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Leadership Levels & Issues

Issues and Problems

For most organizations, problems prevent the direct, linear achievement of a goal. The tasks for accomplishment may be murky and solutions to problems may be unclear. Moreover, the goal itself may be unclear, unknown or controversial.

The problems faced by an organization may be adaptive in nature. Adaptive problems require changes in organizations structure, behavior, values, culture or objectives. Non-adaptive problems simply require the application of existing approaches.

Great Leaders- Mahatma Ghandi

The people who should be involved in problem-solving varies. It depends on the problem and on the available solutions.

Table 1 summarizes several types of problem-solution complexes and the people that should be involved in their resolution. These various problem-solution combinations require different levels of leadership.

Table 1-- Organizational Issues

Problem/Issue Types	Solutions Available	People Involved
Adaptive, Non-Technical & Unclear	Unknown and Unclear; Requires Evolution of Values and Innovation	All Stakeholders
Non-Technical but Clear	Partly Known -Some Adaptive Learning Required	Experts Aid Diagnosis; Group Solves Problem
Technical & Clear	Technical, Solutions Exist	Expert-Leader Solves Problem

Levels of Leadership

Table 2 summarizes one perspective on leadership. It views leadership at different levels: Transactional, Relational, Transformational and Charismatic. Clicking on each the level below takes you to further discussion of that leadership level.

If we map the leadership levels of table 2 to the issue types of table 1, we see that lower levels of leadership can cope with technical and non-adaptive problems. Murky, adaptive issues require higher levels of leadership.

Different writers and researchers attach different meaning to these terms. For example, some writers view charismatic leaders as any leader possessing charisma. Others view charismatic leaders as transformational leaders with the added characteristic of charisma.

When viewing these pages and the other literature, you must infer from the context whether the discussion is about the pure Charismatic or Transformational- Charismatic Leader.

Table 2-- Levels of Leadership

	Level	Activities & Competencies	Personal Characteristics
IV	Charismatic- Transformational (Click for More ..)	All of Level III +... Personal Charisma	All of Level III +... Self-Confident Knows Him/Herself Eloquent Free of Internal Conflict Expressive Emotionally
III	Transformational (Click for More ..)	All of Level II +... Frames Holistic Issues Sets New Goals & Direction Creates Meaning Manages Creative Conflict Promotes Organizational Learning Creates A Context for Dialogue Manages Paradigms Creates Commitment Through Shared Values	Assertive Seizes Opportunities Tolerates Risk Uses Systems Thinking
II	Relational (Click for More ..)	Creates Commitment Through Participation Motivates Intrinsically Promotes Teamwork Manages Politics Works Within Existing System	Participative & Consultative
I	Transactional (Click for More ..)	Accepts Organizational Goals Uses Extrinsic Motivators Works Within Existing System Takes Action	Directive Dominating Action-Oriented

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SEP 2007