Challenges Faced by Leaders in Today's Dynamic World: An Analysis

This essay analyzes the significant challenges leaders face in the contemporary business environment. It explores issues such as developing managerial effectiveness, improving communication, inspiring employees, building and managing teams, adapting to change, and managing internal stakeholders. The paper highlights the importance of time management, goal setting, delegation, and role clarity as strategies to overcome these hurdles. Additionally, it recommends incorporating leadership traits like individualism and collectivism to foster effective teamwork and communication. The analysis draws on research and provides recommendations for enhancing leadership development programs, aiming to equip leaders with the skills needed to navigate the complexities of the modern workplace and achieve organizational success.

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“Challenges of leadership in Today’s world”
Leaders have an important role in managing the operational activities of the company. It
has been analyzed that without leaders it would not be possible for the company to attain the set
goals and objectives in the competitive market. Leaders are the individuals who emphasize on
giving direction and also set rules and regulations in the workplace. It is necessary to have
effective leaders as it will help the companies to enhance their success possibilities (Antonakis &
Day, 2017). In this paper, the discussion will be made on the “challenges faced by the leaders in
today’s world”. The recommendations will also be given to improve the quality of the leadership.
It is examined that there are various challenges related to leading the organization in
today’s world. One of the challenges relates to developing the managerial effectiveness. It can be
investigated that it is the challenge to develop the relevant skills such as strategic thinking, time
management and also decision making process. Leader’s focus on boosting the effectiveness of
work, so they emphasize on developing the managerial effectiveness but it is the challenge that is
faced by them in the present era. It is not easy for the leaders to develop the managerial skills
among the subordinates as the behavior of individuals varies from each other (Komives &
Wagner, 2016).
Failure to communicate is also the challenge that is faced at the time of leading the
company in today’s world. It is examined that complexity in the present business world need the
CEO to communicate on the different levels. For example: If the leaders have to make the vision
to persuade the team to create their own vision, then the leader has to connect on the individual
level. But due to the high pressure of competition the leaders are not able to communicate
effectively with their employees an instead of communication they make rules and regulations
that should be followed. In this case the challenge faced by the leaders also relates with boosting
the efficiency of the employees towards their work (Mendenhall et al., 2017).
Inspiring other person is the major challenge that is faced by the leaders in the present
business world. It has been evaluated that in the competitive market, it is not an easy job to
motivate and inspire the employees to work effectively towards the set goals and objectives of
the company. It is important for the leader to ensure that the employees are satisfied with their
and working in a smart manner. But as there are many opportunities avail with the employees,
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they always focus on grabbing the best opportunity, so it creates difficulty for the leaders to
retain talented employees in the workplace (Johnson, 2017).
Leading a team also one of the challenges that are faced by the leaders in today’s
business environment. The challenge relates to team building, team development and also team
management. Team building and team development is considered as the toughest job for the
leaders as there are many employees who have different behavior and attitude. There are various
strategies that are made by the leaders to lead the team, but in relation to all the strategies the
leaders cannot ensure that they will achieve success or not (Spears & Lawrence, 2016).
The control should be maintained over the activities of the company, so that effective
teams can be generated which help in boosting the productivity ratio in the high competition
level prevailing in the market. This challenge is faced in the countries such as Spain-40%, UK
20.8%, Singapore 17.9%, US 11.6%, India 13% and in China 10%. So, it can be stated that the
major challenge is faced in the UK market. The leaders in the UK market have to face the high
level of challenge in relation to controlling the operational activities of the companies in highly
competitive business world (Gentry, Eckert, Stawiski, & Zhao, 2015).
Development of the employees in the workplace is the challenge in which the emphasis is
given on different factors such as mentoring and coaching. It is investigated that for leaders it is
not an easy job to give coaching to the employees. There are many workers from different
background who have different mindset, so that challenge is faced by the leaders at the time of
explaining the organizational activities. Developing the employees simply means to enhance the
profits of the company. If the employees possess the skills that are required then they will be able
to give their best but for this the leaders have to face the challenge to give accurate information
in relation to the activities of the company (Herman, 2016).
The companies in today’s world have to face the challenge related with change. The
challenge relates with managing, mobilization and understanding the change. At the time of
implementing the change there are various issues that takes place such as employee’s reaction to
change and also to overcome the resistance to change. The leaders have to face the different
reactions of the employees and also their responsibility is to control the aggression and also
resistance in context to the changes made in the operational activities. It creates difficulty for the
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leaders to deal with the resistance made by the employees at the time of changes made in the
workplace (Heifetz & Linsky, 2017).
Managing internal stakeholders is the challenge in relation to control the relations and
politics. The challenge that is faced relates with gaining the managerial support and also
managing the different departments, groups or the individuals. At the time of managing the
routine activities of the company this is also one of the challenges that take place. According to
the chart, it has been analyzed that managing the internal stakeholders and politics is the major
challenge that is faced in China, UK, Singapore and US. In China 17.2% are faced, Singapore
20.5%, UK 16%, US 24%. So, it can be said that the major challenge is faced in the UK market
(Gentry, Eckert, Stawiski, & Zhao, 2015).
Source: (Gentry, Eckert, Stawiski, & Zhao, 2015).
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Therefore, it can be stated that these are the challenges that are faced at the time of
leading the company in the today’s world. It is necessary for the leaders to minimize these
challenges so that positive outcome can be attained.
By knowing that these challenges are common experiences for the middle and senior
managers the individuals can easily attain benefits from knowing that their experiences are not
isolated and they can reach confidently out to others for assisting in relation to these challenges.
Changes that should be considered relates with developing the managerial effectiveness. To
maintain this it is important to focus on time management so that it could be easy to maintain the
schedules of work. It has been examined that in China, India and United States this challenge is
faced. This showcase that the challenge for the leaders have a different skills such as
Prioritization, time management and decision making (Gentry, Eckert, Stawiski, & Zhao, 2015).
This can also be considered as the challenge relates with managerial effectiveness and it
has relevancy with the today’s world of work. In complex and uncertain times the biggest
leadership challenge is concerned with the workload that is one of the challenges in many
situations. There are many critical projects and activities that are going on with the specified
resources in the group (Gentry, Eckert, Stawiski & Zhao, 2015).In relation to these challenges it
is important to emphasize on the four aspects such as goal setting, delegation, work on the
activities that boost the unique value add and also there should be some role clarity. Setting goals
is one of the factor in which it is important to be proactive in establishing the set timeline. The
deadlines should be considered to keep the work on track and to achieve efficiency.
It can be said that no leaders can avoid the surprises, so goal setting offers a map that can
help in considering the top priorities. At the time of setting goal, it is important to focus on
SMART APPROACH in which there should be detailed description of the goals, the set targets
should be measurable, then it is important to ensure that goals can be met or not and also realistic
terms should be considered such as talent and resources and at last the deadlines should be
created so that goals can be attained (Cashman, 2017).
If the individuals want to be more and want to empower their friends to take the
ownership then it is important to focus on the delegation aspect. At the time of delegation it is
important to focus on the preferences, knowledge and skills of the people and also the clarity
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should be there. The unique value should also be maximized in which prioritization is one of the
important aspect on which focus should be given at the time of doing important activities. Here
will be also many things that will be competing for the attention but it is important to prioritize
the work so that it could be easy to boost the efficiency. Leaders can also create value for the
companies by emphasizing on the unique contributions. By delegating it could be easy to boost
the value which is created for the company (Haynes, Hitt & Campbell, 2015).
Role clarity can be last step that should be considered to meet the challenges of leading in
such complex and uncertain times. It is important to consider the core responsibility of the work
is. It is important to know that the work which is important should be completed first so that
positive outcome can be attained. The effective managers will be judged by considering their
core responsibilities towards their work (Rosenbach, 2018).
It has been examined that inspiring others and leading a team is the challenge that is
faced by the countries such as Spain and Singapore. In relation to work, the leaders have the role
to motivate the employees so that they can give their best towards the work. The biggest
leadership that can be faced relates with motivating the employees. To motivate the employees is
one of the important aspects that should be considered by the leaders so that it could be easy to
attain the positive outcome. To boost the motivation and to inspire the employees it is important
for the leaders to offer rewards so that it could have positive mindset towards their work. So, it is
important for the leaders to focus towards motivating the employees so that employees can be
inspired in relation to the activities of the company (Priest & Gass, 2017).
It is recommended that it is important to emphasize on the leadership traits to improve the
leadership development programs. There are many leadership traits such as Individualism and
collectivism that should be considered by the leaders so that it could be easy to minimize the
challenges that are faced in today’s world. The approach to Individualism and collectivism
should be considered in which the leaders who possess Individualistic conduct thee activities one
by one with each team member and also they permit the employees to express their personalities.
These leaders’ focuses on direct communication with the subordinate that can help in reducing
the challenge related to “Failure to communicate”. Such leaders also take into consideration the
open door policy in which the employees can share their queries and concerns with the leaders
directly (Triandis, 2018).
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The challenge related to leading a team and guiding for change can also be reduce if
collectivism approach is considered by leaders. It is examined that the leaders who consider
Individualism and collectivism can create productive environment were the team work is boosted
of the employees with highly developed communication skills. This approach can boost the
effective teamwork through which the employees of the company can accomplish their projects
which are complex and difficult in nature (Klenke, 2016). So, it can be recommended that
Individualism and collectivism leadership trait should be considered so that it could be easy to
minimize the challenges that are faced by the leaders in today’s business world.
It is recommended that leaders should focus on low risk avoidance vs high risk avoidance
which is considered as one of the leadership traits. It has been analyzed that future orientation
and uncertainty avoidance affects the business plan and also the challenges that are faced by the
leaders such as managing the internal stakeholders and developing managerial effectiveness can
be result of this. It is important for the leaders to focus on minimizing this issue so that it could
be easy to achieve positive results (Sanders, 2017).
In the high risk avoidance countries, planning should be done by the leaders so that it
could be easy to maintain the relations with the stakeholders. In this it has been seen that only the
plans with the high risk of failure and high certainty of outcome will be considered. In relation to
low risk avoidance it can be seen that planning done by the leaders will be flexible and also the
plans will be accepted for the future unpredictability. So, it can be stated that this leadership trait
should be considered by the leaders so that it could be easy to reduce the challenges related with
managing stakeholders and also leading the team (Sanders, 2017).
It can be stated that short term relations vs long term relationship leadership is also the
trait that should be considered by the leaders. It is observed that this leadership trait can help in
reducing the challenge related with guiding change and leading a team. It is important for the
leaders to focus on maintaining the long term relations with the employees by retaining them in
the workplace. The long term relations of the workers can be maintained if the employees are
satisfied with the assigned work. The long term relations with the employees can only be
generated if the leaders have trust on their employees and also when the employees are interested
in the work assigned to them (Plester & Hutchison, 2016).
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At the time of leading a team it is important to have long term relations with the
employees so that employees can give their best towards the activities of the company which are
assigned by the management. Long term relations can only generated if the leaders have proper
inspiring and communication skills. Therefore, to reduce the challenge it is necessary for the
leaders to emphasize on maintaining the long term relation but it is also the leadership trait which
should be generated within the leaders. In the initial level, short term relations is only
maintained, so the leaders should focus on converting the short term relations into the long term
relations so that challenges can be reduced and employees can feel positive towards the assigned
work by the higher authorities (Northouse, 2017).
Masculinity VS femininity is the important leadership trait that should be considered by
the leaders to improve the leadership programs in the workplace. It is analyzed that it is
important for the leaders to give equal treatment to both male and female of the organization.
The challenge should be minimized by relating to “developing the employees” it is important for
the leaders to provide equal treatment to both male and female so that it could be easy to attain
the positive outcome. It has been said that great leaders always take a personal interest in their
employees so that they it could be easy for them to be efficient and dedicated towards work
(Western, 2019).
In relation to masculinity trait it can be seen that it is related with ambition, acquisition
of wealth and with the differentiated gender role and on the other hand it can be said that it
focuses on caring and nurturing behavior equality and also environmental awareness. In relation
to femininity approach, both men and women should be supposed to be modest and also they
should focus on maintaining the quality of life. Therefore, it can be said that it is important for
the leaders to focus on this trait so that development of the employees can be done effectively
(Kachel, Steffens & Niedlich, 2016).
LOW Vs HIGH DECISION MAKING is also recommended to be considered by the
leaders so that it could be easy to reduce the challenge related to inspiring other and also leading
a team. It has been analyzed that leaders should focus on making high decision in relation to
controlling the activities of the company. The high involvement decisions of leaders should be
made by gathering the accurate information from different sources and then the decisions should
be evaluated and then efforts should be made in making the decision making. The high decision
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making should be involved in the large projects and also to lead the employees of the team. In
relation to this leaders first evaluate the different alternatives so the activities cannot be
negatively affected. In relation to the low involvement decisions there is low risk so the leaders
should make the decisions by consulting to their subordinates and also by analyzing the recent
situation. So, it can be said that these decisions should be made in a proper manner by leaders by
considering all the factors so that positive results can be attained. This can help in achieving
growth in the highly competitive business world (Morente-Molinera, Pérez, Ureña & Herrera-
Viedma, 2015).
By analyzing the paper, it can be concluded that leaders have an important role in
controlling the entire activities of the company. If effective leader is not there then it would not
be possible to attain the set goals. It can be stated that leaders lead and motivate the diversified
group of people across the organizational boundaries. There are various challenges that are faced
by the leaders such as leading a team, guiding change, managing the internal stakeholders and
also inspiring others. It is important to reduce these challenges so that positive results can be
attained. The challenges that are faced in the today’s environment can be reduced by
emphasizing on the leadership traits such as individualism vs collectivism, low risk avoidance vs
high risk avoidance, short term relationship vs long term relationship, Masculinity VS femininity
and low vs high decision making. These leadership traits can help in reducing the challenges
faced by employees and also it can help to maximize the profits of the company in the
competitive environment.
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