Category: Leadership Development

Research suggest that educators implement techniques like coaching and mentoring to help their students achieve higher levels of efficacy, which link with superior academic performance (Jain, Chaudhary, & Jain, 2016). Moreover, Dimotakis, Mitchell, and Maurer (2017) argued that assessment and feedback are important for the development of self-efficacy, but cautioned that assessment centers often require investing resources that may be hard to find. It is the job of educational leaders to ensure these types of activities take place, but it is important that these processes are well-guided and grounded on relevant theoretical models.

Unfortunately, when heads of educational organizations are not knowledgeable enough for the task at hand, they might end up relying on their roles as administrators, favoring bureaucratic processes instead of finding ways to motivate others to promote needed changes (Delgado & Loya, 2016). This tends to lead to decreased job satisfaction on the part of faculty and staff, which hurts the chances of creating a favorable environment for accountability and change (Mehrad & Fallahi, 2014). Thus, educational leaders need to be able to articulate their vision to enhance the leadership competencies of their students through the application of theory and the commitment of mindful faculty and staff.

The purpose of this study is to help educational leaders in charge of management and educational leadership programs identify a framework for developing leadership competencies in their students through appropriate assessment, which could lead to data-driven changes in the curriculum and teaching approach. This implies that educational leaders become familiar with a theoretical approach that fits the needs of modern day organizations, and is consistent with the idea that leadership can be taught. Therefore, this study has two specific contributions. First, it serves as an argument for educational leaders to embrace transformational leadership (TL) as a guide for their work with faculty and staff. Second, it provides an example of how one TL model, Kouzes and Posner’s (2012) Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, may be implemented as part of an assessment process.

This type of research is not without precedent. Olivares Olivares, Garza Cruz, López Cabrera, and Suárez Regalado (2016) developed their own leadership assessment with 52 academic leaders in Medical Schools from different parts of Mexico. Their justification for conducting the study was the notion that educational organizations need good leaders to promote a culture of quality designed to serve their students. This assumption guides the present study as well. One key difference between the studies is that educational leaders are not the subjects of this research, the students are. In this case, the educational leaders are the audience for the study.

Those in charge in developing future leaders through formal education need to develop their own leadership skills. Previous research shows that leadership style in educational institutions correlates with job satisfaction on the part of faculty and staff (Chiang Vega, Gómez Fuentealba, & Salazar Botello, 2014). As is the case with leaders in different types of organizations, educational leaders should develop their management and decision-making skills to improve performance (Bowers, 2017). Successful leaders in educational organizations are capable of managing external pressures while securing support from internal followers (Cencič & Erčulj, 2014). This allows them to pursue important goals like transparency, efficiency, and equity (Sánchez, 2008), and implement processes that lead to overall educational quality (Fernández Mayo & Méndez Ramírez, 2017). These outcomes then permeate to students, who can then go out into the world and replicate what they have learned from their teachers.

The problem is that leadership development through formal training is seldom measured effectively, and more research is needed to properly validate leadership measures used in educational contexts (Zula, Yarrish, & Christensen, 2010). This would allow leadership development faculty and staff to critically assess their work, and make appropriate adjustments as they move forward. Moreover, it is hard to imagine one standardized measure of leadership that fits the different educational contexts in which leadership development strategies are needed. Therefore, choices need to be made regarding the theoretical approach and the role of cultural effects. Ideally, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to learn alternative measures of leaders that they can try in their classes, and have the liberty to conduct assessment and improvement through trial and error.

Morris and Laipple (2015) noted that leadership training has proven significant in helping educational management students feel better prepared to perform well in administrative duties and deliver superior results with their colleagues and followers. However, it is still unclear what type of leadership training is appropriate for any given group of management students, and how theoretical models apply to the contexts in which such learners operate. Since the range of contexts is wide and the literature on the subject is limited, there is a need to expand on the current approaches available today to measure leader behavior and performance (Ewest, 2015). Again, access to resources and freedom may go a long way as faculty and staff engage in leader development.

It is desirable for educational leaders to engage in learning exercises aimed at increasing their knowledge of leadership theory as it applies to educational contexts. Additionally, these leaders should carefully select one leadership model to conduct outcomes-based assessment, and teaching approaches that facilitate the development of specific leadership competencies. Unfortunately, leadership development in academic programs designed for individuals working in educational institutions has been neglected, and there is little research to support those in charge of managing educational programs to address the issue (Quin, Deris, Bischoff, & Johnson, 2015).

To help narrow the research gap, McCollum and Kajs (2007) validated the 2×2 achievement goal framework to use it as a measure for future research on educational leadership research. Their study helped address issues on educational leadership development among graduate students, at least in terms of goal-orientation. Moreover, Herbst, and Conradie (2011) used Kouzes and Posner’s model to identify the need for greater feedback mechanisms on the performance of educational leaders in South Africa. These efforts are worthy of follow-ups in different contexts, thus the present research.

After studyinng on leadership course, I really understood in the power of self- reflection and purpose statements but the time and energy are needed to put into creating a leadership purpose statement which would be very daunting task when I started to form the powerful statement. I was confident in my ability to come up with a statement, and that I would have the courage to follow through with it.The most significant thing in a true leadership purpose statement is authenticity as clarity and genuine.

Firstly, I would like to talk about my first department head, Khun Chaiporn during my undergraduate days. I could get the job opportunity to obtain the firsthand experience of premium guest-care services in hospitability industry. He was good in his management skill but he remained his power and control over his way, as he believed on philosophy of ‘my way or no way’ and his staff felt scare to meet with him because of lack of understanding on his employee’s mistake. The leader became the king in his department. When the leader left the company, it is difficult to be productive as a team and it hinders employee morale.

After getting this experience, I made the firmly decision that all employee must be happy in the working place with taking responsibility instead of the scary enviroment because my passion is not holding the power to make Who I am.

In my previous supervisory role in a section, I got praise and resistance on my directive leadership style which characterized by a leader who tells subordinate what they are expected to do and how to perform the expected tasks. It didn’t matter the staff who loved to work with their job outlined and detail but the staff felt panic on my leadership. With a directive leadership style can come across as being unapproachable and unforgiving, my leadership style which can be controversial depending on how the subordinates perceive their directives.

Thinking the leader, i cherish the telling of people in my nature that I am so serious and controlling nature. After finding myself, I like things to be systematically and its routine which mean I am so detail-oriented and remain somewhat perfectionistic base on a professional standpoint.

Secondly, let me introduced my first general manager, Mr. Jean-Marc when I became the department head. He was good in driving revenue against innovative ideas among the competitive markets but he didn’t care about the organization’s policy and procedure, he was emotional person and he was hardly to control his emotion. He is more interested in the staff to like him by practicing favoritism than the performance of the staff in the workplace.

I have been learnt from my boss how to be a good leader without favoritism in the workplace because the favoritism make no chance to build a culture of trust in long run. Integrity is the most important quality of a leader. The leader who emphasizes positive behaviors in human relations may be associated with decreased organizational productivity as well.

My achievements were associated with extreme challenges which made me energize to become a matual person. The unexpected experiences tasted bitter through my journey of personal life and career life however I overcame the situations at my own acceptance and adjustment. I identified five principles which attribute to all my successes throught my life such as hard work, diligence, patient, determination, dedication and avoiding the conflict.

Most of my performance was found as the diplomat and it has some positive and some negative in my self-reflection. The positive self-reflections are good to grow in my leadership role such as a good team player, loyal to their groups and organizations, content with being at the Diplomat stage as the positive qualities are so self-evidently worthwhile, provide group cohesion by creating a sense of shared community.

The uneffecient self-reflections are needed to replace with good practices. For examples, no voice diagreement to senior management’s advice whether it is ethnic or not in order to avoid conflict and overly polite and friendly and find it virtually impossible to give challenging feedback to other.

I have noticed myslef to be necesary to improve in dealing professtionally with conflict, handling people’s instinctive resistance to change in order to highly effectiveness change agents. I realized that I know myself well enough to know where my strengths and weaknesses lie in my current position.

I have been wrestling with understanding my purpose and ended up creaion a process is called my life Alignment. Fristly, I identifed my values then my purpose and goals. I am fully responsiblity to be the accomplishment of my goals to transform my purpose into reality. My goals are my opportunity to bring the concept of life. The organization’s value, vision and mission should be associated with my personal goals after setting up my values and visions. The organization provide the resources and team members to make the complection of my goals.

Restrospect, I was a Front Office manager in a pre-opening hotel to serve exculsive guests when the hotel was opening. My job was organizing pre-opening team to be trained with brand guide line and full resposibility in customer’s satisfaction. The managemnt controlled head count within 1st year and it was pretty hard to run the front office’s operation. The team members were positively motivate to run in oder to success the hotel’s reputation. Pleaseing didn’t good enought in the journey of the leadership however I discussed with all team members in order to aline within the team and clarify about JD according to their roles and resposibility. I have been ready to avail for any questions on my tasks because everne have clarity expectation in order to avoid misleading. we successfully opened with customer’s satisfaction within 1st year. I was passionate about the execution of this project and felt a sense of fulfillment once it was complete. On top of that, the team received a company achievement award and I had a great challenge to be the Front Office Manager in my career in start up stage.

The insightful Leadership purpose is “the water par excellence from a waterfall flows focefully from a far, erodes the rocks getting in its way and makes its own way and it cascades”.

Leadership development is emerged as theoretical and experienced stream of management. The reflective thinking is essential component in the process of leadership development because of maximization individual potential by allowing followers to involve the significance of their experiences from a leadership perspective.

The leader finds a balance between production oriented and human oriented behavior types and emphasizes both the goals and feelings of the followers and leaders to conceptualize their leadership behaviors and raise their awareness by finding a middle ground (blake and Mouton (1964).

With the result of leadership’s questionaire, I have a planner behaviour in leadership journey and I found myself lack in strategic thinking and actions because I am detail-oriented and make things organized with work schedule. That’s why, I overlook more creative options eventhough I was willing to create innovative suggestions for team members.

Reflecting on my skills, I believe I have a good technical skill especially one business unit, social skill , communication and language skills. These skills are essential in any customer-facing or team work oriented job. The importance of social skills, personality characteristics and teamwork knowledge.

Social skills are particularly important in team settings because working in teams increases the interdependence among workers, typically producing greater conflict, workload sharing, and coordination demands than work that is performed independently.

“Despite the multitude of ways in which leadership has been conceptualized, the following components can be identified as central to the phenomenon: (a) Leadership is a process, (b) leadership involves influence, (c) leadership occurs in groups, and (d) leadership involves common goals (Northouse, 2016). Based on this, the text defines leadership as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2016).”

I have practiced with shared, collective and extended leadership which built the capacity for team improvement. We have confronted the challenges created the conditions where the knowledge and skills were enhanced at all levels and worked interdependently in the collective pursuit of better team outcomes.

After completion the project, I was identified myself what was my weak in the process and the theatrically thinking and I made the firmly decision to join “Leadership course in Murdoch university” to be a great leader for my future team. I have found my next leadership role after studying the course.

My leadership shall be emphasized upon interdependent interaction and practice with formal leadership roles through high levels of trust, transparency and mutual respect. The leadership is needed to well-planned and deliberately orchestrated. The skill of professional collaboration are essential to have working team.

The understanding of my team is the first need in term of developing working environment which make them safe and happy. According to distributed leadership, when employee work together in an environment of trust and accountability toward a common goal. The focus of resources overcome barriers, identify new opportunities and builds a momentum which lead three major bottom-line benefits: Better problem solving, greater productivity and process and more effective use of resources.

I will incorporate in my action plan a way to show personalize respect to every team members such monthly celebration birthday party with my hand writing note expressed my special thanks and some additional tips to be a future leader.

By showing respect each other, I am sure to build trust culture within my team and less conflict. I will develop the handling conflict by applying inter-based relational approach such as good relationships are priority one, keep people and problems separate.

Improving clarity and transparency in communication within my team that showing the team member valued will be beneficial in my action plan so that I am able to target not only the goals set forth but also build team morale.

One practical way forward is to create strong collaborative teams where leadership is naturally and authentically distributed. The evidence about group learning is clear: purposeful and focused collaboration is a skill that has to be acquired, repeated and practiced in context.

To conclude, my distributed leadership style based on my traits and experiences throughout my career. When distributed leadership works well, individuals are accountable and responsible for their leadership actions; new leadership roles created, collaborative teamwork is the modus operandi and inter-dependent working is a cultural norm.

Creating a team morale and bonding, I cascade of working on my leadership style in the context of my action plan to ensure that I am able to lead in a style that works best for my personality type but also in a way that my employees are pleased with my style and feel that they are working for someone who has not only the smart goals in mind but their wellbeing as well.

My developmet plan is needed to be implement as multi business manager in a year. There is a wide range of technical skills required, although most of them apply to roles one can take on the hospitality industry.

Theoretically, Discontentment stand to reason that as long as there are unfulfilled desired and thwarted ambitions. The happiness derives from a complete absence of wealth and material pleasure is no happiness at all and get more stress when I was getting busy. I am used to emphasize on own department as well in my work when I was junior level hence I have encountered unnecessary conflict with other department.

What is leadership? Many people believe that leadership is simply being able to get individuals to work towards a common goal but leadership is more complex than that. Leadership can be defined in many ways. One definition of leadership is that it is how an individual utilizes influence over other people by inspiring, motivating and directing their activities to help contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the organization. Additionally, a leader is interpreted as someone who sets the direction to influence people to follow that direction and may possess certain characteristics and traits. There are also numerous theories about leadership or about carrying out the role of a leader. After taking this course and reading numerous articles on leadership I have formed a much clearer understanding of what leadership entails and how to become an effective leader in any organization.

It is only fitting that my first assignment while starting my road into leadership is one in which I am required to reflect on myself, my strengths, weaknesses and what that means for me as a leader. At the beginning of this course, I was instructed to use the CliftonStrengths assessment to obtain my top five themes or Strengths and I was quite surprised by how accurate the assessment was with identifying what I feel are my strengths. I have taken different personality quizzes and surveys before but this is the closest description of me so far. This encouraged me to look into the history of this survey and in doing so I learned that the Cliftonstrengths assessment was created by psychologist Donald Clifton to focus on areas where you have the greatest potential for building strengths. This positive approach to personal development is one of the reasons that many people go on to become great leaders. Through this assessment, I learned that my themes are Responsibility, Harmony, Analytical, Arranger and Input therefore to evaluate my leadership I must first reflect on what these themes and what they say about me.

Responsibility means being held accountable for what we think and do. It begins from the inside and moves outward. Only when we take responsibility for our thoughts, choices, and reactions, we can create circumstances within our world. Responsibility is understanding the impact you have on the lives of others. When I think about responsibility I think about committing to whatever it takes to complete a project, keeping the promises you make and being honest. When it comes to my leadership I feel as though this indicates that I have an intense dislike for unfinished work and feel the need to make it right whatever it takes until my commitment is met. I like to work with individuals who share my same determination to get things done and who deliver on their commitments. I think that experiencing the challenges of ownership helps contribute to your growth and development. Additionally, responsibility creates harmony in the workplace.

Harmonious alignment within an organization helps promote goals, vision, values, and purpose to ensure everyone working on the team is pulling in the same direction. Harmony helps makes positive changes, maximize potential and transform relationships. Responsibility and Harmony go hand and hand in an organization. When individuals don’t take responsibility it causes discord and the inability for them to get along with each other. It is important to minimize conflict by not taking sides and making them aware of how things are. Emphasize what they have in common. When I think about Harmony I think about seeking peace, common ground and cooperation. When it comes to my leadership I feel as though this indicates that I seek to build a network of people with different perspectives and opinions. I like to resolve conflict without confrontation and to make everyone feel comfortable. I take an open door policy very seriously. I think that leaders must align people for all departments and all work positions for the best effect. It is important for leaders to create a space where people feel like their opinion are truly heard but this cannot be done unless there is harmony between the leaders and their workers.

Of the five themes resulting from my participation in this assessment, I would say Analytical is the most accurate theme for me. When I think of someone who is analytical I think deep and thoughtful. Assessing all of the elements before making a move. Someone who relies on reason to make a decision. Having all the facts is very important. They can think about all of the factors that might affect a situation. I know how to break problems into parts to see relationships or interdependencies. When it comes to my leadership I think that this indicates I am self-disciplined and have high standards of performance personally and professionally. I can systematically accomplish my plans and logically produce predictable results. I can be the voice of logic, reason and provide stability. I can take advantage of the resources that I have at my disposal. I like investigating what started a chain of events, pinpointing key problems. Along with being Analytical, this next theme Arranger plays off of it.

Arranger is a new term for me but when I first heard it I thought of someone who arranges and rearranges bits of information until the picture becomes clear. Arranger possesses the ability to map out a success plan accommodating all possible scenarios. This is very handy in a leader because you can determine how the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity. When I think about arranging I think arranging items, facts, information, and people to come together for a successful event or activity. When it comes to my leadership I think that this indicates I like complex dynamics and problems. Flexible in the way I organize events, priorities, and people. Figure out how to improve workflow by rearranging spaces and/or procedures to maximize efficiency and to free up time. This would create room for my employees and me to take on new projects and work more diligently.

Lastly, I feel as though the theme Input goes hand and hand with the last two themes: Analytical and Arranger. Input is collecting and storing new information. You are always on the lookout for new and interesting information. One’s ability to not just collect information but to store it and then retrieve it when needed makes a person’s valuable in a leadership role. When armed with the right piece of information, data point or anecdote someone can become a key component. When I think about Input I think about mental stimulation and the uncovering of new ideas, concepts, and technologies. Broadening your knowledge base and exchange new theories, ideas or concepts with other people. When it comes to my leadership Input shows that I am willing and eager to learn new ideas and share them. I am open minded and absorbent. I like to discover new approaches and innovations. I like looking to find ways to improve.

After reflecting on myself and these five themes I think my leadership trait falls more in line with Transformational Leadership. Transformational Leadership is a leadership style in which leaders encourage, inspire and motivate employees to innovate and create change that will help grow and shape the future success of the company. It is considered that the transformational leaders ‘engage in interactions with followers based on common values, beliefs and goals’ (Khan & Nawaz, 2016). Transformational leadership is linked to positive outcomes on individuals as well as organizations. Transformational leadership very similar to the achiever leadership transformation in that they both challenges and supports those who work for them and creates a positive team and interdepartmental atmosphere (Rooke & Torbert, 2005). Followers of transformational leaders are more likely to pursue ambitious goals, be familiar with and agree on the strategic goals of the organization, and believe that the goals they are pursuing are personally important.

I have identified the following three strengths integrity, dependability, and relationship building as they relate to my leadership. Integrity is often seen as just truthfulness or honesty but in many cases, it also means having and standing by a set of strong values. Integrity in the workplace often means being able to make ethical choices and helping the company maintain a positive image. All businesses seek to hire workers who have a strong sense of integrity. Being a dependable leader means that people can trust and rely on you. A dependable person follows through on plans and keeps promises. The strong relationships built by a dependable leader create a resilient team that can work through difficulties that may arise. Leadership requires the ability to build and maintain a strong and collaborative team of individuals working toward the same goal. Leaders engage in behavior that is sensitive and responsive to employees’ values, needs, and individual differences in order to build trusting relationships and open communication between a leader and employees where ‘high-quality relationships are considered mature partnerships based on respect, trust, and mutual obligation for one another’ (Dunst, Bruder, Hamby, Howse & Wilkie 2018). Team building requires other leadership strengths, like effective communication skills and conflict resolution.

I have identified the following three weaknesses, perfectionism, not recognizing personal limitations and I’ll do it myself mindset as they relate to my leadership. These three weaknesses are more of a personality trait that has spilled over into my leadership. I am a perfectionist. I have high levels of motivation and conscientiousness but I hold myself to an all-or-nothing mindset and I expect the same. This mindset can negatively influence those who work for me because my standards that I hold for myself to are based off of what I know I can do or have done in the past and I cannot set an expectation for others based off my own experiences or skill level. I do think I am getting better at acknowledging this flaw but with acknowledging this weakness I have fostered another. Because I know that I cannot force the same high levels of standards and expectations I have for myself I have developed a ‘do it myself’ mindset. I have a habit of taking on projects or assignments when I notice it is not getting done in time or being done how I feel it should be done. This mindset helps no one. My subordinates are not taking accountability or ownership of the work and growing from their challenges. Leaders provide learning opportunities and a supportive climate (McClesky 2014). I am stripping them of that opportunity. I am taking on a new project and not recognizing my limitations which can cause burnout and undue stress. Also, I have grown accustomed to taking on more work than I should which can equate to long hours but not necessarily better job performance thus affect those around me. I am fully aware of the area in which I am lacking and committed to improving.

In terms of how I can work to improve the effectiveness of my leadership, I have identified three tangible ways to grow as a leader. First, clear and effective communication about expectations and deadlines with periodic check-ins. Inspirational Motivation whereby the leader communicates high expectations and inspires the crew to reach higher (Ecoggins. 2016). This will help with my want to do everything by myself and feeling as though my expectations or standards are not being met. Also, becoming knowledgeable about my employees’ performance and delegating tasks accordingly. This also combats my habit of doing everything by myself as well as not overextending myself by taking on more responsibilities. Lastly but most importantly recognize, emphasize and leverage strengths. Doing so will allow me to delegate tasks accordingly and not have my perfectionism get in the way because I am fully aware of what my subordinates are capable of.

My first short term goal is to be a better coach. I will improve my coaching skills. I will commit to a 1:1 coaching conversation per week with each of my six employees. This will enable my team to independently resolve challenges or issues with greater confidence and free up my time to work on other strategic priorities. My second short term goal is to become a leader. I will find a mentor by the end of quarter 1 who can provide coaching and guidance to support my career development. I will commit to reading 1 recommended article/book per month connected to leadership development. I will take a course to help me develop leadership competencies by the end of quarter 3. I will actively seek out opportunities to take on informal leadership responsibilities at work or through volunteer opportunities. Lastly, become a strategic thinker. I will develop my ability to take a big picture view and build strength in strategic thinking. I will commit to thinking before reacting/acting to ensure what we’re doing fits into the strategic vision of our organization. I will engage with my colleagues quarterly to understand their priorities to identify where there are opportunities to gain efficiencies. I will conduct monthly meetings with my team to link our accomplishments to our strategic goals and ensure alignment of our priorities for the month ahead. In conclusion, by analyzing my leadership skills, I identified my strengths and weaknesses and developed some ideas on how to improve to become a more knowledgeable and skilled leader. I plan to be an effective and ethical leader by further educating myself in this area.

Every individual has some dreams for their betterment, improvement or successful future, but unfortunately only having dreams and goals is not sufficient. There should be practical steps to achieve these goals and aspirations, and these steps and actions demand a different kind of knowledge, skills and talent to become successful. Accepting the benefits of organizational change and knowing the fact that practical steps are needed to make things happen, the next question that may arise in minds is that who will take initiative to bring these changes for organizations.

It has been asked, who will lead the nation’s colleges in the future, especially in view of the impending wave of retirements, coupled with the shrinkage of the pool of prospective presidential candidates (AACC, 2012). The demands for effective college leadership have continued to increase during the first decade of the 21st century. The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the perceptions of senior administrators and college presidents as viewed from one of three presidential career phases such as early, mid-career, or senior of the leadership skills and the characteristics necessary to guide 21st century colleges. A bright future for Extension depends upon having leaders selected for their visionary thinking and guided by nationally defined standards for excellence. Visionary leadership is essential at all levels. The development of a clear vision, along with accepted metrics for excellence, will enable institutions to successfully advance into the future as a system. My reason for selecting these questions was because I feel like with any university closure these three questions are vitally important. They allow you to closely examine the problem at hand and get much needed feedback as to why it happened and what could be done to prevent future closures.

It is important to determine if the research participant understands the study. Participants should know Higher Education the process of being accredited. The participants should be an employee of the organization and have a working knowledge of what accreditation entails. These individuals will be helpful in determining the organizational structure of said institution at the time of the loss of accreditation and can note any changes in the organizational structure that played a role in its loss. Whether participants are currently affiliated with the institution or not, they witnessed the transition and have experience with the institution, thus having insight on various opportunities for the institution to regain accreditation.

For the purposes of this research, Literature reviewed in this study included material from selected books, journals, and unpublished works. It was the perspective of our group that gaining a degree of insight into the evolution of leadership through a historical perspective would greatly improve the reader’s understanding of the complexity of leadership and of the role of the leader through time. Further, a review of literature from a variety of eras should serve to present a solid framework from which to consider the evolution of leadership theory. In our group we worked cohesively to come up with all necessary parts needed to produce worthy work that aligns with navigating the accreditation and reaffirmation process. This will help identify transformational leadership.

In order to get to the level of success and sustainability the organizations need to take some practical steps. If we are talking about practical steps, they must first think about the organizations and the scholars and do some research that coincides with the organization’s needs. Many authors write massively in this area. At the one end when, Caetano takes the organizational change as a demand of time to remain successful in business (Caetano, 1999).

Currently the organizations are in the phase of transition economy characterized by liberalization, macroeconomic stabilization, restructuring & privatization, legal & institutional reforms and resultant privatization, price liberalization, trade & foreign exchange, competition policy, infrastructure reform and many more. Essentials to survive this change include better technology, better infrastructure and better people with effective communication. Leadership plays a major role in developing people with effective communication (Yukl, 2010).

This paper focuses on important leadership function of “giving feedback” utilized by leader to build psychological connect with the employees. The way a leader interacts with the employees draws upon and promotes psychological connect and sets a culture (Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing, & Peterson, 2008) especially during formal and informal feedback session and can serve as a responsible and effective leadership model able to build credibility and improve productivity (Avolio et al, 2004). The structure of the paper is as follows: introduction to the topic succeeded by a brief literature review that deals with the main constructs. Next the research methodology used is explained followed by the research results and findings, limitation and scope of future research. The paper contributes to the leadership literature by considering how effective leadership behavior focused on feedback given to employees may impact employee contractual status with regard to relational psychological connect, and ultimately competitiveness of the organization, in a dynamic, turbulent and challenging environment. The focus is on organized service sector organizations.

The way a particular leader has the potential to influence the behavior of his/her members, is a relatively invisible and often neglected feature of a firm’s HR system. Leaders can directly communicate what efforts are needed on the part of employees and what they can expect in return. Leadership is known to influence business strategy implementation, long – term firm performance, and financial success through their mere ability of motivating and engaging the behaviors of their team in the right direction (Conway et.al, 2009). By virtue of what leaders pay consideration to, measure, and control, they exert huge command over how employees set clear goals, direct their efforts and how well they perform at work.

Currently the organizations are in the phase of transition economy characterized by liberalization, macroeconomic stabilization, restructuring & privatization, legal & institutional reforms and resultant privatization, price liberalization, trade & foreign exchange, competition policy, infrastructure reform and many more. Essentials to survive this change include better technology, better infrastructure and better people with effective communication. Leadership plays a major role in developing people with effective communication (Yukl, 2010).

This paper focuses on important leadership function of “giving feedback” utilized by leader to build psychological connect with the employees. The way a leader interacts with the employees draws upon and promotes psychological connect and sets a culture (Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing, & Peterson, 2008) especially during formal and informal feedback session and can serve as a responsible and effective leadership model able to build credibility and improve productivity (Avolio et al, 2004). The structure of the paper is as follows: introduction to the topic succeeded by a brief literature review that deals with the main constructs. Next the research methodology used is explained followed by the research results and findings, limitation and scope of future research. The paper contributes to the leadership literature by considering how effective leadership behavior focused on feedback given to employees may impact employee contractual status with regard to relational psychological connect, and ultimately competitiveness of the organization, in a dynamic, turbulent and challenging environment.

The purpose of this section is to present an overview of the research streams under investigation in this research paper. The areas of leadership, goal setting, performance and psychological connect are discussed in the context of service sector.

Individuals produce valuable results, when they feel good about themselves, the organization and the other people with whom they work. Individuals who work under a leader initially look at leadership style as a source of wisdom and then decide their pattern of working style in the organization.

Leadership styles refer to patterns of actions that influential people use to shape others behavior. The transactional style is a set of leader behaviors that give structure to the work and job requirements employees need to accomplish (Battisti et.al, 2007). The role is to advance, clarify, and support suitable work methods and results. As a result, transactional leaders set specific, measurable goals; use mechanisms such as direction and task organizing to clarify appropriate employee behavior and make it easier to demonstrate consistently; coordinate the work individuals do; and monitor their accomplishments and deliverables. This style derives from each efficacy from using the leader’s power to reward employees. This leadership style is also known as task oriented leadership style.

On the other hand, transformational leadership style also sometimes referred as people oriented leadership style takes into consideration employee growth also along with the organizational profitability.

Transactional leadership style or tough leaders may result the organizations to win in short term but will lose talented individuals in the long run. Transformational leadership style or nice leaders may win individuals sometimes at the cost of organizational profit. Thus both styles are partially effective.

Effective leaders or leadership style can include use of clear, concise goal setting and feedback on the achievement of goals to communicate overall vision and instill work with meaning and to provide coordination, direction, and structure for individuals or groups of employees. Effective leaders are the ones who “manage themselves and the people they work with so that both the organization and the people profit from their presence.

The psychological contract refers to an individual’s (e.g. employee’s) beliefs regarding mutual commitments between that person and in this context, the leader. These commitments take many forms, from loyalty and job security to no obligations whatsoever (Battisti et.al, 2007; Adelman, 1989). Two core types of obligations are prevalent economic or monetary psychological contract terms and relational or socio emotional ones (Morris et.al, 1997). This paper deals with relational or socio emotional ones.

These monetary obligations involve compensation for specific forms of labor, as expressed by “a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.” Where money is the dominant concern, psychological contracts tend to be explicit in their terms.

The relational psychological contract is a fascinating subject because it offers so many different perspectives. It’s not just a tool or a process. It helps to understand more about the ‘give and take’ at a basic level between leader and followers of an organization that describes working for an organization, and more specifically leading an organization.

This research paper makes an attempt to contribute to the leadership literature by considering how effective leadership behavior focused on feedback given to employees may impact employee contractual status with regard to relational psychological connect, and ultimately competitiveness of the organization, in a dynamic, turbulent and challenging environment.

The research method used is qualitative (Kohari, 1990). The primary data is collected by means of observations and discussions with various HR and owners of organized service sector organizations. Secondary data is collected by means of published and unpublished paper and electronic sources.

Understanding why employees are ‘difficult to motivate’, or ‘difficult to manage’ is the challenge of the relational psychological contract. The relational psychological contract helps leaders understand better how to align their people’s needs with those of the organization, which at best is a very abstract idea. Following practices with regards to goal setting and feedback interaction between leader and follower in the organization can initiate the building of constructive relational psychological contract:

It is essential for the leader to clear the responsibilities and accountabilities of the staff. Generally, a leader must understand that 80% of really important results will come from 20% of the goals. Focusing on these 20% of goals can enable follower to be clear of their key areas of responsibility, maybe three to six goals in all. Of course, in the event a special project comes up, separate goal setting session can be held by the leader with the followers. This philosophy will lead to ‘no surprises’ culture as everyone knows what is expected from the beginning itself.

Leaders can enable the individuals to solve their own problems by guiding them how to follow the process. If the followers are taught to put the problem in behavioral terms and bridge gap what is actually happening and what they desire to be happening, check for solutions and implement the right one as per availability of resources, empowerment of followers can result.

Crystal clear consistent feedback has to be given to the followers immediately. Clarity in exactly what the individual did right or wrong reflects sincerity and familiarity with what the individual’s work. Immediate feedback on behaviors leads to immediate corrective actions on the part of the followers instead of piling up of all the feedback for performance appraisal session.

Leaders should tell people up front that they are going to let them know how they are doing. Praise people immediately. Tell people what they did right—be specific. Tell people how good you feel about what they did right, and how it helps the organization and the other people who work there. Stop for a moment of silence to let them “feel” how good you feel. Encourage them to do more of the same. Shake hands or touch people in a way that makes it clear that you support their success in the organization.

Warning should be given as soon as the subordinate have done something wrong. Leader can specify exactly what went wrong. Tell people how they felt about what they did wrong—and in no uncertain terms. Stop for a few seconds of uncomfortable silence to let them feel how a leader feels. Shake hands, or touch them in a way that they know the leader is honestly on their side. The leader must make it clear that he is upset of the performance and not about the individual and realize that when the reprimand is over, it’s over.

Effective leaders are the ones who “manage themselves and the people they work with so that both the organization and the people profit from their presence.”

To develop leaders who are effective leaders following recommendations are given by research with support from the literature available on leadership:

Most companies spend 50% to 70% of their money on employees’ salaries. And yet they spend less than 1% of their budget to train their employees to become leaders. Promotions are generally based to higher positions on basis of individual performances. Most companies, in fact, spend more time and money on maintaining their buildings and equipment than they do on maintaining and developing leaders.

In order to look good as a leader in most organizations, focus of leaders is to catch some of their team mates doing things wrong. It is normal mentality of most of the leaders that in an organization there should be a few winners, a few losers, and everyone else somewhere in the middle. This mentality is known as normal-distribution-curve mentality. Organizations must generate leaders with a thought process that

“Everyone Is a Potential Winner Some People Being Disguised as Losers, Don’t Let Their Appearances Fool You”

Most leaders know what they want their team mates to do. They just don’t bother to tell their team mates in a way they would understand (Coyle et.al, 2000). They assume they should know. Leaders’ communication should be clear and concise with focus on praising in front of all and reprimand in isolation for mutual benefit of followers and organization.

The findings of this research paper should be viewed with carefulness due to the following limitations. The current study is limited by lack of quantitative data and confidentiality with respect to names of HR and owners of the firms. Also generalization to other sectors has to be done with caution as this study at present is restricted to organized service sector.

Leadership development has become a topic of interest for researchers across a range of disciplines, and the diversity of theories and research emerging on leadership development is stimulating leading to new and exciting ideas on the topic especially in the field of relational and collective leadership, self-identity of leader, effect of intrinsic motivation on leadership development and many more (DeRue, 2011; Mostovicz et.al, 2009; Daft, 2008). This research focuses on developing effective leadership to play a significant role in generating relational psychological contract with the employees and further research can be conducted to see the impact of the same on the profitability index of the organization.

The nature of Human resource management in India is known to be ‘context specific’ (Brewster, 1999). Khatri et al. (2001) argue that the Human resource management system varies from country to county and can either be universal or context specific, like in India’s case where there is a strong relationship between the social contacts and human resource management practices like stress management, work life balance, leadership etc. which presents the context-specific nature of such a practice .Most of the research on leadership has emphasized the effects of leadership rather than the development of leadership. Leadership development also emphasizes on developing people’s motivation to lead, their identity as leaders, as well as their mental mode about what it means to contribute in a leadership process. Developing effective leadership plays a significant role in generating relational psychological contract with the employees and further research can be conducted to see the impact of the same on the profitability index of the organization.

Servant leadership and followership play a big fundamental factor in the Army’s structure today. They both coincide with one another in the process of leadership development. It is almost impossible to have one without the other. They both consist of many of the same traits, but some key similarities are trust, respect, and adaptability. Even though they both are compelled of a lot of the same traits does not mean that they do not have any differences. Simply the titles alone set them apart. Servant leadership is still a leader and followership still follow.

It could be argued that servant leadership and followership are technically the same thing. Both consist of a lot of the same traits that together help stabilize leadership development. When involving both concepts, a few key similar traits are trust and respect. If a leader and follower do not have trust and respect toward one another, then together they cannot be effective. Adaptability is another key trait between the two. Whether it is the leader analyzing information, and the follower receiving it, both must have the ability to adapt to the situation. Although these concepts are remarkably similar in many ways, they still stand apart in their respective categories.

A followership’s key traits are linked to flexibility, being observant, and team oriented. With ever changing scenarios, a follower always remains flexible. With always being instructed on what to do, a follower is always being observant in order to understand the task at hand. Strong followers are strong team players who value collaboration, cooperation and interdependence (J. Norman Baldwin, 2017). With always be implemented into a group, a follower is always working towards being team oriented in any given task. These are just the foundation blocks that evolves followership into a servant leader.

A servant leader’s traits would demonstrate more initiative, ingenuity, and displaying humility. A servant leader will always be they first one to step up to make sure a task or goal is accomplished. They are constantly thinking of new innovated ways to get a task done, and to keep an objective pushing through. A servant leader always has that understanding of who they are, and never look down on others around them. Great leaders admit when they are wrong and take criticism as an opportunity for growth (Peter Economy, 2016). Servant leadership consist of slightly different traits but would not be a fundamental stage without followership.

In conclusion, being a good follower is a fundamental step into becoming a great Leader. Although you can say there is a difference between a servant leader and followership, they are fundamentally linked. A leader cannot lead before learning how to follow first.

This essay endeavours to reflect upon the underlying influences and theories that have formed my understanding of leadership. It will seek to assess strengths, weaknesses and how I may integrate contemporary leadership theory to become a more effective member of organisational leadership.

It is critical to acknowledge a definition of leadership at the outset of the reflection. Leadership theory has changed dramatically during my lifetime, and as my reflection unfolds, we will see a progression of Leadership styles influenced by contemporary leadership teaching. Northouse defines leadership as a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to a common goal (Northouse, 2015, p. 5). The complexity and diverse nature of situations where this process of influence occurs have led to a plethora of teachings surrounding ‘how to be a leader’. Situational leadership, trait-based leadership, transformational leadership, servant Leadership, Collaborative Leadership, shared leadership, charismatic leadership, and authentic leadership are just a few examples of contemporary leadership theory ideas. Donna Ladkin explains the importance of understanding leadership’s nature better to study leadership intricacies in different environments. (Ladkin, 2010, p. 15). To reflect upon my leadership journey, I have chosen to consider how the contrast of settings and how leadership has been a central dynamic.

Looking back over my life, I can consider that I have been in leadership positions since a young boy. Some may consider these leadership roles merely role-playing and not holding any significant development to lead others as an adult. At a young age, I was significantly impacted by ‘hero leadership’ where great sporting heroes, adventurers or war heroes were often portrayed as the standard of leadership (Carlyle, 2007). Leadership was considered a natural gift or something that arose from within specific individuals at a time of crisis or opportunity. There was still a mixture of the early twentieth-century definition of leadership that focussed on power and the leader’s ability to impress or coerce their followers.

‘Leadership is the keynote to success– but leadership is difficult to define, and leaders are difficult to find. I have frequently stated that ‘any ass can be a commander, and a trained man may often make an instructor; but a leader is more like the poet– born, not manufactured.’

I became a keen Boy Scout learning from Baden Powell’s mantra ‘Be Prepared’, and I was being prepared for life as a member of society and given the opportunities to lead others. Baden-Powell was correct when he stated that leadership is difficult to define. Still, his opinion that leaders were born not nurtured did not align with the “Calchasian model of learning – a community of practice”. Grint suggests that “learning is not so much an individual and cognitive event but a collective and cultural process” (Grint, 2010, p. 65). A crucial aspect of leadership is the relationship between the leader and followers. It must be acknowledged that the dynamic provides a reciprocal flow of learning. The leader’s development is very dependant of the influence of followers and the communities’ shared practice. My leadership development has always been through the experience and through interaction with those whom I have served – “As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens an another”(Proverbs 27:27).

At the age of seventeen, I joined the Royal Navy as an engineering apprentice destined to reach the highest ranks of a non-commissioned officer and firmly in middle management. The trajectory that my career path took meant that the Navy spent many hours forming my leadership capabilities. This would involve periods of training and learning the intricacies of leadership and practical opportunities to hone those skills.

A military setting leads to an autocratic style based upon the rank and involves task orientated, team and shared leadership. Training would include team-building and problem-solving activities, focusing on building character traits like perseverance, articulation, and confidence. The trait approach to leadership development has been proved to have been over empathised and lacking any correlation that good leaders possess a definitive list of character traits. However, Northouse explains that although Trait theory has some weaknesses, it does afford an individual a better understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, and place within the organisation hierarchy (Northouse, 2015, pp. 29-31).

It is true that Trait theory does not make allowance situational influence and that the research is very subjective. However, I believe that there are positive aspects of understanding our personality and develop our character through experience. Northouse states that learning new traits is not an easy process, but I would challenge that character development comes by experience. Through success and failure, we are refined and shaped to become a more astute team member.

The Navy defines six core values that help to shape a cohesive force able to meet all the challenges of war and peacetime activities. Commitment, Courage, respect, loyalty, discipline and integrity form the foundation of personal character traits and a shared vision of community. These values outline the relationship between leader and follower, which forges the two-way reliance. (St. George, 2012)

An essential aspect of Military service is the camaraderie enthused with banter and positive energy even amid challenging times. Andrew St George explains the influence of informal and formal story-telling to maintain morale and, more importantly, the team’s cohesion. “Leadership comes down to protecting the story, bringing others into the story, and keeping the organisation accountable to the story” (Mohler, 2012, p. 38). Norseman (Northouse, 2015) expands upon the process of influence between the leader and followers. The leader’s role is to initiate and maintain a relationship through communication. Throughout my career in the Armed Forces and later in ministry, I have tried to strengthen unity by maintaining the narrative and keeping positive atmosphere, valuing the importance of building fun into the team life.

Upon leaving the Armed Forces, I was called to serve disabled and disadvantaged children in Asia. Suddenly thrust into a new arena of fluid organisational structure, I believe working in a people-focused ministry began a process of stripping away previous notions of leadership and hierarchy.

In Donna Ladkin book ‘Rethinking leadership’ she explains leadership from the perspective of the phenomenon and how important it is for us to appreciate all aspects of the process of leadership fully. She uses the example of a cube where each side is one aspect of leadership, e.g. the leader, followers, culture, situation or organisation. She goes on to emphasise that leadership cannot be viewed separately from other aspects but rather is a ‘moment of social relations’.

My new environment as a member of an NGO serving in an Asian context suddenly afforded me new perspective allowing me to appreciate these ‘moments of social interaction’. Culture is a critical part of any organisation. As we established a fledgeling charity, it was imperative to ensure that the vision and mission were embraced by all involved. The charismatic young visionary spearheaded the Charity, but as the ministry grew, he embraced the need to share the leadership responsibility. It was reminiscent of Moses under this advice of Jethro sharing his leadership responsibilities (Gen 18:21). I was invited to join a leadership team of men and women who would oversee various projects and responsibilities. It became our task to maintain the narrative and engage all the stakeholders with our organisational culture.