Effectiveness of the Style of Leadership - Coursework Example

Leadership Leadership, in the modern business world, is considered as one of the most important virtues, which is directly and integrally associated with growth of a company. Business thinkers, economists and business theorists in recent times have provided so much importance to the leadership factor that various theories, definitions and angles of judgment have originated. Leadership is such a virtue that encompasses within its macrocosmic scope different types of human virtues. Analysis of the modern business scenario shows that career interest in the field of business management has increased to a great extent among most of the new generation students across the world. (Ryan, 2002)Young aspirants for managerial roles are keen to be selected either as project manager or executive manager in a business firm as they will have the scope and proper opportunity to exercise their leadership qualities, explore their talents and lead the firm to prosperity. An executive manager is required to look after development and proper application of both business and strategic goals of an organization. On the other hand a project manager is responsible for fulfilling a project’s deadline within the scheduled period. (Ireland, 2006, 4) To ensure these tasks, both executive manager and project manager supervise and evaluate performance of the subordinates on a regular basis. Team leaders also execute important roles for proper governance of a business house. These managers evaluate performance of the team members as well as the team leader and appraise them according over their performance. At the individual level, they are not only regarded as leaders but at the same time, for successful functioning of an organization, each of them has to satisfy the roles of leader. Depending over the strong foundation of their leadership an organization receives a perfect ascent. This paper aims at focusing over various theories that deals with the role of a leader and definitions of leadership. It also aims at providing substantial focus over qualities of a person, who wishes to develop as a leader in the field of business management. Effectiveness is the main thing for any style of leadership. Still there are ‘X’ factors which are associated with it. Among them the personality of the leader obviously plays a great role. Other than this, the leader should have a well-established image. This can be taken as ‘greatness’. (Covey, 2004) Currently, the management theories are putting a great deal of emphasis over the factor of greatness in a leader. It is regarded by several corporate philosophers that a true leader is often admired by the employers. Such process of admiration does not always happen at the conscious level of the employees but subconsciously they admire him and at the same time feel the impulse to reach the same height. This process of admiring a person, who is more capable than the others, happens automatically but this spontaneous psychological reaction sometimes takes the form of disliking or even hatred as managers are compelled by the higher authority to put pressure over the employees. The pressure sometimes amounts to such extent that employees describe it as an inhuman condition. Hence, a communication gap is developed between the manager and members of his team. The transformational approach is an excellent method that definitely helps a leader to make such situations better between him and the employees. (Gmelin, 2006) This approach encourages a manager with leadership qualities to change or transform general mentality of the employees by focusing over their emotional aspects, ethical principles, moreover providing complete importance over their entity as human beings. Thus, it is not very difficult to understand that leadership of a manager is full of hurdles and barricades. Definition of leadership is not an easy subject. There are many things that have to be taken into consideration if someone tries to comprehend the actual structure of leadership. The pattern of leadership varies from person to person and, moreover, this pattern becomes clear when a leader passes through problematic situations. It is his/her moves, which define the pattern of leadership. The pattern also decides the direction in which the organization will be moving. And, obviously, the matter of success is entirely based on it. (Northouse, 2006) Leadership is a topic, which may be found discussed in books, journals and other places where the critics talk about it but, actually, it is a matter of practical experience. Popularity of leadership as a topic has mainly been caused by the development of some major companies in the world under some valuable leadership. Literature is a field where leadership has always been praised. It is considered as a great human activity in this field. In this article my point is to judge leadership in a business-oriented field. Management is quite clearly related to leadership from this point of view. But there are some differences between these two and sometimes there is also a conflict between them. Many of us have a wrong conception of what leadership is. That is why making big assertions about it goes completely in the wrong direction when a person is even not aware of what his topic is. Executive manager is a position of any company, which is wrongly taken to be the post of a leader of the organization. Leadership never means any designation. Hierarchy in designation is just a way to exercise the leadership authority. It can be seen in anyone starting from a manager to a labor. Vision is the main thing, which establishes a leader, and with this ability he/she can guide the others in the organization. (McNamara, 2008; Nurmi, Kaynak, and Darling, 1997) Very simply a leader can be defined as a person, who can influence the others, present in an organization. Everyone has his/her own opinions but the leader is the person who decides the final step. This privilege is given to him/her as the person has proved the success earlier. A leader, not only, would focus over his personal progress but also he will be equally careful about progress of other people in the organization. Empowered with his farsightedness and visionary capacity, he would take certain steps that will lead each people, associated with an organization, towards prosperity. In this context, role and contribution of Warren Buffet, one of the greatest U.S. business personalities, can be cited. Buffet is still admired among modern business people as one of the greatest investors in the history of business. His relationship with Berkshire Hathaway began in the year 1962 when he commenced buying stock in this company. Today, along with the company’s growth, Berkshire Hathaway has also made Buffet the richest man in the world crossing even the records made by none other than Bill Gates. His unique investment strategies and distinguished leadership quality finally helped him gain the seat of CEO of the company. Buffet has not only opened the window for his own growth but also for all the people who are associated with it. Many of the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway have become millionaires because of the wise steps, which have been taken by Buffet. In this way he has also established the company as one of the greatest garments company in the whole world. He himself owns 38% of the whole share in this company. (Hagstrom, Miller and Fisher, 2004) One of the main things in which Buffet has been successful is to make the shares of Berkshire Hathaway inseparable from each other. Like all the great leaders Buffet also has the capacity to keep his enthusiasm on a high and due to this reason he is still admired among people, parallel to him in designation as well as among the subordinates. The leader is the source of inspiration for each and every member in the company. Therefore continuous bringing up new ideas is a main task for him/her. Getting tired and bored of business is the death for the leader. Satisfaction in little stops the companies as well as the personal growth of the leader. A leader is also required to be a great teacher. There must be certain novel aspects in the approach of the leader that people around him or working as his subordinates get some material to learn from him. In this way, a leader not only inspires people around him but at the same time he also incorporates certain new aspects among people around him and working in the same organization that the company enjoys an overall growth. It is not easy to make people understand the effectiveness of something that is a bit unconventional and effective at the same time. Under such circumstances a leader is required to follow practical approaches that through the example of his own life he can make people understand the long-term effectiveness of such steps. He is also required to make them understand that such steps would not only help in their respective growth prospect but at the same time, due to collaborative efforts of the employees the organization will also be highly benefited. According to the modernist approach of leadership, a leader is essentially required to possess fiver personality traits, namely, Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. (De Fruyt, McCrae, Szirmák, & Nagy, 2004) Each of these traits is essential for developing a person as a perfect leader. An ordinary human being is very easily tempted to different emotional impulses such as, anger, depression or anxiety. Neuroticism is the quality that helps a leader to get an upper hand over all these impulses and helps him to stay focused towards his assignment. A leader is also required to be extrovert so that he can feel himself easy to interact with his subordinates as well as other colleagues at the workplace. The faculties of agreeableness and conscientiousness in a leader are complementary and supplementary to each other. On one hand the agreeableness helps him to understand the problems of his group members and emphasize with them but at the same time, he is also required to look after fulfilling the target, for his as well as for the benefit of the whole organization. It will not be materialized if he is only engaged in the process of compassionating with his colleagues and subordinates. Thus, the quality of conscientiousness complements agreeableness perfectly and the manager successfully churns out best performance from his fellow workers through dutifulness and self-discipline. Thus, it is understood from the discussion that the main challenge before a manager, being a leader in the organization, is to motivate the employees accordingly so that they put their best efforts for their personal growth as well as overall growth of the whole company. Modern business thinkers and corporate philosophers across the globe have come up with various theories that are aimed at making the task of motivating other employees easier. Corporate houses, while organizing the training session for the managers, are putting a great deal of stress over the Path goal theory. (House, 1971) This theory mainly aims at exploring different ways to motivate the employees in an organization. The mangers opt for the path-goal theory so that they can support and assist their subordinates to achieve target oriented goals so that even they are under pressure due to problems in their personal lives, they can attain their target by easy and honest means. This theory helps the manager or the leader to explain the actual paths that he is needed to undertake and at the same time, due to influence of the theory he also understands about the kind of barriers the employee (s) can face over their paths of personal advancement. It is due to his person efficiency he also attempts his level best to eradicate such obstacles from the path of advancement of the employees. The method of rewarding an employee depending over his performance is also suggested under this theoretical approach. Contingency theory of leadership was invented by Fiedler. According to the theory, a manager will be regarded as a perfect leader if he is capable of controlling three different variables, namely, task structure, power that has been enshrined to him for controlling his subordinates and atmosphere in the team. (Contingency Theory, 2009) If a manager is capable of handing and harmonizing these three different variables perfectly, he will be able to operate and inspire the members of his group perfectly. The core philosophy of the situational approach conveys that a leader in order to churn out the best performance from his team or group is required to adapt properly with the different levels of development of his subordinates. (Leadership – The Situational Approach, 2002)Such theoretical approach helps the managers to understand about the ways that they are required to adopt for proper management and increase the level of productivity among the employees. It also helps the leaders to develop a specific skill set so that the leadership style of the manager does not create any communication gap between the employees and the manager. Modern day corporate houses are replete with such examples that the method of leadership or the manager’s way of guidance is in direct conflict with the kind of work procedures that the employees follow to reach their target. It is not always possible for the leader to change the employees’ perception of work culture immediately. Thus, the theory helps a leader to develop such strategic approaches, which would help him to develop perfect communication with his team members. Philanthropic approach of a leader is another important factor that helps in providing high level motivation to people working under him in an organization. If a leader is only creating pressure over employees for achieving the organizational goal of the organization, without understanding their problems then such approach generates a distance between the leader and employees. Under such circumstances it becomes even more challenging for the leader to motivate the employees. An individual in a business organization is considered to be a leader only when he empathizes with the employees and at the same time, through such approaches, successfully churns out the best results out of the employees and substantially add to the overall development of the company. (Lowenstein, 1996; Hagstrom, Miller and Fisher, 2004) Gerhard Zapke-Schauer says in his book The Art of Leadership that any person should ever respect errors. It is the error from where we are able to learn. An organization, which avoids its errors, can never reach the exact state of perfection. With every innovative idea comes the risk factor and chance of committing error. Now, the leader is the person for any organization to take the decision whether to go into further risks or not. Wisdom and foresight of the leader are therefore two main features without which a company’s growth stagnates. It is also the responsibility of the leader to look that no one has to suffer for his/her own mistakes. Mistakes are something from which the leader can judge whether to trade the same path again in future or not. One has to remember that corporate culture itself is very demanding and all kinds of innovations are in fact encouraged there a lot. Ambition is the main part of the corporate life. This is why a leader, be him/her in any designation of the company, has to take risks for the innovations. The leader should calculate risks. He/she should look after that the innovative decision does not call the end for the company. As far as management of a business firm is concerned, supervising and organizing are the main characteristics of the leadership in an ideal manager. He/she should also motivate others for the development of group performance. It is a task for the manager to reward the employees if they achieve a success. On the other hand punishing them for any failure is a matter, which has to be handled very sensitively so that none other’s sentiment gets hurt. The leader has to be aware of what is going among the members of his/her office. Understanding others’ psyche is an essential task for all the leaders. (Wagner, 2008; Edersheim, 2004) The leader must participate in everything innovative and enthusiastic that is taking place in an organization. This helps the leader to form better relationships with others. He/she must motivate the silent members to come forward. This helps to energize the team to take up newer challenges in the coming future. The leader shows the way to input in a task with complete dedication. Following this others come forward and work for the overall growth of the organization. A leader is also known for his/her high ethical standards. Therefore, care should be taken so that the leading person never falls from that standard for which he/she has been respected in the community. (Kelly, 1998) As for example, corruption in the company and a leader’s association with it certainly damages the person’s image. But one thing must be remembered in this context. There is no such theory that says that all the leaders will have the same ethical value. This is to say that each and every leader has a distinguishable way to act. The outcome may be the same but the paths treaded are different. (McNamara and Trumbull, 2008) Leadership training has become one of the main educations required for the people who are associated with the managerial jobs. Lois Borland Hart, Charlotte S. Waisman and James (2004) in their The Leadership Training Activity Book say that leadership training is all about the education of self-development. One has to introspect in order to know what he/she is and what his /her capability is. A leader should also be well aware of the limitations, which may present in him/her. The trainings are about mental preparation to face any new challenge, work under pressure, to have strong nerves in the moments of trouble and finally, to participate in developmental activities. The leader is the backbone of an organization and he/she is the person who must be well trained in all these because it is with his/her movements the company’s fate is related. (Hart, 2004) In her book, Becoming a Manager Linda Annette Hill says that managers of a firm should be well trained in leadership. It is the managers who make the right decisions at the times of turbulence. Foreseeing the prospect of future and understanding the company’s motive as well as direction are the main things, which are required in a manager. (Marrow, 1969) Managing, according to her, is a part of leading. She further adds that a manager who is doing his/her job for the first time in his life has to forget the attitude, which had cropped inside the person. This is because a manager’s appearance should never reflect any attitude. Passive but effective work is what is expected from the leader manager. (Hart, 2004) Likert (1967) introduces us to consultative and participative leadership. Both of these have found to be successful in the corporate world while the latter is more popular than the former. Consultative leadership is good for the company but the problem lies there, as the leader is here, like benevolent leadership, too soft to his/her workers. In this case the leader is never given the authority to make any major decision. The central governing body of the company takes the decisions and the leader acts like a doll in its hand. Therefore the most diplomatic way is to obtain the participative leadership. This method or style brings the employees of the organization psychologically close to each other. Here the workers respect the leader and all delegations are successfully done, as the leading person is well aware of the mentality of the workers. Hence from the discussion above we understand that there are different definitions of leaderships. It is judged through different perspectives, from various theoretical dimensions and different business philosophy perspectives. Aspiring young leaders in the modern field of business are highly focused over establishing themselves primarily as project managers or executive managers. The entire process of executing such roles in dependent over four pillars, namely, Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling. As managers are required to fulfill all these aspects and at the same time they also have the responsibility to lead their respective teams for achieving the organizational goal, that’s why the terms manager and leader, in the context of business management, are often used interchangeably. Leaders or managers, “clearly involve groups of people and specific functions in relation to the group and activities. It would be unusual…to describe a group of people as having a manager, unless the group was in specific context. (Martin, 2005, 337) If the whole scenario is judged from an unbiased perspective then it will not be wrong form any perspective to say that the role of leaders in different contexts is very much same on the plains of principle. In order to provide the best outcome leaders often come up with wide range of novel approaches and orientations in their attitude towards the people, who are following them. Today’s world of break neck competition finally recognizes results and a perfect leader, with his inimitable leadership qualities would guide his/her followers to ensure best results for not only for themselves but also for the institution in complete sense of the term. References 1. Armstrong, M., 2005, Managing performance: Performance Management in Action, CIPD Publishing 2. Bryman, A., 1986, Leadership and Organizations, Routledge 3. Covey, S. 2004. The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, Free Press. 4. De Fruyt, F., McCrae, R. R., Szirmák, Z., & Nagy, J. 2004. 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