Univ 1213: Leadership And Teamwork Report Samples

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Assignment 1: Leadership in Organizations (10%)
Introduction
They say that successful organizations are drastically different from the less prosperous ones, due to the fact that they have a more dynamic and effective leaders. And such point of view has the right to exist, since practice shows that no single factor provides greater benefit to an organization than efficient leadership. No matter what material resources an organization posses, it will not be able to achieve anything, not having an effective leader, who knows how to drive his people to the place they all want to be at. «The trust that leaders place in those they lead allows both the leader and her/his followers to excel.» (Mineo, 2014) Therefore, understanding the necessity of a good leader in an organization, one has to be able to distinguish an effective leader from a bad one, and the following report should serve as a key to such understanding. Knowing what is leadership, what are the main traits of a good leader, and what leadership styles the most effective leaders use will make the core management features more clear, and understandable.

Leadership

«Leadership as seen by Pigon is a process of mutual stimulation by any person who during the time, and, insofar as his will, feeling, and insight directs, controls others in the pursuit of a specific cause.» (Lester, 1975) The difference between a leader and a manager can be explained in two words: the first one inspires, the second one guides. The main problem is that one usually does not become a leader, it is a born quality, whereas one can be tough to be a manager. Very rarely these two roles can successfully coexist in the same person.The nature of leadership can be better understood if it is compared to management. Being a manager and being a leader in the organization is not the same. While influencing the work of his subordinates, and building relationships with them, a manager relies on official power base and its sources. Leadership, as a specific type of relationship management, is mostly based on a process of social influence, and interactions. This process is much more complex, and requires a high level of interdependence of its participants. In a contrast to a management concept, leadership implies followers rather than subordinates. Therefore, the traditional «boss—subordinate» relationships, inherent to the traditional management, is replaced by «leader—follower» relations. «The difference between a manager and a leader is very much like the difference between a raisin and a grape. If a raisin is a grape with something vital missing — water — so a manager is a leader with many vital things missing.» (Perrin, 2010)

Leadership Qualities

Once the difference between a leader and a manager is clear, it is important to examine what makes a good leader «good,» in other words, what qualities does a good leader have to have. Having looked through scores of resources, and after analyzing the way the most effective leaders operate, one can make the conclusion that the most important qualities a good leader should have, are the ones described below.
First of all, a good leader has to be charismatic, in other words, he has to have the ability to attract people, to draw them to him. In that way a leader is able to infect others with his views and ideas, and that ability undoubtedly make others follow him.
The second quality a good leader has to posses is commitment, an ability to always focus on the goal. «True commitment inspires and attracts people. People but into the leader, then the vision.» (Maxwell, 2007)
The next, and the most powerful quality a leader has to have, is the ability to be responsible. Responsibility is the path to successful leadership. What does it mean to be responsible? It means being able to set goals and to know how ho reach them, despite the encountered obstacles. This also includes the ability to persevere and to make quick decisions. The men who does not take responsibility cannot make decisions. He always needs someone to decide for him.
The forth essential quality of a leader is the ability to communicate. Communication is a tool, necessary for everyone who wants to achieve something in his life. The man who does not know how to communicate will not be able to express his ideas, and to share them with people, so they could understand it; he cannot lead people, nor inspire them.
According to John Maxwell, courage is also a very important quality an effective leader has to have. He claims that «one person with courage is a majority,» and there is something into this assertion. Courage is the ability to do what is right. It inspires the followers to be loyal to the cause.
And the last, but not least quality of a good leader is happiness and positive attitude. These are the things that help a leader to inspire, and lead others. Leaders should not rely on control, they should rely on inspiration.

Leadership Styles

Depending on the qualities a leader has, his leadership style might vary. Leadership styles is a set of technics, and methods of problem solving peculiar for a leader. In other words, it is a system, which is being continuously applied for management practices. There are number of leadership styles, however one distinguish four main ones — autocratic, persuasive, consultative and democratic. (Sadler, 2003) The autocratic leader is the one who makes all the decisions by himself. He expects his subordinates, or better to say followers, to take his decision as granted, not giving them a chance to argue it. This leadership style works for those leaders, who know exactly what they are doing, and who are competent in all the spheres the business operate in.
The persuasive leader also makes all the decisions on his own, however he does not make his people to take it all as granted, on the contrary, he persuades them that it is the way things have to be done.
The next leadership style that has to be discussed is consultative style. The most specific feature of this style in comparison to those described above is the fact that the leader talks and consults his people before making the decision. Of course, a leader can sometimes ignore the advice of his followers, but more ofter than not he takes them into consideration.
And the last leadership style, that will be discussed is democratic. Using this style, a leader will usually describe the problem to all his people, and they will be solving it through common discussion. This style is very effective, when the working professionals are very competent, and experienced to make big and important decisions, and to solve various problems. The leader acts more like a coordinator, rather than a decision maker, since the decision is usually made by a group. A good example of a democratic leader is Alan Mulally, former CEO of Ford Motor Company. He was a leader, who acted more like a coordinator, rather than a decision maker. He used to held meetings with Ford’s executives a couple of times a week, discussing all the problems and issues. This style worked perfectly for him, since he worked with a team of professionals, who did not need to be controlled all the time.

Conclusion

Therefore, one can make a conclusion, that no matter what style of leadership a person chooses, as soon as he possesses the qualities of a leader, qualities of a person who is able to take control of the situation, he will be able to achieve success. As for the leadership styles, one has to point out that it is very rare that a leader uses only one style of leadership. Very often they mix them, depending on the situation. And it is very important to know when and what style to practice.

Referenses

Lester, C. (1975). Leadership styles — a key to effectiveness. Journal of Extension. Retrieved February 19, 2015, from http://www.joe.org/joe/1975november/1975-6-a1.pdf
Maxwell, J. (2007). The 21 indispensable qualities of a leader becoming the person others will want to follow. Nashville, Tenn.: T. Nelson.
Mineo, D. (2014, November 1). The Importance of Trust in Leadership. Research Management Review, 4-4.
Perrin, C. (2010, January 1). Leader vs. Manager: What’s the Distinction? Retrieved February 18, 2015, from http://www.rpi.edu/dept/hr/docs/Leadervsmanager.pdf
Sadler, P. (2003). Leadership (p. 65). London: Kogan Page.