Leadership

Leadership is defined as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals (Judge and Robbins, 2007, p.402). Furthermore, leadership is a complex course of action by which a person influences others to accomplish a task or objective while directing an organization, his or her subordinates, group, or team in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent by applying his or her leadership traits such as ethics, values, skills, and belief. Anybody can assume a leadership role by being selected, appointed, or elected. This occurrence necessarily does not mean that an individual is ready or properly equipped to be successful in the position. This paper will identify strengths and weaknesses of my leadership style, compare and contrast leadership theories learned in the course material, and describe my leadership style and identify jobs within an organization that best fit my leadership style. Leadership Theories Over the course of time, various studies and theories have been conducted and posed in reference to leadership. There are three different groups of theories that focus on leadership. The groups are traits, behavior, and contingency. Trait Theories According to Judge and Robbins, trait theories of leadership differentiate leaders from non-leaders by focusing on personal qualities and characteristics. The results early on intended to confirm that this theory was questionable. Numerous research studies were conducted and identified key traits of a leader that were suppose to distinguish leaders from individuals who are not leaders. The dilemma was that the researchers did not get the same results, thus failing to determine common traits, which should have been illustrated in every research study. However, when the researchers began applying the Big Five Personality framework, such as conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness and emotional stability, to the research and study of leadership traits, the results were more heartening (Judge & Robbins, 2007). However, the overall research conveyed that the most important trait for effective leaders were extraversion. According to Judge and Robbins, the result displayed that extraversion was more related to leader emergence versus leader effectiveness. I believe extraversion appear to be a fundamental trait in getting leaders into leadership positions or being selected by others to be a leader but it is not necessarily related to the effectiveness to control the position in the long run. A vast majority of the advocate for EI argue that emotional intelligence (EI) is another trait that may specify effective leadership. Recent studies suggest, “A person can have outstanding training, a highly analytical mind, a compelling vision, and an endless supply of terrific ideas but still not make a great leader” (Judge & Robbins, 2007, p. 403). However, the fact that an individual show evidence of the traits or others components do not impose that he or she can be an effective leader. Behavior Theories Behavioral theories define that specific behaviors distinguish leaders from nonleaders. Meaning, these specific behaviors could possibly be taught thus assuming the underlying position of teaching leadership (Judge & Robbins, 2007). The behavioral theory was divided into two scopes initiating structure and consideration. Initiating structure entails a leader’s concern for accomplishing the task thus assigning group members to particular tasks, expecting workers to maintain definite standards of performance, and emphasizes the meeting of deadlines (Judge & Robbins, 2007). Consideration entails a leader having a professional relationship with subordinates characterized by mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas, and regard for their feelings (Judge & Robins, 2007, p. 405). Overall a considerate leader show regards for the well-being his or her followers. Judge and Robbins acknowledged, “A leader in high consideration could be described as one who helps employees with personal problems, is friendly and approachable and treat all employees as equals.” A considerate leader was capable or motivating his or her subordinates while an initiating structure leader was more into performance evaluation and productivity. Contingency Theories The least preferred coworker questionnaire is a contingency model that measures whether a person is task or relationship-oriented (Judge & Robbins, 2007). LPC is an instrument that alleges to measure whether a person is task- or relationship-oriented (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p. 410). On the other hand, cognitive resources theory is a theory that studies the conditions under which cognitive resources such as intelligence and experience are related to group performance. It is a theory of leadership that states that stress unfavorably affects a situation and that intelligence and experience can reduce the influence of stress on the leader (Judge & Robbins, 2007, p. 413). The Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory (SLT) is a contingency theory that focuses on the followers’ readiness (Judge & Robbins, 2007, p. 413). SLT theory stresses the followers’ action and the extent people are willing to complete a particular task. At some point in our lives or career, an individual have or will encounter a leader who favors certain individual a little more. This theory is known as leader-member exchange. The LMX theory argues that because of time pressure, leaders establish a special relationship with a small group of their followers (Judge & Robbins, 2007, p. 414). Even though this should not exist among groups or teams, LMX has presented substantial data that this type of impartial treatment exists in various situations. According to Judge and Robbins, the followers that have in-group status most times will have higher performance ratings, lower turnover intentions, greater satisfaction with their superior, and higher overall satisfaction than others in the group. However, this theory always will exist to a certain extent because leaders suspect they will have some subordinates who will work hard and perform a task to the best of his or her ability. The best leaders are ones that balance their people/task oriented skills in various predictions. A people/task oriented individual leadership is not the work of one individual. It is the interaction among others that involve a process of leaders and followers. This is recognized as a collaborative effort among a group of individuals. Therefore, I think in order to become a successful leader one must enforce collaboration, be engaged, and build trust with his or her subordinates. Most importantly, it helps to know how your personality and leadership style fits into a particular organization. If an individual understands his or her personality and leadership style, he or she is more prone to becoming more efficient and encouraged to develop a system that will maintain a plan to remain committed and professional to his or her obligations to his or her employees or team members. However, to assess my leadership style, personality, and how I would fit in an organization, I used the Prentice Hall Leadership and Team skills assessment. The assessment presented an analysis of the components of my personality. After conducting the personality test, it was noted that I was an ENFP (Extroverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving) individual. Based on the results, I am a people-oriented individual that is creative and highly optimistic. My personality type would is Type B. I am patience and enjoy listening to others without little interrupts. I tend to allow individuals to convey their points and then intervene. I do not allow obstacles to stress me out even though I have various tasks to accomplish. I am usually tolerant of ambiguous situations. As for charisma, I possess the potential to be a charismatic leader because I am a dependable, reliable, and thorough individual that cares about others and their feelings; in addition, I attain a moderate score of 39 for emotional intelligent. However, one of my weaknesses is my level of creativity. I possess some deficiencies in discipline others. I tend to give people a multiple chances to fix their mistakes. Another weakness I possess is procrastination. I tend to delay some decisions or life activities to accomplish task that I feel our more important. On the other hand, the assessment conveyed that I was moderate for capturing trust of others. I believe my family, friends, and associates find me trustworthy. I think people enjoy my company. I have to admit sometimes I do not care to be like because I am put into an emotional blackmailing setting. I would tend to have a high job performance in mostly any occupation obtained. However, with my personality trait and leadership style, the possible careers I would be a perfect fit for are a research assistant, publicist, playwright, columnist, restaurateur, or conflict mediator; but with my level of trust I may be more prone to work in a human resource or social work field. An individual’s leadership style is developed by serving as a supporter and a defender for a cause, ideas, or perspective. To accomplish this growth, leaders develop ongoing relationships with his or her subordinates through solid communication and listening skills. Finally, a leader must be courageous. He or she should be willing to explore unfamiliar avenues. This allows a leader to flourish during his or her time of management. Sometimes it takes a good and courageous leader to step outside traditional boundaries in order to lead others. Leadership styles vary amongst different individuals. That is why it is imperative that an individual understands his or her personality and leadership style and how it would affect an organization or work environment. Work Cited Judge, T. A., & Robbins, S. P. (2007). (12th ed.). : Prentice Hall, Inc. A Pearson Education Co.., 402, 403, 405, 410, 412, 413, 414. University of Phoenix (2010). Web Link: Pearson Prentice Hall Assessments. Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/sas/robbins_sal3v3/sal3v3web.html.