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An essay on Christian leadership
Limitations of the trait theory of leadership approach
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Introduction to the topic
This week’s exploration of Chapter Four resulted in valuable lessons learned on the functions of leadership. With much focus on management, it is effective leadership that can be considered the fuel to organization success in that employee’s morale and confidence are often a result of the quality of workplace leadership. Chapter Four explains in detail several concepts of leadership to include leadership styles, trait and behavior theories, value-based leadership, and the Christian Perspective to Leadership.
Group Consensus: Three Concepts
This week members of Group 4 individually elaborated on concepts that were believed to be most important among functions of leadership. As a group, the consensus is that the most important concepts are transformational leadership, servant-leadership, and autocratic leadership.
Transformational Leadership. The group agrees that being a transformation leader has great benefits in the workplace. A transformational leader inspires followers to higher levels of motivation which can transpire into higher levels of performance (Satterlee, 2009). Transformational leaders serve as the right hand for increasing subordinate performance level and job satisfaction while increasing their commitment to the organization (Khan, Khan, & Shahzad, 2013). The transformational leader values integrity, fairness, and trust which facilitate organizational commitment (Khan, Khan, & Shahzad, 2013). According to J.M. Burns (Drenkard, 2013), a real transformation can only happen when there is a relationship between the leader and the followers. The leader does not have all the power and authority. He or she creates an environment that brings the leader and followers together. An effective lead...
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...are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1, KJV). Scripture also states, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).
Strategies. Autocratic leadership was the least favorable option for an organization to implement. This style can cause employees to be passive aggressive and lose motivation. The group did confide in the notion that autocratic leadership would be appropriate in certain factory settings or places that have a significant amount of routine standard work. This leadership style has the reputation for getting task done on time in a coordinated fashion and anticipating problems in advance. We believe the best measure of implementing an autocratic leadership would be to place the leader in a area where a centralized chain of command is paramount and job roles and task are relatively routine.
Transformational leaders exhibit personal and professional qualities that other want to emulate and follow. These leaders advance the mission in combative environments. Transformational leaders propel the growth of the team through communication. Finally, transformational leaders leave a legacy that instills pride, moral, and determination for future success.
Transformational leadership theory conceptualized in the late 1970’s, proposed that leaders could motivate followers through shared vision and mutual interest to uplift the entire organization to a higher morality (Burns, 1978). Morality was defined as leaders and followers working together to fulfill organizational goals and achieve higher performances within a context of change and innovation. Leaders would surpass their own self-interest, in order to, foresee, foster, and indoctrinate a new organizational vision to their followers. Bass operationalized Burns’ seminal work into a leadership model to better indentify transformational leadership characteristics. The model emphasized four dimensions such as idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration in order to achieve success.
Bass (1990) states that transformational leadership is identified by different patterns of behavior. Firstly , transformational leadership delivers the charisma to be a leader in order to gain respect and trust. Secondly, the characteristics of a leader show efforts to change a purpose of the transformation process and to effectively communicate. Finally, transformational leadership proposes that leaders treat employees individually to show them attention and provide them coaching and advice to show that you care about your employees. However, Wang and Howell (2010) claim that transformational leadership is in every individual.This means an individual can develop their potential to enhance their abilities and skills to improve and overcome any weaknesses. In relation to group work transformational leadership helps to grow common values and beliefs, and to inspire group members to reach their group goals. In this type of situation, leaders treat equally towards members and to make them feel comfortable. However, on occasions problems occur during team work which puts a leader into a situation to overcome the condition. For example, if one of my team members has no belief in me to lead the group, my attitude towards the group and the member will change as they have shown a lack of confidence and interest in teamwork. According to Novicevic, Harvey, Buckley, Brown & Evans (2006) explains that authentic leadership is when a leader shows their individual responsibility in what they were responsible for in their organization. Novicevic, Harvey, Buckley, Brown & Evans (2006) discusses a particular style of leadership which is the matrix of executive leadership. This style of leadership occurs when a leader has lost confidence in them self. The
In Leadership Theory, Application & Skill Development, transformational leadership is defined as “seeking to change the status quo by articulating to followers the problems in the current system and presenting a compelling vision of what a new organization could be” (Lussier & Achua, 2013, p.331). This theory, in combination with the exercise regimen, CrossFit, is the focus of the book Transformational Leadership and High-Intensity Interval Training by Carol R. Himelhoch, PhD. Himelhoch illustrates a correlation between a leader’s ability to tap into the transformational leadership style and their consistent participation in intense workout sessions. A transformational leadership style benefits from High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) via challenging the participant, which imparts a sense of achievement when they complete a demanding Workout of the Day (WOD). HIIT encourages the individual to push themselves and take risks, not only during the workout, but also in their leadership roles at work.
Transformational leadership can be defined as causing a change in individual and social system. Besides, transformational leaders usually connect follower’s aspirational with the organizational goal and persuade the followers to achieve the organizational goals to satisfy themselves (Tauber, 2012).
There are many leadership theories that play an important role in the every day workforce. Some of the theories are successful in producing a strong and productive leader, while others lack the qualities required for the job. Out of the multitude of available theories out there, I feel that the Transformational Leadership Theory is the one that stands out as being the most successful. This theory is far from coercive and instead focuses on making a satisfied team that collaborates to form a productive work environment. An environment like this, ran by a top-notch leader, is needed for success.
Tom Rath explains in his book, StrenghtsFinder 2.0 (2007), that identifying and capitalizing on one’s strengths makes for a more fulfilled and effective employee, further benefitting the employing organization. Rath states that when in a position not utilizing our strengths, we are six times more likely to be disengaged in our work. Studies show that this disengagement or dissatisfaction carries over into our personal lives affecting our health and personal relationships.
In the ideal form, transformational leadership creates valuable and positive change with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. These may include connecting the followers sense of self and identity to the mission and the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers that inspires them; challenging followers to take greater pride for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of individuals, so the leader can associate followers with tasks that improve their performance. Transformational leaders focus on intrinsic motivation and personal development of their followers. They believe in five key aspects of being a leader, which are being creative, interactive, empowering, visionary and
Transformational leadership is the optimal style for a leader in an organization to have due mainly to its prominent characteristics such as being influential, innovative, motivating, proactive, and having the ability to both responsibly and reasonably delegate tasks. These aspects specific to the style of transformational leadership are essential to positive organizational function, environment, and advancement because they are characteristics that all hold power and constructive properties individually. When combined they are significantly capable of producing progress, change, and a healthy organizational environment.
In the history of our world, we have seen so much change, our civilization has always been on the process of changing, on the process of getting better. All these movements whether good or bad were all involved with great leadership. From the start of the Christian movement, we saw Jesus who was able to inspire fishermen to one-day die for their faith in Him; Rosa Park’s action was able to inspire the whole country to take action against racial segregation; Gandhi’s civil disobedient movement was able to force the United Kingdom to grant India their independence. All of them had many things in common, they were all willing to be radical in their own time, Jesus preached a very different message, Rosa Park ignored the social norm and fought
According to Yoder-Wise (2015), a leader can be defined as, “an individual who works with others to develop a clear vision of the preferred future and to make that vision happen” (p 35). As employees, we often have our own ideal of a good leader, which may be influenced by experiences and perception of workplace norms. While one’s opinion of an effective leader may vary, there are several recognized leadership theories. The following will focus on the transformational leadership approach.
Transformational leadership is one of the most popular leadership styles. According to Kendrick (2011), “Transformational leadership involves four factors: 1. idealized influence, 2. inspirational motivation, 3. intellectual stimulation, and 4. individual consideration.” These four factors make transformational leadership have an impact on followers. The goal of transformational leadership is to cause a positive change in individuals, help motivate them, and develop a leader within each individual.
Certainly, an army would not be able to battle in the war without a commander who in charges of the whole strategy. Correspondingly, any organisations cannot function without leaders. Leader is the most substantial element of successful organizations. Becoming outstanding leaders, leadership skill is vital in order to drive the organizations forward. Several leadership principles are extensively used these days. Burns (1978) identified two types of leadership comprise of transactional and transformational leadership. Hence, leaders should be capable to indicate which theory should be applied in accordance with organization’s culture and objectives. This essay aims to evaluate the resemblances and the differences between transactional and transformational leadership as well as the feasibility to utilize a mixture of them by giving the definitions and examples followed by the supporting researches and studies.
Leadership has been studied from a wide range of perspectives and thus it means different things to different people. Some people view leadership as the focus of group processes, some others view it from a personality or skills perspective, to some others leadership is an act or behavior, some school of thought describe leadership in terms of power relationship while some view leadership as a transformational process (Northouse, 2012). Looking at the various definitions of leadership, there are various terms that are important; including the fact that leadership is a process that involves influence and the attainment of a common goal, and usually occurs in the context of a group (Northouse, 2012). The path-goal theory is one of the theories of leadership that emphasizes on the relationship between the style of the leader and the characteristics of the subordinates while taking in to consideration the setting at the work place (Northouse, 2012). The theory describes four different leadership styles; directive or instrumental, supportive, participative and achievement oriented. In the directive style of leadership, the leader guides his subordinates on what is expected of them and leads them on the right path towards achieving a goal (Silverthorne, 2001). In the supportive style the leader acts as a friend, is compassionate and pays attention to the needs of his followers and creates a caring environment for them (Silverthorne, 2001). A participative leader seeks and values the input of his followers at every level of decision making while the achievement oriented leader is task driven, sets high standards for his followers with the confidence that they will be able to achieve these standards (Northouse, 2012). In the path-goal theo...
Transformational leaders are needed to transform low performing organizations to acceptable to high performance. At other times, the leader is expected to move an organization from a crisis. In order to accomplish these tasks, the leader must overhaul the organization culture or subculture. This task is accomplished by nine ways of transforming others: 1. Raise others awareness. The leader makes others aware of the rewards and how to achieve them, i.e. pride in the job or financial incentives. 2. Help others look beyond self-interest. The transformational leader helps others to look at the “big picture” by describing an entire scenario, i.e. if we hire more employees to do x, we will have to make cuts in other areas. 3. Help people find self-fulfillment. The leader helps others not to focus on minor satisfactions, i.e. getting a job done before the deadline ...