Role of Leadership in Influencing Organisational Culture and Values

This report discusses the role of leadership in influencing organisational culture and values, as well as the impact of symbolic and substantive leadership actions on the culture. It also explores different leadership styles, theories, and values that affect employee motivation. The examples of symbolic and substantive leadership are provided to illustrate their impact on organisational culture.

Running Head: MANAGEMENT
0
David
5/15/2019

MANAGEMENT
1
Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
(a). Analysis of role leadership plays in influencing organisational culture and values, motivation.....2
(b). Impact of the symbolic and substantive leadership actions and patterns on the organisational
culture....................................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................4

MANAGEMENT
2
Introduction
The report brings about the discussion on the concept of leadership and organisational
culture, their relationship and other related leadership theories, motivation influence
organisation. In the later part, two issues mentioned i.e. symbolic and substantive actions and
patterns in the leadership and management shape the organisational culture.
(a). Analysis of role leadership plays in influencing organisational culture and
values, motivation
Organisational culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, or perceptions held by the
employees in an organisation. Leaders play a vital role in initiating, pioneering, and
accomplishing the cultural changes in the organisation (Driskill, 2018). They have a powerful
influence on the organisational culture as they affect the way that employees perceive their
work experience. It has been found that the success of a leader is determined through their
ability to shape and uphold organisational culture.
Leadership or leaders influence the culture of an organisation, in both positive and
negative manner. For an instance, leaders in an organisation set expectations and help people
build the required skills. In this way, it leads to development of a positive work culture and
healthy environment, thereby enhancing the organisational performance (Jaques, 2017).
Key leadership styles or theories include democratic, transformational, strategic
leadership style, coaching leadership style, laissez faire leadership, and charismatic
leadership style. Theories include transformational, transactional theory, great man theory,
trait theory, and others. These theories of leadership is used to understand and analysis the
idea, why certain individuals become leaders (Antonakis and Day, 2017).
Some of the important values of leadership consist of respect, integrity, courage,
wisdom, accountability, perseverance and discipline. In context to organisations, motivation
is one of the key values of leadership that is crucial to increase productivity, quality, and
speed of work. Motivation is one of the significant aspects that help individuals to achieve
their objectives and leader must focus on increasing the morale and confidence of the people.
Therefore, it can be stated that leaders are typically held accountable for motivating
individuals or followers in an organisation. Motivated employees work better and help in the

MANAGEMENT
3
attainment of predetermined goals and objectives of the organisation. Hence, it has been
analysed from the above discussion that leadership is vital to the organisational performance
and leads to success in the long term (Ashikali and Groeneveld, 2015).
(b). Impact of the symbolic and substantive leadership actions and patterns on
the organisational culture
The term ‘symbolic’ leadership is referred to the power of leadership created by the
group rather than the leader. Substantive actions or patterns of leadership are explicit, and
highly visible, and determines the commitment of the management toward attaining a
particular goal. On the other hand, symbolic leadership is valuable as it indicates the signals
about the desired behaviour, expected by leaders to promote individuals in the organisation.
It has been found that through practising symbolic leadership, leaders ignite high levels of
motivation in the individuals (Driskill, 2018).
Delineation of the roles and authority assists leaders understand their responsibilities
and avoid issues such as ineffective decision making in the organisation. Nelson Mandela is
identified as an example of symbolic leadership, as his ability to take was limited and
worked with power and influence. Every action of the symbolic leader has the emotional
impact on other individual. For an example, the case or situation of harassment faced by any
employees will result managers taking strict actions, such as they may fire the person
(Antonakis and Day, 2017).
Another example can be the actions of a symbolic leader who thinks smoking is bad
or wrong in the organisation. Therefore, the above-mentioned examples will lead to a change
in the behaviour of the employees, and will determine the impact on the organisational
culture (Shabana and Ravlin, 2016).
Examples of the substantive actions or patterns of leadership may include the
activities, which lead to a change or replace the culture of an organisation. This is one of the
aspects that show an organisation’s commitment towards a particular thing (Shabana and
Ravlin, 2016). Examples may include, replacing the key executives who resist or obstruct
needed organisational and cultural changes. It also includes promoting the employees or
individuals who move forward towards a new environment or culture, and here, leaders serve

MANAGEMENT
4
as role models for desired cultural behaviour (Mayfield, Mayfield and Sharbrough III,
2015).
Conclusion
To conclude the above discussion it has been analysed that leadership plays a vital
role in the organisational culture. The discussion in the above report has mentioned different
aspects of leadership styles, theories, and values affecting the motivation of employees in an
organisation. The concept of leadership and leaders is significant to the efficiency of
operations and lead to enhanced performance of the employee’s productivity. In addition, the
aspects and examples of the symbolic and substantive leadership is also illustrated in the
assignment. Hence, leaders must contribute and play their effective roles in determining the
high performance of organisations.

MANAGEMENT
5
References
Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. (2017). The nature of leadership. United States: Sage
publications.
Ashikali, T. and Groeneveld, S.(2015). Diversity management in public organizations and its
effect on employees’ affective commitment: The role of transformational leadership
and the inclusiveness of the organizational culture. Review of Public Personnel
Administration, 35(2), 146-168.
Driskill, G.W.(2018) Organizational culture in action: A cultural analysis workbook. United
Kingdom: Routledge.
Jaques, E. (2017) Requisite organization: A total system for effective managerial
organization and managerial leadership for the 21st century. United Kingdom:
Routledge.
Mayfield, J., Mayfield, M. and Sharbrough III, W.C.(2015) Strategic vision and values in top
leaders’ communications: Motivating language at a higher level. International
Journal of Business Communication, 52(1), 97-121.
Shabana, K.M. and Ravlin, E.C. (2016). Corporate social responsibility reporting as
substantive and symbolic behaviour: a multilevel theoretical analysis. Business and
society review, 121(2), 297-327.