Leadership Essay: Analyzing the Shared and Transformational Leadership Styles
Question
Task: Prepare a leadership essay discussing about the two leaderships and there applications in several contexts.
Answer
Introduction
The current leadership essay sheds light on the concept of leadership that is generally applicable to every aspect of our lives. Leadership can be identified as a process which enables an individual to execute power upon others. For leading life on the right direction, one will need leader because that leader will guide that individual towards the righteous move that will aid the individual to achieve success in his or her life. In an organization leadership aspect are very significant because a good leader of an organization has the capability to lead the organization towards the path of sustainability (Klenke, 2016). Along with the process of globalization competition among the organizations have increased and for this reason presence of good leaders is very necessary in organizations (Grint et al., 2016).
According to the study of Rosenbach (2018), it can be observed that leadership has the potentiality to create impact the behaviour of the others and this impact can result in creation of realization within the individual which pushes that individual towards the goal. In this current study, leadership styles will be analysed and for these two leadership styles will be analysed. This study developed in the leadership essay will also provide a comparison between the two leadership styles selected by the study. Finally, the study will evaluate each of the styles and their application in several contexts.
Discussion
Considering the study of Antonakis & Day (2017) in order to prepare this leadership essay, it has been observed that Leadership is defined as the ability of an individual to persuade others to help them to seek objectives eagerly. The study further has shown that human bonding motivates individuals to achieve their goals. Thus, it can be seen that leadership is an adjective which is not possessed by all individuals because leadership does come with responsibilities and in order to fulfill these sets of responsibilities individuals have to achieve the targeted goals (Covin & Slevin, 2017). However, it can also be noted that leadership concept is applicable to all aspects but with different outcome, an individual can be leader of his own life as he has the supreme powers to curb his life (Heifetz & Linsky, 2017). This notion of individualistic leadership concept is partly applicable in the context of leadership of a group because here the goal is not to maximize the individual interest but to maximize the interest of the whole group. In this section of the study different leadership theories will be considered and out of this two will be analyzed.
Leadership theories examined in this leadership essay are very significant to gather knowledge about the concept of leadership. If the most common theories of leadership are considered then it can be observed that Trait theory, Behavioral theory, Great Man theory , Transactional theory, Contingency theory, Shared leadership and the Transformational theory are the most popular ones (Northouse, 2017).
Shared leadership theory shows that type of leadership style which believes in team leadership and this style of leadership shows that the team shares all the power among them and supervises together within an organization. Here the leader also promotes the teamwork and sharing of the roles and responsibilities (Meuser et al., 2016). This type of leadership styles shows that the decentralized management is the best management form achieving the goals set by the team. In this type followers are being monitored by each other and thus it can be observed that followers are the main point of attention in this style because followers’ faults are being monitored on a daily basis. Considering the study of Yahaya & Ebrahim (2016), it has been found that the shared leadership is considered to the fastest growing styles because this style results in achievement of the objectives in short span of time.
Shared leadership has come into light recently and this leadership style has gained much importance in the academic leadership literatures. As per the readings used to prepare this leadership essay, it can be stated that the main focus point of this leadership style is not the individuals but the team as a whole and this is the reason this leadership style has been adopted by most of the leaders because this style results in positivity sieve here all are responsible. As opined by Dartey-Baah (2015), the study it has been seen that shared leaders believes in utilization of the exchange model and this model works with the increased interactions between the people and individual position is kept aside.
According to the study of Masa'deh, Obeidat & Tarhini (2016), it has been observed that shared leadership is defined as more group works and here all the members work together to fulfill their goals. Thru this style shows mutual support from all, the active participants within the team. Further it can also be observed that shared leadership style is significant one because here the self-governing concept is applied. Considering the study of Xenikou ( 2017), it can be observed that whenever leadership is shared among the members of the team all members become liable for faults and this is the reason this leadership is considered to be directive, empowering, transactional and transformational.
Shared leadership qualities if noted down then it can be observed that this leadership involves creativity and job satisfaction and this satisfaction comes from the concept of shared responsibility because this shared concept makes all feel that they are valued by the organization. Another quality of these leaders style is the flow of empowerment among all the members which urge all to put their best in work (Xenikou, 2017).
Real world example of implementation of shared leadership style discussed in this section of leadership essay is Morning star which is the world’s largest tomato processor company, located in both the southern and northern California. The company has implemented the shared leadership style because company believed that shared leadership would be more effective than any other leadership style. According to company this leadership will enable all to demonstrate their leadership and this self-management concept will urge all to rectify their faults and put their best ("Morning Star:: Company History", 2019).
Along with advantages there are disadvantages too linked with the shared leadership theory and these are this leadership style results in agitation among the followers and this agitation arises from the fact that if one member is demotivated then for him whole team has to suffer. Thus Blaming each other is the major disadvantage that is linked with this style because here all are provide with individual roles and responsibilities and if one members is incapable then whole team has to suffer and this is the reason a uncanny situation arises whenever shared leadership style is adopted (Higgs & Dulewicz , 2016). Second disadvantage of this shared leadership style is the lack of attention that may arise within the group of the members because this style lacks a backing person who will motivate all and guide all in right direction.
Transformational Leadership Theory shows that Transformational leader inspires and stimulates his followers so that follower achieves goals. This kind of leaders focuses upon the developmental requirements of the followers and for this reason these leaders changes the followers and this change is mainly initiated in the form that followers will look after the issue in a new manner so that they put extra effort to solve the issue. Considering the study of Ghasabeh, Soosay & Reaiche (2015) to support the case scenario of leadership essay, it can be observed that transformational leadership is all about the positivity since it creates positive changes of the followers and also leader take care of the interest of the follower along with the interest of the group of the followers. If the study of Willis, Clarke & O'Connor (2017), is considered then it is visible that Transformational leadership is a new leadership style and this style mainly focuses upon the value creation.
The leadership essay examines the study of Banks et al., (2016) signifies that that transformational leadership enhances the performance of the followers and for these leaders adopts a mechanism that will head him. Thus, it can be seen transformational leaders connect more with the followers because the leader look after the follower with utter importance. A transformational leader takes the form of role model of the followers and challenges them to be responsible for their own actions and inspires them to perform their work optimally.
Some of the key qualities of the transformational leaders are inspirational motivation. The leaders motivate the followers and align the individual goals with that of the group goals and this kind of action by the leader creates optimism among the followers and they start to put their best effort on work (Hynes & Mickahail, 2019). Another quality of these kinds of leaders is the attention both personal and individual. Leader attends all followers’ needs and gives respect to all the followers.
Real world example of leader who exercises transformational leadership style is Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs who is the co-founder of Apple Inc which is the most popular mobile company around the globe. Steve Jobs is well known for his leadership style and this fact is not deniable because due to Steve Jobs Apple has managed to occupy the first position in the mobile phone industry (Northouse, 2017). Steve Jobs believed in perfection and simplicity and for this reason he looked after all the employees working after him. This kind of gesture from the leader of the company motivated the employees to put their best work and achieve their goals which are aligned with the goals, of the company. Steve Jobs always challenged the employees of the company to think out of the box and this is the reason unique products are designed by the company.
Some of the disadvantages of the transformational leadership theory discussed in the context of leadership essay are sometimes change that is the significant feature of the theory poses challenge and this is due to the fact all the followers are not ready to adopt the change and this change process agitate them and this directly impacts their work (Hawkins, 2017). Another big issue identified in the leadership essay of this theory is that the theory lacks to address real world problems and this act as barriers to serve the role of leader.
Comparison of the key points of the transformational and shared leadership theories shows that Transformational leaders engage more with that of the followers. Now considering the shared leadership concept it can be observed that here there is no presence of a leader rather all the members are designated with the title of leader and this is the reason this leadership style is gaining importance nowadays. Another key point shows that members under shared leadership style achieves objectives together while transformational style show that employees achieves objectives with high determination and more morale values under the guidance of leader (Ghasabeh, Soosay & Reaiche, 2015).
Considering the application of these two theories-Transformational and Shared leadership theories it can be observed herein leadership essay that Shared leadership style is more applicable to the organizations which believe in team work and which believe in achievement of goals within short span of time. Further it can be stated that if a company desires to grow and flourish together that is if company values it’s all employees then shared leadership style is applicable and this is evident from the fact that under shared leadership style creation of empowerment among members is achieved and this empowerment aids the employees to achieve their goals by aligning it with the organizational goals. Now coming to the transformational leadership style, it can be observed that this kind of leadership is applicable in the purview of the organization who views their sustainability in the long run because this leadership style believes in change and this change management is time consuming (Yahaya & Ebrahim, 2016). Thus, in regards to the information analyzed in this segment of leadership essay it can be seen that different situation requires different leadership style and the style is mainly adopted according to the degree of situation.
Conclusion
From the above analysis done within this leadership essay upon the leadership it can be concluded that there exist different forms of leadership style. The above study analyzed shared and transformational style and result from the analysis show that different situation requires different kind of leadership style. This requirement of the leadership style depends upon the situation of the organization. The above study examined in the sections of leadership essay has shown that transformational leader governs the followers while the shared leaders work together and thus it can be concluded that different styles ensure that performance of the followers is enhanced.
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