Free Essay Sample: Leadership Analysis in Organizations

Introduction

After conducting several interviews with leaders from different organizations and fields, I have experienced different things as far as interviews and leaders are concerned. Although Interviews are exciting things to do, they are hard tasks to accomplish, different challenges are encountered during preparation, during the interview, and when conducting follow-up activities. It is an activity that consumes time and resources; it also requires some legal guidelines and approval from the interviewee and the interviewer. During the interviews conducted, the focus was on the different leadership theories and some other aspects of leadership. The interview intended to gather information from the interviewees on different aspects of leadership as well as leadership theories learned. Keeping in mind that there are several leadership theories, I wanted to do a sample based on the interview to find out the most preferred theory and the opinions of leaders concerning leadership. It was also part of my learning experience in interviews, apart from the focus of the interview; other things came in handy. They include learning how to cope with challenges associated with the interview, learning from the leaders interviewed, and learning the aspects of planning and execution of assigned tasks. This paper analyses the interviews conducted based on leadership theories, common learning themes, self-reflection, and summary statements.

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Leadership theory

Trait Theory

During the development of the interviews, the theory chosen was the trait theory. The theory argues that there are certain characteristics of a person that qualify him or her to become a leader. These traits are exhibited in a person's behavior (Bratton, 2020). Unlike other theories that argue based on the academic qualification of a person, the ancestry line of a person, or a few specific traits, this theory focuses on the personality of a human being and the capabilities of being a leader. The theory is informed by leadership aspects like responsibility, confidence, humility, and many other aspects of a good leader. In this theory, someone qualifies to become a leader upon possession of the traits mentioned above regardless of the ancestry line of a person of the standard of a person.

Interviews are commonly composed of drafted questions relating to the topic focused. The questions are asked during the interview (Waller et al.2018). In this case, leaders of organizations were interviewed using some questions. In summary, the questions were based on the trait theory and they were required to give their opinion on the theories of their preferences. The question also touched on the challenges of leadership and the recommendations. These questions were set specifically to fit into the theory of leadership under focus. Trait leadership theory as explained earlier focuses on some characteristics of a person that qualify a leader, it was, therefore, logical to ask a question based on leaders' opinions from the different leaders interviewed. The intention was to affirm the argument of the theory from leaders themselves. Their responses would help me in collecting data that will have concrete support from the study. During the analysis of the data collected the responses of the different leaders. Most importantly, the questions were to provoke the feelings and ideas of the leaders and in the end, her personalities will be revealed. I would therefore relate their personalities with what is explained in the theory and their performance as leaders to come up with a conclusion.

I intentionally chose the trait theory because it is a theory that I understand more and believe in. The theoretical arguments are evident in real-life leadership. Most leaders' successful leaders have been described as possessing the traits captured in the theory. Leadership requires a strong character with sound morals because the leader serves as an example. It will be very difficult to lead people in one direction while moving in another. Contrary to what other theories attribute a leader, this is the only theory that is practical and with established findings to prove their claims (Mann, 2016). During the interview, the traits were evident in leaders whose organizations were doing better. From their relationship with people and staff, leaders with great performance were dominated by sound morals. An example was a manager of a certain organization who was very humble, the humility was evident during the interview, he was welcoming and humble despite the position he was holding as a manager. He responded to questions diligently and further elaborated on them. His personality is also reflected in the performance of the organization. His organization was performing well. Most of the leaders who were humble as evidenced on how welcoming they were reflected good or bad results depending on the personality they have. That was a personal experience of the relationship of a person's personality and what he or she can deliver in a leadership position.

Common Learning Themes

New Business Realities

Net Communications

The New Business Realities is an article that explains several driving forces of a business (Meuser et al.2016). There are several topics discussed in the article. Some of the topics relate to the focus of the interviews conducted. Net communication is one of the topics that relate to the trait theory and other aspects of leadership as referred to in the interviews conducted. According to the New Business Realities article, net communication is one of the strongest driving forces in business. It explains net communication in bringing up a network with different communities that will serve as essential stakeholders in the business. In relationship with the interview, there were different dynamics that were attributed to the topic of discussion. Complex systems in organizations require networking; networking is the connection with different stakeholders that will contribute to the performance of the organization. However, to achieve a good relationship with different stakeholders requires the skill of communication and persuasiveness. These skills are easily attained with humility in place, humility cuts across how someone carries himself or herself in front of other people. It also includes how a person communicates with people especially the staff in the organization. Good communication skills have etiquette and some level of humility, the humility in it amounts to persuasive language that will win different stakeholders who will be willing to partner with an organization to realize a certain goal. It was also evident during the communication process during the interview. Some leaders were convincing in their opinions and others did not bother about their opinions. The two different kinds of leaders possess different attributes that will contribute either negatively or positively to their organizations.

Thinking Habits

Courageous Actions

Thinking Habits of Heart, Mind, and Imaginations is yet another article that informed the interview's choice of theories and questions. However, a few topics were selected from the article. Courageous actions are one of the topics that reflected the questions of the interview on the personal mastery topic of trait theory. The topic of courageous actions in the thinking habits resource explains how a person develops the habit of being able to take any action even though he or she is not sure about the effect of the action taken. The interview on the other hand designed questions that encouraged leaders to speak about decision-making as a leader. Most of the leaders admitted that decision-making is one of the important actions that define a good leader. The attribute is also present in the different aspects of leadership found in the trait theory. Using an example of the questions posted where leaders were asked to give the attributes of a good leader, the answer that came up with the highest frequency was decision-making. Leaders are forced to decide from time to time; the pressure instills a habit in the form of thinking, feeling, and imagination to develop the habit of making decisions for their organizations. Some decisions might turn out to be costly but they require remaining strong and brave enough to make decisions as long as they still serve as leaders. The interview sought to encourage leaders not to blame themselves for the decisions they made and not sire positive results to still have the courage to decide on the way forward of the organization. The reason is that they have to take the responsibility of leadership and one of those responsibilities is showing the direction that needs to be taken.

Self-Reflection

Personally, the interview has been of great benefit. It was a source of information on many things concerning my mastery. It was also a learning experience; I encountered different things some of which were expected and others not. In regards to the plans, some plans worked, and others did not work. The time and period of the interview had to be readjusted leading to the whole process taking more time than expected. It was also an expectation that all the information was to be gathered through the interviews, there were some questions that I felt were not answered fully. The pace in which the interview would have been very different than expected, I expected the interviewees to go with my pace but I realized that some leaders would deliberately take me back as a way of responding to my questions. However most of the things I had planned went as expected, I interviewed the leaders I wanted to interview and managed to ask them the questions of my concern. The scheduled dates remained intact except for the times which had to be readjusted.

There were also things that I learned that I would wish to do differently in the future. I found out that I need to be prepared to work extra time in an interview. This means also that the extra time needs to be budgeted for. This will help to reduce the anxiety and nervousness of working overtime. I will also reconsider having flexible questions rather than fixed ones. This is after realizing that people will not answer your questions as they are but would prefer answering what they know rather than what you think they should know.

After the interview, my perception of leadership has slightly changed. I will explain leadership as service and responsibility rather than showing direction only. I chose the trait theory as my mastery topic it ended up being interesting. I will be able to explain it as a trait-based theory rather than a qualification or inborn theory. All the information gathered during the interview will improve my data as far as my mastery is concerned. I will be in a better position to present an argument affirmed by data collected.

The topic of leadership has the potential to change leaders; it will grant them a chance to assess themselves based on the qualities of leadership in the theories explained. Bringing up the topic of leadership among leaders reminds them of the traits they should possess even as they respond to questions relating to that.

Interviewing builds your skill in etiquette, you need to be presentable in terms of personality and physical appearance, and it contributes to how you portray yourself as a person (Dianiska et al.2019). It also determines your openness to approach which is a good life skill. It builds a relationship with people and expands your network. Interviewing also helps to keep up with personal self-esteem and confidence.