Leadership and Learning Organization

The role of leadership is essential in the creation of a genuine learning organization regardless of size (either a small enterprise or a large corporation). This article explores the role of leadership in creating a learning organization and analyzes the phrase 'leaders are designers, steward and teachers' in relation to the wisdom of leadership and challenges of learning in an organization.

Leadership and learning organization
Name
School

Introduction
The role of leadership is essential in the creation of a genuine learning organization
regardless of size (either a small enterprise or a large corporation). According to research
conducted by Carmeli, Ben-Hador, Waldman and Rupp (2009 p.1553) the traditional model of a
leader as “an energetic hero” controlling a group of employees does not correspond with
flexibility, motivation and innovation which is a key requirement in diverse management levels
for an organization to gain success in today’s competitive environment. Currently, the new
model of a “leader” is described in a combination of designer, steward and teacher as Bui and
Baruch (2012 p.515) emphasize they are responsible for building an organization where
employees improve shared mental models, clarify vision, missions, objectives, goals and
expanding their skills, experience and capabilities of understanding complexity. Therefore, it’s
due to abilities of leaders to deal with these diverse organizational challenges and opportunities,
the paper seeks to analyze the phrase “leaders are designers, steward and teachers” in relation to
wisdom of leadership and challenges of learning in an organization.
Leaders are designers, steward and teachers
According to research conducted by Jackson (2017 p.139), learning organizations focus
on three main tasks that include: stewards, teachers and designers. Steward’s tasks mainly focus
on an ability of a leader to think about the long-term picture of a company and train the
employees to work on what is essential for an organization’s long-term success (Morrisette and
Oberman, 2013 p.59). Furthermore, Steward Model of leadership focuses on an expedient model
of leadership. The “designer tasks” focuses on governing core values, vision, purpose and ideas
in which people adopt. The “Teacher” task focuses on how leaders assist their followers in
enhancing and developing their career further.

In an organizational context, as a designer, a leader is mandated to uphold roles of system
architect that involves a deep understanding of an organization as a “living system” consisting of
processes, roles, metrics and designing ideas that significantly guides the followers. Generally, a
leader –as- a designer is mandated to be in a position of designing processes and systems by
which an organization must continue to learn. For example, a leader might use his or her wisdom
to design a behind-the-scenes activity in which he or she can be able to anticipate potential
challenges experienced in an organization and design an effective system to handle the problems
before they arise. A research conducted by White and Shullman (2010 p.94) shows that effective
measurement of a leader as when people say “we did it our self”. The finding is aligned with the
adaptive and generative organizational theory that emphasized that a leader as a designer must
understand the gaps that exist between employees and focuses on the foundation of existing
knowledge in order to solve the contemporary learning organization challenge of “process”. On
his research, “Worlds in the making: design, management, and the reform of organizational
culture” Buchanan (2015 p. 5) quoted that “it is fruitless to be the leader in an organization that
is poorly designed”. The statement implies that a leader must integrate his or her wisdom in order
to design a learning organization that is governed by ideas, core values, visions and goals.
Furthermore, a leader must also design structures, strategies and policies that are essential in
translating ideas in an organization into business decisions. In addition, behind the structures and
strategies, there are effective learning processes.
A role of a teacher as a leader begins by surfacing employee’s mental models of essential
issues. The mental models have significantly influenced on how employees make decisions,
identifies courses of actions and perceives opportunities and problems. Furthermore, a leader-as-
a-teacher has an essential role in serving as a mentor to his followers. In an organizational

context, like any other teacher, serving as a mentor means being knowledgeable and aware on
how employees learn, inspiring employees to keep learning whether indirectly or directly and in
order to enhance their personal and professional career development plans.
In a learning organization, a leader’s teaching role is usually developed through
explicating attention to employee’s mental models which involves helping all types of employees
to gain more insight about the current reality of an organization. A research conducted by
Gordon and Gilley (2012 p.28) also emphasized that a leader-as-a-teacher has a role of “defining
reality” in a workplace with reality in relation to the practical parameters or operation field.
Many organization oversees the “reality” principle as a set of constraints for the creative process
to excel but it takes effective leadership to train employees on how to adapt to “realities” whether
in form of market forces, available resources or ecological. Furthermore, through principle of
“reality” leaders as teachers are able to assist diverse employees to restructure their “reality
views” in order for them to see beyond superficial events and conditions into underlying causes
of challenges and thus they are able to see near possibilities for shaping the future (Caldwell,
Dixon, Floyd, Chaudoin, Post and Cheokas (2012 p.175).
Particular, the distinct levels that leaders’ influences people in order to develop an
efficient learning organization include systemic structure, patterns of behavior and events.
Further research conducted by Robinson (2009 p.1) shows that the current community focuses
more on events as compared to systemic structures and patterns of behavior. Furthermore, in a
learning organization, “leaders-as-teachers” must reverse the trend and pay more attention to the
systemic structure as both “events and pattern of behavior” cannot identify long term trends and
their implications. Furthermore, event and pattern of behaviors only provide how leaders can
respond over time to shifting condition (adaptive theory of organizational learning) (Chiva,

Grandío and Alegre (2010 p.114). Furthermore, the structural explanations are regarded as
powerful because they identify behavioral causes at diverse levels in a way that behaviors can be
changed (generative theory of organizational learning) ( Alegre 2010 p.115).
In a learning organization, a-leader-as-a-teacher should become a “role model” someone
around whom employees or followers can learn and also create a space for others to learn.
Furthermore, in order to curb the contemporary challenges of “goals,” a leader must grow
employees in the organization by understanding the principle that “people are not machines”
(Lake, Ullman, Tenenbaum and Gershman (2017 p.1). In addition, a-leader-as-a-teacher builds
organizational capacity, influencing the culture of an organization and creates a conducive
environment that can close essential capacity gaps that might limit opportunities for developing
organizational learning. Furthermore, leader-as-a-teacher also trains employees on expectations,
believes and values which further helps them to appreciate and understand underlying mental
models and systematic structure than just short term events.
As a steward, a leader is mandated to show genuine commitment and engagement in
matters related to the organization. The commitment and engagement require persuasiveness and
clarity of ideas, openness and commitment in order for employees to continually learn and adapt
to changing environment. According to Caldwell and Hayes (2010 p.497) as a steward, a leader
must set governing ideas and serve a cohesive vision which is essential in enhancing
organizational learning. The ability of a leader to serve a cohesive vision combines the servant
model of leadership that emphasizes on “principle-centered” (Parris and Peachey, 2013 p.377)
meaning leaders must uphold their ideas to develop an effective learning organization.
Furthermore, through “servant leadership” a leader is able to solve learning organization
challenges of process, goals and incentives. Furthermore, a leader manifests stewardship in

diverse ways regarding employees’ challenges as the primary value, building an organization
that supports self-actualization and provides opportunities or an organization that is dedicated in
promotion of innovation and creativity. As a steward, a leader also ensures learning in an
organization is continued by striving for professional excellence in a particular department or by
being the pragmatic path and oriented towards pooling together actions and ideas. In addition,
whether inclined towards highly practical or altruistic, a leader-as-a-steward values all
employees and sets a clear vision of the important processes and instills goals into the culture of
an organization.
Conclusion
The report concludes that by acting as a teacher, designer and steward, a leader contributes the
process accomplishing the organizational mission, visions and reviving dead dreams and
bringing ideas into being.

References
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