The Role of Leadership in organization behavior
Abstract
It is essential to understand that leadership is one crucial aspect that holds an organization together and keeps it moving. This highlights that one thing that is crucial in ensuring that an entity or business does not slide into chaos and disorders is its leadership. To have an effective and efficient organization, there is a need to have responsible leaders who will motivate and influence the behavior of individuals of an organization in a positive way. The position of the leader does not really matter in this case it may be a manager, a supervisor or even a CEO they all are leaders and they are an essential asset for continued organization prosperity. This crucial analysis will focus on ascertaining and determining the role of leadership in organization behavior by identifying ways in which leaders play a key role in determining the behavior of individuals in an organization. In addition, the analysis will also depict techniques that leaders apply to change and influence the behavior of employees.
Introduction
Leadership is a crucial determinant of the success of an organization since it is one important component that actuates the behavior of individuals in an entity. Leadership is one vital aspect that positions an organization for success this means that for an organization to be efficient and effective in its operations ethical and productive leadership must exist. A manager with an effective leadership ability establishes control over his subordinates by ensuring that they place their elite efforts to achieve organization objectives or aims. Therefore, it is important to critically understand that leadership either motivates or demotivates employees in an organization which means that leadership plays a vital role in organization behavior. This paper will focus on analyzing the role a leader executes in determining organization behavior by ascertaining ways in which leadership plays a role in the behavior of organizations, analyzing techniques leaders apply to change the behavior of employees and analyzing a leadership theory that best describes this role.
Ways in which leadership plays a role in organizational behavior
Leadership assists in setting a clear vision of the organization
Effective and efficient leadership has a major mandate of influencing employees to clearly and correctly master the future state of the organization. A responsible leader will air out and motivate the agenda and the vision of the organization by making the employees understand what is required of them by the organization. When the employees understand what is required of them they will focus on working progressively in achieving the vision of the organization and this will be greatly influenced by the kind of leadership that exists. An effective leader will motivate his workforce to execute their duties by explaining the vision of the company to them and how important they are in the process of executing the vision. As far as the vision of the organization is concerned it is important to critically understand that responsible leadership is essential in determining the prosperity of the organization vision since it motivates the workforce towards accomplishing organization objectives.
Leadership assists in building morale for the work force
Leadership involves bring employees together to thrive towards a common goal and objective of the organization. When a workforce of an organization comes together and a manager explains to the objective of the organization the behavior of workforce shifts positively. A manager also increases the morale of employees by making them understand that the organization values them and that their input towards achieving organization goals is desirable. When an employee knows that he is well valued by the company he will work effectively to ensure that he achieves what is required of him by the company. It is important to know that no work is easy some tasks that employees perform are stressful and sometimes employees find themselves in high-stress situations and therefore, a good manager will appreciate the work each employee does by letting him know how important he is in the process. When employees are appreciated they feel that they have a sense of belonging in the organization and hence their morale increases and they are able to improve on their performance.
Effective leadership motivates employees
Responsible and effective leadership brings plays a vital role in ensuring that there is a motivated workforce. An effective leader will assess and determine what the employees need and he will ensure that he works out in fulfilling this needs. When a leader listens and provides the workforce with what they need they will perform in their best efforts to ensure they meet what is required of them. Effective leadership is aimed in ensuring that tasks are well defined, the required tools are provided and the employees understand what is required of them. These three aspects are important since they critically determine the level of performance of the workforce. A good leader will explain to an employee what the organization requires and be ready to offer assistance in case of any challenges faced by the employee. Therefore, effective leadership is vital in ensuring that the behavior of employees in an organization is positive in that the employees through support from leadership are well able to accomplish their tasks.
Proper mentorship and training
Effective leadership does not forego the aspect of training and mentorship since it is a vital component of influencing organizational behavior. Therefore, for a leader to be effective he should offer training and mentorship to his team of employees so as to ensure that they have the required skills and knowledge to effectively perform their tasks. For example, a manager who is about to retire will mentor and train his assistant so that when he retires the assistant is able to replace his position and effectively perform as his senior. The fact is that the upcoming manager is likely to perform far much better because of the motivating aspect of mentorship. Therefore, mentorship and training depict good leadership and they are essentially vital determinants of organizational behavior. An effective leader will create confidence among the work force through training and mentorship which will ensure that the employees are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their tasks.
Techniques used by leadership to change behavior of employees
Inspiring employees but not nagging
When employees are inspired they get the zeal to continue working hard towards achieving organizational goals and objectives. It is important to know that the most effective leadership that thrives in driving change and ensuring excellent results is inspirational leadership. When employees are inspired instead of being coerced there is a high likelihood of them performing in an optimal and in an excellent way this is because inspiring leaders know how essential it is to make an emotional connection with their employees. It is very important to know that leadership that is aimed at connecting a leader and his subordinates at an emotional perspective through inspirations ensures effective behavior change among employees. This is because effective leadership is aimed in provoking a sense of desire rather than installing fear among the work force since a demotivated workforce will not achieve a desired outcome.
Identifying and recognizing problems
One of the key techniques that a leader should possess is the ability to identify workforce problems since these problems are crucial in determining behavior outcomes of employees. When a leader has the ability to recognize and understand the problems that face individuals in an organization he is able to come up with strategies to solve the problem and ensure that it doesn’t happen again in future. For instance, a manager will demonstrate good leadership qualities when he identifies an employee has not been performing effectively and instead of applying coercive measures he will fast ascertain why the employee is performing poorly and try to assist solve the issue that is affecting his performance. Therefore, as a result of the efforts made by a leader to understand and solve the problem, the employee is able to improve in his performance and change his behavior gradually.
Effective communication
It is very important to know that effective communication is a relevant aspect that cannot be ignored as far as the aims and the vision of the organization is concerned. The ability of the leadership of an entity to communicate its requirements effectively to the employees enables the employees to perform at their optimum level since they understand what is required of them. Employees must be able to understand clearly the goals and the aims of an organization they can critically analyze them and come up with innovative ideas to achieve them. Therefore, effective communication depicts effective leadership which motivates the workforce and hastens organization change. Research has shown that leaders who communicate effectively are able to capture the attention of their employees and hence able to influence the change of behavior based on what they are communicating. Communication is a vital component of organizations and when backed up with effective leadership it is able to influence and change the behavior of employees in a positive way
Leadership theory and analysis that best provides this role
Transformational leadership theory
Transformational leadership theory concentrates on identifying how leaders or managers design and initiate beneficial and positive change in their workforce teams. This theory advocates managers to determine the change that is needed, design a vision to steer the change through inspiration and executing the change in agreement with the workforce. The theory of transformational leadership was first introduced by James V. Downton and later developed by James MacGregor Burns who presidential biographer and a leadership specialist. They both argued that transformational leadership is a result of leaders and their teams advancing to a higher level of motivation and morality. Transformation leadership suggests a variety of mechanisms which enhance job performance, motivation and morale of followers. These mechanisms include a leaders being a role model, understanding the what the strengths and weakness of their teams and also challenging their employees to have preeminent ownership of their work. Transformational leadership emphasizes strongly on the ability of leaders to accept different situations, to inspire employees and to share a mutual consciousness with the employees.
Analysis
It is important to note that transformational leadership theory actually depicts a clear role of leadership in organization behavior. The behavior of individuals or employees in an organization strongly depends on the leadership in terms of how they motivate and inspire the employees. Transformational leadership strongly advocates for change as a result of innovative ideas that will take the organization to another level in bid of it achieving its goals and objectives. For example, when a manager comes up with a new innovative idea of how his team of employee s should do a specific task effectively he will motivate his team, as role model to be creative also. This depicts how a transformation leaders have a great responsibility in ensuring that the employees are moving forward towards achieving the objectives of the organization. It is important to note that the inspirational characteristic of transformational leadership makes it possible leaders to bring employees together which is an important aspect that influences the behavior of individuals in an organization.
Conclusion
In conclusion, leadership plays a vital role in determining the behavior of employees in an organization depending on it being effective leadership or ineffective leadership.
References