Understanding the Concept of Leadership - Term Paper Example

Understanding the Concept of Leadership, Teambuilding, and Communication of the of the Understanding the Concept of Leadership, Teambuilding, and Communication Part 1 Studies show that there is a direct effect of leadership styles on the business operations. This affect has given rise to numerous complementary theories. In order to become a successful performer, one should always take these theories and application of businesses into consideration. There are a number of theories that have come up during the previous years: 1) Trait Theories Trait leadership theory is possibly one of the oldest theories and is also known as Great Man theory. It suggests that a number of people have the same quality that they possess from their previous generations and behaviors that make them better fitting to leadership. Trait theories recognize the characteristics and behaviors of people across the globe. It states that leadership is an inborn quality and that leaders cannot be raised. This is a hypothetical picture of an ancient belief which explains that when a group of people were facing extreme problems, a hero appeared and led them towards success. Even in today’s world, some people believe that leadership is an inborn quality (Fairholm, m. R., & Fairholm, g. W., 2009). The leaders with the trait theory have characters such as: decisiveness, assertiveness, cooperative approach, ambitiousness, alertness, etc. In business, managers can use the information from the theory in order to assess their positions in the firm and to evaluate how they can strengthen their position. It helps them to have in depth knowledge about their own identity and the way they can affect others in their firm. This theory helps the manager to understand their weaknesses and strengths, thus, they come to know about how they can develop and enhance their leadership qualities (Lussier, N., & Achua, F., 2010). Situational and contingent Theories This theory suggests that not all the leaders who are successful have same characteristics. Theory states that the success of leadership depends on the correspondence between the style of a leader and the demands of a situation. This means that the effectiveness of leadership style is a function that is used in the given situation. (Judge, 2002)According to this model, a manager must know his style of leadership, diagnose the situation and then look for the coincidence between his style and the specific situation. 2) Situational Leadership Theory of Hersey and Blanchard: This theory suggests that levels of directive and supportive behavior of a leader should be based on the level of staff available. Managerial behavior occurs when a leader uses one-way communication to specify the duties of his followers. The supportive behavior occurs when the leader uses bi-directional communication to listen, encourage and engage their followers in decision-making. The provision of a subordinate capacity to set high but achievable goals in relation to their duties, whether as a willingness to accept responsibility for compliance 3) Behavioral Theories: Instead of searching for a person with inborn leadership qualities, this theory affirms that a person can be made a leader through teaching and practices. This concept is completely opposite of trait theory. This theory helps the firms to focus on the development of the leaders through continuous teaching. The most important is to identify the factors that could lead to success as well failure. The theory of behavior learned over the years, within certain limits imposed by the personality of the individual, each person has the ability to cultivate habits of behavior, maximizing its impact on staff. Constructive habits of politeness, self control, bilateral communication, delegation and interest vis-à-vis the problems of others can be learned and practiced, if we have the will. The most important contribution to the theory of behavior is, however, the development of a classification of behaviors of which provides leadership to an official analysis tool with which he can knowingly and intelligently develop a personal style of leadership that allows him to succeed. 4) Relationship Theories: Relationship theories are also called transformational theories which consider the factor of connection between the team members and their leader as the principle factor success. This theory states that a team can achieve success by working together with a clear vision. They should have the capability to properly communicate their passion into their work. It also includes the ability to effectively transmit the vision to the team members (Manning, G., & Curtis, k., 2003). Part 2 Stress has become the most crucial issue of the current economy. Stress has direct negative influence on the physical as well as mental health of the individuals therefore it should to mitigate in a timely manner in order to save the economy form this disastrous disease. It has become exceptionally crucial for the government to formulate strategies regarding the stress management in the economy of the United States Stress is directly related with the quality of the relationships between the people. It has been evidenced that disturbance in the relationships between the human always damages their mental as well s physical health in terms of stress. When people are not satisfied in their personal as well as professional relationships then they usually become over sensitive and they take a lot of tension that eventually causes the stress. The people who have disturbed relationships with their parents, friends or loves ones are always remains in stress. In the same way the people who have disturbance in the relationships of the families have high tendency of vulnerability towards stress. In addition to it, it has been evidence that the people who do not have appropriate healthy professional relations with their colleagues are less likely to be performing well. The reason behind this logic is that when the people have unhealthy conflicts with their working colleagues, they usually work under pressure with tension and eventually fail to perform well. This fact eventually gears up the stress in the work environment. Part 3 Large organizations, because of their complexity, generally require specific individuals who are identified as leaders, but in smaller groups, leadership is often distributed across the members rather than concentrated in a single individual. Researchers, in their leadership substitute’s theory, suggest that contextual factors can serve as substitutes for leadership by negating the need for guidance from a specific member of the group. Aspects of the group (e.g., members’ indifference to rewards), the task (e.g., the level of intrinsic reward), and the organization (e.g., the organizational culture) can make task-focused and relationship-focused leadership unnecessary and unlikely. Gradually, teams have become the basis of the 21st century workplace. The thinking behind this extensive use of teams is that they can create an environment in which synergy can be achieved and the final result is greater than that which would have been achieved by people on working alone. According the conflicting literature, efficient use of teams can provide overall effectiveness of the group and organization. Development of a team is consisting of various stages. Members of self-governing teams control and carry out all the groups leadership functions. The group not only carries out the work of the group, but members also manage the process, design interpersonal systems, and identify their mission and goals. Thus, as the team moves up in terms of its autonomy over its processes and outcomes, it takes on more and more responsibility for its own leadership and also distributes that responsibility throughout the entire group. Part4 Types of Conflict Role conflict Conflicts arise from the prescribed roles and responsibilities assigned to the workforce. Role ambiguity can be reason that results into role conflict. Resource conflict A source of conflict stemming from the scarcity of the resource for which the interest groups compete to attain their respective objectives. Interpersonal conflict This type of conflict is also known as dyadic conflict. It exists between the two individuals from the same or may be different hierarchical units or levels. This type of conflict can profoundly affect the performance of the organizations. Intergroup conflict Another name to this conflict is interdepartmental conflict that exists between the two groups or subgroups or two or more departments for instance conflict between marketing and production departments. Intra-group conflict This is also known by the name of intradepartmental conflict. It refers to the conflict among the members of the same group or between the subgroups within a group Part 5 Communication is one of the most important parts of our lives, and it is helpful in different professions and walks of life. Effective communication is considered as a key to success, which helps in many ways. There are different forms of communication which helps a person in communicating and transferring a message from one end to another using different modes and channels. Following are some key barriers of communication a. Physiological barriers - any difference involves organic type - body that can be both the receiver and the transmitter and therefore hinders the communication process. b. Philosophical barriers - are those that result from the different ways that the sender and receiver to understand and interpret the everyday situations faced in the course of his life for example: when the sender and receiver are not agree to or concerning right and wrong in any situation. c. Psychological Barriers - There are different psychological processes leads us to analyse or delete or distort events so do representations of our different ways of thinking which may or may not be a barrier. d. Cultural barriers - when there is present knowledge difference between the emitter and the receiver and this therefore prevents understanding of the messages. e. Semantic barriers - which refers to the different interpretation that gives both the sender and the receiver to the terms or concepts used in the communication process. References Fairholm, m. R., & Fairholm, g. W. (2009), Understanding leadership perspectives theoretical and practical approaches. New york, springer. Pp. 11-37 Lussier, N., & Achua, F., (2010), Leadership: theory, application, skill development. Australia, southwestern/cengage learning.pp. 1-527 Manning, G., & Curtis, k. (2003), The art of leadership. Boston, mass, mcgraw-hill/irwin.pp.1-368 Bottom of Form Read More