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Your assignment should demonstrate that you know what makes a successful leader, manager and entrepreneur in any situation. Word count (from the start of the Introduction section to the end of the Conclusion section): 2696 words Executive Summary This assignment outlines the different traits and characteristics that a leader needs to demonstrate in order to be deemed an effective leader. The discussion opens with an introduction which focuses on defining leadership with a view to understanding that there is not one homogeneous style of leadership.
The literature recognizes that there are two main types of leadership styles, namely transactional leadership and transformational leadership. Each style has its own traits and will be assessed in the course of the concussion. The next part will contain biographical details of two leaders that were chosen as the subject matter for evaluating the effectiveness of various styles of leadership and their outcomes. The two individuals are a business leader Mr.. Question Van Rooney, owner and Managing Director of Trust group holdings and Mr..
Norman Outcome, former Director of the Legal Assistance Centre, a Non Governmental Organization. I then outlined the characteristics of an effective leader and compared and contrasted the two leaders as such. Upon comparison, it was found that Mr.. Outcome was the more effective leader because he embodied the extraordinary leadership qualities such as honesty, integrity, being a visionary, keeping the staff inspired and motivated; most of which Mr.. Van Rooney lacked because his transactional style of leadership was too focused on the profitability of Trust and using monetary incentives to increase work productivity.
Are these skills enough to deem someone as being an effective leader? The aim of this assignment is to compare and contrast two leaders, a business leader Mr.. Question Van Rooney, owner and Managing Director of Trust group holdings and Mr.. Norman Outcome, former Director of the Legal Assistance Centre, a Non Governmental Organization. In doing so, I firstly defined leadership, and then gave brief biographies of the two leaders. Afterwards I outlined the characteristics of an effective leader and compared and contrasted the two leaders as such.
Finally, I concluded with who I believe is the most effective leader based on the literature of the two main types of leadership styles, namely transactional leadership and transformational leadership. 2. What is Leadership? According to Greenberg and Baron (2008, p. 501) “the process whereby one individual influences other group members towards the attainment of defined group or organizations goals, whereas a leader is an individual within a group or organization who wields the most influence over the others”.
Competent leadership is crucial for the continued existence and success of any business or organization. A leader is posited as an individual who embodies certain extraordinary qualities such as having integrity, being a visionary, capable of being innovative, goal driven, who achieves results, is a team player and an individual who is able to build excellent relationships. Through effective communication, the leader influences group members to change their actions and attitudes towards meeting the organization’s objectives.
Notably, the leader’s leadership style plays a vital role in determining whether group members will e inspired and motivated or whether there will be discord amongst group members. Different leadership styles affect employee performance in varying degrees; therefore a leader must hone the skills necessary to optimize human resources. As such, it is worth noting that leadership involves interaction between the leader, the followers and the situation.
This is called the International Framework, this framework describes leadership as a function of three elements the leader, the followers of this leader and the particular situation they are found in and the interactions between these three elements Hollander E. P. 1978). The outcome of this interaction is largely influenced by the leadership style adopted by the leader confronted by a particular situation. Notably, a workers competence will be influenced by the leadership style adopted in a particular (Iodine S.
D et al 2004, p. 177) point out that “transactional leadership and transformational leadership influence leadership behavior in the organization” For clarity sake, under transactional leadership the leader “puts their strength on completion of task and compliance and depend on the rewards from the organization to influence employees performance in the organization, this reward is contingency on the followers that perform the jobs as designed by the leaders” (Bass & Stodgily 1 990, p. 1 182).
Transactional leadership is essentially premised on a transaction whereby one party, the employee, puts in time and effort to reach the targets set by the other party, the leader / employer. Higher productivity translates into higher rewards such as a promotion or increase in wages. However, this style of leadership is not always effective in the long term because higher wages and promotions have a ceiling and once the ceiling is reached in the hierarchy f the institution, the rewards do not act as efficient reinforcements anymore, or the employees might suffer from lack of job satisfaction.
On the other hand, transformational leadership involves the “ability of a leader to motivate followers to rise above their own personal goal for the greater achievement organization” (Bass, B. M. 1985, up 256). The employees have a shared vision and are motivated to work hard for the common good of the organization. In the leadership report, Burns J. M’s theories pointed out that transformational leaders do not have any significant effect on employee’s performance in an organization but adders motivate employees to perform very well in organizations making it to be more effective than transactional leadership.