This paper will discuss that the importance of developing a potent leadership strategy is a critical ingredient for organisational success. Organisations are daily faced with situations unheard of in textbooks and only capable leadership would be able to drive and guide the organisation through these unprecedented changes.
In the light of Dodgy essay.com there needs to be developed an effective leadership strategy. This task is in lieu of its recent popularity and a potential to expand the business to a manageable yet substantial operations. A well-defined set of theories have been discussed which are useful in pursuing leadership strategies within an organisation. These theories include the trait theory, behavioural theory and transformational theory.
The managing director should be aware of a concrete plan to move Dodgy essay.com forward. For this purpose, the current requirements for leadership within the company are assessed. The assessment is on the basis of the discussed theories. Furthermore, the requirements for the leadership after expansion are also realised in the paper where a change in mentality of the leaders is inevitable.
Lastly, the paper then evaluates the methods and techniques that have been used using a set of different strategies and theories, which are vital for the evaluation of the Managing Director of Dodgy essay.com
In conclusion, it is realised that without proper leadership, even the best and boldest strategies die on the vine, their potential never realized.
Leadership Strategy:
To implement a workable leadership strategy at Dodgy essay.com, there is a need to realize the definition of leadership. "Leadership begins with individuals in leadership positions, but it doesn't end there" is what was concluded by The Centre for Creative Leadership after conducting research on and about leaders for over 40 years.
In our case, the Managing Director of the company is seen as the single great leader who is responsible to lead Dodgy essay.com's expansion however basic research derived from several models differs. An organisation is not entirely dependent on one person to accomplish its goals nor is it reliant on the upper tier of the hierarchy. They are important till the question befalls about why some organisations flourish whereas the others fail miserably? Studies have revealed that, we must understand leadership culture, as defined by the collective actions of formal and informal leaders acting together to influence organisational success (Wilfred H. Drath, Cynthia D. McCauley, Charles J. Palus, Ellen Van Velsor, Patricia M. G. O'Connor). Furthermore, the knack of leaders to cooperate as well as the number and quality of leaders is crucial in the development of Dodgy essay.com. Therefore, besides highlighting the importance of the leader himself, the relationships he develops amongst his counter parts is a plus in running an organisation.
Leadership is defined as the activity of leading a group of people or an organisation or the ability to do this. Leadership involves
1. Establishing a clear vision,
2. Sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly,
3. Providing the information, knowledge and methods to realize that vision, and
4. "Coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members and stakeholders" (Antonia, 2009)
Developing a Leadership Strategy:
Having defined leadership, we will discuss how an effective leadership strategy should be employed by Dodgy essay.com. Setting their goals on expansion, Dodgy essay.com needs a mentality that would match its ambitions and be well prepared to face any discrepancies that are met along the way. No matter what the leadership strategy is, it has to have a vision. True leaders have a vision, that is, they have a potential to view the present as it is and to invent a future culminating out of the present (MSG, 2012). A leader with a vision has the ability of remaining in the present with the added intellect of determining a plausible estimate to what the future withholds. A vision then becomes an end goal of achievement towards which the leader can direct his resources. Leadership vision is not restricted to organisational written mission statement and vision statement. It is well demonstrated in the actions, beliefs and values of organisational leaders (MSG, 2012).
Over the years there have been a lot of studies that have looked into several models and theories of leadership. While almost everyone converges on the fact that there is never a fixed formula however there are certain theories that applies to almost every successful leader. There are basically four core leadership theory groups of which this paper will shed light on only three:
Trait Theories
Behavioural Theories
Transformational Theories
The trait theory of leadership is based on what type of person makes a good leader. In our case, Dodgy essay.com needs to consider the traits of both successful and unsuccessful leaders in good effect. Trait theory lists a number of traits of several leaders and compares them to a list of potential leaders to assess their likelihood of success or failure (MSG, 2012). Trait theories help us identify traits and qualities such as motivational drive, desire to lead, honesty and integrity, self confidence, intelligence, job relevant knowledge and extrovert (Robbins and Coulter, 2012). Therefore, the trait theory provides a practical guideline about leadership, as its application is possible in every tier of the organisation. It can be used as a self-assessment tool for managers to evaluate as to where they stand and what areas of their personality needs revision. It is basically a strength and weakness analysis for a better understanding of the position they are in.
The behavioural theory on the other hand asks about what a good leader does. They focus on how several leaders behave. A specific theory that discusses this model is 'The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid'. This grid is based on two behavioural dimensions (Mindtools, 2012):
Concern for People - This is the degree to which a leader considers the needs of team members, their interests, and areas of personal development when deciding how best to accomplish a task.
Concern for Production - This is the degree to which a leader emphasizes concrete objectives, organisational efficiency and high productivity when deciding how best to accomplish a task.
This grid portrays five basic styles of leadership. Country Club style refers to a high concern for the people with a relaxed attitude to work which affects production. Produce or Perish refers to a low regard for the employee where the leader is mostly strict and autocratic which results in high production but put employees needs behind. Impoverished leadership is quite ineffective as the leader neither has regard for the employees nor is the production top notch. Middle of the road leadership is a balance between production and people's needs and while many might argue that this is the perfect model, however while compromising, you are letting go of some of your capabilities. Team leadership according to the Blake Mouton model is the apex of leadership style. Here the needs of employees are met and as a result their willingness to work coincides with these needs therefore resulting in a more than satisfactory environment for the employees and a high output.
Transformational theory relates to the inspiration of the workforce to go beyond their task requirements (MSG, 2012).
ransformational Leadership Theory
Figure 2: Model of Transformational Leadership
This model describes the four factors that transformational leaders must exhibit to follow the model. Inspirational Motivation is the core of this model where the leader is consistently promoting the need for a set vision, mission and fixed predefined values for the members. Intellectual stimulation is where the leader is always compelling his workforce to come up with new and innovative ideas that would enhance their thought and learning processes. Idealized Influence is the belief that a leader should lead by example: the workforce is expected to do something only if the leader himself adheres to it. Lastly, Individualized consideration is the reward for employees by their leaders who act as their mentors and support them in implementing their self-thought decisions. A successful implementation of this model would mean that the leaders would demonstrate a heightened level of job satisfaction and organisational commitment.
Current Leadership Requirements:
Dodgy essay.com being an online software outlet currently faces a massive increase in its customer base. Before its extraordinary popularity the business was humming along quietly, however, now that its turnover has more than quadrupled, effective leadership strategies as discussed above must be applied in order to meet the increase in demand.
Dodgy essay.com is a small organisation by the industry's standard having a workforce of just five people. However, this merely requires a more direct approach of communication with the employees. The manager at Dodgy essay.com needs to have a clear vision. In this case, the provision of prompt services as well as maintaining the current level of customer base is vital to the company's future growth needs. The manager should have the motivational drive to mobilize the employees into a satisfactory working attitude. With about 1 million hits per day, the workforce is somewhat limited when compared to the large customer base. Therefore, the model of team leadership according to the Blake Mouton model needs to be applied: the workforce needs to be kept happy as each and every one of them is vital to the company's existence and they need to work to their fullest capacity to cater for the lack of employees.
Perhaps the most plausible leadership theory applicable in Dodgy essay.com's scenario is the Transformational Leadership theory. This is due to the need to harmonize each employee together with just the right amount of environment for the innovation of new ideas and techniques to make the software more proficient. Moreover, being the head of a very small group of workers, the manager needs to lead by example as his actions will be closely monitored and a positive and inspiring behaviour will surely stimulate positivity in the workplace. A small workforce also means that each individual will need to make imperative decisions for the software. The manager needs to encourage a healthy decision making setting and encourage the employees to think on their own feet. Each worker will be putting in more than the task requirement therefore the manager needs to set optimistic goals. Every goal when met by the workforce should be met with considerable appreciation and reward.
Acknowledgment of a leader's vision by the workforce is fundamental to Dodgy essay.com as it makes the employees well aware of what the organisation is trying to achieve. Vision has the strength to move the employees out of monotonous work life and to place them into a new challenging and dynamic work (Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano, A. and Dennison, P, 2003). Vision must be:
Rational
Reasonable
Innovative
Credible
Clear
Motivating and stimulating
Challenging
Reflective of organisational beliefs, values and culture
Concrete
The manager is responsible for communicating his vision effectively. Vision is a portrait and depiction of what a leader aspires his organisation to be in long-term (Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano, A. and Dennison, P, 2003).
Future Leadership Requirements:
Dodgy essay.com has plans for expansion and a substantial change in the psyche and outlook of the company. To expand the portfolio of online resources, the company needs to hire competent employees who have prior experience in the field. A transformative change will be observed after the 3 years in the organisation as fundamental structure, systems, orientation and strategies of the organisation will be altered (Austin & Claassen, 2008).
Thereafter, on the back of such a massive organisational change, leadership requirements within the company will somewhat be altered. The manager now has to adhere to a list of several traits that will enable him to run the company through this change effectively. With an increase in the number of employees the manager has to synergize his task force collectively while encouraging teamwork. Previously, with only five workers at hand, it was easy to manage every one of them, however now that the employee base has grown, an effective over seeing mechanism needs to be employed.
To in cooperate the expansion and building of high street 'internet' drop in centres, a seamless integration of duties along with planning needs to be carried out by the leader. The leader has to define the mission to his staff where any confusion amongst the staff will be sorted out, linking job duties between them and portraying his vision for expansion. He needs to know every intricate detail about the task at hand, which will enable him to mobilize his employees to encourage teamwork and cohesion between them. Moreover, there is a need to develop autonomy within the organisation where rules and limitations are defined with the freedom provided to the staff to innovate. Dodgy essay.com also needs a confident and assertive leader who has no problems in communicating. An extrovert leader would allow the organisation to develop relationships and expand easily.
The transformational leadership theory is applicable in the future as well for this company where the leader will develop a team leadership attitude. The staff will be catered for their needs and will be kept happy on the basis of the work they do. The leader needs to develop short-term and long-term goals for the development of the software and services. Every goal met will be praised and rewarded.
Adhering to these requirements, the manager of the company can fully benefit from the expansion plans. His desire to lead and energy to drive a growth-oriented company will allow the expansion plans to incubate amidst the competition.
Development of Leadership skills:
The Managing Director of Dodgy essay.com is crucial for the progress of the company as experts state, "that people are the only assets with the creativity and adaptive power to sustain an organization's success in today's dynamic business world" (Krohn, 2000, p. 63). Torraco and Swanson (1995) further stated that investment in "employee education and training increasingly funds the development of an infrastructure to support the sustainable competitive advantage that a highly-trained workforce provides" (p. 13). Thus, the skills of the MD need to be developed and thereon evaluated for the effectiveness of his training.
Before the development of any leadership program, the assessment of the company's vision and goals need to be clear and stated. "A simple way to go about this is to ask yourself: What do we want our future leaders to accomplish?" (Tim Donnelly, 2010). After defining these goals to the MD of Dodgy essay.com, he needs to be trained with the aid of a number of tangible steps as defined as
Design and deliver customized development workshops based on the desired leadership model
1-1 & team coaching
Action learning assignments for individual and team
On-the-job assignments
Off-the-job initiatives
Every step will help the MD hone his skills just as per the requirements of the company. Donnelly (2010) in his article states that a leadership development program should be able to use Real-World examples. For instance the instructor must have had prior experience of leadership and have a track record of good leadership. After the expansion, the MD might have to work with employees whom they don't see for month. Therefore, he needs to be trained in handling a decentralized workforce. Experts believe that to counter this problem, leaders have to be trained to be more purposeful in establishing personal relationships with staff (Tim Donnelly, 2010). The company being an online workplace, much of the communication is shorthand or over e-mail. The MD needs to be trained in being more direct with the employees where communications have to be straightforward and to the point.
The Social Learning theory for leaders has been discussed by Bandura (1986), is inclined towards "imitation" where our MD will learn by observing the behavior of his counterparts. It can also be referred to as "observational learning" where Bandura explained that needless errors are eliminated when the mistakes of others are observed and then thought about. Moreover there is the Adult Learning idea, which states that adults can learn by experimenting and use a solution-based approach to learn something (Knowles, 1984). The MD of Dodgy essay.com can learn on the back of motivation. Lastly, we will discuss the Rost paradigm (Black & Earnest, 2009). Rost (1993) stated that a leader learns not in one way but the learning process is multi-directional. He learns horizontally, vertically, diagonally or circularly.
Evaluation of the methods:
Merely investing resources in the development of the Managing Director's skills is not enough. A rigorous check-up and feedback on the program needs to be done where the skills of the MD are evaluated. As learning is not a single day process, constant monitoring of the program is required as per
Facilitate quarterly/monthly meetings - individual and team progress check-ups
Create a scorecard to track behavioral changes
Assess impact on operational outcomes and specific business results (e.g. Talent retention, employee engagement, product innovation, safety enhancement, compliance, customer satisfaction, process improvement etc.)
Moreover, a system as described by Collins (2002) is a more accurate indicator of leadership development. The Results Assessment System (Swanson & Holton, 1999) will fit perfectly within our domain. It deals with performance, learning, and perception, each of which has two options. Performance results deal with system or financial results. System results are defined as "the units of mission-related outputs in the form of goods and/or services having value to the customer and that are related to the core organizational, work processes, and group or individual contributors in the organization" (Swanson & Holton, 1999). Financial results are defined as "the conversion of the output units of goods and/or services attributable to the intervention into money and financial interpretation" (Swanson & Holton, 1999).
The MD will be evaluated on the basis of this Results Assessment System. Here while evaluating his performance, a count of the amount of goods produced and wealth generated will be taken in sight. Learning results are divided into expertise or knowledge results. Expertise results are defined as "human behaviors having effective results and optimal efficiency, acquired through study and experience within a specialized domain" (Collins, 2002). Knowledge results are defined as "mental achievement acquired through study and experience" (Swanson & Holton, 1999). This evaluation will be somewhat difficult and it would require a more observational practice of the MD. Perception results are a third category of outcomes defined by the Results Assessment System (Swanson & Holton, 1999). Perception outcomes are described as participant perceptions and stakeholder perceptions. This would require a longer run study of the company and the MD's performance will be depicted on the basis of customer satisfaction and his relationship with his counterparts.
