Leadership: Weaknesses And Strengths Of The Leadership Style

Leadership goes beyond management, for some, leadership is instinctual and pours over into your personal life. This paper will discuss a leader I admire in my personal life, and analyze their leadership style. I will discuss how that leader has influenced my leadership style, as well as how things like environment and the economy affect my leadership approach.

Different types of leadership often need to be applied in a distinct manner, depending on the context and who is involved. Osborn, Hunt, & Jauch (2002) indicated leadership theory and research needs to expand to the complex levels of leadership. The authors

Leadership is a concept that many probably think is a clear-cut subject that is well understood and extremely recognizable. Many would picture an all-powerful individual in a leadership postion, such as a chief execuative officer (CEO) of a company or a leader of a country. These individuals, most people would identify as obvious examples of people who have qualties, skills, or traits that have set themsleves apart from “the common man” and propelled them into the positions they now hold. It would surpirse many to find out that leadership is not as obvious concept as commonly precieved. In fact, as these indiviuals begin to study the numerous theories and studies on leadership, a picture obscure and non-sensical would emerge leaving the individual feeling like they are no closer to understanding what a “leader” is then when they had started. This relatively unknown truth about the absract concept of leadership is best demonstrated by an analyses of two individuals with two unique views of leadership.

The term “leadership” has been inflated for many years by countless scholars from various disciplines such as sociology or philosophy, psychology or business. Extensive research has been done revealing new and innovative theories explaining the sensation of “leadership”. As with any new theory or science solving the task to identify or justify ones, opinion takes on a life of its own. This taxonomy is intended to provide an overview of four leadership theories beginning with the earliest, mentioning influential authors of the particular theory.

In the beginning section, Joan Gallos compiles works that seeks to answer the common question concerning leadership, what is leadership? John Kotter contends, “Leadership is different from management” (as cited in Gallos, 2008, p. 5). Kotter insists that there are clear differences between leadership and management. For example, leadership deals with change within an organization. Whereas, management concentrates on developing a system to bring order to an organization. Consequently, skills needed for leadership are divergent from the skills needed for management.

What is leadership; it can be a process used by leaders in order to shape the workforce and workplace in a variety of ways. Some of the different things that leadership can influence within an organisation are personal attributes and behaviours, which can be developed and/or changed in order to reach a common goal. Leadership can also be used as a channel for developing ideas and visions through an organisation. A clear example of using leadership as a passage to developing ideas through an organisation can be seen in Steve Jobs’ leadership style. Some believe leadership comes from traits of a leader, but others believe it comes from skills learned to be the better leader. There are three main traditional leadership styles however many others still exist. The main ones are: Autocratic leadership style, Democratic leadership and the Laissez-faire leadership style. In this assignment, I will be going through two important challenges in the topic ‘Leadership’, and will comment on potential methods of addressing these issues. The challenges/issues i will go through are: ‘Which leadership style is most appropriate?’ and “What is better for a leader to use; punishment vs reward?”.

Leadership is considered by psychologists and organizational researchers as one of the most multifaceted and complex phenomena (Field & Seters, 1990). As a result of its complexity, leadership is one of the most misconceived phenomenon in the whole world. This prompted the researchers to come up with various foundational theories which helped to shed more light about leadership (Burns, 1978). Thus, it is impossible to analyze and evaluate leadership theories without going back to their origins (Field&Seters, 1990)

Peter Drucker as one of the best known writers and management consultants wrote that “Leadership is of utmost importance. Indeed there is no substitute for it. But leadership cannot be created or promoted. It cannot be taught or learned.” (Drucker, 1955) He held the view that leadership is a talent. The purpose of this essay is to critically evaluate whether leadership can be taught or learnt, and in which way it can be taught and learnt. In the first place the definition of the word “leadership” and the approaches to leadership will be presented. Then seven approaches of

Many people have challenges with recognizing their strengths and weaknesses to develop into better leaders. In the military, we are constantly evaluated on a myriad of attributes and critiqued on how we can grow into better leaders. However, analyzing ones leadership strengths and weaknesses is one of the most arduous tasks that I have been assigned in some time. To become the type of leader ones aspires to be takes constant reflection, critiquing, and bruised egos. In the paragraphs that follow, I will attempt to dissect my leadership style, the strengths and weaknesses in my style and how I may improve to become a better leader.

Leadership is a complex social phenomenon that appears to be simplistic regarding the theoretical application in defining the term. However, the idea and concept of leadership are deeply rooted in the psychology and social setting and its construction within these areas. It goes beyond the discovery factors of traits, behaviors, power, influence, and abilities that social scientists have been studied and adapted for the attachment of expounding this paradox (Yukl, 2010). Due to the nature of its imprecise conceptualized framework, leadership has been the most discussed and talked about topic for the last century or so and it does not appear to end soon; over 6,300 books on the subject and 1,400 hardcover books relegated to the topic available for sales (Krohe, 2000); 16,000 published articles since 1990 (Galinsky, Jordan & Sivanathan, 2008). The concept has become romanticized in the context of imagery and perception of what makes a great leader as being a heroic figure (Meindl, 1998). Presentation of this thought process has caused such ambiguity in defining what leadership is regarding: (a) the definition itself and its measurement, (b) leader’s effects on performance, and (c) the selection process of a “good” leader (Pleffer, 1977). This discernment is caused mainly by the academicians and practitioners; academicians prefer the in-depth of research and studies for further understanding and discovery, whereas practitioners want immediate remedies in the application of

The study will collect and analyze data around perceptions of leadership, and leadership related behaviors and participation. A qualitative approach is more appropriate than quantitative for for two main reasons. First, unlike quantitative research, the current study does not aim to try to confirm or disconfirm a particular hypothesis. It instead intends to explore and describe the participants’ experiences. Further, the current study does not concern itself with what makes up authentic leadership but rather the narratives provided by leaders and followers themselves.

According to Manktelow (2014), leadership styles refer to the frameworks that describe the main ways people lead. It is in a person’s best interest to study these leadership styles and use this knowledge to develop their own style of leadership. There are five main types of leadership styles and leaders tend to fall into one of them. This paper will look at three different leadership styles and famous leaders who are known for those leadership styles. This paper will also compare and contrast these three leadership styles and look at the author of this paper’s understanding of leadership.

The second strength I feel that I portray as a leader is the ability to “synergize”. I feel that cooperation and team work are at the heart of every successful organization. Good leadership is not only a science, it is an art. It involves collaboration and cooperation. A good leader wants to ensure that the best possible outcome is reached. This typically doesn’t happen only using one idea or opinion. Many times, it involves the combination of more than one idea or theory. The most successful leaders are able to pick and choose and then combine all of the best possible solutions to reach a positive outcome. I feel that I possess the ability to collaborate well with others. I feel that no one person can know everything there is to know about any subject. I feel that in order to achieve the best results, it is wise to seek council and knowledge from all sources available. This means collaborating with others and tweaking solutions to contain all of the best possible resources. (Pater)

Leadership has been conceived of in a multitude of different ways varying from Great man theory (Borgatta, Bales and Couch, 1954; Cawthon, 1996),

The topic of leadership has been written about and researched more than any other in the area of organisational behaviour and as a result there many definitions of leadership. Leadership has been various defined as: