Leadership Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Leadership - Assignment Example It may be as simple as coming up with a group decision or as complex as establishing a group culture. Leadership is a continuous process wherein a leader tries to move from accomplishing one goal to another for the good of the whole group. Another definition is â€Å"Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills† (Clark, 2008, para.3). In work environments, leadership may be distinguished from management. Leadership is giving the organization direction, having an overview, setting standards and making tough decisions while management is concerned with setting up and managing systems (Harris, 2003). Leadership is about development, vision and growth. Management is about attending to the status quo and ensuring that systems work† (Harris, 2003, p.5). However, in a work settings with diverse groups of people working together, leadership may be a challenge. A good leader has a clear vision of where he is going and sets directions to others towards that vision. He collaborates with other people regardless of their backgrounds on ways and means to reach their goals and not focus the authority on himself. In doing so, he empowers them to be confident in their abilities and motivates them to welcome challenges and opportunities. Because of his positive influence, he gains the respect of everyone to follow his lead while pursuing a common mission for the growth and development of the organisation (Leithwood & Riehl,2003). Top management is the most influential factor for such diverse workforce employees. It enacts policies which may make the task easier, as far as the employees are concerned. The hiring, recruiting and firing policies are devised in such a manner that there are

Nuclear Family and Matrix Organizational Structure Essay

Nuclear Family and Matrix Organizational Structure - Essay Example In cases where the family cannot support itself and the 2 parent limitation is exceeded the family is better known as an extended family. The term extended family point to a situation where the immediate family members are living together with their own nuclear family and an extended family would comprise of grand parents, uncles, aunts etc. The nuclear family system has a number of advantages. The first one worth mentioning here is that there is no particular 'Head of The Family' and basically you are on your own. To put it in a colloquial representation there is basically no one to stop you from anything. Having labeled this as an advantage it is also worth mentioning that this can be a good or a bad thing. Since you are on your own you take your own decisions and therefore whatever the consequences of a particular be the person involves does not have to blame any one else but him/herself whenever a decision is thought bout in retrospect. The flip side to this is that normally the Head of a family has far more experience than the younger ones involved and normally the Head is in a better position to judge and decide if a particular step or decision can be helpful or not therefore in a nuclear family setup this fruit of experience is missed out. The next point is that you raise your children in your own style and there is rarely any interference from any elders. This again has both sides to it since having the choice of raising your kids your own way does help your kids to have orientations of the ways of life of the future and they don't have to be compliant to the standards of elders. At the same time again the experience of an elder of the family is missed out here. Compared to a joint family system in a nuclear family you earn and spend on your own luxuries without having to contribute anything towards the family pool. One note worthy issue here is that as soon as a marriage breaks the whole family come crumpling down in a nuclear family. As compared to this in a joint family the children of the broken marriage are normally taken care of by the grand parents. Two in a Box This concept is based on the idea of two leading roles in an organization/group where the two have different focuses as compared to each other but the two together help the organization move towards its goal in a very efficient manner. Matrix Organization In structure the team consists of multifunctional team members and encourages a horizontal communication and authority rather than the traditional vertical flow of authority. The matrix structure essentially abandons the concept of one boss or one head for a division/department. It normally enforces an amalgamation of individual skills by involving individuals from different departments; this structure is usually very effective for large projects or for a specific product's development. The way this structure works is that for a specific project, for which the matrix is enforced, the day to day progress report goes to the product of project head where as the individuals continue reporting for their over all performances to their main departmental head. The positive about this