Table of Contents
Introduction
The success of every organization is dependent on the effectiveness of its management. Exceptional managers possess various sets of skills that enable them to navigate behavior management processes and enhance leadership effectiveness. Effective leaders should be able to identify behaviors that are significant for achieving exceptional business performance as well as organizational goals. This should be followed by identifying behavioral challenges, the causes of existing behavior, deciding on a strategy that will facilitate in attaining behavioral goals, as well as implementing and adjusting the preferred strategy where necessary. Only then can a leader come to a decision whether the challenge facing the organization is to redirect, maintain, or develop employee behavior. This paper seeks to identify vital insights gained into organizational dynamics, and how they can be applied in the organization to enhance leadership effectiveness.
An effective leader has the ability to turn a weak business plan to success, but an ineffective leader can destroy even the most excellent plan. The observation articulates the importance of organizational leadership. Thus, developing effective management through special programs such as consistent talent management can return significant business value, particularly if implemented at all levels within the organization. In order to identify, attract, as well as retain corporate leadership capacity, organizations require leadership improvement programs that are mainly focused on hiring policies, employee development, in addition to career planning (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2007).
Due to increased costs, poor funding, global competition for inadequate resources, in addition to increased demand for quality products and services, organizations have experienced the force to function more effectively. There are various management approaches that can be used to ensure that there is an outstanding improvement in organizational performance. These include measurements or bench-marking as widely known, leadership involvement, process improvement, employee involvement, along with customer focus (Potocki & Brocato, 1995). Nevertheless, only a few organizations have applied these principles successfully. It is very important for every organization to understand these principles, and applied them as an integrated structure of management for success to be realized.
Elements of Leadership Development Programs
As pointed out earlier, talent management functions play an important role in ensuring that an inclusive leadership development program is achieved.
Future leaders should be developed frequently, whether there are available positions or not. As indicated by Walter & Bruch (2009), one of the easiest ways of loosing promising leaders is to fail to develop staff because there no positions available. Effective leadership development programs should first and foremost begin with aligning the leadership development with organizational plan. Secondly, leaders should have an understanding of the style of leadership required to implement whichever strategy they will arrive at.
Establishing the best leadership approach
Several theories and techniques have been used to determine the right leadership techniques for an organization. A good example is the situational leadership theory that suggests that there is no single style of leadership that affects all workplace situations, and that the best leadership category can be determined by situational variables (Ancona, Malone, Orlikowski, & Senge, 2007). Various organizations have special needs for leadership, where different roles face specific challenges. Leadership change brings with it new demands such as cultural sensitivity, teamwork, and mental agility. For example, it does not matter which style best suits the CEO, because there are diverse leadership styles required to guide different groups within the organization including manufacturing, marketing, operations, and finance.
Identifying Leaders within the Organization
In order to evaluate current as well as potential leaders in an organization, leadership programs should be organized in such a way that they can identify and categorize the anticipated leadership competencies (Ivancevich, Konopaske, & Matteson, 2007). Effective leaders are not born, but made. If an individual has the willpower and the desire, they can become effective leaders. Organizations can develop competence models in order for them to define the success capacity and devise them into effective performance management systems (Weatherly, 2004). Consequently, this will help in introducing an evaluation procedure based on specific standards. Furthermore, organizations should consider getting future leaders internally before they begin searching externally, thus cutting costs and time.
Moreover, leaders that are developed internally are more likely to achieve productivity faster than candidates that are developed externally. In circumstances where leadership positions cannot be filled internally, the organization can opt to carry out a recruitment process in line with company’s strategy. The same measurements used to test internal candidates should be used to test the competencies of external candidates. However, recruiting the right candidates from inception is one way of ensuring that there is a steady flow of leadership talent into the organization. This can be achieved by conducting online pre-assessments.
Identifying Leadership Gaps
The identification of gaps in an organization’s leadership is an evaluation of the willingness of individuals to carry out their tasks within an organization (Leslie, 2015). Identifying leadership gaps in an organizational is essential because it enables the management to focus development efforts where necessary. Leadership gap indicators are designed in a manner that makes it possible for organizations to identify the effectiveness of existing leadership expertise, and address any leadership gaps that may subsist. With this tool, organizations can evaluate a manager’s view concerning development needs. It is important to note that developing effective leadership in any organization entails the identification of the existing organizational leadership skills. These skills must relate to present and future achievement.
One way of identifying leadership gaps is by surveying the managers. It is always important to determine the number of individuals to be included in the survey, and the areas within the organization that are appropriate to survey. Skills and competencies that are considered most significant for success might not necessarily represent the views of accomplishment in other departments across the organization. In order to get accurate results, the survey group should be larger. Ideally, all managers within the organization should be surveyed for perfect results to be attained. Nevertheless, a sizeable number of managers representing all functional areas within the organization can be appropriate, if the exercise is above the set budget or goes beyond the scheduled timeline.
Developing Succession Plans
One of the most effective ways of avoiding the consequence of lost leadership or leadership gaps is by establishing a strong succession program that recognizes and promotes the next cohort of leader (Oakes, 2009). This can be achieved through training, mentoring, and extended assignments. Succession planning initiative cannot be successfully if it does not support business strategy and objectives. Senior and executive leaders should engage in the process in order to guarantee its success. Furthermore, development of key talent should be clearly defined and supervised throughout the process. On the other hand, all employees should understand their specific roles in the process and deliver what is anticipated of them.
We can do it today.
Prioritizing or identifying significant positions is very important in the process of succession planning, because it enables organizations to focus on talent investments and ensure there is leadership stability, thus reducing the risk of leadership attrition. It would be prudent for organization to identify factors such as organizational strategy and market conditions when prioritizing such positions. This is very important especially during times of economic. For instance, organizations that require technical novelty to implement their strategy might decide that certain operational roles are important while other organizations would identify particular advertising roles at most important.
Action Plan
An ingenious leadership development program is the answer to recognizing, attracting, and retaining organizational leadership. Senior leaders should set the tone by enabling a tradition of development. They should lead by example, particularly when dealing with young and developing employees. Leadership development is a significant aspect of organizational talent management to achieve optimum productivity, and requires efficient implementation of various talent management practices. Leadership effectiveness cannot be achieved if an occupation does not provide learning opportunities. Vast majority of workers seek to learn as well as grow while at work.
Although many leaders may lament about time constraints in relation to employee development, great effective leaders have the ability to incorporate learning as a critical part of their regular job responsibilities. Learning environments is crucial for employees because it helps them to creatively anticipate as well as find solutions to particular challenges on each work assignment. Organizational leaders should have the ability to relate interpersonally by setting a vibrant organizational culture signified by dialogue and transparency. Real dialogue does not mean handing off information, but rather it involves deeper conversations. Dialogue should demonstrate a true concern for others, rather than influence.
International leaders should develop leadership skills required in a global perspective in order to develop individual potential of employees, take social responsibility and improve overall organizational performance. An effective leader must have the ability to influence his/her followers in a preferred manner to realize desired objectives. Having different leadership styles in an organization may affect overall effectiveness and productivity. Nevertheless, transformational leadership can envisage both employee job satisfaction as well as overall satisfaction. In conclusion, leaders should realize that organizational performance can be influenced by a novel and competitive culture. On the other hand, organizational culture is influenced by the style of leadership, whereas organizational performance is affected by leadership style. Today’s organizations require effective leaders who appreciate the intricacy of the fast changing global environment.
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