Principles of Leadership: Vision & Strategic Direction; Culture & Values; Learning Organization; and Leading Change
A company's vision is usually a short, succinct, yet inspiring statement of what the organization hopes to become over the course of its future development. One example of a vision statement is General Electric's "We bring good things to light." The strategic direction of a company is the specifics of what it will do to realize its mission statement in the near future, often in relation to its competitors. Its vision refers to intentions that are broad and future oriented. A strategic direction is necessary for a company leader when he or she is implementing specific ways of fulfilling that vision. A company must have a projected image of its goals before it sets out the plan for its growth and development but a vision alone is not enough in the competitive environment of commerce. (Kotelnikov, "Corporate Vision, Mission, Goals and Strategies, 2004)This is where good leadership becomes important. A good leader must define the company's aspirations for the future as well as specify the specific means that will be used to achieve those desired ends. "To choose a direction, an executive must have developed a mental image of the possible and desirable future state of the organization. This image, wh
A learning organization is an organization in which people at all levels, individually and collectively, are continually increasing their capacity to produce results they really care about rather than simply punching a clock or simply obeying written or unwritten organizational rules. (Karash, 2005) Rather than create or maintain a static culture with little flexibility, a learning organization inspires change within its internal business environment. It is capable of changing its mission statement when necessary, and reassessing its strategic direction in times of flux and change. It demands a high level of performance of its employees, but it makes a contribution back to those employees by investing in them as people, and encouraging them to learn and grow, rather than merely function as cogs in a larger machine. Most of all, it is capable of learning from its employees, and their perspective of different areas of the company, and how these areas can be improved. There are as many different types of organizational culture as there are different types of human personalities. Researcher Jeffrey Sonnenfeld has identified four general types of organizational cultures. (McNamara, 1999) The first is that of an academy culture where "employees are highly skilled and tend to stay in the organization, while working their way up the ranks," as in a hospital or university. In contrast, a baseball team culture has
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Approximate Word count = 955
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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