Thesis on "Leadership Its Importance for Today's Organization"
Thesis 5 pages (1418 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA
[EXCERPT] . . . .
LeadershipEdwin Locke's The Essence of Leadership: Four Keys to Leading Successfully was published in 1999. Locke is famous for his work on motivation, and applies that work to his treatise on leadership. The Essence of Leadership covers a range of ground including the nature of leadership, leadership traits, the knowledge, skills and abilities that leaders need, and vision. Vision is given the most time in the book, as Locke views vision as being one of the defining traits of a leader.
To Locke, leaders are those who are in charge. They are the actors within the organization who induce others to take action. Leaders not only have vision, but they are able to motivate subordinates, and without the use of force. The true leader can choose between several motivational techniques. These include convincing subordinates that a vision is important and attainable; challenging subordinates and rewarding subordinates. Leaders who rely of fear, coercion and force are dictators rather than leaders. Dictators, Locke argues, will ultimately fail because humans will not act against their self-interest in the long-term, which is precisely what the dictator asks them to do.
Locke also differentiates leadership and management. He explains it simple: "the key function of a leader is to establish the basic vision…the key function of the manager is to implement the vision." It is understood that there is no clear line of demarcation between leading and managing, however. In general, the degree of leadership and the degree of management are dictated by the manager/leader's level within the organization. At higher levels, leadership needs to be more important. At lowe
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Locke presents a leadership model that further defines leadership roles from non-leadership roles. The four keys to leadership, he argues, are leadership motives and traits; knowledge, skills and ability; having vision; and implementing vision.
Among the key leadership motives and traits, Locke posits that effective leaders are full of drive; are proactive and tenacious; want to lead; are honest and have integrity; have a high degree of self-confidence; are creative; are strategically flexible; and can be charismatic. Among the knowledge, skills and abilities associated with effective leadership are knowledge of the industry; a variety of skills, especially people skills; and a high level of cognitive ability.
The last vital component to leadership is vision. A leader's primary role with respect to vision is to formulate that vision. The leader defines what the organization should strive to be. The leader is able to articulate that vision succinctly and can formulate strategy that determines how the vision will be achieved. The leader must then be able to promote commitment to that vision throughout the organization and even with external stakeholders. The leader, once a vision has been defined and articulated, but then bear responsibility for the implementation of that vision. At this stage, leadership takes on managerial task aspects. These include structuring the company and the selection, training and acculturation of personnel.
Locke outlines some of the background with respective to the study of leadership traits. This issue has proven contentious because studies have at times shown no correlation between leader traits and leader effectiveness. This is false, Locke argues, because it is the interrelatedness of traits that drives leadership effectiveness. This theory underlies much of Locke's four keys thesis -- leaders are born of the combination of the four keys rather than an individual key, much less an individual trait.
Drive is the first key motive, but this encompasses a range of traits -- tenacity, achievement and energy among them. These traits give leaders the tools they need to perform the leadership role, including long-term time orientation, the energy needed to marshal resources and the desire to enact the change in the first place.
The core traits of honesty and integrity are vital to leadership because the leader must instill confidence in the followers. This can only be done through honesty -- the followers need to know that if they are willing to make short-term sacrifices, this will result in long-term gains. That is simply not the case, Locke, argues, when the… READ MORE
Quoted Instructions for "Leadership Its Importance for Today's Organization" Assignment:
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Research Report: During the past several decades, there have been a large number of books and articles written about leaders and leadership that have appeared in the popular press and on the shelves at your local bookstore. I believe that lessons can be learned from the anecdotal comments coming from these popular *****s, the men and women leaders of today*****s organizations and those who have chosen to observe and write about them. Your assignment *****” By the end of the seventh week, you are expected to have read one of the popular books (see the following bibliography) or several related leadership articles and to have prepared a 5- to 7-page summary (APA format). If you choose a book, you do not need to read it the same way you read a textbook. A book can be read quickly and lightly. You can extract the essence from works of this nature without reading each word and line with *****pain-staking detail.***** You may find the essence of the author*****s work in the first chapter, sometimes it appears in the last chapter, sometimes it is spread throughout the book. I am asking that you provide a *****summary***** of the author*****s work*****”what is the author*****s major theme? What are the key ideas being presented? Your work is to be a summary and not a personal critique of the book or series of articles.
Bibliography
Adair, Effective Leadership
Autry, Love and Profit: The Art of Caring Leadership
Badaracco and Ellsworth, Leadership and the Quest
Bass and Avolio, Improving Organizational Effectiveness through Transformational Ownership
Bass, Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations
Bellingham and Cohen, Leadership: Myths and Realities
Bennis and Nanus, Leaders
Bennis, Leaders on Leadership
Bennis, On Becoming a Leader
Bennis, Why Leaders Can*****t Lead
Block, Stewardship
Block, The Empowered Manager
Bracey, Managing from the Heart
Bryman, Charisma and Leadership in Organizations
Burns, Leadership
Byham and Cox, Zapp: The Lightning of Empowerment
Chaleff, The Courageous Follower
Cheaney and Cotter, Real People, Real Work: Parables on Leadership in the 90s
Clark and Clark, Measures of Leadership
Clark, Clark, and Campbell, Impact of Leadership
Cohen and Bradford, Influence without Authority
Cohen, The Art of the Leader
Collins, Women Leading
Conger, Charismatic Leadership
Conger, Learning to Lead
Covey, Principle-Centered Leadership
Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Cribbin, Leadership: Strategies of Organizational Effectiveness
Crosby, Mung, The Art of Becoming an Executive
Daft and Lengel, Fusion Leadership
Daft and Lengel, The Fourth Cell: Leadership Excellence
DePree, Leading Without Power
DePree, Leadership Is an Art
DePree, Leadership Jazz
Fiedler and Garcia, New Approaches to Effective Leadership for Integrity
Gardner, On Leadership
Gilmore, Making a Leadership Change
Gitlow, Being the Boss: The Importance of Leadership and Power
Glasser, The Control Theory Manager
Greenleaf, Servant Leadership
Haas, The Leader Within
Heider, The Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu*****s Tao Te Ching in Action
Herman, The Tao of Work: On Leading and Following
Joiner, Leadership for Change
Kelley, The Power of Followership
Kets de Vries, Prisoners of Leadership
Koestenbaum, Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness
Kotter, Leading Change
Kotter, The Leadership Factor
Kouzes and Posner, Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It; Why People Demand It
Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge
Leavitt, Corporate Pathfinders
Lee, The Power Principle
Levinson and Rosenthal, CEO: Corporate Leadership
Locke, The Essence of Leadership
Loden, Feminine Ownership
Luecke, Scuttle Your Ships Before Advancing: Lessons from History on Leadership and Change for Today*****s Managers
Maccoby, The Leader
Manz, The Leadership Wisdom of Jesus
Manz and Sims, Super Leadership
Marcinko, Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior
McLean and Weitzel, Magic, Myth, or Method?
Morrison, The New Leaders
Nanus, The Leader*****s Edge
Nanus, Visionary Leadership
Pfeffer, Managing with Power
Phillips, Lincoln on Leadership
Portnoy, Leadership: What Every Leader Should Know about People
Rehfield, The Alchemy of a Leader
Robert, The Essence of Leadership: Strategy, Innovation, and Decisiveness
Roberts, Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun
Sayles, The Working Leader
Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership
Schwartzkopf, It Doesn*****t Take a Hero
Shelton, Beyond Counterfeit Leadership
Sims and Lorenzi, The New Leadership Paradigm
Snyder and Graves, Vision, Values, and Courage: Leadership for Quality Management
Spears, Reflections on Leadership
Tichy and Cohen, The Leadership Engine
Tichy and Devanna, The Transformational Leader
Vaill, Management as a Performing Art
Vaill, Spirited Leading and Learning
Vroom and Jago, The New Leadership
Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science
Zaleznik, The Managerial Mystique
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