The Leadership Style Of The Affiliative Leader

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.

When developing a template to assess which leadership styles are best suited to mitigate the effects of a decline in financial compensation, it is imperative to understand leadership theory. One of the first pioneers in leadership theory was Kurt Lewin. Kurt Lewin (1890–1947), was a prominent figure in psychology in his generation. He provided a solid foundation to the teachings of organizational development. In many circles he was known as the father of organizational development. He was best known for the development of field theory. Field theory was essential because it allowed business professionals to understand why undesirable behaviors was produced. It also taught how to bring about desirable behaviors. Field theory was developed in part because Lewin wanted to address organizational employee turnover.

A leadership philosophy helps to define and let others know what you expect, what things you value, and how you act as a leader. Different styles of leadership are needed for different situations. Every leader needs to know when and how to display a particular approach of leadership within a group. Leadership strategies define every leader’s personal leadership style. Three leadership styles of a counselor are the following: authoritarian style leaders, democratic style leaders, and laissez-faire style leaders.

Urban Meyer is the head coach for The Ohio State Buckeyes football team. He is 49 years old and was born in Toledo Ohio. He attended University of Cincinnati where he played football. Coach Meyer is married and has three children. Prior to coaching Ohio State he retired from coaching was working as a sports analyst for ESPN. Before retiring and working for ESPN, Coach Meyer was the head coach for the University of Florida. He led the Gators to two BCS championship wins and he held the highest percentages of wins for any active college football coach. (www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com).

‘XXXX is very much in the affiliative style of leadership. Sometimes she will put peoples’ feelings first, putting their feelings ahead of the task in hand for fear of causing conflict. I feel that sometimes XXXX needs to move away from that style of leadership and progress more into a democratic and authoritative style. XXXX will know what needs to be done or changed but will refrain from putting the idea or solution forward in fear of upsetting her colleagues. Although when XXXX does move into the democratic space she can be very persuasive at getting team buy in and can be open to other team member ideas and suggested solutions.’

The United States Marine Corps has been one of the most powerful military branches in the world for more than twenty-three decades. The most important things that have kept this organization as prestigious and powerful as it is are the famous leadership traits, leadership principles, corps values and the leaders that uphold those traits. Without these structures, this leadership hierarchy this “gun club” would not have lasted this long. The next thousand or so words will help explain those traits, principles and corps values that we hold so high.

Successful managers instill enthusiasm by communicating with others, motivating them to work hard, maintaining good interpersonal relations. My affiliative style is characterized by my need to build relationships that are meaningful and reciprocal will help me. I would also have focus on motivating and developing the team members.

An effective leader has many factors that enable them to be successful. Some of the key characteristics of an effective leader are passion, charisma, dependability, problem solver, communication skills, and multi-tasking abilities. Marquis and Huston (2015) describe four types of leadership styles; autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, and bureaucratic. The autocratic leadership style deals more with acquiring control and accomplishing tasks rather than relationships (Marquis & Huston, 2015). This type of leader generally makes independent decisions and uses force to implement power. Democratic leadership differs by having human relations and teamwork as the main focus (Marquis & Huston (2015). This leadership welcomes open and two-way communication. Laissez-faire leadership has minimal established policies abstains leading (Marquis & Huston, 2015). The bureaucratic style leans on established rules and policies and lacks security (Marquis & Huston, 2015). Most of the time, the rules are inflexible and the relationship with staff is impersonal. An effective leader can recognize the needs of the organization and foster that leadership style. W.C. recognizes fairness, consistent decisions, listening ability, and knowledge of the field as key qualities in a leader. She believes she has a combination of democratic and bureaucratic leadership styles. Her bureaucratic style promotes corporate policies and mandated regulatory compliance. Part of the qualities of a

Strong leadership is vital to the success of any business, institution, school, team, or even church. Leaders that are considered effective encompass a leadership style and qualities that work to influence and motivate their followers. Joel Osteen, an evangelical pastor from Houston, Texas is truly one of the 21st centuries most captivating leaders. So much so, that he as selected by Barbara Walters as one of her 10 Most Fascinating People of 2016 (ABC News, 2006). His appeal is a phenomenon that is unmatched by any other current leaders in his profession. Over the past 15 years he has built a church, where he ministers one of the largest and most diverse congregations in America (Romano, 2005). Aside from his 45,000 attendees at his weekly services, his sermon is broadcasted in every television market in the United States and in over 100 other nations around the world (“About Joel,” n.d.). Joel Osteen is a prime example of a compelling leader who practices an effective leadership style that resonates with people on a personal level.

The affiliative style is about making a healthy relationship with the followers and the transformational leadership is about giving either rewards or punishment to the followers in order to improve the followers’ preference (Yukl, 2013, p. 309). These two leadership approaches should be working well because some studies state that building a stronger relationship or reward system can prevent the free-riding problem (Tom, 2016, para. 3). However, in my situation, these two leadership approaches did not work well. Therefore, I believe that although these two leadership approaches can be useful for dealing with the free riding problem, my situation might require more leadership approaches or ways to address it. It is because this free-riding problem might be a special one. I tried many leadership approaches, and the leadership approaches did not address the problem. According to Tom (2016), the free riding problem occurs when the team is not organized well, one person is doing too much and dominating, or the team members might lack necessary skills and competence (para. 5). In other words, these three can result in the free-riding

big picture of the organization and how the leader plans to move the unit forward. Effective

We each have our own style of leadership. When thinking and learning about different leadership styles, it is hard to pinpoint a distinct style as being our own, especially when the way in which we lead may depend upon so many factors. One way that explains an individual’s leadership style is through personality type. The Northouse Skills Inventory and Leadership Trait Questionnaire were very insightful in helping me understand my leadership style (Northouse, 2016). In addition, I have previously understood my leadership style and personality type through the Myers-Briggs Type Indication (MBTI). The Myers-Briggs Type Indication is a personality inventory to make the theory of psychological types as described by psychologist C.G. Jung more understandable (“The Myers & Briggs Foundation”, n.d). Using the MBTI assessment, I have consistently received the result of ISFJ. This means that I am an introvert, sensor, feeler, and judger.

The topic of leadership is historically one of the most widely researched when it comes to explorations of organizational behavior. The success of any institution or organization is pegged on the quality of its leadership because it is the determining factor on the pattern and speed at which it achieves its growth goals. Leaders are responsible for steering an organization toward its goal by mobilizing resources (both human and material) and maximizing their efficiency. The key deliverables for many leaders include employee well-being, teamwork, adherence to organizational processes and procedures, innovation, crisis

The Affiliative Style. “If the coercive leader demands, "Do what I say," and the authoritative urges, "Come with me," the affiliative leader says, "People come first." This leadership style revolves around people-its proponent’s value individuals and their emotions more than tasks and goals. The affiliative leader strives to keep employees happy and to create harmony among them. He manages by building strong emotional bonds and then reaping the benefits of such an approach, namely fierce loyalty. The style also has a markedly positive effect on communication. People who like one another a lot talk a lot. They share ideas; they share inspiration. And the style drives up flexibility; friends trust one another, allowing habitual innovation and risk taking. Flexibility also rises because the

Leadership is a concept most people feel informed enough to discuss, but that few are truly educated sufficiently to comment on. Therefore, it is instructive to consider the leadership styles of people with very different approaches both to better understand the diversity underlying leadership, as well as to appreciate the effective and less effective strategies that underlie different leadership outcomes. For that reason, this essay will consider the styles of two leaders who are less visible in this highly contentious presidential election season: Jill Stein (the Green Party nominee) and Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate. The leadership styles of both are very different, yet they are aligned in the sense that both are outsider candidates struggling to gain momentum from a disaffected electorate. This essay begins with a theoretical discussion of leadership more generally and then turns to the two leaders as case studies, comparing and contrasting them and drawing conclusions about how they both work within the same public sphere and for putatively similar ends (i.e., gaining votes).