ASSIGNMENT FOR THE MODULE

MANG 6200 EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

SUBMITTED BY

xxxxxx

No. of Words: 970

FUTURE OUTLOOK:

The survival of any organization is dependent on how well they work as a team. In the
book The 21st Century Organization by Mary Anne Moorman the author compares the
functioning of an organization to that of a human body, where different body parts work
together for the survival of the human body as a whole. The body of a successful
organism behaves as a "whole system"--the wise body does not put its parts in opposition
or competition with each other (Moorman, 1997).

The corporate world is moving more towards team work. There has been a significant
shift from hierarchical management structures to team work based approach. The need to
implement Time Based Management (TMS) has made it necessary to establish cross-
functional teams in workplace. By using teams, organizations can focus the combined
intellectual abilities of their people--their most important resource--on real-time problem
solving (John Unkles, 2001). I can envisage that in the near future organizations will have
different teams working on multiple projects, with each team having to cooperate with
each other for the success of the organization.

MY KEY LEARNING NEEDS:

A large organization in which there are many diverse departments working together for
the ultimate goal of bringing success to the organization will be an ideal place for me to
work in. This will require me to improve and add many skills in to my portfolio. During
our exercises in Avon Tyrrell my existing skills were put to test, and I realized that I have
to develop and improve on certain skills like effective utilization of resources, evaluating
and monitoring progress, communicating within the team and good leadership skills for
me to be successful in my career.

The field of Supply chain and Human Resource Management are two areas that I would
like to see myself in, upon completing my MBA. In both these fields team work is given
more priority than individual abilities. The person is assessed on his ability to work in a
team that is best suited to the organization. The presence of a very effective team is
important not because of the contribution it makes to the work output, but also because of
the positive impact it has on the organization as a whole.

The ability to communicate precisely is the life line of Supply chain and HR
management. It is also important to understand that in these two fields it is not easy to
create new resources overnight. Therefore continuous evaluation and improvement in
accordance with the ever evolving market without affecting the positive atmosphere in
the team is required. This will require me to develop good team working skills.

1
Being part of a team and contributing to its progress is a unique skill, which one ought to
develop throughout their career. It is something that happens by working together and
helping each other. Team development is partially a byproduct of collaboratively setting
objectives and strategically planning action (Brown, 1996:183).

One cannot turn a blind eye to the stress one experiences in their profession. Team
members handle stress much better when they are valued in the team and feel they are
part of the team. This does not mean that every issue raised by team members should be
agreed upon without any difference of opinion. In fact conflict in a team helps in
strengthening the team when these conflicts are resolved, as there will be increased
confidence in the team’s ability to resolve challenges. To handle such situation I will
require good Human Resource management skills.

Success and failure is part of an organizations life cycle. The progress of any
organization not only depends on how it rewards success, but also on how it addresses
issues of failure. Retraining, coaching, personal support, counseling-out, or transfers are
options to be attempted to improve performance (Brown, 1996:197). The organization
should perceive its different teams as a mixture of people and superiority should lie only
in their official positions.

The various programs like performance improvement, counseling, and developing

additional skills of the employees should receive moral and financial support from the
higher level of management. These employees could very well be the future leaders for
various departments of the organization. Hence it is important that the attribute of a good
leadership is inculcated in them from the frontline level. It is one thing to have a good
team and a totally different thing to have an effective leader.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS:

The importance of a strong leadership cannot be undermined in any organization. In his

book Effective Strategic Leadership the author John Adair mentions as many as
seventeen qualities of a leader, and goes on to say that even after learning all of them one
cannot consider himself to know all about leadership, as there is always something more
to learn from experience. He goes on to say that no one has a sum of all these
contributory qualities, for the ideal leader is a concept not a person (J Adair 2002:64).

One of the most important duties of a leader is to set a clear direction by using their
authority to establish common objectives that stimulate and inspire teams by challenging
the status quo (Stagl, Salas, and Burke, 2007:196). As each team member will contribute
differently to these objectives as a leader it would be my job to gauge and organize them
and provide them with the necessary support from the higher level of management and
sufficient opportunities for development.

2
CONCLUSION:

The future corporate world is definitely going to lay more emphasis on team work and
strategic leadership to deliver satisfactory performance to its customers. Considering the
competitive world we are in, the margin of error in performance is miniscule. Therefore it
is necessary for me to develop good team working and leadership skills to be successful
in my career.

3
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1) The 21st Century Organization: What it will look like, and how to make it happen
(1997) Mary Anne Moorman and Kevin B Kreitman accessed on October, 30, 2009 from
www.well.com/~kbk/AQPPPR.html

2) From Journal of Banking and Financial Services (2002), “Flat Earth or flat
management?” John Unkles, accessed on October, 30, 2009 from
www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-89077031/flat-earth-flat-management.html

3) Brown, John (1996) Chances Favors the Prepared Mind: Leadership, Teamwork and
Mapping Change for Human Resources, London: HMSO

4) Adair J (2002) Effective Strategic Leadership, London: Pan Books

5) Kevin C. Stagl, Edardo Salas, and C. Shawn Burke (2007) The Practice of Leadership:
Developing the next generation of leaders, San Francisco: Jossey-Bas Inc.

6) Margerison J Charles (2002) Team Leadership: A guide to success with Team

Management System, London: THOMSON