The personal, organizational leadership philosophy is primarily based on the Book of Nehemiah. The main reason is that it contains a strong first-hand narrative about Nehemiah’s leadership in rebuilding Jerusalem walls. There are many useful connotations regarding one’s approach to organizational leadership and management. Nehemiah is an outstanding example of a leader, who shows a great deal of humility, encourages his people, and stands up for the oppressed. He does not tolerate injustice but promotes hard work and works alongside his followers. He was also a visionary who understood the problems of the city and took deliberate action to solve the crisis. Nehemiah was able to create a healthy organizational culture, properly handle conflict, conduct fair labor division, and adhere to strict management principles.
Healthy Organizational Culture
According to my personal philosophy of organizational leadership, a leader needs to set high standards and adhere to them himself or herself without fear of punishment or hardship. I believe that a leader forms and acts as a backbone of the organization, which is vital for healthy organizational culture development. For example, Nehemiah and his followers were in tune with the vision of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem because they possessed a healthy organizational culture. It is stated that in order to reframe an organization, one needs to understand it from four different perspectives of factories, families, jungles, and temples (Bolman and Deal 17). The given elements represent a division of labor, relationships, power struggle, and culture, respectively.
In the context of Nehemiah, he was a strong leader that stood behind his own principles and goal by putting his life at stake. Nehemiah states, “should, such a man as I flee, and who is there and being as I am will go into the temple to save his life” (“The Book of Nehemiah” 6:11). In other words, he was committed to his goal despite receiving death threats and being aware of assassination attempts. Therefore, the process of building a healthy organizational culture begins with strong leadership. He understands the fact he needs to treat his followers as a family and temple. It is stated that such an approach can also lead to the formation of better and healthier sub-cultures (Jablonowski 207). It is also important to monitor the overall perception of the organizational culture (Desselle et al. 409). Nehemiah set the highest standards to the folk, where he is willing to die in order to better the situation for the people of Jerusalem.
It is important for a leader to understand that organizational culture can either positively or negatively influence the followers. It is stated that nursing fatigue is the result of improper organizational culture (Lee and Jang 110). Therefore, such a culture needs to value employee job satisfaction and performance instead of wearing out the motivation of workers. An effective system for stimulating the work of employees in an organization should provide for the creation of a plausible mechanism. It needs to become a necessary and sufficient condition for satisfying significant and socially determined needs of employees. To build an effective system of labor motivation in an organization, it is essential not only to consider employee motivation as such but also its relationship with organizational culture. Moreover, some aspects of organizational culture can, in turn, become motivating factors.
A healthy culture is characterized by formalization and structure based on strictly prescribed procedures. Leaders in such a system are rationally thinking coordinators and organizers who maintain the established order of the organization’s activities with a clear distribution of powers, standardized rules, and well-functioning control and accounting mechanisms. I believe that organizational culture is closely related to work motivation, job satisfaction, and the efficiency of the organization as a whole.
Human Resource Management
My personal approach towards human resources management is based on fairness and justice by balancing factory and family views. For instance, Nehemiah also comprehends the importance of viewing his organization as a factory, which needs to be efficient in order to rebuild the wall quickly. It is evident that his approach to rebuilding the walls involved both efficiency and fairness of the division of labor.
The passage of the rebuilding includes a wide range of names, and each one of them was given a certain portion of the wall to repair. It is stated that: “after him repaired Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Beth-zur, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty” (“The Book of Nehemiah” 3:16). In other words, the wall was being rebuilt around-the-clock, but the workload was fairly distributed among each builder. One should be aware that unfairness in the human resource management negatively influences the general commitment levels (Newman et al. 151). In addition, the lack of organizational justice in human resource management reduces work engagement (Zhu et al. 2116). Therefore, it is essential to preserve just and fair treatment towards workers.
The classical approach is characterized by an attitude towards people as cogs with a focus on an authoritarian leadership style, the requirement for unconditional subordination of workers to management and labor operations. There is also a desire to minimize the costs of attracting and improving the qualifications of personnel, as well as addressing social issues, using primarily direct incentives. All personnel management in these conditions is concentrated in the personnel department. It is aimed at ensuring that the right people are available at the right time in the right place, as well as the release of unnecessary personnel. It did not consider the issues of either the quality of the labor force or the quality of working life; the management was dominated by an orientation towards productivity, the efficiency of human labor.
Unlike the latter, my personal form of labor organization, it takes into account the role of both the human factor and socio-psychological relations. Accounting and management of these factors contribute to an increase in labor productivity, ensure the optimal distribution of labor, and contribute to the rationalization of jobs. In addition, this has a positive effect on employee motivation, and these methods are designed to reduce monotony, increase job satisfaction, and, at the same time, productivity. Based on this, in my personal conditions, improving the organization of work includes the two most important strategies for personnel management. The latter consists of the rationalization of labor and the quality of the job.
Power and Conflict Management
According to my personal philosophy of organizational leadership, a leader needs to protect the interest of his or her followers by harnessing mutual respect among the group members and defending against outsiders. In the case of power struggle and conflict management, Nehemiah was not reluctant to step up and bring justice. He understood the concept of viewing organizations as jungles, where both in-group and out-group individuals exhibit some form of struggle for power. However, Nehemiah still does not dismiss the family-based perspective and stands up for the oppressed. Although it is clear that he could have achieved the goal without protecting the disadvantaged people, he still adheres to his moral standards. Nehemiah forces the noble and wealthy to help the poor and ask for nothing in return. He states, “We will restore them and we will require nothing of them” (“The Book of Nehemiah” 5:12). Therefore, he does not allow the powerful to dictate the rules and resolves conflict to his people’s advantage.
Conflict management alone plays a central role in improving the overall organizational culture. It is stated that properly training employees on the subject reduces absenteeism (Leon-Perez et al. 11). In addition, cultural intelligence also plays a key part in determining the general style of conflict resolution (Goncalves et al. 740). Therefore, a leader needs to be aware of the effective strategies that allow him or her to resolve conflicts in a highly correct manner.
In addition, despite Nehemiah being humble and kind to his people, he is defensive about his group and does not tolerate mockery. In response to insults from the others, he states: “then answered I them, and said unto them, the God of heaven, he will prosper us, therefore we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, no right, no memorial in Jerusalem” (“The Book of Nehemiah” 2:20). Nehemiah understands that all Jerusalem inhabitants will benefit from the work of builders, which is why he approaches this conflict by being precise about the expectations after the project is complete. Nehemiah sees power dynamics as a jungle, which is why he does not allow the power to slip away due to his high morals.
Organizational Culture
My personal philosophy revolves around maximizing efficiency without dismissing a family-based view. It is possible because the assessment of the case illustrates that Nehemiah acted in a similar manner where he finished the wall repair in a short period of time without overworking his followers and treating them unethically. He understood that the rebuilding needs to be completed quickly and properly, which is why he viewed the organization as a factory. It is stated that: “and the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month of E-lul in fifty and two days” (“The Book of Nehemiah” 6:15). However, he also realized that the relationship aspect was critical, which is why he was just and fair. He even worked alongside other builders and recognized each one of them. The Book of Nehemiah lists all of the builders’ names and the portion of their work.
Management Principles and Processes
My personal philosophy dictates that a leader needs to act from a stance of compassion and caring love. Such was the case with Nehemiah, who did not stop paying attention to Jerusalem’s issues after the wall was repaired. It is stated that: “Now the city was large and great: but the people were few therein, and the houses were not builded. And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first, and found written therein” (“The Book of Nehemiah” 7:4-5). In other words, Nehemiah wanted to serve his community and organization by conducting a proper census of the province.
In the case of both wall repair and census, Nehemiah reflects my personal philosophy on change management principles and processes. The shift is manifested in the fact that divided province was being united under a new leader who brings justice and order. The principles are not complex where the oppressed receive reparations and the oppressor receive punishment. However, the core principles lie in the fact that he leads and manages with the soul. Nehemiah truly cares about the Jerusalem inhabitants and understands that both noble and poor will be in danger if there is no wall because intruders might come to wipe the city out. He shows compassion despite the division among his own people, and this the key principle of my own personal philosophy.
In regards change management processes, I think that one should be inclusive to all members of an organization despite their previous misdeeds. For example, Nehemiah has never showed an act of scapegoating regarding the province citizens. As the shift of uniting Jerusalem citizens was taking place, he understood the relevance of inclusiveness and did not treat people differently during the census. This was due to his transformational leadership style, where he leads within and not on the “top” of the group or organization. Any organization depends on and is in certain external conditions. As a consequence, an enterprise must adapt to changes in the macro and microenvironment, not only for profit but also for survival in the market. Therefore, it is important to learn how to qualitatively manage the process of change for effective adaptation to external conditions.
One approach to change management methodology can be seen in the method of Nehemiah. It shows that the transformation process takes place through three stages, such as defrosting, making a change, freezing (Hayes 59). Unfreezing involves abandoning outdated concepts or techniques and mastering new ones. The leader must help workers clear their minds and prepare them to accept new ideas. This is usually accomplished in several ways, such as by increasing the driving forces to move out of the existing equilibrium. It also includes either weakening the constraints that prevent getting out of the current equilibrium position or by combining the two approaches. The change process is the stage in which new ideas and practices are explored, where management helps workers learn new ways of thinking and acting.
Freezing presupposes the integration of new patterns of action into real practice, when they are accepted not only by reason, but also by emotions, and are embedded in the daily activities of workers. If this last step is neglected, it is more likely that the transformation will be short-lived, and workers will eventually return to their original state of equilibrium. Thus, the aim of re-freezing is to stabilize the new situation while balancing the driving and deterrent factors.
The reality of today’s economic environment is based on meeting the ever-changing needs of customers, increasing productivity, and maintaining a leading position in the market. They are such that the company’s readiness for various changes in its activities comes to the fore. This becomes especially relevant in the context of a constantly transforming economic situation during a period of financial and economic crises. Unfortunately, such actions, without the proper competence on the part of management, increase the likelihood of disruptions in the production process. It can also disrupt the unity of information flows, intra-organizational structures and reduce the efficiency of personnel (Cameron and Green 112). The organization is a social system that develops according to a similar principle, but production capacities and the management system act as driving forces. If the control system at the beginning of the stage is optimal, production capacity grows quickly enough, and then gradually, they begin to be constrained by the lagging control system. As a result of mismatch, a crisis arises, leading either to stagnation and the loss of competitive advantages or to a radical restructuring of the management system and the opening of new horizons.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my own personal philosophy of organizational leadership stems from the outstanding example of Nehemiah. I believe that in a healthy organizational culture, a leader needs to form the backbone of an organization by being the one who fully adhere to the set principles and values. In the case of division of labor, he or she needs to show fairness in the workload distribution. Therefore, the leader, such as Nehemiah, sees the group as a family. I also think that a jungle-based perspective is relevant during conflict management activities because it reflects the struggle for power. Despite being humble, it is important to stand up for the oppressed and bring justice. In addition, organizational culture needs to be based on the balancing between family and factory-based views, where both efficiency and relationships are considered. Lastly, the change management principle needs to be based on compassion and process rooted in inclusiveness.
Works Cited
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Zhu, Yun, et al. “The Impact of Emotional Intelligence On Work Engagement of Registered Nurses: The Mediating Role of Organisational Justice.” Journal of Clinical Nursing, vol. 24, no. 15, 2015, pp. 2115-2124.