Tag: Leadership

Reflection on my Newly-emerged Insights on Authentic Leadership and Teaming

Undertaking this course has proved not only insightful but also has served as a tool to help me reflect on my leadership skills and abilities. Learning such as finding true north and leadership purpose have significantly helped me introspect myself as a leader. This reflection paper explores who I am as a leader, my leadership purpose, how to remain authentic, and insights from the course that I will use immediately as well as strategies I have to work on.

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Who I Am As a Leader

As a leader, I am always striving to enrich the lives of the people I lead and actively contribute to creating a more just and caring world. I have always possessed a natural desire to serve those I lead. I, therefore, focus primarily on the well-being and growth of those that I lead as well as society in general. Besides the deeply rooted desire to serve, I possess various qualities that underlie my approach to leadership. I am thoughtful, helpful, socially skillful, idealistic, inspirational, thorough, adaptive, responsive, persuasive, compassionate, trusting, enthusiastic, and flexible. Notably, these qualities hint that I am a relater. According to Lanka, Topakas, and Patterson (2020), relaters are idealistic, thoughtful, loyal, trusting, idealistic, responsive, cooperative, receptive, and helpful. As a relater, I like to include team member in the decision-making process. Moreover, I need an environment that emphasize meaningful relationships, risk-taking, and enhances the development of team members to give them a sense of purpose and unlock their potential.

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My Leadership Purpose

            My leadership purpose is to serve as a leader by empowering and uplifting those I lead while ensuring meaningful work exceeding customers’ expectations. Notably, my leadership purpose is undergirded by the values and principles that I uphold. Values such as service, trustworthiness, responsibility, respect, meaningful work, loyalty, justice, kindness, honesty, fairness, growth, autonomy, and authenticity undergird my leadership purpose. These values ensure that I enhance not only the lives of those that I lead but also the society due to my social change mindset.

            My leadership purpose says who I am and how I bring my unique qualities into my leadership, consequently helping me excel as a leader. According to By (2021), leadership purpose is about an individual’s values and what is most important to them. These values allow my leadership purpose to motivate me to work daily in something that matters to me and I am passionate about. Therefore, the above-stated leadership purpose serves as my beacon and has helped me achieve a deeper connection to my work and excel as a leader.

How I Can Remain Authentic as a Leader

I can remain authentic as a leader by finding my true north and staying on its course. A person’s true north is their orientation point, which helps them stay on track as a leader. True north is derived from a person’s most deeply held values, beliefs, and principles. It serves as an internal compass, unique to an individual; thus, it represents who a person is at their deepest level (Sherman & Cohn, 2018). Concurringly, Ulrich (2020) emphasizes that for one to become an authentic leader, he/she must discover and stay on the course of their true north throughout his/her life. My true north is undergirded by deeply held beliefs regarding leadership as well as values and principles that I deeply hold. I firmly believe that leadership is first about serving those around me and taking on challenges geared towards making the world a better place.

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Notably, the process of discovering my true north requires introspection to help me understand who I am as a leader at my most profound level. This should be followed by mindful practices to help a person remain true to themselves and their beliefs. Moreover, an individual should have a support system of people aligned with his/her true north (Ulrich, 2020). I can remain authentic as a leader by adhering to Ulrich (2020) counsel. It is worth noting that finding an individual’s true north is an ongoing process and, therefore, I will have to ensure lifetime commitment and learning. The most important thing is to remain true to myself.

Application of Insights from the Course

The course has impacted me with knowledge that will prove significantly valuable for honing my leadership ability. I have already commenced on the journey to discover my true north. I am currently in the introspection stage, where I seek to know myself better by determining the values, principles, and beliefs that undergird me as a leader. Finding my true north will help me better understand myself and remain authentic as a leader. According to Ulrich (2020), the cornerstone of authenticity in leadership is self-awareness. Self-awareness helps one discover their true north and remain in its course throughout his/her life. Notably, the authenticity derived from finding one’s true north does not license a person to become overly focused on self. Instead, it allows an individual to become aligned with his/her values and beliefs to lead effectively (Ulrich, 2020).

According to Ulrich, this is a process that needs work and commitment. Having already embarked on the journey towards finding my true north, I plan on making it a lifetime commitment that will help me remain authentic as a leader. A strategy that I will have to work on is complexity leadership. Notably, this requires one to develop mechanisms that will help address issues associated with the information age. As a leader, I am bound to work in complex systems. In this context, complex systems refer to social networks that incorporate interactive employees who are interconnected through collaborative relationships and dynamic ties such as shared goals and perspectives.

Uhl-Bien and Arena (2017) explain that complexity leadership combines administrative, adaptive, and action-centred leadership. Mastering complexity leadership will require time, but I am confident in my learning capabilities. Today’s world is characterized by new knowledge-based ddynamism that leads to new competition areas. As a leader, it is imperative to possess skills that can help an organization effectively the new kinds of distress resulting from the said rivalry areas (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2017). Honing my complexity leadership competency will facilitate learning creative and adaptive approaches helpful in leading complex adaptive systems.

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Problem/Issues Facing the Organization

The Eastern Massachusetts University Hospital (EMU) is experiencing a financial crisis, as a result of reducing revenue and rising cost. As a result, the organization has employed strategies to cut costs by hiring freeze, and eliminating overtime allowances, and decreased shift differentials. The General Surgical Unit (GSU) which is the case focus is experiencing staff shortage as a result of hiring freeze and high turnover among other units (Groysberg, Nohria, & Bell, 2009).

Besides this, the unit experiences poor work culture that fails to value teamwork and collaboration. The unit has poor HR practices that include lack of transparency in performance evaluation and rewarding, lack of workers’ acknowledgment, lack of chances for workers to learn and develop, and general lack of support from the management.  The above deficiencies in the organization and unit management have resulted in high levels of stress among workers, low work morale, lack of job satisfaction, and high worker turnover. There is poor staff-relation where the seniors look down on the junior staff and patient care assistants (PCAs) in the unit. There is also a strained relationship between physicians and nurses (Groysberg, Nohria, & Bell, 2009).

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Possible Solutions

EMU financial crisis issues have already been addressed by cutting costs. However, this has resulted in new problems, especially in the GSU unit. Barbara Norris who is in charge of this unit needs to make changes to improve the situation. Some of the possibilities include replacing the employees that have left the unit and employing people in the administrative unit to aid in paperwork. Barbara can persuade the organization to consider workers who leave to reduce the shortage and ease the pressure in the unit. Barbara can also focus more on addressing HR management issues. This includes developing a more transparent workers performance assessment system that is easily understood by all staff, and with clear metrics that can be used to differentiate individuals’ performance. This will ensure that rewarding is proportional to the work done of the level of achievement.

Barbara can also develop a good working schedule with the input of staff in the unit. This will eliminate favoritism in offering assignments and create a balance where all staff will feel equally considered based on their skills and abilities. Barbara should also consider offering verbal acknowledgment to staff demonstrating exceptional performance or those who go the extra mile to ensure good results. Other forms of acknowledgments including offering a token of appreciation or a good performance prize, in front of other workers in the department can be adopted (Victoria et al., 2020).

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Barbara should also consider improving open communication in the unit where she can receive complaints, contributions, and share ideas with staff in the unit, and act on them accordingly. This will make staff feel more valued and represented in decision-making. Barbara may also need to invest more time and effort in changing the unit culture. A nursing professional requires a high level of cooperation and collaboration (Osborne & Hammoud, 2017). Barbara will need to nurture the spirit of teamwork, and supporting each other for better results. She will also need to introduce a better work environment where employees are allowed to learn and grow. This will include promoting regular workshops and training in the unit, coaching and mentoring among staff, and supporting staff interested in furthering their education or learning short courses to improve their skills. General human resource management strategies in the unit should be adjusted to increase job satisfaction and retention rate (Victoria et al., 2020).

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Recommended Solution

Hiring more employees would be a good thing for the GSU unit. However, this will translate to cost addition, and hence there is the possibility that the request will be rejected. Therefore, Barbara will be recommended to focus on human resources managerial strategies that are unlikely to increase the operation cost. This includes eliminating favoritism in allocating duties, enhancing open communication within the unit, ensuring transparency in workers’ performance assessment, and changing the rewarding system to reflect individual performance (Victoria et al., 2020).

Barbara will ensure to appreciate individual staffs for exceptional performance either verbally and through clapping and sheering by other staffs, or by having a symbol of good work such as a medal that one has to keep unit outshine by another person. All this can be done in the short-term. Barbara should also work to change the unit culture as a long-term achievement. This includes introducing and nurturing the spirit of collaboration and teamwork among workers and embracing diversity and inclusion management to foster respect among the staff members despite their differences. Barbara should also focus on changing the work environment to embrace more transformational culture that is characterized by learning, development, and embracing change through coaching, mentoring, and regular training in the unit (Osborne & Hammoud, 2017).

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Expected Outcomes

The above measures are expected to build a happier workforce characterized by high work morale and good performance. The measures will eliminate all aspects that currently make staff in the GSU unit feel less valued and insignificant. It will make them feel more appreciated and treasured for the work they do. Their view and input will also be considered in decision making, and hence these decisions will be more supported than before. The measures will result in the fulfillment of workers’ needs. This will increase job satisfaction, motivating them to work to fulfill the organization’s goals and objectives. Even without salary increases and workers shortage challenges, these measures will change the work environment, which will highly change the staff attitude towards their work and the organization. Consequently, the unit will record an increase in job satisfaction, which will translate to improved individual and organization performance, and an increase in patient satisfaction (Victoria et al., 2020).

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Problem Facing the Organization

In 2009, Providence Healthcare commenced its efforts to improve patients flow. This led to the formulation and implementation of “Transformation by Design” (TbyD), a project aimed to improve the flow of patients through the health care system, specifically from acute care to rehab. Through the value-based leadership of Josie Walsh (President and CEO of Providence Healthcare), the process was significantly successful. Walsh’s leadership character proved instrumental in driving change and innovation at Providence. However, implementing change is not sufficient to guarantee the long-term success of the said change. It is, therefore, imperative that Providence sustain momentum and build the future. Having successfully implemented Transformation by Design, Providence Healthcare is now faced with the question regarding what it should do to sustain the positive change.

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Possible Solutions

            There are possible solutions to the issue Providence is facing. To start with, the organization can implement an ongoing change evaluation/improvement framework. The model evaluates how well Providence is implementing TbyD to identify opportunities for improvements. This ensures that all key stakeholders are effectively playing their role to sustain positive change and facilitate ongoing improvements. According to Hayes (2018), key contributors to sustaining positive change using this approach include the recognition and reward of contributors and the celebration of success. The recognition and reward system ensures that stakeholders remain motivated to sustain the change and entice those who may be still resisting.

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            Another possible solution is embedding the change into the organizational culture. According to Palmer, Dunford, and Buchanan (2017), sustaining positive change requires that an organization make the changes it has worked on become part of the way it operates. The changes, therefore, become an integral component of how the organization work. Dumas and Beinecke (2018) explain that integration of the changes should be an ongoing process, one that is supported and reinforced by processes and systems that ensure the new way becomes the norm. Notably, this phase is mostly dependent on effective leadership since stakeholders participating in the change effort require ongoing motivation and support. Without reinforcement from an organization’s leadership, it is almost impossible to sustain positive change since people are always tempted to relapse to their old ways of doing things.

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Recommended Solution

            From the two above-described strategies, integrating the changes into the organizational culture is the best option to help Providence Healthcare sustain the positive change achieved by the TbyD model. Notably, this will require frequent, closer, and personally focused engagement with all stakeholders to win their support into the future (Al-Ali, Singh, Al-Nahyan, & Sohal, 2017). It is also imperative that Providence’s leadership utilizes increased variety in how the reinforcement to integrate the change into the corporate culture is conveyed. Dumas and Beinecke (2018) elucidate that when change is properly integrated into an organization’s culture, it is almost impossible to distinguish between individual actions and organization-prescribed behaviors. The change leader must often monitor the integration process both formally and informally to establish when the changes are not being implemented authentically (Palmer, Dunford, & Buchanan, 2017). Walsh’s value-based leadership qualities, such as the ability to cultivate trust, dynamic partnerships, and high accountability, will prove instrumental in monitoring the integration process both formally and informally.

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            There exist several techniques that have been established to increase the sustainability of positive change. They include positive reinforcement of new behaviors, continuous monitoring of progress, managing risks, celebrating successes, analyzing performance measures, planning for setbacks, undertaking ongoing evaluation and follow-up, and adapting as situations necessitate (Palmer, Dunford, & Buchanan, 2017). Walsh has demonstrated consistent competence in all these areas. Therefore, her value-based leadership will prove significantly resourceful in integrating the changes into Providence’s organizational culture to ensure long-term success. Walsh’s collaboration, accountability, and integration qualities will help her win the support of key stakeholders into the future. Notably, the best way to measure the sustainability of change is through the number of stakeholders demonstrating support through actions and shift in mindset.

Expected Outcome

            The expected outcome from integrating the changes into Providence’s organizational culture is the sustainability of the Transformation by Design program’s benefits. Integration of the changes introduced by the program to the organization’s culture will ensure that they become the new way of doing things through changing stakeholder’s behavior. Since the integration adopts a holistic approach that incorporates positive reinforcement, risk management, creating accountability, planning for setbacks, and ongoing evaluating and follow-up, Providence Healthcare will ensure long-term sustainability of the changes and benefit from continuous improvements. The ongoing evaluation will allow the organization to identify the program’s shortcomings to inform improvements that will enhance patient care outcomes. Therefore, Providence Healthcare should consider integrating the TbyD program’s changes into its organizational culture as a strategy to ensure positive change sustainability.

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The organizational competition, the nature of work and the managerial role in an organization can highly be influenced by the digitalization revolution, the organization and workers speed of creating new knowledge and globalization. Digital revolution has highly enhanced the growth and development of different organizations in the world. However, the impact of digital revolution on an organization management, competitiveness and work nature is highly depends on the level in which an organization has embraced this technology. This paper supports that the competitiveness of an organization, work nature and managerial role is highly influenced by digitalization revolution, workers and organization speed in developing new knowledge and globalization.

According to Kai-Tang et al. (2014), the internet advent and its convergence with progressive database technologies have allowed organizations to be competitive in the global market and turn to be more linked with their consumers. New technologies for distance learning that include synchronous internet communications for instance online customer service centers, white boards and chat rooms, as well as asynchronous internet communications that include that include surveys, bulletin boards and forums, and satellite boards, have drastically changed the global communication course and assisted to spread ideas and cultural values worldwide. In the digital era, organizations have to establish a novel paradigm which is digital and ubiquitous, cheap, mobile, personal, and programmable. Organizations which customize their services, products, and marketing to the demands and needs of their customers will win. Moreover, programmability permits an organization to customize orders based in the customers’ demands or specialization. This is a clear indication that digitalized revolution play a great part influencing global competition of different organizations in the world market. These organizations that will manage to keep up with the new digital technology stands a chance being highly competitive in the global market. Digital technology plays a great role in enhancing company competitiveness. It also eases the management role in an organization by providing programs that can be used to aid managers in decision making in an organization and organization of different activities. Digital technology also provides workers with unique tools that ease their work approach and working processes. It eases the communication between the organization and its customers, creating a feedback system and product review forum that can enable organizations to improve their products. In this regard, an organization which has highly embraced digital technology demonstrates a great chance of making viable managerial decision, demonstrating efficiency, accuracy and quick response from workers and improving their general workability as compared to an organization that fails to embrace this technology. This increases the organization general competitiveness in the market (Debmalya et al., 2012).

Digital technology has also introduced the concept of virtual workers or virtual workplace. This is a form of working in which employees work remotely from managers and each other. Virtual organizations are dynamic, multi-organizational, and multisite. Virtual organization and macro level contains a grouping contractors, consultants, and businesses which have come together in a coalition to exploit matching skills in following common strategic goals. The grouping stands for a drastic change on how organizations work. Virtual workplaces assist in lowering estate expenses, increasing productivity, and enhance global market accessibility among other benefits. Although this technique has its own disadvantages, it offers an organization a more competitive form of working and efficiency in work done since it is easy to measure individual work. It also gives an organization an opportunity to hire diverse employees globally, increasing the rate of innovation in an organization. It therefore enhances the competitiveness of a company in a global market by reducing the operation cost, increasing efficiency and productivity and hence, increasing the organization profitability (Kai-Tang et al., 2014).

Knowledge creation and sharing also play a great part in determining the competitiveness of an organization, managerial role and nature of work. Knowledge sharing refers to as a practice employed in problems solving. It enhances different ways of handling a problem and thus, it is normally employed by managers to enhance differentiation (Alrawi et al., 2011).  Knowledge sharing enhances communication between works which is very great knowledge benefit in an organization. Knowledge sharing enhances the employees and management of an organization to share the same perceptions, values, and to internalize the values, to strengthen the relationship between the employees and the organization leaders. It also enhances effective exploitation and stimulation of the employees creativity, an aspect that increases the organization level of innovation and hence its level of competitiveness. Knowledge sharing enhances the development or creation of new knowledge in an organization which is created from integrated ideas. Knowledge contains skills, know-how, technology and information, which assist in the creation of sustainability and value through the integration of the knowledge resources more effectively as compared to the organization competitors (Alrawi et al., 2011).

Virtual team is defined as electronically, temporary, geographically dispersed, and culturally diverse communicating members’ workgroup who act and think in concert within the global environment diversity.  The organization’s ability to efficiently and effectively employ global knowledge resources is vital in establishing its competitive advantage. Virtual teams are normally employed by multinational companies to take advantage of internationally dispersed innovation and knowledge resources, and fruitfully facilitate, coordinate and enable strategic activities which consequentially improve market responsiveness and flexibility. Moreover, virtual teams are frequently found to be relatively effective to implement since teams of this kind can be created without distance and time limitation, as well as significant discontinuities and cost associated with relocation (Ocker et al., 2011). Thus digital technology can easy enhance change in the nature of work, management role and competitiveness of an organization. It also enhances globalization which increases the level of diversity which in turn enhances innovation and hence increases in competitiveness. Virtual team also calls for different form of team management. There are a number of management issues which arises from distance and configuration of this work nature. They include decision on the physical location of a leader, individuals required to lead each team, and the leadership process. Unlike traditional face-to-face team, virtual team demands different form of leadership approach in which a leader should manage the team of individuals that are geographically scattered while located in a certain location. This can be enhanced by employment of a communication platform used to enhance team management. The organization can also use a program that will enhance monitoring individual working hours per day. This change of technology has highly enhanced globalization and hence diversity and innovation in organization, and hence the organization competitiveness, way of working and management (Debmalya et al., 2012).

A good example of management change that I witnessed and which impacted the organization is the introduction of the virtual team in a company I was attached in. The company was dealing with software development and had a problem with software development expertise. Most of the available experts were being found in different parts of the world and it was hard to relocate all of them. In this regard the company decided to establish a virtual software development team. The company developed a communication platform where all team members could discuss the problem at hand. They also created a job monitoring program that monitored the activities in the employee’s computer. Finally, they all shared in a conference meeting and divided the work and set milestone for each employee and what needed to be accomplished. Although this seemed hard at first it worked quite well in ensuring the programs that were had to develop locally could be developed effectively and without delay by a virtual team, managed locally by the system administrator of the company. This increased the company’s ability to handle complex projects effectively without incurring extra cost and without any delay or quality issues. It increased the company competitive advantage in the global market.

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Over the past century, leadership styles have emerged as some of the most effective approaches to apply when aspiring to provide a clear sense of direction, motivating a group of likeminded individuals, and the execution of strategies. Leadership styles are currently applied in a wide array of fields with the primary intention of fostering the conceptualization of solutions to aid organizations in making considerable headway. Transformational leadership and servant leadership are two of the most common leadership styles currently in application today.

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            Although transformational leadership and servant leadership both endeavor to realize similar goals, they remain unique in their own right as inimitable styles and manner of application. Transformational leadership is essentially a structured system where leaders liaise with their employees and other subordinates to develop a deeper connection among those involved in this exchange (Bass, 2016). As a consequence, higher levels of motivation, ethics, and morality among leaders and followers are then recorded; ultimately resulting in a general rise in trust and productivity. On the other hand, servant leadership is based on an altruistic model where the wellbeing of followers always takes precedence as opposed to focusing solely on self-interest (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2018). From this foundation, it is possible to deduce the fact that transformational leaders work steadily to ensure individual employees are always motivated while servant leaders will focus more on helping employees as one of the main moral obligations.

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Striking similarities are also present in both transformational leadership and servant leadership in relation to their application and mode of operation. As a rule of thumb, both seek to promote an aspect of continuity within an organization by working towards the creation of likeminded leaders within the organization. In both styles, leaders are acutely aware of the significance of human resource and, therefore, ensure that concerted efforts aim to raise the consciousness of staff members. This guarantees their comprehension of their role as an important cog in the organizational wheel and their role in ensuring that set organizational goals are ultimately realized. Leaders eventually avoid self-interest and acknowledge the actual importance of members of staff, which then fosters their drive to nurture, buttress, and empower them in any given situation (Gardenia, 2019).

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Nevertheless, it is worth acknowledging transformational leadership lacks an ethical element to its overall application. Ethics serve an important role in servant leadership where followers are placed above leaders and regarded as equal partners in controlling various aspects of their organization (Northhouse, 2016, p.240). This ultimately impacts the actual manner in which employees are treated during management.

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Servant leaders are people in leadership positions driven by a given set of beliefs, values, and principles (Kumar, 2018). They are mostly pushed by beliefs that they are in their posts for the support and benefit of those they are given to lead. Although servant leadership emerged from leaders’ demands to portray a more Christ-like approach, they do not need to approach their duties from a religious or a Christian point of view. Servant leadership is about what leaders do, but the way in which they do it. The essay discusses Abraham Lincoln as the specific example of a servant leader.

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            Abraham Lincoln is one of the most outstanding examples of a servant leader. Servant leadership concentrates on two specific areas that differentiate it from other leadership styles. The initial area of concern is sustainability that yields lasting transformation and may influence others to change. Kumar (2018) adds that servant leaders revolutionize the structure and empowers their people. During the American civil war, Abraham Lincoln got a platform to showcase servant leadership. Two of the most outstanding outcomes of Lincoln’s leadership style are the freeing of the slaves and the Union’s conservation. Lincoln’s allegiance to serve gave the greater good for most Americans both forever transformed and revolutionized a nation for several generations that have come after him. During his presidency, Lincoln’s prudent and careful leadership led to a radical and transformational alteration in America (Brown, 2016). He maximized the opportunity granted to him to globally ascertain America’s position as the top example of a functioning democracy. Moreover, Abraham Lincoln extended the chance for liberty to every American.

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            The plan set by any servant leader is necessary for the good of the company itself but, most categorically, for the advancement of human resources within the organization. Brown (2016) asserts that Lincoln’s desire to become the U.S. President originated from his ambition to serve his country. This implies that Lincoln never sought the executive position to enjoy the power that would come with such a giant post. He knew that getting the presidency was the ultimate opportunity to work for the fellow Americans and guide the country to a more solid union. The executive position would provide Lincoln with the platform to fulfill this vision and for the U.S. and his countrymen. Lincoln understood that he would need to serve a position of power to attain this objective. Although getting the presidency was the precursor for achieving his goal for the nation, it contained an element of responsibility to the American citizens and the office itself.

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            Abraham Lincoln realized that the critical American value of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were ownership for every American. But the 19th century Americans held that only a few chosen individuals from the entire American population were entitled to the chance of pursuing these liberties. Consequentially, Lincoln decided to confront the unwritten cultural norms entertained for several generations. Servant leadership tasks revolved around discovering the principles and held beliefs that oppose the real values of humanity and, in the case of America, the different idea that a state’s sovereignty replaced the growth of a whole country (Brown, 2016). At the time of America’s social and constitutional crisis, Lincoln was determined to revive America’s consciousness. The generations that have come after the Civil War in America have recalled Lincoln’s words of freedom, liberty, and nationalism. Additionally, it offered this nation the fortitude to head in the direction that started with the 16th president.

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            The passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the constitution stemmed the momentum for the proof of durable leadership. These lasting alterations to America’s constitution – the book that guaranteed people’s rights-gave Lincoln direction in leading the nation. These transformations were evident in in-laws that were passed in Congress. The change had occurred, and the capability to continue the chase for a “robust union” in the wake of Lincoln’s executive office’s departure is an adequate exemplification of his servant leadership. Due to Lincoln’s loyalty to sustainable and service revolutionary alteration, Americans continue to offer a working democracy example. The U.S.’s example to the humanity of prosperity and liberty to those who desire to achieve it is another proof of Lincoln’s servant leadership.            

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In conclusion, the servant leadership exemplified by Abraham Lincoln led to the change of America’s paradigm. His interpretation yielded a fresh voice to the ideals demonstrated by our founding fathers. Lincoln’s declaration of independence and the different lens he used to interpret the constitution gave America a powerful sense of itself and liberty to its citizens now and tomorrow’s generations. Furthermore, as a result of Lincoln’s servant leadership, two different Americans are noticeable. Those Americans that lived prior to the executive leadership of Abraham Lincoln one in which the pronunciations of the founding fathers were delineated for the involvement of some and to the exclusion of four million other Americans. The resulting America that came out during Abraham Lincoln’s leadership that guided it through the force of the Civil War was the one that included all Americans who had the desire for liberty, life, and the pursuit for happiness. This is the America that exemplifies the 16th President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, as the embodiment of servant leadership. In summary, Lincoln’s leadership style comprised a natural reaction to the circumstances and people around his presidency.

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Wassmiah Case

Wassmiah is a leader in a local hospital and works well in the environment. The hospital’s environment is characterized by well-defined individual roles where each employee knows what is expected of him or her. Employee conflicts are minimized as everyone understands his or her responsibility, and the coordination of all activities leads to goal attainment. There is no duplication of work. Wassmiah encourages people to perform well and rewards positive behavior to boost productivity. Most goals Wassmiah sets are short-term, making them easier to fulfill, less intimidating to achieve, and as a result, employees are interested in obtaining the various rewards. When a problem arises, Wassmiah directs the employees in what to do and is quick to point out if the employee does not deliver results. However, Wassmiah suspects that employees are not working when there is no supervision.

What style of leadership is most likely described in this case and why have you reached that conclusion? What are the advantages of this type of leadership and what examples from the case support your position? What are the disadvantages of this type of leadership and what examples from the case support your position? What are the implications for employee motivation with this type of leadership? What other styles of leadership might be complementary to that described in the case and why?

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Transactional Leadership Model in Wassmiah Case

The approach to leadership that fits the description provided in Wassmiah’s case is the transactional leadership model. One characteristic of this style is the emphasis on extrinsic motivation. The given case describes Wassmiah as a leader who rewards employees with incentives to foster positive behavior. She also encourages employees to perform well while supervising them closely. Another aspect that sets her apart as a transactional leader is conformity to order and structure. Wassmiah maintains a formal workflow to direct self-motivated people in a structured workplace. Essentially, transactional leadership concentrates on the existing structure of the business, success measurements, and reward system. The role of a transactional leader revolves around exercising authority and supervising the workers to facilitate performance targets, both on individual and group levels. This essay attempts to demonstrate that Wassmiah’s leadership attributes lean towards a transactional approach. A transactional leadership style holds a strong emphasis on organization, supervision, and performance.

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            One of the most distinctive traits of a transactional leader involves the use of rewards and punishments to obtain compliance. Transactional leaders are extrinsic motivators, and unlike their transformational counterparts, they are not concerned about the wellbeing of their followers (Dartey-Baah, 2015). An ordinary transactional leader espouses and utilizes the structure, culture, and goals of the current organization. This is clearly evident in the scenario of WassMiah who uses the firm’s reward system to motivate employees towards achieving short-term goals. Wassmiah is directive and action-oriented. She regularly wants her followers to work within the existing system. Although she constantly negotiates with her followers, the goals remain within a structured model of work where every employee is expected to comply or lose their rewards. As a transactional leader, Wassmiah thinks “inside the box” when seeking solutions to problems.

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            Another trait that makes Wassmiah a transactional leader is her passiveness. Rather than using inspiration and personal appeal, she adopts behaviors that help establish the criteria for maintaining the status quo and rewarding followers (Afshari & Gibson, 2016). This approach is advantageous in that it is very practical and result-oriented. The practicality relates to the use of powerful motivators and clear order to drive performance. External rewards such as tangible perks can serve as significant motivators for employees and may drive performance in the short term. Indeed, Wassmiah assimilates short-term goals that can be easily attained with a rewards system. With regard to rewards, two factors of leadership that emerge in Wassmiah’s case are a contingent reward and management-by-exception (Northouse, 2018, p.171). The former offers rewards to employees for their effort and performance while the latter attempts to maintain the status quo and intervene when employees are not attaining their job goals. Moreover, Wassmiah’s transparency in the workplace sets clear expectations for the employees so that they are constantly aware of their roles and rules of authority. Her workforce is always informed when it comes to questions of organizational structure and leadership.

            The benefits of transactional leadership are dependent on the context (Masa’deh, Obeidat, & Tarhini, 2016). Hence some benefits may not be realized in select situations. In Wassmiah’s case, benefits emerge when short-term goals are used, and workers have clearly defined roles, rewards, and penalties. Her style encourages productivity and offers an easy structure that is easy to understand. However, it limits the creativity of the workers, eliminates individuality from the production process, ignores empathy, and places more value on efficiency. Since a transactional leader is rigid and unyielding, she does not bend the rules to accommodate flexibility. This limits innovation owing to the fact that employees are expected to focus on assigned tasks. Even in situations where creativity applies, it is strongly regulated by company policies. Violation of policies normally leads to loss of reward and termination of workers. For this reason, a transactional leadership style is not applicable in flexible environments.

            One major drawback of transactional leadership is the use of extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic rewards do not last in the long-term because they are short-term incentives (Deichmann & Stam, 2015). By constantly receiving extrinsic motivation, employees quickly become oriented to short-term rewards than the value of the work and long-term goals. Employees who become extensively attached to short-term incentives are likely to become exhausted and eventually quit their roles. Additionally, employees who are subjected to a rewards and punishment system may focus more on rewards than the goals of the company. Those who do not value the rewards may exhibit low performance, especially when not under supervision. The overall attitude of a workplace that utilizes a transactional approach to leadership can give the workforce the impression that is being paid to work in a specific fashion. The transactional nature of the rewards could also drive down their value in the eyes of employees. Some leadership styles that may complement a transactional leadership style include autocratic leadership, which uses authority to achieve results and efficiency, and bureaucratic leadership style, which expects followers to abide by rules and procedures.  

In conclusion, the approach to leadership that fits the description provided in Wassmiah’s case is the transactional leadership model since she emphasizes organization, supervision, and performance. Traits that make her a transactional leader are the use of a rewards system, conformity to the status quo, and exercise of authority and direction with the intent of driving performance.

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Scholars in the field leadership and strategic management support two common views about a leader. The first maintains that a leader is born and that leadership qualities are inherent in the person. The second theorizes that people eventually become leaders after undergoing a rigorous process of training that acquaints them with key leadership skills and behavioral inclinations to apply in specific situations. Early leadership theories were focused on the person rather than the qualities, but over time interest has shifted to variables affecting effective leadership such as skill levels and situational factors. This paper demonstrates how a key historical leader, Martin Luther King, abandoned one leadership paradigm for another to influence his followers. King’s shift from a lay leader to a frontrunner of the Civil Rights Movement compelled him to adopt a more charismatic, participative, and transformational leadership style.

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The Universalist school of thought deems King as an inborn leader. This notion is inspired by the trait theory which maintains that certain traits are necessary for one to become a leader. Sample traits include intelligence and action-oriented judgement, eagerness to accept responsibility, task competence, understanding the follower’s needs, people skills, need for achievement, perseverance, assertiveness, trustworthiness, courage, and resolution, among others. King demonstrated many of these traits in his achievements. Perhaps more than any other person of his era, King understood his follower’s needs (Ling, 2015). As an African-American man, he endured and even developed depression as a result of racial segregation. Hence, he had a common mindset with civil rights activists and followers. His resolution was exhibited through his strong determination to push for equality of races. His proven track record of accountability from high school through post-college years and devoted loyalty to the African American community created a trusted leader (Fishman, 2019).  Altogether, King’s leadership traits enabled him to exercise influence over his followers.

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            As much as King demonstrated key traits of leadership, he mastered many skills through his life experiences, especially those relating to his role as a leader. For instance, King became increasingly proficient in communicating his views at a young age (Garrow, 2015). He displayed public speaking skills as early as high school. He was known for his clever use of oratorical and rhetorical devices such as repetition and alliteration. King’s famed Letter from Birmingham Jail further exposed his willpower to use any mode of communication to achieve the end. The letter exposed clergy members who were undermining the civil rights movement by calling the delay of demonstrations. His persistence was evidently an indicator of his transformational style of leadership. Transformational leaders create a vision and guide change through aspiration while upholding loyalty to the objective regardless of challenges. The Letter from Birmingham jail cost King in many ways, among them the bombing of his home, yet, he urged his team and followers to press forward toward the goal.

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            Another key aspect of transformational leadership that King developed over time was the courage and determination to challenge the status quo. He began to challenge societal norms at a young age, partly because of his father’s ardent devotion to the civil rights movement. King continued to challenge existing state of injustice and segregation while advocating his case for democracy, brotherhood, and racial injustice. These actions demonstrated his will to motivate and collaborate with followers in raising the morality of the society, which is a critical trait of transformational leaders (Arnold, Connelly, Walsh, & Martin Ginis, 2015). According to Burns, transformational leaders use a strong vision and personality to inspire followers towards success.

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            Other behavioral inclinations that make King a transformational leader include his ability to motivate followers; follow and execute moral standards; foster an ethical environment with priorities and standards; encourage followers to shift from an attitude of self-interest to interest in common good; emphasize authenticity and cooperation; and provide mentoring and coaching so that followers can make their own choices autonomously.  Among the most behavior that connect King’s leadership style with the element of transformation is his aspiration to evolve the minds the minds of values, beliefs, and attitudes of the followers (Riggio, 2017). By providing a vision of where civil rights activists were going and developing a culture that stimulates desired activities, such as peaceful protests and demonstrations, King inspired his followers. He also took time to empathize and connect with his followers. In rallies, King mentioned major challenges that the citizens were facing and encouraged them to keep up the fight. As a Christian leader, he had practiced and mastered the art of preaching ideas to populations that were willing to act with violence against those who showed violence (Reddick, 2018). Such ideals were communicated in his rallies and many speaking events King attended. King is seen as responsible for producing performance beyond ordinary expectations for his perseverance in the time of adversity. He transmitted the mission beyond the barrier of a jail cell, stimulated people’s learning experiences, and inspired new ways of doing things. Above all, he played the role model.

            One main reason why King adopted a transformational leadership framework instead of the then dominant autocratic style is the former’s knack to produce real and tangible results. Research shows that transformational leadership stimulates revolution and performance for the leader and followers (Riggio, 2017). This is particularly evident in the manner in which King’s style uplifted him and other participants of the civil rights movement towards a shared goal. King’s leadership style was the complete opposite of transactional style of leadership which involves the use of incentives and punishment in motivating followers.

            The contingency aspect of leadership is apparent in the way King cultivated and eventually matched his leadership style to situational characteristics. For instance, he developed empathy by undergoing the experiences that his followers were undergoing. To be the champion of people’s rights, he had to have a vivid understanding of the circumstances they faced and the challenges they endured. Hence, he spent time interacting with those he represented. Some interactions were achieved through official meetings while others were impromptu (Garrow, 2015). His efforts of identifying with his followers went beyond the “normal” degree. The relationship and interaction between King and his followers eventually matured into a proper match. This is consistent with all three contingency leadership theories. Indeed, outlooks of the Fielder, decision-making, and leader-member contingency theories were well illustrated by King. With regard to Fielder’s model, King’s behavioral style matched well with the degree to which the situation provided control. Fielder maintains that leaders are concerned with group relations; King closely monitored views and feelings of his cohorts (Riggio, 2017). With time, he adopted a more relationship-oriented attitude pf leadership. Leader-member relations are particularly important when it comes to leading a group of people as success depends on how the followers relate to their leader (Riggio, 2017). Although King had no significant position power, he used his charisma to grab the attention of like-minded citizens and authorities at large. Kings leadership shares a connection with the path-gal and decision-making theories in that he helped followers to attain desired goals and made revolutionary decisions, such as defying government orders to organize demonstrations.

            King is among the most renowned leaders in history that possessed charisma. He was an exceptional leader who appealed and identified with the plight of his followers (Taylor, 2016). Like other charismatic leaders, King validated his ability to communicate shared group goals while conveying confidence in his own abilities as well as those of his followers. The charismatic leadership theory maintains that leaders are more effective in situations where goals are not clear and where the conditions are unstable, precisely because they are capable of providing the vision of where the team should be headed (Nawaz & Khan, 2016). With exceptional social skills and the ability to connect with followers on an emotional level, King manifestly revealed his power as a charismatic leader. He possessed key characteristics of charismatic leaders, such as the ability to inspire, sensitivity to followers, and the desire to alter the status quo.     

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In sum, King’s position in the Civil Rights Movement compelled him to adopt a more charismatic, participative, and transformational leadership style. He moved away from the level of autocracy that dominated organizations at the time. Autocratic systems of leadership value the leader’s input, but may fail to value the follower’s voice at all. An autocratic leadership style would have proven unsuitable to King’s circumstance as he would never had connected with his followers as he did. Additionally, the decisions he would have made would never had harmonized completely, if at all, with those of his followers. Today, the workplace is adopting King’s leadership style by encouraging collaboration between the leader and employees. King also illustrated flexibility in his endeavors. While he manifested key leadership traits, it is his accommodating attitude that led to his success in managing a large group in an unstable environment.

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On the whole, King espoused participative, transformational, and charismatic leadership styles. He combined them in different situations to account for varying team qualities. In the modern business environment, leaders are becoming more aware of their employees’ personalities and emotional needs. Hence, they are becoming better at reacting to different contexts in in unique ways. A shift from autocracy towards participation and transformation is not only inspiring direction by creativity instead of rigidity but also allowing followers to become more independent and motivated. However, leaders are obliged to remain available always to help their team where need arises. In future, leadership may continue to evolve, especially with the current influence of technology on organizations and management.

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