Leadership, Culture & Organizational Goals: A Crucial Relationship - Research Paper

Introduction

Leadership refers to the process of guiding a group of employees to achieve a set organization goal or goals. Leadership is critical in any organization success and significantly determines the employee's engagement to the organization goals. The relationship between organizational leadership and culture is clear and constant in that both elements influence each other (Baesu & Bejinaru, 2014). This means that leaders are a result of organizational cultures such as the leadership style and other leadership elements whereas culture is created by the decisions and frameworks established by the organization leaders which become the organization culture through continuous reference and appreciation by the employees (Thuijsman, 2015). Therefore, organization change outcomes are significantly determined by the leadership and cultural aspects of an organization. This research seeks to measure leadership and cultural influence in change and how they co actively influence the desired outcomes on organization growth.

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Leadership Levers for Change

Leadership levers for change are tools that leaders should consider before embarking on organization change. Change management is not limited to the organization leadership but also the levers for leadership change which is a holistic tool that involves a coaching plan, communication plan, resistance management, training plan and creation of a sponsorship plan. The levers of change are more common and practical change management. The outcome of any change in an organization depends on the ability of the employees to embrace change which can be achieved only under strong leadership which involves the fostering of a culture that promotes change acceptability (Flynn & Marshall, 2014). Levers of change are key in changing employee behavior under the right leadership and can facilitate the adoption of change within an organization set up.

Communication Plan

A communication plan refers to the creation of an avenue through which an organization communicates the change plan to the organization (Malek & Yazdanifard, 2012). A good communication plan depends on the organization leadership creativity as well as the organization culture in place. In the communication lever for change, should be able to give the employees the necessary information regarding the change that they might be having and it's the most utilized lever of change management (Malek & Yazdanifard, 2012). The communication plan should be developed to ensure that the change message is right, reaches the audience, uses the right channel and it is timely in nature. Communication lever in change management features prominently because it gives leaders an audience to implement change and also to establish an organizational culture which is crucial in directing the organization intentions.

Sponsorship Road Map Lever

The active and constant involvement of leaders in the organization change has been linked to overall change success of change within organizations. Senior leaders can provide the legitimacy and authority for change because employees look up to the senior leaders for models as well as motivation to carry on organization activities aimed at causing change such as growth in sales, reduction of wastages or adoption of new technology (Flynn & Marshall, 2014). Employees also seek direction and through the assessment of the level of commitment by the leaders can significantly influence the overall employee's engagement. A sponsor roadmap is an outline of the actions that the leaders themselves should take to support the initiative of change within an organization (Flynn & Marshall, 2014). The primary role of the sponsor roadmap during organizational change is to ensure that the senior leader's actions are in alignment with the desired organization change and can be practical sponsors by establishing and championing for activities that are desired for change to be realized.

The Coaching Lever

Coaching means that leaders and supervisors within an organization act as allies of the employees when implementing change by creating coaching plans that outline the potential interactions with the employees and it is essential in helping organizations realize meaningful change. Coaching can be delivered at the individual level or group based coaching. In this case, group-based coaching is best for change realization because it involves teams within organizations which work together to achieve the desired change within the organization (Flynn & Marshall, 2014). For successful change to be realized organizations should invest in imparting new skills amongst the leaders which will increase their overall competency in coaching employees and can influence change significantly. The coaching lever of change is closely related to the training lever of change which involves imparting the correct competencies and skills. In change management, training is necessary to fill the skills gap within the organization, and it is essential for an organization to develop practices that can be ingrained within the organization culture to support and facilitate training efforts of the organization.

Resistance Management Lever in Organization Change

Resistance is natural and normal within organization paradigm and involves psychological response to change. People are more likely to adapt to what gives them comfort and what they already know. Abrupt change within an organization can be faced with significant resistance which calls for the creation of a resistance management plan (Flynn & Marshall, 2014). This means that for change to be successful within an organization manager should be able to anticipate and plan for the resistance instead of waiting because when resistance comes as a surprise, it affects the overall project timelines and the outcomes. Leaders should initiate resistance discoveries within an organization change and activity which can help to proactively manage and react to change resistance which can affect the level of employee engagement and the overall success of engaging in organization change. Resistance management can be in the form of a proactive approach which identifies the sources of resistance and establishes measures that can be taken to manage change. Another resistance management approach is the reactive resistance management which is an on-time response to resistance by identifying the causes, time and establishing people with responsibility in managing change within an organization. Research has proved that being more proactive instead of reactive in resistance management increases the overall success and the ability to attain the desired change. Active resistance management is time-consuming and less useful because it leaves many questions unanswered (Flynn & Marshall, 2014). When an organization minimizes the overall resistance within the personnel can increase the overall performance and attainment of the desired change.

The levers of change are essential tools that can be used to enable leaders to be able to achieve the desired goals and outcomes. All the levers of change should be established to improve the change outcomes within a project initiative. The levers of change are more effective in change management by ensuring that the five levers are more customized to achieve the desired change. Customization, scaling and aligning the change levers to the best practices of change management improves the outcomes of the change initiative, and the five levers of change should be integrated within the project plan to improve the overall realization of change. The levers of change seek to achieve change by ensuring that the leaders have a sponsorship plan, training and proper communication plan (Flynn & Marshall, 2014). Levers of change are instrumental in achieving the desired change by increasing the employee's engagement and preparing an organization for all possible eventualities.

Leadership and Culture Role in Organization Change Conceptualization

The culture of an organization includes values and beliefs which control the activities in an organization. Organizational administrators adjust their behaviors as leaders to ensure the organization's mission. Leadership influences workers' job satisfaction. Culture influences the attitudes and work behavior of organization members (Boonstra, 2012). The sustainability and success of an organization depend on the organizational culture and leadership. Organizations adopt various leadership models to fit the changing culture of the organizations. Culture change involves the use of strategies and resources in addressing various challenges in an organization such as regulatory demands, need for profitability, general and resource management effectiveness and new policies (Pellegrini, 2010). The process requires proper management and leadership qualities.

Organizations often focus on the need to change their operations and behavior patterns because of internal problems, environmental challenges or any relevant reason. Organization members respond differently to culture change. The change process requires sufficient skills and resources from top management (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013). The management exercises culture change through the influence which is one of the primary factors of leadership. How individuals create significance in their work experience depends on the educational background, interpersonal interactions, group belonging and work tasks. Cultural change exists as a technocratic project. The process portrays the outcome of an intentional transformation from one cultural situation to another. The changing focus on efficiency, profitability, effectiveness and improved performance within an organization. Implementation of culture change requires organizational symbols which include language, material objects, and action.

Implementing strategic change requires leaders to adopt the most effective strategies for the benefit of the organization. Leadership gives direction to the organization by providing meaning to unclear events that may influence the behavior of the members (Kocolowski, 2010). It focuses on possibilities instead of problems or threats. Leadership includes understanding the meaning, mission, and operations within the organization. Successful organizational leaders make cultural values explicit by ensuring the organization's culture concrete in behavior. The process of changing the culture of an organization requires all the available human resources (Belias & Koustelios, 2014). Leadership plays a significant role in involving external interested parties and the organization members in the articulation of a feasible, attractive and meaningful vision for prospects. Leadership sets the boundaries within an organization to determine the dos and don'ts in cultural change. For instance, leaders make use of their position and authority in forming coalitions that include external and internal supporters to provide direction to the change process.

The leadership theory suggests various leadership styles that are effective for cultural change. Successful cultural change involves both participative and transformational leadership. In a crisis such as high turnover, lack of effort, poor attitudes and quality and generally poor performance, the top managers give their demands on how the organization should run. Therefore it is upon the leaders to set the pace and mobilize the workers to attain the demands of the managers. The transformational leaders involve other members of the organization in the cultural change. They focus on increasing the community's ability to realize sustainable changes (Klettner et al., 2016). Leadership involves a deep understanding of society's fundamental valu...