Leadership and Follow-ship Styles - Essay Example

Insert your name Professor’s name Class Date due Leadership and Follow-ship Styles Team situation involves a critical concern to motivate a group of individuals to work together to achieve a certain set objective. The team does this by estranging the conflicts or the obstacles that may come up while working towards achieving the goal. The primary emphasis is forming relationships with all the team members and not just with a few individuals. There is a greater teamwork if there is a good relationship between the leader and the follower. This is because the workers cooperate with the other team members. Thus, workplace social interactions between individual workers, managers and the work groups are vital to team building (Dyer 70). The term leadership style refers to the approach and the method of providing direction, effecting plans and encouraging people. As seen by the employees, it entails the total pattern of the implicit and the explicit actions performed by a leader. In the year 1939, the first leadership style was conducted by Kurt Lewin. He led a certain group of researchers to identify the different styles of leadership. Managers In various companies exemplify different leadership styles like the transformational, autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles. Some of the managers give workers more autonomy over their work. There are many leadership styles, and it is for the manager to choose the most efficient one. The leader has to have in mind the most efficient method that works best in different situations, building positions and getting results. Transformational leadership One of the leadership styles is transformational leadership. It focuses on the progress of the followers and their needs. The leader also focuses on creating the vision to guide the change through inspiration. A manager with this kind of leadership concentrates on growth and the development of the value system of the workers, their motivational level and the ethics with the preamble of their abilities. The primary aim of this type of leadership style is to change people and organizations in a literal sense and alter them in mind and heart to bring changes that are permanent and self-perpetuating (Tourish 27). Transformational leadership occurs when a leader upholds the interests of the workers and understands their strengths and weaknesses. Our manager had this in mind and thus it improved the job performance and the level of output (Daft, Kendrick and Vershinina 580). Studies have shown that this kind of leadership has positive returns as compared to other styles of leadership. Organizations led by a transformational leader exemplify a high level of performance and satisfaction. The high performance can be because the manager has a positive expectation of the employees and believes that they can do their best. Every worker becomes motivated to work because the manager substantially upholds all the employee interests (Hacker and Roberts 44). Autocratic leadership Authoritarian leadership is another leadership style. It is leader-centered. Domineering leaders usually make judgments without consulting their team members even when their contribution would be useful to the firm. The workers are managed and controlled through close supervision. Whatever the leader says becomes the final decision, and no one should question. The norm behind this leadership style is that the staff are there to do the job. There are some instances when the leader needs to apply autocratic leadership. For example, when the direction an organization should take is not clear, when decisions to be made are urgent and when the agreement of the team is not necessary for a successful outcome. Where there is urgency, and the members are resistance to change, an autocratic style can be beneficial for that particular moment. This leadership style can be very harmful to an organization. The leaders who use authoritarian leadership do not utilize the talents of the team members fully (DuBrin 10). This leadership style is not an effective one. This is because if the manager does not consult the employees, the result is a little motivation of the workers especially among the high-achieving workers who want to advance in management. The effect of this leadership style is that there can be high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover in the hotel. If authoritarian leadership is practiced in a hotel environment, it can reduce the hotels competitive advantage (Gabarro 230). Democratic leadership The contrast of autocratic leadership is the Democratic leadership. Republican leaders often make final decisions. However, they include the team members in their decision-making process. The leaders often advocate for creativity and the members are often engaged in decisions and projects. The result of this kind of style is that the members tend to have high productivity and high job satisfaction (Glanz 37). The leader uses this type of leadership style to gain valuable input from the worker and to gain a buy-in if there is time to do so (Goleman 23). This can be an efficient style of leadership in the hotel environment. This is because discussions, debate and sharing of ideas among the team members and the leaders often lead to harmony in the decisions made. The members are highly motivated to work and in making their decisions. They are also empowered to make their own decisions and to ensure that work is done through the teamwork. A workplace should be ready for the Democratic leaders. Workers feel that their opinion counts and because of this feeling everyone becomes committed to achieving the goals and the objectives of the firm. The main challenge with this style is that decisions can take a long time before they are made (Adeniyi 2). Laissez-fair This is the last leadership style. Here, the leaders allow the workers to make decisions but it is the leader who handles the decisions that are made. Leaders often give the team members a lot of freedom in the way they work and set their deadlines. The leaders provide support, resources and advice, but they do not get involved. This autonomy often leads to high job satisfaction though it can be efficient because the team members may tend not to manage their time well. In a hotel, unpredictable situations sometimes arise. Thus, if the workers make decisions and the leader handles the decision made, there can never be flexible responses to the upcoming challenges (Lussier and Achua 57). Democratic leadership was one of the most appropriate leadership styles that the team experienced. It was one of the most efficient and productive style. This is because, when the members are included in the decision-making process, there is peace in the hotel environment. Thus, this led to maximized output. In line with this, the most preferred leadership style is transformational leadership. This is because, when the employees’ interests are taken into account, it leads to increased job performance. Just as there are different types of leadership styles, there are different kinds of follow- ship forms. There are various types of followers who are categorized according to two dimensions that is thinking and acting. The first dimension deals with the quality of independent, that is critical versus uncritical thinking. Independent critical thinkers go outside actions and procedures. These scholars consider the impact of their actions and that of the others. They are also willing to be creative and innovative and to offer constructive criticism where applicable. The dependent uncritical leaders are the ones who do not go beyond what they are told. They do not add any input to the development of a firm and they accept the leaders’ ideas without thinking (Blanchard, Patricia and Drea 90) The second dimension deals with the active versus the passive behavior. An active person shows full participation to the organization. His level of interaction is limited to doing what he is told to do. A passive person does not show full participation to the group. This kind of person does not think beyond what he is told to do. Alienated followers Alienated followers lie in the dimension of independent critical thinkers. They often refer to themselves as people who always think for themselves. They are very passive in playing their role. To the leader, these kinds of followers are very troublesome, negative and sometimes exhibit a lack of vision. They can be severe sores in a hotel because they always point out the negative aspects of an organization. Most of the time they tend to oppose leader’s efforts. Alienated followers can drag a hotel behind. This is because if they do not agree with any decision made, they can offer passive resistance yet they do not provide any input (Bonnici 20). Conformist followers Conformist followers are simply the “yes” people. These types of members take the leaders direction without questioning and sometimes will often sacrifice their personal ethics for the sake of harmony within the group to avoid conflict. They fail to analyze critically instructions given to them by the leaders. Due to this, they quickly become wrongdoers of the dark side of leadership. In a hotel operation, different decisions are made according to different periods and market needs. A decision to be made can concerns the number of staffs to be allocated to each department. These types of followers, in such a situation, will often take the leaders stand without even thinking the outcome of the decision made (Kellerman 12) Leaders have the responsibility of increasing the leader and member argument level in a manner that inspires the conformist followers to become creative and critical thinkers. There can be a significant challenge to a hotel when the leader does not know which stand to take during a crisis. This is because these followers cannot help the manager in making decisions. Without creativity and innovation, no business can prosper. Passive followers Inactive members are the followers that lack creativity, a sense of accountability and require continuous direction. They look upon the leader to do thinking for them. They usually have no desire to change the organization. In a hotel situation, these followers may not add any value. These followers respond to the leader’s expectation of them. Often, the members of non-profit organizations are passive because the manager does not expect anything from them. Effective follower Lastly, the active member is someone who focuses much on critical thinking and is involved towards the success of an organization. They are not risk-averse, and they do not shy away from conflict. They often have the audacity to bring change and put themselves in dangers with the other members or the leader to serve the interest of an organization (Lussier and Christopher 117). Due to this, they are described as proactive. They function very well in self-managed groups. This is the most efficient follow-ship style. This is because with innovation, one can change an organization positively. To be an active follower, one should acquire the skills needed to combine two contrasting follower roles. These roles are; to effect decisions made by the leader and to raise issues about the choices when they are deemed mistaken or immoral. Passive follow-ship was the follow-ship style that the team experienced. This was not a productive and efficient style. This is because the members often relied on the manager to make decisions for them. The decision often made came from one party, the manager. If all members were active in the decision-making process, the level of output in the hotel environment would increase further. The most preferred follow-ship style is the effective one. This is because, these followers bring change to the organization by all means without any fear. If one adopts this kind of follow-ship style, it always brings change to the organization. In conclusion, in a hotel situation, the most efficient style of leadership style to use in order is the democratic style of leadership (Cooperrider 10). It is efficient because the members are included in making decisions, and it can reduce the rate of staff turnover because every member's view is taken into an account. On the same line, active followers often bring change to an organization because they are often innovative and innovation is the key towards the success of a firm. Works Cited Adeniyi, Michael Adewale. Effective Leadership Management. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2007. Print. Bass, Bernard M., and Bruce J. Avolio. "Transformational leadership: A response to critiques." (1993). Blanchard, Kenneth H., Patricia Zigarmi, and Drea Zigarmi. Leadership and the one minute manager. Video Publishing House, 1985. Bonnici, Charles A. Creating a Successful Leadership Style. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2011. Print. Cooperrider, David L. Appreciative management and leadership: The power of positive thought and action in organizations. Jossey-Bass, 1990. Daft, Richard L, Martyn Kendrick, and Natalia Vershinina. Management. Andover: South-Western/Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. DuBrin, Andrew J. Essentials of Management. Mason, OH: Thomson Business & Economics, 2009. Print. Dyer, W. Gibb. Team building. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2007. Gabarro, John J. Managing People and Organizations. Boston, Ma: Harvard Business School, 1992. Print. Glanz, Jeffrey. Finding Your Leadership Style. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2002. Print. Goleman, Daniel. "Leadership that gets results." (2000). Hacker, Stephen, and Tammy Roberts. Transformational Leadership. Milwaukee, Wis.: ASQ Quality Press, 2004. Print. Kellerman, Barbara. Followership. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press, 2008. Print. Lussier, Robert N, and Christopher F Achua. Leadership. Australia: SouthWestern/Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Tourish, Dennis. "The dark side of transformational leadership: A critical perspective." Development and Learning in Organizations 28.1 (2013). Read More