Ldr/531 Leadership Style Analysis
Leadership Style
Brian McMorris
LDR/531
June 23, 2014
Virginia Green
Leadership Style
The role of a leader is very important in any organization. Leadership styles have a direct and unique impact on the work environment and the success of an organization. A leader is someone who individuals look up to for guidance and support. Leaders are those individuals who are chosen to ensure that an organization’s goal is carried out. This paper analyzes the different attributes and styles of leaders, as well as looking at the leadership role of my current supervisor.
Daniel Goleman’s research has identified six distinct leadership styles that stemmed from different components of emotional intelligence. “These leadership styles …show more content…
are: coercive, authoritative, afflictive, democratic, pacesetting and coaching. However, only four of these six styles consistently have a positive impact on a company’s environment and success” (Goleman 2000). According to Goleman’s research findings it shows, that leaders who have positive results on the working environment will financially benefit than those that have a negative impact. Specifically, “leaders who have mastered the four positive styles (authoritative, democratic, afflictive, and coaching) have the most preferred environment and business performance. Furthermore, they are considerate of the impact they have on others and adjust their style to the one that is best suited for each situation and employee” (Goleman 2000).
What is Leadership?
At my current place of employment my supervisor can be seen as being authoritative as well as a democratic leader. My supervisor is also seen as being both directive and participative in his leadership style. He can be seen as a take charge person; however he does try to obtain input and suggestions from his employees, however all final decisions are left up to him to decide. Although he tries to be diplomatic at times he is seen as being more authoritative. My supervisor is also a micromanager, he has to be in control of situations at all times and if he is not in control he wants to know why.
His strengths though are that he is very informative, and he is well knowledgeable in his line of work. He also has the ability to pinpoint an individual’s strength and help them to grow and succeed in their strengths and weaknesses. He is also very personable, and can be seen as a “charmer”. Weakness areas that my supervisor entails are that he does not take criticism very well. If you tell him about a workflow or a process improvement that is not working instead of taking this feedback and adjusting he instead will make his employees feel that it is their fault and that there is nothing that needs to be addressed or fixed. Also there is a lack of trust within the organization and with management. Trust is an important ingredient to a leader’s effectiveness as well. According to Robbins (2003) the five key dimensions that encompass trust are: integrity, competence, consistency, loyalty, and openness. People will not follow someone that they believe does not have their best interest in mind, dishonest, or untrustworthy (Robbins 2003).
Another area that my supervisor needs improvement in is leading by example.
A good leader must demonstrate the qualities that they want to see in their employees. For example at organizations like Starbucks and McDonalds the order takers are always friendly and greet you with a smile. This is a part of their customer focus, so a leader must be able to demonstrate these same qualities. If you saw your leader being rude or mean to customers yet they are always telling you to be nice this would be seen as a contradiction. Then you as the employee could lose respect for the leader because they are not effectively demonstrating what they want to be done. An effective leader must be able to lead by …show more content…
example.
To be a “good” leader that you need to know how to manage conflict that arises.
Conflict is something that is inevitable, however it is important as a leader to show how you handle conflict that separates you from being a good or a bad leader. Conflict is a common workplace situation that arises. Because an organization is composed of many different individuals conflicts are seen as being unavoidable. Conflict involves and influences many factors. If there is conflict present in an organization than that can lead to employees attention being focused on the conflict and not focused on their job and their work productivity. Conflict also creates tensions. Conflict can sometimes arise when management is unable to communicate the direction of the company to employees. Conflict will begin as employees are allowed to interpret change within the company in their own way. Groups in conflict tend not to collaborate on new ideas. When conflict goes unresolved it can be difficult to create new ideas the company needs to solve problems it is facing. When conflict management is successful, there are limited negative effects and the company can move forward in a productive manner. When management does not offer conflict resolution, there can be many negative effects on the company. Understanding the negative effects of conflict an organization is
crucial.
Conclusion
As a leader you must have the power and influence over others to make them behave within the organizations standards, and motivate them to do what is expected and instructed for them to do. When individuals do not respect their leader the leader is seen as being powerless. Because of all the different opinions that individuals have, it takes a strong leader to be able to influence individuals to see things their way/organizations way. There are many factors that contribute to being a good leader and the more that we are able to understand the different styles of leadership we are then able to understand what it means to be effective.
References
Galford, Robert and Anne Drapeau. “The Trusted Leader.” QuickMBA.com. 2004. Goleman, Daniel. “Leadership That Gets Results.” Harvard Business Online. Mar.-Apr.
2002. Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation, 2000. Jex, S, M., & Britt, T, W. (2008). Organizational psychology: A scientist-practitioner approach. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Robbins, Stephen. Organizational Behavior. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 2003. Moldoveanu, G. PhD., & Sabie (ABALUTA), O. PhD. (2009, January). Leadership - Vector of Organizational Development. Administratie si Management Public, 12(10),
Brian McMorris
LDR/531
June 23, 2014
Virginia Green
Leadership Style
The role of a leader is very important in any organization. Leadership styles have a direct and unique impact on the work environment and the success of an organization. A leader is someone who individuals look up to for guidance and support. Leaders are those individuals who are chosen to ensure that an organization’s goal is carried out. This paper analyzes the different attributes and styles of leaders, as well as looking at the leadership role of my current supervisor.
Daniel Goleman’s research has identified six distinct leadership styles that stemmed from different components of emotional intelligence. “These leadership styles …show more content…
are: coercive, authoritative, afflictive, democratic, pacesetting and coaching. However, only four of these six styles consistently have a positive impact on a company’s environment and success” (Goleman 2000). According to Goleman’s research findings it shows, that leaders who have positive results on the working environment will financially benefit than those that have a negative impact. Specifically, “leaders who have mastered the four positive styles (authoritative, democratic, afflictive, and coaching) have the most preferred environment and business performance. Furthermore, they are considerate of the impact they have on others and adjust their style to the one that is best suited for each situation and employee” (Goleman 2000).
What is Leadership?
At my current place of employment my supervisor can be seen as being authoritative as well as a democratic leader. My supervisor is also seen as being both directive and participative in his leadership style. He can be seen as a take charge person; however he does try to obtain input and suggestions from his employees, however all final decisions are left up to him to decide. Although he tries to be diplomatic at times he is seen as being more authoritative. My supervisor is also a micromanager, he has to be in control of situations at all times and if he is not in control he wants to know why.
His strengths though are that he is very informative, and he is well knowledgeable in his line of work. He also has the ability to pinpoint an individual’s strength and help them to grow and succeed in their strengths and weaknesses. He is also very personable, and can be seen as a “charmer”. Weakness areas that my supervisor entails are that he does not take criticism very well. If you tell him about a workflow or a process improvement that is not working instead of taking this feedback and adjusting he instead will make his employees feel that it is their fault and that there is nothing that needs to be addressed or fixed. Also there is a lack of trust within the organization and with management. Trust is an important ingredient to a leader’s effectiveness as well. According to Robbins (2003) the five key dimensions that encompass trust are: integrity, competence, consistency, loyalty, and openness. People will not follow someone that they believe does not have their best interest in mind, dishonest, or untrustworthy (Robbins 2003).
Another area that my supervisor needs improvement in is leading by example.
A good leader must demonstrate the qualities that they want to see in their employees. For example at organizations like Starbucks and McDonalds the order takers are always friendly and greet you with a smile. This is a part of their customer focus, so a leader must be able to demonstrate these same qualities. If you saw your leader being rude or mean to customers yet they are always telling you to be nice this would be seen as a contradiction. Then you as the employee could lose respect for the leader because they are not effectively demonstrating what they want to be done. An effective leader must be able to lead by …show more content…
example.
To be a “good” leader that you need to know how to manage conflict that arises.
Conflict is something that is inevitable, however it is important as a leader to show how you handle conflict that separates you from being a good or a bad leader. Conflict is a common workplace situation that arises. Because an organization is composed of many different individuals conflicts are seen as being unavoidable. Conflict involves and influences many factors. If there is conflict present in an organization than that can lead to employees attention being focused on the conflict and not focused on their job and their work productivity. Conflict also creates tensions. Conflict can sometimes arise when management is unable to communicate the direction of the company to employees. Conflict will begin as employees are allowed to interpret change within the company in their own way. Groups in conflict tend not to collaborate on new ideas. When conflict goes unresolved it can be difficult to create new ideas the company needs to solve problems it is facing. When conflict management is successful, there are limited negative effects and the company can move forward in a productive manner. When management does not offer conflict resolution, there can be many negative effects on the company. Understanding the negative effects of conflict an organization is
crucial.
Conclusion
As a leader you must have the power and influence over others to make them behave within the organizations standards, and motivate them to do what is expected and instructed for them to do. When individuals do not respect their leader the leader is seen as being powerless. Because of all the different opinions that individuals have, it takes a strong leader to be able to influence individuals to see things their way/organizations way. There are many factors that contribute to being a good leader and the more that we are able to understand the different styles of leadership we are then able to understand what it means to be effective.
References
Galford, Robert and Anne Drapeau. “The Trusted Leader.” QuickMBA.com. 2004. Goleman, Daniel. “Leadership That Gets Results.” Harvard Business Online. Mar.-Apr.
2002. Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation, 2000. Jex, S, M., & Britt, T, W. (2008). Organizational psychology: A scientist-practitioner approach. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Robbins, Stephen. Organizational Behavior. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 2003. Moldoveanu, G. PhD., & Sabie (ABALUTA), O. PhD. (2009, January). Leadership - Vector of Organizational Development. Administratie si Management Public, 12(10),