Theoretical Evaluation of Leadership Style and Personal Leadership Development Plan - Coursework Example

Leadership Contents Theoretical Evaluation of Leadership Style 3 Personal Analysis of Leadership 6 Personal Leadership Development Plan 7 Reference List 10 Theoretical Evaluation of Leadership Style The contemporary business world is highly competitive in nature. At the present juncture, if an organization needs to succeed in the dynamic market environment, then it needs to adopt effective leadership expertise at work. Such expertise would help to promote new ideas in business and also, render the workplace more efficient in nature. The researcher in context of this paper is a leader of an organization. There are several theoretical models on leadership. Through critical evaluation, the researcher realizes that the leadership style followed by him abides by the norms of Pyramid Competency Model of leadership (Tewksbury, 2009). According to scholars, this theory divides the required competencies of an organization in three groups. Core Competency Professional Competency Leadership Competency These three competencies of an organization are clubbed together to form a leadership pyramid. If an entrepreneur of an organization possesses the following skills or competencies at workplace, as mentioned in the pyramid, then he proves to be an efficient leader at business. Figure 1: Pyramid Model of Leadership (Source: Bigler, 2001) The above figure shows the leadership pyramid model. It states that the most important proficiency required in an organization is professional competency, followed by leadership and core competency. The researcher has certain personal leadership skills, which significantly help him to undertake leadership tasks at all levels in workplace. These are basic skills that are required in an individual in order to become a well-versed and efficient leader. According to the scholar, Anderson, core competencies in leadership skills form the base of a leadership pyramid for an organization (Andersen, 2000). If a leader lacks such basic skills, then the entire pyramid (comprising other leadership attributes) is likely to collapse. These basic skills are: Communication Teamwork Creativity Interpersonal skills Self direction Flexibility Financial optimization mobilization Positive mindedness Making good relations in business According to the view of Tewksbury in 2009, leadership competencies in Leadership Pyramid Model elaborate all those skills in a leader, which distinguishes him from being a mere in-charge in an organization (Kiger, 2010). These are special attributes in a leader that helps him to strengthen his organization to sustain any upcoming negative externalities in business. The various facets in leadership skills that are comprised under such group of competencies are: Overall good leadership abilities. Good forecasting or visioning process in business. Leading teams efficiently. Assessing various situations at workplace quickly and accurately. Fostering consistent resolutions. Training subordinate leaders. Implementing new strategies in business, introduced by employees. According to Quasi in 2001, professional competencies in leadership are the various skills, which act as a mortar to bind the entire leadership model (Quazi, 2001). In other words, these are competencies that help in making of all other leadership competencies active in an organization. The different skills that are required in this context are: Adult learning Instructional design Rapid design Consulting Instruction Thus, if the leadership style followed by the researcher is analyzed with help of a leadership model, then it most likely would appear to abide by norms of a Pyramid Model in Leadership. Personal Analysis of Leadership According to the researcher, he follows the norms of democracy in his leadership style. In such a style, the leader follows collaborative norms in business governance. He conducts several responsive and interactive actions, with all his subordinates, at the workplace (Popper, 2003). He believes that leadership or entrepreneurial power in an organization should be exercised with the help of collaboration and harmony and not fear. This is why, while setting goals in business, the leader (researcher) considers ideas and thinking perspectives of all his subordinates in workplace. The leader in such a situation encourages open communication in his working environment. This helps to easily resolve the problems in business and facilitates new ideas in commerce. Within the norm of open communication, the leader always encourages discussions about business problems and issues with his followers. New policies and procedures to be followed in the workplace are decided upon, after mutual discussions. The leader (researcher) always provides a positive feedback at the workplace (Tashakkori and Creswell, 2007). The leader realizes the difference between willingness to work and capacity to work. This gap is bridged by disseminating motivation among the workers. The leader provides many incentives and compensations to his subordinates for motivating them at their jobs. He always encourages and appreciates hardworking employees, besides empowering them with new responsibilities that makes them more attentive at work. Punishment is the last resort for the leader here. He penalizes subordinates in workplace strictly, only if they commit any grave mistake. However, the leader assures that he strictly follows strong disciplines in operations of the organization. In many occasions, the leader acts as a dictator in the system, but he also harbours listening skills. He pays attention to comments and instructions of all his subsidiaries. Conflicts in workplace are bound to occur in most cases. Nonetheless, it should be noted that in such problematic situations, overall workplace productivity diminishes remarkably. For benefit of the organization, the leader mediates in all sorts of conflicts at workplace, in order to indirectly serve the organizational interest. According to the leader, autocratic form of leadership (followed mostly by the primitive leaders) is non-productive in nature (Hotho and Dowling, 2010). A leader in an organization, in the contemporary world, must try to constantly upgrade the quality of the system’s workforce. However, personal responsibility and quality of the labour would only enhance, if a leader devotes enough value to the thoughts and ideas of the latter in workplace. This ideology can be followed in working environment only if a leader follows a democratic form of workplace management strategy. As claimed, the leader has formulated all his leadership principles by considering the special norms of leadership, introduced by the historic leader, Genghis Khan (Andersen, 2002). Personal Leadership Development Plan According to the leader, he still lacks certain special skills, which are crucial for becoming a good leader. Nonetheless, by implementing an 18 months plan of leadership development, the leader intends to develop these attributes of leadership within him i.e. skills that he still lacks in his leadership management process. Leadership Development Plan Months Task 1 to 3 Improve his existing oral and writing communication skills. 4 Try to enhance the power of listening. 5 to7 Improve optimization plan of resource allocation at workplace, for better operational efficiency. 8 to 9 Introduce new brainstorming techniques in business for making new business developments. 10 to 11 Expand the financial base of business. 12 to 14 Increase the base of employments and augment empowering of duties on existing workers. 15 to 18 Focus more on needs of the business stakeholders. Critical Evaluation 1-3= The leader realizes that he needs to enhance his writing and oral communication skills. These are the two forms of communication skills, which help him communicate ideas and instructions about business to a large group of individuals within a small time span. Since the leader lacks such good efficient skills, he faces problems in directing workers regarding complex business tasks or problems. It also becomes difficult for him to motivate subordinates, during critical situations. 4= It is analyzed by the leader that though he strictly follows democratic norms in business operations, yet in certain situations, he still behaves in a strong, autocratic manner. However, business productivity and growth can be achieved only with the essence of good listening skills. Through this process, the leader would be able to analyze new business ideas and thoughts, provided by several interested and skilful workers (Svensson, 2005). 5-7= The leader feels that his business optimizing plan is still not efficient. There are a lot of defects in his business product output, which implies wastage of useful and expansive resources. A good leader in business should try to introduce new technical measures, through which he can reduce wastage of resources. For example, Lean and Six Sigma at Toyota and Motorolla, respectively, are techniques introduced by the companies to reduce business defects. 8-9= The leader feels that he still could not contribute certain productive ideas in business, that would enhance overall level of competency of the organization and in turn help it lead the dynamic industry competition. Such plans must be introduced by the leader. 10-11= Only with help of the abovementioned tasks, in the 10th and 11th month, the leader should utilize the formulated productive business projects to borrow finances for business growth. The organization of the leader still lacks adequate fund to grow in future. As a leader, it is his duty to mobilize new funds, which can be invested in business. 12-14= After formulating a good plan for business growth, the leader must try to appoint a better organizational workforce. The leader still considers that his business lacks a productive and adequate labour force. Productivity of the existing workers can be enhanced by empowering them with new and appropriate tasks. 15-18= The leader should try to use technical tools to analyze upcoming risks in business. The leader finds that he still lacks proper intuition and experience to make his subordinates realize the upcoming business risks. Reference List Andersen, J.A., 2000. Leadership and leadership research. Current Issues in Business Disciplines, 5, pp. 2267-2287. Andersen, J.A., 2002. What we know about leadership and effectiveness. First International Workshop on Leadership Research, European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, pp. 16-17. Bigler, W.R., 2001. The new science of strategy execution: how incumbents become fast, sleek wealth creators. Strategy and Leadership, 29(3), pp. 29-34. Hotho, S. and Dowling, M., 2010. Revisiting leadership development: the participant perspective. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal. 31 (7), pp. 606 -629. Kiger, P., 2010. Special report on training and development: The leadership formula. Workforce Management, 25–31. Popper, M., 2003. Main Principles and Practices in Leader Development. Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, 26 (1), pp. 62-75. Quazi, H.A., 2001. Sustainable development: Integrating environmental issues into strategic planning. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 101(2), pp. 64-70. Svensson, G., 2005. Sustainable components of leadership effectiveness in organisational performance. Journal of Management Development, 25(6), pp. 522-534. Tashakkori, A. and Creswell, J. W., 2007. A new era of mixed methods. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(1), pp. 3-7. Tewksbury, R., 2009. Qualitative versus Quantitative Methods: Understanding Why Qualitative Methods are Superior for Criminology and Criminal Justice. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology, 1 (1), pp. 38-58. Read More