Leadership Profile Assignment | Online Assignment

The attached files are related to the principle or definition about leadership. Your paper should answer the following questions: 1. What kind of leader would you most like to work under and why? Give examples. What kind of leader would you least like to work under and why? Give an example. How do you make difficult decisions? Give an example. What kinds of decision biases do you need to watch out for? Give an example. What are the strengths and challenges of your own leadership style? Give an example. What leadership theories best describe your own leadership style? Give an example. Grading Your Final Paper: An “A” paper on this assignment will have detailed answers to the questions that not only reference personal experiences but will also reference the theories and concepts presented in class. The paper must do more than describe the student’s beliefs about leadership – the paper must also discuss WHY the student prefers certain leadership styles to others and what it says about them as individuals. An “A” paper will demonstrate good organizational structure and a smooth flow of ideas as well as correct grammar and spelling throughout.

Leadership Theories

Lewin’s Big Three

Kurt Lewin (1890–1947) was the pioneering social psychologist credited with defining and differentiating between the three classical leadership styles or behaviors. Lewin, considered by many to be the founder of social psychology, made significant contributions to leadership studies, organizational theory, and management theory. Based on extensive leadership and group dynamics experiments, Lewin developed the concept of leadership climates. Lewin characterized leadership climates as authoritarian, democratic, or laissez-faire. His classic study observed the way children in groups completed art projects and how the leadership climate in the groups influenced the project outcomes.

Authoritarian Leadership (Autocratic)

Authoritarian leaders, also known as autocratic leaders, provide clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done. This style of leadership is strongly focused on both the command of the leader and control of the followers. There is also a clear division between the leader and the members. Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently with little or no input from the rest of the group.

Generally decision-making is less creative under authoritarian leadership. Lewin also concluded that it is harder to move from an authoritarian style to a democratic style than vice versa. Abuse of this method is usually viewed as controlling, bossy, and dictatorial. Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group decision-making or where the leader is the most knowledgeable member of the group.

Participative Leadership (Democratic)

Lewin found that participative leadership, also known as democratic leadership, is typically the most effective leadership style. Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the group and allow input from other group members. In Lewin’s study, children in this group were less productive than the members of the authoritarian group, but their contributions were of a much higher quality. Participative leaders encourage group members to participate but retain the final say in the decision-making process. Group members feel engaged in the process and are more motivated and creative. Democratic leaders tend to make followers feel like they are an important part of the team, which helps foster commitment to the goals of the group.

Delegative (Laissez-Faire) Leadership

Researchers found that children under delegative leadership, also known as laissez-fair leadership, were the least productive of all three groups. The children in this group also made more demands on the leader, showed little cooperation and were unable to work independently.

Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance to group members and leave decision-making up to group members. While this style can be useful in situations involving highly qualified experts, it often leads to poorly defined roles and a lack of motivation. Lewin noted that laissez-faire leadership tended to result in groups that lacked direction where members blamed each other for mistakes, refused to accept personality responsibility, and produced a lack of progress and work.

1. Describe a boss or authority figure you experienced who used one of these leadership styles. What is your impression of their leadership success?

The Transactional Leadership Style

The transactional leader views the leader-follower relationship as a transaction. By accepting a position as a member of the group, the individual has agreed to obey the leader. In most situations, this involves the employer-employee relationship, and the transaction focuses on the follower completing required tasks in exchanged for monetary compensation.

One of the main advantages of this style is that it creates clearly defined roles. People know what they are required to do and what they will be receiving in exchange for completing these tasks. It also allows leaders to offer a great deal of supervision and direction if it is needed. Group members may also be motivated to perform well to receive rewards. One of the biggest downsides is that the transactional style tends to stifle creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

Situational Leadership Styles

Situational Leadership stresses the significant influence of the environment and the situation on leadership. Hershey and Blanchard’s model is one of the best-known situational theories. First published in 1969, this model describes four primary styles of leadership.

1. The telling style is characterized by telling people what to do.
2. The selling style involves leaders convincing followers to buy into their ideas and messages.
3. The participating style is marked by allowing group members to take a more active role in the decision-making process.
4. Finally, the delegating style involves taking a hands-off approach to leadership and allowing group members to make the majority of decisions.

Later, Blanchard expanded upon the model emphasizing how the developmental and skill level of the learners influences the style that should be used by leaders. Blanchard also described four different learning styles.

1. The Directing style involves giving orders and expecting obedience, but offers little in the way of guidance and assistance.
2. The Coaching style means giving lots of orders, but leaders also lots of supportive behaviors.
3. The Supporting style, on the other hand, is an approach that offers plenty of help, but very little direction.
4. Finally, the Delegating style is low in both direction and support.

Leadership and Maturity Levels

How do leaders and managers determine which style of leadership to use? The right style depends a lot on the maturity level of the individuals or group.

Hershey and Blanchard’s theory identifies four different levels of maturity

• M1: Group members lack the knowledge, skills, and willingness to complete the task.
• M2: Group members are willing and enthusiastic, but lack the ability.
• M3: Group members have the skills and capability to complete the task, but are unwilling to take responsibility.
• M4: Group members are highly skilled and willing to complete the task.

The Hershey-Blanchard model suggests that the following leadership styles are the most appropriate for these maturity levels:

• Low Maturity (M1) – Telling (S1)
• Medium Maturity (M2) – Selling (S2)
• Medium Maturity (M3) – Participating (S3)
• High Maturity (M4) – Delegating (S4)

The SLII Model

The Situational Leadership II (or SLII model) was developed by Kenneth Blanchard and builds on Blanchard and Hershey’s original theory. According to the revised version of the theory, effective leaders must base their behavior on the developmental level of group members for specific tasks. The developmental level is determined by each individual’s level of competence and commitment.

• Enthusiastic Beginner (D1): High commitment, low competence.
• Disillusioned Learner (D2): Some competence, but setbacks have led to low commitment.
• Capable but Cautious Performer (D3): Competence is growing, but level of commitment varies.
• Self-Reliant Achiever (D4): High competence and commitment.

SLII also suggests that effective leadership is dependent upon two key behaviors: supporting and directing. Directing behaviors include giving specific directions and instructions and attempting to control the behavior of group members. Supporting behaviors include actions such as encouraging subordinates, listening, and offering recognition and feedback.

The theory identifies four basic leadership styles.

• Directing (S1): High on directing behaviors, low on supporting behaviors.
• Coaching (S2): High on both directing and supporting behaviors.
• Supporting (S3): Low on directing behavior and high on supporting behaviors.
• Delegating (S4): Low on both directing and supporting behaviors.

The main point of SLII theory is that not one of these four leadership styles is best. Instead, an effective leader will match his or her behavior to the developmental skill of each subordinate for the task at hand.

Important Situational Factors

Experts suggest that there are four key contextual factors that leaders must be aware of when making an assessment of the situation.

First, leaders need to consider the relationship between the leaders and the members of the group. Social and interpersonal factors can play a role in determining which approach is best. For example, a group that lacks efficiency and productivity might benefit from a style that emphasizes order, rules, and clearly defined roles. A productive group of highly skilled workers, on the other hand, might benefit from a more democratic style that allows group members to work independently and have input in organizational decisions.

Second, the leader needs to consider the task itself. Tasks can range from simple to complex, but the leaders needs to have a clear idea of exactly what the task entails in order to determine if it has been successfully and competently accomplished.

Third, the level of authority the leader has over group members should also be considered. Some leaders have power conferred by the position itself, such as the capacity to fire, hire, reward, or reprimand subordinates. Other leaders gain power through their relationships with group members, often by gaining respect from group members, offering support to employees, and helping workers feel included in the decision-making process.

Finally, as the Hershey-Blanchard model suggests, leaders need to consider the level of maturity of each individual group member. Maturity level is a measure of both an individual’s ability to complete a task as well as their willingness to complete the task. Assigning a job to a member who is willing but lacks the ability is a recipe for failure.

2. Describe a leader or authority figure you experienced who used a situational approach. What were your impressions of their success?

3. Which type of situational leadership style do you think you embody?

Social Change Model of Leadership

Change means improving the status quo, creating a better world, and demonstrating a comfort with transition and ambiguity in the change process.

Individual Values

Consciousness of self means being aware of the beliefs, values, attitudes, and emotions that motivate one to take action. How well do I know myself? Do I now why I do what I do? How well do I know my personal strengths and challenges?

Congruence refers to thinking, feeling, and behaving with consistency, genuineness, authenticity, and honesty towards others. Congruent persons are those whose actions are consistent with their most deeply-held beliefs and convictions. Clearly, personal congruence and consciousness of self are interdependent. How well do my words and deeds match? When and where do I abandon my self- professed standards or scruples?

Commitment is the psychic energy that motivates the individual to serve and that drives the collective effort. Commitment implies passion, intensity, and duration. It is directed towards both the group activity as well as it´s intended outcomes. Without commitment, knowledge of self is of little value. And without adequate knowledge of self, commitment is easily misdirected. Congruence, in turn, is most readily achieved when the person acts with commitment and knowledge of self. When am I “all in” when it comes to a project? When do I let things go or blow things off? When do I become cynical.

Group Values

Collaboration is to work with others in a common effort. It constitutes the cornerstone value of the group leadership effort because it empowers self and others through trust. Collaboration multiplies group effectiveness by capitalizing on the multiple talents and perspectives of each group member and on the power of that diversity to generate creative solutions and actions. Collaboration empowers each individual best when there is a clear-cut “division of labor.”

Common Purpose means to work with shared aims and values. It facilitates the group’s ability to engage in collective analysis of the issues at hand and the task to be undertaken. Common purpose is best achieved when all of the members in the group share in the vision and participate actively in articulating the purpose and goals of the leadership development activity. Recognizing the common purpose and mission of the group helps to generate the high level of trust that any successful collaboration requires.

Controversy with Civility recognizes two fundamental realities of any creative group effort: that differences in viewpoint are inevitable, and that such difference must be aired openly but with civility. Civility implies respect for others, a willingness to hear each other’s views, and the exercise of restraint in criticizing the views and actions of others. This is best achieved in a collaborative framework and when a common purpose has been identified. Controversy (conflict, confrontation) can often lead to new, creative solutions to problems, especially when it occurs in an atmosphere of civility, collaboration, and common purpose.

Societal/Community Values

Citizenship is the process whereby the individual and the collaborative group become responsibly connected to the community and the society through the leadership development activity. To be a good citizen is to work for positive change on behalf of others and the community. Citizenship thus acknowledges the interdependence of all who are involved in or affected by these efforts. It recognizes that the common purpose of the group must incorporate a sense of concern for the rights and welfare of all those who might be affected by the group’s efforts. Good citizenship thus recognizes that effective democracy involves individual responsibility as well as individual rights.

4. Have you ever worked under a leader who embodied social change leadership? Describe your experiences.

5. Could you see yourself embodying this kind of leadership? Why or why not?

Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

Psychologist, Robert House, developed Path-Goal Theory in 1971, and then redefined and updated it in a 1996 article in The Leadership Quarterly. Let’s look at some of the elements of the theory.

Leadership Responsibilities

According to it, if you want your people to achieve their goals, you need to help, support, and motivate them. You can do this in three ways:

1. Helping them identify and achieve their goals.
2. Clearing away obstacles, thereby improving performance.
3. Offering appropriate rewards along the way.

To do this, you can use four different types of leadership:

• Supportive leadership – Here, you focus on relationships. You show sensitivity to individual team members’ needs, and you consider your team members’ best interests. This leadership style is best when tasks are repetitive or stressful.
• Directive leadership – With this, you communicate goals and expectations, and you assign clear tasks. This style works best when tasks or projects are unstructured, or when tasks are complex and team members are inexperienced.
• Participative leadership – With participative leadership, you focus on mutual participation. You consult with your group, and you consider their ideas and expertise before making a decision. This approach works best when your team members are experienced, when the task is complex and challenging, and when your team members want to give you their input.
• Achievement-oriented leadership – Here, you set challenging goals for your team. You have confidence in your team’s abilities, so you expect your team to perform well, and you maintain high standards for everyone. This style works best when team members are unmotivated or unchallenged in their work.

Path–goal theory assumes that leaders are flexible and that they can change their style, as situations require. The theory proposes two contingency variables, such as environment and follower characteristics, that moderate the leader behavior-outcome relationship. Environment is outside the control of the follower-task structure, authority system, and work group.

Environmental factors determine the type of leader behavior required if the follower outcomes are to be maximized. Follower characteristics are the locus of control, experience, and perceived ability. Personal characteristics of subordinates determine how the environment and leader are interpreted. Effective leaders clarify the path to help their followers achieve goals and make the journey easier by reducing roadblocks and pitfalls. Employee performance and satisfaction are positively influenced when the leader compensates for the shortcomings in either the employee or the work setting. According to Northouse, the theory is useful because it reminds leaders that their central purpose as a leader is to help subordinates define and reach their goals in an efficient way.

Transformational Leadership

James Burns and Bernard Bass define transformational leadership as a leadership approach geared to change both individuals and social systems. In its ideal form, it creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. Enacted in its authentic form, transformational leadership enhances the motivation, morale and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms. These include connecting the follower’s sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers that inspires them; challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, so the leader can align followers with tasks that optimize their performance.

Burns established two concepts: “transforming leadership” and “transactional leadership”. The transforming approach creates significant change in the life of people and organizations. It redesigns perceptions and values, and changes expectations and aspirations of employees. Unlike in the transactional approach, it is not based on a “give and take” relationship, but on the leader’s personality, traits and ability to make a change through example, articulation of an energizing vision and challenging goals. Transforming leaders are idealized in the sense that they are a moral exemplar of working towards the benefit of the team, organization and/or community. Burns theorized that transforming and transactional leadership were mutually exclusive styles. Transactional leaders usually do not strive for cultural change in the organization but they work in the existing culture while transformational leaders can try to change organizational culture.

The extent to which leaders are transformational, is measured first, in terms of their influence on their followers. The followers of such a leader feel trust, admiration, loyalty and respect for the leader and because of these qualities, are willing to work harder than originally expected. These outcomes occur because the transformational leader offers followers something more than just working for self gain; they provide followers with an inspiring mission and vision and give them an identity. The leader transforms and motivates followers through his or her idealized influence, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. In addition, this leader encourages followers to come up with new and unique ways to challenge the status quo and to alter the environment to support being successful. Finally, in contrast to Burns, Bass suggested that leadership can simultaneously display both transformational and transactional leadership.

Breaking it down, transformational leaders generally demonstrate four traits:

1. Individualized Consideration –the degree to which the leader attends to each follower, acts as a mentor or coach to the follower and listens to the follower’s concerns and needs. The leader gives empathy and support, keeps communication open and places challenges before the followers. This also encompasses the need for respect and celebrates the individual contribution that each follower can make to the team. The followers have a will and aspirations for self development and have intrinsic motivation for their tasks.

2. Intellectual Stimulation – the degree to which the leader challenges assumptions, takes risks and solicits followers’ ideas. Leaders with this style stimulate and encourage creativity in their followers. They nurture and

develop people who think independently. For such a leader, learning is a value and unexpected situations are seen as opportunities to learn. The followers ask questions, think deeply about things and figure out better way to execute their tasks.

3. Inspirational Motivation –  the degree to which the leader articulates a vision that is appealing and inspiring to followers. Leaders with inspirational motivation challenge followers with high standards, communicate optimism

about future goals, and provide meaning for the task at hand. Followers need to have a strong sense of purpose if they are to be motivated to act. Purpose and meaning provide the energy that drives a group forward. The visionary aspects of leadership are supported by communication skills that make the vision understandable, precise, powerful and engaging. The followers are willing to invest more effort in their tasks, they are encouraged and optimistic about the future and believe in their abilities.

4. Idealized Influence – Provides a role model for high ethical behavior, instills pride, gains respect and trust. As a development tool, transformational leadership has spread already in all sectors of western societies, including governmental organizations.

Research evidence shows that groups led by transformational leaders have higher levels of performance and satisfaction than groups led by other types of leaders. The reason is that transformational leaders believe that their followers can do their best, leading members of the group to feel inspired and empowered. Other researchers discovered that employees who identified a higher level of transformational leadership in their employers also had higher reported levels of well-being. The effect stayed significant even after researchers controlled for factors that are linked to well-being such as job strain, education, and age. Transformational leadership, which both conveys a sense of trust and meaningfulness and individually challenges and develops employees, also has a positive effect on employee well-being

Here are some steps toward making your leadership transformational.

Step 1: Create an Inspiring Vision People need a compelling reason to follow your lead, and this is why you need to create and communicate an inspiring vision of the future. Your vision sets out your team or organization’s purpose – why you all get up in the morning to do what you do. You develop this partly by understanding the values of the people you lead, partly by understanding the capabilities and resources of your organization, and partly by conducting an intelligent analysis of your environment and selecting the best way forward within it.

Step 2: Motivate People to Buy Into and Deliver the Vision Now, starting with your mission statement, you need to appeal to your people’s values, and inspire them with where you’re going to lead them, and why. Use storytelling as part of your call to action: this will help people appreciate the positive impact of your vision on the people you’re trying to help.Then, talk about your vision often. Link it to people’s goals and tasks to give it context, and help people see how they can contribute to it. Transformational leaders also know that nothing significant happens unless they encourage their people. So, make sure that you know about the different kinds of motivation, and use these to inspire your people to deliver their best.

Step 3: Manage Delivery of the Vision A vision is no use on its own: it needs to become reality. However, many leaders make the mistake of developing a vision, but of not putting in the hard and often mundane work of delivering it. To manage the delivery of your vision, you’ll need to combine effective project management with sensitive change management. This will help you deliver the changes you need with the full support of your people. Communicate each person’s roles and responsibilities clearly and connect these to your plans. Everyone should fully understand what they’re responsible for and know how you will measure their success. Next, set clear, SMART goals for everyone, including some short-term goals that will help people achieve quick wins and stay motivated. You may need to build your self-discipline and stamina, so that you don’t let yourself down. And, set a good example to your people – especially if they’re affected by delays or difficulties – by being a model of hard work and persistence. Also, stay visible by practicing management by walking around. This is an ideal technique for transformational leaders, because it helps you stay connected with daily activities, and allows you to answer questions as they arise.

Step 4: Build Ever-Stronger, Trust-Based Relationships With Your People As a transformational leader, you need to focus your attention on your people, and work hard to help them achieve their goals and dreams. It also underlines the fact that leadership is a long-term process, and that, as a leader, you need to work constantly to build relationships, earn trust, and help your people grow as individuals. Meet your people individually to understand their developmental needs, and help them to meet their career goals. What do they want to achieve in their role? Where do they see themselves five years from now? How can you help them reach this goal? Lastly, set aside time to coach your people. When you help them find their own solutions, you not only create a skilled team, but you also strengthen their self-confidence and their trust in you.

Criticisms of Transformational Leadership

The biggest criticism of transformational leadership is also its strength – a leader may use their ability to influence and motivate others for immoral and self-centered gains. The biggest challenge for a transformational leader is to live up to the standards they set for their followers – they cannot use their charisma and influence for self-gain, nor can they afford to live by any double standards. Doing so would destroy the trust and faith they have built up in their followers. Transformational leadership works best in a broken or poorly running system or organization. If everything is running well – there is little need to transform anything. It also has less value in new organizations with no structure or developing structures. Finally, transformational leadership is not the best fit for crisis management (too slow) or highly bureaucratic systems that require stricter rules and chain of command.

6. Have you ever worked under a leader or authority figure who embodied this kind of leadership? Describe your experiences.

7. How do you think a transformative approach would work in your organization?

REFERENCES

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Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

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Joyce, E., Judge, C., Timothy, A. (2004). “Personality and Transformational and Transactional Leadership: A Meta-Analysis”. Journal of Applied Psychology. 89 (5): 901–910.

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Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE.