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BSc (Hons) Health and Social Science

(With Foundation Year)

Module:

Assignment:

Student’s Name:
LSST ID:
BNU ID:
Lecturer’s Name:
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Introduction
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This reflective portfolio aims to increase the visibility of leadership and teamwork
in the public sector. The portfolio is therefore organised into four main parts. The
first gives an overview and background information on leadership, leadership
styles and organizational culture as significant components of modern-day
organisations. The second section explores leadership within the context of
organizational culture and further looks into relevant theories in a fast-changing
social world. The third part summarizes an article on leadership and conflict,
including the data collection methods and research findings. The last section
reflects on leadership styles and employee motivation based on previous
experience. Barnardo's is my chosen organisation for this leadership reflective
portfolio.

Background Information

The increasing technological advancements and urbanisation have created

uncertain and fast-changing working environments, threatening employee
performance. Leadership and teamwork have come on board as significant
aspects working in tandem to help organisations achieve objectives. According to
Geraghty and Paterson (2018), organisations require talented leaders to guide,
inspire, coach and motivate other employees. Similarly, teamwork is essential for
integrating new ideas and approaches to facilitate high-level performance and
achieving overarching strategic goals. Leadership, in this case, encompasses the
power and capacity to influence, convince, motivate and empower others to
achieve a specific goal (Klaic et al.,2020). Leaders often use specific leadership
styles, that is, behavioural approaches to direct, motivate and influence their
followers to achieve a strategic goal. Transactional, transformational,
bureaucratic, democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles are commonly used
to drive goal achievement (Giudici and Filimonau, 2019).

Zaheer et al. (2019) argue that leadership alone is insufficient for maximum
performance. Several factors affect individual performance, for instance,
organisation culture, conflict management and work ethics. The concept of
organisational culture varies depending on the context and point of view during
exploration. Roy and Perrin (2018) consider organisational culture a sum of
values integrating employees. In contrast, Meng and Berger (2019) perceive
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organisational culture as a collective programming of the mind distinguishing

members of different groups from each other. In their view, the shared group
phenomenon originates from individual or group interaction with the environment
to obtain a collective sense of purpose. Although leadership and teamwork have
been largely explored as significant aspects in modern-day organisations, how
effective are they in ensuring high-level employee performance and achieving
overarching strategic goals?

Relevant theories of leadership

As research on leadership and teamwork increases over time, several theories

have emerged to explain how and why individuals become leaders and increase
visibility on specific characteristics that individuals can adopt to improve their
leadership skills. The transactional theory was first developed during the industrial
revolution to help increase productivity (Cho et al., 2019). In this regard,
transactional theory stresses hierarchical structures and their significance in
promoting organisational effectiveness. The theory places managers at the
forefront, requiring them to utilise authority and enforce rules forcing employees
to deliver high-level performance in organisations (Young et al., 2021).
Consequently, workers are expected to adhere to managerial directives, after
which they are rewarded for achieving organisational objectives or punished for
falling short of expectations. The theory expects leaders to uphold standards and
policies, target immediate objectives and concentrate on recent changes with
clearly stipulated challenges to encourage performance (Puni et al., 2020).

On the other hand, transformational leadership focuses on effective relationships

between leaders and other workers to encourage increased performance (Eliyana
and Ma’arif, 2019). Leaders are expected to inspire workers to go beyond their
capabilities. Furthermore, leaders must create a vision for other members and
motivate them to achieve it. According to Andriani et al. (2018), transformational
leaders are expected to raise employee morale and inspire them to perform their
responsibilities much better. Similarly, managers should encourage other staff
through their actions, thus setting a good example. Breevaart and Zacher (2019)
also argued that transformational leaders often focus on proactivity, employee
development, individual interaction, making difficult choices and taking changes
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to boost performance. Unlike transactional leaders, transformational leaders

focus on failed initiatives and tend to gather individuals who get along to achieve
shared corporate goals.

The great man theory presupposes that leaders are born, not created (Uslu,
2019). The theory further argues that innate human characteristics dictate good
leadership, for instance, appeal, wisdom, assertiveness, decisiveness, and
glamour. Under the presupposition that individuals cannot be taught to be
effective leaders, the great man theory stresses that abilities come naturally and
cannot be learned or trained. Consequently, leadership qualities remain constant
regardless of the organisation in which one is employed. Hunt and Fedynich
(2019) suggest that through this theory, exceptional leaders often emerge when
necessary to improve organisational performance. However, critics argue that not
all people with natural leadership qualities become great leaders. Furthermore, if
leadership were innate, all individuals who possess the necessary qualities would
eventually find themselves in leadership roles (Zhu et al., 2018). As a surprisingly
complex subject, more research is needed to understand better the factors
influencing successful leadership.

Leading within the concept of organizational culture

In an organisational context, leaders play a significant role in creating a

favourable environment for thinking and working to facilitate performance towards
a common purpose. Executive leadership is characterised by values, policies,
structure and vision due to competing complex issues within and beyond (Driskill.
2018). Nonetheless, culture is a key prerequisite in determining the success of an
organisation. According to Groysberg et al. (2018), organisational culture
encompasses a group of individuals' general beliefs, norms, values and
achievements resulting from their interaction with their working environment. A
great organisational culture influences positive behaviour necessary for improved
performance. In contrast, a dysfunctional culture brings about human qualities
that often hinder successful operations. Roy and Perrin (2018) argue that
alignment of workplace culture with employees makes them feel supported and
valued, allowing them to navigate difficult times and changing working
environments.
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Cortellazzo et al. (2019) also reported an association between culture and job
satisfaction. In this regard, a positive culture attracts talent and innovation,
allowing employees to thrive and achieve their highest potential. A great
organisational culture is characterised by trust, alignment, appreciation,
teamwork, resilience, integrity, innovation and performance. Hickman and Silva
(2018) claim that leadership and organizational culture work hand in hand to
promote success. By setting rules and policies, leaders will likely influence
employee attitudes and behaviour to conform to organizational objectives.
Consequently, by setting a good example to others, leaders can influence their
followers to act in a specific way which in most instances is beneficial for realising
goals.

Article summary

Ferine, K.F., Aditia, R. and Rahmadana, M.F., 2021. An empirical study of

leadership, organizational culture, conflict, and work ethic in determining work
performance in Indonesia's education authority. Heliyon, 7(7), p.e07698.

With limited research on non-profit organisations, the study aimed to gain insight
into how leadership, conflict, organisational culture and work ethics influence
employees' performance in the public sector. For this reason, the location of the
study was North Sumatra Education Authority, a non-profit organisation in
Indonesia. A quantitative study design was employed where data was collected
directly from the Education Authority office. 180 employees were recruited to
participate in the study. The research was then conducted based on the following
hypotheses; leadership positively relates to work performance, conflict negatively
relates to work performance, organizational culture positively relates to work
performance, and work ethics positively relates to work performance. Gender and
level of education were the main factors for consideration when recruiting
participants in the study. Regarding data analysis, the Partial Least Square
Structural Equation Modelling was employed as the most desirable method that
allows researchers to estimate complex models without forcing distributional
assumptions on the data.

The study argued that in modern-day societies, efforts to improve employee

performance are the utmost goal of every organization. In this regard, leadership
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has gained dominance as an influential factor in promoting individual and team

efforts to achieve organisational objectives. Leadership works hand in hand with
organisational culture, conflict and work ethics to improve individual and collective
employee performance. According to Ferine et al. (2021), organizational culture
gives employees a sense of identity and social control based on individual
interactions and care for each other. The study further claimed that work conflict
is vital for the smooth running of an organization by preventing premature
agreement and encouraging creativity and innovation among employees.
However, too many conflicts hinder goal achievement, increasing the need for
conflict resolution. Conflict, in this case, is regarded as disagreement over ideas
or interests. Task conflict and conflict over unclearly stated guidelines were the
main sources of conflict identified in the organisation.

Consequently, destructive reaction and productive conflict were the two main
approaches to dealing with organizational conflicts. The destructive reaction uses
avoidance to create a win-win situation for each conflicting party. In contrast,
productive conflict advocates coping with each party's incompatible activities
while trying to resolve disagreements. Ferine et al. (2021) also reported work
ethics as a significant attribute of organizational development. In their view, work
ethics was directly linked to integrity, independence, motivation, diligence,
asceticism and dependability, which were key prerequisites for increasing
employee performance. The study concluded that leadership positively affects
employee performance by influencing positive behaviour and changing individual
values to correspond to the organisation's. However, the study needed to be
more extensive in identifying specific leadership styles that promote employee
performance.

Reflection on different styles of leadership and strategies for employee

motivation

Barnardo's was my chosen organization for this reflective portfolio, a UK charity

organization that protects and supports the most vulnerable children and young
people. Since 1866, the organization has collaborated with families and
communities to transform children affected by painful childhood experiences
(Aldridge, 2018). The organization offers education, health and social services to
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socioeconomically disadvantaged children through a series of initiatives. The

organisation has equally put up a community-based service to help relieve the
burden imposed on children by parents and siblings. Barnardo's also works with
young carers to ensure need assessment and support provision. As a significant
stakeholder in National Young Carers Coalition, the organization advocates for
need identification within social contexts by local authorities who are often at the
grassroots level regarding community service provision (Gibson et al., 2019).

Like any other organization, Barnado’s has put in place effective leadership and
teamwork as the core of all service provision initiatives. Through a hierarchical
organizational structure, Barnardo's integrates equality, diversity and inclusion in
leadership. A hierarchical structure refers to different management layers, where
executives are in the seniour position, and normal employees are at the bottom
(Zhang and Xie, 2019). The CEO, Lynn Perry, occupies the most senior
leadership position, followed by the board of trustees, which is responsible for
governance and providing a strategic direction for the organization. The board of
trustees also sets out the company's vision, values, policies and strategy and
monitors progress. The president and patrons are also significant leaders in the
organization who help raise awareness of problems affecting vulnerable children,
young people and their families, for instance, mental health and child sexual
exploitation (Gibson et al., 2019). Normal employees work directly with children
and families to promote health and well-being.

Based on circumstances, the organization employs various leadership styles to

support vulnerable children, young people and families, effectively. Democratic
leadership is guided by an organizational structure underpinned by equality,
diversity and inclusion (Jan DeBell, 2019). In this form of leadership, every
opinion counts regardless of an individual's position in the organization. Leaders
make the final call, but every employee's voice counts to facilitate effective
service provision. Autocratic leadership is also common in the organization,
especially where the CEO and the board of trustees develop policies and
company strategies that each employee is expected to adhere to to ensure
successful operations (Chukwusa, 2018). Strategic leadership applies when both
executive interests are met, and the working conditions are favourable enough to
promote employee performance. Transformational leadership is also a key
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management approach, especially where managers delegate tasks to other

employees, giving them room to achieve their highest potential through effective
motivation (Uslu, 2019).

Under a stipulated organizational culture, Barnardo's has effectively supported

vulnerable children by creating a positive and inclusive environment where
everybody can thrive. Some core values include; respecting the unique worth of
all people, enabling responsible stewardship, working with hope and encouraging
individuals to fulfill their potential in life (Gibson et al., 2019). However, extrinsic
and intrinsic motivation plays a significant role in boosting employee performance.
Ryan and Deci (2020) claim that rewards drive extrinsic motivation, whereas
intrinsic motivation is guided by an inner drive to engage in an activity. At
Barnardo's, gift vouchers of up to 450 sterling pounds are given to employees for
serving the longest and attaining high-level employee performance. Employees'
salaries are also reviewed annually based on the position at the organization and
performance levels. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is facilitated by
organizational culture and values that direct behaviour and employee
performance (Aldridge, 2018).

As far as leadership in organisational contexts is concerned, conflicts are likely to

occur. In most instances, organisational conflicts pave the way for creativity and
innovation, which is vital for organisational development (Riaza et al.,2020).
However, frequent and unresolved conflicts may be disruptive and likely to affect
employee performance. For this reason, conflict management and resolution are
integral to achieving overarching strategic goals. Task, value and relationship
conflicts are common disagreements in the workplace (Ferine et al., 2021). As an
intern at Barnardo's, my colleague and I disagreed while undertaking a joint
advocacy task. Due to fear of making mistakes, I was well prepared for the task
and took a lot of time to do it. On the other hand, my colleague needed to prepare
for the task. Lack of preparation amounted to conflict because I felt that the
quality of the work was in jeopardy. With a foundation of conflict resolution, we
approached the situation by considering individual perceptions of the problem.

Through an open discussion, we highlighted the qualities needed for the

advocacy campaign (Babalola et al., 2018). We left the office with concrete goals
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that helped relieve our tension. In my opinion, task conflicts pave the way for
high-level employee performance when resolved amicably. Similarly, active
listening enables conflicting parties to understand each other's perspectives and
is thus an effective way to resolve conflicts. Additionally, organizational culture
gives a clear understanding of roles and tasks, thus effectively managing
disagreements (Hartley, 2018). In the future, I will practice the conflict
management skills learned during the internship when faced with similar
situations. At the same time, I will reflect on leadership and culture to guide my
performance at work.

Conclusion

Leadership and teamwork are essential for improved organizational performance.

Organisations require talented leaders to guide, inspire, coach and motivate other
employees. Similarly, teamwork is essential for integrating new ideas and
approaches to facilitate high-level performance and achieving overarching
strategic goals. However, leadership alone is insufficient for maximum
performance. Several factors affect individual performance, for instance,
organisation culture, conflict management and work ethics. The Barnardo's is an
example of an organisation that has achieved high-level employee performance
dues to effective leadership, teamwork and conflict management. As the world
evolves, more research is needed to enable leaders to deal with unforeseen
changes in working environments.

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