Essay on Tensions Between Creativity and Power

Humans are social animals on earth. They are not the only social species that highly interact with each other, but no any other species collaborates as effectively as they do (AIPPM, 2016). The fact that we learned how to store vast amounts of inherited information and precisely pass that knowledge from generation to generation gives us an opportunity to open horizons of cooperative work beyond anyones imagination. High levels of social security and technological revolutions of the last decades evolved strictly hierarchical management to the point where ration rules, control, and domination fades compared to the power of creativity of individuals. Nowadays, management of high-class organizations is so diverse and complex that leaders of such institutions may face tensions while choosing between appliance of control and encouragement of creativity. In this essay, I am going to explore that tensions by analyzing and different situations in which different approaches could be effective. Inevitably, not all jobs demand creativity at work, nor are all workplaces surrounded by unbreakable rules and strict orders; that is why in this essay I will particularly focus on the tension in creative industries within the hospitality and tourism industries.

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Regardless the size every kind of organization has to develop stable management structure, or it will not last for long. Initial businesses of the earliest years were implementing strictly hierarchical schemes of management from monarchy, military, and church because none of the other theoretical perspective were invented at that time. In the mid-18th century, that kind of management has been coined as bureaucracy, which Cambridge Dictionary defines as a system for controlling or managing a country, company, or organization that is operated by a large number of officials employed to follow the rules carefully (New World Encyclopedia, 2016). Some sources claim that bureaucratic system has been created long before words and theories were devised to describe it in detail (Dick, 2016). Although administrative management has been reasonably called Outdated and many other times criticized, it remains common among some organizations even in the hospitality industry (Rsharpe, 2016).

The adoption of control and creativity in leadership as a general thing is something that can be done by a single leader, however, depending on the situation at hand and the various circumstances of the hospitality company. On the other hand, leaders can choose to strictly adopt each of these leadership perspectives outright with little or no compromise of one for the other. It is argued that there is no right way to lead and that either a creative or control perspective can work for any organization. However, it is also interesting to learn that each of these perspectives of leadership has is different and have their implications for any organization within the field of hospitality and works distinctly when used. To understand how these two types of leadership approach work, it is important to explore the methods through a thorough comparison and contrast of their operation modes.

A deeper insight into these two types of leadership reveals general distinctions between the approaches and mechanisms involved. Regarding control of the organizational activities and human resources, the creative direction leads from beside the organizational hierarchy, through means of inspiration, trust and delegation of the human resources at their disposal. The creative leaders seek to find new approaches through the motivation and tapping the ability of the employees they have to work with. The creative leader has a clear vision for the organization which they vividly communicate. In line with the vision, they ask important questions and solicit new ideas that could be helpful for the improvement and enhancement of the vision. Decision making for the organization lead through a creative leadership is based upon well thought and solicited input of ideas. The implementation of organizational goals is also based upon the decisions made by a creative and innovative team who are al treated as colleagues rather than subordinates. The success of the organization built upon strict creative leadership is dependent on the ability and comfortability of the organization to take calculated risks, encourage innovation of ideas, accept failure and reward entrepreneurial action appropriately.

This kind of organizational leadership can be compared to transformational leadership and can be well exercised in the hospitality and tourism industries. Transformational leadership is aimed at motivating and employees and through leadership appeal to higher moral values and ideals. The leadership style of the transformational leaders must be able to transform and motivate the performance of individuals within the organization. According to Capellan this kind of leadership is based on four dimensions also critical to the hospitality business. These dimensions include; idealized influence; inspirational motivation; intellectual stimulation; and individualized consideration. The leadership tenacity of executives and managers in the hotel industry is put to the test following the rapidly changing business environment. A study reveals that transformational leadership is entirely related to communication clarity and freedom; clarity of mission; good leader-employee relations and leader effectiveness (Capellan, 2015); all of which compounded into enhanced employee performance in hotel service.

An instance where this kind of leadership has worked effectively is with the Southwest Airlines in the Americas led by Herb Kelleher. The success of the airline is attributed to Herb Kellehers key competencies in leadership adopted throughout the period he has been charge with the company. These attributes include; good health, reasonable intelligence; personal consideration and long attention span; individual patience and love for the people he works with in the company. Herb is also known to possess key skill attributes apart from his knowledge and expertise as a leader. The skills are inclusive of priority and goal oriented ability; good and careful listening ability; sound personal judgment; and passion in advocacy for important issues affecting the airline and its staff. Due to herbs kind of leadership for the airline company, the organization has flourished despite the harsh airline industry climate that has seen major airlines record losses and formed mergers to compete effectively. The leadership style can be seen in the key decisions that his leadership made and have successfully and hugely paid off including;

The use of a single plan for their entire carrier needs to maintain their expenses at the right limits and maximize profits.

Increasing their on-time performance through point to point flights rather than the dominant industry hub and spoke system.

Ensure less down time and extra flight each day with the incorporation of in-flight services.

Less complex one way fare structures to passengers

A lean, productive and well-compensated workforce that is always happy and the industries best paid.

Their fuel hedging methods are aggressive (Cote, 2016)

According to Herb Kelleher, he has always worked hard to make the company an enjoyable place to work for all the staff and passengers. He believes that well-motivated and inspired staff members have enhanced productivity for the organization since they are eager to serve the customers well. As a result the leadership has put up a service-profit chain model that evaluates employee loyalty, satisfaction and value of the shareholder. This is an all-inclusive organization that is aimed at the participation of each single stakeholder for the success of a common purpose under a transformational leadership

Transactional leadership, on the other hand, is likened to a power and control leadership. This kind of organization presents a distinct style of organizational management. The powerful leader takes a superior decision-making point within the organization and directs others through constant checks and control of their activities and maintains his position as the leader and figurehead of the organization. The best knowledge of the industry and how the organization is run is bestowed upon the leader of the controller leader and is often looked up to for direction and guidance in all areas of operation of the organization. The decision the leadership makes is not necessarily composed of consulted and solicited ideas but comes from a team which solely makes decisions and goes ahead to implement those ideas. The members of the staff that makes up the organization are as a result treated as subordinates rather than colleagues. These members are hired based on their track records and are rewarded as a result of their performance. Failure and risk taking are abhorred at all costs by the control and power drove leadership who cares about the results above anything else.

A good example of highly bureaucratic organization is Delta Airlines. In 1934, the management structure of this company evolved from a simple structure to an expanding Machine Bureaucracy. This a type of organization that built fame based on power and control driven leadership which is in some aspects similar to the transactional type of leadership described in this paper. In bureaucracies like this one, there tend to be strict operation rules as delegated from a top and superior power-head. The airline which is also considered the most successful airline company in the United States built its success based on this kind of management in the past years led by Collet Everman Woolman. Woolman, literally managing a small group of individual employees managed to transform the airline company from a mini organization into the largest using simple designs and operations that paid off handsomely. During this period Woolman was the center of the power within the organization and oversaw a significant expansion of the company which still uses a quite similar kind of leadership organization to date although with little modifications.

At Delta Airlines, there is the apex of leadership that control quite everything within the organization. The apex leader is closely aided by a support staff. Key decisions concerning staffing and finances are made by the apex of the leadership. Other decisions are also made by top managers within the system. The various company procedures are also standardized for most of the staff and communication also makes a vertical nature with the apex relaying information that is to be followed by the other staff. This kind of organizational leadership has paid off for Delta Airlines due to the undisputable strength of the executive. The same structure has also caused some human resource ripples to the airline industry including disconnection between the executive and the lower organizational staff hence employee dissatisfaction; high employee turnover; and alleged financial exploitation of lower staff for company profit.

The hospitality industry has witnessed several changes in the past few years regarding market control and business environments. The leaders and the leadership of the organizations found within this industry play a major role in making the industry a major force to reckon in the business world. To ensure this comes into place, the two key perspectives of leadership must be looked into to come up with the appropriate method that is workable for each and every organization within the industry. The leaders in this industry must, therefore, maintain scanning of the business environment and plan for continuous change to cope up with the constantly changing business and organizational management strategies (Chian...