Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UK Essays.
Leadership plays an important and significant role in the organization’s operation today. Leadership is seen as the capability
Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UK Essays.
Leadership plays an important and significant role in the organization’s operation today. Leadership is seen as the capability of a leader to organize and form a group of people so that they can work together towards the way that achieves a shared vision and goal (Rudd, 2000; Kouzes and Posner, 1995, p.30). In terms of the meaning of leadership, it can be shown in different situations, and be expressed in different form (Rudd, 2000). The discussion of leadership can be derived from the behaviour of leaders and followers which between the relationship of those who is able to inspire others to follow their instruction and those who is willing to be led (Kouzes & Posner, 1993).
A leader that is able to encourage the organizational commitment of his or her followers is seen as an effective leader. Besides that, an effective leader is able and willing to share the vision, objectives, and plan to the employees. A competence leader will be able to set an achievable goal and lead the followers toward the goal together. An organization that is able to develop to retain the effective leaders will achieve a good result in the productivity and employees’ commitment to the jobs. According to Kouzes (1999, p.64), without the assistant, encouragement and motivation from others, one will not be able to reach a fascinating achievement. Thus, leadership is a significant determinant of the organization’s effectiveness.
For several decades, the literature study of leadership had been playing an important role for the area of organizational behaviour. A good practice of leadership with the supported of top management in the organization will encourage the employees’ job satisfaction, motivation and positive thinking. This will result in organizational commitment of the employees. According to Kouzes (1999, p.64), employees will feel confidence about themselves and be able to have a better performance when they work with a leader that always motivate, encourage, and care about their dignity. Employees that have fully commitment are willing to contribute their effort to the organization. They are willing to stay still with the organization even though at the time when company meet crisis or difficult time. Besides that, employees that have their commitment to the company tend to result in good performance and this will create a win-win situation for the organization as well as the work forces.
In the globalization world of today, the implementation of leadership practices in organizations is getting more difficult due to the change in the organization’s complexity and their advanced technology and operations. The diversity of current business environment will influent the employees’ perceptions, expectation and obligations towards the organization (Hyatt, 2007; Drucker, 1997; Kickul & Liao-Troth, 2003). Today’s organizations are going through downsizing, merging, and restructuring in many ways. Therefore, employees may feel that their organizations are not living up to their expectation. The relationship among the employees within an organization is the main factor to determine the achievement of the organization. Leader’s ability to influence, and identify the contribution of the employees is essential to form a positive perception of the employees towards the leaders and organization (Hyatt, 2007; Weber, 1946).
Leadership is said to be successful when its meet the expectation of the employees. According to Kouzes and Porner (1990), leadership is a process that involves two parties of people which are leaders and followers that treat each other in an equally way and willing to share the ideas within each other selflessly. A successful leadership depends on the employees’ perception and trust on the leader’s ability. Therefore, the practices of leadership is a platform of winning the trust of the followers and thus results in organizational commitment. The five leadership practices suggested by Kouzes & Posner (2009) are (a) Challenging the Process, the extent of a leader that is prepare to face the risks and challenges; (b) Inspiring a Shared Vision, the degree of a leader to share a future plan and vision; (c) Enabling Others to Act, the extent of a leaders to influent others to act; (d) Modelling the Way, the ability of a leader to practice his or her values and be the role model of the followers; and (e) Encouraging the Heart, the degree of a leader to show the appreciation and recognise of employees’ contribution (Carless, 2001).
Leadership is an essential element in the association of leader and followers. Leaders play an important role in driving and managing the subordinates. Hence, leadership can be identified as a process of knowledge, skill and social exchange between leaders and followers (Weinberger, 2009). Managers are seen as leaders of their subordinate in an organization. Therefore, the perception of the followers towards their leaders will link to their perception of the company as well as