Leadership

Leadership concepts al affiliation Leadership concepts Defining leadership as a process which involves an individual influencing a group of people in order to achieve a common goal, Northouse (2010) identifies the common styles of leadership. Among the recognized styles, coaching is the easiest to identify with, as it calls on the leader to be involved with followers at a personal level. Such involvement creates a good rapport between the leader and the followers, allowing the latter to easily communicate their ideas on how to achieve set goals (Northouse, 2010). However, even though the opinions of the followers are carefully considered, it is the leader who ultimately decides the best way to accomplish these goals.
The style of leadership chosen by an individual is reflective of their nature. Douglas McGregor pointed out that leadership is dominated by human nature, which can be explained using the X and Y theories. While theory X portrays the average person as lazy, lacking in ambition, and always waiting to be directed, theory Y perceives human beings as active, ambitious, and ready to take responsibilities (Stewart, 2010). Accordingly, although most people would want to identify with theory Y, the truth is that a majority of people are not that self-motivated and need to be prompted into action. This observation makes theory X more realistic than theory Y in the relationship between leaders and followers.
Transformational leadership is a leadership model advanced by Kouze & Posner (2010), who in their first two chapters provide real life examples of managers whose personalities transformed their organizations. Essentially, Kouze & Posner (2010) perceive leadership as a relationship rather than a position by stating that leadership is not only measured by being in charge of others, but also by being credible. Transformational leadership encourages the leader to create away that will stimulate a common vision, challenge daily undertakings, motivate others to act, and even inspire them (Kouze & Posner, 2010). Considering that it took 20 years of intensive research in real organizations to come up with this model, the transformational leadership model is very important in understanding the concept of good leadership. The only problem with the transformational leadership theory is that it may give too much power to narcissistic individuals who might end up abusing such power.
References
Kouze, J. & Posner, B. (2010). The Leadership Challenge. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Northouse, P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice, 5th Ed. California: Sage Publications.
Stewart, M. (2010). Theories X A
nd Y, Revisited. Oxford Leadership Journal, 1, 3.