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Question: Discuss about the Role of Leader. Answer: A leader is some who knows the way, shows the way and goes the way. A leader is the visionary head of an organization that needs to have many skills and tends to have various roles. This essay throws light on the various roles of a leader with special reference to the doing, knowing and showing aspect (Northouse 2015). The role of a leader with respect to Organization Learning has been explained with the help of various examples. The essay also expresses my views as gathered from reading some texts. A leader is an individual in an organization who tends to create an inspiring vision of the future and tends to engage the people in an organization in the vision. He then sets down the blue print of a plan and defines the role of each member so that everyone is aware of what his/her role is. After this, he guides the people and tries to achieve the organization. His task also involves motivating people constantly so that they do not lose out on the vision (Bolman and Deal 2017) .Leaders tend to help the people in the organization to do the right things. In my opinion, Leadership is all about the dynamic role of mapping out the path. While leaders set the direction for the whole organization, they also make use of their managerial skills in order to guide people The role of leadership is extremely important in organizational leaning. According to experts, the leader knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. As per my reading, the first role of a leader knows the way. This statement emphasizes on the fact that a leader is aware of the path that the organization needs to follow. The role of a leader is of a designer in this context (Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The leader, in this role creates a vision, which encompasses the purpose of the organization along with its shared values. He determines the policies that will be present in the organization, the strategies to be adopted and the structure of the organization as well. He tends to input his ideas into the decisions taken in the domain of business. His role as a designer also involves creating a process that specializes in effective learning and helps in the continuous improvement of the policies and strategies laid down. The second role lies in going the way. If the leader just knows the way and has certain managerial abilities, it is not enough. He must also move along the way with the organization. This is where the Leader plays the role of a Steward (Nahavandi 2016). This aspect gives importance to the attitude of the leader in determining the path he has set earlier and moving along with it. I believe that, he has to prove it to the organization that he is a part of the movement and that his needs are being fulfilled because of this movement of people. The leader has to move along with people and explore the risks and opportunities that come in the way of the organization. The last role lies in showing the way. The role of a leader lies in showing the right path to the people present in the organization. He needs to be a constant guide to the people and strive them to the correct path. The leader plays a role of a visionary where he forecasts the future of the organization. According to me, he has the ability which no one else has therefore it is his duty to guide the organization and show them the correct path (Spillane 2012). This role of a leader is often compared to that of a teacher. The leader is observed as a coach that tends to work with the organization`s mental model. He needs to stick to the concepts of reality and show the people the end vision and their role in achieving it. The leader is believed to have a bird`s eye view and must take advantage of this view for the benefit of the organization. Having discussed the three crucial roles of leaders, I shall now discuss some other crucial roles of leaders in an organization. Leadership can be described as a function, which is required at all, levels of the organization. A leader cannot be just placed at the top position where his role concentrates on forming the plans and policies. He is required in the lower as well as the middle level of the organization for interpretation of these policies formed by the top management. True leadership lies in counseling and guiding the subordinates (Hargreaves and Fink 2012). According to me, a leader is also the representative of the organization; he is the face of the firm and represents the firm at various important functions concerning the organization like conferences, general meetings and seminars. His main role lies in the communication of the meaning behind an organization`s activities. He also tends to represent the specific department that he belongs to. Individuals working in an organization may have their own individual goals with respect to their career and their long-term as well as short-term objectives. It is the duty of a leader to form a way in which the personal goals of the individual are aligned with the organizational goals. This helps in coordinating the efforts of the people, towards a common purpose and help in achievement of the objectives (Daft 2014). In my opinion, a leader should try to influence the people and get their support. Having talked about support, I would like to add another thought about a leader soliciting support. Like I previously mentioned, a leader tends to provide support to the subordinates and helps them to understand what is required out of them. However, as a solicitor he has to entertain as well as invite support from the subordinates (Antonakis and Day 2017). This can be achieved by a good personality, maturity, intelligence and experience, which can be built up with time. Through this, he will be able to gain full support from the employees and result in the effectiveness of a concern Lastly, the role of a leader also involves that of a friend. The leader has roles to play which refer to that of a guide and philosopher as I have mentioned previously. However, he has to play the role of a friend also. A leader should be one with whom the employees can share their grievances and their fears with (Chaudhry and Javed 2012). The opinions, feelings and desires of the employees need to be met with the leader. He should listen to the problems of the employees and try to solve them. According to me, if someone`s job is as a leader is to manage the tension and look that the goals of the organization are being achieved, one does not need to be perfect. In fact, the leader must learn to address the gaps with the help of collaboration and learning and identifying these in one`s capability. In this aspect, we can take the example of a CEO who wanted to make a presentation about the vision of the company (Mitchell 2013). His vision concentrated on honesty and integrity. When his presentation came to an end, a bright salesperson praised his speech and stated that based on various company policies, they generally lie to the customers (Bhatti et al. 2012). The CEO was taken back. The motivation and atmosphere of the whole room changed. Through his speech, the CEO of the organization failed to re-enforce the commitment to the vision. A similar scenario was faced by another CEO, who handled the matter in a positive manner. While the CEO got over with his presentation, another executive stated that, the attitude of the senior managers does not align with the vision statement. To this the CEO agreed and stated that he has achieved this post by doing the opposite of what he had said recently, but the vision is for the future of the organization and that the future of the organization is in the hands of the employees. They will achieve this, which was not possible for the current CEO to achieve. He said that he would try to achieve this and do his best. Taking this step helped him to re-enforce the motivation in the organization. This happened because the leader was successful in identifying a gap and thus removed the creative tension (Kara et al. 2012). Therefore, from the discussion made above I observed that Leadership could not be perfect. One learns only through experience. Leadership truly involves knowing the right path, which will help the leader to achieve the next step, which is showing the right path. He needs to guide the organization and must be able to lead others, which takes to the next role, which is going with the organization. A leader cannot just show and know the path. He must move along the organization and learn with the flow. He needs to understand that the success of the organization largely depends on him and that he must make sure that he takes them to the right path and helps the organization in achieving its vision References Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017.The nature of leadership. Sage publications. Bhatti, N., Maitlo, G.M., Shaikh, N., Hashmi, M.A. and Shaikh, F.M., 2012. The impact of autocratic and democratic leadership style on job satisfaction.International Business Research,5(2), p.192. Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017.Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. John Wiley Sons. Chaudhry, A.Q. and Javed, H., 2012. Impact of transactional and laissez faire leadership style on motivation.International Journal of Business and Social Science,3(7). Daft, R.L., 2014.The leadership experience. Cengage Learning. 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