The Environment and Context of Leadership

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.

Today’s leader is faced with many challenges, and one is the generational divide that exists in the workplace today. With four different generations working together it is clear that each group has their own preference for communication. Throughout the context of this paper I will explore the generational differences, and describe the characteristics of my generation with regard to leadership and communication styles. I will also describe how technology and the information age play a role in how leaders communicate. Finally, I will identify basic communication skills that are needed and used in generational leadership.

In the publication Serve to Lead (2012), James Strock asserts that one essential characteristic of every leader for the 21st century embodies in the recognition that communication is part of everything we do as human. As we have seen over the years the direct impact of technology on our lives, it has helped nations and people of diverse background to communicate efficiently and because communication is a key component of our lives, it also serves as the facet of interpersonal skills.

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

The explosion of technology innovations within recent years has created a multitude of new and exciting ways for companies to conduct business. We now have technologies such as robotic manufacturing, electronic mail, online videoconferencing, and global networks to connect everyone and everything. Small and medium businesses are now able to cross all traditional boundaries that limited them in the past. Technology has fundamentally altered the way businesses are structured and changed the ways in which managers perform their duties. Communication is essential for any business and for a business to survive in this modern environment managers must effectively manage all of these technologies (Robbins, and Coulter 60).

Over the years, technology has become a major part for a business and for an individual as well. Technology has become so advance that it has made a major effect for the staff as well as for the customers. New technology has helped in many areas such as data and information storage, advertising, transportation and communication.

Becoming an effective leader is a lot like being in the stock market. You don 't make your fortune in a day; you make it daily, a little bit at a time. What matters most is what you do day after day, over the long haul. The secret to leadership success is investing in your leadership development, much like letting your assets compound. The final result is "Leadership Growth" over time.

There has been vast amounts of research done on the topic of leadership, and yet despite this it continues to be ‘‘riddled with paradoxes, inconsistencies, and contradictions’’

I believe the top two gender / generation challenges’ facing mangers in the next five years are communication skills and use of technology. For instance, as managers can use new technology to do many tasks and it is easy to make decisions quickly. Managers can find new talent for the company, and develop employee education. Also, technology to find and communicate developments through the workplace. Then, I help to keep employees open to using new technology, it easy for them to make a schedule or arrange appointment by using their computer. Also, if any managers want to send email or connect another company, they can use technology or program.

The style of leadership an organization’s leadership uses has a significant effect on the organization. What leaders do and how they do it matters. A transactional leadership approach based on command and control is not effective at addressing the change organizations face. The transformational leadership approach developed in The Leadership Challenge, through the strong and consistent use of the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership provides organizations with a proven strategic leadership approach. The Leadership Challenge is a leadership approach based on research and evidence. Adopting the transformational leadership approach of The Leadership Challenge as a way of leading the organization will improve employee

The purpose of this research is a self-reflection on the author’s personal leadership style. This research will include qualities of effective leadership, the author’s philosophy of leadership, and examples of the author’s leadership style. This research will also include a reflection of the author’s personal strengths as well as how the author’s personal strengths influence the leadership qualities the author has and how the author can improve her leadership style in the future.

Over the last sixty years of business activity, there has been new ways and means of conducting business through something we call technology. Technology is the advancement and use of electronic devices and other high-tech equipment to produce and progress knowledge into the future. Advancements in technology have affected management leadership in many ways over the last sixty years. New technology has altered leaders' consciousness, language, and the way they view their organization. Technological advancements have made things easier for those in management leadership roles. But as with anything, there are positive and negative aspects of technology on leadership. Some of the positive aspects of technology are: the availability and

The world has changed over the last ten years, technology has created a new world, where we have become more dependent on it. In his article, “The Eight Net Gen Norms”, Don Tapscott, discusses what he believes the net generation is and how they are defined by eight norms: Freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed, and innovation. (132) Tapscott makes some very unique observations, but there was one norm, I felt was more important, innovation. There are many reasons why, but the one main reason is the creation of new ideas. Without the innovated ideas, we wouldn’t have the advanced technology we possess today. Think about the world without cell phones, no web, or no medical tools? We know for a fact this era couldn’t survive without them. The workplace is starting to turn from the traditional way by allowing the employees to be heard, but there is still a gap between generations. The power of innovation helps people with everyday life, changing the way jobs are running, but also has created a rift between the old and new generations.

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 impact of leadership style in the change process of an organization influences the performance; Leadership as stated by Martin, Liao and Campbell (2013) remains one of the most consequential contextual influencers of employee performance. Latson (2014) elucidated that some leaders may have the best intentions, but the impact will not be in alignment with the intension. But leadership trait is the ability to inspire, motivate and engage the followers to make the inspired vision happen beyond their normal capabilities (Mendez, Munoz & Munoz 2013). A change is the most frequent phenomenon of today's reality and a good understanding of how to manage the change process is very essential; Change is translation from one state into