Leadership practices help manage communication in the post-bureaucratic era.Evan Karagiannis | 11690955| Managing People and Organizations (21129) Introduction In this essay I will argue that leadership practices contribute to the management of communication in the post-bureaucratic era. The post-bureaucratic era emerged through the gradual shift from industrial to post-industrial production starting in the 1970s. This has led to a new work ethic and characteristics based on shared responsibility, fairness and new methods of control. Changes in bureaucracy have evolved from traditional “rulers” to post-bureaucratic “motivators” and “leaders” with strong management and communication practices. Communication is the most important characteristic of good and effective leadership in the post-bureaucratic era. The goal of effective communication and leadership is to create a shared forum between sources and recipients of the message. Effective communication in the post-bureaucratic era results in empowerment, shared responsibility, and trust between leaders and followers. The transition from the industrial age to the knowledge age has created new challenges for leaders in transforming workplaces from traditional multi-tiered organizations into social and networked organizations. To summarize my overall argument, it is evident that while the need for leaders has not changed, the need for good leadership has (Bass 1990). For this reason, it is important for twenty-first century leaders to ensure they utilize the full capacity of effective communication. Linear Leadership Historically, leadership has been documented through strong, authoritative figures (Gill et al. 1998). Leadership in the post-bureaucratic era the...... half of the document ...... are as follows: courage, advice, clarity and coaching Courage combats fear and promotes action steps. Advice from people we trust or seek out to help uncover brutal facts will help determine whether our action is making worthwhile progress. Clarity in alignment means specificity. We can't align ourselves when we can't concentrate. Finally, coaching leads us to discover things we may not see, which leads us to recognize that our strategy has blind spots. Therefore, the circle repeats itself and coming out of coaching we should take an action step. Evaluate yourself: behaviors n. 1 = effective. Behaviors n. 2 = ineffective. Behaviors n. 3 = resilient. Aim for point 1, avoid point 2, practice point 3, and be aware that resilient behaviors are helping you get through something. This may mean that you need to address something in your environment or relationships to support effective leadership.