Introduction
Numerous leadership theories have been proposed. Leaders have the liberty to follow one theory or use varied leadership styles. This essay explores the leadership style within the transportation company that I work for and draw the most suitable leadership theory that fits my organization basing on the characteristics depicted by our leaders. The vision of the organization I work for is holding a strong focus on clients which is attaining by offering exemplary services to their customers and effectively networking with its associates. The effect of power and influence, types of leadership styles and characteristics of effective team leaders will be explored.
Apply one of the leadership theories from the course text to the organization. Explain how the theory works and include an example.
The most suitable leadership style to describe the current place I work in is contingency leadership theory. Basing on this theory, there should not be any particular way of administering leadership but rather leaders should lead based on the situations at hand. This notion has been grounded from the fact that there are individuals who perform between at certain places and poorly in other places (Weiss, 2015). My organization is diverse and thus each department applies a different method or rather a style of leadership basing on the varied scenarios taking place. In the specific niche that I am positioned, the leadership style being employed is a reserved and relaxed type of leadership. Employees at the management position are very inspiring and always encourage us to learn and embrace leadership skills. Leaders within my organization involve the subordinate employees in decision making and problem-solving situations while at the same time offering guidance for the purpose of making us better leaders in the future. One of the examples to showcase the presence of contingency leadership theory within my organization is considering the strengths and weaknesses of employees while assigning tasks. The company also has training programs aimed at helping employees advance their knowledge and skills in areas where they are weak.
Explain the effect of power and influence that leaders have on followers in the organization. Are the followers receptive? Would you recommend another strategy? Explain your reasoning. If not, why not?
In any organization, leaders are at the core of determining whether a company will come out successful or not through their strategies, decisions and how they relate with people. The term influence entails the ability that an individual has to impact change over others (Weiss, 2015). Drawing from my workplace, there is a positive effect brought about by the power and influence that leaders have. Individual leaders have a varying effect on their employees basing on their interaction and how the leaders treat them. Even though power and influence in my organizations have had positive effects mostly, there are moments when power and influence do have a positive influence. For me, I always make sure that I treat everyone nicely and consistently in order to be a good example to others. There are several employees who are not happy with some leaders. According to them, they claim that there are leaders who look down upon their subordinates. Majorly, followers are receptive because they are proud of their work and would like to excel in what they do. An example of a leader within my organization whose power and influence tends to have a negative impact is the service center director. The leader is biased and favors some employees who have made him lose credibility and is not respected by many workers including me. There is low position power in my organization because the company does not carry out evaluations. According to Weiss (2015), position power is a term that refers to the level of influence that leaders have towards their subordinates which can be in terms of their ability to hire and fire, punish and reward. Position power is defined to be high when a particular leader has the ability to execute all these tasks while it is defined as low depending on how few executions he has been mandated to carry out. The company I work for lacks measures for carrying out evaluations and thus making it hard for a leader to fire and discipline employees. In that regard, leaders have low position power (Maduka et al. 2018). In the case of the service director, he has the authority to hire. However, he misuses this position since he always hires the people that he knows and not the best fit for the job. When confronted with his favoritism, he always denies and comes up with excuses to defend his case. Therefore, my recommendation is that leaders too should take part in training programs in order to get educated on the best kind of leadership. This will help them have a positive influence over their followers and thus improving general performance.
Evaluate the role and effectiveness of transformational and transactional leadership in the organization. Support your (claims, points?) with examples (from?).
Transformational leadership is a leadership style whereby the leader works collaboratively with the employees to note the change needed then create a vision that will act as a guide in the course of implementing the change. In the organization that I work for, the roles and effectiveness of transformational leadership can be deduced from the upper management (Afsar et al. 2017). Usually, transformational leadership begins at the top whereby the upper management comes up with decisions regarding the needed change. Often, in organizations whereby transformational leadership is exercised, the upper management is always the first one to note any weakness or strengths within the organization. They are also the ones who create the company’s vision and mission. They are also tasked with encouraging the employees to believe in the vision while at the same time taking the lead role in implementing the vision. In my organization, there is a very good practice of transformational leadership. Usually, the topmost management team is the one that makes decisions and then informs the subsequent management department on matters pertaining to change. The department leaders are the ones who communicate the message to the rest of the employees. From the outlook of things, the upper management within my organizations has always performed based on the vision and mission of the company. They usually come up with different strategies that see all employees are motivated and feel part of the change that is being implemented (Weiss, 2015).
On the other hand, transactional leadership is a leadership style whereby leaders support compliance by followers attained through rewarding good deeds and punishing the wrongdoings. The roles and effectiveness of transactional leadership in the organization I work for is effective every day in different departments. In every department, the management team focuses more on the daily operations of the organizations thus enhancing the mission statement of the company. On a daily basis, the management assigns employees tasks which they are expected to carry out and produce results to their level best. All employees work independently and are expected to maintain accountability in their assignments. However, for my organization, transformational leadership seems to be more effective compared to transactional leadership since rewards and punishment are not so much emphasized (Afsar et al. 2017).
Assess the traits and characteristics of an effective team leader within the organization.
There are numerous traits that can be evaluated when examining the effectiveness of a team leader in any organization. Some of the traits that I have noted within my organizations comprise a good communicator, influential, respectful of the team members, practices integrity, supportive, optimistic and confident in the team (Maduka et al. 2018). These traits are an integral part of leading a group of people and they are the ones determining whether a leader is effective or not. They are the ones that will see a leader come up with not only a strong but powerful and strong foundation for the team when carrying out a project. For the team members to believe in a leader, the leader has to practice a high level of integrity in his or her operations. Most of the leaders within my organization are effective when it comes to communication. Changes are usually communicated in time and as a result, there are always minimal misunderstandings within the company. Also, the majority of the leaders in my organization are very respectful apart from the service director who tends to only respect his favorite employees. This is a bad trait since it makes employees also disrespect him in return. A leader should respect the team members for teamwork to be well-executed and attain maximum performance. Integrity, on the other hand, is very important when working as a team. Effective team leaders ought to practice integrity in order to set a good example for the other team members (Maduka et al. 2018). Apart from the service director, the other leaders within the organization practice integrity. Generally, most of the leaders in the organization are very supportive both when it comes to working issues and even external issues that are not related to the job. This motivates employees into performing better since they feel part of the organization. A good team leader should always be optimistic. Being optimistic makes the team members believe in a vision and thus put their level best effort in executing their assigned tasks. In my organization, all the leaders are very optimistic and this is a factor that motivates all employees. An effective team leader has to be confident in the team, drawing from my organization, many leaders are confident in employees apart from only a few. When a leader is confident, even the team members also become confident in their roles (Weiss, 2015).
Explain how the leadership supports the vision, mission, and strategy in the organization.
The leadership team supports the vision, mission, and strategy of an organization in various ways. One of the mechanisms in which leaders can employ in supporting the vision, mission, and strategy of the organization is by believing and having confidence in the vision, mission, and strategy. Usually, leaders in an organization are the ones who come up with these statements and if they do not believe and have confidence in them, it will be challenging to convince the entire team into believing in them during implementation. Usually, the vision of an organization is at the core of the strategy. Therefore, it is the role of the leaders to try and connect the vision of the company to employees’ daily undertakings by bringing the vision into life. Therefore, the leaders should have a well-stipulated purpose that will drive employees into executing the strategy. Another way to support these core factors is creating and supporting a working environment that supports the mission of the company. In regard to supporting the mission, leaders ought to come up with an egalitarian culture whereby they practice what they communicate regardless of their positions (Maduka et al. 2018). This is a virtue that is well-practiced within my organization.
Moreover, leaders should create team activities that are in line with the vision and mission of the organization. Having team building initiatives have been found to be very significant in driving a company’s vision, mission, and strategy. This will also aid in fostering company values. In my organization, there are tasks we work individually and the ones whereby we work in teams. This aids in fostering collaboration and improving relationships between workmates. The end result is usually a happy and motivated workforce (Weiss, 2015).
If you were the leader in the organization, what would you change and why?
In the case whereby I would have been a leader in my organization, I would start by amending the general outlook of the service center. I would make it a friendly environment for all the employees and ensure that there is no form of favoritism being practiced. I will ensure that all employees are being held at the same standard by embracing equality. I will ensure that even leaders are subscribed to training programs to improve their efficiency. A high level of equality within the workplace makes employees feel that they are included in the daily running of the organization and do not feel like outsiders. Another thing that I will change is the leadership structure. I will ensure that I make it clear on how the employees can advance in their careers by creating evaluation mechanisms that will see employees promoted to leadership positions through their hard work and general input in the company. Having a well-structured form of leadership and management aids in reducing confusion and disagreements within the workplace.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the type of leadership within an organization plays a key role in the success or failure of the organization. However, there is no right or wrong type of leadership. The primary issue for consideration is the activities and vision of an organization that determines the best kind of leadership style to be implemented. Since there are different situations every day in my workplace, contingency leadership style is the most suitable. This mode of leadership makes the management effective depending on the situation at hand. Although there are leaders who misuse this form of leadership, the proper use of contingency leadership has the capability of making an organization very successful. Leaders ought to use the power and influence invested in them to support the mission, vision and strategy of an organization. Improper use of these attributes usually leads to low performance and increased employee turnover which generally affects the performance of any organization.
References
Maduka, N. S., Edwards, H., Greenwood, D., Osborne, A., & Babatunde, S. O. (2018). Analysis of competencies for effective virtual team leadership in building successful organisations. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 25(2), 696-712.
Weiss, J. W. (2015). An introduction to leadership. (2nd ed.) San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
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