Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Leadership styles from the beginning
Leadership styles from the beginning
Leadership styles from the beginning
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Leadership styles from the beginning
Introduction
Organizations are social entities that are goal directed, are designed as deliberately structured and coordinate activity systems and are linked to the external environment. They are made up of people and their relationships to one another. This becomes really important throughout an organization’s life cycle. An organizational life cycle is the idea that orgs are born, they grow older, and then they die. Daft says things like organizational structure, leadership style, and administrative systems follow a predictable pattern throughout the stages of this life cycle. There are four phases of an organizational life cycle. They are the infancy phase, the adolescence phase, the middle aged phase, and the maturity phase. Each phase have their own unique characteristics in term off their goals, size, and structure. What is also unique to each phase is the type of leader it takes to successfully get through it. There are many different leadership styles and tactics and there is no one best way to be a leader in any of these phases. Often times, the type of leader needed is based on the situation. But there are general attributes to each phase that allows one to determine what type or types of leadership style would best suit the organization.
Question
What are the phases of the organizational life cycle and which leadership styles accurately fit each phase of the cycle?
Organizational Life Cycle Phases
Phase 1 – Infancy: The infancy phase of an organization is also known as the entrepreneurial stage. The primary goals of this stage are to get the organization started and then trying to take it to the next level. They also focus a lot on survival. At this point, the organization is small and nonbureaucratic. The structure is...
... middle of paper ...
...us learning. They need to e able to negotiate and collaborate and have great influence management skills. One would think that at this very bureaucratic stage that the leadership styles needed would be autocratic, bureaucratic, and task oriented. But that is not the case. If these leadership styles were practiced in this stage, it would cause the organization to be over-bureaucratized and slowed down, which could lead to an organizational decline and eventually the death of the org. The organization would not be able to make changes fast enough to keep up with the environment. So while the structure may still be very bureaucratic, the organization needs leaders that can balance those bureaucratic styles with the styles needed in the infancy stage. They need leaders that are still creative and are still visionaries in order for the organization to survive and thrive.
A leader gets the job done by inspiring employees to do his or her best. By combining the best of leadership behaviors and traits, a strong foundation for a healthy organizational culture is created. As shown in the case study of Perot Systems, leadership styles of the past are no longer effective with ever changing business demands. Businesses require different leadership styles in relationship to their situations to make themselves successful now and in the future.
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.
Yukl, G. (2002). Leadership in organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. p. 1-19. Retrieved from http://www.blackdiamond.dk/HDO/Organisation_Gary_Yukl_Leadership_in_Organizations.pdf
In today’s business environment, corporations must be able to adapt and develop strategies that allow them to remain as competitive as possible within the markets they serve. Leaders within those corporations must be able to fully understand the most effective leadership style required depending on the situation at hand. One style may be effective in one situation while another style may need to be used in another. In this day of environmental dynamism, organizations have had to refocus on organizational capabilities in order to attain a competitive advantage in such an environment. This refocus has led to a break in routines and involves a shift in organizational norms and required knowledge. James Clawson discusses the three levels of leadership in his book entitled “Level Three Leadership: Getting Below the Surface.” This article will discuss some issues that may arise within corporations and what leadership styles may be most effective for differing situations based on Clawson’s text.
To best meet the needs of business today the transformational and the team approach leadership styles seem to provide solid solutions. Leaders who are informed and make an effort to include followers in decision making are better equipped to lead a workforce that is equally informed and able to contribute on an equal basis. Transparency among management leads to a collective involvement amongst employees that can be invested in and improved upon from within. As individuals within an organization feel their input and expertise is requested, utilized, and implemented their passion and overall buy in to the organizations goals and mission is inevitably higher.
Managers have a position of authority vested in them by the company, and their subordinates who work for them. Managers have a transitional style that tell the subordinate what to do, and the subordinate do as their told because they have been promised a reward in their salary. Leaders have a charismatic style which means they are good with people. Decisions are made by the leader and announced to the followers, so this communication style is largely one-way. In order to command respect and obedience leaders must be prepared to lead. (Borkowski Stanisław) A strong leader motivates from complacency to competitiveness. The accomplishments of an organization can directly be related to the combined efforts of everyone involved. Appropriate directing leadership style has very large impact on the company and may affect the staff both positively and negatively, which also reflects in the final effectiveness of the entire organization (Jelačić & Stasiak-Betlejewska,
Revolving Leaders Regardless of the purpose, size, or longevity of an organization, managing changes in its leadership is often difficult. In the Navy, due to the regulatory changes in duty stations by its personnel, leadership change occurs more frequently than within the civilian sector. At the AEGIS Training and Readiness Center (ATRC), a naval training command, this duty station is presented with an even harder leadership frequency change. The schoolhouse is the most advanced naval training command within the United States Navy, and continuously develops sailors that maintain and fire advanced weapon systems. In order to ensure the command is successful, each division requires dedicated management by a military course supervisor.
The leadership style and organizational culture can lead to multiple different theories, I believe the leadership styles involving transformative
Organizations , and groups all depend on the people in the group to run efficiently. In every group there are leaders that others depend on to take charge, and get things done. These leaders show others how to act by following the rules that are enforced in that particular group. In any type of organization people have to be willing to adhere to the agreements, listen to their superior, and have the skill of persuasion.
Leadership is the glue that binds any business together, identifying and understanding your type of leadership style can ultimately aid you in becoming a better leader in your professional career. A successful business cannot function without leadership therefore this is a crucial aspect of internal employee development for businesses striving to stay relevant in a crowded marketplace. In addition to recognizing your leadership style every leader needs to look to them and identify what type of personality they have. By becoming an informed business leader you will gain trust and respect of your team to guide them into the future and maximizing potential growth. Throughout this paper I will identify my leadership style and also personality type and how it has affected my personal career growth. Identifying these conclusions is extremely important in crafting company culture.
To be a successful entrepreneur, there are steps that one must follow when starting a new enterprise. These steps are termed as the process of entrepreneurial which is the systematic method of preparation of an enterprise that consists of four steps. The four steps are fundamental to the success of an entrepreneur venture. The four entrepreneurial processes includes discovering, assessing and opportunity, developing a business plan, establishing resource needs, and managing the resulting enterprise (Barringer & Ireland, 2010). Each individual step is vital for the start of an entrepreneur venture and for an entrepreneur to achieve their entrepreneurial goals. This paper will discuss the four steps of the entrepreneurial process,
The distinction between the start-up and growth stages in not easily defined. The distinction lies in the revenues, profits are stronger and are consistent with an increase in customers, as well as, new and exciting opportunities for the employees to pursue. Managers can look forward to many managerial challenges, perspective policy issues and re-evaluating the business plan for revisions. A manager’s focus should be in the running of the business, with a greater emphasis on accounting and human resource management systems. New staff will have to be hired, trained and prepared for the influx of business.
Leaders are those who have a great influence on the lives of many people. This is especially relevant in today’s organizations, which face extreme time changes and an increasingly growing complexity (Yukl, 1998).
According to Wart (2013), this theory states that leaders can succeed in instituting changes in structure, procedure, ethos, technology, or production (557-558). From this, we can gather that some people are better at being leaders during a transitional part of a company. When a company is going through changes either through infrastructure, how they operate or adapting to technological changes, there has to be someone in charge in order to keep order and structure during these times. This might be a chaotic time period for the company and without a strong leader at the helm, it can go bad really quickly. An example of this could be when the internet was starting to take off in the United States. During this change in technology companies had to quickly adapt and change how they operated. No longer would they just be local or get the word of mouth about their products through the news or word of mouth. Now they had new venues to spread the word and sell their products. Several studies have been done over the past few years on leaders under this theory and the results show that they share some characteristics that are not often found under other theories. Some of these theories include according to Wart(2013), energy, determination, vision, and risk taking (558). This is interesting because our world is constantly changing and people need to adapt or risk being irrelevant. Also without having the energy or drive a company can falter and lose customers. It is why leaders should always strive and continue to try new things, reach new heights, and never being satisfied with their current
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.