Leaders cannot separate the internal environment of an organization from the social environment. Each organization and each group are in a certain social environment, and any individual not only lives in the environment of an organization, but also in a social environment. Therefore, it is unrealistic for leaders to create a paradise based on their own preferences. This requires leaders to resolve the conflict between an organization’s activities and the environment for their survival. We know that an organization has a symbiotic relationship with its environment; the existence of the organization itself is a part of any cultural changes. The environment is not only the natural and geographical environment,
but is also ecological in every sense, namely the natural, political, social, economic, historical, and even cultural environment as well as the environment of the spirit of the age.
Thus, we can say that leadership management is a complex and universal human process. In this course, the role of the leaders is just like the door-god with two faces in Roman mythology. It observes the environment outwardly and inwardly. Its basic purpose is to seek balance and development, and its basic function lies in eliminating the state of tension in order to achieve stability of balance. This is the role of the leaders in the entire course of the value of the three most important types of consumption. In each phase of leadership management activities, between man and nature, between people and organizations, as well as between people and their environment, there exist conflict and tension. Humanity’s urge to resolve this conflict and tension to some extent are universal; therefore, leadership management is a difficult art. Ever since ancient times, it has been the most noble and profound activity, and it never goes beyond the different aspects of eating, clothing, housing and transport for human survival and development, the application of tools and the three most important types of consumption.
Any organization is an open system, which determines the internal and external environment. Organizations are inevitably in a constant dynamic and interactive process. The degree of interaction between the internal and external environment, is to a large extent an important variable in determining the organization’s development and the effectiveness of leadership management. Therefore, leadership management science cannot ignore the relationship between the internal and external environment. Generally speaking, the relationship between them is mainly embodied in the following two aspects:
1. The pressure on the internal environment produced by the external environment. The pressure of the external environment is often a specific law of nature or the driving force for an organization to plan reform. Increasingly intensified market competition, government advocacy and control and the impact of foreign leadership concepts, etc., are important factors that affect the change of the leadership structure and leadership management style within an organization. Therefore, the ability to effectively respond to the pressure of the external environment is an important indicator of measuring the effectiveness of leadership management within an organization.
2. The internal environment resists and adapts to the external environment. Though the external environment inevitably generates pressure and affects a organization’s internal environment due to the
influence of various factors, the internal environment is not always consistent with the external environment. The internal environment can be adaptable to the external environment, which is the result of leadership managers’ effective response to this pressure. There is also an aspect of resistance. For example, in order to prevent the loss of an organization’s vested interests, the leaders will withstand the impact of the external environment outside the organization’s boundaries, in order to avoid changes in the intent of leadership managers. Therefore, the internal environment has a dual nature of resistance and adaptation to the external environment.
Through analysis of the leadership management environment, we can see its impact on leadership management activities is very important. First, the leadership management environment is an important variable in determining the effectiveness of leadership management; second, changes in the leadership management environment are important variables in promoting the transformation of the leadership management; third, the leadership management environment in a specific period determines the limit of this transformation.
Since the the leadership management environment can become a basic constituent element of the leadership management activities, an impact on their activities will inevitably exist. Any leadership management activity is inseparable from certain environments, and thus the aspects of leadership management activities influenced by the leadership management environment have become an important issue which is carefully dealt with by leadership managers.
Effective environmental management and the ability to take full advantage of the environment as an important resource make a solid foundation for the effectiveness of leadership management activities, which is a test for any leadership manager. The leadership management environment as one of the most basic elements of leadership management activities has an important influence on the effectiveness of leadership management. A cultural environment following traditions and advocating the conservative will hinder the success of changes in leadership management; conversely, in an open environment the leadership management environment will provide plenty of cultural resources for changes in leadership management. In real life, there is no lack of cases in which the leadership management environment has resulted in the failure of decision-making in leadership management. To this end, for the decision-making and leadership management throughout an organization, the leaders should place the environmental impact on leadership management in an important position.