Leadership As A Democratic Style Works Best

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

The online leadership and management style test that I used to determine the leadership style that my personality may accommodate was from the psych test website at testyourself.psychtests.com. After a 15 minute questionnaire, the site determined that my personality and principles were of a democratic style leadership. The qualities that a leader or manager of a democratic style may display the following traits: May includes employees in decisions that may affect the unit, motivate staff members by supporting and celebrating achievements and milestones, efficient communication exists between the up and down the chain of command, and they believe that cooperation and collaboration is necessary.

Leadership is one of social science’s most examined phenomena. The scru¬tiny afforded to leadership is not

Collective leadership’s influence on students is mainly related to the teacher’s work setting and motivation, however, it has a weaker effect on a teacher’s capacity.

The principal aspects of leadership are oft debated; to attempt to define what leadership is would most certainly result in broad and varied definitions dependent on who is queried. Nonetheless, in the preeminent

What is leadership? How does people perceive leadership in their everyday Life? Can we still today, in a world oriented more an more towards individualism and commitment to achievement of personal goals, talk about leadership?

Every person who enters the field of education has both the opportunity and an obligation to be a leader (Dufour, Marzano, 2011). Leadership defined by Owen (2002) is, “A journey of discovery. It is the expression of a person at his or her best whose aim is to transform something for the better and to develop this potential in others. It is not a solitary pursuit but one that harnesses the energy of those around you. Leadership is a process in which leaders and followers engage to achieve mutual goals. Prentice (2004) defines leadership as the accomplishment of a goal through the direction of human assistants. A great leader is one who can do so day after day, and year after year, in a wide variety of circumstances.

Leadership is often times confused with management, but they are in fact two separate and equally important aspects of successful organizations (Kotter, 2001). Leadership applies “power to influence the thoughts and actions of other people” (Zaleznik, 1992, p.2), while management is more concerned with handling problems as they arise (Kotter, 2001). Kotter (2001) and Zaleznik (1992) both discuss how leaders may be developed in different settings. The school district I work in practices growing leaders. Employees are identified for their leadership qualities and then the school district assists them with acquiring their administration degrees. Finally, they are transitioned from the classroom to administrative positions within the district

Researchers have focused their efforts towards the link between effectiveness of leaders and personality traits. They tend to reach a consensus indicating that the effectiveness of a leader is established by her/his personality traits. In this context, the performance and success of leaders is measured by personality traits. Organizations use different models to assess an individual's personality traits. Some strategies employed to determine included the use of trait approach in establishing whether a leader is charismatic (Anderson, Reckenrich & Kupp, 2011).

During the first week of the course, my idea of leadership has changed. When I look back at the idea of teacher leadership I have always thought of “assigned, delegated, officially sanctioned leadership based on the authority of a formal position” (Dr.Ausburn, 2016a, lecture 2, slide 4). I did

The group will be free to go about everything as they please. There might as well not be a leader present at all when it comes to a laissez-faire leader. It will be difficult for a group with this type of leader to stay on task, especially when the group comes across a problem or conflict. The leader will not step up and take action, and the group members might not be capable of getting through this obstacle. Right in the middle of the authoritarian and laissez-faire leaders is the democratic leader. The climate provided by a democratic leader will be more desirable compared to those of the other two styles of leadership. Allowing the group to reach a consensus rather than a leader making all of the decisions, will give the members of the group a sense of belonging.

One of the aspects of the personality theory is the Big Five Personality traits. Those traits are: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness. Each of these traits have been studied by many experts and defined based on the behaviors and attitudes that are attributed to most people. There are no absolutes meaning that just because most people who display a certain characteristic are effective leaders, does not mean that everybody who has that trait is an effective leader (Dziak, 2017). This paper will break down each of the Big Five traits and talk about their role in leadership.

This theory is based on the premise that there are certain personality characteristics that are essential for a person to possess in order to be a leader. The main emphasis is on what the person is in terms of a constellation of personality traits. This theory searches for that set of universal leadership traits that will assure success. Numerous traits have been suggested: courage, integrity, loyalty, charisma, ambition, intelligence, honesty, clairvoyance, persistence, arrogance, health, political skill, confidence and vision.

Leadership has been studied extensively and many varying definitions exist. Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy (2015, p.4) review many of these definitions and consequently describe leadership as ‘the process of influencing an organised group towards its goals’. Leadership involves the interplay of a range of different factors, not least the leader themselves, the followers and the situation. For

The concept and practice of teacher leadership have gained momentum in the past two decades. Teachers are assuming more leadership functions at both instructional and organizational levels of practice. Empirical literature reveals effects of teacher leadership practice, teacher leader characteristics, and conditions that promote and challenge teacher leadership.