Leaders, teams, and organizations

Administrator — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 17:06:50 +0000

Have you ever watched as someone struggled, worked long hours, and only made modest success? One of the powerful keys that will let you work smarter, and not harder is to understand that leaders work on four levels at the same time. Successful leaders understand that organizations have to be managed at the individual, team, organization, and environmental levels. Because they understand the changes at one level must be aligned with the changes at each of the other levels they are quick to move back and forth among the dimensions of leadership. This agility greatly increases the organizational strength and also speeds up the process of change management.

The first level is the level of individual leadership. We have to understand who we are, what our capabilities are, and to master the skills necessary for our leadership position. Individuals are required to have skills so they can do their job in the narrow sense. This is insufficient for the next level of working in an organization. Mastery of job functionality without any of the other criteria will keep the individual within the work unit and not allow success at higher levels. The skills in this area concern the ability to do the job, staying current with changes in technology, and being able to deliver in accordance with the expectation of the organization. For good reason these are often called entry-level positions. For many individuals these also become the primary activity area for their career.

The second level is understanding the relationship of individuals as they work together in teams. This is an interpersonal level is that requires effective communication, coordination, and listening skills.

The third level is the level of the organization itself. This requires an understanding of the organization’s culture,capabilities, processes, and objectives.

The final level of leadershipis to understand the context of the organization with in the its larger environment. At this level, leaders understand where the threats and opportunities are and how to position the organization so that it is ready for success under all circumstances.

Organization development is the science and art of understanding the four dimensions of leadership, being able to diagnose problems at each dimension, to correct problems at each dimension, and to align the dimensions so that the organization can operate at peak capacity. The essential elements of Organization development are evaluation, prescription, alignment, coordination, and the transformational learning that is necessary for all of the individual’s teams and units within the organization to adopt the new behaviors.

Organization Development

Leaders, teams, and organizations