Leadership Styles and Circumstances - Essay Example

Leadership Styles and Circumstances Name of University Submitted by Names: Tutor: Date Leadership Styles and Circumstances According to Myers (2013), leadership refers to the process of one setting up directions for the members of the group that follows him. It differs from management essentially because leadership must be there first, for management to start thriving. Kruse (2013) adds that leadership has nothing to do with superiority of titles and personal attributes. Therefore, in this capacity he defines it as a social influence process that is meant to maximize the efforts of one’s followers to achieve the desired goal. He emphasizes that a leader should not just influence people for engagement but to “maximize their efforts” to reach certain goals. Experience teaches that although leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King and Steve Jobs used different leadership styles, could equally influence people and maximize their efforts to attain their goals. Fortunately, behavioral psychologists and business people have inferred and exemplified different kinds of leadership depending on situations. One will therefore become a very effective leader depending on the business context. The context encompasses beliefs, attitudes, preferences, circumstances and values that the people in the organization have (Mind Tools, 2013). This paper will therefore look at how various organizations and leaders have thrived well by adopting a different leadership style as compared to others. Dems (2011), notes that there are at least seven approaches/ styles of leadership. The first approach is the charismatic kind of leadership. In this, the leader will use the charm of his speeches to win admiration from his followers. He first realizes the needs of his people and embarks on creating a friendly and comfortable atmosphere where there is listening to the people and making them feel as if they have a voice in making decisions. It is best where people need hope to attain a certain goal. Famous people that have used this approach include Bill Clinton, Winston Churchill, Adolph Hitler and Mother Teresa. However as analysts note, the charismatic leader will tend to focus more on himself. He may therefore create an atmosphere whereby the followers only believe in him to perform. His presence is very much important for long-term commitment of his followers. Another kind of leadership approach is the autocratic style / approach. In this case, leaders posses a lot of powers over their subjects. Therefore, his team members and staff will have little opportunity when it comes to decision making for the organization or the team’s interest. This kind of style is best where the decision-making is urgent to make the works that depend on it very efficient. This arises during crisis, like in the event of wars. The downside of it is that most people will hate being treated like objects. It will obviously result in high level of job turnovers and absenteeism. This style however can be relevant when dealing with lower level people with unskilled jobs where advantages will outweigh disadvantages (Robischon 2009). Example of leaders with autocratic leadership includes Howell Raines of the New York Times and Albert Dunlap of the Sunbeam Corporation. Most traditional factories in Europe thrived under this kind of leadership (Nayab 2011). For democratic management style, also known as participative leadership has the leader making decision by the voice of majority. This kind of leadership style will tend to encourage creativity as each member has an equal opportunity to perform. Once they realize this, they will participate in projects and other decision-making activities to come up with optimal solution for the enterprise. His staff especially the team members will tend to be satisfied with their jobs as every decision is based on majority, since members are in control of their destiny. This motivation will go beyond their financial rewards. However, management experts fault it for being the cause of slow decision-making processes that need urgent solution. For instance during crisis, it will force the leader to waste time gathering inputs of every member. Additionally, it may be irrelevant where some members lack enough expertise to make certain decisions. It is therefore only suitable in an environment where the decision needed should be of quality but not efficient. A famous exemplar of a participative leader is Donald Trump. An organization of democratic leadership is DaVita Company whereby employees vote on every decision that is made. Furthermore, one can also note how the company is decentralized and each division has its own guidelines developed at its local administration. On Laissez-faire, meaning “let it be!”, gives every member in the organization an opportunity to do what he wants at his own deadline. Although the resources and support team are provided, hardly will they get involved. This kind of leadership is advantageous when the employees are skilled, experienced and self-starters. For this kind of people, giving them autonomy can lead to increased productivity due to motivation in their work. The downside of it will be when members do not have motivation, skills, or knowledge to perform their tasks. Nordmeyer reports that Warren Buffet would not like to put his employees under a microscope, and therefore as for him, Laissez-faire is the best style (2013). Another kind of leadership is servant leadership. This term was coined by Robert Greenfield to describe the kind of a leader who is not formally recognized but is there to lead by example. He is known to be of highest level of integrity, and generosity in the organization. One should note that the person derives his power in democratic processes, as the whole team is involved in making decisions. However, he prefers leading from behind whereby he would stay out of limelight and let the team nominate him due to his hard work. Supporters of this kind of leadership have argued that it should be applicable in a world whereby people prefer ideals, ethic and values in practice than dry commands. Nevertheless, it will not be good where decisions have to be made in strict deadlines. An example of servant leader companies are the 7- Eleven Company in Dallas, Texas and the AFLAC in Columbus Georgia (Mind Tools 2013). The other approach of leadership is the transactional leadership. In this kind of leadership, the job contract will include a provision that states that members will have to obey the leader once they accept the job. There are also work standards set whereby the employees will have to accept them as they signs the contract. Moreover, every individual’s role and responsibilities will be clarified. However, there are motivations and benefits too for those who perform well. Situations of strictness may result, as team members will do little to improve their situations and therefore it may again lead to high labor turnover. People criticize it as a truly type of management and not a leadership style in itself. Most organizations employ this kind of leadership especially when employing people (Mind Tools 2013). Last but interesting is transformational leadership. The leader majorly leads by motivation he derives from his followers. He appeals to their morals and ideals and motivate them to accomplish the task they want. He will empower their beliefs using his own personal strength (Hein 2013). Examples of transformational leaders are Walt Disney and Martin Luther King. Others include Michael Dell of Dell Computers, Steve Jobs of Apple and Bill Gates of Microsoft International (Friedman and Langbert 2000). From the discussion, one can note that there is no superior style of leadership to others. To be effective manager, it will demand that he or she understands his/her situation before deciding on the relevant approach to go. This will involve analyzing contextual facts that characterize the subjects. List of References Ben, 2013, Servant Leadership Companies List, Modern Servant Leader, viewed 8 October 2013, http://modernservantleader.com/featured/servant-leadership-companies-list/ Dems, K 2011, Famous examples of Different Leadership Styles, Bright Hub, viewed 8 October 2013, http://www.brighthub.com/office/home/articles/76450.aspx Friedman, H H and Langbert, M 2000, Abraham as a Transformational Leader, Journal of Leadership Studies, 7(2), 88-95. Hein, R 2013, How to Apply Transformational Leadership at Your Company, CIO, viewed 8 October 2013 http://www.cio.com/article/735121/How_to_Apply_Transformational_Leadership_at_Your_Company Kruse, K 2013, What is Leadership? Forbes, viewed 8 October 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/2/ MindTools, 2013, Leadership Styles: Choosing the Right Style for the Situation, viewed 8 October 2013, http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_84.htm Myers, S 2013, Leadership and management: What is the Difference?, Team Technology, viewed 8 October 2013, http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/leadership/management/overview/ Nayab, N 2011, Examples of Companies with Autocratic Leadership, Bright Hub PM, viewed 8 October 2013, http://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/77233-examples-of-companies-with-autocratic-leadership/ Nordmeyer, B 2013, Who uses Laissez-Faire Leadership?,azcentral, viewed 8 October 2013 from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/uses-laissezfaire-leadership-12436.html Robischon, N 2009, WorldBlu's List of Democratic Workplaces Will Make You Want to Work Someplace Else, Fast Company, viewed 8 October 2013, http://www.fastcompany.com/1268479/worldblus-list-democratic-workplaces-will-make-you-want-work-someplace-else Read More