The Trait Theory of Leadership-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Anayse Various type of Leadership. Answer: Introduction The essay provides detailed analysis about the various types of leadership exercised in different situation. The three kinds of situations namely, CEO of a multi-national company, supervisor of a construction site and a sport coach are discussed along with the respective suitable leadership styles. The theories such as trait theory, behavioral theory and contingency theory of leadership are referred in the essay. The leadership styles such as transformational leadership, transactional leadership and democratic leadership style are conversed in the essay. The present paper concludes that leadership is not precisely represented by the position of the individual in the organization. It is phenomenon which is exercised in different level at the organization and even in certain social situation. Literature Review From several decades people are trying to add new concepts on the area of what makes a excellent leader. There had been various arguments since several centuries about the ideal definition of leadership (Woods, 2007). Scholars found out that leadership is a complex phenomenon and it cant be defined easily. In 20th century there exist several studies which are focused on the leadership and its effectiveness (Weinberger, 2009). It is appropriate to say that leadership play vital role in the organization in terms of achieving objectives and goal, thus it is an important aspect from organization or any particular situation point of view (Colbert et. al 2008). Leadership is a relationship which exists between two parties, one is a leader while others are followers, who creates a shared value and strive towards achievement of shared objective together (Lee, 2008). Based on this concept the leader is likely to be act as a role model for the followers and the followers should climb the path directed by leader to accomplish the given tasks (Knab, 2009). Although the leadership is mostly linked to the feature of leading or directing there are several dimension to the act of leadership. McCleskey (2014) proposed that leaders have distinguished traits as compared to other people. Based on the trait theory, leaders have different traits in terms of task competence, demographics and interpersonal attributes. However, the behavior theory provides that the leaders can be differentiated based on their behaviors. Based on the past literature on leadership there are 65 separate classifications of leader behavior (Derue et.al, 2011). The most consistently researched categories of behaviors are task-oriented, relational-oriented, change-oriented behaviors, and passive leadership. The task oriented behavior of a leader includes defining task roles, determining the standards of performance, co-ordination with team members, take corrective action and contingent rewards. The relational-oriented behavior includes the democratic (Northouse, 2015) and participative (Dolatabadi Safa, 2010) style of leadership. Here, the leaders are approachable, friendly and show concern about the followers. The change-oriented behavior of a leader consists of communication of vision for change, encouragement of the followers and risk-taking behavior (Lpez-Domnguez et al. 2013). The transformational leadership represents the change-oriented behavior of leaders. The passive leaders are not actively engaged in the proble m solving zone. The laissez-faire leadership is the example of passive leadership behavior (Chaudhry Javed, 2012). As there are various types of behavior one can implement and there are distinguished traits of leadership, the question arises as what exactly a person should do while leading a group of people? The answer is given in contingency leadership theory. The contingency theory states that there is no single way to lead people; the leadership style should be according to the situation. Thus, it is vital that the leader understand the different factors assembled in the situation and follow a leadership style which is appropriate to the situation. CEOof aMulti-National Company CEO of a multi-national company is a position which allocates decision making power along with the linked responsibility. As per the trait theory a CEO of the company should have task competence and interpersonal attributes. The person is responsible for the critical decisions in the company and thus detailed knowledge about the domain of the company (task competence) is required. On the other hand, CEO has to deal with various teams working in the company including technical team, marketing team, human resource team, finance team and many more. Thus, interpersonal attribute is the essential trait in the CEO of the multi-national company. The transformational leadership (change-oriented behavior) is a suitable style of leadership for a CEO. Cheung and Wong (2011) stated that transformational leader should motivate the follower, stimulate the intellectual, influence their work orientation (performance), provide vision and objective, and lastly mentor the followers to accomplish the sh ared objective. As per Chaudhry and Javed, (2012), the transformational leader should encourage the followers to think out of the box which is completely applicable for a leader at CEO position. There are real time examples in the past that transformational leadership of a CEO has leaded the company towards success and innovation. One of such renowned example is Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com who are created history due to the innovative thinking and transformation leadership. Despite of huge competition in the online retail domain Jeff Bezos, made Amazon.com to perform, sustain and provided a rapid growth to the company. ASupervisoron aConstruction Site The supervisor on the construction site needs to take care of the timely completion of project, safety of workers and tools (resources) required to complete the task. As per the path-goal theory (Northouse, 2015), the supervisor at the construction site should focus on the leadership actions which will motivate the workers and enhance their performance to attain the work-related goals. As the supervisors on the construction site have to take care of the day-to-day allocation of resources the transactional leadership style is suitable for them. Dumdum, Lowe and Avolio (2013) stated that transactional leaders are the one who focused on proper allocation of the resources and timely completion of the task. Transactional leaders convey the followers that they have to perform as per the instruction of the leader; in turn the leader will recognize their contribution and provide appropriate reward to them. Here, the supervisor on a construction site can motivate the worker to perform well, b e committed to the work in order to receive the reward in terms of bonus after completion of task. As per McCleskey (2014), the transactional leader take cares of two factors, management by exception and contingent reward. The reward in terms of bonus, flexible work time, leave allocation and assurance of assignment of upcoming task can be used by the supervisor to motivate the workers to improve their work performance. The fair treatment as well as appropriate reward by the supervisor will act as a means of satisfaction of the worker which can further assure the long term loyalty and commitment. ASports Coach A sports coach is a person who is not actually involved in the action of sport but responsible for the performance of the player. The position of sports coach is a challenging job which need appropriate leadership behavior to ensure the excellent performance from the players. The sports coach is responsible for creating a vision and inspiring the athletes to over par their individual performance (Chelladurai, 2007). Some of the functions of sports coach involve instilling pride, building confidence, and enhancing morale of the athletes. The sports coach is also responsible for providing corrective feedback, counseling, support and encouraging creativity among the players. The praise or rewards given by the sports coach is very significant for the players and thus a coach has to recognize the contribution of the players in the game. There are two kind of leadership which is popular among sports coach namely, demanding- directive leadership while the other one is autonomy-supportive le adership. The coach exercising the demanding-directive leadership has to demand continuous efforts from the players to enhance their performance and achieve excellence. The coach has to direct the athletes towards the accomplishment of set goals using planned training and hard work (Chelladurai, 2007). The autonomy-supportive leadership exercised by a coach includes providing choices to the players to enhance their performance and supporting them in the journey of achievement. As the coach is never present on ground, they must ensure the cultivation of decision making process among the players. The democratic leadership style is suitable for a coach under which they can make athletes to participate the process and allow them to take appropriate decisions (Day Sammons, 2013). When it comes to the sports coach the name of Harry Hopman is often taken as an extra-ordinary coach. Hopman successfully coached 22 Australian tennis teams for Davis cup and responsible for 16 unmatched wins. It is well said in the case of Hopman that the coach acts as a catalyst for the winning performance of the team. Conclusion The trait theory of leadership provides that it is essential for a leader to have in-depth knowledge of the task and interpersonal attributes. The contingency theory on the other hand put emphasis on the situational behavior of the leader which is gets fit in the circumstances. In the case of CEO of the company the change-oriented behavior and transformational leadership style is appropriate to lead the company towards growth and innovation. In the case of supervisor on the construction site, the important aspects are dedication of workers towards task, enhanced performance and timely completion of project. Thus, the supervisor has to follow the transactional leadership style for proper allocation of resources, motivating worker to perform and providing reward for achievement of set goal. For the coach of a sports team, building confidence, enhancing team morale, providing feedback and emphasis on training are some important functions. The democratic leadership style will help the coach to get the players involved and motivate them to perform well. As discussed above, we can conclude that leadership does not come with the position but it is the action which individual takes for the achievement of shared goals. It is essential for a leader to behave based on the circumstances and ensure high motivation of followers for the accomplishment of set objective References Chaudhry, A. Q., Javed, H. (2012). Impact of transactional and laissez faire leadership style on motivation.International Journal of Business and Social Science,3(7). Chelladurai, P. (2007). Leadership in sports.Handbook of Sport Psychology, Third Edition, 111-135. Cheung, M. F., Wong, C. S. (2011). Transformational leadership, leader support, and employee creativity.Leadership Organization Development Journal,32(7), 656-672. Colbert, A. E., Kristof-Brown, A. L., Bradley, B. H., Barrick, M. R. (2008). 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