Essay Sample Defining Organizational Psychology and Leadership

Organizational leadership is a field in business management that tasks with meeting the goals and challenges that come along with employees and the organization itself. The reality that organizations and employees vary according to the nature of the business and the challenges it experiences makes organizational leadership a dynamic and ever-changing concept that only draws from established theories but should mold accordingly. It implies that to be an effective leader, one has to derive an individualized definition of organizational leadership that does not only consider the nature of the business world and challenges experienced at the moment and in future but also integrates one's worldview. In this perspective and based on the working definitions being used in the field, I believe that organizational leadership should be defined as a framework for inspiring and motivating employees towards job satisfaction which translates to higher performance.

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Conceptual Differences between Transformation-Transactional Leadership and Bennis's Visions of Future Developments in Leadership

Transformational leadership theorizes that a leader should work to enhance the motivation and engagement of the followers through directing their behaviors towards a shared vision. A transformational leader transforms the thinking of the followers in such a manner that they adopt the organization's vision as if it was their own. As a result, the followers overcome their interests and endeavor for the collective goals (Jiang, Zhao & Ni, 2017). In transactional leadership, behavior establishes the ground for specifying expectations, clarifying responsibilities, negotiating contracts and providing the recognition and rewards to attain set objectives and levels of expected performance between followers and leaders. A transactional leader satisfies the needs of the followers in form of exchange for rewards after agreed objectives and goals are attained (Hussain et al., 2017).

Looking into transformational and transactional leaders, one can notice that theories focus on the behavior of a leader towards the employees in different or similar workplaces making them sharply contrast or conform to Benni's visions of developments in leadership. According to Bennis (1966), understanding of leadership is an evolving process and he predicts that tomorrow's leaders will be distinguished by their mastery of the softer side: people skills, judgment, taste, and most important the character. Their character will display curiosity, courage, resilience, integrity, a propensity to action and risk takers (Bennis, 1966). He predicted that in the future world, a job will no longer be the indivisible atom of work, that job description would be a recognition of human capital, social skills of management would come above the internet skills, leadership becomes a relationship, and that organizations will be boundariless (Bennis, 1966).

Thus, a transformational leadership conforms to Benni's prediction as it aims at working towards people skills where it develops them and inspire to the next level so that as they achieve superior results, organizational goals and objectives are attained. On the other hand, transactional leadership contrasts Benni's predictions as it operates on rewarding performance instead of focusing on human capital and social skills of management. A transactional leader attempts to entice employees to work hard for something in return rather than developing them to improve performance.

My Basic Definition of Organizational Leadership that is Functional in Service Organizations

Going by the transformational leadership theory, organizational leadership should focus on inspiring and transforming employees into subscribing to the visions of the organization. Transactional theory, on the other hand, supposes that the best way to lead people is to provide rewards in exchange for higher performance. Behavioral scientists, on the other hand, suggest that understanding human behavior (motivation, conflict, expectations and group dynamics) at work is the easiest way of improving productivity. For example, Abraham Maslow theorized that human behavior is purposeful and is motivated by its need for satisfaction (Stoyanov, 2017).

Based on the above consideration, I believe that the basic definition of organizational leadership that is functional in service organizations such as hotels is one that borrows the ideas of transformational, transactional and behavioral scientists. Organizational leadership should be defined as a framework that inspires and motivates people to attain job satisfaction. In the hotel industry, the customer service is critical to success. It is well known that employees that can satisfy customer needs in such scenarios are the ones who are highly motivated and satisfied with their work (Al-Ababneh, Al-Sabi, Al-Shakhsheer & Masadeh, 2017). Employee satisfaction is attained through training and education, teamwork, reward and recognition, quality culture, and employee empowerment (Kabak, Sen, Gocer, Kucuksoylemez & Tuncer, 2014). Therefore, the suggested definition is functional in the hotel industry because it will guide a leader into inspiring the employees through empowerment, recognition, and motivation towards job satisfaction. In turn, the employees who are satisfied with their job will produce their best service and satisfy the needs of the customers. In the end, the organizational objectives and goals are attained as a result of highly inspired, dedicated and motivated employees.

Comparing Key Points of Christian Worldview Related to Organizational Leadership with Key Elements of Organizational Leadership

Christians draw from biblical values to lead organizations into success. Two basic principles are followed: the congregation comes first and always follow the golden rule. In every situation, a Christian should consider the congregation or the employees in organizational setups and do so in line with the golden rule as guided in the bible that says "so in everything, do to others, what you would have them do to you," (Mathew 7:12). In this regard, a Christian adopts an organizational leadership style that clearly outlines core value and mission, develops and mentors others, provides personal growth for employees in an environment founded by honest, respect, love, and justice.

The key points provided in the above Christian guidance for organizational leadership compares with the elements of organizational leadership proposed in current theories. In both transformational and transactional leadership theories, the main elements are motivation and inspiration. The Christian tenets of respect and justice form the foundation for the creation of an organizational environment where people are inspired, motivated and allowed to grow to their full potential. This is the same concept that transformational leaders use as they seek to inspire employees to transform and move to better heights of their careers (Valk, 2010). However, transactional leadership theory contrasts with Christian worldview on organizational leadership as it supposes that employees should be self-motivated and work towards higher results for rewards (McCleskey, 2014). A transactional leader, therefore, does not focus on inspiring, nurturing and growing the employees as is perceived by Christian principles and values.

Conclusion

Functional organizational leadership should be a framework that supports employees, inspires them to self-growth and motivates them so that they attain higher job satisfaction. When the leadership of an organization positively influences the employees such that they are satisfied with the job, they will be highly productive and in the end, the set objectives and goals will be attained. Thus, approaching leadership based on Christian guiding principles of honesty, respect, justice, and love create an environment that motivates and inspires employees.

References

Al-Ababneh, M., Al-Sabi, S., Al-Shakhsheer, F., & Masadeh, M. (2017). The influence of employee empowerment on employee job satisfaction in five-star hotels in Jordan. International Business Research, 10(3), 133.

Bennis, W. G. (1966). Changing organizations. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 2(3), 247-263.

Hussain, S. T., Abbas, J., Lei, S., Jamal Haider, M., & Akram, T. (2017). Transactional leadership and organizational creativity: Examining the mediating role of knowledge sharing behavior. Cogent Business & Management, 4(1), 1361663.

Jiang, W., Zhao, X., & Ni, J. (2017). The impact of transformational leadership on employee sustainable performance: The mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior. Sustainability, 9(9), 1567.

Kabak, K. E., Sen, A., Gocer, K., Kucuksoylemez, S., & Tuncer, G. (2014). Strategies for employee job satisfaction: A case of service sector. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 150, 1167-1176.

McCleskey, J. A. (2014). Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), 117.Stoyanov, S. (2017). A theory of human motivation. Macat Library.

Valk, J. (2010). Leadership for transformation: The impact of a Christian worldview. Journal of Leadership Studies, 4(3), 83-86.