Penny+APP2.1

One important fact that people must accept is that change is going to happen. It may happen fast or slowly, but change will eventually happen in all aspects of life. A good, effective leader is one who can act as a change agent in leading the organization to try and then accept changes. According to Rogers (2008) most new ideas are influenced by a change agent (p. 366). Formally, a change agent can influence the change process with mandates, policies, and procedures. Informally, a change agent can influence the process of change by appealing to organization members’ values and beliefs.

Leadership is not necessarily equivalent to position; therefore, a leader may emerge from within the organization. “Leadership is thus a subtle process of mutual influence fusing thought, feeling, and action” (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 345), and as this informal leader becomes an effective change agent, certain qualities like vision, strength, and commitment (Bolman & Deal) will become evident. The idea of leadership vision is so important that some refer to “the leader as the vision holder, the keeper of the dream, or the person who has a vision of the organization’s purpose” (Mendez-Morse, 1992). A change agent has to be an expert about the proposed change and possess the skill necessary to break the information down for the members of the organization to fully understand (Hall & Hord, 2011, p. 229). In many ways, an informal change agent, when compared to a formal change agent, must be able to perform the same functions for which networking machines are noted. According to Bolman and Deal (2008), “Informal networks perform a number of functions that formal structure may do poorly or not at all—moving projects forward, imparting culture, mentoring, and creating communities of practice (p. 220).

There are benefits for recognizing and developing formal and informal leadership throughout the organization. The informal leadership style creates a relaxed, social environment built on trust. This leader develops this atmosphere by being visible and mingling with other organization members. This bond allows innovations and changes to be more easily implemented from the inside out. The formal leadership style allows for an “outside-looking-in” contribution to the organization. This leadership style usually does not develop social relationships with the members of the organization but does keep attuned to the complaints, compliments, and needs that will create successful, effective changes. At any rate, an important process leading to the success of any change has to do with the formal or informal change agent (Hall & Hord, 2011, p. 134). In addition to formal and informal leadership (and in conjunction with formal and informal leadership), there is also a two dimensional behavioral phase that impacts effective leadership. According to Mendez-Morse (1992), the two categories are “initiating structures” and “consideration.” Similar to an informal leadership style is the “consideration dimension” of leadership which is concerned about the social and emotional needs of the organization’s members (Mendez-Morse, 1992; Hall & Hord, 2011).

The other behavioral dimension (initiating structures) is quite similar to the formal leadership style in that this leader is concerned with the operational phase of the organization (Mendez-Morse, 1992; Hall & Hord, 2011). The tasks and the completion of assignments is the major focus for this dimension of leadership. An organization that is mainly concerned with a high level of progression is going to focus on tasks and assignment completion. Such organizations recognize the importance of leaders in order that the company can grow and be successful. Because of this, many organizations are sending their leaders to workshops and leadership training classes. In the future, companies and organizations are going to be looking at leadership training classes that are more focused on outcome rather than those that are focused on type of course or completion of courses (Kegan & Lahey, 2009, p. 6).

In organizations where shared leadership or a network of leaders exists, the norm is to send the members of the leadership team to leadership training classes. The challenges to team leadership in an organization are the conflict of ideas, differing outlooks with regard to process, and the struggle to move higher in leadership roles. On the other hand, even with such challenges, a shared leadership offers greater opportunities for developing ideas and visions that are conducive to growth and change (Hall & Hord, 2011, pp. 32-33). In the course readings, it becomes quite evident that the styles of leadership follow certain patterns that have been effective for change in an organization. At any rate, the “idea of leadership” has been an American staple in the workplace based on a connotation that leadership equates to wisdom (Bolman & Deal, 2008, pp. 342-343). Additionally, the work place leaders must be skilled in leading its organizational members to accept the fact that they are expected to develop and grow (Kegan & Lahey, 2009, p. 2).