Organizational Growth and Survival-Key Factors

The transformational leader induces employees to perform beyond expectations by empowering and motivating them, and sometimes by leading by example.

Businesses are facing a dichotomy between wanting to chalk out an all-time structure and strategy for their organization, and recognizing that their world is in a constant state of flux [3]. For most of the 20th century they were largely focused on the static elements of this dichotomy. However, in the last decade changes have become more frequent and more dramatic, so much so that a whole branch of management is now devoted to the subject of change itself.

The solution adopted by many companies is to move toward greater delegation. Yet it is difficult for top managers to give up responsibility. And lower-level managers are not accustomed for making decisions for themselves. As a result many companies struggle during this revolutionary period, because many lower level employees leave the organization since they stick to centralized methods.

There are many models of leadership that exist across a range of fields (e.g. social work, education, psychology, business, etc.). The ability to transform an organization successfully requires a different set of attitudes and skills. Transformational leadership is an approach where a leader utilizes inspiration, charisma, individualized attention, and intellectual stimulation with their employees (Iachini, Cross, & Freedman, 2015, p. 651). Transformational leadership helps to clarify organizational vision, inspires employees to attain objectives, empowers employees, encourages employees to take risks, and advocates the seeking of alternative solutions to challenges in the workplace (Transformational Leadership, 2015). It allows the leader to engage and motivate each follower identify with the organization’s values and goals.

As the rapid development of modern economy and the increasingly fierce market competition, the demand of how to manage organization change is increasing. Especially for leaders in both large and small companies, the ability of dealing with change is so significant. In many case, the main reason for company bankruptcy is that leaders fail to cope with organization environment change properly. The demise of many fortune 500 companies in the 1980s and

The challenge is hiring the right kind of employee and training the management/leaders that are current employees. Their roles need to be interdependent and not independent. Transitioning a leader to believe in the power of mutual engagement can be difficult. I can make sure during the hiring process key questions are asked about their leadership style to figure out if there is a fit to the companies desired culture. In addition, set up training programs to show existing leaders and future leaders the benefit of viewing leadership in a collaborative way.

Change is inevitable. Changing is not always welcomed but it is necessary for organizations to maintain their place in the world. Successful organizations thrive because they have a vision, a mission

Organizational change encompasses many challenges to both the individual, and the organization. An organization is a living system, as Flower (2002) states “living systems cannot survive without change, challenge, variety, and surprise” (Flower, 2002, p. 16). An organization requires the ability to adapt in to survive as Darwin states in The Origin of Man, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” (Read Me First, 2013, p. 1). It must adapt to the changing market, global economic pressures, stakeholder demands, and the diverse needs

The book The Heart of Change shows the practical side of the theories that are taught in the course textbook. It presents stories of successes and failures based in the application of concepts discussed in Organizational Behavior and Management and in class. Although we talked about several different concepts the ones that are evident in the examples in The Heart Of Change are the more progressive and individual centered approaches. The leadership characteristics that are important to successful change in an organization are those that are espoused in the transformational theory of management. It makes sense that ideals in line with the transformational management theory

Transformational leadership theory applies four factors for leaders to influence employees to perform beyond their abilities. These factors describes leaders that promote leadership through idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration (Shresh & Rajini 2013).Transformational leaders are deem as the most effective leadership style because of their character strengths as a excellent role model who leads by example and manage people based on their strengths and weaknesses to optimizes the organization performance (Shresh, & Rajini, 2013). Transformational leaders are known to reward, encourage and mentor people based on performance through inspiration, creativity, and innovation to solve problems to exceed expectation of the organization (Smith,

After reviewing and researching the literature with respect to organizational changes, I have come to the conclusion that organizations have always changed. When everything in the world is changing, organization cannot remain islands. They must change to face new challenges. Bolman and Deal (2008) claim organizations have changed about as much as in past few decades as in the preceding century. Bolman and Deal (2008) claim means that the change organizations have experienced in the last decade are almost similar to those they experience in at the end of the twentieth century.

In times of uncertainty and failure I believe that a transformational leader would inspire performance and creative behaviors in their employees to meet the emerging needs of their organization. I believe that the transformational leader would have the ability to motivate his or her employees and inspire them to trust and be loyal employees. Additionally, I think that a transformational leader would continue to maintain daily operations and continue to stimulate their employees to perform with confidence to achieve the goal and meet the standards of the organization.

The last challenge is that there is high employee turnover rate due to poor management in resource allocation which creates an unfavourable work environment. In this situation, the leader can use transformational leadership to change organizational structure. Leaders can perform as role model for followers to trust and respect them through their action. Leaders can also offer support to their followers and reward them for their better performance. In this way, the leaders can overcome the challenges.

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)

Change is a common thread that runs through all businesses regardless of size, industry and age. Our world is changing fast and, as such, organizations must change quickly too. Organizations that handle change well thrive, whilst those that do not may struggle to survive.