Leadership and Organizational Culture: A Case Study Approach

Introduction

Leadership is instrumental in shaping an organization's culture: it provides solutions to challenges and paves the way for success. Setting the right tone, bringing people together to work as a team, and maintaining positivity are all essential. So too is the need to manage change and ensure that productivity and engagement are monitored. This paper discusses the case of Dr. Marsh and the challenges he faces in his organization. It describes the leadership style that would best help in his situation, the change model that could guide that change, how he can infuse positive social change into the organization's culture, and how to mitigate obstacles. Finally, it concludes with a description of the key concepts that should be included in his vision statement.

Dr. Marsh's Challenges and Their Influence on Organizational Culture

Dr. Marsh faces three specific challenges: first, he needs to introduce a culture of engagement; second, he needs to establish an effective process for performance management; third, he needs to create a leadership structure suited to managing hundreds of virtual contractors. Because his workers come from all over the world, there are many different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds among them, making it difficult for team members to build trust and work together effectively.

Because these workers are not legally employees but rather contractors, Dr. Marsh faces the additional challenge of leading them without treating them as traditional employees. In short, he must get the contractors to buy into his vision, motivate them to work together, and simultaneously establish a leadership structure and a performance-monitoring tool that fosters self-actualization among the contract workers he is tasked with leading.

Transformational Leadership Style

When change is required, transformational leadership is the style best suited to guiding it. Transformational leaders are adept at presenting a vision to followers; they communicate that vision and motivate followers to buy into it using sound logic and reasoning. The focus on reason and logic is helpful because people want a rationale for believing in change. If they feel a change is arbitrary and unfounded, they will resist it. But if they are given a compelling reason why change is needed, and are presented with a clear vision that gives them a goal to work toward, they are more likely to accept the need for change and take steps to achieve that vision.

At the same time, the transformational leader provides support so that followers can overcome obstacles and implement change. Transformational leadership emphasizes excellent communication, a focus on vision, the articulation of logical arguments for change, supportive encouragement to facilitate buy-in, and the development of a support network in which workers can act as ambassadors who promote the leader's vision among their peers (Atkin-Plunk & Armstrong, 2013). Because it is fundamentally oriented toward promoting change, this style of leadership would be of greatest utility to Dr. Marsh as he addresses the challenges and obstacles his organization faces (Warrick, 2011).

Kotter's 8-Step Change Model

A change model is a structured template that allows a leader to take the steps necessary to support change and facilitate the achievement of desired outcomes. One of the most well-known frameworks is Kotter's 8-Step Model of change management, which details the most important steps a leader should take to guide organizational change.

Kotter (2012) explains that the first step is to create a sense of urgency among workers — that is, to convey that change is needed now and cannot be deferred. By establishing urgency, followers understand they must take action to correct a situation rather than continuing on in the same mode.

The second step is to establish a guiding coalition. This is important because it involves obtaining feedback from followers and selecting those who buy into the vision to help promote it among their own ranks. The guiding coalition also gives followers a voice and meaningful input in the change process.

Third, the leader must present a clear vision for change. This vision serves as a guiding light for workers. It should be clear, simple to understand, and achievable — something workers are genuinely inspired to work toward, and something that remains ever-present as change is implemented.

Fourth, the vision must be communicated broadly. The leader bears primary responsibility for this, but also needs support from followers who can act as messengers when working with their own team members.

Fifth, obstacles to change must be removed. Workers may resist change because they prefer existing ways of doing things or feel they have not been heard. Leaders can address this by listening to workers and helping them buy into the vision. Because resistance is often a cultural problem, leaders can also employ techniques such as humor to ease tension and create a more positive, open atmosphere where everyone feels engaged and accepting of change (Francis, 1994).

The sixth step is to promote short-term wins — celebrating every small victory along the way. By acknowledging progress, workers gain confidence that they are moving in the right direction and feel supported as they take necessary steps toward the vision.

The seventh step is to consolidate improvements. As workers progress, the leader should affirm and institutionalize those gains, making clear that the organization is not reverting to old ways but is genuinely changing and growing.

The eighth and final step is to anchor the changes permanently. They should become embedded in the processes and systems used by management — no longer theoretical ideals but practical, everyday realities of organizational life.

References

Atkin-Plunk, C. A., & Armstrong, G. S. (2013). Transformational leadership skills and correlates of prison warden job stress. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 40(5), 551–568.

Francis, L. E. (1994). Laughter, the best mediation: Humor as emotion management in interaction. Symbolic Interaction, 17(2), 147–163.

Gerhart, B., & Fang, M. (2015). Pay, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, performance, and creativity in the workplace: Revisiting long-held beliefs. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2, 489–521.

Kotter, J. P. (2012). Accelerate! Harvard Business Review, 90(11), 44–58.

Warrick, D. D. (2011). The urgent need for skilled transformational leaders: Integrating transformational leadership and organization development. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 8(5), 11–26.