Tag Archives: Charismatic Leadership

Leadership

Types of Leadership Styles in Business

Traditionally the following leadership styles have been the most popular:

Dictator Leadership – In this leadership style the leader has absolute power and authority over their subordinates. The subordinates receive orders from the leader and they carry them out as instructed. The leader does not allow subordinates to participate in decision making. This is the leadership style that the leader uses fear and threats in order to get the job done. Similar with the autocratic style of leadership the leader also makes all the decisions.

Autocratic Leadership – It has been shown that this leadership style are likely to become dictators. Also under the autocratic leadership style all decision making powers are centralized to the leader. They do not entertain any thought from subordinates and do not listen to any suggestions or initiatives from them. Autocratic leadership provides strong motivation to the leader and this is shown to be true as it has been successful in the past. It is effective as it permits quick decision-making as only the one person needs to decide for the whole group and this individual keeps decisions to themselves until they feel the rest of the group need to know what they are. Autocratic leaders do not trust anyone.

Democratic Leadership – Participative or democratic leadership style favours group decision making as shown that the leader only gives instruction after consulting the group. The leader can earn the cooperation of the group by doing this and therefore can motivate followers effectively and positively. The decisions arise from consultation and participation within the group members first so the decision making is not unilateral such as the autocratic style. When democratic leaders are present in the workplace the leadership style produces a work environment that employees can feel satisfied with the environment of the workplace. Subordinates feel that their opinion counts because of the shared communication and because of that feeling they can become more committed to achieving the goals and objectives of the organization.

Laissez Faire or Free Rein Leadership – A free rein leader allows maximum freedom to subordinates, by leaving the group entirely to itself and does not lead them every step of the way but rather motivates them by trusting the individuals to do things themselves. Subordinates are given a freehand in deciding their own policies and methods. Free rein leadership is considered better than the authoritarian style but not as effective as the democratic style.

Research on the behavior of individuals with leadership is moving in many new directions and new lines of inquiry are opening up in an attempt to construct the leadership model. The following contemporary perspectives are only a few of the numerous inquiries into the new leadership models.

Transactional leadership is the traditional management function of leading. Transactional leaders in essence do what managers do: they clarify the role of employees, initiate structures and reward or punish individuals for the team’s performance. One individual is given the opportunity to lead the group and that group agrees to follow his lead in order to accomplish a predetermined goal in exchange for something worthwhile. The leader is given the power to evaluate, correct and train the employees when productivity is not at the appropriate level and they are able to reward effectiveness and efficiency when the outcome expected is reached.

Over the recent years a particular interest in transformational and charismatic leadership has been taken by I/O psychologists because in the past individuals have ignored the importance of the leader as a communicator. The following two leadership styles inspire followers through their words, ideas and behaviors.

The expression “transformational” is used because change and adaptation to change are the forerunners of a successful modern organization. The transformational leader is a person whom has a definite vision of the organization in the future and of what they want to achieve and transform followers’ beliefs, values and needs. The transformational leader seeks to accomplish their goals by making workers or followers feelings more aware of the importance of want they are trying to do, convincing them to put the organizations or teams needs ahead of their own self-accomplishments and to appeal to their achievement and mastery needs.

Charismatic leadership has a dependency more on the actual force of the leader’s personality as to the appeal of the leader’s vision. Charismatic leaders have the ability to put all their trust in others, are able to take personal risks and are sensitive to other people’s needs. They also have the ability to make individuals overcome lack of personal belief and do more than what is normally expected of them; they motivate subordinates to transcend their expected performance.

This article about leadership styles [http://www.humanresourcessouthafrica.co.za] was written by Christopher Kimberley. The article is for my human resources South Africa [http://www.humanresourcessouthafrica.co.za] website which specializes in issues relating to human resources in South Africa.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Christopher_Kimberley/826102

 

Leadership

Leadership – Motivation From the Heart

“Whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (ASV, Mt. 20: 26-28).

Are you a leader? What type of leader are you? Why?

Many management books point out various types of leadership styles based on achieving organizational goals as well as provide guidance to leaders on influencing followers to meet and exceed those goals. Some leadership books teach people leadership transformation by providing practical, “how-to” sections, such as changing behaviors or attitudes. Although researching and writing these books is certainly a noble endeavor, real leadership change occurs from the inside–out. The leader looking for actual leadership style transformation must first explore his or her intrinsic motivations from the heart and, then, acknowledge the behavioral impacts on the people and the organization.

Organizational Leadership Styles

Many types of leadership styles used in organizations achieve outcomes with the hope of producing effective results. For instance, charismatic leadership may produce loyalty to the leader and his passionate ideals; transactional leadership may achieve urgent project goals through the use of bonuses; while humane-oriented leadership, preferred in Southern Asia, shows achievement based on collaboration. Regardless of which leadership style is socially and culturally accepted, leaders are influenced both by their own intrinsic motivations, as well as perceived outcomes, when operating within organizational parameters trying to achieve “effective results.”

Whether an individual or a group achieves effective results is a subjective opinion laced with cultural, personal, and ethical biases–one manager may demand fast-paced task completion to achieve goals, while another manager may discourage the intense pace because he considers it employee hounding. According to author Peter Northouse, balancing both types of leadership styles, task-oriented and relationship-oriented, make it possible to achieve organizational goals. However, Northouse’s research does not show “a consistent link between task and relationship behaviors and outcomes such as morale, job satisfaction, and productivity.” Therefore, it is doubtful employees operating with low morale, mediocre job satisfaction, and average productivity generate effective results. Is this effective leadership?

Consideration: the Heart of the Matter

Although management and leadership books champion effective leadership, surprisingly, researchers “have not been able to identify a universal set of leadership behaviors that would consistently result in effective leadership,” according to Northouse. Gary Yukl, leadership scholar and author, purports “the only strong finding about leadership styles is that leaders who are considerate (emphasis added) have followers who are more satisfied.” In essence, this satisfaction encourages follower motivation, which, in turn, produces desired organizational outcomes.

Merriam-Webster defines consideration as: continuous and careful thought; thoughtful and sympathetic regard, esteem; an opinion obtained by reflection. Imagine a self-centered leader with greed as his motivation trying to have real “consideration” for other people. It just does not work. Consideration is rooted in thinking about others and, therefore, a heart-felt value not instantly attained by reading about leadership behaviors in a book. Trying to change leadership behaviors on the surface may produce short-term results; however, people see right through somebody acting insincere and inconsiderate. Therefore, a leader attempting to transform leadership style without transforming values in the heart, still finds it difficult to reach organizational goals.

Change of Heart, Attitudes, and Behaviors

Author Bruce Winston believes a leader who embraces the leadership values and behaviors as described in The Beatitudes of the Bible ultimately achieves leadership effectiveness. A person striving for this type of values-based leadership operates in a continuous self-reflective mode, filtering feedback from others, whether followers, peers, mentors, or other leaders. According to leadership consultants Chris Watkin and Ben Hubbard, “the willingness to engage personally and change as a result of feedback is what differentiates the best leaders from the rest.”

Once a leader makes a decision for heart transformation, changes in attitudes and behaviors evolve based on embracing a new or transformed set of values. Followers notice because the leader exhibits true behaviors on the outside reflecting internal motivations. Christians believe values engraved in the heart eventually come out in spoken words, whether good or bad, in healthy conversation or heated debate. Further, although leadership experts and organization development theorists group people by leadership style labels, every leader has a unique moral foundation and, therefore, a different leadership style.

“Consider-Others” Leadership

Many moral values exist within religious and social belief systems. The Buddhists believe in “Right Intent,” a commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement, such as the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion. Hindus believe in “karma,” a moral law of cause and effect, and “moksha,” a realization of the unity of all existence–perfect unselfishness and knowledge of the Self. Muslims embrace Islam by accepting, surrendering or submitting to God. Christians believe in loving one another, loving your enemies, and loving your neighbor as yourself. One aspect stands out among all these religions–a dying to self. A type of selflessness that puts the believer last and the other person first–true consideration.

Jesus believed in serving others; what leadership experts consider a “servant-leadership” style. Robert Greenleaf first coined the term “servant-leadership” in an essay: “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first; perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types.” Leaders, motivated by a deep sense of consideration, look at others first and not at their own interests, and this shapes their personal leadership style.

Motivate Your Leadership Style

Leaders motivated by consideration from the heart courageously and genuinely exhibit outward behaviors of honesty, trust, respect, friendliness, and helpfulness, regardless of social norms or what others say. Once leaders embrace heart-felt consideration, then motivation is directed toward achieving organizational goals using transformed leadership styles. Followers experiencing consideration through their leaders transformed leadership style exhibit increased job satisfaction and higher morale that enables motivation, which, in turn, produces desired organizational outcomes.

Once a leader recognizes his or her leadership style is based on intrinsic motivation, achieving effective organizational goals suddenly seems much easier.

What motivates your leadership style?

LISA R. FOURNIER is a doctoral student in the Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) program with the School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship at Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Lisa is also the President of Idea Evolutions LLC, a consulting company serving entrepreneurial leaders.
Email: lisafou@regent.

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