Leadership can be defined in a multiple array of different ways that depend on the circumstances and situation in which leadership is applied. One crucial area for the development of leadership is in the business world, particularly with organizational leadership. More times than not, the leadership of an organization is the determining factor of the organization’s overall success. However, just like leadership in the larger sense, leadership in the organizational sense also lacks a single, concise definition beyond that of a leader is one who leads other people. The question left unanswered with such an ambiguous definition is how a leader leads other people. It is the question of how that varies from organization to organization and from leader to leader. The essential difference is that of an organizational leader and that of an organizational manager.
In a business organization there are two types of approaches to motivation that a company can utilize: management and leadership. Management is defined as the administration of routine and stable operations. Leadership, on the other hand, is defined as the ability to bring about large-scale, long-term and successful changes in a company. Clearly, having a company full of leaders will ensure less need for administrative oversight and will create a workforce driven by self-motivation to better the company. However, it will also lead to power struggles and the lack of set ways of doing things, which could cause unproductive turmoil. An organization that uses a leadership approach in its business will exhibit such characteristics as allowing its employees to have many freedoms and responsibilities.
Historically, business organizations have focused on a management style of operation. Under the management style of organizational operations, the organizational leader has been a male with a leadership style that boarders on being dictator-like. However, in recent times, as more and more women climb the corporate ladder into executive roles, the role of an organizational leader has become more of a mediator, manager and delegator. Some of the most successful organizations are the ones who are overseen by a single leader who in turn delegates the leadership role to other individuals, essentially making all involved parties in the organization a leader at least in some specific area. The result of this process is that it more fully engages the individual in the organization and its overall success.
Take for example a leadership style becoming more common in human resources departments. This organizational management style is unique in that the style is very hands off and advisory instead of hands on and directing. Many managers will put more of an emphasis on directing their directors, essentially telling them what to do, how to do it and then supervising every aspect of them doing it. Instead, the new style of open organizational leadership places a great deal of trust and responsibility in sub-departmental directors. Under this model, the director’s role is to:
1) To maintain open lines of communication with her directors.
2) To gather feedback from the people working under the director in order to gain proper and insightful evaluations.
3) To remove roadblocks and assist the director succeeds in reaching both their own personal goals and the goals of the company.
4) To provide coaching to the director by emphasizing what they are doing good and what areas need to be developed.
The purpose of using a trickle-down leadership style is that it brings in the other employees personal interest and makes the organization’s interests part of their own personal interest. This is a basic concept of organizational leadership. Essentially, there are three sets of factors effect the integration of organizational goals and personal needs in organizations: environmental factors, membership factors and dynamic factors. In other words, within every organizational group there are two competing forces: that of the organizations needs and that of each individual’s personal needs. In order for the organization to meet their needs, its leadership must take into account the individual members’ needs. Likewise, in order for the individual members to get their needs met, they must take into account the organization’s needs. Thus, an integration of needs occurs in order to compromise and let “everybody win”. One of the best ways of accomplishing this integration is by creating leadership positions, or positions of responsibility, for more employees or organizational members.
Thus, in order to implement effective leadership in a business organization, the company should choose executive leaders capable of managing other leaders, as opposed to the traditional role of managing the work of employees. This change in viewpoint or approach to organizational leadership creates a more effective and productive workplace. Delegating responsibility to other individuals gives them a sense of investment in the company. The result is that their success at work becomes part of their personal interest. When their personal interest come into competition with the interest of the company, the interest of the company will no longer take back seat. Instead, the leader will go beyond their basic requirements in order to ensure the success of the company because they gain a personal feeling of success when they do so. Therefore, the most effective mode of organizational leadership is essentially to train other individuals to be leaders and thus have an organization comprised of leaders and not followers.
