Field of Organizational Leadership

Organizational Leadership in Today's Society
Organizational leadership is a term used to refer to management approach through which leaders help establish strategic goals and objectives while motivating employees toward the achievement of these goals/objectives. In the modern business environment, organizational leadership is critical toward achieving the desired success given increased competitiveness. Modern organizations face intense competition from their rivals because of rapid technological advancements and increased globalization. These advancements have brought new ways of doing business, which has in turn generated new demands on organizational leaders. Therefore, organizational leaders need to establish strategic approaches that enhance competitiveness, success or profitability.
The Concept of Leadership
Based on insight obtained from the course, leadership primarily refers to the process of influencing others toward common goals or objective. Leadership determines the success or failure of any organization or project because of its role in influence (Wadhwa & Parimoo, 2013). Therefore, leadership is important in today’s society as it can be seen in every aspect of societal functioning. While leadership involves influencing others toward achieving specific goals and objectives, it can be practiced in a variety of ways and incorporates different components. However, the approach taken in leadership requires possessing social and emotional intelligence in order to be effective. Social and emotional intelligence are vital components in today’s leadership since leaders generally work with people from diverse backgrounds and with different needs. Such intelligence provides a premise for adoption of effective approaches that enhance their subordinates’ motivation.
The need for social and emotional intelligence implies that leadership begins from within before it is extended outward. Individual leaders need to manage themselves in order to effectively demonstrate social and emotional intelligence. In addition, personal management helps prepare the leader to develop a vision and strategy that is communicated to subordinates and influences their actions and activities. To achieve this, the leader needs to possess certain attributes like creativity, being visionary, effective communication capabilities, problem solving skills, interpersonal relations skills, and conflict management skills. These different components of leadership implies that it is both an art and science of management.
Organizational Leadership
As previously indicated, organizational leadership is an approach to management through which leaders establish specific goals for the organization. Once these goals are established, they are communicated to employees or followers who help in the implementation. However, communication of these desired goals and objectives requires incorporating measures that motivate followers to take necessary actions toward their achievement. In today’s competitive society and business environment, motivating followers is key to enhance their commitment toward achievement of the common goals/objectives. While organizational leadership seem an easy process, it is relatively complex because leadership is both a science and an art. As a science, organizational leaders need to possess certain knowledge, skills and attitudes to motivate their followers to help accomplish organizational goals. As an art, organizational leaders need to adopt suitable approaches to people and organizational management. Therefore, organizational leadership skills can emerge in various types of careers ranging from business management to leadership courses. Using their competencies, organizational leaders shape the direction of their organizations through shaping organizational culture, which in turn influences activities and strategies undertaken to achieve organizational goals.
Leadership Issue in Contemporary Organizations
Since organizational leadership is relatively complex, contemporary organizations are faced with different leadership issues. One of the major leadership issues facing contemporary organizations in today’s society is knowledge management. Today’s organizations operate in an environment that relies heavily on knowledge and innovation (Chirimbu, 2014). As a result, organizations are faced with the need to enhance their capacities to continuously generate innovation and knowledge. The modern knowledge-based society has resulted in the emergence of a new concept of organization, which is based on innovation and knowledge. Therefore, effective knowledge management and innovation is a major leadership issue for contemporary organizations. For contemporary organizations to engage in innovation and knowledge management, continuous organizational learning is required and remains a major challenge for modern organizational leaders.
Emory University Health’s Organizational Structure
Emory University is one of the top-ranked private learning institutions that is recognized across the globe for outstanding performance in liberal arts. The institution is also recognized worldwide for its leading role in health care systems. The learning institution, which is located in Atlanta, Georgia, is committed to providing rigorous educational programs to its students (Emory University, 2020). Through its health division, Emory University has played a critical role in medical breakthroughs and innovative drug therapies. This has enabled the organization to break new ground in social sciences and humanities. The institution’s achievement in the faculty of health have been influenced by a suitable organizational structure. Emory University Health utilizes a hierarchal organizational structure headed by an Executive Director assisted by a senior administrative assistant. The faculty is divided into different sub-divisions headed by different directors and associate director who report to the executive director. These sub-divisions include General Safety/Industrial Hygiene, Research Safety, Compliance Administration, Radiation Safety, Environmental Compliance, and Yerkes (Environmental Health and Safety Office, 2019). Each of these sub-divisions have different leaders/managers with varying roles and responsibilities.
While learning institutions usually adopt a traditional organizational structure, some incorporate the role of a chaplain who provides leadership in an unconventional form. Traditional leadership structures or mainstream leadership models do not include chaplains though they have unique leadership roles (Finley, 2016). Chaplain’s leadership role entails ensuring spiritual needs of a school community are met. Therefore, the span of control of chaplains entails the development spiritual and pastoral programs. Through this, the chaplain plays an important role in promoting and maintenance of ethos in the learning institution. The three major areas in the chaplain’s leadership role and span of control are spiritual, pastoral and liturgical areas.
In the practice of leadership, a chaplain should leverage various theories that help enhance their effectiveness in a learning institution. One guiding theory a chaplain should leverage in this process is the theory of pastoral care. This theory would help guide the chaplain to promote relational and community values within the learning environment. However, some of the current challenges perceived in this leadership role include the ideas that it is tied to Christianity, evolution of the concept of morality, and link to religion. These challenges complicate the ability and approaches of chaplains to fulfill their roles in an effective manner. Despite these challenges, there are numerous opportunities in this leadership role including need for discipline in the learning environment and focus on creating value-based learning settings.
Significance of a PhD in Organizational Leadership
As chaplains face challenges and opportunities perceived in their leadership roles, they face the need to enhance their leadership competencies for future responsibilities. A PhD is Organizational Leadership is an appropriate and important degree to improve the Chaplain Educator’s role and preparation for future roles. This degree is suitable and important because it would provide competencies that prepare the Chaplain Educator for hands-on leadership skills. The degree is a practically-oriented academic program that is suitable for individuals pursuing leadership roles in government agencies, learning institutions or the educational field, and non-profits. Through insights obtained from the doctorate program, a Chaplain Educator can help enhance the learning education via teaching and learning. Given the nature of current challenges and opportunities, chaplain educators need to develop hands-on leadership skills as it prepares them for future roles. A doctorate degree in organizational leadership provides these skills through being practically-oriented.
Indiana Wesleyan University is an attractive and suitable institution or program for the PhD in Organizational Leadership for chaplain educators and others pursuing practically-oriented leadership skills and roles. This institution is attractive and appropriate because its doctorate program in organizational leadership is developed on different domains that promote mastery of 21st Century skills. These domains include spiritual formation, organizational theory, organizational development, strategic planning and implementation, personal authenticity and ethics, global and multicultural perspectives, organizational transformation, and wisdom, stewardship and followership (Rennaker, n.d.). Through these domains, organizational leadership students master research, critical thinking and problem solving skills. The university’s program is also attractive because of it prepares students to work in diverse settings.
References
Chirimbu, S. (2014). Challenges of Leadership in Modern Organizations: Knowledge, Vision, Values. Annals of Spiru Haret University Economic Series, 14, 39-48.
Emory University. (2020). About Us. Retrieved from Emory University website: http://www.emory.edu/home/about/index.html
Environmental Health and Safety Office. (2019). Organizational Chart. Retrieved from Emory University website: http://www.ehso.emory.edu/about/org-chart.html
Finley, M. (2016). Chaplain’s Leadership May Come in Unconventional Forms. Retrieved April 21, 2020, from https://www.nacc.org/vision/2016-jul-aug/chaplains-leadership-may-come-in-unconventional-forms/
Rennaker, M. (n.d.). PhD in Organizational Leadership. Retrieved from Indiana Wesleyan University website: https://www.indwes.edu/adult-graduate/programs/phd-organizational-leadership/
Wadhwa, S. & Parimoo, D. (2013). Leadership and its Challenges in the Globalizing World. Journal of Management Sciences and Technology, 1(1), 30-37.