Leadership, Power. & Politics

Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals (Robbins & Judge, 2007). Leaders understand that people need to find meaning in life through their work and that meaning is derived from creativity in the service of worthwhile purposes. Strong personal ethics, a positive belief in others, and a compelling vision are other characteristics of successful corporate leadership (Badaracco, Ellsworth, 1992). The choice of leaders is modeled within society, where leaders influence both the mode of interaction between groups (either peaceful compromise or costly conflict) and the outcome of these interactions (Hamlin, Jennings, 2007). Furthermore, the effects of culture on the performance of an organization depend, not on the strength of the overall culture, but on the mix and weightings of the components of that culture (Lewis, French, & Steane, 1997). Traditionally, conflict has been regarded as abhorrent in organizations. When seen as behavior intended to obstruct the achievement of another person 's goals, it is easy to understand the belief that a healthy organizational climate should reflect complete harmony (Mullins, 1993). Most management theorists have come to accept that conflict in organizations is inevitable because conflict is often inherent in an organization 's structure and through the competition by members for scarce resources (Lewis, French, & Steane, 1997). Conflict ingrained within the culture of an organization can be extremely hard to identify and thus to break down (Morgan, 1988). Conflict is in fact multidimensional. While one dimension of conflict enhances decision and quality, another dimension attenuates consensus and affective acceptance (Amason, 1996).
Cognitive or issue related conflict, beneficial to decision making, should be encouraged and managed. Affective conflict, a personalized type of conflict that erodes decision quality, leads to

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