The Dimensions and Requirements of Leadership
Starrat (1996) describes a fully human person as possessing three main qualities: (1) autonomy, (2) connectiveness, and (3) transcendence. He cautions us against viewing these as a list of virtues we set out to acquire or create in others, and contends that these qualities are never achieved as an acquisition. The qualities are found in the actions of a leader and his or her interactions with others.
Leadership behaviors affect student outcomes and the success or failure of schools. Especially important is the realization that a leader's personal values, beliefs, and spirituality form and guide his/her leadership behaviors. To lead our schools and their communities into the new millennium, preparation programs must help aspiring leaders strengthen the correlation between organizational success and their own spiritual development.
Leadership theory has developed along separate tracks that have never fully or usefully converged. Nevertheless, each track provides a distinct dimension and set of requirements for effective leadership. These tracks are the study of cognitive or rational processes (cognitive intelligence), the need for meaning and worth in people’s work and lives (spiritual intelligence), emotions or feelings (emotional intelligence) and volitional action or behavior (behavioural skills) in leadership (Gill, 2002).
The intellectual/cognitive dimension and requirements of leadership — ‘thinking’
Strategic failure, especially in times of rapid change, is often the result of the inability to see a novel reality emerging: the corporate mind is wedded to obsolete assumptions that blind it to the perception of change. Effective leadership requires the intellectual or cognitive abilities to perceive and understand Information, reason with it, imagine possibilities, use intuition, make judgments, solve problems and make decisions. These abilities produce vision, mission (purpose), shared values and strategies for pursuing the vision and mission that ‘win’ people’s minds.
The spiritual dimension and requirements of leadership — ‘meaning’ ‘Spirit’, according to Webster’s Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, is person’s animating principle. The spiritual dimension of leadership concerns the yearning for meaning and a sense of worth that animate people in what they seek and do. Meaning and this sense of worth depend on the vision and shared values to which one is party. William W. George, chairman and CEO of Medtronic, Inc. — one of the world’s leading medical technology companies, based in Minneapolis — and the Academy of Management’s 2001 ‘Executive of the Year’, argues that people at work today seek meaning and purpose in their work. When they find it, ‘[they] will buy into the company’s mission and make the commitment to fulfilling it’ (George, 2001). Dess and Picken (2000) quote Xerox PARC guru John Seely Brown as saying: ‘The job of leadership today is not just to make money: it’s to make meaning.’ Effective leadership ‘wins people’s souls’.
The emotional dimension and requirements of leadership — ‘ feeling’ Effective leadership also requires well-developed emotional intelligence —the ability to understand oneself and other people, display self-control and self-confidence, and to respond to others in appropriate ways. Emotionally intelligent leaders use personal power rather than positional power or authority. Emotional intelligence, in addition to cognitive and spiritual intelligence, is key to identifying and promoting the shared values that support the pursuit of vision, mission and strategies and to empowering and inspiring people. Emotionally intelligent leaders ‘win people’s hearts’.
The behavioral dimension and requirements of leadership — ‘doing’ While the necessary behavioral skills of leadership include both using and responding to emotion, for example through ‘body language’, they also comprise communicating in other ways through writing, speaking and listening — using personal power — and through physical behavior, for example MBWA (‘managing by walking around’). Communication is the ‘life blood’ of the organization and the ‘oxygen’ of change within it.
A New Model of Leadership For Change
Effective leadership of change reflects all of these dimensions of leadership. An integrative model of leadership for successful change needs to explain the following elements of effective leadership practice: vision, values, strategy, empowerment and motivation and inspiration. Effective emotional and behavioral leadership without valid vision and strategic thinking can be misguided, even dangerous. The converse is impotent.
Vision
Kotter (1995a) suggests that the starting point in a successful change process is attaching a sense of urgency and importance to change. Kotter says it is necessary to create dissatisfaction with the status quo and an understanding of the need to change. Vision needs to be meaningful, ethical and inspiring. Effective visions are imaginable, desirable, feasible, focused, flexible and communicable (Kotter, 1995b). They are memorable and quotable. Senge (1990) sees vision as a driving force, while Covey (1992) describes vision as ‘true north’, providing a ‘compass’. Vision helps to create commitment, inspiration and motivation by connecting and aligning people intellectually and emotionally to the organization; and it is associated with organizational growth and success (Baum et al., 1998).
A shared vision is key to successful change. Kakabadse (2002) reports the finding from a survey at Cranfield School of Management of over 12,000 organisations that more than one-third of directors have a vision of the future of their organisation that is different from those of their colleagues. Without a shared vision, there is no alignment.
Values and culture
Values are principles held dear in people’s hearts by which they live (and sometimes die). Covey (1992)makes the distinction between personal values, which are intrinsic, and corporate values, which he regards as extrinsic guiding principles for behavior throughout the organization.
The challenge of change has stimulated an emphasis on values-based leadership. O’Toole (1995) says that there is a widespread belief among corporate executives in the need to create strong, shared values to unite people in a fragmented world.
Effective leaders are role models for corporate values: they set an example. Collins and Porras (1998) contend that corporate values are ‘not to be compromised for financial gain or short-term expediency’.
Effective leadership entails identifying and promoting shared values. Shared values are a key feature of a strong organisational culture (that includes beliefs, attitudes and patterns of habitual behaviour) that supports a common purpose and engenders commitment to it. Values that are not shared can be dysfunctional (Drucker, 1999). Shared values create a sense of belonging and may contribute positively to competitive advantage (Deetz et al., 2000).
Strategy
Without strategies for change, vision is a dream. Strategies are ways of pursuing the vision and mission; they are informed by vision, mission and values. Strategic plans are ‘road maps’ of a changing terrain in
which a compass (vision) is needed (Covey, 1992). Effective leadership entails developing, getting commitment to and implementing rational business strategies based on possible future scenarios for the
organisation. A key issue with the effectiveness of strategies is where their ownership lies and ommitment to them: effective strategy development taps the wisdom of people in the organization (Eden, 1993).
An effective strategy for change entails creating a guiding coalition — putting together a group of people with enough power to lead the change — and getting it to work together as an effective team (Kotter, 1995a)
Empowerment
Empowerment literally is giving people power. It is about making them able to do what needs to be done in the change process. In practice, empowerment is giving people the knowledge, skills, opportunity, freedom, self-confidence and resources to manage themselves and be accountable. Important aspects of empowerment are stimulating people’s intellects and imagination, in particular their creativity in the change process, risk taking and trust. Empowering people for action in part entails getting rid of obstacles to change, removing or changing systems or structures that undermine the vision, and encouraging risk taking, new ideas and innovative activities (Kotter, 1995b).
Motivation and inspiration
Effective leaders motivate and inspire people to want to do what needs to be done. In any change process, the change champions — leaders — must be credible. Credibility comes from perceptions of honesty and competence in leaders and from their ability to inspire, say Kouzes and Posner (2002).
Motivation and inspiration arise from alignment of organizational goals with individuals’ needs, wants, values, interests and aspirations and from the use of positive and appealing language. Motivation also arises from short-term wins. Gaining short-term wins entails planning and creating visible improvements during the change process. It also entails visibly recognising and rewarding people who made the wins possible (Kotter, 1995a).
Transformational and Transactional Leadership
All above what has been discuss, I think some of them can be find and appropriate with the transformational model leadership which develop by Bass. The following is explanation about transformational and transactional leadership according to Bass (1985)
Bass developed a transformational/transactional leadership model for use by organizational leadership researchers. Bass (1985) conceived of transformational leadership and transactional leadership as separate and related. "Management is not only leadership nor is leadership only management" (Bass 1985, p. xiii). Bass (1985) contended that most leaders exhibit both transformational and transactional leadership, in varying degrees. The effective leader integrates transactional and transformational leadership behaviors (Bass & Avolio, 1990). Transformational leadership augments transactional leadership by focusing on the development of followers as well as addressing the goals of the leader, follower, group, and organization (Bass & Avolio, 1990). For Bass, the success of a transformational leader is demonstrated both by increased performance outcomes and the degree to which followers have developed their own leadership potential and skills (Bass & Avolio, 1990)
Bass's (1985) model of transformational and transactional leadership includes three factors that identify the behavioral components of transformational leadership and define it (Bass, 1985; Waldman, Bass & Einstein, 1987).
Charisma/inspiration.
This factor is the degree to which the leader creates enthusiasm in followers, sees what is really important, and transmits a sense of mission to the organization. The leader inspires loyalty and devotion, instills pride and faith, and commands respect. Followers place a great deal of trust and confidence in the leader's vision and values, develop intense feelings about the leader,perceive the leader as a role model, and want to identify with him or her.
Intellectual stimulation.
This factor is the degree to which the leader provides intellectual and problem-oriented guidance. The leader arouses followers to think in new ways (Bass, Waldman, Avolio & Bebb, 1987). Followers are encouraged to question their own and others' assumptions, beliefs and values, and develop independent problem-solving capabilities.
Individualized consideration.
This factor is the degree to which the leader is concerned with the individual needs of followers (mentoring). The leader responds to individual differences in followers' needs for growth and development, elevating needs and abilities to higher levels when appropriate, and delegating projects to stimulate individual learning experiences.
Contingent reward.
This factor is the degree to which the leader makes clear what the follower must accomplish in order to be rewarded. The leader provides rewards if followers perform in accordance with contracts or expend the necessary effort to meet performance standards. Clarification of goals, work standards, and assignments are emphasized. Leaders recognize what subordinates need and, through extrinsic rewards, energize followers to reach objectives.
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