Organizations offer various challenges that require a leader to have the right set of skills to overcome them. The challenges in an organization today come from external factors stemming from other individuals and situations, internal factors coming from within the leader, and factors associated with the specific leadership roles (Guzmán et al., 2020). A leader must have some essential leadership skills such as the ability to motivate, conflict resolution, decision-making, and problem-solving to solve external factors and the issues associated with the leadership role. A leader must have self-confidence, communication skills, and the ability to ask for help in dealing with internal challenges. One of the most common problems is employee behavior which directly impacts their performance and the organization. Worker’s conduct arises from their traits and the structure of the organization. This paper will analyze leadership challenges and the characteristics and skills necessary to solve them.
Organizations face numerous challenges ranging from financial, political, and social challenges. Globalization is one factor that has increased challenges in organizations. Globalization has led to increased diversity in the workplace, bringing people from various cultures and ethnicities together, which can arise in conflict. Globalization has increased competition resulting from cheap products and services from different parts of the world (Guzmán et al., 2020). These challenges affect leadership because a leader should manage a diverse workforce, limit conflict, enhance cooperation, and have self-confidence, creativity, and problem skills to navigate the changing marketplace. A diverse workforce is beneficial to an organization because it brings individuals from different cultures and belief systems together, allowing them to have out-of-the-box ideas, thus improving competitiveness (Lorenzo et al., 2018). However, a diverse labor force increases the chances of disagreement among workers. Conflict among employees reduces their productivity and affects the performance of the company.
A leader should have the necessary skills to manage a diverse workforce, including excellent communication skills, mediation skills, understanding cultural stereotypes, and developing cultural competence (Guzmán et al., 2020). Communication skills allow understanding in the organization, and everybody feels heard and respected and limiting conflict. In case of a conflict, a leader should have good mediation skills to solve these differences and disputes before they escalate and restore a conducive working environment. Competitiveness in the market affects a challenge because if left unchecked, it can render a company obsolete. Person in charge should be creative to develop unique solutions, products, or services to continue being competitive to enable the company’s growth (Guzmán et al., 2020). A leader should also possess excellent problem-solving skills to navigate through problems arising in the cause of their leadership in an organization.
Organizations are structured differently depending on the number of employees, resources available, and an organization’s needs. There are three main organizational structures: functional, divisional, and matric structure. The functional system includes organizations with roles divided into their respective purposes, leading to various departments, such as sales or production departments (Burton & Obel, 2018). Divisional structure is incorporated in large organizations to cater for different products and market areas by establishing smaller companies or branches. A matrix organizational structure combines the benefits of the other two systems to maximize the organization’s output. The structure of an organization dictates the requirements of a leader to make the system efficient and productive. These requirements lead to various leadership models including autocratic, democratic, transformational, servant leadership, and bureaucratic leadership.
Leadership models tend to work out differently depending with the individuals who are in charge. The transformational involves a leader guiding a team by creating a vision and motivating them to follow this vision (Zineldin, 2017). The leader employing this model encourages their employees to be creative and do their job without supervision. This move gives the employees the responsibility of self-evaluation and reflection in their tasks. The leaders offer training and guidance to allow employees to be self-sufficient in performing their roles. The autocratic leadership model gives a leader all the power to make decisions without input from the other employees. The leader should thus be able to make competent decisions that will facilitate the success of the organization. This leadership model is efficient in organizations or situations that require swift decision-making (Al Khajeh, 2018). The democratic leadership model is a participatory model where employees of an organization are encouraged to air their opinions and ideas and are actively involved in the decision-making process. This model allows for varied views and strategies from employees to help the organization solve problems and develop new ideas. Servant leadership models encourage the leader to put the needs of employees above all aspects. The leader focuses on improving employees’ skills, listens to their opinions and ideas, and creates a working environment that promotes employees’ personal and professional growth. The bureaucratic leadership model focuses on setting rules and regulations for employees to follow (Al Khajeh, 2018). These rules come from the organization’s leadership, and their focus is on the need of the organization and its success.
In conclusion, the challenges faced in organizations today are diverse, ranging from economic, social, and market changes. Globalization has resulted in a diverse workforce and competition, which offers challenges to organizations. Leaders in these organizations need skills to solve these challenges, including problem-solving, creativity, and decision-making skills. The leader should have leadership traits such as self-confidence and awareness of cultural stereotypes to navigate a diverse workforce. Organizations’ structure varies depending on their size, the number of employees, and needs leading to three organizational structures: Functional, Divisional, and Matrix structures. These distinct structures require various management styles leading to different leadership models. Some of the leadership models include autocratic, democratic, transformational, servant leadership, and Bureaucratic leadership.
References
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Guzmán, V. E., Muschard, B., Gerolamo, M., Kohl, H., & Rozenfeld, H. (2020). Characteristics and Skills of Leadership in the Context of Industry 4.0. Procedia Manufacturing, 43, 543-550. Web.
Lorenzo, R., Voigt, N., Tsusaka, M., Krentz, M., & Abouzahr, K. (2018). How diverse leadership teams boost innovation. Boston Consulting Group. Web.
Zineldin, M. (2017). Transformational leadership behavior, emotions, and outcomes: Health psychology perspective in the workplace. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 32(1), 14-25. Web.