Leadership Theories and Styles - Assignment Example

Application of Leadership Theories and Styles Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Application of Leadership Theories and Styles Introduction Leadership is generally defined as the ability to influence an individual or a group of people, usually called the followers, in achieving a specific objective (Turnbull, 2014). In the field of leadership, there have been many several theories that try to explain differ types of leadership and styles. In this paper, different theories and styles of leadership have been explained based on specific individuals in leadership positions. Topic One: Being a Diplomat Evidently, diplomatic role in any situation is a challenging responsibility. The main responsibilities of a diplomat are to negotiate and make deals for a given party or parties. For example, a diplomat of a country could be expected to ensure that the country that he represents gets a fared business deal that will benefit his country. At the same time, a diplomat in conflict resolution process is mandated to ensure that the two parties involved in the conflict come to agree on the way forward. Therefore, a diplomat is expected to have problem solving skills and a wide range of knowledge. The process of selecting a diplomat will require consideration of various traits as shown in the trait theory described below. Application of Trait Theory of Leadership The trait theory of leadership is based on the attributes and characteristics of different leaders both unsuccessful and successful. The theory is mostly instrumental in predicting the effectiveness of leadership (Adeniyi, 2007). In the last three decades of the twentieth century, a set of key traits of most of the successful leaders were identified. The list of traits was not only meant to identify if an individual would be a successful leader or not but also as preconditions that determine the leadership potential of persons. The resulting lists of traits are then compared to those of potential leaders to assess their likelihood of success or failure (Sims, 2007). Studies in the applicability of trait theory in leadership tried to take and identify different types of traits including psychological characteristics such as appearance, weight, and height as well as demographic attributes, which include education, age, and socioeconomic background. At the same time, the study involves consideration of self-confidence, personality, and aggressiveness of an individual. Further, trait theory also includes intellectual abilities based on intelligence, judgment, decisiveness, and knowledge (Lococo, 2008). Moreover task-related aspects such as achievement drive, persistence, initiative, and social characteristics including cooperativeness and sociability, which determine the emergence of a leader and leadership effectiveness. The proponents of trait theory ague that a leader should be judged based on the characteristics that he possesses (Hartog, 2009). The theory asserts that successful leaders have abilities, personalities, interests and other attributes that are not similar to those that are less effective in their leadership positions. As naturally pleasing, trait theory has been validated by different research, which has endorsed the foundation of the theory (Sims, 2007). At the same time, the trait theory provides detailed understanding and knowledge of leader element in the process of leadership. On the other hand, the trait theory has some limitations such as the presence of subjective judgment when determining the “good” and “bad” leader. In addition, the list of traits could be viewed as being too long that makes it challenging to know the most important traits for effective leadership. Notably, it could be prudent to distinguish between trait theory and Great Man Theory. The Great Man Theory is a leadership theory that was done in the nineteenth century and mostly linked to the work of Thomas Carlyle who talked of the great men as well as heroes of the history where he noted that the biography of the great men is responsible for the history of the world. In his perspective, Carlyle noted that I leader is a gifted individual who possesses unique qualities that are able to capture the minds of the masses (Gabriel, 2006). Earlier on, it was believed that leadership is a preserve of men, which made this theory, be referred to as great man theory. However, with the emergence of many women in the world who showed exemplary leadership skills, the theory was later called the great person theory. Admittedly, the world has seen one of the greatest leaders such as Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Julius Caesar, Queen Elizabeth I as well as Abraham Lincoln among others. A closer look at each of these leaders shows that they seem to differ in many ways. The same also could be seen in the contemporary leadership such as in Mahatma Gandhi and George W. Bush. The common denominator in these leaders is that they possess high levels of ambitions, which are coupled by clear visions that define specifically where to go. The theory suggests that all great leaders share these characteristic regardless of when and where they lived or the precise role in the history they fulfilled (Gabriel, 2006). Based on the attributes and the mechanisms of leadership in these leaders, they are cited as being naturally great leaders who are born with sets of personal characteristics that help them to become effective. The theory implies that those in power deserve to be there because of their special endowment. According to the contemporary theorist leaders as not like other people since they do not need to be genius intellectually or being omniscient prophets in order to succeed. However, they definitely need to have the correct stuff that is equally present in other people-an orientation that expresses an approach of “great man theory” (Gabriel, 2006). According to the great man theory of leadership, leaders are born with required attributes that make them apart from others (Man, 2013). Additionally, the traits are responsible for making such individuals assume positions of authority and power. The theory argues that a leader should be a hero who accomplishes the objectives set at all odds for the followers. At the same time, it is the opinion of this theory that those people in power as well as in authority. On the basis of the trait theory, when choosing a diplomat, there will be need to consider different traits such as good communication, patience, time management, problem solving techniques among others. Therefore, trait theory is instrumental in knowing if one can lead a particular group or help in achieving a given objective. Topic Two: On A Battle Field Solders in a battlefield are always at high risk of losing their lives. However, this statement is true for any scenario in a battlefield. Admittedly, with the increased issues of terrorism across the world, different groups, agencies, rebels, among others find themselves in situations that call for special skills to save lives. For example in the current war in Syria, many groups are involved in fighting. At the same time, every group in this battled has its own leader. The core role of a leader in a battlefield is to ensure that his followers are not hurt but also harm the enemy as much as possible. In such a complex scenario, the leader of a fighting team in a baffle field has one of the greatest roles mandated to leaders. To be on the top notch, the leader in a battlefield should be expected to have various skills such as knowing how to handle different types of guns and fighting techniques so that others can follow him. The following paragraph illustrates how skill based theory can be used in determining a good leader. Application of Skills-Based Leadership Theory The skills-based theory proposes that a good leader need to have set of skills that should have been developed over time (Northouse, 2010). The theory of skills-based emerged in the middle of the twentieth century after Robert Katz published his "Skills of an Effective Administrator" paper, in the "Harvard Business Review." According to Katz, skills needed in leadership can be grouped into technical skills that are related to the filed, conceptual skills that are concerned with setting of visions needed to be achieved, and human skills that guide how one should communicate with others. However, researcher M.D. Mumford and his team later expanded the approach in the “Leadership Skills for a Changing World: Solving Complex Problems" paper that was published in 2000 in the "The Leadership Quarterly". The team proposed capabilities model or study that included social judgment skills, problem-solving skills, as well as overall knowledge as the three major competencies needed by a leader (Northouse, 2010). Mumford's model also acknowledged the importance of personal characteristics, performance, career experiences and the context in which the leader worked as major factors in a leader's effectiveness. One of the main advantages of the skills-based theory is that it assumes that everyone can become a leader provided one works hard in developing skills of good leadership (Northouse, 2010) . Therefore, skills-based theory is instrumental in realizing leadership potential especially for those people who are interests in becoming leaders but do not have innate abilities of traits that are proposed in other theories of leadership. On the other hand, the main limitation of skills-based theory is that it has a fuzzy line with other leadership models, especially the trait theory. As noted above, a leader of a battalion in a battlefield will be required to have special skills to not only lead the team but also to protect it from the enemy. Notably, skills in battlefield are gained after intense training that affects special aspects that will ensure efficiencies in the battle. For example in the skills-based career, experience is one of the categories of skills that leaders need. In the military, before a soldier becomes a leader of a military battalion, one of the key considerations is the experience that an individual has as well the position in the military. Consequently, if a soldier is be qualified to become a team leader in a battle, skills-based theory can be used to determine his leadership potential. Topic Three: The CEO of A Multinational Firm A CEO of a company or an organization is person with executive responsibility of overseeing all activities in the institutions he is heading. However, the CEO of a company cannot be able to solely monitor and lead all aspects without the assistance of other leaders in a company, especially in large organizations. In this case, for any CEO the theory of leadership style can be instrumental in knowing the kind of leadership to employ in managing an organization as described below. Application of the Style Theory of Leadership The style theory of leadership provides flexibility in the way a leader should show his potential (Alan, 2011). Admittedly, as noted above, leaders do not have same attitude or same perspectives when in their respective positions. Therefore, not all leaders may get an issue done in the same way due to the application of different styles of leadership. The style theory of leadership provides different styles of leading people which include autocratic, Laissez Faire, democratic, bureaucratic styles of leadership. The autocratic style of leadership, which is also called dictatorial style, refers to situations where a leader is given or takes complete command and holds over his followers (Northouse, 2010). In this style, the followers are not supposed to put forward their opinions on how decisions need to be made or simply airing their personal views. The followers are not expected to criticize the way their leader is getting things done. One of the advantages of this style is that it helps in making decision-making process faster since not many people are involved. However, the style is blamed for many organizational problems such as workplace conflicts, poor decisions and hence poor service delivery. On the other hand, democratic style of leadership is the opposite of authoritarian leadership (Northouse, 2010). Democratic leaders involve their followers to present their opinions when making decision in an organization. Therefore, team members play instrumental role in decision-making process of an organization (Winkler, 2010). The role of the leader is to guide the team or employees on they need to perform and the way to perform. The employees or followers are expected to communicate to their leaders their experiences, opinions, or suggestions if any. At the same time, the leader engages the team in discussing differ options of solving the issue before agreeing on one direction. The main advantage of this theory is that the organization is able to come up with good ideas, which are acceptable to majority of personnel (Northouse, 2010). However, this style could make the process of decision making take long. Unlike democratic style, in Laissez faire style of leadership, a leader totally trusts his followers and leaves them to make decisions. In this case, a leader does not directly participate in decision-making but focuses his attention on rational or intellectual aspects of the process (Northouse, 2010). Finally, in bureaucratic style of leadership the leader strictly follows the rules and policies of the organization. The employees are also required to follow organizational rules to the letter. Besides applying the above style of leadership, a CEO of a company can use situational theory in leading an organization. According to the situational theory of leadership, a leader chooses a specific course of action depending on the prevailing circumstances or situational variables (Northouse, 2010). This means that a CEO can choose to apply different styles of leadership based on a given situation. A leader is thus not limited to a given style. For instance, in a situation where a leader is the most experienced and knowledgeable in a group of people, he can use authoritarian style. However, if in the same group all members are experts, then democratic style is the most applicable. The character of the CEO and the type of follower he is leading also matters in situational theory. Conclusion In order to ensure that leaders achieve organizational goals they should be visionary and focused. Discipline should be instilled in leadership so that followers should imitate the same. This will help in moving followers in one direction and thus gaining trust. Finally, leaders should as well ensure that they have right people to achieve organizational goals. References Alan P., (2011). Human Resource Management: Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Adeniyi, M. A. (2007). Effective leadership management: An integration of styles, skills & character for today's CEOs. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse. Chambers, J. (2012). Leadership theories. Stroud: The History Press. Gabriel, R. A. (2006). Qualities of A great leader: Subotai the valiant. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Hartog, L. (2009). Management theory: Conqueror of the world. London: I.B. Tauris. Man, J. (2013). leadership and management. New York: St. Martin's Press. Mort, P. (2016). Leadership Theory and practice. Los Angeles, California: SAGE. Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Lococo, P. (2008). History of a Great leader. Washington, D.C: Potomac Books. Sims, R. R. (2007). Human resource management: Contemporary issues, challenges and opportunities. Greenwich, Conn: Information Age Pub Turnbull, S. R. (2014). The power of good leadership. New York: St. Martin's Press. Winkler, I. (2010). Contemporary leadership theories: Enhancing the understanding of the complexity, subjectivity and dynamic of leadership. Berlin: Springer. Read More