Leadership Challenges of 21st Century

There is a great importance put on business leadership, this is directly due to how a business not only functions but in how fruitful the company can become. A great leader essentially can take a business plan that is weak yet turn it into a success, whereas a poor leader stands a higher chance of ruining the best of business plans. That is why it is essential to develop effective leadership throughout a companies entire management program at all levels. How does one develop or retain strong leadership? Companies must be focused on hiring strategies that encompass very specific parameters, building from within whilst creating a strong foundation for employee development and succession planning. Leadership is essential in any organization. The style and theory embraced determines whether the company will or will not achieve their goals. in all cases theory must be embraced, as a companies theory, style, and strategy is greatly dependent on the industry the company is in (Sadler, 2014). “The behavioral theory is one of the widely used theories of management. It suggests that leaders are made and not born. It gives room for training to install leadership traits in leaders at the expense of denying them a chance. There are various leadership styles embraced by companies (Cyert, & March, 2005).”  This paper takes a look at the management styles of two specific

The textbook readings started with how change affects leadership. Change is inevitable. Changes discussed in the textbook on leadership paradigm mindset shifts resonate in today’s IT economy. We cannot operate in the same hierarchical methods as before where we controlled all aspects of IT; build hardware, host servers, and custom developed applications. As we shift into a new economy, our IT services are more reliant on SaaS and its related the economies of scale, making previous in-house products and services not a viable path into the future as an IT service provider is to favor more integration and facilitation of information and IT services.

Leadership can be defined as the process of identifying a goal, motivating others, and make them to achieve the mutually goals (Giltinane, 2013). According to Humphreys (2002), successful leaders do this by applying their leadership knowledge and skills. A good leadership is not only good at management, but also use different leadership styles in different situations. A successful corporation must has a good leader who have the flexible ability which can provide a suitable leadership to make the company successful. Furthermore, there have no perfect leadership styles in the world. Different leader have different leadership styles which also have the different strengths and weaknesses (Ali & Waqar, 2013). Leaders need to consider

Leadership is, and always has been, a vital aspect of social and economic constructs. It is essential to the survival of societies, industries, organizations, and virtually any group of individuals that come together for a common purpose. However, leadership is difficult to define in a single, definitive sense. As such, theories of leadership, what constitutes a great leader, and how leaders are made have evolved constantly throughout history, and still continue to change today in hopes of improving upon our understanding of leadership, its importance, and how it can be most effective in modern organizational cultures.

Leadership is the elaboration of group inspiration. One person entrusted as leader can implore the aid, and support of supporters in the accomplishment of a common mission. According to Gurdjian, Halbeisen, and Lane “Becoming a more effective leader often requires changing behavior. But although most companies recognize that this also means adjusting underlying mind-sets, too often these organizations are reluctant to address the root causes of why leaders act the way they do” (Gurdjian, Halbeisen, and Lane, 2014) However, today abundant businesses engross importance on the improvement of leaders. Some of the ultimate leaders were formerly followers, such as in instructive businesses. One aspect as leaders many have to contemplate in striving

Since the beginning of recorded history, leadership has been one of, if not the most important elements in the success or failure of an endeavor. This is whether it involved a prehistoric hunting party or ruling the Roman Empire. Today, leadership is recognized as a vital factor in an organization’s quest to be productive and profitable. For an organization to be competitive and achieve optimum success in the 21st century, it is vital that they employ effective leaders that will be able to communicate their vision and goals, motivate their employees and develop trusting and loyal relationships with its stakeholders. There is no one or best way to accomplish this mission. There have been numerous leadership theories and styles which have been developed over time which can enable leaders to choose which method would be most effective for them in establishing collaborative working relationships and a respectful team environment in a group setting (Landis, Eric A; Hill, Deborah; Harvey, Maurice R, 2014).

Leadership is both an inherent value and is forged overtime. Inherently, some people are born good leaders and intrinsically have good values imbedded. Leadership traits can be honed and developed overtime; you never stop learning to be a good leader. Leadership is the cornerstone of all successfully run organizations and is what drives stewardship to successfully carry on the organizations mission statement. Throughout one’s life experiences, they come across some great leaders and some not-so great leaders. Those life experiences transcend one to become a better leader through experiential circumstances.

Business leaders can get caught up in the overwhelming pressures of preparing their companies to grow and meet the challenges in a global economy. These leaders understand the need for organizational changes and adaptations but fall short of achieving their goals when their leadership styles do not inspire or motivate their followers. It is critical that leaders understand their particular style of leadership and the impact it has on employees, peers, and company success. The need for effective leadership is just as critical in the public sector as it is in business.

Kouzes and Posner support an approach to leadership that is practical and workable on a day-to-day basis. For these authors, becoming a leader requires a commitment to five fundamental guiding practices: 1) challenging the process, 2) inspiring a shared vision, 3) enabling others to act, 4) modeling the way, and 5) encouraging the heart. These five themes of leadership - honesty, forward-looking, inspiring, competent, and credible are traits to be admired and followed. They are qualities that we, can strengthen in ourselves as we work with our colleagues to accept the challenges of leadership. Because to be a leader, one has to believe in oneself, but with reasonable doubt and humility. One has to have a zeal for the role and genuinely care

The leader that I am today is confident but still inexperienced. I still have plenty to learn in order to be the leader I want to be in the future. I want to be a leader who is always striving for perfection and always keeping an open mind to the possibility of change and new leadership techniques. Nahavandi states (2006), despite our knowledge, there is also much we still do not know. Leadership as we traditionally know it—command and control—does not address the rapid social, cultural, and organizational changes that are occurring globally (Nahavandi, 2006). This is why we need to be always vigilant and open minded to the new theories that are always being introduced in this global society. According to Nahavandi (2006), future leaders must

From Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela’s charisma, to Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King’s intelligence and Steve Jobs’ analytical nature, there can be as numerous ways to lead as there are leaders (Crossman, 2010). Leadership is a hot debate both in the business world and other areas of the society. Throughout the world's, there have been as many leadership models as there have been their commentators (Burns & Peltason, 1966). Fortunately, psychologists and businesspersons have established useful frameworks that refer to the main ways of leadership.

When we analyze the success of large corporations like Ford, General Electric and International Business Machines, it is evident that they had series of leaders who were visionary and believed in empowerment of people. When we analyze tough phases of a company or companies that had a fall and ultimate demise, we clearly see a linkage between failure of company and absence of effective leadership (Canwell, Dongrie, Neveras, & Stockton, 2014). The successful organization had leaders who made right decisions at right time and implemented them strategically. The implementation part needs excellent human resources and the ability to lead to them to get the task done. While different situations may need different style of leadership, the sophisticated manpower fueled by technological advancements and globalization have made some leadership styles less effective and some leadership styles to be highly effective (Feser, Mayol, & Srinivasan, 2014). This paper will discuss a tough situation faced in one of my former organization. The organization needed a different leadership style to tide over the falling sales and attrition. Three different leadership styles, their pros and cons, and the likely success in solving the problem will be discussed in this paper.

A leader is defined as a person with responsibility to influence one or more followers and directing them to achieve a set objective (Sethuraman, 2014). In order to achieve that set of objectives effortlessly, effectively, and efficiently, the most important and valued trait of a leader is an effective leadership styles. Effective leadership styles are required in every organization at every level to be successful. The success or failure of an organization depends on the quality of leadership particularly on the part of top management. An effective leadership style can be developed on the basis of understanding of the situations (Sethuraman, 2014). Top management should know which leadership style is needed based on the situation to be most effective to gain trust and respect from their employee. There is no single method of influencing the behavior of employees for every situation. The employee’s level of knowledge on the task and can determine which leadership style that will be most effective for the situation. Preparing leaders to lead

The word ‘leadership’ often times triggers a preconceived image of an ideal leader—typically accompanied by the aura that the effective leader should be at the top of the hierarchy, ready to produce the solutions to complex problems. However, this is not true of leadership, given that effective leadership is not achieved by position but rather through style and situational awareness. Examining leadership requires the consideration of the catalysts for different types of leaders. Popular leader development theories tend to focus on the natural servitude of the leader, his or her capability to manage, and leader behavior.

For decade’s individuals, companies, and organizations have spent an unprecedented amount of money on researching, molding, modeling and working to define what a leader is and what characteristics make successful leaders. Despite all the research, there is not a quick answer or even full agreement as to what makes an individual an effective leader. The definition of a leader is “someone who can influence others and who has managerial authority.” (Robbins, Decenzo, Coulter, 2015. P.370)