Old Paradigm of Leadership
Discuss About The Global Journal Of Management And Business.
In academic and management research leadership is one of the most popular topics. Over the years the approach of leaders have observed a change in the approach due to the changing environmental factors such as politics, economics, technology, society etc. Any organisation regardless of its objectives and purpose needs leaders to fulfill the objectives, a leader is a person who shared the perspectives of the followers and strives towards achieving the objectives set by the organisation. The role that a leader plays in the organisation depends on the type of organisation that they are associated with, this in turn reflects on the style of leadership adapted by the leader as well. The role of a leader has evolved with time, the recognition of responsibility and identification of duties beyond the job role has become evident in the 21st century. A leader is a person who is can motivate, inspire and encourage a group of people and develop a sense of enthusiasm among them (D’Innocenzo, Mathieu & Kukenberger, 2016). There are several types of leadership explained in academics, but best style of leadership is said to be the one that is best suited for the given situation and circumstance. A leader is responsible for the accomplishment of the Organsiational goal as well as and the approach of the employee or subordinates towards the organization they are associated with (Yang, 2015). The purpose of this essay is to establish the difference in the “old paradigm” and “new paradigm” of leadership, thereby determining the characteristics and behavior of a leader of the 21st century.
Firstly it is important to establish the significance of a leader, in order to fully understand the characteristics of a leader in the 21st century. A leader guides the people in the direction of success and this success can be measured by achieving the goal. This support and guidance is important as people look ahead for another person to tell them what is to be done and how is it to be done. Motivation among the people in an organisation is essential in order to improve the efficiency and the commitment of the subordinate towards the organisation. He or she encourages the people to strive better and achieve greater accomplishment. Leader also makes the process of work streamline and develops confidence among the followers which also helps in improving the performance in the long run.
Trait Theory of Leadership
With changing time and development of technology and lifestyle among the people the concept of leadership is evolving as the attitude and the features of people are also changing. Based on the features and the characteristics of people born in a certain time periods their behavioral traits and approaches are judged. For example: there is clear different approach towards work of Millennial compared to Baby Boomers or Generation X. this is the main reason why there is a need to have a different approach in leadership as well. The old paradigm is based on trait theory, contingency leadership etc, the focus of these theories that were formulated during the 1960s is the relationship between the leader and the followers and it helped in predicting the outcome of the venture and the performance of the people. The new paradigm of leadership is based on the theories like charismatic leadership, and the highly influential transformational-transactional leadership theory, laissez-faire leadership etc. The focus of these theories is on the subordinate and the way a style is going to impact the subordinate rather than focusing on the leader.
According to the trait theory of leadership, the characteristics of a leader are in born and therefore a person is a born leader rather than developing characteristics of a leader in the lifetime. The theory entails the qualities that make up a leader and it also states that a leader who successfully establishes should have abilities and personality traits that are different from the subordinates or the followers. Thus, the probability of having more than one leader in a community is absent. The theory states some of the prerequisites that are essential for being a leader: drive to accomplish the goals, motivating and inspiring, integrity and reliability, intellectual abilities and emotional maturity etc. this theory also explains that a leader is always looking ahead of success (Day et al., 2014). Therefore based on this theory of leadership the characteristics that can be derived of the old paradigm are: the role of a leader is to guide and support the subordinates in achieving the objectives, the leader hardly interacts with the subordinates and also does not focus on the needs and requirements of the followers the primary role of the leader is to instruct the people. The decision making power is only with the leader and he may or may not choose to involve the perspective of the subordinates in the process of decision making (Sharma & Jain, 2013).
Contingency Theory of Leadership
Another theory that will help in understanding the features of the leadership style in old paradigm is the contingency theory of leadership (Panait, 2017). The theory states that the success of a leader is not based on the qualities or traits of the individual rather it is also dependent on the circumstances and situations in which the leader is in. Along with the circumstances there are three other factors that are focused upon in order to evaluate the success: the nature of the task or the objective, the personality of the leaders and the traits that make him or her suitable in the process, the composition of the group of people who are responsible to achieve the objective (Myers, 2015). Some of the contingency theories in leadership are: path-goal theory, decision making theory, situational theory etc. From the above analysis it can be derived that the characteristic of the old paradigm is based on a very narrow approach of the process. The focus was completely on the growth and development of the organisation not considering the impact that it had on the society or the other aspects which are not associated with the achievement of the objective of the organisation (Day et al., 2014).
On the other hand, the theories that are associated with the new paradigm have a wider approach to leadership. For example, in transformational leadership the leader of the organisation is characterized by encouraging changes with respect to the dynamic nature of the environment (Yang, 2015). The leader facilitates changes in order to develop and grow; he or she provides the subordinates scope of improvement with changes in the process (Ghasabeh et al., 2015). A transformational leader is visionary and farsighted and invests in the process innovation some of the popular leaders who are known for their transformational style of leadership are: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Martin Luther King etc. these people are famous for bring change in the history in the way people use technology or reforms in the society (Yang, 2015).
Another important theory that explains the characteristic of new leader is the transactional leadership. In this style the leader, the organisations as well as the subordinates gain from the arrangement of the objective. There is a certain transaction of benefits or advantages that are achieved by both the leader as well as the subordinate. The interest of the followers in this theory is paid equal importance and one of the attribute of the leader is to align the interest of the organisation along with the individual interest (Day, Griffin & Louw, 2014).
New Paradigm of Leadership
In the new paradigm the difference in between a leader and a manager is established as there is a very fine line of difference in the attitude in between the two concepts. The role of a leader is more informal in the new scenario he or she is in the process of the operation where as a manager performs his duty as he or she has certain remuneration attached to the process making the concept more formal. A person becomes a manager on the basis of the position and academic accomplishments on the other hand the concept of a leader is based on personal traits that are both in born or is acquired (Saeed et al., 2014). One of the new leadership concepts that explain the difference in between a leader and a manager is charismatic leadership, the function of a manager is to fulfill the management duties on the other hand the role of a leader is to guide the people to achieve the objectives. A charismatic leader is a person who leads with the help of articulate, strategic communication skills and uses persuasion as well as force of personality (D’Innocenzo et al., 2016).
From the above discussion the characteristics of a leader required in the new paradigm are: Communication skill: from the charismatic theory of leadership it has been observed that communication plays a significant role in the new age leader, the way the leader communicates results in the success or failure in the accomplishment of the task (Hackman & Johnson 2013). The leader of an organisation should use efficient and strategic communication process in order to motivate and inspire people to achieve the objectives. Effective and eloquent communication helps in achieving the trust of the people who in turn provide their efficiency and commitment towards the company or the organisation. In a business organisation it is important for the people to be satisfied with the job and in order to improve the rate of job satisfaction the leaders must motivate and inspire this is nothing but effective communication (Day, Griffin & Louw, 2014). Far-sightedness: the dynamics of the external environment impact the operation of an organisation and in the new paradigm the factors in macro environment are always changing thus changing the outcome of the objective as well as development of new objectives in the due course (Saeed et al., 2014). Therefore it is very essential for the new age leaders to have a visionary outlook towards the prospect of the achievement of the objectives. The decisions that are taken in an organisation are dependent on the dynamic nature of the macro as well as the micro environment, thus the leader has to foresee or has to be ready for risks associated with the enterprise. The visionary outlook of the leader also helps in keeping the company as the leader in the market as it is important for a business organisation, it helps the company identify the scope of improvement and recognize the opportunities before any other competition (D’Innocenzo et al., 2016). On the other hand for a non-profit seeking organisation the visionary outlook of the leader helps in identifying the trends and improving the efficiency. Intellectual skills: a leader in the new paradigm must have diversified knowledge which will guide him or her and also help in developing confidence, knowledge is not only restricted to academics it is about various aspects as an organization does not always work on the basis of the theories and models that are taught in academics. Knowledge will help the leader to broaden the perspective and thereby have a wider horizon of prospect (Day et al., 2014). Sense of responsibility: it is expected of a leader of any organisation to have the sense of responsibility, but this sense should be also drawn from empathy and sense of humanity. The concept of triple bottom line has been popular among the business organisation, leader have accepted the responsibility they have towards the society and the environment, business organisations pay equal importance to finance as well as the environment and the society that is associated directly or indirectly with the company (Saeed et al., 2014). The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility is now widely accepted by all scales of organisations. This situation therefore explains a radical change from the ideology of a traditional leader which was just surrounded by the financial growth and prospect of the company (D’Innocenzo et al., 2016).
It can be concluded form the above discussion that traditional leadership approach was builds on a very narrow perspective and just focused on the leader. In the new approaches the leader as well as the subordinates is offered equal importance. The successful achievement of the objectives of the organisation was a parameter to understand the success of a leader in the new approach the objectives helps in building the characteristics of a leader. The leaders of the 21st century should not be afraid of innovation and changes as it ensures growth and prospect of the organization in the long run.
Reference list
D’Innocenzo, L., Mathieu, J. E., & Kukenberger, M. R. (2016). A meta-analysis of different forms of shared leadership–team performance relations. Journal of Management, 42(7), 1964-1991.
Day, D. V., Fleenor, J. W., Atwater, L. E., Sturm, R. E., & McKee, R. A. (2014). Advances in leader and leadership development: A review of 25years of research and theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 63-82.
Day, D. V., Griffin, M. A., & Louw, K. R. (2014). The climate and culture of leadership in organizations. The Oxford handbook of organizational climate and culture, 101-117.
Ghasabeh, M. S., Soosay, C., & Reaiche, C. (2015). The emerging role of transformational leadership. The Journal of Developing Areas, 49(6), 459-467.
Hackman, M. Z., & Johnson, C. E. (2013). Leadership: A communication perspective. Waveland Press.
Myers Jr, L. A. (2015). Preparing for Ethical Leadership: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Leadership Education, 14(2).
Panait, C. (2017). DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP SKILLS. IDENTIFYING LEADERSHIP QUALITIES AND ATTRIBUTES. Review of the Air Force Academy, (1), 167.
Saeed, T., Almas, S., Anis-ul-Haq, M., & Niazi, G. S. K. (2014). Leadership styles: relationship with conflict management styles. International Journal of Conflict Management, 25(3), 214-225.
Sharma, M. K., & Jain, S. (2013). Leadership management: Principles, models and theories. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, 3(3), 309-318.
Yang, I. (2015). Positive effects of laissez-faire leadership: conceptual exploration. Journal of Management Development, 34(10), 1246-1261.
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