Leadership Styles, Relationship between Administration and Leadership - Essay Example

Leadership Leadership Definition of Leadership Different have focused on defining leadership. According to Burns, leadership, denotes a process of mobilizing persons based on certain motives and values as well as other resources in an effort to ensure that both the leader and the followers achieve certain goals. In the view of Burns, mobilizing people is the most critical aspect of leadership. Musaazi believed that leadership requires an individual to influence both the behavior and activities of a certain group so that an identified goal is achieved in a specified situation. Rost highlighted that leadership involves an influence relationship between the leader and the followers in an effort to bring about real changes. Other authors such as Gardener believed that leaders must influence the thoughts, behavioral patterns, and feelings of a group of people (Northouse, 2010). Therefore, a combination of all these definitions reveals that leadership must affect individuals, specifically their emotions, behaviors, as well as thoughts. Leadership must also mobilize people so that they can achieve a common goal. Both leaders and followers should have a mutual purpose. Other authors have highlighted that leadership should be able to create the appropriate environment that allows team members to accomplish the identified goals. Leaders must inspire the followers and effectively communicate the shared goals and visions (Kano, 2013). In the education sector, leadership should mobilize people continuously with the ultimate goal and shared vision of promoting high achievement in every student. In addition, educational leaders should be able to facilitate academic success of all the students by communicating a shared learning vision, which conforms to the political, economic, social, and cultural community. Leadership Styles Autocratic leadership is one of the oldest and commonest leadership styles. The autocratic leadership style presents leaders with the opportunity of making all the major decisions without involving the followers. Autocratic leaders are representatives of authority and they define commands that all the leaders must obey. None of the followers are in a position to challenge the final views and decisions made by autocratic leaders. Notably, employees who function maximally when in increased supervision are more likely to accept autocratic leadership. However, with the increasing popularity of democracy, many followers detest autocratic leadership because they need to contribute to the decision-making in the organization. Autocratic leadership in the school system translates to the leaders imposing the curriculum, as well as other regulations for the students and teachers. The autocratic leadership is relevant to the military and the manufacturing sectors. It requires a high level of rigidity and only a few organizations that do not need flexibility can rely on this kind of leadership (Northouse, 2010). Transactional leadership is an additional leadership style that many managers use in the modern day. Transactional leaders focus on giving employees and team members tasks to perform. In order to motivate them to register increased production, transactional leaders design reward, and punishment schemes. Therefore, top performers receive rewards while the poor performers are punished. Transactional leaders rely on reinforcement theories that focus on extrinsic factors. Usually, transactional leaders define certain standards and ensure that employees understand the existing standards. In addition, transactional leaders assess performance and embark on correcting employees so that they can register improvement. Assessment of performance is of critical importance in order to determine the employees that receive rewards or that are subject to punishment (Kano, 2013). Participative leadership has emerged as a modern leadership style that promotes democracy. Participative leadership is the opposite of autocratic leadership. It embraces and values the contribution of employees towards any project. Therefore, leaders do not make decisions unless they consult the employees. Participative leadership is one of the effective leadership styles that seek to make employees experience a sense of belonging (Northouse, 2010). When employees participate in the decision-making process, they are more likely to personalize organizational goals, hence register increased productivity. When an organization needs to implement radical changes, employees do not resist because they are actively involved in the decision-making process. Worth noting is the fact that the final decision depends on the leader, but the leader incorporates the views of the employees in the final decision (Kano, 2013). Transformational leadership is a 21st century style, although it emerged in the 20th century. Transformational leaders seek to inspire, motivate, and empower employees. Transformational leaders understand that employees need empowerment as well as the communication of a shared vision if they are to increase production. Transformational leaders rely on effective communication in order to communicate the shared vision of the organization. The shared vision must incorporate the views and aspirations of both the leaders and the followers. Transformational leaders also undertake individualized training and empowerment in order to increase the productivity of the followers (Northouse, 2010). Leaders adopting this style are those with a high level of self-motivation. Since they are motivated and have a vision for the organization, they seek to motivate the followers to work towards the vision. Most importantly, transformational leaders seek to promote self-actualization in the employees. Self-actualization is the highest need of a human being, which can never be fulfilled. Therefore, transformational leaders empower employees so that they can work towards self-actualization. Transformational leadership has been described as the most effective leadership style in the 21st century. In the view of Burns, transformational leaders are able to inspire followers through the shared vision and an outstanding personality so that the followers can alter their expectations and perceptions towards work, hence achieve common goals. Transformational leaders rely on charisma in their efforts to inspire and have a positive impact on followers. The transformational leadership style has four critical tenets. These tenets include intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and idealized influence. Laissez-faire is a leadership style in which leaders do not indulge in direct supervision of employees. Unfortunately, leaders do not provide the required feedback to employees. The leadership style assumes that employees have the required experience and competency to function effectively. However, this leadership style proves ineffective for employees who require constant supervision. Therefore, it can serve to trigger poor production in an organization. Laissez-faire leadership style is only effective for teams that work in multiple locations and when a leader expects a leader in a short period. In some situations, this leadership style is effective when employees rely on their autonomy and creativity increasing productivity (Kano, 2013). Servant leadership is also an emerging leadership style in the 21st century. Leaders who adopt this style involve the entire team in decision-making. Servant leaders lead through examples while putting the interest of the team as a priority. Servant leaders ensure that the team has all the tools and resources required for the task. Servant leaders do not take credit for the performance of their teams. On the contrary, they choose to let the team members enjoy the reward of their performance. Servant leadership provides a favorable working culture and serves to motivate employees to deliver their best (Northouse, 2010). Relationship between Administration and Leadership Administration and leadership have a very close relationship, although they are different concepts. Administration denotes the systematic arrangements of different types of resources, opportunities and situations in order to achieve identified specific objectives in an organization. Other authors have defined administration as a process that ensures that things are done through the collaborative efforts in order to achieve a certain goal. The administration also denotes processes and functions such as maintaining, motivating, controlling, as well as the unification of different types of resources such as human and material resources available in a reorganization so that an identified goal is achieved (Northouse, 2010). In the education system, administration denotes the systematic order of all types of resources and programs that are required for education. Administration ensures that such resources are used appropriately in accordance with the existing guidelines and policies so that educational goals may be achieved. Administration in the education sector also involves the determination of educational standards, policies and procedures as well as goals that an educational institution needs to achieve. Therefore, educational administrators are responsible for developing academic programs, empowerment of both teachers and other subordinate staff, assessment of student’s academic progress, record keeping, and budget management (Kano, 2013). The relationship between leadership and administration is that both leaders and administrators perform related tasks. They are actively involved in the decision-making processes of an organization and offering instructional leadership. Their central roles surround mobilization of people and resources so that goals may be achieved (Northouse, 2010). However, administrators rely on the policies and the shared vision developed by leaders. Whereas leaders define the mission, goals, and objectives of an institution, administrators ensure that the human and material resources are appropriately used in achieving the goals. Leaders carry out unique roles such as strategy development, initiation of organizational culture change, inspiration of employees, and envisioning the institution’s mission, roles that administrators do not play (Kano, 2013). Theories of Leadership Trait theory The trait theory of leadership highlights that specific characteristics, as well as personality traits, is identifying marks of successful leaders. One of the assumptions of the trait theory is that leadership traits can be inherited. In addition, the theory highlights that leaders are born with personality traits that qualify them for leadership. Some of the scholars who are the leading proponents of the trait theory consider the demographic factors, social characteristics, personality aspects, as well as task related characteristics that are associated with successful leadership (Northouse, 2010). The theory identifies some of the core traits that define successful leadership. Some of these core traits include emotional maturity, cognitive ability, leadership motivation, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, charisma, and extensive knowledge of business. Behavioral Theory The behavioral theory of leadership gives focus on the behavior of a leader as the main determinant of successful leadership. Notably, the behavioral theory of leadership highlights that behavior can be learned through conditioning. Therefore, different individuals can learn critical leadership traits and be able to handle different situations. The behavioral theory further reveals that leaders can adopt behaviors that give attention to both tasks and people. Leaders who give attention to tasks learn the art of initiating, organizing, clarifying, and gathering information about different projects. On the other hand, leaders who focus on people exhibit behaviors such as encouraging, coaching, mentoring, listening, and observing (Kano, 2013). Situational Leadership Situational leadership theories recognize that leaders need to rely on different styles depending on the situation. When handling some employees that need close supervision, leaders must use the most effective styles. In other cases whereby employees have high levels of maturity, and they can perform the tasks on their own, leaders can delegate tasks to different employees. In addition, employees who have medium maturity with the relevant skills, but do not have the required confidence, leaders should adopt a participative style. Notably, different situations require leaders to apply different leadership styles (Northouse, 2010). Traditional Theory of Leadership Traditional leadership theories highlight that leaders have the power and that they must abide by the traditions of the past. As long as previous leaders holding the same position exhibited control and power, the leaders that follow will adopt a similar style. Followers only obey the leaders because of their loyalty to the position and not to the individual holding the position. Traditional leaders exhibit high levels of favoritism in designating tasks and promoting followers (Kano, 2013). Great Man Theory The great man theory of leadership has a close associate with the trait theory. Proponents of the theory believe that the individuals who have proved successful as leaders have certain qualities and personality types that contribute to their success. In addition, proponents believe that the great men recorded in history had divine inspiration coupled with desirable personalities and competencies of being leaders. In accordance with these theorists, a great leader emanates from a combination of factors specifically the race and social status in which he has grown. Different factors interact and determine the individuals that can success as leaders (Kano, 2013). Personal Characteristics of Successful Leaders Successful leaders are able to adapt to different situations and understand different social environments. In addition, they are both task and people-oriented. They prove to be decisive and assertive. They are dependable in different situations and have the capacity to influence and mobilize others. Successful leaders exhibit high levels of motivation and are energetic (Northouse, 2010). They are persistent and tolerant irrespective of the challenges that come their way. Instead of focusing on the challenges, they exhibit resilience and begin to develop solutions. Successful leaders are self-confident and have the capacity to handle stressful situations. They are more determined to accept responsibilities. They prove to be persuasive, socially skilled, and with outstanding communication skills. Such leaders also exhibit diplomatic skills and high levels of creativity and intelligence. Notably, successful leaders exhibit many of these traits (Kano, 2013). References Kano, E. (2013). Leadership styles and school performance. S.l.: Grin Verlag. Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Read More