Leader And Follower Attachment Styles : Implications For Authentic Leader Follower Relationship Essay

I am currently enrolled in the MA: Executive Leadership program. I was told that I needed (3) courses to complete the bridge program and be eligible for admittance to the MBA: General (36-hour) program. I am in the process of taking BMAL 500. Tonight, I found out from an advisor that I do not need this course to get into the MBA: General (36-hour) program. I called and had an advisor help enroll me in courses and was ill advised. My admission decision was made on October 18th, 2017, stating that I only needed BMAL 590 to complete the bridge. I completed BMAL 590 in Fall 2017.

Leadership is a term that cannot be defined or simplified with a standard definition (Bethel, 2011). The term’s complexity is a phenomenon, as it carries a different meaning for each person. During the

Kim Bartholomew took Bowlby’s theory a step further and proposed four styles of adult attachment based on working models of self and others (Lyddon & Sherry, 2001). These styles were secure, preoccupied, dismissing and fearful. Secure adults feel self worth and expect other people to be trustworthy. Preoccupied adults feel unworthy but feel better about other people. Dismissing adults feel they are worthy but have a negative view of others. And fearfully attached adults tend to feel unworthy and untrusting of others (Lyddon & Sherry, 2001). All of the styles noted except for secure would also fall under the broader category of insecure.

Effective leaders interact with their followers in a positive manner to learn about them on a personal and professional level (Colorado State University – Global Campus, 2016). The United States Coast Guard (USCG) refers to this type of communication as deck plate leadership. Deck plate leadership blends an interest in junior personnel’s professional development and well-being (Smith, 2010). Often, before one becomes an effective leader they participate in a follower role. The level of follower engagement may be a precursor to the type of leader they later will become. Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) C. MacInnes is the Executive Officer (XO) of Enlisted Personnel working directly for the commanding officer (CO) at the USCG Academy in New London, Connecticut (http://www.uscga.edu). LCDR MacInnes oversees several divisions at the Academy, meaning he has numerous direct reports. He is an example of a person in a leadership and followership role.

Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.

Devine and Winter (2012, p. 25) state, “there is nothing magical about leadership, and there is nothing magical about teaching it or learning it.” They go on to define leadership as the ability to influence those who work for you to want to accomplish and strive to reach organizational goals and objectives. Those who influence others must understand the theories of motivation so that these theories can be applied, communicated and taught in order to motivate followers (Devine and Winter, 2012). Different from supervision, leadership implores the desires of those around you to want to succeed in meeting a goal through you the leader’s motivational abilities.

Attachment theory was originally proposed by Bowlby (1969) as an explanation of interpersonal relationships, with particular focus in his work on the parent-child relationships which are formed in early childhood. He noted that this was an evolutionary need within us as humans to form close attachments to improve our rate of survival (Bowlby, 1969). He later also theorized that these attachment styles would persist throughout life into adulthood (Bowlby, 1988). Further work on attachment theory by Bartholomew & Horowitz (1991) expanded on attachment styles and looked at the continuation of attachment style into adulthood. Using interviews with participants and the participants close friends they found evidence for four types of adult attachment styles: Secure, Preoccupied, Dismissing and Fearful (Bartholomew & Horowitz 1991). Further support for adult attachments styles is from Mikulincer & Shaver (2004) showing that attachments styles persist from childhood into adulthood demonstrating bowlby 's later hypothesis

Three predominant styles of attachment, secure, insecure-anxious and insecure-avoidant reflect expectations about the reliability and availability of attachment figures (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Individuals who portray secure attachment styles tend to value relationships that provide trust, comfort, and availability. In contrast, individuals with insecure-avoidant or insecure-anxious styles of attachment have difficulty recognizing, acknowledging, and/or valuing secure-based relationships. Avoidant individuals experience discomfort when becoming close with others. In contrast, insecure-anxious individuals report relationships as a threat,

These experiences empowered her to seek healthy attachments in her current job instead of running away as she reported that she so often had done. Social Attachment theory subsists as a deep-rooted relational theory which explores explanations of personal relationships. Thus, it has attempted to describe how warmth and sensitivity shown by primary relationships affect individuals' motivation and capacity to investigate their social

As part of this critical assignment, it is a requirement that I reflect on my own experience as a Leader where I have demonstrated a high level of emotional intelligence, as well use theories to demonstrate my learning’s.

Examine the key features and weaknesses of Situation Ethics (21 marks) Situation Ethics was a phrase coined by Joseph Fletcher in the 1960’s in his book ‘Situation Ethics’. This book was his response to what he believed to be the downfalls of legalism in religion. As well as this , his book rejected the idea of antinomianism – ignoring or not following rules. He believed Situation Ethics to be the middle way between these two extremes.

I am excellent at relating to people and understanding why individuals make certain decisions. My ability to acknowledge and validate the emotions and actions of others has allowed me to create a positive repertoire not only in leadership positions, but also in daily situations. The key to my leadership style is close relationships with those I’m leading, which I usually create through frequent conversations or individual meetings. I believe that leadership is not a competitive ladder where I am above others, but instead a connective web in which I am the center of those I oversee. I have learned to be straight-forward and firm in setting rules and standards, while also being compassionate and understanding to individual

In today’s competitive world, leadership skills are crucial for both personal and professional development. Leadership is an important function of management which helps an individual or a business to maximize efficiency and to achieve goals. Leadership has different meanings to various authors.Most commonly, leadership is defined as influence, that is, the art of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals. (Koontz). Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of either formal or informal group in the task of goal setting and goal achievement. A leader is one whose magnetic personality innervates people for some cause. Not by words, but by their actions is

Leadership has become overly romanticized by popular culture, leaving little research and attention to followership (Meindl). This focus on leadership has left a deficit in the development of

Attachment-based relationships stem from attachment behaviour, which is conceived as any form of behaviour that results in a person attempting, or retaining proximity to some other differentiated and preferred individual, who is usually perceived as stronger or wiser (Ainsworth, 1985). These relationships have a strong connection with the development, functioning, and well-being across the lifespan, in both parent-child relationships, and adult relationships. This essay sets out to display and prove the positive relationship between secure attachment relationships and positive development, well-being, and functioning, across the lifespan.