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This assignment is a structured essay that requires you to argue about the proposition that:
“Power is a relational concern for both leaders and followers”
Write an essay on the above topic using the following structure:
Section 1 – Introduction including definition of key terms. (20 marks)
Section 2 – 2 Arguments in agreement with the proposition (20 marks)
Section 3 – 2 Arguments in disagreement with the proposition (20 marks)
Section 4 - You are the CEO of Fonterra, leading this organisation through the botulism scare. Refer to relevant theories / models and approaches you used or should use in Fonterra and discuss how your leadership style/s and leadership approach/es in Fonterra contributed to keeping it an effective and profitable organization (40 marks).
Power is a relational concern for both leaders and followers
The leaders and followers are inseparable. Leader also plays a role of follower when he support someone else’s goals. The great leaders follow profitable goals of stakeholders but greatest potential of followers are shown only when they act actively and independently. The success of companies lies in the hands of both leaders and followers. It is not only important to notice that how leaders are leading, but it is also important to observe the how the followers follow them. It is worthwhile for the companies to improve the performance of their followers as they are the ones who help in achieving the goals of company. The role of follower is as important as that of leader as both needs to be effective if results are to be achieved.
There is a connection between studies and concepts related to leadership and power. It is believed that any person need not be a leader to exercise power but if he does not have any power then he cannot become a leader. So it can be said that anything that has the ability to affect actions. A belief, attitudes of others is power. Different people have defined power differently (Li, Chiaburu, Kirkman&Xie, 2012)has said that when an individual carries the capacity to move others, entice them and persuade them to achieve goals or exhibit certain kind of behavior, then it is called power(Grover, Manville, Abid-Dupont&Hasel, 2015)has defined power as an influence of people on other people and on groups. He said that power is a potential of a leader to influence. As per (Pauliene, 2013), when an actor is able to induce or influence other individuals so that they carry out his directives or the norms he support, then it is called power(Grover, Manville, Abid-Dupont&Hasel, 2015) asserted that when there is a possibility that a person can impose his will on the behavior of others, then that is power.
Many researchers in this field have also scrutinized the term ‘leaders’. (Pauliene, 2013)said that leaders who are effective can enhance their power if they know how to be considerate of their subordinates’ feelings, needs, fair treatment to them, defending the interests of employees by being their representatives. Leader becomes persuasive when he combines all the basis and sources of power and carefully chose them as per situations. The means to enhance potential of humans is leadership (Li, Chiaburu, Kirkman&Xie, 2012). When right environment is provided to people, they develop into leaders who exhibit clear and effective communication. There are three tasks that encompasses leadership(Clarke &Mahadi, 2015), they are- creation of an environment that helps in goal achievement, a leader directs, orients, protects, shapes the norms and manages conflict in the companies, and he also maintains presence and poise. Thus, unity and cohesion for any kind of decision at the company or workplace can be ensured by a leader. So it has become clear for the reader that for becoming an efficient and effective leader, one has to understand the importance of utilizing the power as well as practicing authority. Power is exerted by a leader when he has to achieve the goals of team, people and company. To achieve greater performance, he has to influence the followers and the stakeholders so that vivacity of workplace is maintained. An ethical tone is needed to be developed by effective leaders so that the importance of work cohesion is stressed upon and followers are able to achieve pre-defined goals ethically.
(Haugaard& Clegg, 2012; McClelland & Burnham, 2003) have considered power as a natural procedure in the lifespan of organization. There have been many researches in which it is concluded that leaders exhibit their effectiveness by relying on personal power more than the positional power. When leaders have to interact with the colleagues, then they have to use their positional power and it also determines that how much personal power the leader is using to influence his subordinates. The primary source of leaders for exerting influence on peers and others in the company is both personal as well as positional power of leaders. Followers believe in their leaders and hence the power of leaders increases further. They feel that leaders have with them something which is of great value and helps in fulfilling the goals of organization (Blumenthal, 2001). As per (Pundt, Venz&Greenbaum, 2014), there is a thing that is common in all leaders, that is the vision to achieve ideas at large scale so that people and the company is able to fulfill all the dreams and to enact them, they can utilize their personal power. Thus, all necessary power is used by the leaders to converting this vision into reality. The utilization of this personal power can make leaders carry out things that may be impossible(Li, Chiaburu, Kirkman&Xie, 2012). The leaders have different kinds of personal power (Grover, Manville, Abid-Dupont&Hasel, 2015)that are- the power to overcome the resistance for change, power to channelize the resources towards correct and required direction and power to manage the ambitions so that they don’t move away from the path of leading people. The managers in all kinds of companies, public and private, acquire and utilize the power immensely, to achieve the goals of company. A person needs to understand that what position acquires power in the organization and how and when it is used by the managers. It is the responsibility of leaders that how they will measure effects of their power. The concepts of leadership and power are linked to each other very closely (Pundt, Venz&Greenbaum, 2014). The power instilled in leaders are the way by which they attain the predetermined goals. When people learn about the power operations of the companies, they attain more knowledge about how they can become an effective leader. This again gives the definition of power that it is the ability of a person, whether leader or not who can influence and persuade others efficiently. Large amount of power is on those people who are given a prestigious title in the company like CEO, COO etc. There is a certain kind of formal power which is associated with the title of those people and hence they carry with them the ability to persuade. People in the company can realize their dreams and leaders can motive the followers by leading them effectively, showing them the correct motive and make them work towards their respective motives.
Leadership abilities does not come with the position held by a person, but with the behavior a person exhibits and his nature at the workplace(Li, Chiaburu, Kirkman&Xie, 2012). It is incorrect for the leaders who solely depend on positional power, they should become partners with their peers and subordinates. The relation between a leader and follower is two-way, they should not depend just on the power that they are given, they should also make the followers work towards it(Pauliene, 2013). Leaders depend on followers if they want to get their and the organizational goals accomplished. Leaders should make relations as their priority and they have to identify those people with whom they can establish a relationship. When the leader heals and energizes people while working, then he is regarded as an effective leader. He has the duty to support and serve to the needs of company and intense compassion should drive his passion for leading people(Clarke &Mahadi, 2015). Mere holding a position of leader does not give a person the right to exercise leadership abilities. Now. The power has changed, with the advancements in technology, the power is in the hands of followers too. The organizational culture is changing too and hence the concepts of power and leadership is not synonymous (Pauliene, 2013). When a person exercises the leadership skills, it does not mean that he possess immense positional power. The position and resources of the company defines that who will be the leader and who will exhibit the necessary tasks.
There are various studies that talk about leaders and their roles and responsibilities. It is necessary for companies to recover from scare of botulism and the CEO also needs to follow a cohesive style of working if he wants to revive the company in an effective manner. Effective leadership skills helps to re attracting the consumers too as employees serve them better. This is a problem in many companies and CEO has the responsibility that he takes care of this and eradicate this problem from its root. There are basically five tasks by which leaders deal with the problems of company (Clarke &Mahadi, 2015), they are- the leaders makes sense from the scare of botulism, to deal with the issue, the make right decisions, they also frame and makes the meaning of scare to stakeholders, they strictly work on the terminating the scare and restore the tasks of company to normal routine. Lastly, the leaders steer up the place of work so that they learn from botulism scare. The communication with followers can help the CEO in achieving this. A foundation of trust is established in the company and an innovative mindset can be created for the organization. When the communication between leaders and followers start, the vulnerabilities in the company are identified and can be worked upon timely and effectively. This creates a coordination of people and tasks in the company and increases the probability of rapid and wise decisions of leaders and followers(Burge & Rogers, 2016). The company is encouraged, and courteous actions are taken within a particular time frame. There are some things that affect change like making decisions that are wise and courageous, learning from crisis situations etc. The crisis situations should be managed by the leaders in such a way that the sensationalism of scare gets weaken. CEO has the authority to reflect upon the situations and for steering up the workplaces. The readiness of CEO for crisis situations is the demand of leadership. In this case, the leaders have the responsibility to encourage the culture of proactive crisis, they need to prioritize and set an example for others, and they have to asses a full range of risks properly, then they also have to establish the standards and processes and enforce them properly. Leaders have to promote an open communication in upward direction and they have to build relationships before the crisis(Geer, 2014). They also have the task to encourage an environment of learning and share experiences with people. Finally they have to tackle and deal with the news media too.
When company goes for botulism, it should:
1. Assess the situation- a person can become essential casualty if he is responding without satisfactory data. The people who respond without satisfactory data isa work of art "shoot first and make inquiries a while later". If someone has done a greater part of this then it is matter of crisis communications team which may be less desirable end of rolling of data, the right kind data can be guaranteed and the person can continue with a proper reaction. A step that can be taken ahead of time is principal emergency. It helps in evaluation of emergency circumstances. The response is postponed to in house staff when the person was not arranged ahead of time. The method of making emergency interchanges hurriedly are less effective as those that are arranged and practiced well ahead of time.
2. Finalize and Adaptation of Key Messages- the team of crisis communications have to keep on building the emergency messages for the particular circumstances at the initial stages. Whatever the data is searched, the group is well aware of that. The thinking of partners about the emergency can be known by keeping it close to three primary messages that go to all the partners and some people gather around particular messages for use in the individual gathering of partners.
3. Post-crisis analysis- when the botulism scare disappears from the company, the company needs to analyze that what right steps were taken by it using a formal investigation which should answer both questions, what was done right and what was not. The improvements can be implemented for the next time.
Members of the company have to participate with the executive team effectively if they want to develop a dynamic partnership relation with the leader. Thus there is a symbiotic relation between leader and follower as one cannot exist without other. Whenever there is a crisis situation in the company, nobody takes the responsibility of the happenings. This is the time when followers should speak up. But at the same time, the leaders and organizations have the responsibility that they provide a safe environment to the followers so that they don’t fear in speaking up(Sänger, Müller &Lindenberger, 2013). The CEO of the company has the ultimate responsibility of the people and the company, no matter that how much partnership has between leaders and followers and how the people empowered are. There are followers of CEO too, but even the most important teams fail if they start cribbing about their leader and don’t help him to improve it. A lot of courage and skill is needed to do this which can be built by establishing the relation. There are variety of leadership styles but democratic is mostly used when it comes to establishment of good relations between leaders and followers.
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