Identify and conduct two (2) interviews at two (2) different organizations. You may interview two CEOs, managers, administrators, supervisors, or directors of a social work/human services agency or community organization and critically analyze their responses. In your analysis, make sure to integrate the theories and concepts of leadership that you’ve learned throughout this course, compare and contrast the two leaders and organizations, and provide a thorough analysis.
Leadership
Contemporary studies have discerned that effective leadership style may increase the overall efficiency of an organization. Also, prudent leaders play a vital role in identifying and realizing relevant objectives that ensure not only the survivability of an organization, but also increase its revenue/profit (Montgomery, 2012). These are the primary reasons why organizations actively seek dynamic leadership, which can steer an organization in the desired direction (the direction that offers higher dividends). When we study this subject in detail, we learn that in an organization, leadership is required at both tactical and strategic levels. It is because leadership has a different role at the tactical or management level in comparison to the strategic or directorial level. Also, the larger the size of an organization, is greater the need to have both tactical and strategic leadership. Some studies suggest that large organizations must have flexible and adaptive leadership at both strategic and tactical levels. However, such assertions are not backed with adequate evidence (Mahsud & Yukl, 2010).
For this academic exercise, we have decided to interview those individuals who are playing leadership roles at strategic and tactical levels. One of the interviewees is a manager of a corporate firm (retail store), while the other interviewee is a CEO of a chemical manufacturing company.
We have conducted these interviews on different dates so that the quality of interviews may not be affected (Opdenakker, 2006). We have developed two different sets of questions, which are similar (not identical). These questions are designed to learn about the leadership style that is required at the strategic and tactical levels. Also, these questions will also reveal to us how exogenous/extrinsic and innate/intrinsic factors affect leadership style and its efficiency.
Manager of a Retail Store
How you define leadership?
To me, leadership is an instrument to manage humans in a fashion that it brings the best out of them.
Do you agree with the notion that leaders are born and not made?
I partially agree with this notion and partially disagree. I agree because I have observed that many leadership traits only come naturally (innately). However, I also acknowledge that leadership style needs to polish, and the only experience can polish it. You cannot employ raw leadership skills at the corporate level, can you?
How did the person progress to this leadership role – educational, experiential, etc.?
I have learned that both education and experience are of great importance to progress into a leadership role. Education provides an understanding regarding social and corporate phenomena, and experience refines that understanding. However, in my career experience, it played a major role. What I learned in college was of a rudimentary nature, but what I learned in the field was of great relevance. Made me understand what leadership is how must be employed.
What is your definition of a leader? What positive traits and skills do you believe that a leader must possess to accomplish their goals? Why?
My definition of a leader is quite simple. The leader is the one who leads and motivates others through different ways to effectively utilize their potential. By “lead” I mean setting up an example to follow. If you want your staff to be punctual and responsible, a leader must also be punctual and responsible.
The trait theory of leadership comes to life. A leader may contain different traits or characteristics that can cause differences and foster overall effectiveness in different situations in an organization. Positive traits are pertinent to effective leadership.
A leader must have two qualities. He/she must be able to judge the potential of an individual and he she must be able to communicate with others. With time we learn how to exploit the potential of an individual. To accomplish goals, a leader must be able to devise a comprehensive strategy and should be able to implement it with great perfection. All these qualities are associated with effective leadership techniques and style. For instance, it is essential that a leader must have a clear strategy and must be able to devise instruments to implement it.
What is your philosophy and type of leadership?
I do not have a specific leadership style. For instance, sometimes I just assign tasks to individuals or groups and let them do what they want to perform that task (laissez fare). Sometimes I devise policies or strategies for the realization of goals; however, this strategy also has the input from my workers. After all, it is they who will implement this strategy (Democratic Leadership). In very rare cases, I command the entire operation. Not only I assign roles to my employees, but also define their roles of the particular task. In such cases, I do not take any suggestion (Autocratic Leadership). It happens quite rarely (Skakon, Nielsen, Borg, & Guzman, 2010).
A serious crisis or conflict you faced in your role as a leader and how did you resolve the issue.
Conflicts among employees are quite common. These conflicts usually emerge when groups are formed. Once I constituted a group, which members were not able to communicate clearly with one another. Since the communication instrument was not effective, the group failed to perform, and infighting started. I intervened and discerned the problem. The new instrument of communication increased cooperation and the group started to perform.
What did they do well and what would they have done differently?
As a manager, I was able to implement the company’s strategy, at the tactical level, with great precision. My leadership style, which is a mix of many styles, helped in realizing various objectives and making such an environment that increased positive work deviance. If I had learned earlier about the significance of leadership style, I would have started to produce results very early in my career. As a manager in the company, I always like to integrate with the contingency theory of the leadership. For Instance, based on different internal and external situations, I like to make different decisions and strategies.
What is their strategy for developing a strong organizational team?
To develop a strong stem, a leader must have a democratic leadership style as there is a lot of work that can only be managed with the participation of effective teams so a leader must the ability to measure the potential role of a worker or employee in his team. When you have an idea what your subordinate or the worker can do, it becomes easy to form strong teams that will produce the result.
Looking back on your leadership journey, if you could offer new leaders words of wisdom, what would they be and why?
Know your environment, people, which for you and objectives. All these factors are relevant, that is why they are important in realizing the organization’s goals.
CEO of a Company
What do you make of the term leadership?
Leadership is the bridge between objectives and potential. It may come in many sizes and forms; however, all its forms serve one purpose only, which is the evolution and success of an organization.
How did you person progress to this leadership role – educational, experiential, etc.?
As I was the investor; therefore, I organically progressed to the leadership role. More than education, my experience and wealth (investment) put me in this position. Though, I must admit that education is also important. My education is master’s in management sciences, which played the massive role in refining my leadership qualities.
What is your definition of a leader? What positive traits and skills do you believe that a leader must possess to accomplish his/her goals? Why?
I do not think leadership can be defined in a few words. In my opinion, leadership is a set of skills and qualities, some natural and others acquired. There is a number of qualities a leader must have; however, above all, he/she must be pragmatic. Pragmatism keeps the ship steady and allows better use of available resources. As I said, leadership is a bridge between potential and outcomes. It is also important to recognize that only pragmatic goals are achieved. Other qualities, which a leader must have, should include courage, receptiveness, and admiration for fairness.
What is your philosophy and type of leadership?
My philosophy is the effective implementation of a comprehensive business strategy. It requires optimal use of resources; however, before employment come objectives (for which the resources are consumed). Therefore, in my understanding leadership philosophy also encompasses (strongly) setting of objectives.
The type of behavior of the leadership is goal oriented. Path-goal theory of leadership has been followed. I like to make different goals for employees to enhance the visibility of motivation. The most important thing is to make employees satisfied and productive, and it seems in the best interest of the company.
I believe in a bottom-up strategy, which means taking input from human resources so that better strategies can be devised. Regarding the implementation aspect of a strategy, I give complete freedom to my managers, who are responsible for implementing the company’s strategies. However, when I give the responsibility to an employee to assign tasks to others, I also give him/(her) authority so that he/(she) may deliver his/(her) responsibilities with ease. I am more concerned about results rather than the method that is devised to realize objectives or perform a task. Though the method must be legal.
A serious crisis or conflict they faced in their role as a leader and how they resolved the issue.
When we are devising our annual strategy for the fiscal year 2016, I asked managers to evaluate the potential of our current resources, human and other, so that we could set pragmatic targets. The evaluation report which the managers produced was faulty as they had overestimated the overall potential of the organization. Based on that report, the strategic team set objectives. As the time passed, it became more difficult for us to realize those objectives. A few managers and I came to feel that our targets were slightly unrealistic and probably it was because of our overestimation of our overall potential. I asked for the reevaluation of potential and revision of targets. I monitored the entire process and did not give free hand to the managers (suspension of laissez-faire approach). I also asked for the reexamining of instruments and tools that were used to measure an organization’s potential. At the end of this episode, two senior managers were demoted to the position of assistant managers. I thought they still had much to learn (Jogulu, 2010).
What did you do well and what would you have done differently?
I believe that I steered my company in the right direction because of my leadership skills of mine. I believe that the setting of direction is the most important measure. Many firms have failed only because the leadership was not aware of new opportunities and did not know how to address existing challenges. Leadership provides vision, sets the direction and monitors the progress towards strategic goals. All this is not possible without a comprehensive awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of an organization.
One of the features or attributes of my leadership is analysis. Analysis is a prerequisite of health projection. My superior analysis allowed me to take better decisions, which could benefit my organization in both the short and long terms. However, it is also a fact that I was not able to take some decisions at the time when it was appropriate to take those decisions. Had I had the quality to make decisions when it matters most, my company would have been in a better position.
Looking back now and evaluating the decisions that I took; I realize that I would have taken almost the same decisions. However, the timing of a couple of decisions would have been different.
What is your strategy for developing a strong organizational team?
Developing organizational teams, which could perform the task as per standard and requirements, is difficult when the information is not adequate. The formation of the group brings different types of people together. Mostly, these people are selected because of their potential or experience. There, when forming an organizational team potential is focused primarily. After the potential, it is the appointment of a leader who could lead the group effectively, which matters the most.
I have also learned from my experience that whenever there is an issue of communication among the members, a group can never realize its true potential and it will always face challenges in realizing the objectives. Therefore, during the development of organizational team potential (of individuals), leadership (who should lead), and communication medium must be emphasized.
Looking back on your leadership journey, if they could offer new leaders words of wisdom, what would they be and why?
I don’t know whether these words would qualify for wisdom or not; leadership is the bridge between potential and desired outcomes. Why? It is my experience in a nutshell. I have learned that the role of leadership is very strategic and simple. It is to translate the potential into those outcomes that are desired. I desired success, and for that I evaluated my firm’s potential and exploited it to realize success. With time, we were able to develop a strategy and method to translate potential into higher profits and the expansion of my organization.
Conclusion
In the end, it is to conclude that different leaders contain different leadership styles or behaviors. It depends on the personality, business nature, and the work environment. The leadership team has to play a vital role in contributing to the success of the company in an effective manner. It is a comprehensive analysis of two interviews that help to derive several leadership insights. Effective leadership drives the organization’s success and sustainability. The leadership role must be streamlined in an organization to lead all key stakeholders, and the employee is the main target.
References
Jogulu, U. D. (2010). Culturally-linked leadership styles. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(8), 705-719.
Mahsud, R., & Yukl, G. (2010). Why flexible and adaptive leadership is essential. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 62(2), 81-93.
Montgomery, L. (2012). What Is a Leader?: Profiles in Leadership for the Modern Era (1 ed.). AudioInk.
Opdenakker, R. (2006). Advantages and disadvantages of four interview techniques in qualitative research. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 7(4), 1-13.
Skakon, J., Nielsen, K., Borg, V., & Guzman, J. (2010). Are leaders’ well-being, behaviours and style associated with the affective well-being of their employees? A systematic review of three decades of research. Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations, 24(2), 107-139.
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