Leadership Theory and Application - Assignment Example

Leadership Theory and Application

In 1970, Robert Greenleaf came up with the servant leadership theory with the description of the servant as a leader. According to the theory, servant leadership begins when the leader wants to serve first before the aspiration to be a leader. The leadership theory differs from others whose descriptions entail a person being a leader the serves the followers. According to the theory, the leaders first ensures that the needs of other people are served. As such, a servant-leader pays attention to the growth and well-being of those they lead. Servant leadership varies from other traditional leadership theories because it does not accumulate power on an individual. The servant leadership theory is important due to the ease with which it can be applied to different situations. It enables the leaders to get in touch with the experiences of the followers so that their suggestions coincide with the objectives of the course upon taking into consideration of the needs of the parties involved. A combination of ideas from the servant leadership with the alternative approaches is critical in attaining high levels of effectivity in organizations. Servant leadership is also applicable to all types of organizations. It, therefore, exhibits high levels of flexibility that is instrumental in its applicability across the organizations.

Multiple components define servant leadership. Servant leadership has an element of listening in which is an important factor in communication and decision-making process in organizations (Van Dierendonck 2011). Servant leaders attach importance to listening to the followers so that they can identify and comprehend what is being said and not being said. Having the facts about the will of the followers makes the servant leadership instrumental in enhancing effectivity of organizations. Through the component of empathy, servant leadership understands and accepts the uniqueness of each in an organization. Servant leadership also have a healing element. The leaders who apply the approach are in a position to recover from broken spirits that may impede their effectivity while executing their responsibilities. The leaders also strive to make whole the followers with who they interact. As such, both the leaders and the followers share the concept of wholeness. The servant leaders are also aware of themselves. They understand the concepts of power, ethics, and values which enhance their abilities to view situations in a holistic manner. Servant leaders are always at peace with their inner self which is a factor in the dispensation of their responsibilities.

In the course of executing their leadership roles, servant leaders rely on persuasion as means of getting things done. The component of persuasion sets servant leadership apart from other approaches that rely on the application of authority. The leadership approach also has a component of conceptualization through which the leaders nurture various aspects of an organization is preparation for greater success. The leadership theory also exhibits foresight attributes through which the leaders can predict the performance of the organization is future. Servant leaders utilize the experience from the past and the current status of the organizations to approximate how it will fair in the future. Another feature typical of servant leadership is stewardship. The leaders tend to safeguard the organization for the future good. With a belief that every individual has intrinsic value, servant leadership focuses the growth of individual in line with their special attributes.

Servant leadership approach has diverse impacts on the leadership, followers and the organization at large. Servant leadership reinforces positive attitudes of the followers towards the job. The followers tend to exhibit high levels of job satisfactions, commitments to the organization and fully engage in the practices that aim at accomplishing the set objective in organizations that rely on servant leadership approach. Through servant leadership, the followers that focus on the growth of the individuals, the followers work towards self-actualization. Servant leadership also positively impact on the performance of the followers as a result of the motivation and commitment of the leaders (Van Dierendonck et al., 2011). Organizational outcomes of servant leadership involve improvement of the corporate social responsibilities and sustainability of the business. A servant led organization aim to create a great place of work for the followers, focusing on high-quality life while at the same time contributing to the well-being of the community. With fairness and trust forming core values of the servant leadership, it culminates in effectivity of organizations through the positive impacts on the employees.

Question 2

Leadership is the act or activity of guiding and leading people towards a common goal. As a leader one is faced with an active role of continuously making decisions, motivating and encouraging others, acting as an example and also a role model at the same time. Leadership is the capability to motivate, influence and encourage others to commit to the success, wellness, and effectiveness of in the setting of an organization. A leader is in a position to influence people to make a certain choice (Northouse, 2010). A leadership process that is known to be effective occurs only when leaders and the people the followers exhibit a mature relationship and thus get the benefits of the interdependence. Effective leaders are critical to the success of any organization as it impacts on all the activities of the workforce. The leadership of an organization can either be a motivational factor to the members of an organization or demoralize the followers. In the case of the latter, the organization does not achieve the efficiency that is essential for its success. Leaders are either born or made. Born leaders are those who have innate leadership abilities and traits such as resilience, ability to influence other people, commitment to their mission and visionary people. One distinct character of born leaders is that they are dynamic and can work well with diverse groups, readily embrace change and complexity and are good at conflict resolution.

Management is the process of coordinating people’s efforts to achieve a common goal in a group. Management involves various roles and responsibilities including; organizing, planning, forecasting, controlling, coordinating and commanding. Among other functions, management ensures that the different stakeholders connected to a group are contented. Leadership and management are not the same, but they complement each other. Without leadership, management is bound to fail. Management involves directing while leadership involves inspiring and motivating. Managers can do all their roles, but they are not necessarily leaders. A manager can command and instruct his employees, but if he does not know how to motivate the employees, he is not a leader. Employees can obey whatever they are told to do with their managers because it is a must. Without following a given direction might be taken against them. On the other hand, employees will obey and decide to listen to a leader because he reassures them and they believe in what he says. A balance between the two is critical because if there is more concentration on management and less on leadership, there tends to be a lot of bureaucracy. On the other hand, more concentration on leadership and less on management risks having chaos which may, in turn, lead to an ineffective organization. A leader needs managerial skills as much as he needs leadership skills. In the same way, a manager needs leadership skills to enhance his management skills. A manager’s role involves telling people an idea and what they should do. A leader sells the idea and works with the people towards accomplishing it. Managers plan and direct and delegate things, while on the other hand, leaders provide direction and inspiration.

An organization without a leader or manager is doomed to fail. It is natural that people need to be led, directed and motivated. Leaders and managers are both important in organizations to enable smooth operations. Imagine an organization where no one is responsible for anything. The activities of the organizations do not rely on a plan which automatically compromises the ability of such organizations to accomplish their goals. We cannot all be leaders thus need someone to lead us. It is important to have these roles in an organization because these are key decision makers and without them decisions can be made that adversely affect a team. In conclusion, organizations need good leaders and managers who effectively drive them to achieve the set objectives and goals.

Question 3

In as much as we have effective leaders, we as well have effective followers. Effective leaders could not be in existence without effective followers. An effective follower is an individual in a group or team that is actively engaging with and following the leader. An effective follower is committed, responsive, enthusiastic, resilient and relentless.

Effective followers are self-managed; they take charge of their actions, and do not need to be supervised to ascertain their allegiance to the set standards in an organization. In addition to that, they are competent and courageous. Individuals who are effective followers hold up to their values, goals, and vision. They are committed to the objectives of the organization. Effective followers are beneficial to the organizations because they are loyal and will work not just for their good but also the company. Leaders will always be kept on watch with these kinds of followers; they will always confront questionable characters in leaders. It is always easy for these followers to gladly go an extra mile, and still work efficiently.

Leaders and their followers have similarities as much as they have their differences. In the qualities of an effective leader given above, it is evident that these two share a lot of similarities. Followership is a direct reflection of leadership. For both roles to function well and efficiently, both need to be team players. Good leaders and good followers are those who are able and willing to learn from others and learn to improve. One who is quick to learn from others opens up his mind to new ideas and ways of doing things. In addition, both leaders and followers are dependent on each other. If a leader has no follower then who is he leading? One of the differences between the two roles is that leadership requires one to make decisions, choices, plans, and strategies. Different from that, followers always get instructions and directions on what to do and are not faced with hard decisions to make about the organization. Good leaders will always act pro-actively. They will forecast and foresee, followers will always react to the undertakings of the leaders who guide the activities of the organizations.

All of us are followers in certain areas of our lives. In the situation where we are followers, we can best learn how to tackle issues from that point, gaining certain skills and becoming better leaders. It is true that being an effective follower can, in turn, make you an effective leader. A distinctive attribute of good followers is they tend to be team players. He supports the leader and engages in making the leader’s work bearable and easy (Daft, 2014). It is important to do this because, as a leader you need to support the followers, directing and instructing them. A good leader should know those around him/her. It is through this that one knows people’s potentials and weaknesses. A good follower knows people around him and knows how to help them and how they can help too. As a follower, you meet people with different beliefs and ideologies and learn to get along with them without conflicting or ignoring them. Having this is crucial as a leader because it is destructive for a leader to seem unconcerned about other people’s attitudes towards him/her. Lastly but not least a critically thinking follower will know what to do without being pushed around. Also, the follower will be able to stand to the leader when he/she is going wrong things. That same character is effective for any leader to know when to stand up to the followers and correct them. It is evident from the above sentiments that being an effective follower is a preparation for a great leader. When people humble and serve under their leadership, it is always a stepping stone of learning how to be great leaders.