Leadership and Leaders Quality

Question: Using relevant theories and models critically evaluate and analyse the leadership of a 21st century leader of a (business, government or not-for-profit) organisation. If you were in the position of the leader, what could you do to be a better leader and make a stronger impact on the followers and on the situation? Answer: Executive Summary Leadership skills play an important role in shaping the performance of the company. The strategies adopted by the leaders help in improving the plans prepared for introducing developmental plans for the management. Through effective leadership skills it is possible for the leaders to introduce the best steps that would enable the management to manage positive relationship with the staffs of the company. There are different theories and models that have been adopted by the leaders to improve the performance and relationship with the clients. Introduction Leaders and leadership skills have always benefitted people or followers, since ages. The role of leaders in 21st century cannot be overlooked, in uplifting the performance of the companies. Many leaders have been successful in changing the overall look of the companies formed by them. Through the leadership skills, it is possible to influence the performance of the business. The success of the business depends upon the relationship that exists between the followers of the group or company and the leaders. This essay has been prepared on Steve Jobs, the successful leader of Apple Company. Jobs were the CEO of Apple Inc., one of the leading companies in the world. In this essay, the leadership style adopts and followed by Steve has been included. The skills adopted by the leader to encourage the people to work towards the goal achievement, which is one of the most important factors. Steve Jobs was an effective leader, who could encourage the members to work towards the goal achievemen t for the company (Atkinson Pilgreen, 2011). Leadership in the 21st Century The leadership is one of the most important factors that play a key role in handling various issues related to management. Through effective leadership skills, the leaders can easily handle different challenges that exist at the time of maintaining positive and long term relationship. Various leaders have adopted different leadership styles to encourage the people. The style varies, however the motive is to motivate the people to work towards the goal achievement. Through effective leadership skills, the leaders are expected to solve the problem that is faced by the management and the employees or the followers. It has being noted that the action and inaction of the leader directly impacts the people. Thus, the decision taken by the leader has to be analysed, and the pros and cons associated with the same has to be analysed. The concepts related to leadership traits and features/characteristics and theories have been presented to highlight the steps that would be followed for handlin g the environmental factors. With the help of the skills, it is possible for the leaders to handle the situation and overpower the challenges that exist within the business (Fenwick Gayle, 2008). Leadership skills of Steve Jobs The successful CEO of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs was a charismatic and vision oriented leader. Jobs had encouraged his followers to adopt intellectual development process to handle different issues, and overpower the problems that existed at the workplace. Steve believed in inspiring his followers, as this would improve the performance and effectiveness. Both the factors are required for improving the productivity for the company. Characteristics and leadership style followed by Steve Jobs is much associated with the transformational type of leadership. With a clear vision Steve could easily introduce to the people the benefits and different usages of the personal computer. In order to do so, Steve required a force to execute the challenging tasks that existed at the workplace. Thus, Jobs would encourage the members to do the right things by providing the assistance that was required for the execution. In this method, Steve had clearly defined the vision that was expected to be followed by the members and the managers of the company. Task associated with the value addition was done through energetic and positive attitude of Steve Jobs. The vision of the leader and the company was clearly highlighted to the people. Steve was a perfectionist and would encourage the members to do the right things. Jobs had a view and ambition, and the same was communicated with the members/followers on a positive note. Steve believed in encouraging the followers as this was quite essential for the successful business operations and expansions ( Fry, 2003). Such features and characteristics were associated with the transformational style of leadership. In this process, Steve ensured to encourage the members and introduced transformational changes in the members. This was necessary for accomplishing the challenging tasks that existed at the workplace. The CEO of the company believed in introducing innovative designs and concepts, which would benefit the people. Staffs of the company were encouraged to do the right things to accomplish the tasks and introduce innovative plans and designs that would benefit the clients. Steve believed in offering the best possible services, as this would encourage the potential buyers to invest in the purchase of the products that were sold by the company ( Gill, et al., 2008). Relevance of organizational behaviour The leaders of the company are expected to be committed towards the goal achievement set out by the management. This helps the leaders to develop the target and the process that would have to be followed for accomplishing the task. Commitment is the strength of the leader through which the staffs can be encouraged to get involved with the organizational commitment. The people of the company have to be encouraged to follow the steps that have been set forth by the companies and the leaders. Through this process, it is possible to relate the works performed by the company and the commitment that has been outlined by the company. With enough resources it is possible for the leaders to set out attitudes or the behaviours of the staffs. Both the factors are necessary for the successful conduct of the business activities (Humphreys, Einstein, 2003). Through this process, it is possible for the leaders to develop and introduce better methods for 1. Developing employee behaviour, through which the performance of the company can be improved. 2. Implement attitudinal and cognitive factors that would improve job satisfaction among the staffs of the company. 3. Define the characteristics of the jobs that have to be performed by the members, along with the relevance of the roles. This has been done to highlight the responsibilities of the members of the company 4. Encourage the members to develop personal characteristics for the staffs which is also associated with the age and job tenure of the individuals or the staffs. The leader also adopts emotional intelligence factors, which is basically associated with the emotions and the factors that causes the same. This is required for enhancing the thinking ability of the individuals. Through this process, the ability of the leaders to perceive emotions accurately, generate emotions, and access the factors required for successful business conduct are analysed. Through such knowledge it is possible for the leaders to develop and implement the best steps that would help in achieving the set target without losing much efforts and time on the same. Through the adopted character, the manager attempt to encourage the members or the staffs to work towards the goal achievement, which is quite important for the business (Judge, and Ilies, 2002) Features of transformational style of leadership James McGregor Burns ad introduced the term of transformational style of leadership in the year 1978. Transformational style of leaders has been defined as the step or process that defines the steps followed by the leader along with the followers to encourage each other to work together and achieve great heights of success. Steve Jobs had encouraged the members of his company to introduce innovative style and ideas. Through this process, he had attempted to encourage the members to improve the sales and customer expectations. Some of the characterises of such leaders include Leaders develop a model for fairness and integrity Have a clear vision about the tasks that needs to be performed by the management and the staffs of the company (Judge, Piccolo, 2004). Motivate other members to do the right things and at the right time. Ensure to provide enough support and recognition to the members Handle the emotions of the staffs of the company Encourage the members to check or analyse the potentiality beyond their self-interest. The leaders have to set right the vision for the company, and encourage the staffs to follow the instructions that have been provided by the management. Leaders with such characteristics usually encourage creative designs, and encourage the members to follow the right steps. In this case, the emotional responsiveness and creative expression of different factors has been taken into consideration. Through the transformational characteristics it is possible for the leaders to introduce the changes that would encourage the members and the management to achieve the set target. For this, it is essential to have a big and clear vision, through which the challenging tasks can be easily achieved by the company (Keller, 2006). Some of the important traits that forms an important part of the leadership traits includes Extraversion - Such a feature is basically looked upon as one of the encouraging or motivational factors for the leaders. Neuroticism It is related to the methods that are adopted for increasing the productivity for the company. In this process, the groups are analysed, and the role of the leaders play a key role in uplifting the performance of the members. Experience The members and the leaders have to willingly undertake different challenges. This would increase the experience of the members. Agreeable - The members, along with the leaders need to agree upon the decision that has been made by the management. Through this process, it is possible for the leaders to encourage the members to do the right thing (King et al., 2009). Consciousness The decision made by the leaders have to be analysed. This has to be done, as the members would certainly look forth for the benefits associated with the act. In this process, the challenges that are associated with the decision making are analysed. The performance and effectiveness of the transactional style of leadership has been measured through the MLQ method or the multifactor leadership questionnaire method. In this method, a detailed survey is conducted to find the reliability of the leaders to undertaken the challenges that exists at the workplace. This is done to find the challenges that are associated with the execution of the leadership traits. Some of the important components that has been associated with the leadership factors are Idealised attributes Inspirational motivation Idealized behaviours (Mehra et al., 2006) Intellectual stimulation Individualised consideration Leadership theories The Great Man theory The great man theory evolved in the 19th century, and it is associated with the human characteristics essential for the conduct of the business. The human factors play a key role in identifying the roles or the goals that is expected to be played by the members. In this process, it is assumed that there can be one leader who can effectively handle the tasks. As per this theory, it is believed that the leaders are not made; in fact they are born with the characteristics. The leaders are expected to handle different complex situation, and help the members to overcome the issues (Moore, and Rudd, 2006). Behaviour theory for leadership In such a type of leadership theory, the leaders work towards developing and implementing new ideas and perspectives. This is required for focusing on the behaviour that is necessary for analysing the physical and mental characteristics of the individuals. The factors that affects the behaviour and decision making ability of the individuals at the workplace is analysed. This helps in accessing the severity of the issue, and drafting the best policy through which the same can be overpowered. Transformational leaders In such leadership characteristics, the leaders constantly interact with the staffs of the company. This is done to develop positive relationship with the employees. The members of the company are motivated and encouraged to undertake different challenging tasks that exists at the workplace. Importance is given to joint efforts that are made by the leaders and the staffs for accomplishing the tasks that exists at the workplace. For this, the rules are analysed, and exchanges required in the process has to be introduced. Such factors help the management and the leaders to undertake different challenging tasks, through which the objectives set out by the company can be easily achieved (Naipul, S., Wang, 2009). Leadership models Leadership models are quite important for the successful business conduct. In this process, the leadership behaviours are defined in regards to the specific business environment and situation. The behaviour of the leaders is taken into consideration, and the same is analysed. This is done with an intention of increasing the productivity for the company and developing positive relationship with the staffs and members of the company. Some of the mordant models that are considered in this process are Managerial grid - In this method, the leaders analyse the severity of the issue or the tasks at the workplace. Details are collected, and the challenges are analysed by the business leaders. This is done to predict the outcomes of the business. There are two types of leadership behaviours like the consideration and the initiation structure. Through such factors, the leaders analyse the changes required to be implemented for the product improvement for the company. Employee orientation and production orientation are two important features that contribute towards the success of the business conduct (Rowe, 2001). Develop four framework approaches In this process, the factors guiding the leadership behaviour are analysed. This is done after relating the same with the specific situation or condition that exists at the workplace. In this method, the leaders of the company basically concentrate on different factors like the structure, political, human resource, and symbolic factors. Through such factors, the leaders undertake the challenging tasks that exist at the workplace. Situational leadership factors The leaders are expected to handle the workplace environment, and for this the specific situation and challenges are analysed. In this case, the factors like the supervision and employee satisfaction has to be taken into consideration (Sarker, Hossan, and Zaman, 2012). Better leadership skills and motivate the leaders In order to encourage the members or the staffs of the company, it is essential to develop and introduce better and effective leadership methods for handling the challenges that exists at the workplace. Participative style of leadership is considered to be the most effective method through which the management can effectively handle the challenges that are associated with the task execution. An attempt has to be made to maintain positive relationship with the staffs, as this would help in encouraging the members to achieve the set target. Leaders in the 21st century have to face lots of challenges like handling large workforce, taking care of the competition, and introducing better methods for improving the production activities. Some of the factors or steps that can be followed for improving the relationship with the staffs are Analyse the problem faced by the members for execution of the task that exists at the workplace. Collect data through which the necessary changes can be introduced for improving the relationship and productivity for the company (Tarabishy et al., 2005). Conclusion Leadership style and methods play a key role in the development of the business. In this case, the factors that can directly impact the business performance have to be analysed. Through this method, it is possible for the management to introduce the required changes through which the challenging tasks at the workplace can be achieved. 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