Implications and Implementations of Leadership Theories - Coursework Example

Running Head: LEADERSHIP THEORIES Leadership Theories [The Writer’s Name] [The Name of the Institution] Leadership Theories Introduction In present corporate scenario, success depends mostly on effective leadership. In contemporary business environment, various problems of gigantic magnitude are faced by firms which can only be solved by competent leaders having capability of solving day to day problems and issues in the light of leadership theories. The success of any group activity usually depends heavily on leadership. It can therefore be advantageous for a manager to possess a broad understanding of different theoretic styles of leadership. There are many theories of leadership. Every firm adapts leadership theory according to its needs and requirement in the light of its specific condition. The theories are following. Trait theory relies on certain personality characteristics, which can range from intelligence, and self-assurance to upbringing and education or even personal appearance and health, the list is endless, yet 80 years of study have failed to identify any one trait to distinguish a leader from a non-leader. The belief here is that certain styles of leadership work better than others in getting the most out of staff performance. These styles are identified as: 1. Dictatorial - basically "bully-boy" tactics are used to force subordinates to work; 2. Autocratic - the leader makes all the decisions and expects things to be done his way; 3. Democratic - group decision-making is employed and subordinates must be willing to participate; 4. Laissez-faire - minimal direction is given to subordinates who are given extensive autonomy. Implications and Implementations of Leadership Theories The contemporary organisations are different to the ones that existed in the past in terms of techniques, management styles and structures. (Sarros, & Santora, 2008) Historically, traditional management is very much rooted in the ideas of the industrial revolution where a company’s competitiveness and success, within a more or less stable environment, depended on the efficiency and control processes while new ideas were seen as a disturbance and workers were not encouraged to think for themselves. These leaders gave directions to direct report subordinates, often with a rather impersonal approach. (Handy, 2008) However times have changed and factors such as globalisation have made the environments to shift from a more stable environment of little change, to a constantly and ever changing dynamic environment. (Barton, et. al. 2005) Rapid technological changes, increased competition and power of suppliers, as well as changes in customer needs and demands may alter the demand and supply for goods and services quickly. Organization Development and Leadership Effectiveness In today’s businesses to have a competitive advantage can be very difficult, especially since technical advances, products, infrastructure and strategies can be copied and duplicated by competitors. (Coulson-Thomas, 1997) Therefore you must generate your own best practices, which involves people; leaders and employees working together and with the environment. The knowledge, drive and enthusiasm cannot be duplicated. This becomes the new competitive advantage (Daft, 2005). However, leaders may face resistance from employees as change is often perceived as disruptive, especially from people who have a high self-interest in preserving the status quo of the organisation, or simply are insecure and scared as they fear the unknown. In this last example, a ‘communication champion’ leader would be required to openly communicate a clear vision and strategy and help employees understand the benefits of change. (Stoner, et. al.1985), Leaders must also create an open communication climate to share information and knowledge among employees. An effective leader is an individual who guides a community or group. Bill Gates is one of the greatest leaders in the world who exemplify most of the qualities of an effective leader. Lead one of the most successful companies in the world, despite hardships but he had to over come and he showed that he was not pushover through out competitors. (Davidson, & Griffin, 2003) Finally, he ended up helping other people by setting up several charity foundations to relieve people especially children in different countries who need helps. (Parry, 1996)An effective leader should aware that whatever he does is affective and it affects everyone. In business world, the same concepts will apply to business leaders as well. The difference between effective leaders and less effective leaders is their motives and needs. In addition, effective leaders motivated by four specific leadership motives or needs, which are power motive, drive and achievement motive, strong work ethic and tenacity (Dubrin et al. 2006). For team leaders, they should guard against domination of the discussion by one member, create an environment where members are free to express and explain their ideas without interruption. They should also be able to provide feedbacks to team members facilitate job specification and articulate a direction for the team during the conforming stage (DuBrin et al, 2006). For all the members within the team, they should be an effective communicator; criticise only in spirit of kindness, helpfulness and tact; prefer assertiveness to aggressiveness; stay open and receptive; not gossip; refrain from belittling; avoid arguing; keep cool and be an optimist (Dalglish, 2003). The difference between effective leaders and less effective leaders is their motives and needs. In addition, effective leaders motivated by four specific leadership motives or needs, which are power motive, drive and achievement motive, strong work ethic and tenacity (Dubrin et al. 2006). They behave to exert their power, spend much their time on changing the behaviour and thinking of others, and care about the relationship with those around them. In addition, there are two kinds of power motives, one personalized power motive, and the other socialized power motive. Leaders with a personalized power motive use power mostly for their own interest. However, leaders with a socialized power motive seek power to achieve organization goals (Dubrin et al. 2006). Effective leaders tend to invest high energy into achieving goals and persist in employing that energy, which is a strong motivation, drive and achievement motivation. Effective leaders will find joy in the accomplishment of the work goals. Leaders with a strong work ethic have a firm belief in the dignity of work. Effective leaders value hard work and believe that the group work is worthwhile (Dubrin et al. 2006). The final motivational characteristic of organizational leaders is tenacity. The leaders with strong tenacity are better at overcoming difficulties and they have a strongly developed sense of purpose and a firm determination to achieve their goals (Dubrin et al. 2006). It is important to note that leadership is not consisting with one particular ingredient. Rather, Bennis (2003) identified "six ingredients of leadership that good leaders all seem to share some, the ingredients are listed and explained below. Guiding vision, which indicates leader should have a clear idea of what he/she wants to do in professional and personal ways (Bennis 2003). Passion, which focuses on the ultimate passion for the promises of life, combined with a very particular passion for a vocation, a profession and a course of action. The leader loves what he or she does and loves doing things. The leader who linked with passion gives hope and inspiration to other people. (Bennis 2003) The internal factors faced by any company in a time of any change are directly related to its internal resources. These internal resources include human capital as well as financial capital. Since human capital drives the financial capital, the largest amount of focus and effort should be on the internal employees. The biggest internal challenge is in regard to the human capital and the human resource function. (Campling, et. al. 2006) Internal resources must be identified; external consultants or experts on the consumer side must be hired. The shift must start with a strong goal and plan that is provided by the leader, along with a shift in expectations that permeates through all parts of the business. Resistance should be expected. “The difficulty in managing change resistance is when it is implicit and subtle” (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). Leadership Effectiveness Examples An example of responsible leadership in business is 'Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Ltd'. Toyota Company designs a new car and began a development of 'fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCHVs)' in 1992 as well as 'electric vehicles (EV)' and 'Hybrid vehicles (HV)' (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2002). This design is an electronically control to generate to achieve the fuel efficiency nearly twice for conventional petrol cars, as well as to reduce emissions. The power sources engage was depending on driving circumstances (Daily News Page, 1997). Toyota Company's aim of sustainability is to protect the environment and economic growth that are not mutually exclusive (Hermance, 2001). Penalty is reckless in which economic growth ignores environmental and resolving the issues of environmental without addressing the need of economic impact is unrealistic (Hermance, 2001). This century must be the 'era of environmental partnership' (Hermance, 2001). Although McDonald's as a company has provided the tools and materials for management in their training, it has lacked the knowledge that people and times have changed. From being a trainee manager to becoming a restaurant manager, Task Behaviour was a strong practice. McDonald's head management spelled out the duties or responsibilities and also emphasized what the outcomes would be. Been able to voice an idea or provide an opportunity to clarify issues was not possible. The question of retention of management was becoming a problem, as restaurant managers were becoming more educated on what else could be done to improve situations, and be a participant leader. It was apparent that no effort was made to adjust their leadership style to accommodate for store manager's readiness. (Overton, 2002) Specifics like store operation decisions, having a say in store budgets, ideas of in-store promotions and local store marketing were important decisions to be made by restaurant managers. Restaurant managers knew the business better than department heads or consultants because the restaurant manager was more involved in the day to day operations of the business. Although some of the participating leadership styles were used by restaurant managers it was not always favoured by department heads or consultants. It was found that McDonald's used a directive leadership style on its restaurant mangers. The move to become more of a participative leader was a beneficial decision. Most of the leaders such as consultants, realized that a task would be completed quicker and faster when a decision was made by a restaurant manager rather then from someone telling them, creating that satisfaction of self involvement in the business, which lead to happier followers. Adopting a path goal was in some cases quite similar to the situation leadership theory. The theory argued that the perception of subordinates is affected by leader behaviours, directive, supportive, participative and achievement orientated. Participative and Achievement orientated leader behaviours are what will motivate and job satisfy today's restaurant managers in McDonald's. Both these behaviours require the involvement of both sides of management the leaders and the subordinates. Being able to involve both parties and encourage suggestions and consider ideas during decision making in the participative behaviour. The theory gave restaurant managers the ability to consider the impact their behaviours would have on subordinate motivation, goal attainment and job satisfaction. Today, McDonald's lacks the strength of having quality leaders in its restaurants, someone that can 'influence others to achieve organizational goals' (Bartol, Tein, Mathews & Martin, 2003). Unfortunately McDonald's was too late in implementing changes that would improve the company's leadership styles. Effort has been made to remove directive leadership behaviour and to replace it with a participative leadership style. Nonetheless, many of the qualities of yesterday's leaders are hard to find in today's leaders. Conclusion In conclusion, there are various theories of leadership, which can be useful in one-way or the other to organizations. It can be dependent on the attitudes and skill of the employees, the nature of the task and the culture of the group involved. While leadership style in the real world has much to do with authority and the relationships, which come from the authority structure, it cannot be divorced from goal setting. Management, which is concerned with establishing and implementing various kinds of goals, cannot avoid resolving the issues of authority and relationships if it is to be successful. References   Bartol, K, Tein, M, Mathews, G & Martin, D. (2003) Management: A Pacific Rim focus (Enhanced Ed.), Macquarie Park, McGraw-Hill. Barton, K. and Tein, M. and Matthews, G. and Martin, D., Management: (2005) A Pacific Rim Focus, McGraw-Hill Book Company Australia Pvt Ltd., Australia Bennis Warren: 2003; On Becoming Leader. Rev. Ed. Cambridge MA, Perseus Pub Boyatzis, R. & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership: Renewing yourself and connecting with others through mindfulness, hope, and compassion. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Campling, J., Poole, D., Wiesner, R. and J. R. Schermerhorn. (2006). Management, Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons Australia Charles B. Handy: 2008: Myself and Other More Important Matters: MACOM/American Management Association. Coulson-Thomas, Colin J.: 1997: The future of the organization: selected management and development issues: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume: 29 Issue: 7: 204-207 Daft, Dorothy Marcic, Richard L: Understanding Management: 2005, South-Western Publications. 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