Leadership and Transformation

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer maintains that the catalyst of any organizations' ability to attain agility and remain competitively strong in an increasingly turbulent global business environment is leadership. The unique set of skills and innate talents leaders need to making organizational transformations permanent are discussed in this paper. The writer points out that what makes accomplishing lasting organizational transformations so difficult is that every employee must be willing to change for the organizational transformation to be effective and permanent. The attributes of successful leaders and the pivotal role that trust plays in being effective as a leader are discussed. The writer concludes that the most sought after qualities of leaders are passion and an innate ability to be selfless in the pursuit of shared objectives.

Outline:
Introduction
Leadership is the Catalyst of Organizational Transformation
Assessing Trust in Leaders: Where Organizational Transformation Begins
Transformational Leadership Part of the Catalyst of Making Change Permanent
Summary

From the Paper:

"Another example of how trust was built and sustained throughout an organization was the decision by Ted Waite, founder and CEO of Gateway Computer, to keep advanced technical support in Vermillion, South Dakota, instead of outsourcing the technical support center to India to save on costs. Indian outsourcing companies including HCL, Infosys and others had contacted Gateway for years, promising a 40% reduction in operating costs of the center and 24/7 support for any Gateway customers, anywhere. Ted Waite refused, citing the advanced technical support center being 50% of Vermillion's employment. When Gateway began pricing low-end servers which required extensive support from this center to get installed and operate in larger enterprise customers, the advantage of having advanced support staffs with years of experience on previous generation products proved invaluable as call wait times dropped and customer satisfaction improved. These two illustrate organizational transformation is enabled by leaders who had first gained the trust of their employees and followed through with their stated plans, bringing organizational transformation."

Sample of Sources Used:

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