Leadership Management

Trait Theory

1) Different theoretical practices are adopted in the corporate world for optimum work performance and strong corporate governance. The trait theory is one such theory that associates with self-responsibility and liability towards the organization for which one is working. The trait theory provides productive information regarding leadership qualities.  There are different leadership traits related to trait theory that is consciousness, determination, empathy, responsibility, confidence, brightness, sincerity and focus. Strengths and weaknesses of an employee can be evaluated with the help of this process (Nawaz & Khan, 2016). This practice can thus be used to polish the inner leaders for even better results.

The three traits I possess are consciousness, responsibility and honesty. As a student, I was conscious, as I was a good listener and observer of events happening around. On the responsibility part, I have bestowed the duty of a class monitor to supervise the activities of the students. Lastly, honesty is an integral part of me as I find it pointless to be dishonest because it has its own set of problems and side effects.

2) Many personality traits do not belong to the trait theory of leadership. People in every level of an organization can apply these methods. People can adopt the process of self-evaluation to understand the level of quality and efficiency in managing the company’s operations (Nabers, 2016).  One of the traits not belonging to the conventional trait theory is flexibility. It is also one trait that I do not carry. I consider it a drawback in my leadership qualities. The problem I face is that I am not accustomed to multitasking with flexibility in a work scenario.

3) As per the discussion above, the personality and leadership traits that I carry are not sufficient on the leadership front. Enhancement regarding specific characteristics and issues need to be provided. Leadership qualities require a unique set of skills and techniques. Leadership traits like determination, brightness, sincerity, focus and flexibility need to be practised by me, to convert myself to an efficient leader with proper leadership qualities. Even if a person is born with natural conditions that can make him a future leader, traits and classes need to be encouraged, developed and polished consciously for the best results (Wyatt & Silvester, 2018).

Situational, Transformational and Servant Leadership

• There are many leadership modules, namely situational, transformational and servant.

The situational model of leadership is among the essential forms of leadership. This particular type of leadership is associated with processes like telling, selling, participating and assigning. The group members are allowed to take up decisions, ideas regarding planning, and innovation in a company. This process is known as the participating section and allotment of specific responsibilities to the staff for maximum decision-making is associated with assigning part. These four components collectively form situational leadership (Harrison, 2018).

Transformational leadership is associated with the encouragement and motivation of the employees conducted by their senior counterparts. This process is associated with innovation in the structure of a company. Employees who are experienced and well trained are provided authority regarding the decisions made on behalf of the organization. Employees are prepared for enhancing their leadership skills through proper training and monitoring (Pidgeon, 2017).

The method that enriches an individual’s life and is associated with the building of better organizations is known as servant leadership. This form of leadership is related to creating a justified and helpful world.

• In my personal opinion, I feel transformational leadership is the most effective approach as compared to the other two methods. The primary reason for my assessment is the number of benefits associated with it. The benefits include:

1. It is related to a reduction in turnover costs.
2. The method involves a person in the assigned tasks.
3. Transformational leaders perform creation of changes and management of rectifications.
4. Current learning methods and development processes are encouraged by it.
5. Transformational leaders are equipped with strong communication skills (Pidgeon, 2017).

3) As of my personal experiences regarding a particular approach, the situational method of leadership is the one, which I confronted. I was associated with an organization that followed the situational path for its strategic growth. We used to have an entire set of the marketing team that handled the marketing operations of the organization. Our manager explained the duties and responsibilities of our job profile along with the dos and did not’s. The proper procedures of sales and marketing were also delivered by our manager, which helped us perform in a very productive way.

Identification of an influential leader

Leadership powers are often exploited, and it is the nature of the leader that defines the positivity or negativity of their leadership. Many leaders have misused power and harmed society in many ways. Adolf Hitler can be considered one of the most dreaded leaders who have abused their power to an abnormal extent. The setting up of the Nazi group in alliance with other dictatorship value parties and the rise of capitalism in Europe created the most critical human rights violation challenges in world history. His actions still echo a fright in history.

On the other hand, Mother Teresa of Macedonia can be considered the most positive leader who has paved the way for social causes regarding charity and humanity across the world. She had the backing of various Christian minorities across the world, which spread the benefits of her noble cause worldwide (Naidoo, Hewitt & Bussin, 2019). She was even awarded the prestigious Noble Peach Prize for her actions.

Leadership Scenarios

• The Leadership style best suited for this scenario will be situational leadership. The participating and assigning sector of the leadership model was not adequately addressed, resulting in the inability to performed assigned tasks. The situational aspect of leadership would be the prevailing one as, in spite of excitement regarding learning the job responsibilities, she is not able to follow through the assigned tasks, which is purely a situational issue. She can gain momentum on the achievement of further experience.
• As per the path-goal model, instrumental leadership is considered the most appropriate method for this scenario. As the employee is competent enough, the discouragement and no motivation regarding their progress need to be addressed single-handedly. On behalf of the entire team, I as a manager will have to take the responsibility of boosting the morale of the staff and help them get motivated. This will positively enhance their confidence and increase their productivity.
• In the particular scenario using the Path goal model, the employee is probably suffering from performance anxiety. As she is creative and competent, she needs proper guidance from the manager to gain confidence. The most appropriate form of leadership applicable in this scenario will be transformational leadership, as it is associated with the enhancement of motivation and confidence regarding employee performance (Davis, 2016).
• The transformational style of leadership needs to be used in this scenario. The manager should encourage and motivate him for the better because retiring from office work is not about stopping work. His mental state or thought process just needs a transformation.

5)   The servant leadership style is the most suitable method for this particular scenario. As the group is self-competent and motivated, they just need a guiding force to attain success in the future. This will improve team performance, and they can work for social causes.

Personal Leadership

The process of identifying my strengths and weakness is the primary assessment of personal leadership. The awareness of vulnerability helps in the application of innovative ideas and skills to improve practice at the workplace. If I can identify my strength, I can apply the specific skills required to benefit a condition or people. Self-assessments should be conducted regularly for me to identify the problems related to performance lying within me. These self-evaluations can help me understand my proceedings, motives and ethics.

As a potential leader or manager, I can display ethical values, as I believe in relationship-based business. It not only helps the company to build a strong foundation in the market but also enables the employees to feel connected with the organization. Ethical steps automatically foster a feeling of oneness within the workforce, thus promoting productivity and efficiency within the teams. There is one leadership value I want to adopt a form of transformational leadership. Along with self-assessment and self-evaluation, I will also want my subordinates to undergo any kind of transformation required for maintaining optimum performance. My experiences have taught me that fear of failure and lack of motivation is the leading cause of unsatisfactory success. Apart from strengths, I also own some weaknesses like any other person.

I am not very adaptable in the beginning. I need time to adjust, correlate and adhere to the situation. I can even be resistant to change at times, owing to my general nature. Apart from that by nature, I am also a bit introvert, which if not rectified can affect my image on the leadership front. A leader is a role model that creates the way for their subordinates by adhering to the values and principles, strictly followed by him. When we inspire people, we can expect commitment from people of all quarters. To create motivation for people, as leaders are born motivators, I need to focus on the strengths and minimize the weaknesses.

The skills that I possess to become an effective leader, I feel, should be nurtured and applied as possible on the work front. I will ensure total involvement in communities and social causes concerning various issues as to increase public relation by a considerable amount. A good public relations is a crucial factor in developing leadership qualities (Lemke, 2016).

We can see that various methods of leadership, along with other theoretical practices, are described in the assignment. The subject also deals with the different self-evaluation processes involved in being a leader of excellent capabilities. In my opinion, the transformational leadership method is the one with multiple benefits. We need to address the problems related to the performance of the employees. Sometimes, the employees are not well trained or inexperienced, that makes it a bit difficult to perform on an organizational basis. Dynamic leadership is required to train employees to achieve sustainable success in companies. Performance-oriented procedures should be applied by leaders on a comprehensive foundation to provide uniform training. The various processes of leadership like situational, transformational and servant are explained along with examples. The whole concept of leadership is primarily based on two principles, namely the Hershey Blanchard Model and the Path-Goal model. These two models are supposed to be the backbone of personal leadership values (Zaleznik, 2018).

References

Nawaz, Z. A. K. D. A., & Khan_, PhD, I. (2016). Leadership theories and styles: A literature review. Leadership, 16(1), 1-7.

Wyatt, M., & Silvester, J. (2018). Do voters get it right? A test of the ascription-actuality trait theory of leadership with political elites. The Leadership Quarterly, 29(5), 609-621.

Harrison, C. (2018). Leadership research and theory. In Leadership Theory and Research (pp. 15-32). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Pidgeon, K. (2017). The keys to success: Leadership core competencies. Journal of trauma nursing, 24(6), 338-341.

Naidoo, S., Hewitt, M., & Bussin, M. (2019). A leadership model validation: Dimensions influential to innovation. South African Journal of Business Management, 50(1), 1-11.

Davis, P. (2016). Retrieving the co-operative value-based leadership model of Terry Thomas. Journal of business ethics, 135(3), 557-568.

Lemke, D. (2016). Dimensions of hard power: Regional leadership and material capabilities. In Regional leadership in the global system (pp. 43-62). Routledge.

Zaleznik, A. (2018). Power and Leadership in Complex Organizations. On Freud’s Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (pp. 87-110). Routledge.

Nabers, D. (2016). Power, leadership and hegemony in international politics. In Regional Leadership in the Global System (pp. 63-82). Routledge.