Leadership Theories And Personal Evaluation

Trait Theory

Of the eight trait theories presented in the textbook I feel that I possess predominantly the desire to lead, honesty, integrity and emotional intelligence. In most jobs that I have been employed, I often find myself thinking of ways that the manager could engage employees better. There have even been many jobs I worked in that co-workers would go to me when they had questions before the supervisor or manager. I enjoy being able to help people and direct them while remaining non-judgemental. I have always been an honest person within the workplace and follow through with tasks I commit to. Lastly, I have always been very intuitive of people’s feelings and emotions and exhibit empathy. People often compliment me on my approachability and that they feel comfortable confiding in me or asking for my assistance.

A personality trait not included in the eight traits that I possess and believe would help me become an effective leader is my ability to stay organized. I have always had strong attention to detail and am able to keep things in order. In past jobs that has been one of my characteristics that, in my opinion, have drawn people to confide in me when they needed assistance. I often always am aware of what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and how.

I believe I would be a good leader with all the above traits in mind. I feel I would be best suited towards a company or organization I was familiar with. I struggle with confidence when something is new or when I lack the skills to lead others in the endeavor. On the other hand, when something is natural or easy for me I often am able to help motivate and encourage people.

Situational, Transformational, and Servant Leadership

Situational leadership is a leadership style in which the leader is adaptable in their ways of leading based on follower readiness. For example, according to Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership theory, one would alter the style of leadership based on the skill and attitude of the follower. A leader who is trying to engage a follower who is unable and willing would be most successful giving detailed descriptions of tasks required and delegating it to the individual. This theory has been founded on the idea that without the followers there is no productivity, so the leader must tailor their approaches to ensure each follower individually accepts the leader. Transformational leadership is a leadership style in which the leader helps individuals connect their self to the mission of the company. In this sense, it is more of a people focused leadership style in which the manager attempts to align the persons inner passion to reach personal goals which ultimately helps the company reach their goals. The last type of leadership style is the servant leader. The servant leader aims to ensure all people within a company have their needs met. They want to create a positive morale by helping others and being present with all. A servant leader is an equal by nature and does not take on a dictatorship style role.

As I will outline below, I feel that each of these leadership styles have their pros and cons. However, I do not feel that a leader needs to adopt only one style to be successful. I believe that it is possible to combine leadership styles to create the best working relationship with employees with the understanding that all individuals are different and require different types of leadership. In this sense, the leadership style that would be most reflective of my views would be situational leadership.

I have a good friend who is a manager in a hotel setting. She, in my opinion, uses a combination of servant leadership and transformational leadership. She is very dedicated to the improvement of employee’s skills and talents but also ensures that their needs are met. She is always there to listen and acknowledge the needs, feelings and wants of her employees. As a past staff member, I know that her employees respect her and want to do good work which should be the ultimate goal in all companies.

Identify a Leader

A leader who has used power in a harmful way is Adolf Hitler. He used his power to persuade people of his personal prejudices through a charismatic-visionary leadership style. It is fascinating to see how a leadership style can persuade a group of people to believe something that is far from truth. This shows that leadership is a powerful thing and can be used both in negative and positive ways. A leader who has used power in a positive way is Justin Trudeau. He has used his power to help our society grow and move towards a direction of inclusion and change.

Leadership Scenarios

1. Using the Hershey Blanchard Model when dealing with an employee that is under performing and seems to lack confidence the best leadership style would be giving specific direction and guidance also referred to as telling in the textbook.
2. Using the Path-Goal Model when dealing with an employee that is highly skilled but appears to be lacking motivation it is often due to lack of challenge in her job. A leadership style under the Path-Goal Model that would be appropriate in this scenario would be one that sets higher goals for the employee to bring back her focus in the workplace. This leadership style is known as the achievement-oriented leader.
3. Using the Path-Goal Model when dealing with a team of employees that believes they are lacking positive rewards in their workplace a participative leadership style would be appropriate as the desires of the employees could be discussed and a more effective award system could be established.
4. Using the Hershey Blanchard Model when faced with a team of employees with the same scenario above but using a different approach I believe a participative supportive approach must like the one mentioned in the Path-Goal Model would be best. This team seems to be lacking motivation and needs to be involved in the decisions of what rewards would make them happy in the workplace.
5. Using the Path-Goal Model for a group of talented employees who have low morale and are unhappy I would likely recommend using a style of leadership that challenges the employees to use their full potential as this would increase their motivation to achieve goals and see progress with their work. This style would be known as the achievement-oriented leader according to the textbook.
6. Personal Leadership/Management Profile

Based on what I have learned from this assignment and based on my experience around other managers I believe I would want to use a similar style to that of the Hersey Blanchard Model. As people come with all different personalities and abilities I believe that different management styles would be most effective. In the past I have had both good and bad managers. A common trait of managers that I admired was one who was direct and consistent in their approaches. They knew the goals of the company and ensured that they were followed and understood by all employees. Additionally, good managers I have had in the past empowered their employees to make decisions. Although I would be skeptical to always give free reign in that sense to all employees I believe that using the Hersey Blanchard Model would be helpful to identify which employees could handle certain liberties within the workplace.

Lastly, a good quality trait in a manager that I have respected in the past is one who listens to their employees’ opinions and is open to contributions. It would be important to me to do all things with dignity and respect while also ensuring quality of work or service. I would want to ensure that things are always improving and that the employees understand the values and mission of the company.

This assignment has shown me multiple things. I always was unsure if leadership was something that could be learned or something that was innate. It is encouraging to see that leadership is something that can be learned and that there are methods to successfully leading groups of people. I also discovered that making sure employees are challenged when they are lacking motivation is a successful practice within the workplace. Lastly, I learned that although there are multiple leadership techniques, there is not one that makes a leader successful or unsuccessful. Leadership techniques can differ between individuals and still have a positive impact to a company or business.