Unit VI CS PFL

Psychological Foundations of Leadership 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VI

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

6. Examine characteristics leaders exhibit to achieve organizational objectives. 6.1 Examine knowledge management. 6.2 Explain the benefit for a learning organization to develop a strategy toward effectively

competing with ecommerce. 6.3 Examine the need for a leadership development program to guide a learning organization

toward sustainability.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

6.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 13 Unit VI Case Study

6.2 Unit Lesson Chapter 13 Unit VI Case Study

6.3

Unit Lesson Chapter 13 Chapter 15 Unit VI Case Study

Required Unit Resources

Chapter 13: Strategic Leadership and Knowledge Management

Chapter 15: Leadership Development and Succession

Unit Lesson

Introduction

Welcome to Unit VI! As our vibrant learning continues, we will now examine essential characteristics for leaders needed to drive organizational success. As we continue to reflect upon the psychological foundations, we are led to consider characteristics that directly correlate to each of these dimensions. For the purposes of initiation, please pause and think about a successful leader who influenced and guided an organization that you were a part of. What characteristics did they display? Perhaps they displayed authenticity, self- confidence, and exceptional verbal skills? Logically, one will contemplate these characteristics in the context of key leadership functions, two of which we will examine in this unit.

For the purposes of this lesson, we will first identify critical characteristics needed for the formulation and execution of business strategy, and we will contemplate the role of knowledge management. Second, we will explore important characteristics needed for successful development and execution of leadership development programs. Finally, we will conclude with an examination of how these characteristics in these important activities relate to the psychological foundations of leadership.

UNIT VI STUDY GUIDE Leadership Characteristics for Organizational Success

Psychological Foundations of Leadership 2

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title

Strategy

We continue to learn that the success of any business necessitates a clearly expressed vision and mission statement that leaders utilize in order to gain followership and influence activities that lead to the attainment of organizational goals. Given that one of the critical functions of organizational leadership is the development of strategy, it is essential to translate the vision and mission statement into a viable plan for execution. DuBrin (2019) posits that strategy is the mechanism that supports the planning process, which provides inspiration and direction. Recognizing that leaders must possess essential characteristics to gain followership for this strategy, let’s consider three most critical to success. First and foremost, leaders must demonstrate a commitment to personal integrity. This establishes follower trust and the willingness to commit to strategy conveyed. Further, leaders must be self-aware and express gratitude; this will allow for approachability of followers to question and gain insights from the individual in charge.

Now, let’s view these critical characteristics in context of developing a knowledge management system that will support planning, development, and execution of a strategy. DuBrin (2019) describes knowledge management as a concerted effort to both corner, foster, and maintain the intellectual capital of the organization. Hence, a leader, through the demonstration of integrity, must regularly and consistently survey and assess capability; this necessitates the leader to be self-aware, hence promoting approachability by followers. As a result, the leader is able to determine, through the use of tools (e.g., a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats [SWOT] analysis), the current state of knowledge and need for development. Practically, strategy deployment and execution are contingent upon the abilities, knowledge, and skills of followers. Now, we will turn our attention toward examining characteristics critical to leadership development, which directly integrates into the development and maintenance of knowledge management within the organization.

Leader Success

We may often ponder where leaders come from. Some may contest that leaders are born with intrinsic traits that separate their abilities from the rest. Given there are critical traits for a leader to possess, arguably they must be developed through a defined continuum. DuBrin (2019) states that leadership development occurs through the presence of self-awareness and self-discipline, possessed by the individual at the helm of the

Psychological Foundations of Leadership 3

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title

organization. After this personal contemplation and reflection, leaders stand ready to assess the capabilities of followers to grow in the organization into positions of responsibility.

As organizations do not exist in a vacuum and clearly are very dynamic in nature, change is inevitable. A leader’s sense of awareness and cunning ability to discern proactively what knowledge, skills, and abilities are requisite to support the sustainability of the organization are key. Characteristics inherit for a successful leader are self-confidence, the ability to clearly and concisely communicate, as well as demonstrate empathy supporting the learning process. As noted earlier, knowledge management is essential for the leader to harness and continue to drive expansion.

As the leader assesses the current knowledge and strives to develop a learning organization, efforts toward identifying the potential of followers are certainly enabled. It is essential for a leader to be kind and understanding and often communicative of acceptance where failure occurs. Anecdotally, Thomas Edison was one of the great leaders in history who successfully guided his organizations through maintaining self- confidence despite regular failure. This level of commitment to his followers led him to unparalleled success. Now, we shall turn our attention toward examining how these characteristics are related to leadership efficacy in developing strategy as well as how followers relate to the psychological foundations.

Leader Characteristics

Our objective within this lesson has focused upon identifying characteristics critical for leaders to form strategy, foster knowledge management, and develop followers to enable growth and sustainability of the organization. Regarding the cognitive foundation of leadership, self-discipline and self-awareness are core components essential for success. As earlier noted, a leader inspires confidence through these characteristics that further inspire confidence of followers. The social foundation of leadership calls for the capability of the leader to clearly and concisely communicate while demonstrating empathy. Further, the organizational foundation necessitates the leader to understand the needs of followers versus the requirements for business unit success. It is only through establishing integrity, as an earlier noted characteristic, that open communication and relatability emerge. Finally, the industrial foundation encompasses the requirement for a leader to create and dynamically craft strategy aligned to the needs of the organization. This foundation also necessitates self-discipline, self-awareness, empathy, and self-confidence.

Summary

We have examined several characteristics critical to organizational success that directly relate to the psychological foundations of leadership. Firstly, we analyzed and defined strategy supported by knowledge management. We further identified the essential characteristics for leadership success in this regard. Second, we explored what characteristics are essential for the leader to develop followers, a critical function of sustainable organizations. Finally, we reflected upon each of the psychological foundations and which of the identified characteristics apply.

Reference

DuBrin, A. J. (2019). Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills (9th ed.). Cengage Learning. https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780357382837