LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATION

Leadership in organization

Leadership in organization

Introduction

Leadership is a concept used in many different contexts with an array of meanings. Accordingly, there is a lack of common understanding as to what leadership is and what constitutes good leadership. In fact, a Google search of leadership definition leads to more than 22 million results. The purpose of this chapter is to offer some clarity to the concept of leadership and provide a thoughtful discussion on leadership perspectives and models that can be identified as progressive and effective for both personal and organizational success (Herman, 2005).

Leadership is an important concept for professionals working in nonprofit organizations. The discussions in this chapter highlight how leadership is a process that takes place in all aspects of an organization, and professionals can influence leadership in the organization and larger community from any level of an organization. To engage in leadership or enhance and demonstrate leadership skills, one must not be the CEO or a member of the board of directors. Anyone can engage in leadership through being a committed, engaged, and hard-working member of the organization who is in touch with and acts in line with the organizational purpose and values.

In this chapter, different understandings of leadership are presented, including a discussion on leadership and management. Next, the importance of leadership is presented, followed by a brief history on the development of leadership studies. This discussion of leadership progression leads to an overview of progressive leadership perspectives, which are those that challenge the traditional leader-centric approaches to leadership. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the future of leadership and a chapter summary (Jaskyte, 2004).

Leadership and organizational culture

The literature review highlights that both transformational and transactional leaderships have a statistically significant effect on KM implementation. The major gap in the literature, however, is the lack of attention given to the impact of organizational culture on the relationship between leadership and KM (Block, 2003; Chang and Lee, 2007).

Schein (2004) reveals that organizational culture consists of two layers of concepts, namely, visible and invisible characteristics. The visible layer means external buildings, clothing, behavior modes, regulations, stories, myths, languages and rites. The invisible layer means common values, norms, faith and assumptions of business organization members. Organizational culture, in addition to the capability to integrate daily activities of employees to reach the planned goals, can also help organizations adapt well to the external environment for rapid and appropriate responses.

After examining the concepts of organizational culture and leadership closely, Schein (2004) concludes that organizational culture and leadership are two sides of the same coin; neither can be really understood by itself. During the process of organization formation, the founder of a company creates an organization, which reflects their values and beliefs. In this sense, the founder creates and shapes the cultural traits of their organizations. In contrast, the cultural context conditions our actions, beliefs, and widely held values. Just as the leadership process is not divorced from the broader situational context in which the leadership takes place (Northouse, 2001), unless ...