THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT ACROSS BORDERS

Phuoc D. Nguyen

Abstract

In a complex global business environment today, the competition and development are based on the decisive factor which is the talent, which includes the management and leadership talent. This paper analyzes the importance of leadership development associated with organizational culture and proposals for leadership development. The paper also suggests the benefits of leadership development and the advantages of organizational culture management and implementation. Additionally, the paper discusses the essence of organizational culture in leadership development implementation.

Development of Leadership Talent

Based on performance appraisal results, new professionals interview results, and internal promotion suggestions, The Board of Directors coordinates with the management team and Human Resource Director to project a leadership development combined with a human resource development plan to follow human resource strategy. Leadership development includes two important stages, the discovery of potential leaders and leadership development.

Detect Leadership Talent

Human Resource Directors coordinate with divisional directors and departmental managers based on the code of conduct and job specifications to assess professionals’ specific knowledge, behaviors, and competencies to seek potential leaders. Wellings (2015) suggested, “Organizations and their employees need to have a clear understanding of their global strategy and then make an assessment of the specific knowledge, behaviors, and competencies required by current and future leaders.” (p. 36). Organizations and businesses today face challenges and opportunities from a global business environment such as the development of science and technology, the volatility of the global business environment, the competition, the globalization. Organizations and businesses must coordinate among divisions, departments, and cross-functional teams. Additionally, they implement decentralization, restructuring, and organizational culture change. “A successful leadership development program begins with the alignment of leadership development with company strategy and an understanding of the type of leadership style(s) needed to execute that strategy.” (Oracle, 2012, p. 6). To optimize the implementation of corporate strategy and operations organizations need good leaders and effective managers. Therefore, organizations need to discover potential leaders and aim to develop them to be great leaders.

Leadership Development

Leadership talent must first be professional managers who are trained long-term from business schools or leadership schools so that they have the foundation to grow into leadership positions with appropriate skills and qualities. Furthermore, leadership talents should be given their competency experiment opportunities in a facilitating environment and they should be motivated to become great leaders. Heffner, Kennedy, Brand, and Walsh (2011) defined, “Most leadership development programs still emphasize honing new skills and knowledge, without sufficient attention to reframing how a leader should think about her influence in the organization and what it means to be in a particular leadership role.” (p. 2). The prerequisite for every potential leader is his aspiration; this aspiration is the motivation, purpose, and strength to help each potential leader overcome difficulties and failures to become a great leader shortly.

Gain Knowledge, Practice skills

Organizations and businesses should establish a great performance management system and an effective human resource development system. Bolden (2006) defined, “The key factor is to appoint an individual to the top job when they have the confidence and the knowledge to be competent operating at the strategic level.” (p. 15). Essential knowledge and appropriate skills are requirements for entrepreneurs to start their businesses and achieve business success. Gain knowledge and skills through training, self-study, and practical leadership experience. Macnamara (2002) proposed, “Still, we need leaders that can embrace these new competencies. We need existing systems and leaders to nurture these abilities as their final act in ‘passing on the torch’ of responsibility.” (p. 3). It would be good if before the entrepreneur’s start-up businesses were equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary, business schools focused on both teaching knowledge and training skills. However, the knowledge taught in business schools will be more principle-oriented and the skills will be mastered in practice. The success of entrepreneurs depends on their self-learning and self-training of each potential leader.

Learn to Draw Lessons from Failures

In the tough market, it is important to look for opportunities in failures to win greater opportunities in the future. The failure is a sign that leaders need to explore other opportunities. Day (2001) proposed, “The preferred approach is to link leader development with leadership development such that the development of leadership transcends but does not replace the development of individual leaders.” (p. 605). This is true sometimes but most of the success is the result of resilience. Most successful leaders have faced obstacles before becoming winners. They won because they did not let the failures stop them and lost courage. Everyone is easily defeated but the value of success is in persistence.

Developing Organizational Culture and the Role of Leadership

The two paths that form the organizational culture are the integration processes that take place within the organization, and the process of interacting with the outside of the organization. Organizational culture is a system of values ​​created and accumulated by people in the organization through the process of actual operations in the interaction between individuals and the operational environment. Aguilera (2006) suggested, “Every organization has a unique culture. A leader must understand that culture before being able to effectively integrate leadership development into that culture.” (p. 42). Business leaders play a key role in building and developing an organizational culture. The role includes the leader building the organizational culture foundation; establishing cultural norms and shaping cultural values; selecting potential leaders who are suitable for the cultural value system; being a lesson and motivation for employees; and changing organizational culture.

Cultural essence is the humanistic value. A career, a task, must be socially acknowledged to varying degrees. An organization can create and affirm its value in terms of progress, superiority, and resilience. What is called value is attracted to people. But cultural values lead people to the absolute worldview and good direction. Epstein, Yuthas, and Buhovac (2010) stated, “An organizational culture supporting sustainability decisions can inspire and motivate employees to take sustainability obligations seriously.” (p. 47). To coordinate the two aspects of culture and strategy, the leader first needs to exemplify his behaviors and attitudes. After that, they can change and influence employees’ behaviors and attitudes. These can later be documented in corporate governance, policies, regulations, and management to shape and monitor employees’ activities. Second, the leader should rely on the organization’s available culture to orient rather than attempting to ‘steer cultural wheels’ conscientiously. Some leaders have creative and innovative ways of solving problems. They will put their ideas to effective use in the decision-making process and their leadership styles to run the business to change the organizational culture positively. Third, the leader needs to connect with the employees for a common purpose, creating a common sense of motivation for the business.

Organizational Culture Management

Culture is the way that each organization senses, thinks, and behaves. Therefore, cultural conflict will occur when there is an idealistic decision which forced in the opposite direction. Of course, there are instances where the rules of the game regulated by leaders are not appropriate for the business, then either the organization or the leader will self-adjust or disband because, over a period that the rules are not appropriate, employees will protest and require the establishment of new rules or try to deal with rules. “Investment in leadership development on the surface is worthy of consideration for an organization focused on increasing employee engagement and strengthening organizational culture.” (Lewis, 2018, p. 14). Only when leaders and employees come to a consensus and implement rules happily that the new organization has featured behaviors that it becomes the power to bring high business efficiency to the business.

Singh and Panda (2015) proposed, “A strong and positive culture is very significant for the development of strategic leadership in an organization. The choice of future strategic leaders, career planning and development, and succession planning can largely take care of the task of the development of strategic leaders.” (p. 141). Building and developing a successful organizational culture will bring great advantages to the business as follows: First, organizational culture identity is an important motive of enterprises in the process of creating trust and prestige for customers and the market. Customers can learn information about the company through media, public relations, and advertising, but only the organizational culture which creates a powerful sense about the organization. Second, the organization’s culture is the magnet that helps businesses to attract and retain talented personnel. Employees have personalities who would like to work in an environment that is appropriate to their personalities. Thus, organizational culture is the motivation for human capital management to attract, use, develop, and maintain the talented staff that aims to successfully achieve the strategic goals. Third, the organizational culture will support to development of the business sustainably. Growth in the size of the business may cause the risks of failure when the process of business development is not based on cultural norms and based on perceptions of behaviors and perceptions.

Corporate culture is the environment and motivation for all members of the organization who coordinate and implement the strategic objectives together. Thus, the organizational culture will increase the competitive position of the business by creating a good impression in the society and minds of customers as the foundation for the business to develop sustainably. “Leadership development approaches typically focus on leadership within a defined group, assuming a traditional dynamic in which leaders and followers share a common culture and set of values.” (Velsor, McCauley, and Ruderman, 2010, p. 393). Organizations must realize that people from all diverse cultures around the world can be potential customers. Not long ago, many businesses focused on young people and middle-aged white people. They think that they can only earn money from these two objects. But now, thanks to the significant effort in recognizing the various aspects of diversity and the goodness that it brings us. Nowadays, the revenue comes from customers around the world. To attract customers from diverse cultures, businesses must be truly multicultural. Today there are many opportunities for people who are from diverse cultures to work together in an organization or hold key positions in the business. Accepting diversity has many benefits for organizations. This is a very good thing to do; to attract talent, organizations should welcome diversification, which is also a humanitarian idea. A good organization attracts talented people and vice versa; helps build a team to create the synergy that the organization will get more benefits from the effort it puts out; expands customer cornerstone in a very competitive environment.

Kraus and Wilson (2012) indicated, “Leadership development programs should consider the formation, maintenance, and transformation of a leader’s identity (how a leader views him or herself) throughout the development process.” (p. 2). Each organization and business chooses its values ​​to pursue and respect. They also chose to show them in their style. Through which they are identified and remembered. Every business will create and try to build its own identity.

Day and Harrison (this issue) provide a conceptual view of the leadership development process. Specifically, they argue that leadership development, if it is to be maximally effective, needs to be focused on leaders’ sense of identity. Identity, they argue, is the source of meaning from which leaders operate. Accordingly, they argue that focusing on leaders’ identities offers the possibility of more profound development than efforts that merely focus on a set of tools/skills to be learned. (Pearce, 2007, p. 357).

The views and moral behavior of the leader can be communicated to other members in separate ways such as through speeches, publications, policy statements, and especially through the behavior of the leader. Once the leaders demonstrate consistency in respecting fairness and honesty in business, they will become the core asset of the business and will be respected by all members. Velsor, McCauley, and Ruderman (2010) proposed, “Leaders must be developed in such a way that self-concepts of leadership are expanded to include social identity, allow authenticity, and take into account how social identity influences paths to and preparation for leadership positions.” (p. 159). Identity is not just awareness and desire. Identity is expressed in the activities of the organization and the behavior of the individual. The most essential element in the process of selecting values, and philosophies, and expressing them into action is the pioneering role of leaders, key personalities, and people in senior management positions in expressing commitment, close direction, and exemplary in the practice of moral values.

Conclusion

Based on performance appraisal results, new professionals interview results, and internal promotion suggestions, The Board of Directors coordinates with the management team and Human Resource Director to project a leadership development combined with a human resource development plan to follow human resource strategy. Leadership talent must first be a professional manager who is trained long-term in business schools or leadership schools so that they have the foundation to grow into leadership positions with appropriate skills and qualities. The success of entrepreneurs depends on their self-learning and self- and self-training of each businessman. Most successful leaders have faced obstacles before becoming winners. These demonstrate the benefits and importance of leadership development.

To coordinate the two aspects of culture and strategy, the leader first needs to exemplify his behaviors and attitudes. Only when leaders and employees come to a consensus and implement rules happily that the new organization has featured behaviors that it becomes the power to bring high business efficiency to the business. Identity is not just awareness and desire. Identity is expressed in the activities of the organization and the behavior of the individual. Leadership development to support organizational strategy implementation in the mid-term and long-term. Organizational culture support actively to leadership development and organizational strategy implementation aims to reach strategic goals.

References

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