Leadership_the author Doyle 2002

Doyle

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Issues include the factors which influence the amount of effort expended at work, the influence of job satisfaction on levels of performance and organizational commitment, the processes thet underly group behaviour and decision making, and the exercise of power and influence in organizations. Also of interest is the nature of leadership and followership, and the management of organizational change.

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So far we have largely been talking about top management. The focus on top management has also led to a renewed interest in the process of leadership both within senior teams and at every level within the organization (see, e.g., Schruijer, 1992; Sparrow, 1994 as cited in Doyle 2002). Shell for instance, encapsulates its vision as “Leaders leading Leaders” (Steel, 1997 as cited in Doyle 2002). Much is made of the ability to formulate and communicate vision. From ideas such as this, Bass and his colleagues proposed the concept of transformational leadership, in which the leader’s ability to inspire and empower followers and to create a belief in the attainability of the vision are stressed (Bass,1999;Bass & Avolio, 1990 as cited in Doyle 2002). Many culture change programmes begin with leadership development of senior managers, which then spreads more widely throughout the organization. Schruijer and Vansina (1999a, 1999b) as cited in Doyle 2002 edit and provide a commentary on a fascinating collection of papers that consider the role of leadership in organizational change. They raise a number of important and difficult questions concerning top-level leadership in organizations, including the extent to which one should focus on the individual qualities of the leader or on the incredibly complex set of relationships between leaders and followers. For instance, followers may exhibit dependence on, trust in, loyalty, and commitment to the leader but nevertheless aspire to an complete strongly for his or her job (Berg, 1998 as cited in Doyle 2002). Schruijer and Vansina conclude that one thing characterizing successful leaders in today’s turbulent business environment is their capacity to collaborate with diverse groups and stakeholders to achieve strategic objectives. The dynamics of this kind of shared leadership are illuminated by the work of De Vries, Roe, and Tailieu (1999) as cited in Doyle 2002 and Rijaman (1999) as cited in Doyle 2002, who both emphasize a “follower-centred” approach. Alimo-Metcalfe and Alban-Matcalfe (2000) as cited in Doyle 2002 are also considering the influence of “nearby” leaders rather than top management and conceptualizing the former as “servants” to their followers. However, as Bass (1999) as cited in doyle 2002 and others have stressed, transformational leadership is needed as well as more mundane management that organizes and coordinates work and provides the structure for implementing the fine detail of change.
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