Leadership Assignment Sample

Introduction Of Leadership

Leadership is the main aspect of a business organization and the impact of leadership is huge on the performance and operations of the organization in the target market. Leadership can be explained as the action of leading a group of people or an organization. The role of leadership is important for the success of the organization. This report will be discussing various leadership theories, leadership styles, and leadership approaches in an organization. This information will be used to evaluate the impact of leadership style on operations and performance of the organization.

Get free samples written by our Top-Notch subject experts for taking assignment help services.

Leadership Theories

There are different theories and concepts are used by the leaders to lead the organization in effective way. Leaders use different approach to lead the organization in effective way. These theories can help the leader to handle different situations in organization effectively (Daniëls, Hondeghem and Dochy, 2019). Most common theories that can be used to explain the leadership approach of leader are- Contingency Leadership, Situational Leadership and system leadership theory.

Contingency Leadership

Contingency leadership theory is considered as general leadership theory that can be considered to understand all type of approach that are used by leader in the organization. According to the contingency leadership theory, there is no single best way to lead an organization. The best way to lead an organization is to understand the situation effectively and use best suitable approach to lead company. This leadership theory explains that the best approach of leading an organization is to understand the situation and take appropriate action. This is a general theory of leadership that is applicable to all situations. For example, when the employees are performing effectively in organization then leader of

Situational Leadership

Situational theory is similar to the contingency leadership theory. As per this theory no single approach can be considered as best approach to the lead the organization. Further in this theory four different leadership styles are suggested in theory that can be used by the leader to lead the organization effectively. Leadership styles that are considered in this theory are- Telling, Selling, participating and delegating. These approaches are commonly used by the leader to lead a company.

Telling- This is the stage where leader of organization guides the followed to perform activities in organization help them execute them to perform various tasks.

Selling- This is considered as next level of situational leadership style (Gandolfi and Stone, 2018). In this leadership style leader of organization share ideas and plans with co-workers which are need to be followed in organization. At these level employees have to accept the ideas that are provided by the leader.

Participating- In this leadership style leader do not provide much direction to the employees of followers. Instead of this they allow the employees or followers to be the part of decision making process. Employees are provided with active role in which they are allowed to provide suggestions and ideas in the decision making process.

Delegating- This approach is different from the approaches that are explained above. In this approach more responsibilities are provided to the employees by delegating process (Alvesson and Einola, 2019). This is considered as mature situation where leader delegate the power of decision making in the followers in which they have to make decisions as per the team discussion.

In this leadership approach four different maturity levels are also defined in this theory. These maturity levels are- M1, M2, M3, and M4.

M1- Lack of knowledge, lack of willingness and skills to perform tasks in organization.

M2- In this maturity level employees are enthusiastic and willing to perform task but they do not have capability to perform any task.

M3- At this level employees are skilled and capable of working on their own but do not have willingness to take responsibility.

M4- This is last stage of maturity in which employees are skilled, have capability of perform various tasks and they are also willing to take responsibilities.

This are four category of maturity level in business organization. For each type of situation leader can use specific approach to lead the organization. For M1 maturity level telling is best leadership style. In M2 maturity level selling style of leadership can be used. For maturity level M3 leader can use participating style and for maturity level M4 leadership can use delegating style to lead the organization.

This is how leader of company can use different leadership style to lead the company in effective manner.

Trait Leadership Theory

This leadership theory is completely different from the other theories that are considered above. According to this theory there are some traits of individual person can make them effective leader. This theory completely focus on the qualities of leader that cannot be developed. According to these theory leaders cannot be made, they are born leader. Leader uses their personal traits and capabilities to lead the organization in effective way (Oc, 2018). This is how trait theory explains that effectiveness of leadership approach is based on the traits and effectiveness of leader.

This is how different leadership theories can be used by the leader of organization to lead the organization effectively and meet the objectives of organization in effective manner.

Leadership Styles

There are different leadership styles are used by the leaders of company to improve the performance of organization and deal with different situations that are need to be handled by the leader of company. Main leadership styles that are used by leaders are- Autocratic, Democratic, Coaching, transformational and transactional. These are most common leadership styles that are considered by the leaders to direct organization effectively.

Autocratic

Autocratic leadership style is also considered as authoritarian leadership. This leadership style in which individual person have control on complete organization and operations of company. All the decisions that are taken in the organization are taken by individual person who is leader of the company. Decisions that are made in the organization are based on the intelligence and ideas of leader (Kreutzer, Neugebauer and Pattloch, 2017). There are different advantages and disadvantage of this approach in organization. Main advantage of this leadership is related to the time taken in the decision making. This approach allows the organization to develop clear chain of commands that are need to be followed in order to meet the demands of organization. Some of main disadvantage of this leadership style is related to the motivation level of employees. This leadership style can reduce the motivation level of employees. Innovative and creative ideas are mostly ignored in this leadership approach.

Democratic

This leadership style is also known as participative leadership style or shared leadership style. In this type of leadership style employees of organization are more participative and have active role in the decision making process. Employees of organization are allowed to provide their suggestions to the leader for the considerations. This is how in this approach employees are also allowed to make contribution in the decision making process (Bligh, 2017). This practice or leadership style is considered as best approach to lead the organization. Main advantage of this leadership style can help the organization to more innovative and creative ideas to develop effective decisions that can improve the productivity of organization. It can help the leader to improve the motivation level of employees and this approach is suitable for all type of business organizations. The main disadvantage of this approach is related to the emotions with in the work place. This type of approach can develop negative emotions in the work place. This leadership style is poorly defined for the business organizations.

Coaching

According to the name of this leadership style coaching is main part of these leadership style. In this approach leader behave like a coach and help the employees to improve their performance in organization. In this Leadership style leader works on the skills and knowledge of the employees for improvement. In other words it can be said that leader of the organization is directly involved in the development of the employees and leader helps the employees to work on their strengths to improve their capability and provide them resources to work on their weaknesses. This is how this approach can help the leader to improve their performance in organization. Advantages of this approach are- This approach can help the organization to work on the hidden talent and skills of employees. This is approach is helpful for organization in long term profit. The disadvantage of these approach are more important to consider. It is a time taking approach. This approach is not effective for all type of leaders.

Transformational

Transformational leadership style is considered as most effective strategy to develop better work environment in organization. In this leadership style leader of company focuses on the motivation level of employees and encourage them to improve their performance. This approach is also considered as effective approach to develop innovative and creative work culture in the organization. This approach provide capability to the leader to shape on the success of company in market place. This leadership is most effective for the long term benefits of company. Some of the main advantages of transformational approach are - Transformational leadership can help the organization to reduce the operational cost of company. This leadership style is focused on employee engagement that is effective process to improve the internal environment of organization (Garfield, von Rueden and Hagen, 2019). Transformational leadership style is considered as most effective style to implement and direct change in the operations, technology and strategy of the company. It can help the organization to work with new visions. Main disadvantage of this approach are- this leadership style can results wrong decisions in the operations. This leadership style is highly risky and it can affect the prioritization of the organization. This is challenging leadership style for the implementation. Transformational leadership style is based on assumptions and possibilities.

Transactional

This leadership style is similar to the transformational leadership style. Transactional leadership style is more focused on the structure of the organization. The people who are required in this type of approach should be self - motivated and they must have ability to work in well - structured work place. The main focus of this leadership require people who are inspiring and motivated. This type of employee help the leader to develop better environment within the work place. This leadership style is considered as leadership style that promotes attaining goals, and compliances through supervision (Boyce and Bowers, 2018). This activities are also promoted by organization using rewarding and punishments. It is not possible for people who are not self-motivated and inspiring. These type of people cannot work in this type of culture. The advantages of this leadership style are- employee who performs effectively in organization are rewarded by management. Rewards and punishments in organization are clearly defined in work place. High structured work environment can be created. Main disadvantage of these approach are- Employees are blamed on poor performance and it can lead to negative environment in organization. Creativity and innovativeness of employee is discouraged in this approach.

Impact of Leadership on Operations of Organization

The operations of organization are highly affected by the approach that is used by leader to lead the company. Each leadership style have different impact on the operations of the organization. The leadership style that is observed in the leadership approach is transformational leadership where leader of organization is developing positive environment in organization and developing efforts to motivate people who are connected to organization (Cote, 2017). This approach is highly productive for organization. This leadership style can help the leader of the organization to develop better relationship with employees and other stakeholders of company. This is how approach that is used by organization is highly productive for the company.

CONCLUSION

This report was concluding the importance of leadership for the success of organization. Different leadership theories also has been analysed in report that can be used by the leader of company to handle various situations in operations of organization. Leadership styles that are used by leaders to run organization effectively are also considered in the report to understand the effectiveness of leadership styles that are considered by the leaders. Impact of leadership style also has been evaluated on the performance and operations of organization.

References

Books and Journals

Alvesson, M. and Einola, K., 2019. Warning for excessive positivity: Authentic leadership and other traps in leadership studies. The Leadership Quarterly. 30(4). pp.383-395.

Bligh, M.C., 2017. Leadership and trust. In Leadership today (pp. 21-42). Springer, Cham.

Boyce, J. and Bowers, A.J., 2018. Toward an evolving conceptualization of instructional leadership as leadership for learning. Journal of Educational Administration.

Cote, R., 2017. Vision of effective leadership. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics. 14(4).

Daniëls, E., Hondeghem, A. and Dochy, F., 2019. A review on leadership and leadership development in educational settings. Educational research review, 27, pp.110-125.

Gandolfi, F. and Stone, S., 2018. Leadership, leadership styles, and servant leadership. Journal of Management Research. 18(4). pp.261-269.

Garfield, Z.H., von Rueden, C. and Hagen, E.H., 2019. The evolutionary anthropology of political leadership. The Leadership Quarterly. 30(1). pp.59-80.

Kreutzer, R.T., Neugebauer, T. and Pattloch, A., 2017. Digital business leadership. Digital Transformation-Geschäftsmodell-Innovation-agile Organisation-Change-Management.

Oc, B., 2018. Contextual leadership: A systematic review of how contextual factors shape leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly. 29(1). pp.218-235.