Order Number |
346568862 |
Type of Project |
ESSAY |
Writer Level |
PHD VERIFIED |
Format |
APA |
Academic Sources |
10 |
Page Count |
3-12 PAGES |
Leadership and Change |
Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.
Nnenna’s post:
During the Industrial age, which began in the 1800’s, leadership was in control of subordinates and their work. The employees had little or no say on the processes because leadership “knew best” even though they did not do the work. Employees were treated as machines and not human beings.
They also did not have a say on their poor working conditions, salary and much more. According to Zhu et al;(2021, 381), “the element of humanity can be put into leadership practice in terms of developing followers, satisfying their needs, and empowering them, which further lead to positive outcomes at both individual and organizational levels”. The transition to the Information age began around the mid-20th century. This was the beginning of what is known as the computer age. Leaders had to shift their mindsets and embrace innovation from employees, learn new technology. Work was no longer about production; employee’s opinions became important.
During the information age, my organization like many others train leaders in technology and pay attention to the voice of employees unlike the Industrial age. As stated by Leonard (2003, pg. 3), “Many employees selected for future leadership roles today would seem unlikely candidates for success. Many are selected primarily for their technical rather than their interpersonal or people leadership skills”.
My leadership approach to change would be transformational I would have to embrace change to motivate and inspire employees to do the same. It will also be important to encourage them to be innovative and think outside the box at all times.
References
Leonard, H. S. (2003). Leadership development for the postindustrial, postmodern information age. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 55(1), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/1061-4087.55.1.3
Xiaoqin Zhu, Shek, D. T. L., & Ng, D. C. H. (2021). Humanistic leadership in service economy. International Journal of Child Health & Human Development, 14(4), 381–391.
Irma’s post:
During the industrial age, change occurred based on unionization and employees fighting for fair pay for labor work and eventually benefits. With the information age, the advancement in technology is definitely a leading force of change that has proven to be highly beneficial for organizations throughout the world. It has proved to be a force to be reckoned with and organizational leaders must adapt, change, and respond (Warrick, 2016).
Warrick (2016) stated, “technology can be a cause or an effect. A change in technology when dictated by outside forces, becomes an effect. When a company develops, modifies, or creates a new technology, it will be the cause of change” (sect. 9.1). Organizations have their own information technology with experts that are constantly researching, learning, and evolving by applying the most current trends that will benefit the company.
Leaders must be agile and flexible with change, but also need to learn and understand the negative and positive impacts by embracing those changes and implementing the technology successfully. May (2019) stated, “as with most transformational change, it should start by leveraging existing technologies in new and innovative ways because invention without practicality offers limited availability. Those who optimize, simplify, or improve often occupy prominent seats in history” (p. 69).
The wireless company I am currently working for most recently had an outage with our timekeeping system that was caused by an external factor. The timekeeping system is known as Kronos and the company had a widespread outage that occurred a few weeks ago. Shen (2021) stated, “HR management company Ultimate Kronos Group has been hit by a ransomware attack that’s hobbling its clients access to processing payroll, handling time sheets, and managing their workforce” (p. 2).
All of our employees were unable to access the site, including our payroll department to process timesheets within two days with all recent data such as time punches, hours worked, and vacation time completely wiped out. The outage was very impacting, however our HR teams in partnership with our technology team to pivot and provide solutions with a very quick turnaround. A week later the team has found an alternative by utilizing another HRIS system temporarily until Kronos becomes available and ready to use without issues.
References:
May, T. (2019). Industrial age capacity at information age speed. Strategies Studies Quarterly. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2310622947/fulltextPDF/F4E99CB2D5684422PQ/1?accountid=32521 (Links to an external site.)
Shen, M. (2021). Ransomware attack on Kronos could disrupt how companies pay, manage employees for weeks. USA today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/12/13/kronos-ransomware-attack-2021/6501274001/ (Links to an external site.)
Warrick, D. D. (2016). Leadership: A high impact approach. Bridgepoint Education. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
Empowering Others |
Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.
Tara’s post:
Empowering employees can take on various characteristics. Employees that have the knowledge and support to make individual decisions feel empowered. Bueren et al. (2020) explained empowerment is a result of providing access to organizational information at all levels of the company and by sharing information employees establish competence that impacts their efficacy. An organizational culture that supports empowering employees can increase performance and motivation. Warrick (2016, Section 6.5, “Other Motivation Theories”, para. 5) explained that organizations that build trust with employees to make decisions create a culture that supports empowerment and thus improves satisfaction and motivation. A supportive culture is just one aspect that enables empowerment, employees will still need leader support and the knowledge to make decisions. Empowerment can be a tool used by leaders to develop and grow their followers. As transformational leaders seek to inspire and motivate followers, knowledge transfer and instilling authority will help employees prepare for growth.
There can be different strategies in how leaders develop empowerment. Folkman (2017) discussed that leaders can create empowerment by being open to new ideas, developing employees, being supportive, recognizing and rewarding achievements, an atmosphere that supports empowerment, and delegating authority. One aspect that I try to constantly use is being open to new ideas. When team members initiate a new idea, I support and guide them on initiating and accomplishing their plan. This has created an environment where team members are provided empowerment to initiate change and improvement. By being open to new ideas, employees will feel trusted and supported about bringing thoughts and opinions forward. This leadership strategy will also strengthen the trust between followers and leaders, which will support empowerment. Teams that feel secure in making decisions will encourage employees to take initiative and work toward achieving organizational objectives.
References
Beuren, I., Santos, V., & Bernd, D. (2020). Effects of the Management Control System on Empowerment and Organizational Resilience. Brazilian Business Review (Portuguese Edition), 17(2), 211–232. http://dx.doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2020.17.2.5 (Links to an external site.)
Folkman, J. (2017, March 2). The 6 key secrets to increasing empowerment in your team. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joefolkman/2017/03/02/the-6-key-secrets-to-increasing-empowermentin-your-team/#10381b1177a6 (Links to an external site.)
Warrick, D.D. (2016). Leadership: A high impact approach
Derek’s post:
Leadership is about inspiring and encouraging but I believe that followers has a role in the success of leadership greater even than the ability to inspire from the leader. This is where encouragement becomes technique and an art. A good leader will find the motivation that already exists and manipulate that to achieve increased investment into the team objective. Leaders do not need to provide motivation, people already have reasons for things. They just need to expose what is important, find a correlating method to reward and then enact a plan to get the most out of the employee. If the employee is not interested and does not get motivated, there is a chance that the person simply does not fit and should be viewed as an obstacle to team inclusion.
Transformational and transactional motivation both essentially provide something for the individual that motivates them to accomplish what leadership is asking. Transactional is a swap of accomplishment and reward. The motivating factors are easily set and described and often will be documented and included in contracts or agreements. This can be anything from time off, bonuses, privileges during break or whatever is used for the transaction. The concern in this arena is that once point X is reached, the worker no longer has a need or desire (motivation) to complete further. Transformational is offered in responsibilities, titles, and inclusion. Being a part of the whole is important to some and motivates them to stand out and be recognized. The recognition and support is reward for the transformed who motivate themselves through a desire to achieve a continuous goal. Being better, achieving more, and being noticed are often at the top of their lists of desires. Leadership can provide this but must be careful to ensure that the intentions continue to be for the the betterment of the organization, not the individual.
Required Resources
Text
Read the following chapters from Leadership: A high impact approach :
Chapter 6: Leadership and Motivation
Chapter 9: Leading Change
Recommended Resources
Article
Yun, S., Cox, J., & Sims, H. P., Jr. (2006). The forgotten follower: A contingency model of leadership and follower self-leadership. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(4), 374-388. Retrieved from the ProQuest database.
Multimedia
INTELECOM (Producer). Contingency theory (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from http://searchcenter.intelecomonline.net:80/playClipDirect.aspx?