authority AND POWER

Leadership and power



Leadership and power

Introduction

Examining the evolution of leadership demonstrates that leadership in today's world requires more than the ability to manipulate data and manage people. "To survive in the 21st century, we're going to need a new generation of leaders leaders, not managers" (Bennis, 1999, p. 63). These two managerial functions are certainly aspects of the commonly held views of traditional leadership, but to survive in today's world, leaders cannot rely only on managerial skills. To develop strong leadership, leaders need to think about their role in a more holistic sense by shifting away from traditional paradigms of leadership and employing a learning attitude within their leadership role.

Leadership and power

Holistic leadership requires using creative and critical thought as an agent of change. In the past 15 years, leadership has undergone tremendous change. The typical decision-making through the top-down corporate hierarchical structure has given way to organizational teams empowered with decision-making capabilities (Swenson, 2000). Creativity and critical thought play a key role in successful leadership. As companies become larger and more diverse, necessity dictates that leadership be a shared activity.

Shifting the locus of control from a single individual to smaller groups of stakeholders ensures that the business will continue to expand and remain competitive. Senge (1990) said, "the associations that will truly excel in the future will be the associations that find out how to tap people's firm pledge and capability to learn at all levels in an association" (p. 4). Consider the world of competitive sports as an example of team members working toward a common goal. The coach plays the role of team leader and each player uses his strength for the success of the team. Good leaders know that leadership is dynamic; every new experience provides opportunities for reflection, learning, and change. In athletics, the team works as a whole to practice for improvement. High performing teams are supportive and encouraging causing the creativity of the work environment to "mature at warp speed"(Faust, Lyles, & Phillips, 1998, p. 203) productive leaders evolves work groups to facilitate discovering which directs to more fast growth and change. As the paradigm shifts from top down leadership to team leadership, change occurs.

This shift from traditional paradigms manifests itself through creative leadership theory. Senge's (1990) theory suggests that effective leadership combines five dimensions to create a successful learning organization. Senge describes the key components as the five disciplines of a learning organization. The University of Phoenix doctoral residency studies and employs three of the five dimensions: "mental models, team learning, and shared vision" (pp. 8-10).

Effective leadership challenges mental models, utilizes team learning, and builds a shared vision as a path to developing a successful learning organization (Senge). Mental models are the deeply held judgments within an organization that define employees' beliefs about a company. The University of Phoenix, in its Creative and Critical Thinking course for educational leadership doctoral students, challenges learners to examine their beliefs about higher education. During the course, students must come to terms with the ...