Leadership Theories Essays

Leadership Theories Essays Leadership Theories Essay Leadership Theories Essay Introduction Numerous studies have been conducted on leadership styles and theories, leading to an abundance of information on the topic. This paper will identify leadership styles and theories that the author has experienced in the maintenance field. Given the leadership styles identified, the author has identified one leadership theory that has influenced their leadership style for an ongoing project that they are currently working on. The study of leadership has identified many different styles exhibited by leaders. Leaders may be of predominantly a single style or may demonstrate the use of different styles depending on the environment that they find themselves in. Goleman (2000) has identified six styles which have been summarised below, however the descriptions of each style may be known by other titles according to different authors. Coercive – ‘Do as I tell you’. Demands that people follow the instructions given to them and leaves no room for their input or initiative. Rules from the top down. Can make people feel devalued and so resentful that they feel no compulsion to help the leader or business. It can however be used in times of crisis, during a turnaround and to deal with problematic employees, however it should ceased to be used when then issue is dealt with. Authoritative – ‘Come with me’. Authoritative leaders build a vision and inspire people to achieve the vision. Establishes a clear vision and encourages everyone to achieve the vision with true enthusiasm. They motivate people by demonstrating to them how their work fits into the larger vision of the organisation, and generally offers people the freedom to develop their own methods to achieve the stated vision. Affiliative – ‘People come first’. The Affiliative leader has a caring, nurturing approach building strong emotional bonds with people to develop fierce loyalty among people. They provide the freedom for people to choose the most effective way to do their work. Affiliative leaders offer positive feedback to personnel providing a sense of recognition and reward for work well done which in turn generates motivation and a sense of belonging among personnel. Democratic – ‘What do you think? ’. By listening to other people’s ideas and getting their buy-in, the democratic leader seeks consensus among personnel in how the work is to be done to achieve their goals and in setting the goals. This leadership method can create high morale and flexibility within a workforce due to personnel having a say in what is happening. Leaders can use this method to put off decision making or gain input from personnel to make decisions, however there is a risk that if a consensus cannot be reached on issues, many meetings may soon start to occur where decisions are not made, and more meetings are required. It is also a style not recommended when personnel are not competent or well enough informed to be able to make sound decisions. Pacesetting – ‘Do as I do, now’. The pace setting leader sets extremely high performance standards and then exemplifies them himself, expecting the others around him to do the same. If used inappropriately, it will negatively affect the work climate by the pacesetter overwhelming employees with their demands for excellence by making them feel as though they cannot be trusted to do their work. Initiative, flexibility and responsibility among personnel will also diminish. This approach however may work well with a group of like minded, competent personnel who have a set goal or project to complete. Coaching – ‘Try this’. By helping personnel to identify their strengths and weaknesses, the coaching leader helps to determine long term development goals and formulate an action plan to attain those goals. Coaching leaders are prepared to assign challenging tasks to personnel and accept the risk of short term failure if it furthers long term learning. Paradoxically, coaching primarily focuses on personal development rather than the immediate work related tasks, however coaching reinforces many factors that drive work climate – constant dialogue, constant and constructive feedback, clear expectations, responsibility, flexibility and commitment all of which have a positive effect on business performance. Although Goleman (2000, p. 87) identifies 6 individual leadership styles, he also goes on to state: Leaders who have mastered four or more – especially the authoritative, democratic, affiliative, and coaching styles – have the very best climate and performance. And the most effective leaders switch flexibility among the leadership styles as needed. Other leadership styles and theories include: Charismatic – According to Fatt (2000), â€Å"the charismatic leader is a visionary, specifically, having a vision of extraordinary goals and the ability to motivate those around him or her to achieve that vision†. The charismatic leader is able to express the vision, both in terms of communicating the vision and through their personal behaviour to realise the vision, explain the vision to others capturing both benefits to the business and the individual, extend the vision throughout the organisation and expand the vision in different ways and circumstances addressing whatever is required to achieve the vision. Charisma is often conferred by followers onto the leader, creating loyalty to the leader. The climate created by the leader is liable to change when the charismatic leader is removed or the situation changes and the need for a charismatic leader is no longer there. Situational Leadership Theory (SLT) – SLT suggests that leaders demonstrate a combination of both task and relationship orientated behaviours in various ratios when dealing with their subordinates depending on the maturity (ability and willingness) of the subordinate to able to complete the task. Blank et al (1990) suggest â€Å"subordinate â€Å"maturity† as the key situational characteristic that is said to moderate the relationship between leader behaviour (task and relationship) and leader effectiveness (Hersey Blanchard, 1969, 1982)†. It can be said then that as a workers maturity grows, their relationship with their leader will also change in terms of the leader demonstrating more relationship based behaviour and less task orientated behaviours. Path Goal Theory (PGT) – â€Å"The theory states that the main goal of the leader is to help subordinates attain the subordinates’ goals effectively, and to provide them with the necessary direction and support to achieve their own goals as well as those of the company. † Silverthorne (2001). In trying to achieve this, the leader needs to be adept in adopting directive, supportive, participative and achievement-orientated behaviours where necessary in order to assist the worker in achieving their goals. The leadership behaviour required will be decided by the nature of the task and the needs of the workers who have been set the task. Transactional – Transactional leadership involves the setting of tasks or goals and the provision of recognition or rewards for achieving the desired results. Bass et al. (2003), further this by stating â€Å"Exhibiting transactional leadership meant that followers agreed with, accepted, or complied with the leader in exchange for praise, rewards and resources or the avoidance of disciplinary action†. This includes a behaviour known as active management by exception whereas the leader specifies the standards for compliance, what will be deemed as non-conformance, and often details consequences of non-conformance. Transformational – â€Å"Transformational leadership refers to a leadership style in which leaders possess charisma and provide intellectual stimulation, individualised consideration and inspirational motivation to followers† Beugre et al. (2006). By clearly defining the organisations goals and objectives to workers, the transformational leader then inspires and motivates workers to achieve, beyond the task – reward behaviours exhibited by transactional leaders, the goals and objectives of the organisation. Transformational leadership is an effective style when an organisation needs to encompass change as transformational leaders identify new ways of working, seek opportunities and effective resolutions to problems rather than efficient solutions. Leadership styles can be many and varied or a leader can sometimes exhibit a dominant style. Generally throughout the research the author has conducted, the more styles a leader is competent in, the more likely they are to achieve the results they are after. The leadership style adopted by a leader in a given situation can have a large affect on the work climate and consequently, aid or inhibit them from achieving their objectives and goals. References Bass, B, Avolio, B, Jung, D, Berson, Y 2003, ‘Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership’, Journal of Applied Psycology, vol. 88, no. 2, pp. 207-218 Beugre, C, Acar, W, Braun, W 2006, ‘Transformational leadership in organisations: an environment-induced model’, International Journal of Manpower, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 52-62 Blank, W, Weitzel, J, Green, S 1990, ‘A test of situational leadership theory’, Personnel Psychology, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 579-597 Fatt, J 2000, ‘Charismatic leadership’, Equal Opportunities International, vol. 9, no. 8, pp. 24-28 Goleman, D 2000, ‘Leadership that gets results’, Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp. 78-90 Sagie, A, Koslowsky, M 1994, ‘Organisational attitudes and behaviours as a function of participation in strategic and tactical change decisions: an application of path-goal theory’, Journal of Organisational Behaviour, vol. 15 , no. 1, pp. 37-47 Silverthorne, C 2001, ‘A test of the path-goal leadership theory in Taiwan’, Leadership Organisational Development Journal, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 151-158