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ABSTRACT Leadership is defined as a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. The role of leadership in an organization is determined by the culture of the company and based on the manager’s beliefs, values and assumptions will have major influence over their decisions. A good leader sees the best in people and figures out what it takes to motivates the individuals. A manager is judged as either good, or bad leader based on the decisions they make, the results and how the leader performed.
Leadership is defined as a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. The role of leadership in an organization is determined by the culture of the company and based on the manager’s beliefs, values and assumptions will have major influence over their decisions. A good leader sees the best in people and figures out what it takes to motivates the individuals. There are many styles of leadership such as the authoritarian or autocratic, democratic or laissez-faire.
Good managers are able to use all three types of leadership styles and others at the appropriate times. Leadership style is the manner and approach a leader used in providing direction, motivating people and implementing plans. In this writer’s career, the role of a leader have been filling in as an acting manager for a few hours up to months, serving as team leaders on special projects. In the role of leader, one must adjust from being one of the co-workers to leader. This paper will discuss the different types of leaders from the writer’s experience.
This writer’s leadership style is influence by the military and working over 30 years for the government. Managers must have a personal vision in order to influence others. Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, motivating, and influencing people. According to Patricia M. Buheler, “The effective leader is able to identify how to lead – depending on the people and the situation. For example, a subordinate new to a position with few skills and little knowledge of the job may need a leadership style more oriented toward “telling” and providing the employee with more direction.
Whereas, a seasoned employee with more knowledge, skills, and abilities may be more likely to respond better to a leadership style that is more oriented toward delegating. Effective leaders must be adept at reading others and the situation to diagnose the most appropriate leadership style to utilize. ” (Buheler 2007). The leadership style of autocratic is who holds total control in which they instruct their employee on what and how they want task completed. The autocratic leader will not request assistance for staff.
The autocratic leader is considered abusive, unprofessional and probably feels threaten by their employees. There are times in which there is a need for autocratic style of leaders such as in cases of immediate disaster the first actions, limited time in order to complete the task. In the past working with this type of leader even when left in charge, one will always follow the leader instructions. Prior to leaving the office, the autocratic leader would provide instructions on how actions and responses should be completed. The individual left in charge was not allowed to make independent decisions.
This type of leader left their employees feeling inadequate and failures. There were always high turnover. The democratic style of leader will include others in the process however, the leader maintain control and have the final decision authority. This type of style respects their employees and it is a sign of strength. The participative leader shares information with others and willing to listen to their employees. This type of leader allows employees to become part of the team and allows them to grow and make better decisions. Working with this type of leader allows one to grow and lead.
The delegative style of leadership allows the employees to make decisions, with the manager still being responsible for decision. Managers are not expected to know everything and good managers know how to develop and grow the next generation of leadership. This is the style for trust. Sometimes an individual is given the opportunity to make changes and provide others with the key to adapt and excel. For example, an individual performed below the expectation of the team. It is recognized that this individual felt resentment toward the manager for not giving credit for work performed by the individual.
It was decided to use the knowledge of the other individual since of wrong to charm the individual in working harder on the project by bringing attention or praise to the work being performed. According to Amy Zandy, “Great leaders understand what their followers need and articulate their mission in a way that each follower can see “what’s in it for me. ” Leaders must have their employees trust and confidence. A leader who orders his company to accept a new technology, but does not use it, is not seen as credible. (Zandy 2007) Some individuals are motivated by being recognized and given credit for their participation. There are many other styles of leadership such as charismatic, situational, transactional, and transformational. A charismatic leader uses charm and personality to lead. A participative leadership style seeks to involve other individual in the process. The individual are recruited from all areas such as subordinates, peers, superiors and other interested parties. Situational leadership is based on several factors motivations and the situation.
The role of leadership in management is largely determined by the culture of the organization. Managers must have beliefs, values, and assumptions in their style of leadership. The leader must be able to motivate and lead their employee. Managers perform many roles in an organization and how they handle various situations will depend on their style of management and their employees. A management style is an overall method of leadership used by a manager. Great managers are able to adapt to each situation. References Buhler, P. M. (2007, July). Managing in the new millennium.
SuperVision, 68(7), 20-22. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1297882421). Friel, B. (2007, July). What’s the big idea? Government Executive, 39(12), 51. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1311417841). Leadership Styles. Trustee, 60(6), 11. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1295813401). McCauley, C. D. (2007). The practice of leadership: Developing the next generation of leaders. Personnel Psychology, 60(3), 773-775. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. Document ID: 1366459001). Meyers, S. (2007, June). Leadership styles. Trustee, 60(6), 11. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1295813401). Susan Meyers (2007, June). Twentyman, J. (2007, August). Commander one day, coach the next. Director, 61(1), 28. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1327485861). Zandy, A. (2007, July). If you want to lead. . . learn to serve. Debt 3, 22(4), 24-25. Retrieved November 12, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1337288501).