Leadership Styles

Introduction

Leadership styles and its applicability in India "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." Leaders There are many ways to differentiate leaders from others persons. A recognised leader is someone who has followers; whose focus is not on popularity but on results; a role model - he/she is highly visible and leads by example - is a "doer"; Blazer of new trails - through innovative actions and courage, has acted as a change agent and demonstrated a willingness to take risks; Facilitator - he/she recognizes the diverse individuals and talents within the organization by creating an environment where individuals can best apply their individual talents.(Bryma,13) This paper critically assesses these leadership styles and comment on which may be more superior.

Discussion

Leadership Leadership is defined in a dictionary as: the position or function of a leader; the ability to lead; or an act or instance of leading. In a business environment real leadership is the act of pulling your employees forward to a desired level of performance.(Bryma,13)

A distinction can be made between a leader who gets people to achieve specific goals and a leader who gets people to achieve specific goals and develops a self actualisation belief system or culture. Both are exercising leadership. However, one is dealing with "transactions" and the other is "transforming" the character of the organisation. Thus, transactional leadership is when leaders determine what subordinates need to do to achieve objectives, classify the requirements to achieve the objectives and help subordinates become confident they can reach their objectives. On the other hand transformational leadership works on the vision for the organisational as a whole and prepares the employees of the organisation to meet the challenges of the future and deal with all of them.

Further, the key to understanding real leadership lies in understanding that your employees have different personalities and attitudes; each one has different job responsibilities; each one has a different view of what is important in the operations of the organisation.(Odom,197) Therefore, a leader has to cater to all types of employees and use different styles of leadership to bind them together and achieve the objectives of the organisation. Further, there are many ways in which a leader can lead. However, certain common elements such as a vision of purpose, gaining organisational commitment to this vision of purpose and providing the wherewithall to carry it out, are some of the common elements a leader has to have, irrespective of his style of leadership. Thus, even though leadership styles are not given much importance, especially where there are successful leaders, the style adopted by a leader is an integral part to being a successful leader in the long run.(Beatty,405)

Leadership styles As mentioned earlier persons can perform the vital functions of leadership in many different ways. The style of leadership a leader adopts depends on the situation and on his or her personality traits. The interplay between these two factors is complex. Some situations may favour one style; other situations may favour another ...