Essay on Leadership in Organizations

© National College for School Leadership 2003 1 Leadership in Organizations

Gary Yukl

2001, Prentice Hall

Gary Yukl is Professor of Management and Leadership at the State University of New York in Albany, and a board member of the Leadership Quarterly journal. He is a well–known scholar and author on leadership. Leadership in Organizations was first published in 1981. This fifth edition was published in 2002, and the formerly 19 chapters have been consolidated into 15 (which includes a new chapter on ethical leadership and diversity). This has been done in order to accommodate a 15–week course. Each chapter covers a particular aspect of leadership research study, with a concluding summary and questions for...show more content...

Yukl observes that much of the research over the last 50 years has involved dyadic (one individual to another specific individual) relationships between a leader and a follower. Within this context, he goes on to look at a number of follower–based theories including: leader–member exchange (LMX), leader attributions about subordinates, follower attributes and implicit theories, follower contributions to effective leadership, and social learning theory (self–management). All of this emphasises the importance of the follower role to a leader. Within the 10 guidelines the author proposes for becoming an effective follower, he suggests specific phrases which might be used in a given situation; for example, in a situation where a follower might disagree with a proposed action by a leader: "You know I respect what you are trying to accomplish, and I hope you won't mind if I express some honest concerns about this proposal".

Yukl states at three points within the text that "influence is the essence of leadership". This is covered in Chapter 6, which concerns power and influence. Here different types of power are studied, though the focus is on the French and Raven taxonomy of five types of power: reward, coercive, legitimate, expert and referent. Guidelines are proposed for using legitimate authority, reward authority and coercive power. Yukl even describes the tone of voice a leader

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Passionate Leadership

Many people are born to lead and others learn to lead, but the one key ingredient in leadership whether you are born or taught, is passion. My passion is HR. I want to serve the employees of my company and try to make each interaction with HR a positive one, even in difficult circumstances. People are excited and motivated by others who are passionate about what they do. "Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow" (Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge, 2004, p. 119). I will need to build a strong foundation with those I lead and passion and inspiration are just the beginning. For my foundation to be passionate, inspiring and strong I must be credible,...show more content...

The framing of the honest and selfless leader is service. I want to serve others. I want to give back. "Leadership is not about position. It's about practice. Leadership is not conferred. It's earned" (Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge, 2004, p. 123). As I strive to become a servant leader, I will lead by my beliefs and values and those come before anything else. These principles are how I live my life by and how I want lead my team or organization. "This type of leader is the first to do what has been agreed upon" (Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge, 2004, p. 123). Service of others is rewarding and keeps the hope alive. I want to lead by example by showing courage to my team, that no matter what the setbacks, we can move forward. I want to display a positive outlook by demonstrating that a negative can be turned into a positive with hope and determination. There is a profound benefit when you sacrifice yourself to serve another human being. "You cannot be a true servant leader unless you see yourself as a servant first. There's no choice here. You either are or your aren't. It comes with the territory" (Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge, 2004, p.

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One of the topics in organizational development today is leadership. Leadership is what individuals do to mobilize other people in organizations and communities. According to Kouzes & Posner, there are five practices and ten commitments of exemplary leadership. The five practices of exemplary leadership include: Model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. In the Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner found similar patterns and actions of leadership that created the essentials to achieve success. Utilizing the research conducted by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, I have created a leadership plan that would apply to the Admission Department at Texas Wesleyan University. The...show more content...

Once I have found my voice, I need to set an example and be a role model to my team. I think it would be beneficial to create an award system that would allow people in our department to nominate coworkers who have done an amazing job or went out of their way to help our department. People who earn the award can leave early from work on a day of their choosing. Having an award system that recognizes our staff will reinforce our department's shared values.

The second practice is to inspire a Shared Vision. A leader should be able to imagine a shared vision for the future. Next, a leader should be able to inspire others to believe in the common vision. Leadership is about engaging with others to solve problems. Leaders need to know what values, hopes, and aspirations that their team wants to utilize for success. Leaders are able to inspire a shared vision by imagining the possibilities and finding a common purpose within their team. Currently, my department is trying to revamp their image. Before I started working at Texas Wesleyan, our department had developed a bad reputation for accepting the status quo and not advancing our University to the next level. As a leader, I must listen to my fellow staff members and initiate a conversation about what we want our legacy to be as a department.

The third practice is to Challenge the Process. As I have mentioned earlier, one of the greatest challenges in leadership is changing the

During my past employment, I had the chance to exercise leadership roles, managing a group of three, and train new employees. One way to motivate them was to let them leave early on the last working day of the week. I also empowered them by providing them some consulting work, which they felt that it was shown to the client as their own work in order for them to feel that they were part of the team and have a sense they belong to the organization. Therefore, this behavioral approach that I exercised would be considered as Employee–centered Leadership. This is because I focused on the people doing the work, while delegating decision making, and satisfying employee needs, which created a creative a supportive work environment (Rama). From there, I also sat with each one alone and try to figure out the goals and objectives that he or she wanted, which was either in the organization or educational wise while developing ideas on how to accomplish their goals. Therefore, as an Employee–centered leader, I was responsible for others and being a team player as well. As a leader, I feel that working in a group or team is a must to see progress within the company. In order to see progress within the company, working together as a team is very important. When the employees see the leader working with as a team, they feel more motivated to work. They feel equally as important as the leader. By enhancing this equality, a team will create a concept that suits the diverse needs of the Get more content

There is a lot of debate on the differences between leadership and management. In the sports profession there are both leaders and managers. Which positions historically lead and which positions do more managing? With this thought in mind, add your comments to the questions listed below in the discussion section. Feel free to add to existing comments. Leadership and Management Which positions (jobs) in the sports profession do individuals do more "leading" than "managing"? Which individuals do more "managing" than "leading?" Pick at least two positions for each category and then justify your response The leading difference between managers and leaders is the way they influence the people who work or follow them, and this...show more content...

A surprising number of these leaders had some form of handicap in their lives which they had to overcome. Some had traumatic childhoods, some had problems such as dyslexia, others were shorter than average. This perhaps taught them the independence of mind that is needed to go out on a limb and not worry about what others are thinking about you. In summary This table summarizes the above (and more) and gives a sense of the differences between being a leader and being a manager. This is, of course, an illustrative characterization, and there is a whole spectrum between either ends of these scales along which each role can range. And many people lead and manage at the same time, and so may display a combination of behaviors. Subject| Leader| Manager| Essence| Change|