A self-reflective exploration of leadership in a contemporary global context
Entrepreneurial and Intrapreneurial Leadership in a Global Context
The world we live in is undergoing development, globalization, and is turning into a hub of entrepreneurs and businessmen. The world is nothing but a globalized market. It is led by the successful leadership of global leaders who possess a vision to make the impossible happen. The curiosity in them helps them come up with significant innovations; they develop communication and maintain the market’s integrity. The market has turned so adverse that retention and recruiting challenges have arisen. Executives nowadays must have strong team building capability. But sadly, that’s not enough to thrive in the market. Up-to-date knowledge of technology and displaying very strong business acumen are also essential. Recent research shows that it is growing more and more difficult to navigate any business environment. It requires mastery over the possessed skills which could allow people to do so.
According to the Robert Half Management Resources survey, around 66% of the Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) around the world revealed that it is more challenging to be a company leader now that it was to be a company leader before 5 years. The problem is that this difficulty is still growing. Paul McDonald, the senior executive director of Robert Half, has revealed essential details that create this difficulty. These factors have intensified the pressure on the company leaders. The accelerated pace of change gives rise to emerging trends. Dispersing workforce can be seen if disrupted innovation is faced. There are also many regulatory compliance demands which are creating these difficulties in the lives of company leaders. It is quite evident that the leaders in today’s market ought to be proficient in the field they choose for themselves. They must also focus and work according to the more significant issues the organization or industry is facing. The best part about this time frame is the support from employees. The survey reflects that about 87% of workers have faith and confidence in their company leader. According to McDonald, there are apparent reasons why workers support their supervisor or leader. It is because working professionals realize the effort it takes to manage or lead a department/company. Ultimately, they believe that the leader is respectable for his contribution to the company.
Exploring two key global business challenges:
Currently, four significant factors pose a challenge to companies as well as threaten the business leader. This includes the need to expand knowledge, the constant struggle to maintain communication, filtering the tremendous amounts of information daily, and adapting with changes. Some of these problems might feel department-specific, but they are not. A business leader needs to see what and how each department is doing.
- Expanding knowledge: Quite a few years back, company officials operated and coordinated at silos. The officials were the masters of their trade and did not interfere in the operation of other departments. But, times have changed. Leaders need to look at the market with a broader organizational perspective. Many Chief Financial officers have seen their indulgence in departments other than finance. They have been into human resources, operations, and Information Technology.
Healthy relationships are to be ensured between the employee and the employer. An ideal company leader is a person who maintains a great relationship with the workers and co-workers outside their departmental knowledge. This is the crucial technique for acquiring invaluable knowledge about other departments in the organization. The experienced and successful leaders have a policy of attending interdepartmental projects and committee meetings. This ensures a proper linkage between multiple departments, and it is also a very effective way of solving inter-departmental conflicts. Executives who hold a high ranked position in any organization can easily have a broader perspective of the functioning of organizations.
- Adapting with the Changes: Some years prior to this revolution, companies had a basic idea about the strategies and functioning of their rival companies. This was because, in the past, all the companies functioned similarly. But, the market is now a changed place. Companies are implementing new business models now and then with time. The technological revolution is also taking place in companies.
This makes it very necessary for the managers to stay updated with the industrial changes and adapt to the changes according to the norms of the market. This develops the habit of reading top industrial blogs and news of the industry. Successful leaders have this habit of efficient reading. They can go out of their way to acquire knowledge. The global leaders follow each other on twitter, join relevant LinkedIn groups, and subscribe to newsletters that keep them updated regarding the industry. Some of them go to farther extents to understand the latest technological developments. External courses and in-house professional development programs serve the purpose needed.
Leadership Theory and its consequences:
Leadership theory is not only applicable to the global market of business but also in all other sectors. This includes four major types of methods in leadership. They are as follows:
- Behavioral theory: This theory answers the basic question of what a GOOD LEADER does. The answer to it is he/she focuses on the behavior of other leaders and learns how to behave. Maintaining of decency and display of patience is the most important of things.
- Contingency theory: This theory answers another basic question of leadership i.e., how good leadership is affected by the situation. The answer to this question is simple. Adapting and growing is the best thing in such a situation. A good leader knows how to react in each situation. Predicting which leadership style pays off in a particular situation is an essential trait that a leader needs to possess.
- Trait Theory: This theory answers the question regarding the type of person capable of being a good leader. Leadership emerges and prospers from a particular trait. Life-like qualities like being down to earth, excellent team-building, and proper guiding capability make a good leader stand out of the herd. Some other characteristics include dedication, determination, and love for the position. The hunger for power is another vital trait. Power and Influence Theories: Influence and power cannot be forced on people. Actions determine the amount of respect and power a person deserves. This theory answers yet another essential question i.e., what is the source of a leader’s authority. This depends on how a leader uses his/her power and influence to get specific work done. Building connections, networks, and working in the brim of a disaster requires the display of these traits to be escaped.
When there is a discussion about entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial leadership in a contemporary global context, all that can be said is its dependence on the leader. People prefer a leader with all of these characteristics, as per the theory of leadership. Playing dirty games to seize power might be a great way in the short term but, it can be deemed as entirely ineffective when it comes to the global level where things are seen from a long term vision when we talk about leadership, power, and influence matters. The more power a leader has, the more likely he/she is to gain prosperity and reputation in the global market.
Section -2
Personal leadership philosophy using appropriate leadership theory:
Leadership is a very controversial term where its definition is different for different people. If this question is put forth to a group of individuals, it is most like that we would receive different answers from different people. But, let’s think out of the box and determine what qualities a person looks for in a person so that he/she agrees to obey her without question and doubt. The first thing is assurance. Without being assured by a person’s presence, people cannot accept him/her as their leader. The second is determination. If a person isn’t strong-willed for his/her work, how would people have faith in him/her? This comes down to our final and most important quality in a leader i.e., dedication. Dedication and love for the work a person does define his/her character professionally. A person dedicated to his job is listened to by subordinates and co-workers. If a person himself lags in his/her job, it is quite evident that their advice and words wouldn’t be taken seriously in the international context.
Comparing all these things to the leadership theories, a significant link can be found behind the theories’ truth. Behavioral theory is true as a good leader needs to be well behaved and possess the play of words necessary to convince a person. Without proper behavior, a lack of patience and weakness in the character is displayed. A good leader is always composed no matter what the situation is. Losing the calm and letting anger overpower other emotions is something that people would never appreciate. Contingency theory is also true as a leader needs to know what he/she is doing or is trying. If a leader doesn’t possess confidence about the work they do, how would people be convinced to do such work? Confidence in actions is a trait that a good leader ought to possess. Trait theory can be deemed eligible while choosing a leader for an organization. Team building is an essential quality that a leader should possess. If they cannot drive a group of people to achieve a particular goal, how would they take care of the organization? People ought to be listening to their leader as that would reflect the value of words that the leader has.
Last but not least is the theory of power and influence. This is quite self-defining but, discussing it leads to the outcome that power and influence pay off. Respect and value of words is something that a person ought to have if they want to be a leader. Imagine a leader without weight in words. People would never listen to a person they do not respect. Getting a job done is the quality that most organizations look for in any leader. Without power, a person is deemed ineligible to be a leader. To thrive in the global market, the influence of a leader matters as that’s what contacts are for. Even the best of communications can back out before crucial projects if the influence falls short. Influence is the value of the face. A face that when people see assures them that the actions being done by them are for the right cause. A great leader lies in the perfect harmony and balance of all these traits and characteristics.
Apart from this, knowledge plays a significant role. Only a master of trade can guide another person in following a particular footstep. A leader should inspire people, and they should look up at the leader as an ideal example. Proper mentoring is yet another essential thing. A good leader also knows how to motivate a person. Praising and giving rewards are two simple steps that help boost a team’s morale under any leader. People look up to feedbacks for improvement but, only negative feedback could demotivate them. A perfect leader knows the importance of praising a person. Praising is constructive feedback, as appreciation is what every person desires. Another passive yet essential characteristic of any leader is the care he/she shows towards the team members. A leader cannot be cruel and entirely driven by work. A proper balance should be maintained between punishments and forgiveness. A leader should make ethical decisions like when to release the burden on a particular team member if the emergency arises and take it up to manage the team. A good leader is someone who works among the team members understanding their problems and short-comings. But, a leader must realize that there is a thin line between providing relief and letting loose. A leader ought not to be biassed towards any team member and should ensure equal distribution of labor.
Reflection of three leadership incidents:
- When you were a leader
Being a leader is never an easy task. Guiding a team adequately is described in the paper by Denviz Kantur and Arz Iseri-Say in the Journal of Organizational Change Management, 2013. It is a multiple case research paper that shows statistics that are very useful for leadership. They were the leaders themselves who experimented in their working environment. It works on the level of firmness shown by them. The findings show the results of two firmness levels. The first one is the beyond-boundary focus and within-boundary focus.
Team members show different activity patterns to varying levels of firmness. The firmness also depends on the relationship with employees concerning organizational factors. Many things are taken into consideration, including the company’s cultural organization, management leadership influence, and strategic orientation. These factors reflect the organizational performance and internal mechanism of the company. Firmness level doesn’t work as a viable performance indicator according to the studies.
E.g., Firmness level doesn’t matter as long as employees are satisfied with the job, the payment, and the company’s authority. When a person is confident with his leader and wants to be in the leader’s good books, they would give efforts no matter what. Decent salary for the quality of labor they provide is one of the greatest motivations. If three people and performing more than their capacity and one is not, the person who is displaying average performance will hustle hard to improve to match up with the team. A team performs well only when they have proper support from the management and leaders. On the contrary, if the organizational policies are flawed, an employee is most likely to emerge as a representative of the employees to gain proper treatment. This would cause significant losses for the company as the employees wouldn’t stand an exploiting company.
- When you followed a leader
The best research paper available to us where the leader is followed as an inspiration in different cases comes from Donald F Kuratko, published in the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 2007 {13(4) 1-11}. It reflects the emergence of entrepreneurial activities all around the world in current times. The leader of choice for any organization defines the performance of the organization. Entrepreneurs are defined as aggressive catalysts with the capability to change the world of business. Several factors have been taken into account with entrepreneurs as the leader to lead a revolution in the global market. The study shows that the US economy has revitalized because of the efforts put forth by the entrepreneur and company leaders.
E.g. According to the Small Business Administration USA, 672,000 new businesses were created during the financial year of 2005, which is the enormous explosion of successful industrialization in the history of the US. Seventy-four million Americans stated that they were to start a venture within the next five years, along with 199 million Americans telling that they were to start a venture someday. This is utterly impossible without drawing inspiration from any leader. This change was brought forth by people who were putting efforts to start a firm, some who incorporated their firms, existing businesses filing new tax return statements, and an increase in the substantial part-time and full-time employment sector.
- Where you observed
There are great examples of leadership that can be observed in international contexts. Many papers and articles have been published which define the global market. A document by Juan A Moriano, Fernando Molero, Gabriela Topa, and Jean-Pierre Levy Mangin sets the standard for the market observation theory. It was published in the International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal of 2014 (Reference number 10 (1), 103-119). A very vital role of managers can be seen in helping a company prosper as they drive employees to explore new opportunities, supporting any initiative taken by employees, and encouraging the team to develop new products for the benefit of the company.
This study reflects the influence of managerial leadership styles on the entrepreneurial behavior of the employees and the role it serves to the purpose of development in any organization. This indicates that transformational leadership is very fruitful in the behavioral development of the employees. This distastes the use of transactional leadership as it has a negative influence on the members of the team.
E.g., If a leader is not sympathetic and non-cooperative towards the work of any employee, this will make the employees stubborn and non-cooperative as well. The same thing happened in the case of many Spanish organizations taken into consideration through the study period of this article. Testimony of 186 employees from various organizations was taken about their leader taking their own performance into account. Needless to say, the employees who were distasteful to specific qualities in their leader had a significant drop in the quality of labor and performance, while the ones who were satisfied with their leader demonstrated an extravagant display of performance.
Conclusion:
The conclusion drawn from the information mentioned above is quite evident. But, summing up the process of exploration of leadership in a contemporary global context, we can say that a good leader creates another good leader. Mentoring leaders for the future is what the entrepreneurial leaders are doing nowadays. Employees look forward to following their leader as inspiration. This is because of the fact that they have received much support and help from their own leader.
Qualities displayed by a former leader would give rise to a global leader who would reflect the leadership of better qualities. If a person is not blinded by the power he/she possesses, they can be a great leader. The scenario of leadership is changing globally with the emergence of new leaders as if they have had a good leader, and they know what to do. On the contrary, if they had a leader with lousy management capacity, they know what they should not turn into. A person displaying all the qualities as per the leadership theory is a brilliant example of a perfect leader.
Transforming the global market is very necessary. The older generations of entrepreneurs are going to fall back, giving new leaders a chance to prosper. To seize this opportunity with both hands, a leader should know what he should and should not be doing. Reputation and image are the things that are going to matter in the market, after all.
References:
Contribution of Denviz Kantur and Arz Iseri-Say: https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_vis=1&q=critical+analysis+of+entrepreneurial+and+intrapreneurial+leadership+with+context+to+contemporary+global+market&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3Dhp8o25wVEUMJ
Contribution of Donald F Kuratko:
Contribution of Juan A Moriano, Fernando Molero, Gabriela Topa and Jean-Pierre Levy Mangin:
Other references: