Leadership and its importance in organisational development

This article discusses the definition of leadership and its importance in organisational development. It also emphasizes the significance of ethics in leadership and how it promotes a trustworthy and safe organisational culture. Additionally, it provides insights on how to manage resistance to change and the essential characteristics of great leaders.

Question 1: Create your own definition of leadership
An effective and efficient leader assists in determining the corporate goals of the
corporation and bringing together a team which is focused towards achieving such
objectives. Taking the role of a leader means demonstrating a highly ethical and moral
character which sets an example for the entire workplace. Bring a leader it is necessary that
you teach leadership skills to employees who will use such abilities to perform difficult tasks
in the organisation which would move the company forward. These skills are necessary for
them to possess in order to address the future requirements. Being a leader requires you to
perform various tasks such as recruitment, hiring and promotion of employees who possess
and demonstrate leadership skills. The focus of this essay will be organisational and
leadership development.
Being a leader push a person to analyse his/her own strengths and weaknesses along with
the company which assist the leader in developing a great sense of reality. Being a leader,
you can make rules regarding the appropriate conduct of employees and prevent them from
behaving badly with others in the corporation (Brown, 1992). Furthermore, being a leader
means you focus on the value of customers and how they should be treated and the
significance of their returning.
Leadership is the first step to push business towards success, and the leadership starts with
you possessing five essential characteristics of great leaders. The first trait of leadership is
flexibility because not all plans succeed. They are affected due to change in government
regulations, competitors’ strategies, natural disasters or negative response on products. In
these situations, a leader has to be able to quickly change course by firstly ensuring that the
business survives, then finding a way to reach the goals.
The ability of communication is the second trait of a leader. History has taught us that great
leaders are orators; however, only good speaking skills are not enough to make a great
leader. People who talk big but delivers nothing cannot become great leaders. Effective
leaders not only communicate their opinions to employees but they also use their strengths
and character to fuel the communication and empower others to join and contribute their
thoughts in the conversation to set organisational goals and finding ways to achieve them.

The third trait of great leaders is a group of characteristics such as patience, persistence and
courage. The leader must have the courage to stand alone and persistence to handle the
pressure and patience to continue the fight until the targets are achieved. Many times the
leader is required to do all these things at the same time which is why you should develop
these skills if you wanted to become a great leader.
A combination of humility and presence is the fourth essential trait of great leadership.
Arrogance does not make a great leader, instead, a great leader is made by talking and
listening to the ideas of his/her employees from each department. Furthermore, the leader
is required to earn the respect of his/her employees which he/she can earn by having
integrity, honesty and being tough but fair towards employees.
The last but not the least characteristic of a great leader is his/her ability to be responsible.
The leader must have the ability to take responsibility when the business does not perform
well. The leader must be the first one to accept the blame and when awards are being
distributed than the leader should spread them out among employees. After compliance
with these traits, a great leader is born.
Question 2: Among the themes, discuss the importance of ethics in
leadership
Highly ethical and moral standards are two of the most highly rated characteristics of
leadership because they promote a trustworthy and safe organisational culture. A highly
ethical leader is committed towards fairness which means he/she ensures that the interest
of both the company and employees is achieved. Furthermore, ethical leaders clearly state
their expectations which make sure that employees did not have the wrong expectations
and they have similar goals. While working in a safe environment, employees can perform at
their highest capacity which increases innovation and creativity in the workplace.
This point is supported by neuroscience, for example, when amygdala sense threat, then
arteries started to harden in order to handle high flow of blood in the body which prepare a
person for fight or response to a fight. During this stage, people lose access to executive
function of prefrontal cortex, drive for excellence, inhibiting creating and engagement

system of limbic brain. Thus, as per principles of neuroscience, it is necessary that
employees feel safe in the workplace to increase innovation and creativity.
The ability of a leader to behave this way comes from his/her values because while making
business decisions, the actions are justified by the principles and core values of the leader.
“Deep Fast Forwarding” is a good exercise which helps in this in which people envision their
funeral and think what others are saying. Then they ask themselves, is this what they
wanted to hear? Based on this exercise, people can sense relevant things which guide them
during decision-making. Working on communication skills is a great way to establish a safe
environment in the workplace and leaders can achieve that by realising consequences and
fears at the workplace.
Question 3: How will you demonstrate leadership to those who resist
change?
Following are different characterises of leadership which result in resistance towards
change.
Misunderstanding: When the reason for the change is not clear between staff, then leaders
can expect resistance. Many times leaders are misunderstood regarding the change
procedure, and they are unable to provide a proper reason for the change. In this case,
employees who believe in the effectiveness of current ways are more likely to resist to the
change.
Lack of competence: Sometimes, change in an organisation requires change in the skills of
employees and some employees believe that they will not be able to make this transition
effectively. Employees who are connected with traditional methods are more likely to resist
the new way of work. For a leader, the new way may seem as rational; however, employees
who have an emotional connection to old ways are more likely to resist change.
Fear of the unknown: Employees have a fear of the unknown which is considered as one of
the most common reason for resistance to change. It is in the nature of people that they
only take steps towards the unknown if they believe that it will lead to success. Still, the fear
of remaining still is greater than the fear of moving forward in a new direction.

Change in status quo: Many employees resist change because they think that it will result in
favouring another employee, group or department. On the other hand, if they believe that
change will be favourable for them, then they are less likely to resist it.
Low trust: The lack of trust in leadership skill of the manager or the company resulted in
increased resistance of employees to change.
Temporary fad: Many employees believe that the change in a temporary fad because they
are not consulted by the management regarding the change which increases the resistance.
Employees prefer to know the decisions of the management, especially if the decisions are
likely to affect their job. Thus, uninformed employees are more likely to resist change and
bring more dissatisfied than compared to informed employees.
Exhaustion: Employees who are exhausted goes with the change, but they did not have the
motivation to achieve their targets to improve their performance which hurts the overall
performance of the enterprise.
Poor communication: In case of change management, communication is a key element
which assists in reducing the resistance of employees.
Benefits and rewards: During a change, if the benefits and rewards received by employees
are not appropriate or adequate, then the leader can expect resistance.
Key changes in routines: Employees like to work in their comfort zones, and they are more
likely to resist change if it changes their routine.
Leaders who expect resistance during change and make plant before starting the change
management program are more likely to manage objections of employees and implement
the changed policies effectively.