Effective Leadership: Roles, Styles, and Theories
What is Leadership?
Leadership is an interpersonal process through which managers influence their staff to achieve work goals with enthusiasm and without resorting to coercive methods.
Roles of a Leader
- Plan
- Organize
- Command
- Control
Goal of a Leader
The goal of a leader is to unite and integrate individual needs with those of the organization.
Who is Considered a Leader?
A leader is a member of a group or organization who significantly influences others.
Sources of a Leader’s Influence
- Moral Authority: Based on behavior that serves as a role model.
- Wisdom Authority: Derived from knowledge, skill, and experience.
- Formal Authority: Granted by the position held within the organization.
- Charismatic Authority: Stems from personality, the ability to persuade, organize, and inspire enthusiasm.
Functions of Leadership
- Direction: Rationally guiding actions.
- Organization: Structuring levels, defining limits, and maintaining unity of command.
- Execution: Making decisions, selecting, and motivating staff.
- Control: Evaluating and correcting actions, recording, and communicating results.
Leadership Styles
- Autocratic: The leader exercises authority, makes decisions, and imposes their action plan; employees simply obey.
- Permissive: The leader does not exercise command and delegates all activity to subordinates.
- Democratic: The leader involves the group in decision-making, either by majority or consensus, and establishes rules.
- Bureaucratic: Prioritizes formal objectives over actual behavior, potentially creating tension between the leader and workers.
Theories of Leadership
- Trait Theory: Seeks to identify personality, physical, social, and intellectual traits that differentiate leaders from non-leaders.
- Behavioral Theory: Focuses on studying common features of effective leaders to design training programs for leadership roles. This approach has been largely unsuccessful.
- Situational Theory: Emphasizes the complexity of leadership and the need to consider situational factors that influence a leader’s success or failure.