Analysis of Transformational and Autocratic Leadership Theories - Essay Example

Evaluate transformational and autocratic leadership theories Presented by (Insert To (Insert lecturer’s (Insert (Insert course code) Insert date Evaluate transformational leadership theory Transformational leadership is a style that instigates positive changes initiated by the leaders to the followers (Carter, Ulrich, & Goldsmith, 2012, p. 50). These leaders are passionate about what they do, they are energetic when performing their tasks, and are enthusiastic about the task entrusted on them. They not only get concerned of their contribution in the process, but they are so much focused on engaging every member of the team as well as help each one of them succeed in their specific tasks. Transformational leadership theory was first introduced by James MacGregor Burns in his research on political leaders (Burns, 2012, p. 4). Burns (2012, p.5) presented transformational leadership as a style used by both leaders and followers to lift individual morale and motivation in performing specific tasks (Minja & Barine, 2012, p.57). This means that through transformational leadership, significant changes are created in the people involved and the organization at large. According to Bass and Avolio (1994, p. 3), transformational leadership works to establish idealised behaviour, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualised consideration, and idealised attributes. Individualised consideration style ensures that followers are coached and developed into leaders (Riggio & Harvey, 2011, p. 124). This style enhances motivation and morale that encourage performance from followers through connecting the followers’ interests to the organization’s missions (Pless & Maak, 2012, p. 39; Nadler & Trushman, 1990, p. 79). The leader works as a role model to the followers hence challenging them to take ownership of their work. These challenges create and enabling environment where followers are able to identify their strengths and weaknesses in different tasks assigned to them (Nadler & Trushman, 1990, pp. 81). Followers are therefore able to align themselves for future leadership responsibilities (Lussier & Achua, 2009, p. 347). A transformational leader is able to create individualised consideration to each follower’s needs and concerns (Chall, 1977, p.1907). The leader devotes to mentor the follower as well as support and express empathy when dealing with the follower. In such a relationship, the leader ensures that there is an open communication with the follower where challenges and successes are shared with the follower. This way, both the leader and the follower are able envision the end of the tasks at hand from the beginning as well as celebrate and respect each other’s contribution to the team (Bass & Riggio, 2006, p. 54; Nadler & Trushman, 1990, p. 84). Inspirational motivation style works by redesigning values, expectations, aspirations, and perceptions of employees (Serrat, 2010, p. 238). The redesigning process works to ensure that team members adopt idealised behaviours styles that are appropriate for the success of the team. Every team member’s efforts are channelled towards working for the common good of all members. The leaders serve as the example as they lead by inspiring followers to produce the best that the team can produce in a new culture that they will develop with their followers. Through transformational leadership, the leader challenges assumptions and the risks involved in making assumptions instead of relying on facts (Hulman, n.d). The leadership lobbies for ideas from their followers hence enabling the use of intellectual stimulation style that ensures that followers utilize their skills to come up with solution based ideas. The stimulation inspires follower’s creativity as they try to provide real-time solutions to organization’s problem. Followers who sit under transformational leaders are therefore able to think independently when handling unexpected circumstances since they create opportunities to explore new ideas as well as learn new skills. The level of intellectual motivation instilled in followers’ affects team performance since it creates a bank of knowledge whose absence distress the kind of action likely to be taken in a situation (Zaccaro, 2001, p. 3). With transformational leadership, followers are challenged with the organization goal as well as how to achieve the goal using the task at hand. The purpose to achieve the goals provides the energy so much needed in initiating actions that will yield desired results (Nadler & Trushman, 1990, p.85). Followers invest more efforts in their tasks since the level of optimism created about the future is so high to make them work with the end in mind. Working under s transformational leader instils idealised attributes style that encourage pride as well as allows one to gain respect and trust with people who know whom you work with (Bass & Riggio, 2006, p. 54; Bass & Avolio, 1994, p. 54). The knowledge that somebody is looking up on you makes you to practice ethical behaviour which encourage more people to learn the reason behind such a success. Transformational leadership thus ensures that followers are well reverenced in the society since they are able to reflect the leadership style through their actions. The extent to which a leader is transformational is accessed through his/her influence on their followers. Followers express an aspect of trust, reverence, respect, and fidelity on the leaders as the leaders also continue working hard to perform beyond initial expectations (Serrat, 2010, p. 246). These followers are able to work for more than earning a wage since they have been energised in their mission and vision that cements an individual’s identify in an organization (Nadler & Trushman, 1990, p. 84). All this is achieved since the leader is able to utilize their charisma and intellectual ability to motivate individual vision to align with the organization vision (Hulman, n.d). Application of transformational leadership theory in practice with regard to management change and/ or innovation within the public health context Leadership in public health is complex due to many health practitioners able to practice on their own without authority (PHAST, 2011, p. 1). Some of practitioners in public health work on voluntary, in local authority and in various departments in national health sector. This makes it hard to regulate professionals who already have an established culture. The change of culture and the ability to work under individual’s guidance will need an establishment of idealised behaviour leadership style that will guide the practitioners on the best course of action as well as advice the leader on the best approach to ensure efficiency in public health. Public health has been marked with the need for quality improvement over the years (Bunker, 2001, 1261). However, improvements are approached by units, wards, or offices levels. The projects developed have not been able to deal with a wholesome transformation of the whole public health sector. Wholesome transformation of public health systems requires inspirational motivation leadership style that will encourage use of new leadership approaches that will be appropriate for each new task in the sector. The whole assignment of the transformational leadership in public health will be to envision and instil changes to the sector. The change will be aimed at reducing mortality rates by educating and ensuring that public health management systems are in agreement with the required results (Lundy& Janes, 2009, p. 420). This will involve reframing cultural values by considering the present health care system against the recommended system. Reframing will involve restructuring the whole society habits and beliefs that contribute to high mortality rates. To be able to influence a society change, team authenticity will be challenged by how much they are prepared to deal with demeaning cultures (Pless & Maak, 2012, p.40). The first people in the line of evaluation are the leaders whose idealised attributes will express the ability of the team to lead the society to good health. A transformational leader will be required to have vast knowledge of the held values and habits inhibiting good health to be able to influence colleagues to change the deeply held values in the public (Minja & Barine, 2012, p. 59). With followers who are well vast with the situation at hand, the team will be able to inspire the public on how well they can end the demeaning values and replace them with new values that would have been developed. A transformed public health will be characterised by improved system where employee performance is marked by quality. Initially, sanitation and hygiene have been considered as an individual’s responsibility (Water, 2004, p. 2). Health professionals have not reflected on care quality on both the environment and the patient. Through transformational leadership, employees are able to design care plan with member of the community and the patients. This action will be backed by the fact that individuals who have sat under transformational leaders have the capacity to think individually and provide solution to underlying problems through innovative skills (Carter, Ulrich, & Goldsmith, 2012, p. 62). Transformational leadership encourage team work in place of individual interests. Public health has various stakeholders that need to be brought together if a wholesome solution is to be arrived at. The main stakeholder is the public exposed to health hazards that need to be addressed through a transformed leadership style (Hunter & & Killoran, 2004, p.2). Empowered employees are challenged to consider per case issues as well as have a broader picture of disease free environment with zero mortality rates. Employees together with the members of the public will be able to work as a team since public health and nursing care for the ill involve the patient, health officials and the public (Lussier & Achua, 2009, p. 351). Through team work, health solutions to an ailing community are able to be arrive at faster than when each stakeholder is working on their own. However, transformational leadership style could have disadvantage especially when timely delivery of results is expected. Due to its nature of being an all-inclusive leadership style, some key decisions like on how a certain pandemic can be stopped could take longer when the decision is required as fast as possible. By the time the team deliberate on the course of action, the problem could have escalated to unmanageable levels. Therefore, this leadership style need to be evaluated against the urgency of the solution needed before being considered appropriate to be used in public health. Evaluate autocratic leadership theory Autocratic leadership is characterised by an individual having control over all decisions and only disseminates the decisions to be implemented (Gonos & Gallo, 2013, p. 157). An autocratic leader makes decisions based on their judgements and will rarely ask for other people’s opinions and ideas regarding the issue at hand. This leadership style is therefore authoritative since one person takes control over the whole group and his/her follower is subjected to their decisions on job matters. Autocratic leadership theory emphasize on making decisions based on personal judgement and passing on the decisions to be implemented by your juniors (Cherry, 2014, p. 1). This leadership style works best when urgency is needed and there could be no time to consult. Team members are always on standby to perform tasks when assigned. This leadership style has the ability to challenge followers to have a wide knowledge on certain issues since when the skills are asked for, results will be expected. Through autocratic leadership, the margin of error is expected to be little since instructions are expected to be executed exactly as they were given. Autocratic leadership style could lead to resentment since it portrays the leaders as bossy, dictatorial and controlling (Gonos & Gallo, 2013, p. 162). Member of the groups often feel bad when implementing ideas that they did not contribute. This limits followers’ creativity and thus may affect team performance. The aspect of just following and not contributing ideas leads to members’ disengagement between tasks. However, this leadership style have been seen to work best in situations where leaders are the most knowledgeable and is capable of accessing information that all other group members are not authorised to access (Gonos & Gallo, 2013, p. 163). An autocratic leader does not ask for any inputs from team members ( CCSSSN, 2014, p.1). The leader maintains responsibility over all decisions. The follower is denied autonomy as the leader maintains full control over the team by constantly monitoring the team action when performing their duties. Autocratic leaders dictate all the work methods and processes to be implemented by followers without necessary considering their capabilities in handling the task ahead. Follower’s action towards the assigned task is encouraged by threat of being reprimanded or corrected (Warrick, n.d, p. 161). This characteristic has been enhanced by the growing levels of unemployment in the work. An individual will opt to keep quiet and follow instead of voicing out and doing what he/she thinks is right and risk losing their job. The extent of autocratic leadership is accessed through leadership and followers behaviour when working together. In autocratic leadership, the leader is always keeping closer watch on the followers (Hollander, n.d, p. 4). This is done in prevention of followers slaking off their duties, a situation that is common in less strict managerial styles. With autocratic leadership, the team is able to deliver results faster with high productivity. Normally followers are always fearful since a slight delay in the production process could lead to tough measures taken against the slaking member of the team. The fear for these measures enables followers to work on improving quality even as timely delivery is emphasized (Nyberg, 2009, p. 23). Application of autocratic leadership theory in practice with regard to management change and/ or innovation within the public health context Autocratic leadership is more useful when decisions have to be made quickly. This happens when the number of people to be consulted is big and the time left to decision making is minimal (Marturano & Gosling, 2008, p. 15). In public health for example, mitigation on an outbreak of a certain disease may require fast action so that the problem does not spread so far. With such instances, the leadership is placed under pressure to act as fast as possible. Autocratic leadership skills with direct the leadership to make decisions that will have to be implemented by members who were never consulted at decision making level. Some projects require strong leadership skills that will push things to be done efficiently and quickly. This could include projects that involve tight deadlines whose failure could cost the organization dearly. To be able to avoid getting to the edge in the process of dealing with the situation, autocratic leaders delegate tasks to different members of the team and directs them on when results will be expected to be consolidated to solve the initial problem (PHAST, 2011, p.1). In public health context, an example could be when results on a research on how to handle a certain health threatening situation could be urgent. With autocratic leadership, the leader should be able to assign different sections of the research to different people whose results will direct the team into making quick conclusions whose implementation could help salvage the situation. Some situations like war are known to affect public health since it leaves so many physical and psychological casualties. To be able to stop the effect of such situations, group members could prefers autocratic leadership where decision on how well to handle the war and it consequences will be arrived at quickly and efficiently. This direction allows team members to be prepared to perform assigned tasks without being distressed by chances of making wrong decisions that could probably worsen the situation (Gonos & Gallo, 2013, p. 165). This aspect encourages team members to maintain high knowledge and skills on problem solving skills which are highly beneficial to the team. Autocratic leaders often time have access to particular information that is not meant for everyone. However, this information is meant to be shared with the followers through decisions made. Within a short time, the information can be passed and change is expected to take place immediately (Lundy & Janes, 2009, p. 415). Their decisions are most of the time directed by the information accessed and thus it could be subject to criticism when exposed to other team members. Nonetheless, communication of the decision made define the nature of reception and the likelihood of the decision to be implemented by the followers. Often times, followers will fail to respond to the new demands especially when leader’s effectiveness has been lost over time. This issue is most common in public sectors where job security is guaranteed. This aspect makes autocratic leadership more dangerous especially when human life is involved. Workers laxity in implementing recommended decisions just because they were dictated on them could mean loss of life. Public health needs both appointed and self-initiated type of leaders (Berman, 2006, p. 78). Appointed leaders are at liberty to practice what their job description says while self-initiated leaders must have been inspired by a certain situation to be leaders. With autocratic leadership, appointment is the only method of developing leaders. This leadership style does not allow development of future leaders’ hence making fail to be an effective leadership style when leadership development is concerned. Followers rarely feel part of the program and thus there are higher chances that they will not put more efforts in pursuing the interest of the organization. Reference Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1994). 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