Mintzbergs Leadership Test and Reflection - Assignment Example

Mintzberg’s Leadership Theory Part Leadership Strengths and Weaknesses: Leadership is a very important quality. There are three major types of leaders, a) authoritative leaders, b) participative leaders, and c) Delegative leaders. By nature, in terms of leadership, I am a participative leader. A participative leadership style is where the members of the teams are able to identify with the goals of the team and also are aware of the procedures and various strategies that are used to reach the goals. Hence a participative leader is one who works more like a facilitator. Here the leaders do not simply issue orders or make assignments for the teams. As a participative leader, I prefer to accept inputs from members of the group while making the final decision and for solving problems within the group. However, despite all the inputs, the final decision is made by me itself. I believe that a group remains more motivated and involved in the job as there is more specialized knowledge and expertise which are involved and also everyone has a say in the team. Here the decisions are more accurate and effective when compared to any other style of leadership. Major qualities of participative leaders are that we are great listeners, team workers, influencers, and collaborators (Lewin, 2009). Participative leaders value the people they work with and use the inputs that members of the team provide, thus they create a committed team based on participation. Advantages of being a participative leader are many. Being a participative leader, there is a scope for growth of other leaders within the organization. The process used by the leaders is one which allows for everyone to participate in the decision making of the company. This increases the productivity of the people in the team and also allows for allowing for the team members to express their creativity and also demonstrate their abilities and talents which do not be seen in the other styles of leadership. Also it has been noted that there is a clear development of skills and abilities. This form of leadership provides the team with a chance to learn their weaknesses and work on improving their weaknesses. This is not only useful for the current job, but also for future jobs and their career as a whole. Also this style of leadership also provides the team with a range of possibilities. This style provide a new direction to decision making and instead of placing all the load on one individual it sees all problems, issues and processes from several different angles. This method also allows me to use brainstorming as a solution to issues. Using a brainstorming is one which is most useful as any process can be improved and every issue can have a better approach if a number of aspects are considered (Slocum and Hellriegel, 2006). This can be done best with brain storming which can help improve the decision making. This style of leadership provides a chance for the employees to learn their passion for the job which in turn leads to a better over all productivity and better team work. Every style of leadership has a down side to it as well. The disadvantages of this method will be discussed below. The major issue of this style of leadership is one of time factor. The time taken in this style is quite high while taking any decision. This is very normal as we try to gain an insight from as many employees as possible. This process can be long and can lead to the final decision making to be delayed. Also as a participative leader, the main aim is to try and lead to a decision which beneficial for all. However this method on an overall is very beneficial as it uses the inputs of all and leaves the final decision to the leader alone. The sharing of information and using of all the input from everyone within the team leads to making the team a perfect environment for everyone to work in thereby increasing and improving the overall performance of the teams as well as the company on the whole. Part 2: Mintzberg’s Theory of Leadership: A critical review Henry Mintzberg is a major contributor to the field of management. He has provided the management field with a better understanding of leadership versus management. Mintzberg has focused and emphasized a lot on monitoring, informational, decision making and also interpersonal aspects of the work of leaders (Buchanan, 2004). Mintzberg has contributed to the topics of leadership, management, and also strategy formation for workplaces. He has emphasized on the importance of improving of the leadership selection internationally. He has also argued that leadership and management required to be aligned to the organizational development. He also argued that it is up to the internals of the organization to make the right choice of the leaders rather than externals, who do not have complete knowledge of the organization and its people. He has discussed some very important aspects of leadership and has emphasized on important aspects like the half truths. The half truth that has been used by managers in a number of ways is that people are ‘human resources’. Mintzberg argues and highlights that it is incorrect to refer to human beings as ‘human resources’. He argues that half truths are dangerous mainly because of the fact that they can affect the actions of the leaders to be not well thought out and planned. Also the half truths are not reasonable and require to have been taken as a huge threat to the managers and leaders of organizations. The leaders require being very careful with the decisions they make because every decision they make in a small way or another affects the lives of the employees. Thus he argues that true leaders are a product of the decisions that they take and thus a true leader is one who thinks through all the factors before taking a decision and after considering every possibility. Mintzberg’s argument that the decisions of leaders are diluted by the half truths is a very positive and right argument. Considering the various examples that he has enlisted in the argument, it is clear that the half truths cause a the leaders to make ineffective decisions and also in some terms can be the underlying factors for the organizations moving into the wrong path and moving towards failure to some extent. It is clear that basing the leadership decisions on half truths can be very damaging not only to the company but also to the lives of the employees that are involved. Thus Mintzberg’s argument is very appropriate and it is important to understand and differentiate among the half truths and the other half truths (MICA, 2004). Thus in conclusion it is important to understand that a good leader require looking at the other side of the truth before making any decisions. Good leaders are one who understands the human side of every decision and understands the needs of the employees and treat every employee as individuals. I agree with Mintzberg’s argument and it is very important for leaders to be successful and as well as to have a strong and successful organization. Bibliography Buchanan D. and Huczynski A., 2004, Organizational behaviour, 5th edn, Prentice Hall, Essex Lewin, K., 2009, ‘What’s your leadership style’, Accessed on 26th April 2009, Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/bl-leadershipquizb.htm MICA, 2004, ‘Half Truths of leadership’, Excellence in Management & Leadership Series, Accessed on 25th April 2009, Retrieved from http://www.micaworld.com/pdfs/Mintzberg_Participant_Guide.pdf Slocum, J. W. and Hellriegel, D., 2006, ‘Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour’, Thomson South-Western, USA Appendix Question Section Ranking     A= Art= Vision B= Craft =Experience C=Science = Analysis 1 a 3       b   2     c     1 2 a 2       b   3     c     1 3 a 2       b   3     c     1 4 a 2       b   1     c     3 5 a 2       b   1     c     3 6 a 2       b   3     c     1 7 a 1       b   3     c     2 8 a 1       b   3     c     2 Total 15 19 14 Management / Leadership Element Score (#1-8) A= Art (Vision) 15 B= Craft (Experience) 19 C=Science =(Analysis) 14 Q. Based on your interpretations, what are your top two leadership strengths? Ans. Based on the diagram, my strengths are that I have a balanced style of managing, hence I possess problem solving, Engaging, and Visionary skills. Q. Based on your interpretations, what two areas need the most development? Ans. Based on the diagram and the solution of the quiz, I need to display my skills and lead the team by example, and I require to exercise my power as a leader. Read More