This milestone will explore the practices of Challenge the Process and Enable Others to Act, which you learned about in Modules Four and Five.

Leadership areas and principles

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Shanta Harper (2012, pg.22) asserts that, “leadership is by far the most influential component to organizational resilience, longevity, and brand recognition.” In module 1, the three chosen leadership areas are: relationships, visionary leadership and conflict resolution. These two areas are relevant in enhancing the mission, vision and objectives of any organization or community. The principles of Model the Way and Inspire a Shared Vision are congruent to these two areas because they spell out the values and principles to undertake for successful leadership.

Model the Way

The Model the Way principle helps the area for relationship building, in that it guides on the treatment of employees and customers while setting the standards of performing objectives. It also guides on setting universal goals without causing change resistance among those concerned. A personal aspiration is hold a top management position in the future and this principle will be core to establishing trust and relationships with the managers and employees. The job description of a top manager involves ensuring the smooth running of all operations and developing and implementing strategies. However, the success of such responsibilities depends on the unanimous collaboration of all systems in the company including the employees and management. This further extends into handling conflicts diligently so as to foster a healthy work environment to promote productivity and total motivation.

The Inspire a Shared Vision

The Inspire a Shared Vision principle helps in building upon the visionary leadership area which demands having a futuristic outlook in leadership so as to keep up with changes and dynamics in the national and global community.

Further looking into my personal aspiration as a top leader in a performing company, it is imperative to be charismatic as this trickles down to the motivation level of the employees. Employees value a leader with a strong and achievable vision which will lead to the overall growth and success of the company.

Leadership theory

One leadership theory that stands out in modules 2 and 3 is the McClelland leadership theory which states that personal development is more significant than the rewards of success. According to Mindtools (2017), the McClelland theory is based on three motivators: achievement, affiliation and power. This further influences the characteristics of individuals based on their significant motivator (Mindtools, 2017).This theory significantly builds upon the three leadership areas of relationship building, visionary leadership and conflict resolution. This theory demands having the skills and attitudes to handle people from different diverse cultures which is useful when handling conflicts. It also focuses on the personal development of the employees thus requiring a collaborative type of leadership. A visionary leader is one adopts to the changes in the dynamics of the workforce and the community and that includes having a universally multicultural outlook which further enhances relationship –building. This theory further extends into application of a charismatic type of leadership too, which according to Harper (2012, pg.24), quoting Northouse (2006) is, “a visionary who inspires team members by self-sacrifice to strongly held core values that strengthen the team as a whole.”

Overall, integrating the three leadership areas outlined with the principles of model the way and inspire a shared vision will help to foster strong leadership skills relevant to the ever changing business environment. The McClelland leadership theory further enhances these objectives as it is person-centered and drives towards total motivation.

References

Harper, S. (2012). The Leader Coach: A Model of Multi-Style Leadership. Journal of Practical Consulting, 4(1), pp. 22-31.

Mindtools. (2017). McClelland’s Human Motivation Theory. Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/human-motivation-tehory.htm