EPITOME OF 'LEADERSHIP' FOR LEARNING EPITOME OF 'LEADERSHIP' FOR LEARNING EPITOME OF 'LEADERSHIP' FOR LEARNING EPITOME OF 'LEADERSHIP' FOR LEARNING EPITOME OF 'LEADERSHIP' FOR LEARNING

Abstract

yy yyal** al** al** al** al** N an increasingly chaotic world of today’s national and international scenario if any organization intends to function ‘efficiently’ and ‘effectively’ and survive and grow over a period of time, then it has essentially to be a ‘Learning Organisation’. What is or What the Learning Organization looks like, we find no single view point. Even so, the learning organization could be defined “as one in which everyone is engaged in identifying and solving problems, enabling the organization to continuously experiment, change, and improve, and thus, increasing its capacity to grow, learn and achieve its purpose (Richard, 2000)”. Thus, in the learning organization all employees look for problems, as for example, understanding the special needs of a customer. Employees also solve problems, which means putting things together in unique ways to meet the customer’s need. The essential focus of a learning organization is on ‘effectiveness’ in sharp contrast to ‘efficiency’ and at times even going beyond the ‘effectiveness’ via innovations. In fine and spacious words, it may be observed that the learning organization is an attitude or philosophy about what an organization can become (Daft, 2000). Web of Interacting Elements in a Learning Organization As may be seen in the Exhibit titled, “The Web of Interacting Elements in a Learning Organization”, a Learning Organization assumes the presence of several interdependent and interrelated elements such as a specific kind of leadership, team based structure, empowered employees, open information, participative strategy and a strong and adaptive culture. In the context of these interdependent and interrelated elements it may be heightened that the role of leadership is of supreme importance as it is leadership which ensures the creation and maintenance of the presence of other elements of the Web. Hence, after briefly explaining the interactive elements other than leadership, we propose to analyze in this research article as to what kind of leadership style would be most appropriate for a Learning Organization ? Elements Other Than The Leadership Style Team Based Structure: In learning organization, the traditional structure, which separates managers and workers, is broken into as ‘directed teams’. These teams comprise employees with different skills and who rotate jobs in order to produce ultimate product or service. These teams deal with the customers directly and affect changes and improvement as needed. Team Managers have the authority to take decisions about innovative ways of doing things, if they so desire. As a matter of fact, in learning organization, bosses are practically eliminated. Empowered Employees: People (all employees) constitute a major source of strength of the management of a learning organization. In such an organization, employees are treated very well; they I