Management Concept Application
Leadership is a concept to which is devoted within contemporary business management education and training programs. In theory and in some contexts, leadership is distinct from management and entails different responsibilities and roles. However, there is also reason to believe that contemporary teaching about leadership provides an excessive focus on personality and style apart from substance (McCormack, 2009). More specifically, it suggests that everyone should strive to become a leader and that team and organizational success are more tied to leadership than to other foundational elements of important variables and business practices.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that leadership style (and organizational culture more generally) do greatly affect the motivation, productivity, and and professional satisfaction of employees within organizations (Ismail, Zainuddin, & Ibrahim, 2010). In that regard, leadership style is important to the success in that it can be the source of employee satisfaction and empowerment in optimal circumstances or, alternatively, contribute to the failure of the organization in less than optimal circumstances.
Meanwhile, leadership styles and management approaches cannot be optimized in a vacuum, such as outside of the context of the in which organizations operate (Melville-Ross, 2010). In general, the nature of the industry and the external factors and potential barriers to success that face organizations must always play a role in identifying the types of leaders who are most appropriate choices for those organizations, as well as the specific management practices and leadership styles relied upon within those organizations (Melville-Ross, 2010).
Three Most Important Concepts
The three most important topics outlined in the readings are: (1) the extent to which leadership can be overvalued in relation to and as an entity distinct from management (McCormack, 2009); (2) the significance of organizational leadership culture to employee satisfaction, motivation, and achievement (Ismail, Zainuddin, & Ibrahim, 2010); and (3) the manner in which external circumstances and the dynamic needs of organizations dictate the appropriate type and role of leadership within organizations (Melville-Ross, 2010).
Application to the Specified Measurable Learning Outcomes from Course Syllabus
The first topic applies to the course syllabus in that it distinguishes those aspects of professional leadership that are important to organizational success from those that may represent an on leadership over substantive issues in business management. The second topic applies to the course syllabus in that it outlines the definite correspondence of elements of organizational culture and of different approaches to organizational leadership to objective measures of employee satisfaction, motivation, and performance. Finally, the third topic applies to the course syllabus in that it outlines the manner and degree to which different types of industries, organizations, and strategic missions dictate the need for different types of leadership styles and different types of approaches to management within organizations.
Ultimately, the three concepts suggest that leadership does play an important role in organizations but that leadership cannot be over-emphasized over operational management and the establishment of corporate cultures that are maximally conducive to employee performance.
References
Ismail, A., Zainuddin, N.F., and Ibrahim, Z. “Linking Participative and Consultative
Leadership Styles to Organizational
Commitment as an Antecedent of Job
Satisfaction.” , Vol. 6, No. 1 (January 2010): 11 — 27.
McCormack, C. “Leadership, Leadership, Leadership’: Are We All Chanting the Wrong
Mantra?” (February 2009). Accessed 26 Aug 2011 from ColmMcCormack.com.
Melville-Ross, T. “Leadership, governance and management: Challenges for the future of higher Education.” Perspectives, Vol. 14, No. 1 (January 2010): 3 — 7.
