Assessing Leadership Effectiveness

According to Kotter (1990), “Leadership seeks to produce organizational change by: developing a vision of the future and strategies for making necessary changes; communicating and explaining the vision, and motivating and inspiring people to attain the vision.”

Effective leaders opt to implement a specific type of leadership style as a result of their personalities and job experiences, and apply it to their organizational structure. However, that particular type of leadership style a leader utilizes may not apply to every job situation (Peak et al., 2010). In order to be an effective leader, an individual must acquire the three basic leadership skills and they are as follows: (1) human relations; (2) conceptual skills; and (3) technical skills (Haberfeld, 2013). Additionally, a skillful leader must also be proficient in motivating, communicating, and problem solving (Hess & Orthmann, 2012).

Abstract: There are numerous definitions of leadership, all of which contain elements related to people (the leader and the follower(s)), communicating in person or by the written word, actions (organizing, directing, coaching, and/or motivating), and for a purpose (meeting a goal(s) or accomplishing a task(s)) (ADP 6-22) (Fisher 2015) (Bolden 2013) (Hogan 2005). Additionally, everything done occurs within a given context. Effective leaders are poised, proficient, pertinent, and practical in the application of the art of leadership. This means leaders are ready to engage the group with effective methods and

Leadership is critical when executing a strategic change initiative. By differentiating leadership and management, leadership styles and the key factors of change we can better understand what should be done to successfully lead change. Success is not obtained through leadership alone but by developing a group of individuals from all levels of the organization who work together as a team. . (Leban and Stone, 2007)

With the long-term goal of becoming a transformational leader, it is often useful to consider one's strengths and weak nesses across four dimensions. These include personal and professional accountability, career planning, personal journey disciplines and reflect practice reference behaviors and tenets. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate my strengths and weaknesses in each of these four areas. In addition, a discussion will be completed on how current leadership skill sets will be used for advocating change in my workplace. The conclusion of the paper will concentrate on one personal goal for leadership growth, including an implementation plan leading to its fulfillment.

My research the week focuses on the importance of measurement and the different factors that play a significant role in implementing successful outcomes. The importance of identifying contributing factors reestablishes the effectiveness of measurement. Measurement in its self can only be as effective as the data collected, (Spitzer, 2007). Unfortunately, data is not always captured accurately. This is caused by not identifying intangibles that are significant to the final outcomes, (Spitzer, 2007). Intangibles are usually not integrated in the calculation, therefore skewing the accuracy of measurement. Intangibles play a significant role in capturing deviations in the measurement due to uncontrollable aspects of the business, (Spitzer,

In order to move forward and keep ahead, I believe an organization need change leaders who have capabilities to have their workforce go from change avoidance to change acceptance. “One of the most significant strengths of an effective leader is the ability to create a positive work climate where people are energized to do their best work, free of unnecessary distractions” (Cronkite, n.d.). During this part of the change process I feel the change leader would have better success if he would be tactful and harness the skills of others by working in a collaborative rather than hierarchical way. Leadership in an organization involves instilling motivation and enthusiasm in the employees. An effective leader knows how to manage and tackle difficult situations and people. Many reasons can cause a force of change in organizations but I feel it’s up to change leaders to manage these planned and unexpected changes. (Word count: 548)

The ideal approach to creating change an organization is choosing the best leader to achieve realistic and dedicated changes. Within the realm of planned change, there is a process for implementing rewards, encouragement and motivation. Organizational change stands out amongst the most evident and sensational types of processes. It affects numerous people, including staff members, their families and entire communities. The intricacy and significant change in nature make a circumstance of high vulnerability in leadership. The standard drivers of progress are those, for example, rivalry in the organized sectors, focused patterns, regulations and opportunity through social and demographic patterns.

Organizations are experiencing a rapid transformation in the environment, which has caused them to reevaluate how they do business. Economic changes, globalization, and expansions in technology have warranted the need to adapt quickly to changes in the environment (Schneider, 2002). Organizational leadership has three general components: setting the direction for the organization, organizational performance, and change management (Johnson, 2011). It is critical for organizations to position themselves in this competitive market for success.

Today, more than ever, organizations are global, extremely technology driven, diverse, and are continually changing which means leaders must adapt to keep up with them. For example, technology has advanced to the point where telecommuting is more commonplace. Additionally, organizations and employees are more diverse both domestically and worldwide. These changes are forcing leaders to become more adaptable in their leadership abilities.

Leadership is a valuable tool that every person deals with on a daily basis. This paper will discuss a few leadership skills that can be helpful or cause problems in a situation. A leader will help the people that follow them and work out problems, and strive to reach goals. When a person becomes a leader the main focus is on that person. A leader is a valuable asset in the world today, and if we had no leaders the world would be chaotic and uncontrollable. The other side to this equation is the leader must be a person that can lead, take criticism, and be able to adapt to change.

Of those key leadership skills, there are two primary leadership skills that provide the best support for leading innovation and creating innovative organizations. Specifically, the skills managing change and participative management appear to resonate with innovative leaders. Managing change is described as “using effective strategies to facilitate organizational change” (Leslie, 2009, p. 4) and participative management as “involving others (such as listening, communicating, informing) in critical initiatives” (Leslie, 2009, p. 4).

In an organization, people function together to perform a specific job. The level of success of achieving the specific job is determined by the culture of the organization, the member’s roles, the relationship between the members, the group dynamics and the effectiveness of leadership. Organizational Dynamics is the description of how members of the company work together to accomplish a specific job. Leaders should change their way of management if their current situation is different from their future vision, this change will lead to more effective results and success. Changes in organizations are due to change in technology and change in the world’s competitiveness. Smart leaders who are in control of organizational change, know very well that effective change is directed by effective leaders. Leaders think in the long term, look outside as well as inside and influence constituents beyond their immediate formal jurisdiction. They emphasize vision and renewal and have the political skills to cope with the demands of multiple constituencies (Bolman & Deal. P. 345). Smart leaders have awareness and insights for effective transformation to take place. Most organizations are striving to have the perfect and most effective type of leadership. Effective leadership will help the company achieve all the critical aspects of its objectives. There is a strong relationship between the company’s fate and the effectiveness of leadership. Successful leaders always motivate people to

Leadership is critical to solving complex issues within an organization and without strategic collective leadership, an organization will not be successful in achieve their mission. Many organizations should recognize the volatility in which they are operating and understand that generation, refinement and revising of business processes is the only key to business success (Senugpta, 2006). As a leader it is also important to be able to identify areas of improvement and evaluate progress for the betterment of the overall organization and the group in which they serve.

Leadership constantly presents challenge to the leader 's abilities. Things change, and of course change brings challenge,