Leadership for the Twenty-First Century - Term Paper Example

 Leadership for the Twenty-First Century Transformational Leadership Transformational leadership is the leadership style that brings about change. The leader positions his or her min-frame in a visionary course and then inspires other people to follow. A transformational leader sets the pace for his or her subjects; he sets goals: ‘walks the talk’ and ‘walks the walk’ (Winkler 20101, p.14). This kind of a leader demonstrates to his or her subjects how to handle situations and perform duties. For instant, he or she does not only tell the subjects what to do like an autocratic leader, but demonstrates to the followers how to handle tasks. In this manner, he or she motivates the followers (Palestini 2009, p.39). The followers feel part of leadership and positive changes and effective management dynamics are always associated with transformational leadership. In my life experience, I have identified transformational leadership qualities in me. I have been in leadership positions and the traits of a transformational leader are evident in my actions; defined by my successes and victories. However, there have been challenges in the process, I have always managed to come to a reasonable and proper solution that have enhanced my success rates. First Experience I one held a position as a class prefect after the previous one had been demoted by the administration following complaints from classmates. Well, rude and arrogant students existed in the class and it was had shaping them to fit and conform to the proper school and academic behavior. I restored glory to the class by enacting rules that made them feel energized and recharged; rejuvenated and restored. I restructured sitting patterns alternating seating positions where males would alternate females to reduce unnecessary peer influence. I developed a timetable that provided discussion times between classes that are not limited to academics to make everyone feel contented and part of the classroom without limitation, discrimination and prejudice. Later on, after they had all felt the sense of belonging and part of a common fraternity, I gradually transform the moments into pure academic discussion sessions. Everyone conformed to administrative demands; everybody complied with my transformational rules. My strategies vividly rings a bell to me that I’m a transformational leader. Second Experience I was once a part of the team from my class assigned the task of constructing the longest tower possible and I automatically rose to the leadership positions because of my traits and charisma. It was to be constructed within a limited period given that there were other teams assigned the same work. Of course, there were challenges associated with management but I applied my leadership skills to ensure my team won. I motivated and inspired them. I demonstrated how the work was to be handled and arranged my workforce appropriately. Through emotional engagement incorporated with inspiration, my teamwork tirelessly, in fact, they reported to their duties in time and did their best. Eventually, we snapped the victory. Third Experience Its crystal to identify my transformational leadership qualities as was portrayed in a Business Simulation event held on a particular weekend in Bramely’s lake, UK. The event entailed intense mental and physical activities. It required intelligent strategic planning. I was one of the CEO’s of the different groups. I applied my abilities like intellectual simulation, inspirational motivation, and individualized consideration and idealized influence to effectively and efficiently drive my team. Eventually, we got the award of being the most improved performance group Benefits of Transformational Leadership in Business Business as a venture, an income generating activity, a way of life and as a social domain requires proper leadership skills. As much as management is good for businesses, leadership is the most essential as businesses involve dealing with people, who are subjects of mistakes and imperfections (Tichy & Devanna, M. A. 2000, p.49). People require leaders more than they require managers to work at full potential. Management is as well indispensible in businesses but it should incorporate leadership. Leadership inspires and a transformational leader would drive employees within the business organization or set-up toward attaining their utmost productivity (Tichy & Devanna 2000, p.47). A transformational leader: Sets high expectations Provides recognition and support Establishes clear goals Is a model of fairness and integrity Encourages others Stirs people’s emotions Inspires people to reach or work toward the improbable Inspires people to look beyond their own interests These characters motivate employees both intrinsically and extrinsically, which makes them happy and jovial at work, hence, proper customer treatment and attraction of both employee and customer referrals. Transformational leadership also ensures that the a business activity keeps abreast with the changes that are prone in the business domains in terms of customer tastes and preferences, market changes and employees’ demands (Lussier & Achua 2010, p.28). Benefits of Transformational Leadership Inspiration One of the benefits of transformational leadership is that it inspires or instills morale in employees. This creates favorable working environment that enables employees to work tirelessly without boredom, hence, resulting in high productivity levels (Tichy & Devanna 2000, p.50). Vision Another benefit associated with this form of leadership is that it encourages inner construction of vision (Lentz 2012, p.68). A transformational leader is a visionary leader who while living carefully at the present, is interested in the future, which he or she pursues with courage, determination and diligence. Loyalty Followers of transformational leaders are usually loyal to them. An organization can go through challenges that would require employee understanding and support, which is guaranteed in transformational leadership. The leader arouses emotions toward followers that ensures they work even under financial strains (Goleman 2011, p.72). Creation of Future Leaders Transformational leaders, through inspiration, enhance the creation of other leaders from followers. Many followers of a transformational leader usually admire his or her qualities, which makes them develop the will of being such a leader (Nohria et al. 2010, p.37). Limitations of Transformational Leadership However, transformational leadership, like any other form of leadership, has its share of limitations: Disguising Reality A transformational leader operates through emotion, inspiration and motivation. Followers succeed by convincing them to work hard and train a lot. This is sometimes practiced in an assumption that all people have the ability while the truth about people is possession of different skills and capabilities, hence, might result in employees delivering shoddy work (Northouse 2010, p.164). Straining of Employees The employees of a transformational leader are emotionally attached to his leadership that they engage in tasks beyond their energies. They would do anything to please the leader, which might endanger their health and family lives without noticing (Meindl & Schyns 2005, p.121). Lack of Detail A transformational leader is normally efficient and effective at rallying and motivating his subjects behind a single vision, but often lacks the power to the detail required in order to create a stable corporate structure or abide by the system’s policies (Sims & Quatro 2005, p.82). The leader is most time prepossessed by the overall big visionary picture while neglecting the daily operational requirements. An example of a transformational leader is Donald Trump, who has transformed his businesses to great extents. He is one of the richest businesspersons in the world and does this by influencing his employees through transformational leadership theory that reflects on how his employees manipulate his wealth efficiently and effectively handling resources and with utmost loyalty (Komives & Wagner 2012, p.82). The United States president has applied both transformational and charismatic leadership theories to manipulate Americans. He engaged emotionally through the sad jouney America has come from and even had an inspiring viewpoint that he would bring change through his campaign slogan ‘yes we can’ (Stutje 2012, p.53). Charismatic Leadership Most of the world’s most influential leaders are charismatic. They are usually very skilled communicators and intelligent. They are full of charisma and very ‘easy-to-like’. Charismatic leaders demonstrate to his or her followers of how to attend to tasks through great sacrifice and taking visible personal risks (Maxwell 2002, p.91). In this way, they manage to gain deep trust from their followers; making them feel passionate about the vision of an organization and will even go to an extent of making personal sacrifices as well. A charismatic leader uses charm to motivate followers. Other characteristics of this leadership theory are the beliefs that people follow and become loyalty to the leaders they personally admire, self belief is a significant requirement for leaders and grace or charm are all that leaders need to acquire followers. The primary style of this leadership theory is that a charismatic leader gathers loyal followers by dint of charm and personality, rather than any kind of external authority or power (Kouzes & Posner 2010, p.104). The president of the United States of America positively applied charisma and he is admired across the states (Rost 1999, p.72). A perfect example of a charismatic leader is Richard Branson, the sole owner and leader of Virgin Group of Companies (Burns 2012, p.187). His employees idolizes him and they would stop at nothing to please him. In fact, they believe that Virgin Group of Companies cannot exist further without him, which is a negative projection of charismatic leadership. The traits of charismatic leaders include: They project articulation and vision Sensitivity the needs of followers Taking personal risks Sensitive to the surrounding or the environment Conduct unconventional behavior. Advantages of Charismatic Leadership The leadership theory effects change It sells vision and drags everybody in the same direction. They drive results and can have followers ‘walking over hot coal’ to reach targets. It inspires and creates environments conducive for working. A charismatic leader is full of energy and confidence that reflects on their subjects. Disadvantages of Charismatic Leadership The team working under charismatic leadership lacks independence. This is because the teams identity can be caught up with the charismatic leader given his or her ego, hence, the team may struggle to be self-managing (Kouzes & Posner 2010, p.286). The leader’s ego overtakes when he or she is caught up within it, which can have devastating impacts on the team and results (Sadler 2003, p.106). It evokes group thinking that can conflict with that of the leader. Followers thinking in a group can do things in unison even when they are headed in a wrong direction. It induces excessive belief in the leader that the company strength becomes under-acknowledge. For instance, people believe in the leader so much that they think the company’s infrastructure or system as whole might break down without him. The company’s success is solely tied around the charismatic leader (Conger & Kanungo 2008, p.109). I picture my both leadership traits in me; I can as well be charismatic. I have come to notice that a transformational leader has many similarities with a charismatic leader. The leadership theories have similar ways of influencing followers to attend do what they want. They use convincing power; they are both motivational, they use inspiration and they demonstrate to subjects what to do (Hayat 2014, p.52). Transformational and charismatic leaders are influences peoples loyalty in these similar ways. Their values are highly significant and are directed towards transforming an entire organization, even though charismatic leaders are can be very personal in detail and may not want to change anything: he or she is not often dynamic. Their self-esteems and beliefs are usually high; hence, lead their followers into an abyss by believing that they are infallible. Sometimes, their high self-belief can result into psychotic narcissism, where they expect to be worshipped and admired due to complete self-absorption, which may raise their followers’ eyebrows as they question their leadership (Conger 2009, p.83). The qualities of these leadership theories relate to my personality as aforementioned given that transformational leadership is closely related to charismatic relationship. I am a person who is full of charisma, which I have noticed from the subjects I have lead before as explained in my experiences with leadership positions. However, they are limitations to these leadership styles, which can only be corrected through personal reflection and awareness (Lussier 2008, p.54). To ensure that my leadership qualities work by minimizing the prevalence of the limitation, I have to pursue research and further training on leadership. This will enable me set a conscious mind state that is aware of the repercussions, and take some management training as well to help make necessary corrections while applying leadership skills. In this case, I would be flexible that at any particular time, I would adopt an appropriate leadership style depending on the situation, environment and the type of persons I am working with to adapt to every circumstance and ensure I follow the proper path toward achieving the set standards: utilization of the path-goal approach. However, the theories may contradict. Transformational leadership entails a leader who is open in thoughts and communicates freely in spite of the barriers and limitations that may exist. A transformational leader is strategic and focuses all his or her energy on change. According to Tichy & Devanna (2000), transformational leaders would stop at nothing to hinder change. They are very dynamic and high-targeted that they normally take their organizations to international platforms. Taking over the family business would not be a great challenge because I have all the necessary skills and characteristics to influence and inspire workers to achieve the business’ vision. Proper training on the leadership theories would be a significant step and would ensure that I practice flexibility through all leadership models. Then I would conform to the demands of mission statement, ‘Better and Quality Service to Humanity’. However, even though I have transformational leadership skills, I would apply my charismatic leadership style and would be very conscious about the environment and the people I work with. Therefore, I would not be too rigid to the vision even if it endangers the lives of the followers. On the other hand, a charismatic leader is usually very self-centered (Haney et al., 2010, p.92). They use charisma but hardly open up of their inner ideas. They are capable of changing an organization to great extents but interestingly, they hardly have the preference to transform. Their inspiration and charisma usually drive the change, which normally is non-existent in their minds. Czövek (2006) uses biblical contexts and examples to explain the qualities if charismatic leaders. In his viewpoint, transformational leaders are compulsive in an indirect way, which they apply to impact change while charismatic leaders like the biblical David and Solomon are strategic and wise, in a manner that they apply charisma to influence change. This has raised questions whether charisma is innate or self-made. Reference List Avolio, B. J., & Yammarino, F. J. 2013. Transformational and charismatic leadership: the road ahead. Bingley, UK, Emerald. Burns, J. M. 2012. Leadership. New York, NY, Open Road Integrated Media. http://www.contentreserve.com/TitleInfo.asp?ID={51B4DD30-F1F3-4D26-9A20-3DDB89E2AE94}&Format=410. Conger, J. A. 2009. The charismatic leader: behind the mystique of exceptional leadership. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publishers. Conger, J. A., & Kanungo, R. N. 2008. Charismatic leadership in organizations. Thousand Oaks, Calif. [u.a.], Sage. Czövek, T. 2006. Three seasons of charismatic leadership: a literary-critical and theological interpretation of the narrative of Saul, David and Solomon. Bletchley, Paternoster. Dubrin, A. J. 2011. Leadership: research findings, practice, and skills. Mason, OH, South-Western Cengage Learning. Goleman, D. 2011. Leadership: the power of emotional intellegence. Northampton, MA, More Than Sound. Haney, B., Sirbasku, J., & Mccann, D. 2010. Leadership charisma. Waco, Texas, S & H Publishing Company. Hayat, S. 2014. The charismatic leader: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and the creation of Pakistan. Komives, S. R., & Wagner, W. 2012. Leadership for a Better World Understanding the Social Change Model of Leadership Development. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. http://www.123library.org/book_details/?id=53439. Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. 2010. The Leadership Challenge. New York, Wiley. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=589017. Lentz, K. 2012. Transformational leadership in special education: leading the IEP team. Lanham, Md, Rowman & Littlefield Education. Lussier, R. N. 2008. Management fundamentals: concepts, applications, skill development. Mason, OH, South-Western/Cengage Learning. Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. 2010. Leadership: theory, application, skill development. Australia, SouthWestern/Cengage Learning. Maxwell, J. C. 2002. Leadership 101. Nashville, Thomas Nelson. http://www.contentreserve.com/TitleInfo.asp?ID={6A656C52-469C-4855-885D-89295EF0254E}&Format=410. Meindl, J. R., & Schyns, B. 2005. Implicit leadership theories: essays and explorations. Greenwich, Conn, Information Age Publ. Nohria, N., Khurana, R., & Anand, B. 2010. Handbook of leadership theory and practice an HBS centennial colloquium on advancing leadership. Boston, Mass, Harvard Business Press. http://www.books24x7.com/marc.asp?bookid=36291. Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications. Palestini, R. H. 2009. From leadership theory to practice: a game plan for success as a leader. Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield Education. Rost, J. C. 1999. Leadership for the twenty-first century. New York, Praeger. Sadler, P. 2003. Leadership. London, Kogan Page Ltd. Sims, R. R., & Quatro, S. A. 2005. Leadership succeeding in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. Armonk, N.Y., M.E. Sharpe. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10178060. Stutje, J. W. 2012. Charismatic leadership and social movements: the revolutionary power of ordinary men and women. New York, Berghahn Books. Tichy, N. M., & Devanna, M. A. 2000. The transformational leader: the key to global competitiveness. New York, Wiley. Winkler, I. 2010. Contemporary leadership theories enhancing the understanding of the complexity, subjectivity and dynamic of leadership. Berlin, Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2158-1. Read More