Article Analysis - Advice On Leadership
Introduction & Article Summary
Leadership is an important aspect of management. However, effective leadership is essential in order to achieve organizational success. It is therefore important for every entrepreneur to be aware of fundamental aspects of leadership. The article, “Take One Entrepreneur: The Recipe for Success of France’s Great Chefs,” by Katharina Balazs. The article’s focus is on studying the leadership of a group of organizations regarded as being archetypal for what they are representing. The key interest is in the most prominent restaurants in France. The aim of the study was mapping out how the majority of the prominent French chefs de cuisine have established their restaurants as well as the leadership roles they have been playing to make the restaurants successful (Balazs, 2002, p. 247). A small group of restaurants is the study’s subject listed by the French food guide as well as the Guide Rouge Michelin as the world’s best restaurants. Balazs makes propositions concerning the leadership aspects determined to be playing a significant role in creating these outstanding organizations. He describes the two leadership role which includes the architectural and charismatic role. He also included the vision that leaders generate, the goals they set, the strategic plan they create, the organizational culture they create as well as the high-quality skills they create among a committed workforce which appears to be quite flexible (Balazs, 2002, p. 247). The author also ventures in deconstructing the way success of these formations is affected by the manner these chefs are applying and aligning the two lead roles and also the specific aspects every role involves and also how such roles are utilized by chefs in achieving a special position in the society.
Key message for aspiring leaders
There is also a need to embrace diversity in the workplace and in teams. Diversity increases the chances of creativity. Therefore, the leader has the responsibility of uniting the team and resolving conflict. Rather than avoiding conflict as well as neglecting the team member’s creativity, the leader needs to utilize the most of diversity without allowing the diversity to create divisiveness within the team (Balazs, 2002, p. 249). Therefore, aspiring leaders need to be aware that it is the responsibility of a leader to strive to identify methods of establishing cohesion, the magnetic power binding teams together as well as harmonizing different skills. Through this, the leader will be able to drive his team towards attaining the organizational goal.
A leader should ensure that he or she establishes unique teams. Every team should be unique on its own but geared towards a common goal driven by a common purpose but each team tends to be successful when it masters the aspect of teamwork as well as team-building. Each team requires a clear purpose to motivate and trigger commitment among team members to a common cause (Balazs, 2002, p. 249). Moreover, it should be noted that it is the role of a leader to define the protocols for the most essential areas of cooperation as well as practicing them collectively until they become a habit. This helps in making the team members be more focused on working collectively, therefore, improving leading to improved performance and time-saving.
It is also important to note that it is quite difficult to achieve organizational performance without having an effective vision in place. Therefore, the aspiring leaders need to know that it is upon the leader to set visions for the team to achieve. A team without a vision is less likely to perform well unlike a team with a vision that is most likely to perform well (Balazs, 2002, p. 251). Therefore, leaders should make it a priority to develop a vision of their teams. Alongside with visions, leaders should also set specific goals for every team. This helps in encouraging hard work and commitment to achieving success. Goals act as a guide and something to look forward to and working towards it.
Leaders should possess architectural and charismatic leadership roles. As a leader, one should develop strategies and organizational cultures. The leader has to develop a strategic plan which will help in guiding the company’s performance (Balazs, 2002, p. 247). This should be backed up with the commitment to work towards a common goal in a flexible manner. Essentially, an organization’s performance is affected by the way the leader is applying and aligning the two lead roles.
Analysis of the credibility of the advice
The advice from the article appear to be credible since the authors have adopted an objective and systematic approach of discussing the important aspects of leadership. Balazs’ article is a peer-reviewed journal by the European Management Journal which makes his advice credible. Being a peer-reviewed journal, it is an acceptable academic journal that has been reviewed and accredited, therefore, making the contents in the article sensible and credible. The article is also dated and the authors indicated. This is for the purpose of proving ownership of the authorship. Open declaration of the ownership and authorship of the article makes the advice that has been presented in them credible. For Balazs’ article, the advice in it is also credible because it is based on the findings of a research conducted to determine the essential leadership roles that have played the role of making French restaurants a success (Balazs, 2002, p. 248). Findings from research as important and facts, therefore making the advice in it credible and reliable for aspiring leaders and also current leaders.
Conclusion
To sum up, the article has proven to be a credible source of advice of the important aspects of leadership. The sources are, therefore, important and suitable to be read by any aspiring leader. Evidently, from the source, we get to learn several important aspects of leadership such as one should focus on making an impact on other people’s lives by changing their lives and making one be a better person. There is a need to appreciate leadership and acknowledge it as being greater than anyone. We can also learn that it is also important that aspiring leaders get to understand leadership better before taking a step into leadership.