Northhouse (2007) describes leadership as a process that innately influences a team of individuals to attain set objectives or a common goal. As such, the concept of leadership steers organizations on the path of becoming more coherent and cohesive. While individuals may have varied perspectives on the mode of application, outcome of choice, and style in relation to leadership, its fundamentals reflect the nature of practical skill, predominantly in its implementation. Its practical nature encompasses the ability of an entire organization or an individual in the process of leading other individuals or teams within an organization. Caramela (2017) reaffirms this practical nature by defining leadership as the process of inspiring others in the pursuit of set visions within predefined parameters to the point that such visions become a shared effort, ultimately translating to shared success. Particularly within organizational leadership, this process entails social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others in achieving set objectives or goals.
As such, certain pertinent elements are significant in a successful leader. Cumulatively, these processes form two distinctive leadership types, all of which contribute to organizational leadership: process leadership and trait leadership. Process leadership stems from the background of knowledge and skill while trait leadership forms from the leader’s actions and influences. Consequently, while leadership entails learning, knowledge and skills are also influenced by traits and attributes such as values, beliefs, character, and ethics. Essentially, skills and knowledge contribute directly to the process of leadership while traits make a leader unique by giving him/her certain indelible characteristics. For example, while a leader may have counseling skills, one with empathy makes a better counselor than the other who thinks employees are merely there to accomplish tasks.
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Defining the approaches of organizational leadership on a functional basis is important. This means that organizational leadership, within an organization, is at the center of service attuned to collective effectiveness. Borrowing a leaf from team leadership, this subset of leadership is to focus on what needs to be done to adequately fulfill the needs of the team. As such, while a leader ensures the handling of all functions critical to the accomplishment of tasks as well as group cohesion, the achievement of organizational leadership transpires. This hypothesis remains true whether the leader leads individuals, multiple groups, a division or a department, or even an entire organization. The defining element of organizational leadership relates to the success of the collective whole, which remains its fondest criterion. Ultimately, approaches such as processes and proximal outcomes contributing to the augmentation and achievement of organizational objectives and purpose; the implementation of nonroutine influence; a basis on social, cognitive, and political processes; and a contextual orientation to leadership defined by system dynamics and characteristics are important to organizational leadership.
In relation to culture, Watson (2006) notes and emphasizes that over the past decade, managerial thinking has had its basis in the creation of strong organizational cultures. This makes culture and leadership inherently intertwined, thereby, portending a symbiotic relationship. Since social influence is a principal element of leadership, the process of maintaining a positive culture within organizations immensely influences its leadership. A case in point is Uber. While the company remains relatively successful, strings of bad cultures have affected its leadership inordinately. Such inhospitable cultures led to the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick back in 2017. At the time, the company faced culture mishaps such as social exclusionary tendencies, poor communication, and the immoderation of crude and unacceptable behavior. Analysis from the Australian Public Service notes that pertinent culture attributes such as service management, codes of conduct, and value statement remain rhetoric without the inclusion of proper culture within the leadership. Therefore, to ascertain proper organizational leadership, which is attuned to social influence, the maintenance of appropriate culture has to be a priority.
References
Caramela, S. (2017). 4 Ways to Define Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/3647-leadership-definition.html
Northouse, G. (2007). Leadership Theory and Practice (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Watson, T. (2006). Organising and Managing Work . Welwyn Garden City: Pearson Education UK.
