Trait Theory and Personal Experience
A leader is an individual with a vision to accomplish a greater good. He or she does so by aligning and mobilising those around him or her through motivation, inspiration and planned organisation (Yukl 2013). This process by which the leader influence others to act coherently and directs them to a path of constructive change to achieve a common goal is referred to as Leadership. The following essay aims to describe specific theories of leadership and leadership styles. This has been explained with the help of my own personal experience as an Operations Executive in ABC Corporate.
Trait Theory: It was the first systematic approach to understand Leadership. As per this theory, Leaders possessed certain traits that form as a combination of physical, personal and social dynamics such as appearance, height, intelligence, cognitive ability, decision-making and problem solving skills, enthusiasm, self-confidence, interpersonal skills, proactiveness, persistence, honesty and integrity (Goncalves 2013). However, later evidences contradicted the validity of trait theory by stating that the presence of such traits are not exclusive in case of leaders as many non-leaders were also found to possess those. In my organisation, Mr. Daniels, the Senior Manager of my department, that is operations, was a short, bald and lean man. However, his oratory skills could match up to anyone in the debates of National Television and he was a great coach. In the quarterly meetings, he always used to communicate the objectives clearly and also took our suggestions and implemented them wherever necessary. He used to handle grievances with equal dexterity.
Behavioural Theory: When theorists tried to explain how effective a leadership is from the behavioural aspects of leaders, they came across four important behavioural parameters like the manner in which a leader delegates the tasks, motivate and inspire their employees or followers, communicate with them and discharge their own responsibilities (Goncalves 2013). Based on these parameters the researchers identified the continuum the graded leadership style ranging from a less preferable boss-centric approach to a more flexible and acceptable subordinate centric approach.
Contingency Theory: This particular theory had emerged from the idea that not all traits or behavioural aspects were equally applicable in all situations. It is because only the demand of a situation carves out a leader. Contingency Theory is hugely applicable in organisational setting whereby organisational policies and practices strongly affect a given situation and thus proves the leadership quality in an individual (Thiel, Griffith and Connelly 2015).
Behavioral Theory
Transformational Leadership Theory: The concepts of Management and Leadership are often considered synonymous. However, the Theory of Transformational Leadership strives to state the fundamental difference that not all managers are necessarily leaders (Thiel, Griffith and Connelly 2015). Managers essentially follows a definite path to achieve the organisational goal. But a leader is someone who innovates that path towards goal achievement. A particular trait that distinguishes a leader from managers is charisma. Charismatic leaders tend to have a magnetic influence on their followers through exceptional oratory and problem-solving skills. Such charismatic and intellectually stimulating leaders lay the foundation of transformational leadership. We, in the operations were quite fortunate to have a manager like Mr. Daniels to guide us through thick and thin. He was an energetic man, always eager to try out unique but realistic methods for problem solving. He never gave up on the less proficient members of our team and took time out from his schedule to coach them on their deficiencies. On many occasions, he had readily taken the full responsibility when the team was not able to deliver as per expectations, but made sure it did in the next quarter. He was a hard-working man with an enigmatic personality that gave us hope even in the most critical situations.
The theories of Leadership led to the emergence of certain specific leadership styles. These styles are adapted by managers either in isolation or in combination with other styles. I wish to add here that not one style is exclusive for a particular manager as he or she might change it with the demand of the situation. Some of these leadership styles are as follows:
Transactional Leadership Style: This leadership style is characterised by group organisation and a clear chain of command in the management activities. The leaders make sure that good performances are noticed and recognised but they also penalise the employees for bad decisions (Goncalves 2013). Therefore this style of leadership is known to be effective in short term. However, under such circumstances, employees are unlikely to reach their full creative potential.
Autocratic Leadership Style: Autocratic leaders have considerable command over their staff and they prioritise management with an iron fist over suggestive-approach to achieving organisational goals. Such leadership style is not much fruitful in practical life except for that in military camps, as it leads to high turnover and increased level of absenteeism among the staff (Saeed et al. 2014).
Contingency Theory
Democratic Leadership Style: In organisational setting it is also referred to as Participative Leadership Style where the relationship between managers and staff is built on trust and faith. The managers encourage their subordinates to participate actively in decision making in both upward and downward communication channels while retaining their right to take the ultimate decision after soliciting the best advice from the lot. However, this style of leadership in-spite of having the benefits of creative thinking and good interpersonal relations, fails to work in areas where the need to take quick decision is crucial (Goncalves 2013).
Laissez-faire Leadership Style: This style is characterised by the flexible and easy-going nature of the leaders who give complete autonomy to their followers and allow them to deliver a responsibility in a manner they see it fit (Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy 2014). It works well for settings where the employees have reasonable amount of experience and do not require much monitoring of their superiors.
Servant Leadership Style: This type of Leadership works on a power sharing model that emphasise on collective decision making. It is considered to be a beneficial style as it helps in improving the diversity of organisational culture and also boost the employee morale (Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy 2014).
Bureaucratic Leadership Style: It is mostly applicable in administrative domains where strict adherence to rules and regulations are considered to be most important (Saeed et al. 2014). A definite hierarchy is maintained for communications. Such style of leadership works well in healthcare setting.
Consultative Leadership Style: In many ways it is quite similar to Democratic Leadership style. However, in this, leaders do not have complete faith in all of their subordinates (Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy 2014). Hence they solicit advice from only a handful of their trusted employees, taking the final decision themselves.
Situational Leadership Style: It encompasses a range of different styles based on the environmental demand. Factors like complexity of business process and worker seniority requires adopting to different styles (Goncalves 2013). However, in few instances, switching between roles becomes challenging for those individuals who are comfortable in maintaining a fixed style. In our operations team, however, Mr. Daniels used to keep it flexible. At times he used to give all the members complete autonomy of carrying out a project after having outlined it in the meeting. He used to follow up with us in every 2 weeks for a six months projects and suggested us only when we needed one. At other times he used to form a few sub-teams, heading one of those and then delegate each team with a particular portion of the whole task. Therefore situational leadership defined his style.
Transformational Leadership Theory and Personal Experience
In an organisational setting managers are often held in the position of leaders. They are expected to possess a vision of how the current scenario in the organisation can be improved to deliver better result with higher economic efficiency. With vision, managers should also be innovative in their approach to communicate their ideas to their juniors in a way that they feel motivated to carry out their part of the task with utmost readiness, honesty and integrity (Pierro et al. 2013).
In my experience in the corporate I have observed that in order to have the proficiency of a leader, the manager must possess one or more of the qualities such as positivity, extremely good communication skill, emotional intelligence, effective capability to delegate the responsibility among juniors, listening and decision making skills and above all, they need to be empathetic. It is the leader within a manager who makes a difference in maximising the efficiency in accomplishing the organisational goal and justifying the importance of each of his or her subordinate’s contribution in that accomplishment.
A personal experience that I can reflect on to explain the above mentioned aspects of a quality leader would be a situation that occurred at the time when our organisation was undergoing a major merger with a competitor firm. I belonged from the operations team which was supposed to go through considerable amount of reorganisation. Our Senior Manager, Mr. Daniels, who was a very supportive person helped the entire team to understand the basic values and principles in which the competitor organisation worked and would be eventually incorporated in the framework with those of ours. There were new hierarchies which, initially, were to adjust with. But with the help of our manager we, the operations team were able to synergise our duties and responsibilities in a way that was best suited for the new structure of our organisation. Our manager earned our respect when he acknowledges our team decisions in the presence of new team leaders and encouraged a participative approach during quarterly meetings. This really helped us, the old team, to know our new members better and also address the organisational change with positivity. Thus it was the remarkable leadership approach by our manager which assisted us in the crucial situation of merger and inspired us to accept a change with flexible mind for achieving greater good.
Every leader has their own individualistic approach in modelling after a leadership style which they deem fit for their organisation setting (Beer 2015). In way of putting such leadership style to practice, they cultivate a brand for themselves. Such personal style is primarily concerned with addressing the challenges, looking after the interpersonal environment within the organisation, and the level of autonomy he or she allows for the subordinates. Such leadership brand is both exclusive and specific for the individual exercising authority that defines their objectivity and worth in the organisation. There are certain ways in which the leader can put his or her brand into effective practice, as per the need of the situation. Apart from the common ethical values of honesty, strength of character, integrity, commitment and truthfulness, there are few other principles that a leader adapts in order to be more acceptable in the organisation and among his or her subordinates. These values, principles and approaches which serve to set one leader apart from the other are as follows:
Leadership Styles
First and foremost, the leader must be able to clearly communicate his intentions about achieving the organisational goal to his or her subordinates (Menges et al. 2015). Well-versed orators or speakers possessing excellent articulation and communicative power always get greater acceptance from their juniors or followers.
Secondly, these intentions must outline a definite path with a realistic deadline by which the duty needs to be delivered, keeping the interest of the key stakeholders intact (Men 2014). At this juncture I would like to cite an example that took place in our organisation. Deadlines are considered to be of paramount interest when it comes to deliverance of a consignment. However, there might be issues like physical injury, accidents and natural or socio political disasters which can jeopardise the delivery. At times, the risk is averted through an alternative plan and at other times, there is no option but to accept the failure and begin with the task again. Even in such critical situation, an organisation ties to avert any misunderstanding with the stakeholders. So in order to balance between employee crisis and commitment to stakeholders, I have seen Mr. Daniels to follow an alternative deadline, which is usually much before than that of our team for the same task, in case of any mishaps. He is quite realistic about the possibility of deliverance within the stakeholder’s or client’s interest. In extreme cases of non-deliverance he had been a scapegoat to the client for the sake of maintaining the reputation and goodwill of the organisation.
Thirdly, the leader himself or herself needs to identify his or her key strengths and weaknesses and accordingly enforce or improve those for the purpose of preserving the organisation’s reputation. It is important for the leader to avoid being too engrossed in his or her strengths which lets them to overlook the crucial weakness that may cause to effect the organisation adversely (Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee 2013). He must have patience to withstand substantial criticism. This is identified as a core leadership trait.
Fourthly, a leader needs to be innovative and at the same time, encourage his or her subordinates towards effective brainstorming sessions. In such circumstances, leaders must provide their followers with substantial amount of creative independence so that they can nurture their abilities and potentials towards fulfilling the organisational purpose (Little, Gooty and Williams 2016).
Fifthly, it is the leader’s most important responsibility to recognise the potential of his or her subordinates, give them the opportunity to voice their opinion, consider those advices in relevant situation, evaluate the potential risks and sum it up with the other credentials to finally take the decision for proceeding with a particular job. Thus, effective delegation, follow-up, feedback, counselling are all associated aspects which an efficient leader needs to address appropriately for the sake of organisation’s sustainability (Hackman and Johnson 2013).
Transactional Leadership Style
Leaders, as mentioned in the beginning are role models who are looked up to by the subordinates. Therefore, to enhance and redefine the perceptions, the leader must align his or her ambition with that of the organisation. This means that a leader is required to put the interest of the organisation before his or her self-serving interests. Along with the organisation, he or she needs to ascertain that stakeholders’ interest are kept and also the contribution of the juniors are acknowledged. In light of this fact it can be stated that relationship building and maintaining falls among the key areas of responsibilities of a leader which he or she needs to discharge for the sake of organisation’s health (Chemers 2014).
In professional relationships, values like trust, commitment and empathy are very integral. In order to have trust on a leader, the employee subordinates have complete right to assess him or her on the domain knowledge and past credentials. If and only if they are satisfied on these two parameters, they would give importance to what he or she needs to communicate to them. Commitment is a mutual factor which depends on the amount of trust one has over the other. If the subordinates have complete faith on their leader’s intentions and plan of work, they would be readily committing to his delegations and also actively participating in the discussions. Whereas in situations of conflicting ideas they would rely less on their leaders. Such conflicts can be reduced or eliminated with proper listening skills and empathy on part of the leader (Connelly et al. 2013). He or she is someone who is supposed to be unbiased and neutral but having adequate emotional intelligence to understand the nature of crisis faced by his or her subordinates. With these skills, the leader is well equipped to build successful relations within the organisation. I had experienced this entire aspect during my days in ABC Corporate as an operations executive supervised by Mr. Daniels. He was very much aware of the importance of interpersonal relationships and took extra care to keep it working till the last day of his retirement.
It must be duly noted that not always a leader stands up to his o her people’s expectations. Because in a diverse cultural setting where each individual is unique with respect to their background, upbringing and socio economic status, it is a difficult job to arrive at a consensus by fulfilling everyone’s needs. This is the exact point where a good leader can be distinguished from an average or inefficient one. Although the above aspect is difficult to achieve in the light of practicality, a good leader would be able to win over majority of the populace with one or more of the above iterated skills. It is only an adverse situation which leads to the emergence of a competent leader (Alegre and Levitt 2014).
References
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Chemers, M., 2014. An integrative theory of leadership. Psychology Press.
Connelly, S., Friedrich, T.L., Vessey, L., Shipman, A., Day, E.A. and Ruark, G., 2013. A conceptual framework of emotion management in leadership contexts. Leader interpersonal and influence skills: The soft skills of leadership, pp.101-136.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R.E. and McKee, A., 2013. Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.
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Little, L.M., Gooty, J. and Williams, M., 2016. The role of leader emotion management in leader–member exchange and follower outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(1), pp.85-97.
Men, L.R., 2014. Strategic internal communication: Transformational leadership, communication channels, and employee satisfaction. Management Communication Quarterly, 28(2), pp.264-284.
Menges, J.I., Kilduff, M., Kern, S. and Bruch, H., 2015. The awestruck effect: Followers suppress emotion expression in response to charismatic but not individually considerate leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(4), pp.626-640.
Nanjundeswaraswamy, T.S. and Swamy, D.R., 2014. Leadership styles. Advances in management, 7(2), p.57.
Pierro, A., Raven, B.H., Amato, C. and Bélanger, J.J., 2013. Bases of social power, leadership styles, and organizational commitment. International Journal of Psychology, 48(6), pp.1122-1134.
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Thiel, C., Griffith, J. and Connelly, S., 2015. Leader–follower interpersonal emotion management: Managing stress by person-focused and emotion-focused emotion management. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 22(1), pp.5-20.
Yukl, G.A., 2013. Leadership in organizations. Pearson Education India.
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