penney for instance, change was orchestrated by internal forces. This was evident in 2000 when a new CEO Mr Ullman joined the company and changed the organisations culture from a formal and rigid style to an informal style. This also explains the fact that highly performing organisations could still adopt change processes as seen in the JC Penney case study where the company was performing well but the CEO Mr Ullman still saw the need to adopt changes in the company in order to improve the performance of the company (ICMR 2007)

The change of strategy in Heritage oil by the CEO Mr Buckingham was orchestrated by external factors. Heritage oil operates on a strategy focused on operating on areas which has been overlooked (Heritage oil Annual Report 2011). But with the need to improve its performance, the company is now looking at areas which have been explored. This is seen in the acquisition of stakes in the Nigerian oil field (Bloomberg 2012).

In as much as change is the most constant thing in life, it is strongly resisted by a good number of people (Kotter, Schlesinger 2008). Reasons for resistance could arise when members have insufficient information about the nature of the change or if they do not perceive the need for change and are comfortable in the old way of doing things (Robbins, Coulter 2007).

Therefore, management has to look at strategies of minimising these resistances which more often are bound to occur (Edmonds 2011). The question to be asked here is what should be done in cases of resistance to change? More often, leaders who receive resistance tend to be defensive and not communicative in their actions (Ford, Ford 2009). This should not be the case because resistance to change is a normal response but the attitude towards resistance is the key to successful change and Edmonds (2011) share the view that “In reality, change cannot be wholly managed; it will emerge naturally once a strategy for change is in place”. Thus managers will have to effectively communicate the new changes to be introduced to the employees through good communication forums in order to get them involved in the change process and avoid resistance from the employees. In this forum employees can express their views and concerns about the change. Management will also have to carefully explain to the employees the desired outcome of the change process. This will give the employees a better understanding of the changes to be introduced and will minimise resistance, because they will be effectively informed and will tend to see the need for change.  Management will also have to carefully explain to the employees the desired outcome of the change process. Being informed does  not only help employees to  become better  prepared to deal with the coming change but also makes them feel that they are important and valued partners in the organization (Bob, Economy 2005).

In addition, Kurt Lewin’s three stage model is essential in initiating a change process: the unfreezing, the changing and the refreezing (Robbins, Coutler 2007).

The unfreezing stage is the step whereby the system is opened. This could be as a result of a necessity to change or as a result of change in circumstances (Burnes 2009). In JC Penney, Ullman opened up the system which explains why he found the need for change. The changing stage is the transformation process.  According to Burnes (2009) this is when the changes are evaluated and implemented in an organisation. In JC Penney, Ullman initiated the ‘call me Mike campaign’, organised leadership conferences and training sessions for employees. This is the stage which is resisted, because some employees embraced the changes but some were comfortable in their old ways of doing things. The last stage which is the refreezing stage ensures the system closes with the changes in place. This is done by an assessment of the new changes and lessons to be learnt from it (Burnes 2009). In JC Penney, Ullman did this by conducting surveys to know employees opinions and feedback (ICMR 2007)

In conclusion, leadership in an organisation is an on-going process which involves all employees (Kouzes and Posner 2008) therefore for change to be effected it must consider the involvement of all employees to render it a success. However resistance to change is inevitable but if Lewin’s model is initiated in a change process, it would be helpful in motivating employees to adapt to new changes. Lewin’s model was used by Ullman and though he faced stiff resistance from some employees, he still succeeded through his transformational leadership style in motivating employees.

References

Bob, N & Economy, P. (2005) Management Bible. Boston: John and son company Inc

Boddy, D. (2008) Management: An introduction. 4^th edn. Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Burnes.B (2009) Managing Change.5^th edn. Harlow:  FT Prentice Hall

Bloomberg 2012 ‘Heritage Oil Buys Stake in Nigerian Field from Shell, Total’ (online) available from < http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-02/heritage-oil-buys-stake-in-nigerian-field-from-shell-total-1-.html> [20/12/2012]

Ford, J.D. and Ford, L.W. (2009) ‘Decoding Resistance to Change’, Harvard Business Review [Online] 87(4), 99-103.

Edmonds, J. (2011) ‘Managing successful change’ Industrial and Commercial Training 43(6), 349-353, 66pp

Heritage oil Annual Report2011 (online) available from<http:// www.heritageoilplc.com> [10/12/2012]

ICMR Center for Management Research (2007) Remarking JC Penney’s organizational culture

Kouzes, J. and Posner, B.Z. (2008) The Leadership challenge, 4^th Edn. Jossey-Bass

Kotter, J.P. and Schlesinger, L.A. (2008), ‘Choosing Strategies for Change’, in Jul-Aug 2008, Vol. 86 Issue 7/8, p130-139.

Robbins, S., Coutler, M. (2007) Management: Managing change and innovation.9^th edn. England: Prentice Hall Inc

Rigby, D. (2005) Management tools: An executive guide. Boston:Bains & company Inc.

BarbaraRuphine

THEORIES AND MODELS OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

This blog seeks to bring forth arguments in relation to the statement made by Ibarra and Hansen who are of the opinion that the ability to bring people together from different backgrounds, cultures, disciplines  and leverage all they have to offer is a must have for leaders.

Before bringing out the arguments for and against the statement made by Hansen and Ibarra, it is essential to define the concepts of leadership and management. Leadership is ‘a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people’ (Mullins 2012). Yukl (2011:26) defines leadership to be ‘“the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and  the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives”. Management on the other hand is defined as ‘getting work done through the…

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Research has constantly shown that diverse teams produce better results provided they are well led. The ability to bring people together from different backgrounds, disciplines, cultures and generations, and leverage all they have, to offer, therefore,is a must-have for leaders(Ibarra and Hansen 2011:71).

THEORIES AND MODELS OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

This blog seeks to bring forth arguments in relation to the statement made by Ibarra and Hansen who are of the opinion that the ability to bring people together from different backgrounds, cultures, disciplines  and leverage all they have to offer is a must have for leaders.

Before bringing out the arguments for and against the statement made by Hansen and Ibarra, it is essential to define the concepts of leadership and management. Leadership is ‘a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people’ (Mullins 2012). Yukl (2011:26) defines leadership to be ‘“the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and  the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives”. Management on the other hand is defined as ‘getting work done through the efforts of other people’ (Mullins 2010:434).Thus giving credence to the assertion that leaders are not necessarily managers but all mangers should be leaders.

In supporting the statement, a comparison will be conducted with Adair’s Action-centred leadership model and the transformational leadership theory. Adair’s leadership model supports the need of a leader to build diverse teams. Adair’s model focuses on what leaders need to do which includes achieving the task, maintaining the team and developing the individual, and according to Adair, the leader needs to keep a balance between the three elements in order to attain effective results (Bailey 2006).  This model was ground breaking because it dismissed the notion that leaders were born and not made .However, the Adair model does not provide a clear scope on task. The Adair model serves as a good comparison with the above motion because they both focus on the role of a team leader. Ibarra and Hansen on the other hand paid no focus to a leader’s role in relation to a task or an individual team member.

Another comparison would be done with the transformational leadership model. Leading diversed teams entails motivating team members in order to bring out all of their potentials, and this could be done through constant interaction with team members. Thus bringing forth the transformational leadership model.

Transformational leadership enables leaders to honour duties owed to both individuals and organisations (Caldwell et al 2012). Transformational leadership is based on moral foundations and made up of elements including inspirational motivation, idealised influence, intellectual stimulation and individualised consideration (Bass, Steidlmeier 1999). These four elements act as a motivator to employees which intends improves employee performance and that of the organisation as well.

A transformational leader has a clear understanding of the vision and strategy of an organisation and is able to direct his followers in an exemplary manner in achieving the objectives of an organisation (Yukl 2010). This clearly supports the assertion made by Ibarra and Hansen. An example of a transformational leader in the oil and gas industry is the CEO of  Royal Dutch shell Peter Vosker who works with teams at oil fields discussing safety measures, as seen in the the Pernis refinery in Netherlands (Shell 2012, cited in Mbongo 2012). This brings out his ability of effectively leading diverse teams in order to produce better results.

Goleman (2009) on the other hand argues that what makes an effective leader is a leader’s ability to possess emotional intelligence. According to his research, emotional intelligence is ‘the sine qua non of leadership’ Goleman’s emotional intelligence comprises of five components which include self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill.

To conclude, the statement made by Ibarra and Hansen is relevant because well led teams produce great results (Muijs 2011). However, leaders have more responsibilities entailing more than just bringing people together. Leaders have to control, implement and review organisations strategy. They need to meet up to the needs of their team members and possess emotional intelligence.

References

Bailey, J. (2006) ‘Profile on John Adair’. Engineering Management 16(6), p44-55, 2p

Bass, B and Steidlmeier, P. (1999). ‘Ethics, character and authentic transformational leadership behaviour’. Leadership Quarterly 10: 181-218

Caldwell, C., Dixon, R., Floyd, L., Chaudoin, J., Post,J., Cheokas, G. (2012) ‘Transformative Leadership: Achieving Unparalleled Excellence’ Journal of Business and Ethics . 109 (2), p175-187, 13p

Goleman, D. (2011) Leadership that gets results: Growing your emotional intelligence. (Online) Harvard Business Review. Available from < http://hbr.org/2000/03/leadership-that-gets-results/ar/pr> [10/12/2012]

Mbongo, B. (2012) Leading in a changing World: Coursework one. Unpublished coursework. London: Coventry University London Campus

Mullins, J. (2010) Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9^th edn. Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Muijs, D. (2011) ‘Leadership and organisational performance: From research to prescription?’ International Journal of Educational Management 25(1) 45-60

Shell (2012) Shell CEO keeps foot on Accelerator. [Online] available from <http://www.shell.com/home/content/aboutshell/features_highlights/pv_june_2010> [20/11/2012]

Yukl, G. (2010) 7^th edn.  Leadership in Organizations.  N.J.: Pearson Higher Education

 

 

 

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