Effective leadership styles
Abstract
An effective leader influences their employees in a desired manner to achieve goals and objectives. Different leadership styles can affect an organization’s effectiveness and performance. The objective of this paper is to analyze the review of literature on various leadership styles over the past years and how effective and ineffective different leadership styles are in the workplace.
Introduction
A leader is defined as a person with responsibility to influence one or more followers and directing them to achieve a set objective (Sethuraman, 2014). In order to achieve that set of objectives effortlessly, effectively, and efficiently, the most important and valued trait of a leader is an effective leadership styles. Effective leadership styles are required in every organization at every level to be successful. The success or failure of an organization depends on the quality of leadership particularly on the part of top management. An effective leadership style can be developed on the basis of understanding of the situations (Sethuraman, 2014). Top management should know which leadership style is needed based on the situation to be most effective to gain trust and respect from their employee. There is no single method of influencing the behavior of employees for every situation. The employee’s level of knowledge on the task and can determine which leadership style that will be most effective for the situation. Preparing leaders to lead
There is a great importance put on business leadership, this is directly due to how a business not only functions but in how fruitful the company can become. A great leader essentially can take a business plan that is weak yet turn it into a success, whereas a poor leader stands a higher chance of ruining the best of business plans. That is why it is essential to develop effective leadership throughout a companies entire management program at all levels. How does one develop or retain strong leadership? Companies must be focused on hiring strategies that encompass very specific parameters, building from within whilst creating a strong foundation for employee development and succession planning. Leadership is essential in any organization. The style and theory embraced determines whether the company will or will not achieve their goals. in all cases theory must be embraced, as a companies theory, style, and strategy is greatly dependent on the industry the company is in (Sadler, 2014). “The behavioral theory is one of the widely used theories of management. It suggests that leaders are made and not born. It gives room for training to install leadership traits in leaders at the expense of denying them a chance. There are various leadership styles embraced by companies (Cyert, & March, 2005).” This paper takes a look at the management styles of two specific
A1. Leadership Style Upon conducting research, it is clear that the definition of “leadership” is not agreed upon. It is fluid, based upon many perceptions, situations, and surroundings. According to Robinson (2010), adopting a specific style of leadership is rather futile as it is, “contingent on the personal traits of the leader, the people being led, and the nature of the activity.” Tools are available to help guide potential leaders in determining a preferred style of leadership. For example, utilizing the “Leadership Self-Assessment
The contents and assignment in this course has helped me understand the various theories of leadership and how different leadership styles can have a negative or positive effect on followers and organizations. The leadership theories helped me understand the concept of leadership better because it educates me on the different leadership options that are available. Leadership and followership is not based on specific characteristics. Leaders must draw from things and approaches to find the right style. A follower’s attitude determines the way a leader leads. According to Johnson (2011) “Being a good follower means ensuring your boss is supported, but only if he is making optimum decisions”.
According to organisational behaviour by McShane, leadership is defined as influencing, motivating and enabling others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the organisation of which they are members (page 382, McShane).Becoming an effective leader depends on the leader’s leadership style. Successful leaders have vision and charisma, also the leader should have an ongoing personality, talkative, careful and self-disciplined. The leader must also have self-concept
Effective leadership increases an organization’s ability to meet all challenges, including maintaining a competitive advantage, the need to foster ethical behavior, and the need to manage a diverse workforce fairly and equitably. Managers at all levels and in all kinds of organizations have their own personal leadership styles that determine not only how they lead their subordinates but also how they perform the other management tasks (Jones & George, 2009).
In the investigation of the various characteristics and styles of leadership the emphasis of the style approach is the focus on the actions and behavioral characteristics of the leader. There are two behaviors of the style approach that researchers have observed: task behaviors and relationship behaviors (Northouse, 2007). People who are in roles of leadership should possess both behaviors to be successful in their position and maintain motivation and the quest for achievement in their subordinates. Task behaviors are those traits that keep others motivated to work to complete objectives. Relationship behaviors are characteristics and actions that leaders possess that make others feel respected and want to work towards goals. Unlike other
Group leadership refers to the processes of leading, influencing and motivating members of a group to become highly competent in achieving the goals or objectives of the group (Aritz and Robyn 73). Though the adoption and implementation of a relevant and effective leadership style, group leaders become effective in driving change through work groups and facilitating the achievement of organizational goals. Leaders play a wide range of roles in leading groups, such as motivating members, coordinating group activities, influencing positive behaviors among members and motivating productivity and innovation (Tabernero et al. 1393). The following sections presents a detailed analysis and discussion of the role of leadership style in group work and the most important leadership roles in work groups. The paper uses evidence to support the argument that group leaders must adopt effective leadership styles so that they can be successful in facilitating group activities and ensuring that members of the group actively contribute towards the achievement of shared goals (Thompson 23).
A pilot requires psychomotor skills and flying skills to properly fly a plane. He takes years and years to hone those skills to become a master at them so that he can be an expert at flying the plane.
As per the research a good leader should be honest, sincere, recognise talent, appreciate good work, treat everyone equally, communicate well and ask for the team’s opinion. In our study have showcased the characteristics of two managers whose behaviour reflect on the outcome of the organisation. The two managers are on the extremes when it comes to organisational relationship. Henry had a high performing team while Ben on the other hand had a team where the employee turn-over was very high and lacked efficiency of a good leader and their performance was below average. In the initial stage both the leadership styles are shown and in the latter part using the theories we are going to recommend how Ben can change is leadership style.
Different leadership styles result in various results in the workplace. The Fiedler contingency model postulates a leader’s style is static; however, God can transform anyone’s heart and thus their leadership style. Additionally, the grapevine can be an important tool for employers. As long as each individual chooses to use gossip for honorable purposes, God will bless the workplace.
People have always asked if there is any style of leadership that is most effective. Nevertheless, numerous theories and models have been created to show that there is no style of leadership that is the best. Rather, styles of leadership need to adjust depending on the variables such as the leader, the situation, the subordinate, the task, the environment and other factors. Paul Hersey, Kenneth H. Blanchard, and Dewey E. Johnson noted that if the leader’s style of behavior is appropriate or matches the situation it is considered effective. If it is not appropriate to a given situation, it is deemed ineffective. The difference between the effective and ineffective styles is often not the actual behavior of the leader, but the appropriateness of that behavior to the environment in which it is used. In reality, the third dimension is the environment.
To be a leader, you need a style. Not fancy clothes, a slick haircut, or a fast car, instead, a true leader’s style comes from within the individual. In individual’s style is something you are born with, something that is nurtured over time, something that is developed. True leadership is a process where an elected or appointed person is able to influence groups of people to achieve a common objective (Northouse, 2013). While some leaders find great success in leading a team towards a common goal, others are not quite as fortunate.
Methodology: As this study seeks to study leadership styles, which can be very subjective, it would appear that the qualitative method of study would be preferable. For this body of research, it was felt that more open dialogue pertaining to this topic of style of leadership and more richness of data would be obtained through the interview process.
Many studies define an effective leader and different leadership styles and personality traits. However, with all the research completed about effective leadership, the argument being is it the “what” or the “who” that defines an effective leader? Is an effective leader defined by your level of education or your career by trade? Society has painted a colorful picture of many people of how the ideal effective leader looks. Based on countless statically based studies over many years, it is no secret that the majority of senior level executives in the public and private sectors in the US are educated, white men. Does this mean that white men are the only people capable of being an effective leader? This research shows that leadership is not always about scientific studies on what effective leadership styles and skills are required to be a successful leader.
“Building leadership talent as the most significant challenge facing organizations today” (Cleavenger, & Munyon, 2013, p 351). As the old saying goes, ‘It’s not always what you say, but how you say it,’ this concept is the same for what leadership styles you use in your particular situation. “Leadership, primarily deals with influence. A manager may or may not be an effective leader. A leader’s ability to influence others may be based on a variety of factors other than his/her formal authority or position” (Wojcak, Bajzikova, Sajgalikova, & Polakova, 2016, p 34). We will discuss there are situations where a leader has opportunities to employ different leadership styles some prove to be more successful than others but there is not one that can be used in every situation.