Leading a team always represents a significant challenge due to the multiple needs and specifics of each participant that have to be addressed, as well as the necessity to align these needs with those of the organization. However, the head of has managed the specified issue rather effectively by integrating the principles of an innovation-based approach with the concept of Servant Leadership. However, while the specified framework has been working quite well before the organization started to expand, the company at its current stage of development requires an improved version of the initial concept of leadership.
The employees at Ogilvy & Mather are motivated by a financial reward in the form of their salaries, which is the most common and intuitively understandable motivation device for most leaders. However, after a failed attempt at improving performance and promoting change, the leaders discovered that appealing to the individual needs of each staff member was essential. Thus, the need for improved communication were discovered.
As a rule, employees in companies are motivated by incentives and opportunities for professional development. However, Ogilvy & Mather provides few options for the specified requirement, which is why the change in the leadership framework will be needed. With the adoption of the Transformational style, one will be able to focus on the needs of employees more closely and create opportunities for talent management and professional growth for them. Indeed, using the principles of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, one will realize the crucial role of self-actualization as the culminating stage of one’s professional development (Mughal & Kamal, 2018).
In regard to the importance of leadership styles, the previous one defined the lack of motivation in employees and removed their initiative, being based mostly on the laissez-faire framework. Although the current notion of combining the Servant Leadership approach with an innovation-driven philosophy has allowed meeting the needs of each customer individually, with the expansion of the organization, it may pose a problem to the communication within the company.
Namely, the leaders at Ogilvy & Mather will experience difficulties communicating with staff members due to the increase in the quantity of the latter (Mughal & Kamal, 2018). Therefore, to embrace the idea of business expansion and handle the related challenges, Ogilvy & Mather will require a different approach toward leadership, preferably the framework of Transactional or Transformational styles as the means of keeping the communication between the participants consistent and maintaining their engagement.
In turn, the outcomes of placing staff members at different levels of the organization and equipping them with a new vision are likely to include an increase in initiative and critical thinking. As the case has shown, the staff members seem to have developed greater agency in the company. The specified change has also affected their relationships with customers by increasing their loyalty toward the company and its brand. By the end of the case study, the philosophy based on the Transformational Leadership and Brand Stewardship made it possible for the company to regain its customers’ trust.
Therefore, the main strengths of the leadership framework that Charlotte adopted come from its focus on people and the importance of meeting stakeholders’ needs. However, the lack of emphasis on motivation and the development of engagement among staff members specifically was the critical weakness that rove Charlotte’s leadership toward a rather dissatisfying outcome, demanding a rapid change to the current framework (Murari, 2015).
Thus, the main actors, who included the leader herself, staff members, managers, and customers, have played the roles of catalysts to the change that needed to be undertaken. Since the initial leadership approach worked well in a simplified business setting yet has failed to define the leaders and the followers in the expanded organization, it is crucial to integrate the Transformational and Transactional models, which will help to distinguish between the responsibilities of different agents within the firm and increase their motivation.
Reference List
Mughal, Y. H., & Kamal, S. (Eds.). (2018) Servant leadership styles and strategic decision making. New York, NY: IGI Global.
Murari, K. (2015) Impact of leadership styles on employee empowerment. New York, NY: Partridge Publishing.