Table of Contents
Overview
Each of the thought leaders has given their individual perspectives of design flaws evident in organizational development structures and models as evident in the videos. This paper will look at three leaders and analyze their thought on design flaws of organizational leadership and development
Birkin Shaw proposed that the single major design flaw of organizational leadership is the fact that most structures and models have been developed in such a way that the leaders are seen to be in control of everything. This type of management is viewed from the perspective of the manager or leader. According to the speaker, this is a major design flaw because other employees are disengaged from the management of the organization. Shaw gave the recommendation that the notion towards leadership should change. It is a high time organizational management should not be viewed from the perspective of the leaders. Employees to need to be given active roles in organizational development. Source of the video: https://youtu.be/BlY0-IyHJyo
According to Terri Kelly, the major design flaw in organizational management and development is the role of leadership in organizations. In most organizations and companies, the CEO is expected to set the pace of everything in the organization. People view the leader as someone with all the answers, solutions and certainty. This notion has resulted in single powerful leaders and according to Kelly, is a major design flaw in management. The recommendations by Kelly include the fact that people should change their mentality towards leadership and management. Management of the organization is not entirely upon the leaders but other people should also be involved. She also recommended that power should be distributed across the organization among other employees in small teams. Source of the video: https://youtu.be/f-iR7gua6ok
Linda Hill also identified some design flaws in organizational management. According to Hill people’s conception and understanding of leadership us the major flaw in organization development. People have developed a conception that the leader should always be at the front, giving direction and pulling other people along. However, according to the author, this should not always be the case and there are other better leadership methods. Other than setting direction, a leader should act as a social architect and lead from behind. There is a need for new leadership models that does not view leaders as people with full control in organizations. Source of the video: https://youtu.be/gjrKmrwzhH4
Commonalities in the videos
All the identified leaders agreed that people’s perception and conception about leadership is the major flaw in organizational development and management. In most organizations, people view leaders as knowing everything in the organizations. Leaders have been given a lot of powers in organizations especially with regards to managing organizational processes and making critical decisions that affect the well-being of the organizations. This is a critical design flaw in management because employees and other stakeholders are left of the organization. The decisions, processes and activities that are critical to the success of the organizations are decided by a small group of leaders. The leaders also agreed that the solution is for people to change their thinking with regards to what leadership is all about. Other than being at the front of everything, organizational leadership should be inclusive of the other members of the organization as well.
Analysis of the Flaws
All the flaws identified by the thought leaders are connected in the sense that they all touch on the role of leadership in organizational management. The role of leaders in ensuring organizational success is changing. Gone are the days when the leader was entirely in control of everything in an organization. Leadership today involves acquiring and sharing information with other members of the organization (Dess & Picken, 2001). Therefore, the role of leadership in organizational management is becoming more of a collaborative approach rather than the kind of leadership where the leader is in control of everything. According to Ayub, Manaf & Hamzah (2014), future leaders must ensure that their subordinates are treated as a member of the organization and take on a more active role in managing and participating in the management of the organization. Therefore, there should not be a case where the leader is in control of anything.
I think what the leaders have identified is a major blow to current organization development and management practices. The fact that people view the leader as the final decision maker and controller of everything compromises organizational development. I think we should start by changing our mentality at a personal level. As employees, we should participate in the organizational development, decision making and participating in organizational management. There needs to be a change in how people view leadership. Rather than being in control, leaders should lead from behind and allow other employees to also participate in organizational development.
Recommendations
Lind Hill recommended the adoption of new leadership model and identification of specific characteristic capabilities of leaders with the potential to lead and not be in control. According to Kelly, the change should be implemented at the personal level. There should be individualized efforts by people to change their mentalities and thinking towards what leaders mean. Shaw was of the opinion that every employee should participate in organizational development irrespective of their level within the organization. Whether a leader or not everyone must participate in organizational development.
According to all these recommendations, it is clear that the employees are being given more power when it comes to organizational development and management. A solution for the leadership flaws identified in the videos is to change the perception of leadership and include other stakeholders such as employees in organizational development. According to Gul (2015) employees need to be part of organizational development. In fact, increased commitment of the employees in activities of the organization led to increased organizational development. As such, we should shift from the old notion that leaders know and decide everything and include other people as well. The findings from the paper support the recommendation by Shaw that employees and other members of an organization should be included in organizational development and management. As said by Kelly in the videos, the change should start at an individual level. As an individual, you should understand that it not entirely up to the leader to be in control of everything. This is a culture that can be critical in eliminating the design flaws identified in the videos. Changing at the individual levels is also related to organizational culture. The entire organization culture needs to be changed so that the new approaches can be implemented successfully (Belias & Koustelios, 2014)
Relationship to my organization
The flaws and recommendations identified by the thought leaders directly relate to my organisation. The organisation is still in the transition from the old leadership ways to a new approach where leadership powers are delegated. Earlier on, leaders were more in control of the decisions, processes and strategies that affect the organisation. As such, there was a great flaw in how the organisation managed its processes. However, the organization is currently undergoing a transition to try and embrace the new models of organizational development and management that allow employees to participate in the management and decision-making processes. The recommendations given in the videos can be used to improve the role of employees in decision making and also to help reduce the powers of the leaders.
Conclusion
In summary, the role of leadership in the organization has been identified as the major flaws in management and organisational development of most organisations. People have a wrong notion of what leadership is and this affect management of these organisations. As such, it is recommended that people change the mentality that leaders should be in control and decide everything. Other employees should take a more participatory role in management and control of the organisation.
- Ayub, S. H., Manaf, N. A., & Hamzah, M. R. (2014). Leadership: Communicating strategically in the 21st century. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 155, 502-506.
- Belias, D., & Koustelios, A. (2014). The impact of leadership and change management strategy on organizational culture. European scientific journal, 10(7).
- Dess, G. G., & Picken, J. C. (2001). Changing roles: Leadership in the 21st century. Organizational dynamics, 28(3), 18-34.
- Gul, Z. (2015). Impact of Employee Commitment on Organizational Development. FWU Journal of Social Sciences, 9(2), 117.