Leadership Theories - Essay Example

? Leadership Table of Contents Introduction 3 Leadership Theories 4 McGregor’s Theory X & Theory Y Managers 4 Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid 5 Application of the two theories to my personality 7 Conclusion 9 Reference 11 Bibliography 12 Introduction Leadership is an effective tool for any person to establish the idea of an individual and apply the concept to a group of people. For the implementation process an individual needs to possess certain characteristics and qualities to motivate the others and change the behavior of the other person to accomplish the goal. Some of the greatest successes of individuals in the industry have been because of the leadership attributes they possessed and the way they used them to influence others. Thus leadership has been described as the process of social influence in which an individual uses the support and of others for the purpose of accomplishment of tasks. Apart from influencing the behavior of others, leadership plays the crucial role of integrating and utilizing available resources in the external and internal environment for the purpose of attainment of societal and organizational goals. The project seeks to explain two behavioral theories of leadership in this context. In this context the various theories proposed by Kurt Lewin would be discussed. Besides explaining the theories elaborately, the project would apply them to me and my personality. The aim is to create an individual leadership portfolio from which it would be possible to reflect on my professional and personal growth by integrating the two theories, models and practices. The focus would be to identify and highlight the different leadership qualities I possess which distinguishes me from others and the basis on which they can be classified as per the leadership styles. Leadership Theories The aim of making a behavioral analysis is to provide individuals with the awareness of his behavioral traits and styles. The awareness helps people understand why he reacts in a certain way in a particular situation and why others react in the way they do. Analysis of the various behavioral leadership styles through proposed by researchers and practitioners would help me understand my leadership traits better and the reasons how they have been accrued (Crew Resource Management, 2005). The origin of the behavioral theories was primarily out of the shortcomings of trait theories which were criticized of being inconclusive and incomplete. Some of the attributes like integrity, honesty, diligence and loyalty were not measurable using trait theories and this has triggered the creation of the behavioral school of thought initiated by Douglas McGregor. The emphasis of the theories was primarily on human relationships along with performance and output (Bolden, Gosling, Marturano & Dennison, 2003, p.7). McGregor’s Theory X & Theory Y Managers McGregor’s X and Y theory is a simple and salutary reminder of the rules for managing people which are easily forgotten under the pressure of regular businesses. His theory provides some of the basic principles on which the management techniques and styles can be applied. According to his ideas, managers following the theory X generally end in poor results while the enlightened managers following theory Y end up getting better performance and results. Moreover, the enhanced performance also allows for the growth and development of individuals in the organizations (Schermerhorn, 2010, p.38). As per his views managers holding the assumptions of theory X generally believe that people working for them dislike work, lack ambitions, are resistant to change and generally prefer to be guided completely rather than to lead. His other argument is that managers following assumption Y are of the opinion that people are hard working, full of self control, accepts responsibilities, creative, imaginative and are capable to lead themselves properly (Schermerhorn, 2010, p.38). Resulting from his experience, McGregor presented a summary of the assumptions followed by managers in organizational settings. He assumed that the former managers holding assumptions of theory X prefer an autocratic style of leadership while managers holding assumptions of the latter prefer a participative leadership style. Researchers have emphasized on the need for Theory Y managers to meet the latest requirements in workplaces. Examples of Microsoft Inc. and Google can be cited to explain the success of theory Y management style as a substantial extent of success of these organizations depend on creativity, problem solving abilities, change acceptance and ambition. Following the attributes of the theory Y manager, these organizations have been able to reduce job attritions considerably, enhance motivation levels in employees and employed creative work strategies in the workplaces (Birkinshaw & Crainer, 2008, p.1-7). Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid The two primary drivers of managerial behaviors were identified by Blake and Mouton. One is the concern for the people delivering the job and the second is the concern for getting the job done. Their argument was that extreme and exclusive for production at the cost of those who are responsible for the same generates dissatisfaction among employees leading to conflicts which consequently results in poor performance (Zeidan, 2009, p.1) . The description of the management behaviors were presented in a framework by Blake and Mouton in a grid. This is presented in the figure below. (Zeidan, 2009, p.2) The indifferent style or impoverished style of leadership is basically considered to be a lazy approach where managers show low concern for both the people and the production. The person is never willing to take on responsibilities or to be held responsible for any mistakes. This style is generally used for seeking job security and avoids falling in trouble. Consequently it leads to disharmony, dissatisfaction and disorganization of work activities. On the other hand the country club category generally refers to managers having high concern for his people and very little concern for the production. This generally results in organizations having a very friendly atmosphere but very little productivity. A compliance leader or an authoritarian leader shows high concern for the production and little concern for the people. He is even found to be punishing his employees for failure to abide by rules and at the same time expects the maximum performance. Managers following the status quo style try to maintain a balance between the competing goals and objectives of the company and also try to cater to the needs and requirements of workers at large. The idea is to maintain a proper balance between the people and production so as to ensure a reasonable and acceptable level of performance. The team style or the sound style is generally referred to those managers who show the highest concern for both the people and production. In this case motivation levels are high and managers encourage high team work and commitments among employees (Zeidan, 2009, p.3). A study was conducted by Khandwalla on hundred corporations in China to find the best possible leadership styles in organizations. He is of the opinion that America organizations demand different styles of leadership than the Indian organizations. Since the major organizations in India are under restrictive environments and employees work in uncomfortable work environments, the situations demand “middle of the road” style of management. On the other hand the American organizations face a number of hostilities and environmental challenges which demand the highest concern for production. Thus, in American organizations the professional style of management is most preferred (Khandwalla, 1976, p.13). Application of the two theories to my personality According the attributes proposed by McGregor, I follow the assumptions of theory Y. The most primary reason me being regarded as a Theory Y manager is that I use self direction rather than being directed by an external factor. Being a student I prefer to make my own decisions rather than being led by the decisions of my supervisor. I generally set my own targets and try to attain them in my own way. Moreover when I have to manage a team I generally allow team members to apply self control and directions for attaining the objectives and do not apply any kind of external force to get the jobs done or threat them for punishments. My commitment towards work activities and job responsibilities is also a demonstration of my resemblance with the theory Y style of management. Moreover I believe that my commitment towards work and objective attainment would fetch me rewards as I consider rewards to be directly linked with work outputs and productivity. Moreover, I believe that good performance and results would eventually fetch rewards and recognition at work. I do not seek for any other opportunities at work for getting recognition or rewards; rather I look forward to producing the best output for the same. I think recognition should be completely performance based (Chevalier, 2007, p.67). My resemblance with the assumptions of the theory Y manager is apparent from the fact that I tend to seek additional responsibility apart from my usual roles in my assignments. I do get satisfaction from the normal activities that I undertake regularly only; rather I go out of the way to solve critical problems that might arise in other domains. I look forward to solve sudden arousal of problems without hesitation. My capacity to use a high degree of imagination, creativity and ingenuity in solving organizational problems also reflects the characteristics of a theory Y manager. However, I do consider that I have certain disadvantages of being a theory Y manager. My abilities to take my own decisions, apply self control and self direction usually comes in the way when I am working in group assignments. In such situations, it is important that decisions are taken by all and approved unanimously. During such times I face with difficulties in abiding by other people’s decisions and try to make my own stand which might not necessarily be beneficial for the group at large (Cassidy, 2011, p.4). The characteristics that I possess resembles the “middle of the road” management style as put forth by Blake and Mouton. The style resembles the managers’ abilities to maintain a balance between the needs and requirements of the workers as well as the company’s goals and objectives. My idea is to maintain a balance between production and concern for the people who are at work so as to ensure a suitable level of performance and at the same time meet the needs of people too. However, I face certain constraints and drawbacks of possessing the characteristics of a “middle of the road manager”. This is because trying to strike an equal balance between organizational goals and the concerns for people generally falls short for the minimum required to get the job done correctly. I do not attain the best possible goals in the process as I do not push the boundaries of what might be possible. Neither I am capable of generating an environment which is absolutely friendly nor do have I yielded results which are completely acceptable. A low focus or emphasis on the tasks is likely to generate questionable results. When I am leading a team during group performances, I usually show too much concern for the team members which eventually results in incomplete attainment of results. This characteristic of mine shows the tendency towards my affinity for the “country club style of management”. Conclusion Analysis of the various theories in behavioral leadership demonstrates that I resemble the characteristics of a ‘middle of the road’ manager according to the theory out up by Blake and Mouton. I seek to maintain a balance between people’s concern as well as the company’s goals. Given the social and economic changes that the Indian organizations are confronted with, researchers believe that such a management style is feasible in Indian organizations. However, I feel that very often that I tend to show too much concern for the people which ruins the purpose of attaining the organizational objectives and goals. On the other hand, according to the theory put up by McGregor, I find my character resembling with that of a theory Y manager. Some of the basic characteristics which resemble that of a theory Y manager are my self-directive, creative thinking and problem solving abilities. Apart from that my affinity towards seeking additional responsibilities is an additional quality. However, I must admit that too much self directional activities might not be feasible for working in groups or teams. Reference Birkinshaw, J. & Crainer, S. (2008). Theory Y meets Generation Y. Retrieved September 20, 2011 from http://www.managementlab.org/files/site/publications/labnotes/mlab-labnotes-010.pdf. Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano, A. & Dennison, P. (2003). A review of leadership theory and competency frameworks. Retrieved September 19, 2011 from http://www.rtuni.org/uploads/docs/A%20REVIEW%20OF%20LEADERSHIP%20THEORY%20AND%20COMPETENCY%20FRAMEWORKS.pdf. Cassidy, M. F. (2011). Group Decision Making. American Society for Training and Development. Chevalier, R. (2007). A manager's guide to improving workplace performance. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Crew Resource Management. (2005). Behavioral styles. Retrieved September 19, 2011 from http://www.crm-devel.org/resources/misc/transcan/transcan4.htm. Khandwalla, P. N. (1976). The Design of Effective Top Management Style. Retrieved September 20, 2011 from http://www.vikalpa.com/pdf/articles/1976/1976_apr_jun_41_58.pdf. Schermerhorn, J. R. (2010). Management. John Wiley and Sons. Bibliography Lussier, R. N. (2008). Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development. Cengage Learning. Read More