Challenges of Leadership in Australian Community: Managing Diversity

This report discusses the challenges of leadership in the Australian community, specifically managing diversity. It analyzes the impact of diversity on the community and offers a plan with SMART objectives to address the issue. The report also explores the ethical dimensions of leadership and applies Western's Critical Approach to Leadership theory.

LEADERSHIP

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Introduction
Leadership is a practice of guiding the group of people in an organisation. A leader
has many responsibilities towards the organisation/community and the team/community
members. Leadership has many theories which define the functions of a leader (McRae-
McMahon, 2001). In this report, the discussion is made on the challenges of leadership
within the Australian community. This report is mainly based on the experiences of living in
a community and how I can deal with the challenges of the community as a leader. A
contemporary challenge has been considered that will be analysed in the paper; which is
managing diversity within the community. The impact of the diversity on the community is
analysed. I will also prepare a plan with smart objective about how to handle such a challenge
in an effective manner. This will help me to analyse my leadership skills. The theory which is
considered to analyse the challenge is Western’s Critical Approach to Leadership.
I am staying at Australian community where people live from different cultural
background. People have different thoughts and ideas as per their religions. Since people are
from different cultural background, there is diversity within the community and it has been
identified that managing the diversity within the community is a challenge. Due to people
from different cultural background conflicts within the community arises and it becomes
necessary to resolve the conflict effectively so that the whole community can lead towards
progress. Managing diversity is a process of developing the positive environment in the
community by understanding the difference and similarities of the ideas of people. German
migration to South Australia is the story that highlights the challenge of diversity within the
community (Aho, & Quaye, 2018).
According to Western’s (2013) - Critical Theory approach of leadership is classified
into two parts which are deconstructing and reconstructing the leadership theory.

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Deconstructing refers that illusion and distortion of what leadership is and how it is
implemented. Reconstructing offers the new theory by learning from the deconstruction
process (Demirtas, 2015). Deconstructing helps in finding the drawbacks of leadership and
reconstructing is a process of making the new theory by taking care of those drawbacks
which are founded in the process of deconstructing. While applying the Western’s critical
approach to leadership on Australian Community it can be said that first it is essential to
analyse and understand the drawbacks and issues of leadership within the Australian
community and then while reconstructing we have to bring a new idea of leadership for the
community so that the challenge of diversity can be handled. The main issue of diversity
within the Australian Community is described below:
German migration to South Australia highlights the experience of diversity which
raises the conflict within the community. Some of the groups are settled in Barossa Valley
and others are in rural districts of Adelaide Hills. It has been analysed that the people are
divided as per the different religions due to which mentality of the people become different
from each other’s. Generation gap, physical disabilities, poor language and communication
are the factors due to which the community faced the issues of conflicts.
After understanding the theory, I can apply the critical approach of leadership on my
community to analyse the reasons and find out the best way to reduce the issues. The theory
is classified into two parts which helps me to understand the challenge of managing diversity
within the community. With the help of deconstructing process, it is founded that the main
reason behind the issue is that people came from the different cultural backgrounds
(Storsletten, & Jakobsen, 2015). Thus, they have different culture, behaviour, and thinking
which increases the conflicts between the people of community. Discrimination,
communication issues, perspectives, incorporation are the results of factor affecting the

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community (Chandler, & Kirsch, 2018). This is how the deconstruction theory can be
implemented on the community and helps me to find out the factors which affect the
community.
Reconstruction leadership theory focuses on the four types of leadership which are
controller leadership, therapist leadership, Messiah leadership and Eco-Leadership. These
leadership discourses enable me to develop the leadership skill as a good leader (Shamir, &
Eilam-Shamir, 2018). Reconstructing process helps me to implement the new leadership
theory by taking care of factors which affects the community. At the time of implementing
the plan, I will take care about those factors which affect the environment of the community.
Controller leadership defines that a leader always cares about values of others and considers
the other’s point of view. Controller leader can handle the situation by considering
everyone’s point of view towards the particular things which helps in reducing the conflict
between the communities (Ford, & Harding, 2018). Therapist theory of leadership helps the
leader to make the new theory by taking care of factors affecting the community. That is how
the Reconstruction leadership theory applies within the community and helps me to resolve
the issue of conflict.
In brief; as per the critical approach to leadership theory, diversity is a challenge for
the community. The factors of conflict such as communication gap, different religion and so
on are found with the help of deconstruction process of critical leadership theory and can be
resolved with the help of reconstruction theory (Western, 2013).
Ethical Dimension
Relationship

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As per the basic principles, it has been seen that the better and faster decision can be
taken by a group of people rather than an individual. Ethical leadership refers the relationship
of a leader with every member of community. Good relationship is the sign of effective
decision making process. A leader should have good relation with the members so that the
members understand the point of view of a leader. A leader can address the issue by
maintaining the relationship with the members (Bolman, & Deal, 2017).
Integrity
Integrity is an act of being truthful with every member of the community. An ethical
leader is one who is delivering the promises what he makes. It can be said that the
performance and work should be fully matched with words of a leader (Tourish, 2014). This
dimension is beneficial for long term for the community. Integrity dimension develops the
good image of a leader in front of members from which the members also get inspired by
their leader. Integrity develops the positive environment and the healthy relation between
members which reduces the disputes within the members. Disputes are the main challenges
which are faced by the community due to different thoughts of people for particular task.
It is the responsibility of a leader to consider the point of view of every member of
community and then take step accordingly. The relation of a leader should be honest with the
members that can be possible by performing the right action at the right place. In my
community, the members of club and members of Homburg became the leader but as a leader
they failed in performing their responsibilities. The community faced the issue due to their
poor leadership skills. The leaders did not perform their functions and roles in an ethical
manner. The leader should take action as per their words which are given to the members of
community (Bouckenooghe, Zafar, & Raja, 2015).

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Perspective
When we stay in a community where people from different cultural background are
living, we have to understand the different perspectives of different people. Understanding
the perspective of all the members of a community is necessary as it is ethical too. It will be
unethical if we ignore the perspectives of weak section of a community (Morris, 2017).
Commitment
It is one of the most important ethical dimensions of leadership. Commitment refers
the wellbeing and advancement of the community. A leader has to take the effective decision
regarding the rules and regulation so that the members will follow that decision in the
community (Neves, & Story, 2015).
Plan to address the issue
As discussed above, it has been seen that the community faced the issue of diversity. I
live in Australian community where people came from different backgrounds. People did not
agree with each other’s points and their concerns. I would like to participate in the
community as a leader to take the initiative to resolve the conflicts between the members. To
play the role as a leader, I will make plan so that I can resolve the issue of diversity. My main
goal of making the plan is to become a good leader to eliminating the challenge along with
generating all possible ways to address the issue (Voegtlin, 2016). An ethical leader can
resolve the conflicts between the members and develop the healthy relation in the members of
community. A leader has the responsibility to walk with the whole team together for the
growth of community. These responsibilities of a leader help me to resolve the issue
(Tannenbaum, & Schmidt, 2017). SMART objective plan is used to improve the capacity of a

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leader or develop the leadership skills such as communication, innovative, decision making,
and analytical (Dinh, et al., 2014).
From 2019, I will investigate the responsibilities of a leader to eliminate the issues
from the community. For this, I would to like to interact with different people who are in the
senior position. It will help me to understand the changes which are require for eliminating
the issue of diversity from the community. My responsibilities are to address the unethical
leadership so that I will create a culture where people feel safe and valued. The main goal of
my plan is not only to address the issue of diversity but also to remove the biases and create a
culture of positivity which will create a culture of positivity.
After analysing the responsibility of a leader, I will plan to learn the skills to become
a good leader. For this I will take the yoga classes so that my mind will be stable and I can
take the appropriate decision for the community. Motivation is also a function of a
leadership; to motivate others it is required for me to maintain the positivity in mind. By
using the digital technology, I will study the different books from library websites and try to
improve my knowledge.
Eco-leadership theory will also help me to perform my responsibilities more
effectively. The qualities of eco-leadership define the network, ethics, human spirit and
challenges faced by communities. Connectivity quality of eco-leadership helps me to make
the connection in the social environment. System ethics helps to understand the moral values
of a society and leadership spirit quality teaches the importance of human spirits and the last
quality helps me to understand the joys and challenges faced by the community. By
implementing these qualities in the real life, I will learn lot of things to become a good leader.
With the learning of skills, I will investigate the challenges which I can face in the future as a
leader.

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By analysing the responsibilities and making the plan it is required to implement it in the real
life. With the help of smart objective, my plan is explained more effectively:
SMART objective
Smart-
To become the good leader, my main objective is to focus on the communication,
innovation, decision making and analytical skills. I have to learn these skills so that I will be
able to eliminate the challenges which are faced by the community due to diversity (Moore,
2017).
Measurable-
To attain this objective, I will give enough time to myself to complete the task without
rush. For all those activities and skills, it is necessary to practise the skills in practical. I will
take feedback by senior management on my responsibilities.
Attainable-
To learn the leadership skill, I will take the English classes on the regular basis. For
the positive mind, I have to give enough time to myself and motivate myself. I will also do
internship in the organisation to learn the skills practically.
Relevant-
To perform the responsibility it is required to learn the new skills of communication,
decision making, innovative. Joining the classes will improve my communication skills and
my knowledge regarding the leadership will also increase by reading books from the library
or by using the digital technology (Jian, & Fairhurst, 2017).
Time-

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The whole plan requires 1 -2 years for mind set for the leadership. Due to this, I will
start learning from 2019 and give maximum time to myself till 2021.
After learning the skills, I will use these skills in the community to address the issue
with the transformational approach of leadership. Transformation approach defines that the
leader should respect the views of members and implements them for the long term growth
(Berkovich, 2016). This approach helps to resolve the disputes which are raised due to
different behaviour of members. Discrimination and different thoughts are the main factor
which affects the community. Implementing skills with the transformation approach will help
me to reduce the conflicts between the members (Ghasabeh, Soosay, & Reaiche, 2015).
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it has been concluded that the workforce diversity is the
common issue in the community. The community faced these issues due to different thoughts
and mentality of people as per their religion. As per the critical approach theory of leadership,
discrimination, communication, and generation gap are the factors which affect the members
of community. The ethical dimensions of leadership are relationship, perspective, integrity
and commitment that define the ethical leader who has the responsibility to develop the
positive environment. To address this issue, it is required to learn the communication,
decision making, perspective and innovative skills. A plan of 2 years is prepared to learn the
skills and that I will start from 2019. Implementation of the Eco-leadership qualities will help
to address the diversity issue which is faced by the community.

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