Change is inevitable and technology is one major driver of change in our world today. Organizations that do not adapt to this new reality are doomed for failure. One case in point is General Motors, who recently announced that they are shutting down their plant in Oshawa which was once one of the largest car assembly plants in the world (Rodriguez, 2018).\u00a0 General Motors, a staple of the North American auto industry for many decades (Rodriquez, 2018) was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2009 and underwent major organizational changes in order to survive, despite the fact that its leadership was resistant to change (Loy, n.d.).\u00a0 It had failed to exercise foresight in its leadership, assuming that its past success were a guarantee ofcontinued success in the future.<\/p>\n
Malgeri (2010) defines foresight as\u00a0the “ability to develop and maintain a forward-looking perspective and to anticipate emerging opportunities and problems by continually scanning the environment for trends and new developments”.\u00a0 According to Spears and Lawrence (2002) cited by Trinity Western University (n.d.) “foresight is the ‘lead’ that a leader has. Once he loses this lead and events start to force his hand, he is leader in name only”. According to Smart (2015) there are three types of foresight: that involving idea creation and innovation, that involving forecasting and risk management, and that involving vision and strategy, which is a hybrid of the first two types.<\/p>\n
Transformational servant leadership (TSL) combines the goals of transformational and servant leadership to get “followers to accomplish more than what is usually expected of them” (Northouse, 2016, p. 161) by “putting the needs of the\u00a0followers first, empowering them, and helping them develop their full personal capacities” (Northouse, 2016 p. 225). My understanding of how all of this relates to TSL is that the vision or foresight of the TSL is a hybrid of (1) innovation and idea generation (necessary to be able to chart a course that will keep the organization ahead of the curve) and (2) forecasting\/risk management (to enable the organization to be good stewards of its resources and make prudent decisions going forward). As a servant leader, the TSL chooses to empower the followers to be the drivers and instigators of this change. He or she does this by effectively communicating the vision, its importance, and their vital role in its accomplishment; by pouring time and resources into their personal development so that they can function to the best of their capacity and thus serve the organization optimally; and by meeting their needs so that they will in turn be highly motivated to meet the needs of others as servants too.<\/p>\n
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Loy, B.\u00a0 (n.d.). Case study: Organizational change at General Motors. In Business 307: Leadership and organizational behavior. Retrieved from\u00a0https:\/\/study.com\/academy\/lesson\/case-study-organizational-change-at-general-motors.html<\/p>\n
Malgeri, J. (2010). Organizational foresight and stewardship. Public Manager, 39<\/em>(4), pp. 39 \u2013 41.<\/p>\n Rodriguez, J.\u00a0 (2018, November 26). General Motors Oshawa assembly plant: A brief history [Video file]. Retrieved from\u00a0https:\/\/www.ctvnews.ca\/autos\/general-motors-oshawa-assembly-plant-a-brief-history-1.4192810<\/p>\n Smart, J. M. (2015, April, 8). John Smart – Leadership of Tech Change – WFS 2013. [Video file]. Retrieved from\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QhdWqLNUJns<\/p>\n Trinity Western University (n.d.). Unit 9 notes. In <\/span>Leadership 500: Fall 2018. <\/span><\/i>Retrieved from\u00a0https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/ldrs500\/unit-9-notes\/<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Change is inevitable and technology is one major driver of change in our world today. Organizations that do not adapt to this new reality are doomed for failure. One case in point is General Motors, who recently announced that they are shutting down their plant in Oshawa which was once one of the largest car … <\/p>\n