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Importance of leadership
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My impression of leadership is the ability to motivate, inspire, set a visualization, connect, and lead by example. To become a successful leader you have to be able to convince your followers that you are trustworthy of being followed. During this semester, we have learned many, if not all of the major leadership theories and how they play a role in our everyday lives. But personally, a few of these leadership models caught me and intrigued me the whole semester so much that this paper is going to predominately be referenced about them. For example, the proposed framework that organizes leadership theories based on each theory 's focus and approach. Focus is referred to as whether or not leadership is viewed as a set of traits or actions. …show more content…
Directive leadership is characterized as leaders taking the decision into their own hands and expecting the followers to just follow the instructions. We all have been in one of those groups where someone wants to become Adolf and control everything, am I right? Last but not least, Participative Leadership, which is my favorite, in which the leader involves the group in a goal setting to give input and share feedback with one another. This next theory completely opened my eyes. The dependencies for effective leadership is defined as situations where a mix of factors the control and influence productivity. The contingency theory used LPC to measure a leader’s motivation, and task motivation vs relationship motivation. People who are relationship motivated have an inclination to describe their least favored associates in a more optimistic, pleasant and efficient, and they also received higher LPC scores. Task motivated people have a tendency to rate their least favored associates in a more negative manner. Thus, they receive lower LPC scores. Therefore, the LPC scale is actually not about the least desired coworker. In fact, it is actually about the person who takes the test, and this person 's motivation type. This got me thinking - what kind of LPC am I? Apparently my leader member relationship is good, my task structure was unstructured, and my leader position power is strong. Also , my LPC was Low. I don’t think of myself as the all-out leader, but I have some great followership in my opinion. I feel that leaders can lead more effectively when there is a match between your motivation type and the situation. These matches exist between a task and relationship motivated leader. When a leader and the situation does not match, many things have to be altered. Since
Hoy, W. K., & Tarter, C. J. (2010). A Theory of Leadership: A Situational Approach. Retrieved January 28, 2014, from http://www.waynekhoy.com/pdfs/theory_of_leadership.pdf
You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink is a proverb I have heard since I was young. Leadership is the skill of influencing people to accomplish goals (Huber, 2014). In today’s world with policy and technological changes the leaders must use their leadership skills to not only get the horse to the water, have him drink, but also do it with a smile an invite others to join him. Leaders use a variety of styles to accomplish their goals. I will discuss the leadership style that I utilize most often, how my style relates to leadership theories and the work type environment it is most useful in.
1. Leadership is not only a talent. It is also a science that it can be taught, 2. Mobilizing others is the key world of leadership theory. Inspiration is the basic tool that a leader can use, 3. Leadership is not dictatorship. It is a common effort that aims to a common goal, 4. ethics is a significant issue in leadership theory, 5. leadership is interesting to the feelings of the employees who work in a project. People are not numbers but personalities with particular characteristics and wishes, 6. a leader does not need types to be respected by the employees. He gains them with his personality and they follow him because they agree with his recommendations and they trust him.
A leadership theory is a clarification of some features of leadership; theories have practical importance as they are being used for better understanding, anticipating, and controlling successful leadership. Hence, the main principle of any theory is to inform practice(Lussier and Achua 2009). Leadership theories could be classified into eight main categories: Great man, trait, behavioral, contingency, Situational, Participative, Relationship , management (Cherry 2010).
The leadership is a result of a combination of traits, with special emphasis on the personal qualities of the leader, which he should possess certain personality traits that would be special facilitators in leadership performance. This theory shows that leaders are born as such, there is no likelihood of 'making' them later with personal development techniques.
For example, under this theory the leader would employ High Directive/High Support leadership behaviors to the Disillusioned Learner. Ideally, the leader helps the followers as they progress through the stages to achieve the Self-Reliant Achiever/Delegating level. While I do not necessarily fully subscribe to the theory, it does seem to have merit and I do believe that it is important for an effective leader to have the capability and flexibility to adapt his or her style to the needs of the followers in order to encourage everyone’s success. I also believe that an effective leader plays a significant role in promoting and molding individuals’ readiness as it relates to motivation and commitment. As such, I developed my leadership assessment with these points in mind. The assessment focuses on 14 attributes that I believe are important not only for a leader to be successful within the parameters of the SLT, but...
Path-goal theory deals with the leader's style to motivate followers, to accomplish set goals (Northouse, 2010). The path-goal theory is simply the implication that a leader works with an individual to establish a goal. The leader does this by individual motivation to achieve the proposed goal, while working through obstacles that may hinder achieving that goal (Whitener, 2007). The basic assumption of path-goal theory is that the following motivates subordinates: the capability to perform the work, their efforts will result in a certain outcome, and the payoff will be worthwhile (Whitener, 2007). The path-goal theory is a pragmatic approach that the leader uses to motivate the followers to achieve the set goals.
He will be there for you when you have problems with your family and spouse, because he wants employees to be focused when they are working and not thinking about family problems.
The other theories referenced are: Trait theory, Psychodynamic theory, Skills theory, Style theory, Situational leadership-oriented theory, Contingency theory, Path-goal theory, Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory, and Authentic leadership
Leadership Theories and Studies. (2009). In Encyclopedia of Management. Retrieved July 20, 2011 from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3273100155.html
The primary leadership theory I believe in comes from John Maxwell and speaks to the dual nature of leadership: leaders are both born and made. I believe that some individuals are born with innate leadership qualities and that those characteristics, though infantile, if cultivated, evolve through lifelong experiences, training and development. Maxwell asserts that born leaders require cultivation: “Leadership is developed, not discovered. The truly “born leader” will always emerge; but to stay on top, natural leadership characteristics must be developed”(Maxwell, 1993 p. viii). Maxwell indicates that individuals who want to become leaders fit into one of four categories: the leading leader, the learned leader, the latent leader or the limited leader.
...adership Practices in Relation to Productivity and Morale." In D. Cartwright and A. Zander, Group Dynamics: Research and Theory, 2nd ed. (Elmsford, NY: Row, Paterson, 1960)
Leadership Strengths In accordance with the participative leadership theory, I have three main strengths I employ in my leadership practices. My first strength is my ability to develop a strong and better working relationships with my employees by getting to know them all by names, and also knowing them not just professionally but on a one on one basis by showing personal interest in their future developments and goals. To be able to achieve this, I developed the habit of listening to the employees, therefore, assists in fostering good communication and trust between my employees and myself.
What is a leader? When thinking of this question I feel like you have to really know what it means to be a leader. Becoming the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position. –Brian Tracy. No one is born a leader, leaderships skills come from life experiences, education and employment. Everyone grows into a leader and then afterwards grow into a leadership style that will eventually begin to shape and inspire other leaders. Having a title or high above power does not make you a leader. Inspiring and providing great communication, confidence, advice, laughs, knowledge, honesty and reality. Those great skills help you become a great leader. Even with these great leadership skills, there are
Determining "situational favorableness" is the next part of his model, which is the situation the leader is in and the degree that the leader can influence his followers. The situational favorableness is dependent upon three factors - leader-member relations, task structure, and the leader's position of power. After identifying the leadership style and situational favorableness, one can determine the most effective leadership style. With this model, in very favorable and unfavorable situations, people with low LPC are most effective. In situations of intermediate favorableness, high LPC leaders are most effective (Rice & Kastenbaum, 1983).