Leadership is an essential tool in any type of organization, especially when change is necessary. Through analyzing three different articles, leadership roles, challenges and steps that can be taken to effect change in an organization is delved into in details. In the article, “ Facing the Challenge of Change: Steps to Becoming an Effective Leader ,” Trybus (2011) delves into the functions and steps that a leader should take to effect a much-needed change in an organization. In the second article, “Successful Leadership—How Would you Know?’’ Likierman (2009) touches on the methods that one can use to determine if he or she is successful in the role of leadership. The last article, “Managing Employee Assets,” talks about the techniques that can be used to manage different generation employees at the workplace to accommodate each one of them effectively.
Becoming an Effective Leader
Change is an unavoidable circumstance in any organizational setting, and every leader must be in a position to trigger and manage it. In every setup, expectations exist. Thus, there must be signs of substantive changes in the manner of doing things. Based on this inevitable condition, the pace is always changing, and the conditions become too much demanding for every leader. As a result, Trybus (2011) provides a step by step guideline for every leader to take to become an agent of change.
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Know the Organization
There is a need to access the reasons why change is necessary for the organization as well as determining the need. In some cases, the change may be “localized, such as accepting a new leadership team when a new superintendent or principal takes charge” and, as a leader, one must visualize how people will shift through the scenario of change. In the discussion, Trybus talks about the leadership and vision, as this would help a person to visualize those things that are fundamental in the firm (2011). The fact is that people must move from the current system to adopt the newly anticipated structure, and that is what will require new leadership roles. Further, Trybus denotes that vision aids the process of change to become coherent and practical.
Understand Oneself
As a leader, the current environment demands of a person to be effective in the process of change. As a result, one should inspect own qualities to determine those intrinsic qualities that can be useful in the process of change. According to Trybus, there is a need for a visionary leader to possess intellectual intelligence as well as the emotional capacity to stimulate other people in the process of change (2011). Notably, he further denotes that change agent leaders do not work alone, but they build a culture of shared leadership in which the other people also chip in for leading roles.
Reaction of Others
Every visionary leader should have the ability to understand things that may make people change their mind in the firm as well as sources of resistance. Notably, the author denotes that people will tend to resist any alteration which may be imposed on them at any time. As a result, change agent leaders are mindful of fears and gains that may arise in the process so that it is managed with utmost precision. Therefore, leaders should be compassionate to everyone, and not carelessly reduce or mishandle the human resource involved, approaching related issues with precision.
Learn the Change Process
Every change agent leader should be in a position to determine whether a change is a first-order or a second-order one and then decide whether it is at the initiation stage. If this is the case, then the need to determine if it is feasible or not is necessary to know if it builds on what is already there. Implementation is the next phase that mandates actualization. Last, there is the continuation process, which delves on developing all the structures of the change process.
Commitment
Trybus denotes that one cannot be an agent of change without being a leader. In the same token, it is not possible to make changes without being visionary. Therefore, one must be in a position to create plans that are workable for a firm and that one which is conducive for others to adopt. To do this, skills and knowledge in the same field of change is a necessity.
How to Gauge Successful Leadership
Likierman (2009) delves on techniques that can be used to determine whether a leader is successful or not with the use of various steps. In the field of discussion, examples are used, most of which are dignitary leaders of the world who are believed to have been successful in their roles.
Preliminary Steps
The first preliminary step is to agree with the measurement methods. Termed as preliminary phase, it delves on knowing the type of a leader you are to avoid problems that may arise due to ambiguity. The author denotes that leaders who are not aware of their kind of leadership are ineffective. Notably, there are many definitions of leadership, which must be put into consideration before one delves into defining his or her own. Moreover, one should be humble in the process of leading to reap the best result.
In the second preliminary step, the author talks of putting the focus on outcomes and not inputs. According to Likierman, most writings emphasize the attributes and qualities of a person that can predetermine if a person would become a successful leader, which is not the case (2009). He denotes that leadership success does not depend on the personal qualities or possessed skills, but the results matter more than anything else. Comically, the author mentions “It’s no use defining yourself as a successful leader because you have charisma if the shareholders see you leading charismatically in the wrong direction (Likierman, 2009).” It means that one can only be labeled a successful leader if the outcome of his or her functions is positive.
In the third step, the author delves on the realism of the data being used to compare the results. To make the right judgment, one should have robust data on other leaders who may be used as a comparison for measuring success. Notably, the writer denotes that people are often better judges to own success but other people can do it better.
Set up the Objectives
In any form of organization, the writer denotes that making an informed decision on aims are basic recipes to success. Therefore, working through the objectives and making sure to attain the required results and comparing with the right parameter can act as a meter for success. On the whole, step one delves on comparing aims against other comparisons as well as the manner in which all other opportunities are handled.
Interpret Using Judgment
In this step, the author explores using the right method to measure success. In this section, the effects of lags are discussed-a situation involving stepping down of someone who is considered a top leader. It explains the adverse impacts of rushed decision making about a given leader. Therefore, accurate comparison should be in place for fair judgment
The Needs of Different Stakeholders
The success of a leader cannot be determined through one view of success such as in the organization alone. For example, the author has used a scenario in which child labor has been used to increase profit. While that translates to a better outcome, it is not successful leadership. It is important to merge the views of various people in the environment to gauge success.
Managing Different Generations
There are four categories of workers generation based on the article, “Managing Employee Assets.” According to Ikenberry (2015), “ stereotypes and generalizations can be (a) very dangerous” element at work and “ignoring the trends represented by generations of workers who grew up in different environments can be a mistake” since it may help in dealing with workers. The categories are as below.
Traditionalists
They represent people born between 1927 and 1945. According to Ikenberry, almost all of them are out of the workforce and probably parents of current employees (2015). They are hard workers, not technology oriented. They also prefer face to face conversation, and are loyal people. Most likely, they worked in one company the whole of their entire life. Similarly, they are slow to adapt to new technologies.
Baby Boomers
They comprise of employees who were born between 1946 and 1964. They represent a group of people who are currently seniors and middle-level managers. Provided that they thrived at a time when protests were the order of the day, they expect people to listen to them more and often wait for appreciation when things go well.
Generation X
They make up the workforce born between 1965 and 1980. Most of these people existed when inventions were the order of the day in the US. Other problems such as AIDS emerged. Notably, they do not like the position of authority. Instead, they are hard workers and ambitious in what they do. They value creativity and new challenges. Also, they prioritize family life.
Generation Y
The digital age can be used to describe them. They comprise of a group of individuals born between 1980 and 2000s. They are tech savvy and rely a lot on social status more than anything. The use of instant messaging is a priority as compared to face-to-face communication. Similarly, they work to live and not the other way round. They often check if the current employment offers what they need, and if not, they would seek a new employer immediately.
Conclusion
In summary, all three articles provide insight into organizational management strategies. Specifically, Trybus delves much into the step by step guide on becoming an effective leader. In brief, to be a successful leader, one should use the steps such as knowing the firm, doing self-evaluation, knowing how to react to others, committing and learning the process of change. Likierman denotes ways that can be used to determine success, which include merging different stakeholders, using aims, and proper interpretation. Lastly, Ikenberry discusses different generations, each with its characteristics, thus offers deeper understating of each group;which may form a foundation for proper leadership.
References
Ikenberry, R. (2015). Managing Employee Assets. Journal of Protective Coatings & Linings , 32 (3), 48.
Likierman, A. (2009). Successful Leadership—How Would You Know? Business Strategy Review , 20 (1), 44-49.
Trybus, M. A. (2011). Facing the Challenge of Change: Steps to Becoming an Effective Leader. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin , 77 (3), 33.
