Leadership in the American Workplace

Leadership in the American Workplace

The past thirty years have been marked by unprecedented changes in the operations of the American marketplace, and thus have necessitated a shift in the American corporate approach to organizational leadership. Once upon a time, the primary emphasis in corporate leadership was maximizing shareholder value, now it has expanded to include maximizing employee satisfaction and teamwork to stimulate productivity. Before, fitting in was the responsibility of the individual worker, today, creating a cohesive yet inclusive organizational vision is just as important. Using the diverse talents and perspectives realize organizational value, rather than obedience or conformity to a single mold is stressed by the leaders of today.

The workforce has become more diverse, in terms of an increased array of ethnicities and cultures, and commerce as a whole has become more internationally situated. Even the leadership of a relatively small company must keep its eye upon the needs of a heterogeneous clientele. Once locally-based products can be bought with a point and a click of the mouse. The Internet makes all corporations potentially international in scope. But as well as understanding the needs of a wider consumer base, leaders today must also have a strong organizational vision to bring together a fragmented workforce, who may come from a variety of original nations, or have vastly different personal perspectives and lifestyles. This diversity can provide information as to the unique needs of female consumers, for example, or better ways of doing business abroad from persons with international connections, but such diversity must be clearly welcomed, and not unintentionally suppressed by the organization's leaders.

Before, the organizational culture of a business was based upon a founder's tradition or based upon its industry niche. But today, even a traditional company purveying foods must know how to sell its products online and manage an efficient IT department, as well as unite the different professional perspectives of more traditional personnel in the fields of marketing and supply-chain management. Conversely, technically fluent IT organization must know how to market to the layperson. This requires non-computer specialists to understand what the company's products do, to make its advertising clear and effective. In short, harnessing the diverse talents of many different types of people in service of the organization's mission requires a clear, concise organizational value statement that is inclusive in its embrace of the talents and unique perspectives of all of the workers laboring for the organization.

Having a clear vision for the organization also means that employees are aware of what is expected of them in terms of their work ethic, but also in terms of their ethical performance and standards. The recent accounting scandals have made government regulators hypersensitive to any potential impropriety in a variety of areas. It is crucial that the climate of the organization does not condone unethical behavior that could damage its name and reputation. It is not enough that ethics be affirmed in words, but ethical principles must be reinforced in the actual practice of all of the leadership of every department of the organization.