Leadership styles research paper

Introduction:

Person who is responsible to command an organization or a country in order to achieve an objective is called a Leader. A leader can be defined as a person who is assigned with responsibilities and has the ability to influence the behavior and the performances of the employees so that the desired goals can be achieved (Gardner, 2003). Leadership is a state or position which really requires leadership skills and no leader is born with those qualities. However some leaders may have some leadership skills but still these skills need to be polished. Through hard work, training and with the will power and desire one can become an effective leader (Aronson, 2001). The most important responsibilities of a leader include:
– Bringing new ideas and plans for the development and achievement of the organization’s goal is one of the most important responsibilities of a leader.
– Another important and crucial responsibility of leader is to maintain the confidence level of the employees and to encourage them at every step so that the best can be achieved.

Leadership style is a way of providing directions to the employees. Styles of leadership also motivate employees to work towards the success of the organization. There are many leadership styles but three of the common and widely used styles are:
1. Autocratic:
Authoritarian or Autocratic leadership style is one in which the leader orders employees to complete the tasks. The leader provides all the instruction to the employees to do the work. This style is normally adopted when the employees are not equipped with enough information and knowledge of the work as well as the leader does not have enough time to do the work (Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & Van Engen, 2003).
2. Democratic:
This style is also called Participative as in this style the leader and the employees are working in collaboration or as a team so that the valuable knowledge of all members can be contributed in the process of decision making. In this style, leader asks employees Let’s work together to solve the problem. Democratic or participative style is used when the leader has the part of information and employees have the other part of information. It also allows the employees to become a member of the decision making (Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & Van Engen, 2003).
3. Delegative of Free-rein:
This style refers to the expressions of the leader which is to allow the employees to take the responsibility and to do the work on their own. Leader puts all his trust on the employees and asks them to take care of the problem. Generally in such cases, the employees are well equipped with the information and knowledge to do the work. Through this style the employees can bring their skills and can be the member of the work (Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, & Van Engen, 2003).

Analyze the leadership style of my manager

I work in The John Ellis Company and the manager of my organization is Mr. Harris Anderson. Mr. Anderson follows a participative decision making style. Because of this leadership style followed by my manager, I get encouraged to show my skills. Moreover, in different projects and while making different decisions, the manager invites and encourages the participation of employees. I have identified employees in the organization work harder when they have been involved in the decision making as they want to prove that the decision taken is correct. Moreover, my manager encourages team work and this also motivates us to work. All these aspects and leadership skills have made a positive impact on my work.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND CULTURE OF THE COMPANY:

Organizational structure of the company can be defined as the hierarchical arrangement of the rights, authority, power, duties, responsibilities, on which an organization works. The company in which I work is The John Ellis Company. The John Ellis Company is an accountancy corporation and it has different departments like, marketing, finance, accounting, human resource and IT. So, the organizational structure can be said as functional organizational structure. The company, I work for, has a decentralized structure and every department has the authority to make decisions accordingly. Managers of each department are responsible to accomplish their tasks in the best possible manner and in the best interest of the organization.
The organizational culture can be defined as the shared values and norms of the employees working in the organization (Schein, 2006). Organizational culture includes values, languages, beliefs, dress codes, celebration of different events, attitudes of the superiors with the juniors etc.. The organizational culture of my organizations does not differentiate or discriminate any employee on the basis of the gender, background, geographic origin and other factors (Hackman, & Johnson, 2004). As working in an accounting firm, every employee has to be in formal suiting and our company also follows a dress code that every employee has to wear. More importantly, organizational culture encourages every employee to be friendly with each other and to show professional attitude towards the job.
The existing organizational culture and organizational structure help me a lot in developing a good relation with other members in the organization and it has also played an important role in enhancing my skills and capabilities and this has ultimately helped in increasing my productivity.

ETHICAL CONDUCT OF THE LEADER:

It is important for every leader to concentrate on the way of his work and to operate and manage things in an ethical way. It is the responsibility of the leader to influence his followers in order to make them able to perform their best on work and in the most appropriate and ethical manner. It is also important for a leader to analyze the impact of his decisions in the organization and whether the decisions are ethical or not (Brown, Trevino, & Harrison, 2005).

THREE BEST PRACTICES ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERS CAN USE TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEE

The primary function of the leader is to help the employees to make sure that they achieve the organizational goals. Employees are one of the most important resources in accomplishing the goals so it is also important to encourage them to enhance their abilities of working. In order to motivate employees, there are different ways but three of the most common ways have been discussed below that leaders can use:
1. Make employees feel they are doing something meaningful:
One of the most important things that leaders can do to motivate the employees is to create such a feeling that employees are doing something which is having immense importance for the organization. By creating such a feeling, employees would consider their role as important and this would motivate them to perform their task in an efficient manner (Shelton, 2006).
2. Provide Employees with the Opportunity to Be Creative:
3. Show them the future:
Every employee analyzes and aims to achieve a better position in future. It is also important for the leader to provide good possibilities for the future as this would motivate the employees. Helping them in developing their career and allowing them to learn more and more, is a sign of motivation to the employees. Showing them bright future and growth internally and outside the organization helps in encouraging them to work efficiently and to stay in the organization (Sosik, & Godshalk, 2000).

Diversity:

Diversity means, acknowledgment of the people from different cultures, races, religion, gender. Leaders need to manage employees belonging from diverse background. Leaders need to understand the differences among employees (Coleman, 2012). Diversity in the organization plays an important role and is said to be the most important factor for the growth in the market. Diversity in the workplace enhances the interest of the employee to work in both ways, efficiently and effectively. Employees of different background and with different caliber come in together and share their skills and ideas that can be helpful for the organization.

CHALLENGES OF DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE:

It is now even more important for the organization to understand the challenges that an organization faces as diversity issues are increasing. It is not only important to manage the diversity but it involves the understanding of values of differences, discriminations and more. Negative attitudes like, prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination can be the barriers to the organizational diversity because this harms the working relation and environment and also damage the employee’s morale. Leaders need to understand the differences among different employees that belong from different religions, geographic locations, cultures etc and respect their values and norms. This way, leader would be able to make the most from a diverse workforce.

BUSINESS STRATEGIES:

Business strategies are considered as the most valuable and important factor in any organization. In simple terms, business strategy means tactics, policies and major initiatives made for the achievement of the organizational goals.
A business strategy should be in a way that leads an organization to the success. On the other hand it must be easy and understandable and also suitable for every human working in the organization. Company should work on the adaptation of the system that provides opportunities to the employees to a greater extent. Keeping in mind the above issues, the business strategies should include the plans which are helpful in the solution of those above mentioned problems.

CONCLUSION:

Leadership is said to be a driver of the management of the organization. Leader with all the skills and capabilities can take an organization as well as employees to the attainment of goals successfully. Mr . Harris Anderson has different leadership skills and qualities and his role in the organization is very important. He not only makes sure that his responsibility and his tasks are completed but he also makes sure that others are able to achieve their tasks in the best possible manner.

References

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Brown, M. E., Trevino, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97(2), 117-134.
Coleman, M. (2012). Leadership and Diversity. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 40(5), 592-609.
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