There are many great aspects of becoming a leader. Satisfactions of leaders include a chance to help others, opportunities for advancement, and high income. At my work, leaders often advance into director roles. From there, they can work in different functions at a high level. Leadership roles are often filled from within and allow for people to advance their careers. Leaders also get the advantage of higher incomes and often higher bonuses based on the team’s performance. Satisfactions of leaders is a motivating factor for me to want to gain a leadership role.
What people want in a leader revolves around three primary traits and skills: integrity, job knowledge, and people-building skills. “When people are asked to define integrity,
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He took a new role to manage sales professionals to help them build better relationships and help their customers grow their businesses. This is done through mentoring and motivating the sales staff. People-building is important to allow employees to acquire necessary skills to advance.
Contingency theory is most appealing to me as my leadership style. This theory recognizes that the style of leadership is not one-size-fits-all; it's adaptable to each situation. In my current role I do not have direct reports, but instead I oversee two zones which are determined geographically. I am a trainer to both sales professionals and store operations personnel which generally have drastically different skills and values, and require different training and development approaches. The contingency style of leadership allows for maximum effectiveness when matched with the right followers in each situation.
Leadership Behavior Theory is comprised of three styles of leadership: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. The three styles vary in levels of control the leader has over the group. Autocratic leaders have the most control and leave most decision making up to the leader. The democratic style focuses more on group decisions. Finally, laissez-faire leaders maintain low
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I’ve not had a democratic work environment, but I have been on committees where we ruled by democracy. This allowed each member to have a voice in what direction we would work on a charity campaign. There was still a leader driving the overall strategy. Leadership Behavior Theory is important to illustrate the different levels of control a leader may have.
Negative Leadership is toxic to the workplace environment and morale. These destructive leaders are often incompetent and cruel. Leaders that choose to be closed-minded and unkind cause issues among workers. “Destructive leaders have a toxic effect on their workers and their organizations” (Manning & Curtis, 2015, p.39).
I’ve seen people take promotions and become negative leaders. This may be caused due to inexperience and lack of the necessary skills to manage employees. Leaders must be willing to lead the team and work on their interpersonal skills to find success in their role to avoid becoming a destructive leader. I chose this as an important topic as it become quite common in an office environment.
Styles of leadership: directive, participative, and free-reign play a crucial role in how leaders and followers work together. “An individual usually prefers the same style of leading and style of following” (Manning & Curtis, 2015,
Contingency leadership theories attempt to define leadership style, the situation, and answer the if-then contingencies. Situational leadership theory is a contingency theory that focuses on followers’ readiness: the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task. Path-goal theory states that it is the leader’s job to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide direction or support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the organization or group goals. Each theory was developed as a separate model for leaders to determine which leadership style to use in different contexts or situations. However, both models can be related to each other and may be even more effective when used together. Effective leaders will recognize that they must adjust their styles and behaviors according to their followers and the environment. By accurately assessing their team’s stage while minimizing redundancies in the environmental structure leaders can improve their team’s performance and satisfaction.
In the contingency theory of leadership, the success of the leader is a function of various contingencies in the form of subordinates, task, and group variables. Fred Fielder advanced the first theory using the contingency theory of effectiveness. The main idea of the theory is that leadership effectiveness in terms of group performance depends on the proper match between the leader’s style effectiveness and the degree to which the situation gives the leader control. Fiedler created the least preferred co-worker (LPC) questionnaire to identify the style by measuring whether a person is task or relationship oriented. Where an individual with a favorable description, would have a high LPC score, suggesting a r...
Situational leadership is a theory which was designed in 1969 by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. The “contingency theories of leadership” states that a leader’s effectiveness is dependent on their behaviours in relation to different situational factors. Thus, situational leadership theory, relates to how a leader 's effectiveness is depend on their ability to adjust their leadership behaviour to the required level of the “followers” capability or if the situation is modified.
The situational leadership theory states that leaders use different styles and strategies depending on the situation. There are two models that support this theory. The Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness states that an “effective leadership occurs only when there is an ideal match between the leader’s style and the group’s work situation” (pg
In this theory leadership style changes as needed to ensure that the goal is achieved (Huber, 2014). Each situation may need to be addressed differently, which requires flexibility by all involved, especially leadership. Managers need to evaluate every individual to understand what they are capable of and how they fit the needs of the institution and or situation (Nash, 2015). As a nurse I think this is a very important trait for a leader to have because of how quickly things change and how we must work within our environment. For example, in healthcare we sometimes have to allow others to take control of a situation on to ensure the best possible outcome for each patient. In addition, the manager needs to ensure that each person works within the scope of their practice, functions at the highest level allowed and completes their tasks. To be a successful leader in healthcare and achieve desired outcomes requires a high level of flexibility by leadership. I would also say that the contingency theory would also fit into my leadership style. The basis premise of this theory is that each situation is different and leadership needs to take that into account when managing a situation (Huber, 2014). At times a leader needs to look at the bigger picture and incorporate that in their decision making process. When looking at a specific situation taking input from all parties involved can lead to a more effective solution. We can learn a lot form those around us and need to take that in account to be an effective
Edwin T. Cornelius III defined leadership style as the broad, characteristic way in which a leader interacts with others across in various situations and occasions. (Cornelius, 2006) However, many researchers would agree that leadership style is merely traits and they can change within an organization or between different situations. Annick M. Brennen in an article stated: A study of leadership styles therefore deals mainly with the manner in which the leader carries out his/her leadership functions or roles–the use of authority and power and the approach to the decision-maki...
Originally presented in the 1964 article “A contingency model of leadership effectiveness”, Fred Fiedler’s Contingency Theory states that there is no one best managerial style effective for all situations. Rather, effective leadership is attained when leader style and situational forces or aligned. (Fiedler, 1964)
Leadership styles reflect a manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. Traditionally, effective leadership styles were thought of a one size fits all, leaders picked one approach and used it all situations. In today’s world, successful leaders recognize the style of leadership is relative to given situation, based on analyzing the employees and the organization. Leadership styles are most effective when the actions of a leader reflect what is best for individuals and the organization, simultaneously. Leadership styles ultimately affect human behavior, and according to James G. Clawson, change occurs at three levels: Level one leadership is focused on visible behavior patterns.
Leaders are the individuals who help to create options and opportunities. They help in identifying the choices and solve the problems. They build commitment and coalitions. Leaders do this by inspiring others and working along with them to construct the shared vision of the possibilities and commitments of a better group, organization or community. They engage the followers in such a way that most of the followers become leaders in their own right. The variety of demands of an increasingly complex world very often require that leadership be shared by most of the members of an organization, in appropriate ways for different situations. A leader is the on...
“In this theory of leadership, the achievement of the leader is a function of various exigencies in the form of task, subordinates and/or group variables. Effectiveness of a certain pattern of a leader’s behavior is dependent upon the burdens imposed by situation. These concepts stress using diverse styles of leadership suitable to the needs shaped by various organizational circumstances. Some of the theories are as follows:”
One of the leadership theories that reflect my leadership style is the Style Theory. The Style Theory is referred to as a group and exchanged theories of leadership (Yoder-Wise, 2015). The theory was developed in the mid nineteen-fifty because there was only one other theory called the Trait Theory which had limitations. The style theory varies significantly from trait or situational contingency theories. The style theory focuses on what leaders do.
Perhaps the most important qualities of a leader are passion and motivation. Especially when leading a group for a particular cause, a leader must be personally attached to that cause. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., for example, is a legendary leader because he fought for a cause that directly affected him. had he not been pushing for a personal reason, his actions would not have been as passionate. This would have caused a lack in motivation, another essential leadership quality. A leader faces many roadblocks and opposition and thus, must be motivated to continue fighting and leading. A leader’s attitude and opinions are valued by the group and therefore, if a leader is motivated, the group will be, too. The continued actions and successes, no matter how small, which move the group closer to its goal also help its motivation and drive.
Democratic leaders listen and act on the opinions of the group. This type of management is good as it makes the employees happy and productivity is high. This is very good because employee's thoughts and suggestions are listened to by the business. This makes the employees seem as if they are respected and that their thoughts are valid.
In this paper I will look at the four major leadership styles, their characteristics, advantages, disadvantages, and in what situations a particular leadership style is desired. Additionally, I will look at my leadership style and how I acquired this style throughout my career.
We can divide the theories that deal with leadership in 3 chronological groups. First were the trait theories. Until the 1940's, research in the field of leadership was dominated by these theories. Second came the behavioral theories which were very influent until the late 1960's. Finally, contingency theories are the most modern theories about leadership.