Leadership Theories and Applicability - Essay Example

Leadership Theories and Applicability (Name) (University) Leadership Leadership is an enigma. Philosophers have engaged in numerous discussions and written treatises regarding their implementation while researchers have studied it and attempted to target precisely how leadership theories offer guidance to effective leadership. While there is no definition of an effective leader, a number of theories offer invaluable insights as to their application in possessing important leadership characteristics (Derue, Nahrgang, Wellman, & Humphrey, 2011; Allio, 2013). Defining the difference between mediocre and effective leaders is a question that has attracted many arguments amongst renowned scholars, drawing vast amount of aspects of leadership theories (Komives & Dugan, 2011). Yet while excellent theoretical aspects of what leaders should do are evidenced, its implementation follows various approaches. The incorporation of leadership theories, this paper confronts, offer practical knowledge in effecting leadership in various organizational constructs. There are two historical aspects of leadership; trait and process leadership. In order to inspire people to work towards a common goal, leaders must apply their skills and knowledge. This is process leadership. However, there are in born traits that influence behavior and decision making, which make one ideally suited to be an effective leader. The traits theory posits that leaders have specific characteristics that differentiate them from non-leaders. A unique mix of the two aspects forms the cornerstone of an effective leader. While one can learn leadership, their traits and attributes are instrumental in creating an effective leader (Sharma & Jain, 2013). The 20th century view of leadership focuses mainly on positional power. These leadership approaches offers a broad understanding on leaders and how accomplishing goals can be attained. Evidently, traditional theories focuses on the effective traits required to achieve outcomes and influence others. These leadership traits also reflected on the past social attributes of leadership, as traditionally masculine and industrial. They worked on social constructions of leadership like the leveraging of power and an achievement oriented system. They contributed to the image of the leader as a heroic archetype, which linked leadership to the individual and portrayed them as extraordinary and were the rationale for such leadership theories as the great men theory (Komives & Dugan, 2011). Leadership focused mainly on the internal environment of the organization such as processes, strengths, weaknesses and the people. Nevertheless, the dynamic business environment calls for effective leaders who can effectively implement strategies and respond to changes. This implies that leaders are required to focus on the constantly changing external environment and establish a new paradigm of leadership. In this respect therefore, a number of theories offer significant insights on these variables. An example of a new leadership model that continues to inspire some of the world’s best leaders is the three levels of leadership model. This model provides the distinction between a leader’s response in public spheres, their private leadership traits that determine their interaction with people, and inner, personal leadership. According to Scouller (2011), the author of the three levels of leadership book, attest that there is no single one-size-fits-all path to effective leadership. While the traits and characteristics of good leaders exist, their application varies from one person to another. Personal leadership, or the leader’s mastery of their inner self, are determining factors to successful leadership (MacLachlan, 2011). One could trace the three levels of leadership model to the work of Steve Jobs, one of the most celebrated CEOs of the modern generation (Toma & Marinescu, 2013). The success of an organization depends on its culture, the behavior of its followers and the traits of the leader (Simmons & Sower, 2012). Steve Jobs best describes these aspects, making his personal leadership traits central to his success. Evidently, throughout Steve’s he favored reinvention and shifting from his comfort zone (Dormehl, 2012). Steve’s personality significantly contributed his approach to business and leadership management. He overcame limiting and defensive beliefs, while focusing on his perfectionist attitude to work, which was evidenced in high quality of products and services (MacLachlan, 2011). Contemporary leadership theory also provides critical practical advice on effective leadership. Contemporary theories have reframed leadership from the leader-focused view, explaining it as a reciprocal process involving a group of people who pursue similar goals. This theory comes from initial works of Burns and Rost, a political scientist and leadership writer respectively (Komives & Dugan, 2011). Their contribution was significant in drawing important aspect of effective leadership. Their work contributed to the change of image of leadership into a situational process. Their view on leadership concentrates on both the modal and the resultant effects on organization processes. The basis of contemporary leadership is building organizations that are leader full and not simply leader led. Contemporary leadership models stress on the importance of collaborative work functions. It has led to the distinction between the leader and the term leadership. The leader now refers to the rank or position, while leadership describes the collaborative process (Komives & Dugan, 2011). A number of explanation attest to the increased propensity to garner effective leadership. The global business environment and modern society are getting increasingly complex. This places increased pressure on the modern manager to adapt in order to lead their organization better. As organizations evolve through change in leadership success, they reach unprecedented levels of success. This increases pressure to enhance workability and approach to organizational management, notably among organizations serving the same market, to maintain competitive advantage. In a cut throat competitive world with markets becoming more open, there is pressure on managers to implement revolutionary leadership skills and attributes in order to gain a competitive advantage over their competition. The sociological alternative posits that the study and attainment of effective leadership legitimizes the power leaders and the elite have. Organizational success relies on various aspects of leadership, where an effective leader initiates productivity among the employees. However, for a company to achieve and attain the success levels it anticipates, it is compelled to sustain excellence in processes and effective leadership (Moore & Knickle, 2012). The following are other organizational characteristics that a leader must pursue in attaining effectiveness in various constructs; i. Motivation Motivation refers to the forces that encourage employees to persist in efforts to accomplish their goals. Regardless of the leadership style, the motivation of employees must be enough to encourage performance. The perfect example of this is the story of Steve Jobs, who brought apple back from the brink to become the most successful company in the world. He was famously not so good with people, yet he still had an almost religiously loyal following (Isaacson, 2012). Overall job performance depends on the motivation and ability of the employee, and how situational constraints work for or against them. Situational constraints are those over which the employee has no control. Ability is the extent to which the employee has enough skill and talent to do the job required of them. Motivation is the degree to which the employee will make an effort to do a good job. The first step towards motivation for a leader is to identify the employee needs. Needs are either physical or physiological, but must be met to ensure the well-being and survival of the employee. If needs are not met, employees have an internal state of discomfort and tension. Leaders must go out of their way to understand these unmet needs and address them. Employees must also be rewarded for their jobs for them to be motivated. Managers must recognize the fact that employee engagement levels depend on how fairly they feel they are rewarded for their skill and contribution. Today, employees want more than just monetary reward (Dahlqvist &Matsson, 2013). There are two types of rewards; intrinsic and extrinsic. Extrinsic rewards are those that are tangible and visible, given for specific behavior or performance like monetary compensation, which is the most common traditionally (Pink, 2011). Intrinsic rewards are the natural rewards that come from the fulfillment of performing a task, like the sense of responsibility, accomplishment and fun. There are also individual and group rewards (Larkin, Lamar, & Gina, 2012) ii. Organizational culture These are the shared beliefs or perceptions within an organization. They are norms that employees use to justify or give meaning to the various situations they come across while at work. Organizational culture has been proven to improve performance, reduce conflict, and improve job satisfaction and commitment to the company (Tsai, 2011). iii. Management Management and leadership are two concepts that are often confused by many, but which are equally important in an organization. There are many fundamental differences between the manager and leader in an organization. While at the beginning entrepreneurial leadership alone can drive an organization, as it grows, it reaches a point where it must embrace management. Proper management is critical to the daily running of an organization. Managers are typically responsible for such tasks as the organization of resources, monitoring task completion, recruitment, dealing with emergencies, sales and handling regulatory bodies (Fincham, 2012). iv. Moral leadership The world faces a crisis in leadership, and with political and economic angles tried and found wanting, moral leadership is the way to go (Howard, 2012). Moral leadership requires the balance between idealism and a tough pragmatism (Covrig, Ongo, & Ledesma, 2012). Majority of people believe that leaders, especially in business and politics, have lost their moral compass. The world today thrives on technology and globalization, and people expect organizations to provide solutions that make the world a better place to live (Seretny & Seretny, 2012). We live in a world of unlimited wants needing fulfillment by limited resources. Moral leadership ensures that companies take responsibility for their actions. Moral leadership focuses not only on creating value for the company, but also keeping the needs of the current and future generation of customers satisfied. Several reasons drive the inclination towards moral leadership today. It is evident that that leadership theories offer profound knowledge and applicable aspects of leadership. Its inclusion is thought to offer significant knowledge when addressing various aspects of leadership. While numerous organizations adhere to specific approaches to business, a leadership theory is a cornerstone to effective management. The consumer is becoming increasingly aware of the organizations they deal with. They want to be associated with organizations that have a sustainable plan for the moral issues important to them. There is also pressure from lobby groups and the press for organizations to care for more than just their monetary bottom line. But the push towards moral leadership is not just reactive but proactive. There is evidence that such moral and ethical ways of doing business such as embracing corporate social responsibility leads to competitive advantage (Hunt, 2011). The moral leader is tasked with the responsibility of aligning the needs of the organization to the needs of their clientele, thus leveraging marketing opportunities for a competitive advantage while maintain a sustainable world. Moral leaders think as much about the consumption of their companies as they do production and profits. It can be stated that ethical and moral conformance of leadership is important throughout leadership. References Read More