Leadership Assignment: Article Review on Organisational Management

Question

Task: Read the following journal articles and prepare a detailed leadership assignment based on the instructions below:
article 1 link https://www.proquest.com/docview/XXXXXXXXXXX?accountid=188653

article 2 link https://www-sciencedirect-com.aib.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/SXXXXXXXXXXX0167

Mysirlaki, S &Paraskeva, F 2020, 'Emotional intelligence and transformational leadership in virtual teams: lessons from MMOGs', Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 551-566.

Walumbwa, FO, Christensen, AL & Hailey, F 2011, 'Authentic leadership and the knowledge economy: Sustaining motivation and trust among knowledge workers', Organizational Dynamics, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 110-118.

Your task is to identify the key points and the main arguments of the paper, discuss them in relation to broader leadership theories and concepts, and their relevant/application to your personal and professional experience. The audience for this assessment is the teaching team who are interested in your critical evaluation of the argument and main ideas being presented by the author(s).

As a first step, identify the main ideas and arguments put forward in the article. Then, use the following questions as a guide to help you draft your commentary. Do not use these questions as headings in your response as is to be written in an essay format.

What arguments are the authors trying to raise
Do you agree with what the authors are saying, and why? How could/would you use the theory/research/model in the role of leader to improve practical leadership for your specific workplace? Consider how it relates to your wider reading and your own professional experience and workplace, using examples to support your discussion.

Answer

Article 1
Full citation: Mysirlaki, S &Paraskeva, F 2020, 'Emotional intelligence and transformational leadership in virtual teams: lessons from MMOGs', Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 551-566.

Commentary
In the present study considered herein leadership assignment, the authors are focusing on deriving the relationship between leaders’ emotional intelligence, transformational leadership behaviour, and virtual team effectiveness. To do so, a study has been conducted on 500 employees (395 men and 105 women), to analyse how various factors of transformational leadership are affecting the virtual team effectiveness parameters. As reported by Walumbwa et al., (2011, p. 110), A series of questionnaires were given on various aspects of transformational leadership to access the real-time data from the employees. Yes, it is agreed, what authors are trying to convey. The study by Mysirlaki and Paraskeva (2020) focuses on the significance of emotional intelligence and transformational leadership. Transformational leadership would be the best-suited leadership in virtual team effectiveness. Covid-19 pandemic has led to various shifts in the working behaviour of the employees. The ones who are technically sound are at least able to cope up with changing times, but the rest of the others are facing multiple massive challenges in terms of working. Due to no face-to-face meetings, it has become difficult for leaders to keep a check on employees’ emotions and working patterns. On the other hand, even the employees have become incapable of recognizing the emotions with which the leaders are directing and gilding the employees. As opinioned by Mysirlaki and Paraskeva (2020, p. 560, there has been a need created to improve the emotional intelligence of the leaders and employees both, to fill this gap and increase both the parties’ efficiency towards the work. Transformational leadership can be considered as one of the most eminent leadership styles influencing organizational as well as individual outcomes in achieving competitive advantage especially in the current world which is a state of flux (Alqatawenh, 2018). Transformational leadership is the most sought after leadership style as it helps in dealing with change effectively requiring the leadership behaviour to coincide with the operations of the firm. with constant development and changing trends in the market along with a change in the working environment and economy (Gig economy), transformational leadership is a modern leadership style adopted by most organizations to gain advantages and opportunities in the market. considering my professional experience this leadership style along with emotional intelligence will help in harping on the four most important aspects required in an organization to embrace change management, idealised influence, motivation, intellectual stimulation and empowerment (Alqatawenh, 2018). similarly, emotional intelligence is another crucial aspect harping on the personal attributes to emphasize the modern organizational behaviour taking a more humanistic approach towards dealing with employee management rather than the traditional scientific managment styles (Zawadzki, 2018). Furthermore, from the study, it has been derived how men and women are different in terms of emotional intelligence. From the study, it can be derived that women are comparatively emotionally sounder than men. It also discusses the importance of women’s leadership in an organization due to the same. The key elements upon which the research has been conducted are as follows- Transformational leadership- Leader emotional intelligence, emotion check, employee’s emotion upgrade, emotional use, emotional regulation, individual attributes, their behaviours, and considering individuals. Team- team performance, satisfaction, and viability.

Factors considered were age, gender, and their level in the game. Factors not considered - cultural diversity, individual differences, size of the team, and educational background.Transformational leadership aims at changing individuals’ social and behavioural systems. It aims at following the mindset, belief systems, and habits adopted by the employees. Following this, it aims at developing their skills and boosting their overall productivity in life, by enhancing their time management and information management quotient. Using the above as a criterion, the role of a leader can be improved at various levels. It Involves giving and engraving vision, mission, objectives, and action plan among the employees to align them with organizational goals and create a transformational shift in their work and attitude towards doing it. Using transformational leadership for virtual team effectiveness, the leader can focus on the following attributes.

As per the study conducted, the leader not just needs to focus on their management skills, but also their coaching skills for which a leader with multiple skills is what is required. Further, the leader must be an excellent facilitator, strategist visionary, to maintain its focus in times of virtual assistance. The leader must have massive influential skills as due to the virtual working environment, face-to-face interaction has been limited. To create virtual influential skills leaders must use digital forms of communication- videos, podcasts, and similar others. Lastly, the leader must possess effective listening skills. Having these skills ensures the leader understands the employee's concerns and delegating accordingly. Further, the leaders must develop emotional intelligence in themselves and their employees. Hence, as reviewed in the article, emotional intelligence plays a very crucial role in team building. It is the ability to understand and manage the individual’s ways of communicating effectively while overcoming challenges along with diffusing conflicts.

Transformational leadership along with EQ helps the team to work better, especially during deadline-oriented or high-pressure involving tasks. It benefits the communication flow among the team members. Teams shall work together to double their energy and productivity. As evidenced by Andersonet al., (2017, p. 4), For the collaboration, having a developed EQ in what is required, creates empathy and builds trust among team members. Being in a dynamic world leaves a very low scope of awareness. With good emotional intelligence, teams can easily communicate with each other and build a strong team further developing their self-awareness quotient. Emotional intelligence and transformational leadership involve recognizing efforts and input of the team, creating strong morale among team members towards the work. Along with EQ and transformational leadership, it creates motivation and helps the team get blended more strongly (Stroblet al., 2019, p. 35).

As presented in the study, Post covid-19 pandemic, there is a significant rise in the need for virtual leaders, the technological budget of all the countries has also shot, seeing the ever-rising demand for digital services all over the country. During the period of lockdown, there were residents, who were unable to communicate, and not qualified to work from home, leading to many job losses and decreased productivity of the economy. The root cause of all these negative results is the negative mindset developed during the lockdown period. To boost the productivity of the humans and economy, there is an urgent need for transformational virtual leaders who can shift their mindset towards growth and hope. To do so, these virtual leaders must possess excellent communication skills, very high emotional stability and control, empathy, interpersonal skills, attention to detail, problem-solving skills, and several other skills to shift the mindset of these people and hence, these leaders shall develop their virtual presence and teams to boost this process of transition rapidly. Therefore, to be a future leader, one must adopt transformational leadership and become technically sound to lead these virtual teams and increase their effectiveness, satisfaction, viability, and performance. Also, as suggested in the study, women show better working conditions than men in virtual teams. The Human Resource Department must consider these points while forming virtual teams and designing the training and orientation for virtual members. Lastly, an intelligent e-leader has better power to influence, inspire, motivate the women team members.

Article 2
Full citation: Walumbwa, FO, Christensen, AL & Hailey, F 2011, 'Authentic leadership and the knowledge economy: Sustaining motivation and trust among knowledge workers', Organizational Dynamics, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 110-118.

Commentary
In the study by Walumbwa et al., (2011), the role of authentic leadership is empagsized as a significant leadership style for enhancing effective employee management harping on tryst and loyalty. Authentic leadership is also a modern leadership style influencing the professional space with efficiency along with upholding etical standards. This leadership style refers to a combination of transformational leadership as well as ethical leadership where the leader along with motivating the employees shows action for creating a positive environment in a workspace for receiving credibility accompanied with trust from the employees (Novitasariet al., 2020). It will not only help in improving the work performance of the employees but also ensure employee retention. The most important aspect of authentic leadership is its relation with innovation that is imperative in the current business scenario. Innovation not only guarantees the continuous development of the firms but also helps in gaining a competitive edge infused with enhancing personal characteristics like work gratification and confidence of the employees. Authentic leadership consists of four aspects; self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing and internalised moral perspective. Thus all the attributes of authentic leadership build a positive relationship with innovation and transparency in the work environment assuring optimization the ability in achieving specified goals.

As mentioned in the study, Authentic leadership is based on transparency and trust. The key element of this leadership is building the reliability of employees on each other and building a trusted ecosystem. As reported by Andrianiet al., (2018, p. 20), Therefore, the study presents how leadership must build a climate of trust by an authentic leadership style to manage the knowledge workers of the organization. Yes, it is agreed what the authors of the research are trying to present in the case study. Among all the various forms of leadership, authentic leadership is what is required to tackle the knowledge workers of the organization. It is so because of the following reasons, post-pandemic access to knowledge workers has been improved extensively. Increasing digital systems are ensuring the free flow of services. Both the jobber's and employers demand have boomed in this era, because of improved information systems. The management, retention, and understanding have become difficult. To achieve this, virtual systems are being used to communicate and engage systems, as can be seen from the study too. Leadership styles like- autocratic (directional not cooperative), transitional (transformational leadership), delegative and participative (in which leader delegates and participates respectively in the decision-making process), ethical (focused on ethical values of organization than goals)- All of it, practicing just one of them has become obsolete. The leader must adopt authentic leadership in which developing trust among employees becomes the utmost priority of the leader and the organization. This to ensure trust among leaders they must have high morale value, and a strong courage to portray their authenticity. Internalized moral perspective is used to define leaders with high levels of moral character, courage, and authenticity. Moreover, as suggested in the study, Self-awareness and relational transparency are two other qualities that the leader must possess and requires self-reflection at regular intervals and disclosure of the company's objectives and action plan. sharing information openly and expression of leaders' true feelings increases followers' honesty, accountability, trustfulness, and openness exchanges with the organization.

Model- Authentic leadership models mentioned in the study have several advantages for the organization. As discussed in the study Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, followed this model to gain the trust and respect of its employees and had created a healthy working environment in the business. Role of leader - Leader has to perform several practices to manage the uncharted challenges of individuals and companies, to manage the knowledge workers of the organization. The internal moral perspective is of utmost importance here. The leader's behaviour towards external pressures, peers, among organization leaders, societies, present difficult ethical dilemmas in front of the leader. The leader must realize the importance of its contribution towards society and organizational goals before making any decision. Different types of leadership styles generally provide different impacts in terms of direction, planning strategies, and inspiring the employees of the organization. To increase productivity, effectiveness of the employees' Delegative leadership style is applied. It is done to reduce the confusion of work and also give a quantifiable objective to be achieved in a specific period of time. This even makes the chain of command more organized. However, the other kind of leadership, the transformational leadership style, intends to provide vision, mission, objectives and action plan for the organization. This aligns the employees with organizational goals and increases employee retention. Whereas participative leadership style is used to provide support to the employees while working. This eases the job and increases employee satisfaction. On the other hand, the need of majority organizations is that authentic leadership is what is needed, i.e., based upon trust and respect towards leaders, and the leaders taking all necessary measures for employees and themselves to build that essence of trust climate in the organization to empower knowledge workers.

As reported by Covelliet al., (2017, p. 9), Organizational leaders following authentic leadership to build trust among employees which develops their dedication towards organizational goals. This even impacts their and well-being aligning and creating a positive work environment.Therefore, using this technique leadership can even get done with more objectives for the organization done by the employees considering not tampering with their trust factors towards the organization.

Moreover, leaders can also analyse how much incentivization need to be done, in order to boost the effectiveness of authentic leadership, which can turn an added advantage to such a kind of leadership. Moreover, authentic leaders shall conduct several activities that can help to evaluate the efficiencies of employees and to thus recognize the contribution to organization and reward accordingly, although authentic leadership believes in no performance-based incentives. Authentic leadership focuses on disclosing what is going on in the organization.

Therefore, as suggested in the study, leaders can disseminate electronic newsletters containing all the information of the company increasing their trustworthiness towards the company. This can help in the retention and management of knowledge workers even further.

Leadership must have both the soft and hard skills in order to maintain relationships with the knowledge workers.

When an organization is formed at the base of such leadership the chances of organization surviving and growing enhances in the market. Therefore, authentic leadership can also be considered as a balanced leadership containing all forms of leadership- delegative, autocratic, participative and transformational. However, giving utmost priority at developing trust among employees to increase productivity and boost the overall output produced by the organization.

Authentic leaders tend to provide free to communicate platforms leading to better understanding among employees. This lifts up the entire organizational culture, setting an example for the successors of that very company, to create such an environment while working.

This leadership not just increases the skills of the employees but also increases the overall professional experience of both the leaders and employees. This will develop employees' “trust factor skill” which is the most needed, yet the most underrated skill. Under this kind of leadership, this factor can be developed immensely. Therefore, authentic leadership proves to be a boon for the management of knowledge workers and boosting the speed of achievement of organizational goals.

References
Alqatawenh, A.S., 2018. Transformational leadership style and its relationship with change management. Verslas: teorijairpraktika, 19(1), pp.17-24.

Anderson, M., 2017. Transformational leadership in education: A review of existing literature. International Social Science Review, 93(1), p.4.

Andriani, S., Kesumawati, N. and Kristiawan, M., 2018. The influence of the transformational leadership and work motivation on teachers performance. leadership assignmentInternational Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 7(7), pp.19-29.

Avolio, B.J., Wernsing, T. and Gardner, W.L., 2018.Revisiting the development and validation of the authentic leadership questionnaire: Analytical clarifications. Journal of Management, 44(2), pp.399-411.

Covelli, B.J. and Mason, I., 2017. Linking theory to practice: Authentic leadership. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 16(3), pp.1-10.

Mysirlaki, S. and Paraskeva, F., 2020. Emotional intelligence and transformational leadership in virtual teams: Lessons from MMOGs. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.

Novitasari, D., Siswanto, E., Purwanto, A. and Fahmi, K., 2020. Authentic Leadership and Innovation: What is the Role of Psychological Capital?.International Journal of Social and Management Studies, 1(1), pp.1-21.

Walumbwa, F.O., Christensen, A.L. and Hailey, F., 2011. Authentic leadership and the knowledge economy: Sustaining motivation and trust among knowledge workers. Organizational dynamics, 40(2), pp.110-118.

Zawadzki, M., 2018.Dignity in the workplace.The perspective of humanistic management.Journal of Management and Business Administration.Central Europe, 26(1), pp.171-188.