Organizational Behavior

Among the things I consider important to an organizational behavior is the impact of leadership and management. Leadership and management are considered to be complementary to each other. It is important to note that management seeks to assist the organization to cope with change. On the other hand, leadership helps an organization to cope with change (Kotter 2003). Leadership and management are essential in facilitating organizations to maximize resources of time, people, and money.

In an organization, it is important for the people in positions of leadership to enhance resource mobilization.  This entails all endeavors that are carried out to secure additional resources within the organization. Leaders in an organization need to make better use of and achieve the highest potential from all the existing resources. By enhancing resource mobilization, an organization will be able to offer better services to its client, achieve sustainability, and scale up the production of goods and services.

The functions can be achieved where an organization applies the principle-centered leadership. Principle-centered leadership seeks to help organizations make a call for change at the personal and organizational level and is expected to be generated from within. Leaders adhering to this set up are able to establish better, more trusting, and communicative relationships with others. The principles of leadership prescribed by Covey include developing the vision, developing strategy, being able to build a team (team building), and problem-solving (Covey 1992). The vision of an organization highlights where the organization needs to be in the future. An organization needs to establish a strategy mapping out how to achieve the vision. The strategy can, therefore, be referred to as the roadmap to attaining the vision. The objectives set out in the strategic plan must be achieved and this calls for a perfectly suited team coupled with skills and resources.

The importance of the Organization’s Mission, Vision, and Strategy

It has been observed that the mission and vision of an organization are essential in depicting the plan that the organization needs to follow to achieve its objectives. The mission statement is essential to an organization as it defines the business, products, and the customers served. The mission statement is the first element that seeks to differentiate an organization from its competitors. It defines what the organization does, for who, and the benefits of doing it.  A mission statement is a statement of purpose and acts as a guide for the decision-making process. A mission statement offers an insight into how the organizational leaders perceive the primary purpose of the existence of the business.

The vision statement points out to the direction that the organization needs to follow. A vision statement points out to what the organization seeks to accomplish, and offer inspiration to an organization. The vision statement describes the change that the organization endeavors to achieve and points out how the organization needs to be seen by others. The principle-centered leadership is one of the organization’s strategies to achieve the aspirations set out by the organization.

The vision and mission of the organization are broken down into specific units through the organization strategy. The strategy is an outcome of the strategic planning that covers the process of developing company objectives, goals, and tactics that help achieve the mission of the organization. The mission and vision are developed further into objectives that highlights various goals such as market share targets, revenue goals, customer satisfaction, and enhancing brand awareness (Kouzes & Posner 2006). This is followed by the development of strategies. The strategies pointed out to the specific tactics and steps that the organization needs to follow to achieve the mission and vision.

Spiritual Leadership

In the analysis of spiritual leadership, Sanders expounds on spiritual leadership. It is indicated that true greatness and true leadership is founded on offering oneself to serving others and not compelling others to serve the leader[1]. It is noted that the best motivation for leadership is to serve God and others. Servant leadership is observed to be the main goal of spiritual leadership. As a spiritual leader, it is important to start with an honorable ambition or desire to excel, which is not against the will of God.

It has been indicated that the church is in a shortage of spiritual leaders and therefore in need to acquire more leaders to fit this role. Another aspect of a spiritual leader is that they are not self-made, but God-made. To achieve this, it is expected that people need to surrender themselves to God and gain transformation from God. Maximum devotion to developing the relationship with God is considered to be essential for developing effective leadership. The model of becoming a spiritual leader requires one to follow the steps of Jesus of sacrificial leadership. It is noted that the model of Jesus, who gave himself to the entire world and makes a call for people to abide by his steps. Spiritual leadership is not about competency but a requirement for one to qualify to be a spiritual leader.

Another aspect of spiritual leadership is that it transcends the power of personality and other natural gifts. It is noted that the spirituality of leader aims at influencing others. Spiritual leadership is observed to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. The leader is thereby, put under control of the Spirit. The Spirit power enters into the leader and overflow to the others. On this note, it is observed that leaders can only lead others along the road as far as they have traveled. This implies that one can only lead others through the holy spirit depending on the influence that the Spirit has on the leader.

Leadership Styles

In autocratic leadership style, the leader is noted to have high powers and limited restraints, essential in matters of emergency, bears unique knowledge and is firmly placed into the situation. One of the situations where the autocratic leadership style is most applicable is when dealing with an emergency situation especially where there are disruptions causing tight deadlines to deliver certain goals. In such situations, members of the organization are noted to be confused and lack the ability to make a common decision around the issues. This, therefore, makes it essential to have an autocratic leader to assert authority.

The other leadership style adopted by the organization is the participative leadership style. A leader utilizing this leadership style has limited power and authority and is restrained on how to use it. The leader, in this case, has fewer time pressures as well as minimal sanctions that can be exerted. In an organization, the participative leaders operate better where there are well-defined organizational objectives, there are shared tasks, and the organization faces gradual and periodic changes. Participative leadership style is most effective in situations that require creativity. An organization may be facing a task on how to satisfy the customers by offering the most ideal products and services. In this case, participative leadership allows the leader to exploit the potential and skills of every team member in developing an amicable solution.

The other leadership style highlighted is the laissez-faire. In this leadership style, the leaders are considered to have limited power and authority. The leader holds the belief that they have limited authority or that their authority would be rejected. A condition that works best for this leadership style is when dealing with highly-skilled professional. These individuals are noted to be motivated to operate on their own. The level of their expertise in their areas of specialization allows these individuals to operate independently and work with little guidance.

Leadership Style Utilized Style of Biblical Leaders

            It can be noted that the most commonly utilized leadership style in the Bible is the participative leadership. Most of the leaders in the Bible are noted to utilize servant leadership. Nehemiah is among the leaders who can be noted to have utilized the servant leadership style. Nehemiah is depicted as a personally-involved leader. This is evident when he comes to learn about the state of Jerusalem wall and its temple. He takes a personal charge to lead God’s people to change the situation. Nehemiah is personally involved in the process, as he is engaged in encouraging people to overcome disappointment[2].

            Jesus is depicted as a perfect model of servant leadership. Jesus offered a practical example that leadership is about serving others. He elaborated this in the passage where he washed his disciples’ feet[3]. Jesus highlights that his basic motivation was love for his followers. Jesus is noted to be have been fully aware of his role as a leader. Jesus exhibited his willingness to become a leader voluntarily. It is also clear that Jesus set an example for his followers to follow.

            Peter is another example of a leader who utilized servant leadership. Peter’s reflection as a leader is evident when they had breakfast with Jesus by the Sea when Jesus called him to be the shepherd of God’s flock[4]. The empowerment of Peter as a leader comes after being filled by the Holy Spirit[5]. Peter inspires thousands in his address and brings new believers into the faith. The encounter of Peter and Cornelius depicts a fundamental feature of servant leadership as it is clear that Peter is ready to shepherd all believers, even those who do not conform the Jewish laws and practices.

References

Covey, S. R. (1992). Principle centered leadership. Simon and Schuster.

Kotter, J. P. (2003). The Power of Feelings, An Interview with John P. Kotter. Leader to Leader, (27).

Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2006). Christian Reflections on the Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Oswald, S. J. (1980). Spiritual leadership. Moody Press.

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[1] Oswald, S. J. (1980). Spiritual leadership. Moody Press.

[2] Nehemiah 4:20:  Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!”

[3] John 13: 1-17

[4] John 21:17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

[5] Acts 2:1-4 And when the day of Pentecost fully came, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.