Leadership

Running Head: Leadership Style MICHAEL HEDRICK BUS610 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR WEEK# 5 JOSEPHINE CAROLA 03/19/2012 LEADERSHIP STYLE 1 INTRODUCTION Leadership is defined as a social influence process in which the leader seeks the voluntary participation of subordinates in an effort to reach organizational goals (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). Some people think that the ability to lead others is a trait that your born with. Others think that through training and experience great leadership can be possessed. I believe it is a combination of both. There are certain traits that natural leaders have like emotional intelligence, determination, self-confidence, honesty and integrity. Those are traits that determine the difference between leaders and followers. I believe there is one trait that is extremely important and that is extraversion. People who are high on this trait are often described as being outgoing and talkative, while those low in this trait are described as quiet and reserved. It is a lot tougher to be a strong leader in a retail environment by being shy and quiet. STRATEGY STYLE From the time I graduated college to my current employment situation I have developed an extroverted personality. I learned to develop this style because being shy and quiet was not going to work in the business world. This has led me to the Leader-Member Exchange Model of Leadership. Being quite different from most other styles of leadership management, the LMX model has helped me discover that my employees have successful traits in themselves. For close to thirteen years I have hired at least 50 to 70 seasonal employees a year. Getting to know them and bringing out there personalities has been truly amazing. When they come back to visit or ask for a reference is when I know I have been successful. I like to develop a one on one LEADERSHIP STYLE 2 relationship with my employees to make them feel like they are a part of something special. Behavioral scientists like to call this sort of relationship a vertical dyad (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). Studies have shown that subordinates reporting high-quality relationships with their supervisors assumed greater job responsibility, contributed more to their units, and were rated as ACCOMPLISHING GOALS There are two groups in the LMX theory. The in-groups, where the leader and subordinates have a high-quality relationship and the out-group, where the leader and subordinates have a low-quality relationship. Unfortunately not all new-hires turn out to be high-quality. I have certainly had my fair share of great interviewees that turn out to be a low-quality employee. I would have to estimate that 85 to 90 percent have been high-quality. In the 12+ years that I have been at the bookstore we achieved our goals a high percentage of time. Yes the store does receive some positive feedback, but it is the lack of negative feedback throughout the years that has been noticed. When I first arrived there, the amount of complaints was astronomical. Gradually through the semesters the dwindled down to an acceptable amount. As to be expected This all has been due to the relationships fostered by the managers and their subordinates in the store. SUMMARY LEADERSHIP STYLE 3 Group interaction has always been a practical area in which to encourage high-quality exchange relationships. Team-building programs such as employee of the week, contests that involve winning gift cards and even having group functions outside of the workplace increases group morale and improves office effectiveness. Building a corporate culture in which open two-way communication occurs at all levels is highly encouraged. REFERENCE Kinicki, A. & Kreitner, R. (2009). ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: KEY CONCEPTS, SKILLS & BEST PRACTICES (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill