Leadership Styles and their Effects

Core leadership styles and their effects on organization

Introduction

Leadership is the art of influencing people in an organization so as to establish and achieve a common goal. He or she has personality and skills that creates desire in the followers to do what he or she directs. Leadership style is the manner in which a leader influences his or her followers to accomplish given function (Kippenberger, 2002).

The objective of this study is to identify the key leadership styles exercised by leaders in an organization and how they affect the running of an organization.

The approach towards solving the stated problem include: Outlining and explaining the various leadership styles applied in leadership; assessing how such styles affect running of an organization and the impact they create between the leader and the followers in an organization. Finally, giving a solution to the stated problem. Sources of materials include online websites, texts, journals and books.

Leadership styles

Several different kinds of leadership are exhibited in the contemporary society.

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Human beings behave differently in different set ups and tend to respond differently to different situations hence no one will have the same kind of a behavior at all points (Leadership styles: 2BC-2008 A.D, 2008). It has been discovered that leadership role in an organization is determined by the organizational culture; to a greater extent. A group of researchers led by Kurt Lewin (1939) identified different types of leadership. It is upon this research that three major leadership styles are based upon. According to U.S. Army Handbook (1973), the major leadership styles are: authoritarian or autocratic, participative or democratic, and delegative or free reign.

Authoritarian (autocratic): This leader dominates the followers; he or she gives the employees directions on what should be done and how to do it, without getting advice from them. Participative (democratic): The team manager consults his team in making decisions; however he still makes the final decision. Delegative (free reign): also known as ‘lais sez faire’, the noninterference in others’ affairs. The leader gives the employees the mandate to make decisions but is still responsible for the decisions made (Kippenberger, 2002).

Discussion
The autocrat leadership results in resistance from team members forcing the leader to use pressure and direction continuously so that things are done. This leadership style should be used on rare occasion. A democrat leader creates respect and trust from his team. It is used when both the leader and the employees can contribute information towards an aspect, since the leader is not expected to know everything. The delegative leadership on the other hand is applied when team members can analyze a situation and set up on what should be done and the way to do it; since the leader cannot do everything, some tasks can be done by the employees. It is used when a leader has full trust in the employees so that at the end of it there is no blame laid on others.

Conclusion and Recommendation

A combination of the three leadership styles makes a good leader; however, balance should be maintained since different forces may exist between followers, the leader and the problem in question. Such forces include: availability of time, basis of relationships, the extent of training of the employees and level of knowledge of tasks, internal conflicts, level of stress, type of task and training plans.

References:

Kippenberger, T. (2002): Leadership Styles, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, ISBN 1841123579, 9781841123578.

Leadership styles: 2BC-2008 A.D (2008): Retrieved on 5th February, 2009 from: http://www.communication-skills-4confidence.com/leadership-styles.htmlhttp://www.communication-skills-4confidence.com/leadership-styles.html.

Lewin, K., LIippit, R. and White, R.K. (1939): Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates. Journal of Social Psychology, vol.10, pp.271-301.

U.S. Army Handbook (1973). Military Leadership, Retrieved on 5th February, 2009 from: https://atiam.train.army.mil/soldierPortal/artia/adlsc/view/public/4788-1/fm/22-100/toc.htm.