Running Head: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 1
Leadership: A Support Communication and Motivation
Pranayi Ghorpade
BUS600: 1129 Management Communications with Technology Tools
Week 6
Dr. Barbara-Leigh Tonelli
January 22, 2012
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 2
Introduction
Leadership plays one of the vital roles in any organization. Emerging successful
organizations are true examples of the strong leadership foundation. The term, leadership has the
management scope and their communications has a tremendous effect on the performance of the
employees. Eventually, this further gets identified as a strong leadership foundation to manage
organization communications effectively. An effective leader is an inspiring person who focuses
strategically (Richmond, 2011), analyze problems and honor customer commitments on time.
Many people believe that leaders are born to be strong and influential. Good leaders are
made, not born. However, anyone can be a strong leader as long as determination, open-
mindedness, and optimism are learned and developed. If you have the desire and willpower, you
can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-
study, education, training, and experience (Jago, 1982). To inspire your workers into higher
levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do. These do not come
naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually
working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are not resting on their laurels.
Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and
directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. This definition is
similar to Northouse's (2007) definition — Leadership is a process whereby an individual
influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.
In most of the organizations, the influence of managers is most clearly seen in the leader
role. Formal authority vests them with a great potential power. Leadership determines, in large
part, how much power they will realize (O’Rourke, 2010, p4). Although your position as a
manager, supervisor, lead, etc. gives you the authority to accomplish certain tasks and objectives
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 3
in the organization, this power does not make you a leader, it simply makes you the boss. Being
a boss is not the same as being a leader. Bosses inherit subordinates. Leaders earn followers. The
positive news is that people want to be led. They look for someone who inspires them and who
believes in who they are and what they do. Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want
to achieve high goals, rather than simply bossing people around. A person who is willing to work
hard to accomplish her goals in the face of challenges would, indeed, make a great leader. In his
book, “Cases in Leadership”, Rowe (2007) highlights this concept of assigned leadership by ones
position and then displaying emergent leadership by influencing people to do great things.
Problem Statement and Application
The success of any project is completely tied up with the leadership decisions. A project
cannot be initiated unless the senior management agrees to the business need of the new project,
product or, the service. The success criteria are verified, and the influence and objectives of the
project stakeholders are reviewed. Mostly clear descriptions of the project objectives are
documented including the reasons why a specific project is the best alternative to satisfy the
business need. This documentation is thoroughly reviewed by the senior leadership and then a
decision is made as to whether the project should be continued, delayed or discontinued. Only
when the leadership is satisfied, the budget is approved and the contract is signed. I have been
managing project management activities from past 6 years now, I discovered that no matter you
keep striving hard to meet your project deadlines, you really need to have Leadership support to
meet client expectations and stay ahead of schedule. I have observed a strong connection
between the project delivery and the leadership communication. It’s a driving factor that helps
you take decisions and deliver successful projects.
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 4
Working as a Project Manager, I noticed a considerable difference between a manager
and a leader. Leaders do not do everyone’s work; in fact they delegate and empower others to do
their work. If you are like many leaders, you became a leader because you are good at getting
things done. You are probably willing to work hard for long hours in the interest of making
things happen. Now, your focus has to shift to getting things done through and with other people
rather than doing it yourself. This change in focus is a common struggle and a point of frustration
for many new leaders. Since you already know how to get things done on your own, you might
get frustrated with people who do not get things done as quickly or to the same quality that you
could do them. You might feel the pressure to take over a task so that you can ‘just get it done’.
Rather than coach someone else on how to do it properly. Maybe you hold onto tasks that you
enjoy doing rather than giving them to someone else. Or, you might feel stressed by the constant
interactions, communications, and work necessary to get things done through others. You might
simply feel better when you do it yourself. In such cases, resist the urge to hold onto tasks or to
take them away from the people on your team. Instead, focus on developing your skills at
connecting with, inspiring, and coaching others. Because we recognize this part of the transition,
it can be difficult for many people. An effective leader creates a sense of shared ownership.
When you see a leader as part of the team, you feel being identified and team feels supported in
their communications due to the leadership support (Eikenberry, 2011).
According to the recent survey findings done by Weisman Success Resources (2011), the
performance of a strong leader depends on their effective communications with their teams and
70 percent leaders reported their success is directly linked with their employee’s productivity and
on time project delivery. On the other hand, 50 percent of those unsuccessful leaders also found
the effective team communication within an organization is a key factor.
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 5
Leadership - Problem Solving Model
Performing leadership role is not an easy task and most of the leaders keep struggling to
work on increasing their employee performances. To meet this challenge, everyday there are
several meetings held and managers, leaders, operation heads are engaged in variety of
discussions around this topic to boost employee moral towards work and contribute to their
success in the organization. An effective leader may not need this at all. Effective leadership
always has a strong vision to be successful and deliver differently without compromising on
quality with end to end accurate communications. Susan M. Heathfield (2011), a human resource
guide, in her article, “Leadership Success Secrets,” commented that leaders demoralize their
employees when they do not communicate well and do not know what and why are they doing.
In my company, each quarter, an employee gathering is addressed by senior leadership. There is
global communication sent out for such conference meeting. An executive leader addresses the
employee conference for an hour. He ensures and instills the company’s vision in the employees
such a way that the each employee’s conscious mind thinks that their performance is linked with
the organization growth. Such a leadership communication always permeates the workplace,
develops trust and you become open, collaborative, demand excellence and deliver on
commitments for the organization growth.
Motivation is another key driver for demanding excellence from the employees. When a
team leader or a project manager does not have answers to the problems, situations and conflict
issues within a team, a leadership encouragement has a halo effect. The example that comes from
a strong and focused leadership discussion drive has a positive effect on the motivation of the
employees and builds trust between the team and management (O’Rourke, 2010). While
managing a team competently is an important part of leadership, a good leader must also pay
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 6
attention to the individuals within the team. Andolsen (2008), in his paper, “The Ingredients of a
Good Leader”, emphasized leadership motivation is utmost important to keep the team up to
speed, ensuring committed deliverables are met and acknowledge both progress and problems
judiciously without obstructing the team’s effort. True inspiring leaders always develop enough
motivation necessary to assist their team and organization through the difficult challenges.
According to US Fed News Service, Gen Lorenz (2010) clearly stated, “people don't quit
their jobs; they quit their bosses” and ineffective leadership in the organization. A leader must
approach a challenge with an eye toward crafting a solution to meet their organizational needs. A
leader must look at each challenge, develop a plan and push for success. As part of their plan,
leaders must develop the motivation necessary to assist their organizations through the
challenges. After all, a motivated work force can bring a change. I completely agree with the
author’s statement. People are motivated if they feel they are valued in the organization and this
value is demonstrated by the rewards given to them. Most of the employees are motivated by an
opportunity to grow, accomplish, and apply their professional skills to meet new challenges.
Public recognition of good performance always creates positive reinforcement (PMBOK Guide,
2008). As a manager, a good strategy for me will be to give the team all possible recognition
during the tenure of the project rather than after its completion.
Leadership Research on Potential Solutions
What makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by those they
respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, they must be ethical. A sense of
direction is achieved by conveying a strong vision of the future. When a person is deciding if he
respects you as a leader, he does not think about your attributes, rather, he observes what you do
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 7
so that he can know who you really are. He uses this observation to tell if you are an honorable
and trusted leader or a self-serving person who misuses authority to look good and get promoted.
Self-serving leaders are not as effective because their employees only obey them, not follow
them. They succeed in many areas because they present a good image to their seniors at the
expense of their workers. If you are a leader who can be trusted, then those around you will grow
to respect you. To be such a leader, there is a leadership framework solution “Be-Know-Do” to
guide you to come to possible leadership solution.
Be – a professional who possess good character traits, loyal to organization, takes
responsibility and performs selfless service
Know – yourself, your job, your organization, other people human nature, needs and
emotions and the leadership styles for trusted work culture
Do – implement, supervise, evaluate, motivate, train, coach, and provide direction in
terms of goal setting, problem solving, planning and decision making.
As per United States Military Army (1983), the above leadership framework solution has
been working for them past many years now. Likewise, this concept is modernized with mere
change in wordings to meet the global strategy of growing business organizations. Due to the
recent developments in the technology of the Internet, the World Wide Web has been made one
the most important means of potential communication solution for organizational leaders.
The 21st century is known for the advances in technology that we are able to enjoy today.
Business Leaders has also taken advantage of what the communication technology can offer by
utilizing every means possible to connect with people across the globe. This makes all means of
communicating around the world in the 21st century the most innovative in the history of
business. Leaders can address their employees at a given time across the world offices for their
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 8
business solutions, organization updates and ensure they keep their workforce aligned with
organization vision. The way the companies are expanding their global presence through
acquisitions and mergers, there is sheer need to be a multicultural leadership to keep their
presence known in the global business environment. Often, such leaders are utilized to
communicate potential solutions to their intercultural workforce to meet corporate strategic
needs. Daniel Yankelovich (1999) in his article, Magic of Dialogue – Executive Excellence
stresses the importance of cross cultural leadership communication being only solution to build
honest tie-ups with people from different cultures.
Research have shown that the solutions coming from the leadership in any organization is
all about relationship building, instead of handling business issues concerning strategies, visions
and plans (Mercado, 2002). Leadership cannot exist in the absence of dialogue with their teams
who agree to be led. Sponsoring ongoing dialogue that invites dissent and disagreement requires
skillful confrontation from a leader (O’Rourke, 2010). When leaders manage communication
effectively, their solutions are accepted by the employees, their work relationships get stronger,
well informed, and purposeful. Trust levels are higher when both leaders and their teams follow
the proven solution in the given organization. This way, they are more engaged and in sync with
organization goals and promote ethical work environment.
Leadership Results – Decision on a Solution
When a problem or situation for decision making solution occurs within an organization,
there are typically several alternative social mechanisms available for determining what solution
is chosen or decision reached. These alternatives vary in the person or persons participating in
the problem-solving and decision-making process, and in the relative amounts of influence that
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 9
each has on the final solution or decision reached. Quite literally, organizations operate by
people making decisions (O’Rourke, 2010). A manager plans, organizes, staffs, leads, and
controls her team by executing decisions. The effectiveness and quality of those decisions
determine how successful a manager will be. Managers are constantly called upon to make
decisions in order to solve problems. Decision making and problem solving are ongoing
processes of evaluating situations or problems, considering alternatives, making choices, and
following them up with the necessary actions. Sometimes the decision-making process is
extremely short, and in other situations, the process can drag on for weeks or even months. The
entire decision-making process is dependent upon the right information being available to the
right people at the right times.
The decision-making process begins when a leader identifies the real problem. One way
that a leader can help determines the true problem in a situation is by identifying the problem
separately from its symptoms. A successful leader does not just attack symptoms; he works to
uncover the factors that cause these symptoms. All leaders want to make the best decisions.
Realistically, leaders or managers operate in an environment that normally doesn't provide ideal
resources. For example, they may lack the proper budget or may not have the most accurate
information or any extra time. So, they must choose the best decision making solution possible
with the information, resources, and time available.
Time pressures frequently cause a manager to move forward after considering only the
first or most obvious answers. However, successful problem solving requires thorough
examination of the challenge, and a quick answer may not result in a permanent solution.
Effective leaders must be able to approach difficult decisions or situations with the entire
continuum at their disposal (Lorenz, 2010). Thus, a manager should think through and
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 10
investigate several alternative solutions to a single problem before making a quick decision. Few
of the best known methods for developing alternatives are through brainstorming, nominal group
technique, and Delphi technique (PMBOK Guide, 2008). Managers must identify the advantages
and disadvantages of each alternative solution before making a final decision. The result of final
decision making answer depends on several factors, such as the nature of the task, the abilities of
the group members, and the form of interaction.
Managers are paid to make decisions, but they are also paid to get results from these
decisions. Positive results must follow decisions. Everyone involved with the decision must
know his or her role in ensuring a successful outcome. To make certain that employees
understand their roles, managers must thoughtfully devise programs, procedures, rules, or
policies to help aid them in the problem-solving process. In an interview taken by Pooja Biraia
(2010) for the topic, “Qualities of India’s Successful People”, Chanda Kochor, Managing
Director and CEO, ICICI Bank highlights leadership and confidence as her recipe for the success
at work. In her own words, she says, “If there is a challenge, your shoulder ought to become
broader and your back becomes straighter. Confidence is important. Two, you have to be the
sponge that absorbs stress. Else, it passes down to the team and they cannot function efficiently.”
Leadership Implementation Strategy
Getting the workforce to listen to what you say, read what you write, or look at what you
show them isn’t easy (O’Rourke, 2010). How, then, one can persuade the workforce to pay
attention to your message and cooperating with you is in their best interest? The answer here is
to implement a corporate strategy. Implementing corporate strategy requires a team effort headed
by your organization's leadership team. Each person involved in change management has their
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 11
responsibilities, and it is important for the entire organization to understand the role of leadership
in strategic implementation to make delegating responsibility more effective.
Strategic leadership plays an important role in strategy implementation. Strategic
leadership is the process of transforming the organization into a successful entity. Strategic
leadership inspires and motivates people in the organization to work together to accomplish
organizational objectives. Strategic implementation of any kind of new company policy or
program requires participation from all of the departments that will be affected. Management
needs to create a structure that identifies various group leaders, the responsibilities of those
group leaders and an accountability system that insures that the implementation team meets its
timetable for getting the new program or policy in place.
Implementing change or any new strategy within a company requires a feeling of urgency
on the part of the entire company. It is the job of management to create that urgency by
explaining to the staff why the implementation is necessary. Leadership needs to help the
employees understand how the company benefits from the new implementation, but it also needs
to get the organization to see the setbacks of not making a change. One of the most important
corporate communications strategies that you should get a full grasp of involves maintaining
business operations and concepts to their simplest levels, as far as communicating them to the
members of your team is involved. Given that the members of your staff has very different ways
of learning the different concepts thrown their way, you should be able to explain relevant
concepts so that the least experienced member of the group can understand it. Just make sure that
you do not simplify these concepts in such a way that you would be leaving the important
aspects out of the equation (O’Rourke, 2010).
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 12
Organizations often implement or does their corporate strategy change in phases. The
company leadership needs to be able to identify when each phase of a strategic implementation is
complete and be ready to transition the company to the next phase. For example, if the company
is bringing in a new software program for customer management, then the first phase of the
program may be to implement it in the sales department. Management needs to identify when the
proper alterations to the software have been made that will allow it to be implemented in other
parts of the company. A strategic leader knows when to take calculated risks and excels in
decision making. Being able to adapt to marketplace changes and take advantage of new
opportunities as they present themselves is an earmark of being a strategic leader. Strategic
implementation is critical to a company’s success, addressing who, where, when, and how of
reaching the desired goals and objectives. It focuses on the entire organization. Implementation
occurs after environmental scans, thorough analysis, and identifying strategic issues and goals.
Implementation involves assigning individuals to tasks and timelines that will help an
organization reach its goals.
Leadership Success Measurement Techniques
Leadership is the critical factor in the success of any organization. A key question facing
organizations today though is how do you measure and assess leadership potential and skills?
How do you know if a person is a leader? More specifically, can this leader/manager deliver the
goals of the organization? If employees and customers are happy, those are signs that the
company’s leadership is communicating the vision and the values correctly and is rewarding
them appropriately. Leadership capital is not recorded on the balance sheet. Neither is it
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 13
calculated in any other financial performance measurement. The most critical assets of today’s
organizations are in the minds and imaginations of its people.
Managers measure success in terms of goals met, projects managed, dollars saved and
made, and people organized. Many managers use leadership of one type or another to accomplish
all of these things (Kathleen, 2009). Usually the cycle of information and resource management
continues to be compressed from year to quarter to week to hour to minute in all organizations.
As managers, it becomes tempting to quickly make the decisions and allocate resources quickly
and effectively.
Future growing organizations are now demanding a team of senior executives –
knowledgeable about both individual processes and overall corporate goals. Now, in the 21st
century, the challenge facing companies is how to create these strong executive teams – and
ensure that they operate to the maximum benefit of the organization. Today, organizations have
realized that they need to develop their capacity to exercise leadership. Successful organizations
don’t wait for leadership to come along. They actively seek out people with leadership potential
and expose them to career experiences designed to develop potential. It is built out of the
investments made in building people’s capacity to lead, investments in people’s lives.
Apparently this does not mean, mere providing leadership training to identified potential, but
organizations should facilitate this with careful selection, nurturing and encouragement so that
dozens of people can play important leadership roles in a business organization.
If we really need to measure success criteria for ethical and successful leadership, then
organizations need to decide on the leadership style and behaviors which will equal success in
their particular field. Leaders need to suit the complexity of the businesses they run as well as
being able to adapt to constant flux and change. Bill Gates, for example, is able to assimilate
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 14
huge amounts of complex and often contradictory data and change direction. Mr. Gates was a
relatively late convert to the internet, but his personal belief and mission transformed Microsoft
to meet the challenge. The most appropriate leadership style will be dependent on the nature of
the business as well as its mission and vision. Successful organizations are those who firstly
identify where they are, then measure their current range of skills sets and finally identify the
profile and traits of the most suitable leaders to achieve the dream. Leadership today is all about
transformation, inspiration and having the will to succeed. Success stems from the selection,
measurement and development of the right people to make the dream happen in the organization.
Alan Chapman (2006) introduced modern model for management and leadership in the
21st century. It's an interpretation of the 'personality' of good ethical modern management and
effective leadership. As such it's not a process or technique - it's an attempt to characterize and
measure good modern ethical management and successful leadership. Named as P4 (Purpose,
People, Planet, Probity) model, which are the four cornerstones of sustainable success in any
modern business venture, and a maxim for today's management and organizational philosophy.
According to his model, “The aim of all good modern organizations is to reconcile the
organizational purpose (whether this be profit for shareholders, or cost-effective services
delivery, in the case of public services) with the needs and feelings of people (staff, customers,
suppliers, local communities, stakeholders, etc) with proper consideration for the planet - the
world we live in (in terms of sustainability, environment, wildlife, natural resources, our
heritage, 'fair trade', other cultures and societies, etc) and at all times acting with probity –
encompassing love, integrity, compassion, honesty, and truth. Probity enables the other
potentially conflicting aims to be harmonized so that the mix is sustainable, ethical and
successful”.
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 15
Conclusion
In conclusion, I understand wearing a leadership hat is not a ball game at all. Each week,
you should spare some time with your team, recognizing them and understanding your team
expectations from you. Leadership does not come by birth. It comes through several years of
experience, self determination and dedication. I would argue that it is not enough to hope that
organizations send their identified employees to leadership training once a year. In order to
develop leaders a deliberate approach is needed, becoming a leader is not magic. It is important,
leaders should be able to motivate the workforce and this can be done simple as using the right
words and tone when a leader addresses them. The strong decision making challenge is simply to
study the alternatives and choose the best solution for implementing leadership strategy. As long
as you strike the right balance between being friendly and being professional in your corporate
communications, you should be able to use your relationship with the team members of your
business to boost your over-all productivity and efficiency.
Another important aspect of leadership is to propagate organization’s vision within their
employee strength. Where there is no vision, people lose trust and do not perform at their best.
A clear vision describes the organizations future desired state. Take for instance, Microsoft's
vision of "A personal computer in every home running Microsoft software”. This simple vision,
yet very powerful phrase can be used throughout the organization hallways, internal web pages,
conference rooms to remind everyone of the vision. In a nutshell, one who works hard to fulfill
his goals in this competitive world of challenges would, indeed, make an effective leadership
impression on his team and of course, become a true leader in his professional career.
Pranayi GhorpadeWeek 6 Assignment: Leadership – A Support Communication and Motivation 16
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