My Personal Leadership Style and Philosophy

My Personal Leadership Style and Philosophy

Leadership theory has been an active topic of discussion. There are different theories, classifications, and definitions of leadership in the contemporary world. Amazingly, all these theories and definitions are still valid. What is of importance is the fact that every new element of knowledge regarding leadership builds on the old ones to establish its basis. When the class started, I identified transformational leadership as my leadership style. Here, I viewed this approach as one that would require me to strive to be self-motivated and energetic with a student-centered educational atmosphere. In essence, transformational leaders look forward to an inclusive environment where the leader’s objective is to enhance his team to participate in achieving the overall organizational goal collectively. This allows for excellence in achievement throughout your school, including teachers and students.

Going through the course and assessing and evaluating my leadership styles deeper, I have learned that I am a transformational-servant leader. According to Montuori & Donnelly (2018), transformative leadership can be described as a participatory process propelled by collaborative creativity and transformation that aims at attaining a mutual benefit. School of Leadership Studies Regent University (2003) adds that transformational leadership occurs when leaders broaden and elevate the interests of their employees when they generate awareness and acceptance of the purpose and mission of the group. This leadership style allows the individual values of others to support the idea and goals of the school, ensuring that the environment is safe and trusted. As such transformational leadership stands out to be one of the best approaches in school leadership since it motivates everybody to be part of the organizational success, hence getting the best out of everyone in the team.

There are four traits that Avoli et al. (1991) established that a transformational leader possesses. They are both behaviors and traits of a good leader. They include Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation, and Individualized Consideration. These traits are in line with the traits theory of leadership (Ahmed et al., 2016). In essence, transformational leaders have an idealized influence. This means that the endeavor to change their team towards a specific goal, either in the way they think or approach a particular situation. The influence is enhanced by their inspirational motivation that encourages young and junior members of the team to pursue organizational goals confidently. The leader does so through intellectual stimulation. This means that the leader endeavors to improve the team’s critical thinking and decision making. In a school setting, such traits will nurture all members of the staff to be able to successfully run the school operations even when the supervisors are not present. If the culture of transformation is instilled in the school, the effect is expected to trickle down from the top management, through specific departments, to individual teachers who eventually passes it to the students. As such, I look forward to developing a new lot of transformational leaders who will be able to take up the world market in the near future, spreading he best leadership and making the world a better place where everyone’s contribution is felt.

Behavioral theory is another approach in which leadership can be looked at. It considers the behavior of the leader in dealing with the team. Kurt Lewin, in 1930 developed a framework that entailed three types of leadership styles under behavioral theory; Autocratic, Democratic, and Laissez-faire leadership styles (Coghlan & Brannick, 2003). An autocratic leader is dictatorial and wants everything to done their way. They make all the major decisions and expect full cooperation from the team (Ahmed et al., 2016). The other two styles are closely related to transformational leadership since they involve the subordinates. While a democratic leader seeks the opinion of the team and makes the decision, a laissez-faire leader leaves the decision in the hands of the subordinates, and only comes in to implement it (Northouse, 2013). Autocratic or dictatorial leadership is demoralizing since junior employees feel like they are not part of the effort and the success that the organization achieves. They view themselves as tools and assets at the disposal of the dictator (Bogotch, 2002). I always feel the urge to let every subordinate staff own efforts and success. As such, learning the behavioral theory of leadership has helped me understand better how a leader should behave with regard to the treatment and involvement of the employees. Fortunately for me, the laisses-faire approach falls well with transformational leadership, and therefore, I have had a lot to borrow from this theory.

As I conclude the course, I have been able to compare the leadership styles, traits, and behaviors from the discussed leadership theories and find out that transformational leadership is my approach. Initially, I viewed the transformational leader as a role model who remains appreciated and respected by the team. I have, however, discovered that such a leader has more beyond being a role model. He/she is a trainer whose part of the responsibility is to ensure that the junior employees find their way up in leadership experiences. I believe I am that kind of a leader because I believe in democratic leadership that gives a chance to everyone and respects their opinion. Secondly, as guided by the behavioral theory, a transformational leader should consider the team’s opinion because the subordinates perform the real job. To this end, I have been able to develop a personal vision statement as a leader. I want to always influence and encourage my team through enhancing collaborative decision making and effort to improve not only the job situation but also the leader in each employee. As a transformational leader, I will be able to confidently express and explain my plan and vision clearly, while leading by example. To me, that is an excellent sign of an effective and responsible leader.

In conclusion, considering the theories of leadership throughout the course, and after evaluating my leadership approaches and considering my expectations in leadership, I realized that I am a transformational leader, a leader who does not only endeavor to obtain the best out of the subordinates, but also make them the best. This approach develops a culture of recognition and appreciation. It promotes and encourages everyone to be part of the process and success. It is the best leadership style since every member of the team is driven by the will to achieve the organizational goal.

References

Ahmed, Zakeer & Nawaz, Allah & Khan, Irfan. (2016). Leadership Theories and Styles: A Literature Review. Journal of Resources Development and Management. 16.

Bogotch, I. E. (2002). Educational leadership and social justice: Practice into theory. Journal of School Leadership, 12(2), 138-156.

Coghlan, D., & Brannick, T. (2003). Kurt Lewin: The” practical theorist” for the 21st century. Irish Journal of Management, 24(2), 31.

Montuori, Alfonso & Donnelly, Gabrielle. (2018). Transformative Leadership. 10.1007/978-3-319-29587-9_59-1.

Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice Sixth Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

School of Leadership Studies at Regent University. (2003). Transformational versus Servant Leadership: A Difference in Leader Focus. Retrieved http://www.regent.edu/acad/sls/publications/conference_proceedings/servant_leadership_roundtable/2003pdf/stone_transformation_versus.pdf