Appropriate Leadership and Followership Styles - Literature review Example

Tourism and Hospitality Simulation Student’s Name Professor Date TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY SIMULATION Appropriate leadership and followership styles Participative Leadership Hiebert and Klatt (2001, 43-50) define participative leadership as a managerial leadership style that involves the employees in every decision that the company makes. The leaders give the team members relevant information on the issues concerning the team. Majority voting systems applies to the participatory leadership, and the course of action considers the decision of the majority. The persons who the decision most effects have to be in the decision-making (Hiebert and Klatt, 2001, 43-50). The participatory leadership style is one of the effective and a productive leadership style since it offers retention, allows creativity, provides morale and motivation, and is widely acceptable. The acceptability of the participatory leadership style makes it easy for an organization to meet its set objectives without much investment on the part of the management. There are various assumptions under the participatory leadership according to Kupers and Weibler (2008, 443-475). Such assumptions include, first, involving of other individuals such as employees in the company decision making enable the understanding of issues. The followers have a better understanding of the organizational issues since the leaders involve them in the decision-making process. Second, Most individuals always show some commitment when they can contribute to the decision making. The commitment comes about due to the exposure of the individuals and their ability to offer alternatives in the decision that an organization makes. Third, joint goals results to people are becoming less competitive and improve collaboration. Since participatory leadership promotes collective work and teamwork, there is a lower possibility for individuals to be competitive since everyone has a chance to prove him or herself. Fourth, joint decision making results in individual commitment leading to the creation of high chances of commitment to the decision. Since alternatives pass through efficient examination, there is more commitment to the decisions, since the employees also participate in the decision-making process. Lastly, joint decisions made by several individuals have proven to be better than decisions that an individual makes. Lewin's Three Participatory Leadership Styles (1939) Autocratic Storey, 2004 (162-180) illustrates that in the autocratic participatory leadership style, a leader usually makes decisions without making consultation from the others who may experience the direct effect of the decision. This type of decision-making causes the greatest discontent in an organization. For the development of an effective autocratic leadership style, there should be no input in the decision-making process and the decision should not change because of any input (Storey, 2004, 162-180). The autocratic style would be best applicable to organizations where the motivation of employees and other colleagues does not carry any subsequent actions. Autocratic leaders make decisions exclusive of the employee ideas. The employees do not have a say on the decisions that the leader makes but have to conform to these decisions. Democratic Under democratic, participatory leadership style, leaders usually involve other individuals in the making decisions. In most cases, individuals appreciate Democratic leadership if they were previously using the autocratic style of leadership since they can come to a common consensus. Democratic leadership may be disadvantageous when there are various opinions, and there is no specific direction to reach the final decision (Storey, 2004, 162-180). Some organizations usually consider the use of the democratic style of leadership to allow creativity and innovation Laissez‐Faire The Laissez-Faire leadership style has some elements of minimizing the involvement of a leader in decision making. Laissez- Faire proves to work efficiently where there is a little or no central coordination requirement and when individuals can make their decisions (Hackman and Johnson, 2004, 34-40). Under Laissez-Faire, a leader does not have to make certain organizational decisions hence gives room for employees to come up with possible solutions to various problems. The leader does not actively engage in the decision-making. Transactional Leadership Transactional leadership is a leadership style that uses power and influence. The transactional leadership assumes that individuals get motivation through punishment and reward (Hackman and Johnson, 2004, 34-40). The transactional leadership also assumes that social systems work as per the requirement when it has a clear chain of command. The transactional leadership assumes that the major role of the subordinates is performing any activity as the manager directs them to do so. The transactional leadership has a focus on designing tasks and rewards. Though there is no mentioning of punishment, individuals understand punishment well alongside other formal corrective measures (Storey, 2004, 162-180). In transaction leadership, an employee gets a salary, and the firm acquires authority over the subordinates. Transactional leadership relies on the give and takes leadership principle. The followers possess some sense of duty to a leader who in exchange would offer a reward such as a salary. Situational leadership style Situation leadership style is whereby a leader adjusts his style of leadership to conform to the level followers’ development. Under the situational leadership, it is the leader that changes his leadership style but not the followers (Hiebert and Klatt, 2001, 43-50). The leader changes his style leadership to suit the needs of other individuals in the organization based on the current situations. Situational leadership behaviors include; • Telling and directing- the leader makes the decisions and informs the followers about his decision. The leader can have a close supervision of the individuals who work in the organization. Telling and directing is a top-down leadership approach where the followers do as the leader instructs them to (Hiebert and Klatt, 2001, 43-50). A follower or employee strictly follows the directions given by the leader and cannot perform any other duty. • Selling and coaching- in selling and coaching situational leadership style, the leader performs the day-to-day organizational activities. Though the decision-making relies heavily upon the leader, employees can give input on implementation of the decision (Hackman and Johnson, 2004, 34-40). In selling and coaching style, the followers are still under supervision but in a coaching manner where the leader gives them instructions on what to do and how to them. Selling and coaching approach works well with personnel with insufficient experience and who are still in the process of learning. • Participation and supporting- this style of leadership delegates tasks and responsibilities to the followers. The leader provides direction, but the direction lies on the followers (Winkler, 2010, 33). The leader’s main role is to provide motivation though praises and rewards. The leader also considers every activity that may be of motivational effects to the followers. The followers carry out various activities through the support of the leader. • Delegating- delegating style of leadership is where there is the least involvement between the leader and the follower. Followers know their roles and responsibilities and need a limited supervision (Winkler, 2010, 33). The major role of the leader in delegating leadership style is to delegate responsibilities to the followers. Followers then, need to carry out the tasks that the leader allocates. Transformational Leadership The transformational leadership style is whereby the leader can inspire those who follow him (Storey, 2004, 162-180). Transformational leadership assumes that an individual with passion and vision can acquire greater and bigger things. Transformational leadership involves a leader to inject energy and enthusiasm to get things done. Transformational leaders are enthusiastic, energetic and passionate. The leaders of the team base their focus on groups’ success as well. Transformational leadership involves the commitment of a relationship that occurs between a leader and the team members. The leader transforms the team members. Components of Transformational Leadership Idealized influence A transformational leader should be able to make others become as a leader. The leader should be willing and able to take risks and be able to follow the set organizational values. Through idealized influence, a leader can build trust among his followers hence the followers are then able to develop confidence. The leader should be able to instill leadership characteristics to his followers. Inspirational Motivation Hackman and Johnson (2004, 34-40) define inspirational motivation as the inspiration of confidence and sense of purpose that a leader instills into his followers. The leader has to combine a clear future vision and effective communication that would help in meeting the set goals. The leader has to send precise messages with a sense of authority to his followers (Hackman and Johnson, 2004, 34-40). Individualized consideration Since every follower has specific needs, the individualized consideration recognizes these needs. The leader should have the capability to recognize these needs either through observation or eavesdropping. One-on-one coaching gives followers an opportunity for training sessions that enables them to grow. The leader should be able to have an individual relationship with the followers to know whatever an employee needs in the workplace. Intellectual stimulation A transformational leader has to support the creativity of his followers by involving them in a decision-making process. The leader collects ideas from followers without criticism and allows the followers to express their opinions to the benefit of the organization. The leader should help his followers frame problems and offer possible solutions. The employees are given an opportunity to participate in making decisions for the organization. TYPES OF FOLLOWERS Effective follower According to Colangelo (2000, 4-10) and Travis (2003, 4-5) the effective follower is that follower that actively exercises independent critical thinking in an organization. Such individuals see a leader be an overseer of change. The basic role of an effective follower is assisting a leader in formulating appropriate decisions. Therefore, during decision making, creative thinking is an essential and would help in the confrontation of uncertain situations that are difficult to predict in an organization. Iveybusinessjournal.com, 2015, 1, since ill-defined problems regularly occur in the organizational environment, there is the need for the generation for the possible solutions for such problems. Therefore, an effective follower needs to be creative and come up with possible alternatives for the problem solution. The effective follower can make an effective evaluation make a judicious decision that would not only benefit him but also the organization at large (Riggio, 2014, 345-367). Followers who are creative and have critical thinking capabilities make an important contribution to an organization. Effective followers are very important to every organization since they help an organization to meet its objectives (Colangelo, 2000, 4-10). This follower has self-leadership capabilities and commits themselves to the vision that every individual share in the organization. Energy, responsibility, innovation are the major characteristics of the effective follower. The effective follower has a perfect fit in both individual and community visions Alienated follower Hoption (2014, 129-137) and Travis (2003, 4-5) states that an alienated follower is a passive follower but is independent and has critical thinking. This follower can think but cannot act according to what he thinks. The alienated follower may have undergone through some setbacks and frustration by his organization (Riggio, 2014, 345-367). This type of a follower is capable but focus on the shortcomings of the organization rather than the achievements. Iveybusinessjournal.com (2015, 1) supports that the alienated follower has some degree of capability to involve himself in some organizational tasks and decision making but is not willing to participate. In most cases, the alienated follower would speak of the bad side of a leader to other people but do not complain directly to the leader in the most effective way. Conformist follower The conformist follower usually involves himself actively in the organizational activities. The conformist follower is an independent individual but is not a critical thinker. This follower is the ‘yes’ person. The conformist carries out any tasks without having any consideration of the consequences that he may experience as an outcome of the tasks. The conformists try to avoid conflict at all costs and would often try to cover his weakness and mistakes. In most cases, organizational environment with rigid rules would not allow persons to give their expression but would suppress such individuals hence leading to uncritical conformity (Hoption, 2014, 129-137). Pragmatic Follower Yung and Tsai (2013, 47-52) state that the pragmatic follower has the feature of an effective, conformist, alienated and passive follower characteristics. Pragmatic follower applies these characteristics depending on the current situation (Yung and Tsai, 2013, 47-52). The follower would choose a characteristic that best suits the situation and has the minimal risk. In most organizations, most individuals are proven to be pragmatic followers. To the better side, during an organizational crisis, a pragmatic follower may decide to have a positive contribution since the follower understands how to get things done. On the bad side, a pragmatic follower may adjust himself to favor himself (Travis, 2003, 4-5). Preferred leadership in the HOTS simulation Participatory leadership is appropriate for the HOTS simulation since it invites all members to combine various inputs in the decisions made. Everyone has adequate information regarding the necessary issues, and the majority rule gives the action the leaders and followers take. Participatory leadership is readily acceptable by various individuals. Therefore, there is limited resistance from the followers in the process of coming up with new ideas (Small Business - Chron.com, 2015, 1). All individuals are given equal opportunity to involve themselves in the formulation, creation and approving of new policies. Individuals also have a voice in the operation of activities hence are personally liable for the success of the group since every individual have an opportunity in the decision making. Individuals can take active roles that improve work conditions (Treiger, 2014, 93-94). Moreover, creativity becomes the major aspect of the group since individuals are free to relay their opinions that may offer solutions. Creativity enables individuals to have a more productive and effective worked that would make the whole group efficient. Lastly, participative leadership style enables individuals to improve their performance. Active participation of employees encourages employees to stay with the organization and see results of their plans (Treiger, 2014, 93-94). Above all, the participatory leadership style is effective and a productive style since it offers retention, allows creativity, provides morale and motivation, and is widely accepted. The acceptability of the participatory leadership style makes it easy for an organization to meet its set objectives without much investment on the part of the management (Small Business - Chron.com, 2015, 1). REFERENCES Hiebert, M. and Klatt, B. (2001). The encyclopedia of leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill.pp43-50 Hackman, M. and Johnson, C. (2004). Leadership. Long Grove, Ill.: Waveland Press.pp 34-40 Hoption, C. (2014). Learning and Developing Followership.Journal of Leadership Education, 13(3), pp.129-137. Iveybusinessjournal.com, (2015). FOLLOWERSHIP: THE OTHER SIDE OF LEADERSHIP | Ivey Business Journal. [online] Available at: http://iveybusinessjournal.com /publication/followership-the-other-side-of-leadership/ [Accessed 8 Sep. 2015].pp1 Kupers, W. and Weibler, J. (2008). Inter-leadership: Why and How Should We Think of Leadership and Followership Integrally?.Leadership, 4(4), pp.443-475. Riggio, (2014). Followership Research: Looking Back and Looking Forward. JOLE, 13(4).pp.345-367 Small Business - Chron.com, (2015). The Advantages of Participative Leadership. [online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com /advantages-participative-leadership-17629.html [Accessed 8 Sep. 2015].pp.1 Storey, J. (2004). Leadership in organizations. London: Routledge.pp.162-180 Thomas, and Berg, (2014). Followership: Exercising Discretion. JOLE, 13(4). Travis, S. (2003). Leadership and followership.Geriatric Nursing, 24(1), pp.4-5. Treiger, T. (2014). The Importance of Leadership Followership.Professional Case Management, 19(2), pp.93-94. Winkler, I. (2010). Contemporary leadership theories. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag.pp33 Yung, C. and Tsai, K. (2013). Followership-An Important Partner of Leadership.Business and Management Horizons, [online] 1(2), pp.47-52. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/bmh.vli2.4233 [Accessed 8 Sep. 2015]. Bibliography: Colangelo, A. (2000). Followership.pp4-10 Read More