Management and Leadership Styles - Assignment Example

Management and leadership styles Author Course Tutor Date Introduction Leadership is a significant topic of discussion in the workplace and organizational psychology, and a lot of research has been conducted on the topic. People perceive leadership in different ways, and its definition varies in terms of personality traits, leader ability, cognitive and emotional orientation, influence relationships and individual and group orientation (Deanne and Hartog, 2001). Leadership can be defined as the ability to influence the activities of people with the intention to achieve certain objectives. The theory of leadership began by focusing on the traits. However, traits may not predict effective leadership and this is why leadership behaviour and styles are being considered by many researchers (Ancona, 2005). Thus, the case study provides a framework that helps to understand leadership traits and theories, by focusing on what successful leadership entails. Question 1 All leaders in whichever setup possess some characteristics that transform them to good leaders. Traits help to distinguish between good leaders and ineffective leaders depending on how the handle their subordinates in various situations. Traits in leadership are measured in terms of physical features, ability and personality (Deanne and Hartog, 2001). In the case study, Bill has got some character traits, skills and behaviours that enable him to lead his team members to realize the goals of the company. Cognitive abilities According to Ancona (2005) this character trait is one of the most discussed attribute that make leaders successful in their duties. Cognitive abilities include creative reasoning and problem solving skills. General intelligence is strongly related to different indices of leadership effectiveness and this has been manifested in hoe leaders relate to their juniors. Leaders who are intelligence are highly rated by their subordinates, and this is evident in how Bill performs his duty as the team leader. He uses the shortest time possible to finish his tasks, and he does those tasks diligently. It is because of working smart that Bill is able to achieve his target. Bill also handles the difficult tasks which other members have failed, and this shows how he an intelligent leader. Personality Personality is also a leadership attribute that is manifested in Bill’s work as a leader. Emotional stability, extroversion, conscientiousness, openness and agreeableness constitute personality, and they are known to affect the performance of leaders (Deanne and Hartog, 2001). Bill relates with his subordinates in a friendly way that he is able to help them accomplish their tasks. He is open to them and he often breaks the boredom by engaging jokes. Generally, Bill is able to coordinate his team to work and that is why they achieve the set goals. Motivation Motivation to lead is another leadership attribute. Motive-states which influence leadership include need for dominance, affiliation, responsibility and need for achievement. Need for responsibility for instance relates so much with career achievement, and this is an important leader attribute (Bennis, 2007). Bill is motivated in his duty as the team leader and he is interested in achieving results. He is responsible enough and knows what is good for the company to the extent that completing tasks that almost double those of fellow technicians. As a team leader, he sets a good example which his subordinates have to follow. Social skills Social appraisal skills are very important in leadership. This is the ability for a leader to understand the thoughts, behaviours and feelings of their subordinates and themselves and to respond appropriately to those situations upon understanding (Zaccaro, Kemp and Bader, 2004). In the case study, Bill is given the responsibility to handle difficult calls from customers and he is able to satisfy them. He has maintained a cordial relationship with customers an indication that he is understands their situations more than other technicians. This makes him be rewarded as the technician of the month. Problem-solving skills Bill is seen to have acquired problem-solving skills and this makes him to be the best technician in the company. According to Zaccaro, Kemp and Bader (2004) problem-solving skills predict the performance and career achievement for a leader. The use of appraisal and problem solving skills makes a leader acquire tactic knowledge which helps him succeed in different environments. Bill applies problem solving skills in his work and it is why he finishes tasks faster and efficiently. His promotion was a result of doing what he knows effectively. Question 2 Change is inevitable in any organizational setup and when introduced employees tend to resist (Ancona, 2005). Bill’s promotion was not expected by his fellow technicians and that is why they did not take him seriously as their new team leader. It became difficult for Bill to maintain discipline in the company and to make changes because of the followings reasons. Bill was not given authority as a team leader and therefore he could not give his subordinates order to do their tasks. The fellow technicians did not take him seriously as the leader since they were used to him to the extent of not appreciating his new role. Bill relied on authority from the overall company manager and this did not work in his favour. A leader is supposed to use authority to manage some situations failure of which he may not succeed in his leadership (Bennis, 2007). Considering how the subordinates responded to the request made by Bill with lack of seriousness, indicates that he lacked the authority to exercise his role. Bill also lacked support from the top management and given that he feared to explain his problem to the manager clearly indicates that he does not have good relationship with him. To some extent, the manager may not be the problem but Bill since he was supposed to consult his senior to seek direction. Leadership is about seeking new ideas on how to handle situations, something that is not with Bill. Bill failed to demonstrate power as a leader and it is the reason his subordinates took him casually (Bennis, 2007). A leader is supposed to have self confidence so that he can exercise authority to the subordinates. Bill assumed his new position with fear of the challenges he was going to face, which is not a quality for a good leader. Lack of self confidence in a leader makes the subordinates to loss trust in such a leader (Zaccaro, Kemp and Bader, 2004). And, for Bill, too much fear lowered his esteem as a leader, and thus whatever he said to his subordinates was dismissed. This reduced his morale further as the team leader, which affected latter affected his performance. Another reason why Bill was not able to instil discipline in his team members is because had gotten used to making jokes with his fellow technicians. When he was given a new role as a team leader, it became hard for him to make them understand that he was senior to them and therefore they had to respect him as their head. This was the biggest challenge to Bill, and given that he was new in leadership he failed totally to make it a reality to his subordinates. Question 3 According to Lunenburg (2011) power is the ability for a leader to influence his subordinates to perform various tasks. Leaders use different sources of power to influence other people who work under them. Sources of power can be broadly categorized into two groups: organizational power which includes reward, legitimate, and coercive; and personal power which include referent and expert. Personal sources of power are mainly related to organizational commitment, job performance and employees’ job satisfaction. Bill’s source of power is from within the company and is related to leadership role he was given. Being the team leader, Bill is in a position to influence his subordinates. However, he is not seen to exercise his power as expected, which makes his leadership not successful. Another power which Bill could apply comes from his personal expertise. He understands his job well as a technician and this places him above the other technicians who he can influence to do what he wants done. Still he is not exercising this power as his subordinates are not loyal to him and does not follow his instructions as expected. There are other sources of power which Bill can acquire and use to accomplish the goals of his team and the entire company. However, this will depend on different situations he encounters when executing his leadership roles (Bartd et al, 2011). Coercive power is the ability a leader to influence the behaviours of other people by punishing them to do so. It may also be due to a perceived threat to punish. Employees will comply with the directive from their leader due to fear of being punished (Davidson et al, 2010). Bill could use this power to ensure that his subordinates work according to the required standards and respect him. However, he should be careful when using coercive power since his fellow technicians may develop more negative feelings towards him, and this could worsen the situation. Bill could consider using reference power in his leadership role. This is the ability of a leader to influence the behaviours of his subordinates because they admire, like and respect him (Lunenburg (2011). Bill should ensure that he establishes good relationship with his fellow technicians so that he can command power over them. He should make them admire his work and see him as role model. Bill should also utilize his legitimate power to influence the behaviour of his subordinates. He should realize that he is the team leader and all the technicians are under him, and thus they have to obey him. He can achieve this by establishing policies and procedures to guide the operations of technicians (Cronk et al, 2010). Legitimate power constitutes a narrow range and therefore Bill should be careful not to overstep its bounds. Reward power is another source of power Bill could use to exercise his authority as the team leader. Reward power is used by a leader who is able to provide his subordinates with the things they want to acquire. The rewards Bill could use include giving favourable work assignments, praising and recognizing employees, and giving more responsibility. He will be able to control the behaviours of his subordinates by giving them these rewards as long as they value the rewards (Lunenburg, 2011). Question 4 Leadership theories are applied by leaders in different organizations. Whereas early theories focus mainly upon the behaviours and characteristics on leaders who are successful, the developing theories tend to consider the contextual nature of leadership (Bolden et al, 203). The following theories can help Bill perform effectively in his new role as the team leader. Traits theory of leadership This theory explains that leaders have certain traits that differentiates them from other people. people with such traits are usually recruited, selected and given leadership positions (Jones, George and Hill, 2003) Some of the traits Bill can use include social skills, intelligence, emotional control and technical skills. These skills are useful in the coordination of activities and enhancing harmonious relationship among the subordinates, and if well applied Bill will be able to achieve the goals of the company through his team. Behavioural Theory This theory focuses on what leaders do, and not on the qualities they portray in leadership. Leaders have different behaviours that classify them as either bad or good leaders (Bartd et al, 2011). Behavioural theory is applicable in Bill's situations. He should practice honesty, loyalty, diligence and integrity as a team leader. By adopting these behaviours his subordinates will have confidence and trust in him and will obey his instructions. Situational leadership Under this theory, leadership is based on particular situation in which a leader finds himself. Some situations may require use of autocratic style of leadership while others may need a leader to use a participative approach of leadership (Jones, George and Hill, 2003). It is important for Bill to consider using democratic leadership style where the subordinates are willing to cooperate, and autocratic leadership style in situations where the subordinates are rebellious or uncooperative. However, he should be very careful when to apply these styles of leadership since when wrongly used in wrong situations may cause more resistance among his subordinates (Cronk et al, 2000). Conclusion In conclusion, leadership involves people and the success of a leader depends on the qualities the leader has. As discussed above, leadership qualities include cognitive abilities, personality, motivation, social skills and problem solving skills. Many leaders fail due to lack of the ability to exercise authority, lack of support and lack of self confidence among others. Leaders also have different sources of power which help them to perform leadership roles. They include coercive power, reference power, legitimate power and reward power. Lastly various leadership theories are used to explain the roles of leaders in organizations and the paper discussed the traits theory, behavioural theory and situational theory. References Ancona, D 2005 "Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty", Research Brief, MIT Leadership Center. Retrieved February, 14, 2007. Bartd, K, Tein, M, Matthews, G, Sharna, B, and Scotthadd, B 2011 "Management Foundation", Sydney, Mc Graw Hill. Bennis, W 2007 "The challenges of leadership in the modern world", American Psychologist, 62(1), pp:2-5. Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano, A., & Dennison, P 2003 "A review of leadership theory and competency frameworks" Centre for Leadership Studies, Exeter: University of Exeter. Cronk, T, Kirkwoo, L, Ryan, C and Stanly, T 2000 "Business and Organizations in Management", Sydney, Nelson. Davidson, Simon, Woods, Griffin, 2010 "Management", Sydney Wiley and sons Deanne, N., & Hartog, D 2001 "Leadership in organizations", Handbook of Industrial, Work & Organizational Psychology: Volume 2: Organizational Psychology, 166. Jones, G. R., George, J. M., & Hill, C. W 2003 "Contemporary management", New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Lunenburg, F. C 2011 "Understanding Organizational Culture: A Key Leadership Asset", In National Forum of Educational Administration and Supervision Journal, 29 (4), 1 (Vol. 12). Zaccaro, S. J., Kemp, C., & Bader, P 2004 "Leader traits and attributes", The nature of leadership, 101-124. Read More