Ldr_531_Approach_to_Leadership

Approach to Leadership Zai Kents LDR/531 May 21, 2012 William Shearer Approach to Leadership Leadership is a method where one person influences another or others to attaining organizational goals. Leadership is defined in terms of traits, behaviors, influence, interaction patterns, and role relationships. Leadership is a collective control method, which does not exist without a person in charge and followers, leadership elicits voluntary action by followers, and leadership outcome in follower’s actions is focused and goal-oriented. One major approach to leadership is the behavior approach. Behavior Approach Behavior approach focuses more on what managers do on-the-job, and falls into two subcategories. Research examines how managers spend their time and the pattern of activities, responsibilities, and functions for managerial jobs. Research also investigates how managers handle constraints, demands, and responsibility conflict. The study of managerial labor is expressive on approaches that exploit the gathering of information like diaries, job description, questionnaires, direct observation, and information gathered from interviewing. The behavior approach also focuses on identifying effective leadership behavior. Because the behavior approach place importance on the measure of the leader, it better describes transactional leadership styles instead of transformational leadership style. Behavior approach leadership provides a structure for assessing effectual guidance by relating key workings of behavior. Also reminded are leaders actions toward others are at the task and relationship level, and that on some levels task behavior is appropriate and on some levels relationship is appropriate. Leaders are reminded that workers need managers who offer support, direction, and nurturance. The behavioral approach falls under two leadership styles: * Autocratic leader centralizes authority and derive power from position, coercion, and control of rewards * Democratic leader delegates authority to others, relies on subordinates’ knowledge for completion of tasks, encourages participation, and depends on subordinate respect for influence A theory largely on behavior approach leadership was the management (or leadership) grid. The grid combines “concern for production” with “concern for people” and presents five alternative behavioral styles of leadership. An individual who emphasized neither production was practicing “impoverished management” according to the grid. If a person emphasized concern for people and placed little emphasis on production, that person was termed a “country-club” manager (Helms, 2006). The leader behavioral approach was assumed that certain behaviors would effective leaders universal. Observed research has not established a steady relationship relating task-oriented or person-oriented behavior leadership and leadership effectiveness. Strengths and Weaknesses The strengths of the behavioral approach ascertains that a leader’s style is composed of two key type of behaviors – relationship and task, behavior approach validate and give credibility to the main view of this approach. It broadens the reach of leadership to include the behavior of leaders and how various situations are handled, provide an extensive theoretical map in attempts in understanding the intricacy of leadership. Research on the weaknesses of behavioral approach does not adequately show how leader styles are linked with performance outcome, research fails to discover a general style of leadership effectual in most situations, and implication is made that most effective leadership styles are high task and high relationship style. Behavioral approach example An example of behavioral leadership is a bureaucratic leader – an important person who is empowering via the office that he or she holds in a company (Yukl, 2010). Another example is the people who develop into leaders and are not born leaders. Conclusion Using systematic efforts to monitor and upgrade performance of management, behavioral leadership can be very impactful in the role of supervision. Recording patterns and surveys can boost the approach criteria in how behavioral leadership is conducted. To help leaders develop into creative leaders, change must be integrated into the leader’s feelings, perception, and behaviors. Endeavor to be excellent and any leader can discover that leading and stimulating others by the correct examples is very rewarding. References Helms, M. M. (2006). “Leadership Theories and Studies.” Encyclopedia of Management. Vol. 1. Gale Cengage, eNotes.com retrieved on May 21, 2012 from http://www.enotes.com/leadership-theories-studies-reference Hobson, C.J., Strupeck, D., & Szoste J. (2010). A Behavioral Roles Approach to Assessing and Improving the Team Leadership Capabilities. International Journal of Management. 27 (1), p. 3-15. McGlone, James. (2005, June 22). Major approaches to the study of leadership The Free Library. (2005). Retrieved May 21, 2012 from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Major approaches to the study of leadership.-a0136071081 Yukl, G. A. (2010). Leadership in organizations (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall Yukl, G.A. & Mahsud, R. (2010, June). Why Flexible and Adaptive Leadership is Essential. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 62 (2), p. 81-83