Impact of Leadership Skills on Organizations and Personal Leadership

question
Respond to at least two of your colleagues by explaining how the leadership skills they described may impact your organization or your personal leadership, or by identifying challenges you see in applying the skills described.
answer
1. Introduction
Leaders have a special role in an organization’s success. It is said that a leader is born, not made, but leadership is exhibited in various forms. Leadership is the quality that is reflected in behavior and approach to do the given work. It believes in achieving the target with cooperation in team and maintaining high spirits. A leader motivates the team to achieve a common goal. Leaders have the power to influence others and convince them to adopt a new belief. Leaders are the agents of change; they are the ones who possess a vision. Based on this vision, they can bring the change for the betterment of an organization. This vision has been an important element in defining a leader’s success. Leadership effectiveness has been a major issue in literature of management. Over the years there has been a constant debate whether leadership skills are an innate ability or that they can be developed with learning and experience. This issue has its significance, particularly with respect to the training and development of future managers. This essay will discuss the theoretical framework for leadership effectiveness. A detailed discussion in this regard has been given by conducting a critical analysis of the concepts of leadership effectiveness, the type of leader which is more effective, how to increase the leadership effectiveness and its effect on the performance and morale of an organization. This essay will provide an evaluation of the impact which effective leadership can have on the success of an organization and the role of leadership in fostering an ethical and socially responsible work climate.
1.1 Importance of Leadership Skills
One of the vital functions towards the success of an organization is the leadership ability in which the managers exercise. When leadership is effective, it can increase motivation, foster better decision making, and help in the development with the followers. This in turn can result in higher performance, and decreased counterproductive behaviour within the organization. A study carried out by Dumdum, Lowe, and Avolio (2002) examined 59 samples of research and concluded that the impact of transformational and transactional leadership on individual outcomes was positive (Appendix, Fig 1). This shows that leadership has a significant effect on the attitudes of followers, affecting job satisfaction, role clarity, and commitment. This is important for the organization as a whole, as it can improve individual performance which can result in overall increased organizational performance.
Leadership has been defined in many ways, albeit in general, as the ability to influence others towards the attainment of a goal (Stogdill, 1950). With the growing instability in the external environment, work organizations are beginning to realize the importance of having effective leadership within the organization. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between leadership and an organization’s performance. As well as understanding the importance of leadership styles, and the effect it has on the climate within the organization.
1.2 Role of Leadership Skills in Organizations
The study of the world’s most admired companies has been the focus of much attention for a few years. The reason these companies are selected as the most admired organizations lies in the fact that these companies are a “Leadership Factory”. Research has shown that these companies are trying to break out of the traditional paradigm in which leadership was viewed as an individual attribute, which was the responsibility of an individual business leader. They have come to believe that leadership is best viewed as a strategic process that can be virtually owned by the parent company. In other words, it is a force that infuses an entire business. Leadership is viewed as a force that can be shared to reintegrate a fragmented corporation. An executive interviewed at one such company “strongly believes that if we are to reintegrate the corporation, we are going to have to change an individualistic entrepreneurial mode of leadership into a collective mode. This can be best thought of as an attitude that each manager takes the same level of responsibility for the continued success of the company.”
A leader is a person who is followed by others. The same person can prove to be the best leader for some and might turn out to be a big failure for others. So, it’s always the environment (organization in an invisible leader’s case) and the followers who demand a leader with specific attributes. Also, one leader is a leader in different situations. Leadership is “the behavior of an individual, directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal. Reflection of what professionals such as managers do in the work role may well be termed the functions of leadership.”
2. Impact on Organizations
2.1 Increased Employee Engagement
2.2 Improved Team Performance
2.3 Enhanced Organizational Culture
2.4 Higher Productivity and Efficiency
2.5 Effective Change Management
3. Impact on Personal Leadership
3.1 Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence
3.2 Effective Communication and Relationship Building
3.3 Decision-Making and Problem-Solving Abilities
3.4 Adaptability and Resilience
3.5 Inspiring and Motivating Others
4. Challenges in Applying Leadership Skills
4.1 Resistance to Change
4.2 Overcoming Resistance from Team Members
4.3 Balancing Different Leadership Styles
4.4 Navigating Complex Organizational Structures
4.5 Managing Conflicts and Difficult Situations
5. Conclusion