Leadership Crises in Higher Education of Pakistan

Abstract
Leaders inspire confidence and builds trust among people to attain objectives. In an organization,
leadership is required at all levels to lead the team members towards organizational development.
However, leadership alone cannot attain anything superior unless the entire team follows the leader
and works together with the leader to achieve the goals.

Introduction
Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and discipline.
Leadership is both a research area and a practical skill encompassing the ability of an individual
or organization to "lead" or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. Specialist
literature debates various viewpoints, contrasting Eastern and Western approaches to leadership,
and also (within the West) United States versus European approaches. U.S. academic
environments define leadership as "a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the
aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task".

Statement of Problems
There can be many reasons for this crisis like outdated curriculum, lack of rewards and
motivation among faculty; professional deficiencies, political influence in leaders’ selection;
political pressure; politics within university; unstandardized recruitment and retention
procedures, corruption, lack of accountability, poor policies, poor management and financial
constraints.

Objectives of Proposal
 To gather a pool of effective academic leader characteristics and compare and contrast
them with corporate leadership.
 Designing an indigenous scale comprising qualities of effective academic leader.
 Establishing psychometric properties of indigenous scale.
 To assess the predictive strength of effective academic leadership in the field of job
satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Research Questions
 How should we study academic leadership crisis in Pakistan?
 What are the reasons for leadership crisis in academia of Pakistan?
 How can we resolve this issue?
 What is the perspective of students and teachers in Pakistan on characteristics of effective
academic leader?
 Hypothesis
 Personal capabilities: decisiveness, self-regulation, commitment.
 Interpersonal capabilities: influencing, empathizing.
 Cognitive abilities: analysis, strategy, being flexible and responsive.
 Competency/skills and knowledge: teaching and learning, university maneuvers, self-
organization skills.

Literature Review
1. Concept and the role of Leadership
Leadership is considered as a widely discussed topic in the literature. Leadership is considered as a
way person uses to lead the other people. Employees play a critical role in ensuring the quality of
service. When employees are clear about their expectations and requirements, they are more likely
to perform better. Although leaders are responsible for the proper task and job allocation, different
leadership styles have several approaches how tasks are being allocated. Leaders are claimed to have
a positive impact on the efficiency of the organization by influencing the team members.
2. Leadership Traits
According to the research by Locke (1991) drive, self-confidence, cognitive ability, honesty, and
integrity are considered to be the most commonly observed traits of successful leaders.
3. The Importance of leadership in Enhancing the Work Performance
Effective teams, or teamwork, may facilitate flexible work arrangements and complex task
accomplishment, as well as act as a source of dynamic capability that ensures long-term
organizational effectiveness (Teece at al. 1997)
4. Compelling Direction
Leaders should be able to energize, motivate and direct towards the way that resembles the success
of the organization. To illustrate this, the goals set by leaders should follow the SMART that stands
for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.
5. Strong Structure
Precisely, it is critical for the leader to establish set of norms that prevent destructive dynamics
within the team such as showing strong counter-argument against the other team member,
interrupting the viewpoint of team members.
6. Supportive Context
Supportive context also involves providing relevant training that would be of critical importance for
developing skills that are essential for the accomplishment of objectives.
7. Shared Mindset
Leadership in organizations considered as a multilevel phenomenon.
8. The Importance of Leadership in Reducing the Role Stressors
The role ambiguity and role conflict are the root causes of most conflicts in the organization. The
study by Smith and Cooper, C. (1994) analyzed the relationship between leadership and stress.
Precisely, the study aimed to identify whether stress has a significant influence on the performance
of the leaders. Particularly, intrinsic factors have been identifying which influence on employee
performance including long working hours, travel, and the requirement for participation in various
meetings.
Theoretical Framework
Methodology of Research
Approach
This research will be conducted by behavioral survey approach
Data Required
This research will require both primary and secondary data
Data Collection

 Secondary data will be from books article reports

 Primary data will be collected by questionnaire
Data Analysis
It involves critical analysis and interpretation of figures and numbers, and attempts to find rationale
behind the emergence of main findings.