Theme 5: My vision of leadership

Blog 5: My vision of leadership

In my personal view, leadership is quality, behaviour, personality and also a character that is built within an individual. It is essential for a person to know what are their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the leader must be aware about the purpose of doing a certain task. Furthermore, an individual should not be afraid of leading people if they have the capability of making people work together to achieve great things. Teamwork and guidance are very important in order to be a great leader. As mentioned by Transformational Leadership (n.d), transformational leadership develops performance and motivation of leaders and their teams and followers. Transformational leaders are committed to their what they desire to do and have a very charismatic character in them.

According to Reynafarje (n.d), Mahatma Gandhi was a transformational leader. He was a great leader in India, which led his followers with his kind and influential personality. Gandhi was well known for being the father of the nation in India (Moore 2011).

 

Figure 1: Mahatma Gandhi (Biography.com n.d)

The link gives a brief biography about Gandhi (Biography.com n.d)

https://www.biography.com/video/gandhi-mini-biography-469938755902

 

Certain charismatic celebrities or leaders of nations inspire people due to their great work. I am a huge follower and a fan of Ellen DeGeneres. I like her enthusiasm of helping people without discriminating. She is a kind and a fun leader who always tries to make people happy. Although she is labelled as a comedian, her leadership style and personality enlightens people across the world (Morgan 2015). Thus, I would like to learn to be someone similar to her as she inspires me.

Figure 2: Ellen DeGerenes (Ryanbodell 2016)

Besides that, 16personalities.com (n.d) showed that my personality type is “the entertainer”. I agree on most of the characteristics mentioned on that personality test as it was based on my perspectives. In addition, I will research further on my personality and attributes, as I will have to look for a job once I have completed my MBA.

 

Figure 3: Results of personality test (16personalities.com n.d)

The following link is the explained version of the personality test from 16personalities test that I have done (16personalities.com n.d).

https://www.16personalities.com/profiles/1d86b198a4797

 

Feedback from teammates

As I was in a team of five members during my “leading in a changing world” subject, I was able to know and learn from my mates. During the past 10 weeks, we have been doing seminars together. In addition, we all got to understand each other’s characters as well as some skills. My team members filled up a feedback form in which I was able to know myself better from how others see me. They mentioned few of my strengths and points I could improve on in order to become a better leader.

Some of the factors that my teammates want me to improve are participation, confidence, and not being independent. The reason why I was not able to give much time for being actively participative during the class seminars is due to the time constraints. We were given a short period of time to prepare for team discussions and to present in the class. As a result, I focussed more on how I could understand and apply the theories. However, working independently has been always my personality. Although I prefer working alone, I still contribute my share of work and ideas within my team members and classmates. Furthermore, I sometimes lack confidence as I feel I have a lot of room to improve in my knowledge. People have their own perception about themselves regarding experience. I will try to reflect myself and improve on how I could develop on participating, being confident as well as how I could interact more within teamwork in the future.

I would like to improve my confidence, research, communication and interpersonal skills. The most essential skill in a leader is communication. Communication plays a huge role in any aspect of life. Prive (2012) mentioned that in order to be a remarkable leader, communication is one of the top 10 qualities. Furthermore, the leadership skills that I need to advance more are teamwork skill. During the period of time as a MBA student, it is crucial to work together with the team members to perform efficiently.

In summary, I have learnt that communicating among the lecturers and students help to broaden the knowledge and also it is easy to clear doubts. Hence, it is important to take initiative and have confidence. I will try to be more participative during my next semester. I look forward to learn new theories and frameworks in order to enhance my experience and understanding.

Word count: 774

 

 

References

16personalities.com. (n.d.). AnonymousEntertainer – The Entertainer | 16Personalities. [online] Available at: https://www.16personalities.com/profiles/1d86b198a4797 [Accessed 15 July 2017].

Biography.com. (n.d.). Gandhi – Mini Biography. [online] Available at: https://www.biography.com/video/gandhi-mini-biography-469938755902 [Accessed 15 July 2017].

Biography.com. (n.d.). Mahatma Gandhi. [online] Available at: https://www.biography.com/people/mahatma-gandhi-9305898 [Accessed 15 July 2017].

Moore, K. (2011). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlmoore/2011/08/22/2-lessons-from-indiasgreatest-leader-gandhi/#75d03d355ec1 [Accessed 15 July 2017].

Morgan, J. (2015). The Leadership Style of Ellen DeGeneres. [online] Radically Distinct Brand Strategy | Jenn Morgan. Available at: http://www.jennmorgan.com/jenn-blog/2015/10/23/the-leadership-style-of-ellen-degeneres [Accessed 15 July 2017].

Prive, T. (2012). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/#6f3c4aed7754 [Accessed 15 July 2017].

Reynafarje, A. (n.d.). Leadership Style. [online] Mahatma Gandhi. Available at: http://fatherofthenation.weebly.com/leadership-style.html [Accessed 15 July 2017].

Ryanbodell (2016). The Ellen Degeneres Show has found a UK home on ITV2!. [online] CelebMix. Available at: http://celebmix.com/the-ellen-degeneres-show-has-found-a-uk-home-on-itv2/ [Accessed 15 July 2017].

Transformational Leadership. (n.d.). Transformational Leadership | Pachamama Alliance. [online] Available at: https://www.pachamama.org/transformational-leadership [Accessed 15 July 2017].

 

Theme 4: Leadership and Change

Blog 4: Leadership and Change

Change is a process that takes place within any organisation. A company will have people with different personalities, cultures and background. As employees need time to adjust the changing environment, they also need time to adjust change within the organisation. According to Forbes.com (2011), “change management” and “change leadership” are two different aspects. In change management, it is mostly concentrated on the main tools in which keeps the changes in control. The aim of the change management is to ensure the objectives are met without having major changes or issues. Besides that, Forbes.com (2011) also stated that change leadership ensures company’s vision and objectives are met quicker, smoother and efficiently.

Anastasia (2015), change is a transition from one place to another. This change can be in terms of persons, teams, businesses or even projects. When a person moves from one job to another, they will experience change in business environment and surroundings. As mentioned by the statement from Mullins (2013: 712), the job scopes as well as the culture of the companies are different from each other. As a result, people sometimes find it hard to resist change. Thus, it is essential to understand change and accept the changes around each individual. Organisations should ensure they treat new employees the right way with guiding them towards the right directions within the company. The employees need to be given proper training and workshops to make them familiar with the new environment and this is help the overall performance of the organisation as the employees become more efficient and confident with their work.

John Kotter’s Change Model – 1995

Figure 1: Kotter’s 8 step change model (Vogelzang 2016)

According to Webster (n.d) in the 8-step model of Kotter, it shows the transformational change within an organisation. As every business goes through change during some period, it is important to know the different stages. Hence, it becomes easy to analyse, evaluate and do necessary amendments based on the transformation that takes place within a company.

The link below gives a better understanding of Kotter’s change model (Mindtools.com n.d)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNILBjjVttA

Kurt Lewin’s Change Management Model – 1947

The model that is associated with change is Kurt Lewin’s Change Management Model in 1947 (Connelly 2016). The model consists of three stages; unfreeze, change, and freeze. The Figure 1 below shows the three steps of the model. Lewin’s change model is common in many businesses due to its simplicity. In addition, the change model is also easy to know and use in form of an outline (Mindtools.com n.d).

 

Figure 2: Lewin’s Change Model (O’Loughlin 2013)

As every model has its limitation, Lewin’s change management model also has their disadvantages. The model seems to be rational and lacking the emotional traits. Feelings play a major role in every employee and it is an essential element in order to work efficiently. Furthermore, the model is very goal oriented and focuses mainly on how the organisational objectives are achieved without considering the challenges faced by the people within the company (Vuodatus.net 2014).

 

Apple Inc.

Figure 3: Steve Jobs; ex CEO and co-founder of Apple Inc. (Madison 2011)

Sanburn (2011) reported that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Inc. in 1976. The main product to develop in the company was personal computers. During those days, personal computers were rare and expensive. However, Steve Jobs was later able to revolutionise the entire organisation to a totally new technological company. The Figure 4 below shows the variety of products that Apple Company is making now. Steve Jobs charisma for innovation has led the entire company to work for the change and become one of the most successful companies in the world.

Figure 4: Timeline of Apple products (Sipai 2016)

Walmart

Figure 5: A customer shopping in Walmart (Thau 2012)

Walmart is one of the well-known brands for “everyday low price” slogans. They sell food, home items, music, apparel, electronics and many such items that are found in superstores (Wang 2017). According to Wang (2017), Walmart tried to have a change in their marketing strategies by implementing high-priced upmarket goods such as fashionable style to gain attention from high-income customers. This approach did not go so well as both high end customers and the ones who mostly shop from Walmart were not happy with the change in the business. Hence, it is essential to have a proper survey or get feedbacks from customers to find out if having a change in the business is going to be feasible.

In short, a change in a business should be made carefully. It is not easy to have a major change within any organisation as it is a huge investment and it costs a lot. The employees as well as the culture of the whole company will have to be able to resist the change. Hence, it is good to use change models in organisations when they do the transformations.

 

Word count: 824

 

 

References

Anastasia (2015). Major Approaches & Models of Change Management. [online] Cleverism. Available at: https://www.cleverism.com/major-approaches-models-of-change-management/ [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Connelly, M. (2016). The Kurt Lewin Model Of Change. [online] Change Management Coach. Available at: http://www.change-management-coach.com/kurt_lewin.html [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Forbes.com. (2011). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2011/07/12/change-management-vs-change-leadership-whats-the-difference/#533825a74cc6 [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Mindtools.com. (n.d.). Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model: Implementing Change Powerfully and Successfully. [online] Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_82.htm [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Mindtools.com. (n.d.). Lewin’s Change Management Model: Understanding the Three Stages of Change. [online] Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_94.htm [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Madison, J. (2011). ‘The world is a better place because of Steve’: The life and times of Apple visionary Steve Jobs. [online] Mail Online. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045852/Steve-Jobs-dead-Biography-Apple-visionary.html [Accessed 10 July 2017].

O’Loughlin, D. (2013). Organisation Development for Leaders. [online] http://www.cscollege.gov.sg. Available at: https://www.cscollege.gov.sg/Knowledge/Pages/Organisation-Development-for-Leaders.aspx [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Sanburn, J. (2011). Apple | 10 Companies That Radically Transformed Their Businesses | TIME.com. [online] TIME.com. Available at: http://business.time.com/2011/06/16/10-companies-that-radically-transformed-their-businesses/slide/apple/ [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Sipai, H. (2016). The Evolution of Apple #Infographic. [online] Vancouver Digital Marketing Consultant. Available at: http://www.hanifsipai.com/the-evolution-of-apple-infographic/ [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Thau, B. (2012). Walmart Gets Laser-Focused on Lowest Prices Again. [online] AOL.com. Available at: https://www.aol.com/2012/03/29/walmart-gets-laser-focused-on-lowest-prices-again/ [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Vogelzang, I. (2016). 8 steps to managing change – OnGuard. [online] OnGuard. Available at: http://onguard.com/process/8-steps-managing-change/ [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Vuodatus.net. (2014). A comparison between Lewin´s and Kotter´s models of change. [online] Available at: https://tumpelontekeleet.vuodatus.net/lue/2014/08/a-comparison-between-lewin-s-and-kotter-s-models-of-change [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Wang, D. (2017). Successful Organizational Change Is Easier Than You Think. [online] Tinypulse.com. Available at: https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/sk-successful-organizational-change-examples [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Webster, M. (n.d.). Successful Change Management — Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model. [online] Leadership Thoughts. Available at: https://www.leadershipthoughts.com/kotters-8-step-change-model/ [Accessed 16 July 2017].

 

Theme 3: Most effective Leadership, Management Styles & approaches

Blog 3: Most effective Leadership, Management Styles & approaches

Leadership and Management

As stated by Arruda (2016), leaders are people who have a certain attributes in themselves to lead people towards the vision. They influence and motivate the followers to get the maximum effort. Moreover, managers work on achieving objectives. In addition, leaders are unique and always risk for more innovative ways of succeeding while managers’ focus on getting the tasks done. The figure 1 below shows the difference between leadership and management. The companies should have both leaders and managers that help to meet the company’s objectives. It is essential for employees to work as a team to have better results.

Figure 1: Leadership and management differences (MacKay 2008).

 

Various leadership styles

According to Northouse (2016), there are many types of leadership styles such as, situational leadership, transformational leadership, transactional leadership, authentic leadership, servant leadership and adaptive leadership. All leadership approaches have their own traits, merits and demerits. Every leader is different from each other in terms of their values, personality, culture, and also motives. Hence, it is very important for every business to have an appropriate leader that can guide the company to the right path.

 

Transformational leadership

Northouse (2016:161) stated that the leadership that is most value, emotions, ethics, long-term goals and standard based is transformational leadership. Northouse (2016:162) also mentions that transformational leadership was first introduced by Downtown in 1973. Later on, in 1978 James MacGregor Burns gave further importance to this leadership style with linking the roles of leadership and followership. Thus, this type of leadership quality in a leader will help to concentrate on company’s main objectives. Furthermore, it will help to focus on guiding the managers to give proper directions for employees to succeed and achieve efficiently. According to Martin (2016), the transformational leaders lead the followers by inspiring them to meet the vision of a business.

The suggestion by the CMI 2013 is true. There is no one best approach as a combination of all the leadership styles can be more effective in developing a company’s growth.

 

Nelson Mandela

Figure 2: Nelson Mandela (Nsehe 2013)

According to The Nelson Mandela Foundation (2017), Rolihlahla Mandela is the real name of Nelson Mandela where his primary school teacher gave the name Nelson to him. Bbc.co.uk (n.d) reported that in 1994 South Africa’s first black president was Nelson Mandela. Before he became the president, he was in prison for about 27 years as he was an anti-apartheid activist. However, Mandela was famous due to his leadership style. He had many followers. He fought against his country for justice against racial intolerance. In addition, Mandela was respected man for his fight to bring peace among black and white people in the nation. He was a hero to the world for his bravery and courage that helped the black people to have equal rights as other citizens in the country. According to Schoemaker (2013), the two main factors that Mandela was successful in having so many followers is that “he appreciated the power of symbols and the moral persuasiveness of genuine acts of magnanimity” and also Mandela gave an example of reconciliation and vision for the people of South Africa and gave them the impression that he want the people to live up to him to bring peace to the nation. Hence, Mandela was able to change his country’s political issues through his fight for black people.

 

 

Walter Elias Disney

Figure 3: Walter Disney (Henderson 2016)

 

Walter is the founder of the world famous entertainment industry, the Walt Disney in 1923 (Entrepreneur n.d). His love for animation led him to have a greater picture in life that made himself famous through his development as a leader for Disney. According to Kinni (2013) the leadership style of Walter helped him to persuade his brother Roy to participate in the business of Disneyland. Kinni (2013) also mentioned in accordance to Marty Sklar, a man who worked in Disney for almost half a century that Walter was a master motivator. This is due to his great leadership in ensuring the wellbeing of employees that results to also satisfaction of consumers. Walter cared a lot for his staffs and this was a great feature about him. A leader should value the employees and it will help to create better results in the company. Thus, Walter is also great example for a transformational leader. He ensured that his passion for animation have a bigger outcome for the entertainment world by becoming one of the most well-known companies of the world.

 

Conclusion

In a nutshell, as a member of a team, it is crucial to lead the members towards the right direction to achieve the target/aim. Every assignment have it’s own objectives. Hence, it is important for the whole team to effectively participate with each other. Besides that, leadership is very important in any organization or even in teamwork, as one person should take the lead to guide the members to the correct path.

 

Word count: 833

References

Arruda, W. (2016). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2016/11/15/9-differences-between-being-a-leader-and-a-manager/#7aeecdeb4609 [Accessed 27 June 2017].

Bbc.co.uk. (n.d.). BBC – Primary History – Famous People – Nelson Mandela. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/nelson_mandela/ [Accessed 28 June 2017].

Entrepreneur. (n.d.). Walter Elias Disney. [online] Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197528 [Accessed 28 June 2017].

Henderson, A. (2016). NewGen Creative | North East Video Production. [online] NewGen Creative | North East Video Production. Available at: https://www.newgencreative.co.uk/single-post/2016/08/27/Becoming-an-Entrepreneur—If-You-Can-Dream-It-You-Can-Do-It [Accessed 28 June 2017].

Kinni, T. (2013). Leadership Lessons from the World of Walt Disney. [online] strategy+business. Available at: https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Leadership-Lessons-from-the-World-of-Walt-Disney?gko=5dded [Accessed 28 June 2017].

MacKay, K. (2008). How to Hire Your Next Administrator | Law Practice Division. [online] Americanbar.org. Available at: https://www.americanbar.org/publications/law_practice_home/law_practice_archive/lpm_magazine_articles_v34_is3_pg30.html [Accessed 28 June 2017].

Martin (2016). Transformational Leadership Guide: Definition, Qualities, Pros & Cons, Examples. [online] Cleverism. Available at: https://www.cleverism.com/transformational-leadership-guide/ [Accessed 28 June 2017].

Nelson Mandela Foundation. (2017). Biography of Nelson Mandela. [online] Available at: https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography [Accessed 28 June 2017].

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. 7th ed. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. 7th ed. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, p.161.

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. 7th ed. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, p.162.

Nsehe, M. (2013). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2013/12/06/20-inspirational-quotes-from-nelson-mandela/#40aed2c07101 [Accessed 28 June 2017].

Schoemaker, P. (2013). Nelson Mandela, Transformational Leader. [online] Inc.com. Available at: https://www.inc.com/paul-schoemaker/what-made-mandela-a-transformational-leader.html [Accessed 28 June 2017].

 

 

 

 

Theme 2: The Challenge of managing diverse teams

Blog 2 – The Challenge of managing diverse teams

Abreu (2014) reported that in current generation, it is important to have a diverse workforce due to globalization. People from different backgrounds have ideas that are different from each other. These ideas can be really helpful in a working environment as businesses needs to have creativity within their companies.

Management of diversity

According to Nestor (2013), Tuckman and Jensen model (1977) found out there are five phases of development in a team. The five stages are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Through these stages, a team concentrates on reaching their aim with effective teamwork. The members may come from diverse background and this results it will take time in building the relationship between teammates. It is essential to have one member who takes the role of a leader and help to motivate the rest of the members. Thus, all the team members’ work together from forming stage to performing stage in order to get the final result of their common goal. However, there is one more stage; which is the adjourning phase in which the team members go on different path once their objective is met (Nestor 2013).

 

Figure 1: The five stages of team development by Tuckman and Jensen – 1977 (Nestor 2013)

 

Advantage of diverse team

According to Rock and Grant (2016) diverse teams re-evaluate facts and they are very attentive. It is important to have people with different backgrounds in a team that can provide information based on experience and knowledge. Furthermore, a team with various skills and diverse members can help to make better decisions without being biased. Rock and Grant (2016) also stated that a diverse team shows high productivity. Hence, diversity in respective to various races, nationality, gender and character can really make a team achieve objectives and get positive outcomes. Miller-Merrell (2017) stated that according to a diversity report by U.S based Uber, the employed showed out of the 85% men, there were 49.8% Caucasian, 30.9% Asian, 8.8% African American, 5.6% Hispanic and 4.3% Multi-racial race and ethnicity. This clearly shows that Uber treats their employees equally even when they are from diverse backgrounds.

 

Figure 2: Diverse team (Benefits of managing a diverse team n.d)

 

Example of workforce diverse in organisation

Johnson & Johnson is one of the top 7 diverse organization in the U.S (Butt 2016). The company’s diversity and inclusion comes from different human experiences. The diversity lets the people to see the world in an exceptional point of view through their experiences and backgrounds. The mission of Johnson & Johnson is to reach highest potential with mix of people within the company. In addition, the company came up with three strategic pillars to see the merit and demerit of the diverse environment. The three pillars are; “advance our culture of inclusion and innovation, build a diverse workforce for the future, and enhance business results and reputation”. Furthermore, the company’s diversity and inclusion is a key for innovation and growth of Johnson & Johnson (Johnson & Johnson 2017).

Figure 3: Diversity in Johnson & Johnson (Diversity and Inclusion 2017)

 

Disadvantage of diverse team

Diverse teams have its challenges. It is not easy for different cultural people to mingle among each other. According to Hamlin (n.d), company should give training to members in order to give proper guidance to diverse teams. Another essential factor is respect. All the members need to respect and commit to their work by being professional. The team members should understand each other and communicate well. The time consumed for building trust within the diverse team needs to be minimized by effectively participating and appreciating the works of each other (Hamlin n.d). Women are often being left out from getting high positions in a company. Gender discrimination has been an issue from decades. In a study carried out by McKinsey Global Institute showed that by having women equality by 2025, the global GDP could rise by $12 trillion. This shows how essential a woman’s role can be played within a company that can also benefit the economy. Women are often portrayed to be better leaders (Menon 2017).

 

Figure 4: Woman in workplace (Silas-Havas 2017)

Conclusion

In short, diverse teams lead a company to succeed when the employees work effectively without discriminating. It is important for people from various cultures, gender, races, nationality and professions to work as a team. However, the people in a diverse team should learn to share their experience and ideas so that the team can build on knowledge and create better results. Thus, communication plays a very big role. There needs to be a leader in the team to always guide the members in the right direction. Walter (2014) stated that a diverse workforce is crucial in an innovative and fast moving environment. The modernized world highly depends on technology aspects. As a result, the diversity in a company will give a lot of benefit to succeed the objectives of projects.

 

Word count: 830

 

 

References

 

Abreu, K. (2014). The Myriad Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace. [online] Entrepreneur. Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240550 [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Benefits of Managing a Diverse Team (n.d.). [online] Directutor.com. Available at: http://www.directutor.com/content/benefits-managing-diverse-team [Accessed 10 June 2017].

Butt, R. (2016). Here are the top 7 most diverse and inclusive companies in the US – Page 8 of 8 – Business Insider. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.my/here-are-the-top-7-most-diverse-and-inclusive-companies-in-the-us-2016-9/8/#7wte6jvYCblmm6Rz.97 [Accessed 10 June 2017]

Diversity and Inclusion. (2017). Diversity & Inclusion | Johnson & Johnson. [online] Available at: https://www.jnj.com/about-jnj/diversity [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Hamlin, D. (n.d.). Advantages and Disadvantages of Workplace Diversity. [online] Hamlinharkins.com. Available at: http://www.hamlinharkins.com/Workplace_Diversity.html [Accessed 11 June 2017].

Johnson & Johnson (2017). Diversity & Inclusion | Johnson & Johnson. [online] Available at: https://www.jnj.com/about-jnj/diversity [Accessed 10 June 2017].

Menon, S. (2017). How An Inclusive Workplace Spells Greater Success. [online] Huffington Post India. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.in/sanjay-menon/how-an-inclusive-workplace-spells-greater-success_a_22092740/ [Accessed 11 June 2017].

Miller-Merrell, J. (2017). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/05/22/companies-must-look-to-regulations-for-establishing-workplace-diversity-programs/#23ae9d975869 [Accessed 11 June 2017].

Nestor, R. (2013). Aurora. [online] Leadership Foundation. Available at: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=21&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj74PecqrjUAhUIR48KHShpBP4QFgiHATAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lfhe.ac.uk%2Fdownload.cfm%2Fdocid%2F3C6230CF-61E8-4C5E-9A0C1C81DCDEDCA2&usg=AFQjCNH7kI8pDahOGWhdWFwm6r3PYHOMoA&sig2=165KcMPjUdzd4m55DC35aQ [Accessed 10 June 2017].

Rock, D. and Grant, H. (2016). Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter [Accessed 10 June 2017].

Silas-Havas, E. (2017). HR Roadmap: The Path Toward Gender Equality in the Workplace for 2017. [online] Jibe. Available at: https://www.jibe.com/blog/building-a-road-to-gender-equality-in-the-workplace-for-2017/ [Accessed 10 July 2017].

Walter, E. (2014). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ekaterinawalter/2014/01/14/reaping-the-benefits-of-diversity-for-modern-business-innovation/#7bb9bc202a8f [Accessed 11 June 2017].

 

 

 

Theme 1: Leadership and Ethics

Blog 1: Leadership and Ethics

Leadership and ethics

Leadership is a form of art where one person guides two or more people in a team. The leader plays a major role in achieving goals with the help of members. Leadership will succeed when all the people work together with proper communication (Aswathappa 2009:387). It is important for any business to have a trustworthy and responsible leader that can help the company to run effectively. These leaders must also practice certain ethics while performing the duties. Hence, leaders should be ethical to lead their followers without any bias. According to Yukl (2010:330), ethical leadership involves rules, values, characteristics, and so on. Ethical behavior can help the leaders to work among the team with moral and respect.

Principle theories of ethics

Ethical leadership has various theories. The two main principle theories of ethics are deontological and teleological ethics. Vitolina, Cals and Sumilo (2016) stated that teleology meant the outcome or result of an impact while deontology meant duty.

Deontological ethical leadership

According to BBC (2014), Immanuel Kant was a philosopher associated with the deontological ethics. The duty-based ethics is about doing the right thing and not with consequences. This principle of ethics gives an importance on the values of a person.

Figure 1: Rules-based leader – Bill Gates (Forbes 2017)

Bill Gates can be taken as an example for deontological ethics leader. He was passionate about his work and led his team to execute the projects with respect and motivation. He had faith in his work and also the people who worked for him (Agrawal 2016). Microsoft is one of the biggest IT companies in the world. The great leadership of Bill gates is helping the business to grow and reach its goals.

Teleological ethical leadership

BBC (2014) stated that, teleological ethics can also be known as consequentialism or results-based ethics. This principle is focused on the result of an outcome and not based on whether it is right or wrong. The decision of an action is entirely depended on the result it brings out. Hence, teleological ethics may not be ethical in real life as it can cause moral issues and bring a bad consequence to the society.

Figure 2: Results-based leader – Martin Winterkorn (Forbes 2017)

The former CEO of Volkswagen, Martin Winterkorn is a good example for an unethical and a result-based ethical leader. He was only concerned about the profit of the organization more than the ethical values. His employees falsified to correctly report the emission of the Volkswagen cars. Winterkorn was not aware of the emission issues of the cars. However, the company’s engineers made changes in the car by installing illegal software to manipulate the emission. This made Winterkorn look guilty of his leadership in achieving the company goals by being unethical (Dishman 2015). Ewing (2017) stated that it was likely for Volkswagen to pay a lawsuit of $10 billion if shareholders could prove to make the top management guilty. There were over 11 million cars fitted with the illegal software and 600,000 cars were sold in U.S diesel cars with this defect.

In short, the two principles of ethical leadership can be used in an organization. Each of the principle has its own merits and disadvantages. Hence, a mixture of the deontological and teleological ethical leadership behaviors will help an organization to achieve their goals without the worry of cheating.

The 4 V model of ethical leadership

The 4 V model of ethical leadership by Dr.Bill Grace includes values, vision, voice and virtue.

Figure 3: Four V model of ethical leadership by Dr.Bill Grace (Center for ethical leadership n.d.)

The first V, values help to give directions towards the aim. These values are connected to the vision through services. The second V, vision contributes to frame an individual’s actions in the service of others. The third V, voice is process of articulating vision with accuracy to stimulate action in others. An effective leadership needs the skill to provide voice to the values and vision. The fourth V, virtue is a mixture of principles, which distinguishes the good from bad (Kar n.d.).

The 4 V model of ethical leadership can be applied in organizational surroundings. It may not be easy to comply. However, it is essential for a business to run with rules and regulations rather than hiding the truth and being unethical. The ethical leaders are mostly not popular as their only concern is about the wellbeing of the business and personality.

In a nutshell, every company should practice ethically. A leader should lead the team with rules, morals, and values in order to reach the outcome of any project. Being an ethical organization, the business does not have to worry about being sued or wrong doings. Thus, companies must carry out ethical behavioral workshops to teach the employees the importance of ethics in a workplace.

Word count: 814

 

References

Agrawal, A. (2016). Jobs or Gates: Differences in Leadership. [online] Inc.com. Available at: https://www.inc.com/aj-agrawal/jobs-or-gates-differences-in-leadership.html [Accessed 24 May 2017].

Aswathappa, K. (2009). Organisational Behaviour. 1st ed. Bangalore: Himalaya Publishing House, p.387.

BBC. (2014). BBC – Ethics – Introduction to ethics: Consequentialism. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/consequentialism_1.shtml [Accessed 24 May 2017].

BBC. (2014). BBC – Ethics – Introduction to ethics: Duty-based ethics. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/duty_1.shtml [Accessed 24 May 2017].

Concepts and philosophies. (n.d.). Center for ethical leadership. [online] Available at: http://www.ethicalleadership.org/concepts-and-philosophies.html [Accessed 23 May 2017].

Dishman, L. (2015). The 10 Best And Worst Leaders Of 2015. [online] Fast Company. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/3054777/the-10-best-and-worst-leaders-of-2015 [Accessed 25 May 2017].

Ewing, J. (2017). VW Engineers Wanted O.K. From the Top for Emissions Fraud, Documents Show. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/business/volkswagen-muller-diesel-emissions.html [Accessed 13 Jun. 2017].

Forbes. (2017). Bill Gates. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/ [Accessed 23 May 2017].

Forbes. (2017). Martin Winterkorn. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/profile/martin-winterkorn/ [Accessed 24 May 2017].

Kar, D. (n.d.). Ethical Leadership: Best Practice for Success. [online] IOSR Journal of Business and Management. Available at: http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/ICIMS/Volume-1/14.pdf [Accessed 24 May 2017].

Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in organizations. 7th ed. Boston: Pearson, p.330.