Leadership Theories and Styles in Organizational Management

This assignment requires students to explore various leadership theories, principles, and styles relevant to educational management. It involves referencing books, journals, and online resources to understand the nature of leadership, its development, and the impact on organizational excellence. Students must analyze and synthesize information from different sources to provide a comprehensive answer to the question. The assignment aims to develop critical thinking and research skills in students.

GUIDE TO LEADERSHIP
AND
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
Q1. The essential required in being a successful leader..................................................................1
Q.2. Can a good leadership be developed and how?.......................................................................4
Q3. What distinguishes good leadership from management?..........................................................5
Q.4. Learnings from the study.........................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

Q1. The essential required in being a successful leader.
Leadership is foremost essential to be involved in workplace. Effective leadership is
critical for the success of the company, without an effective leadership the company will face
chaos, mismanagement and no direction. There are various leadership theories which are
essential to understand contribution in effective leadership:
Individual theories:
Traits: Great Man theory
This theory of leadership is based on the assumption that “great leaders are born, not
made”. It can be said that, this is a psychological theory which states that the capacity for
effective leadership is inborn. As per this theory, either a person is a born leader or he can never
be a leader. Great Man Theory is proposed by Thomas Carlyle (Miner, 2015). This theory made
after taking examples of several great leaders who posses high level of ambition and clear vision
of what they want to achieve. They are natural leaders, that are born with specific personal
qualities which makes them effective leader even in difficult times. This theory is important as it
suggest that people who do not posses the right traits and attributes will never be able to become
a great leader.
Pros of Great Man theory:
This theory helps in pointing out the best traits and attributes that are possess by great
leaders from history which represent the skills that a person must have.
Corns of Great Man Theory:
This theory faces some criticism that it is based on powerful man from 19th century. As
this theory said certain people are born leaders, they underestimates the other people, especially
women. One drawback of this theory, it states that one can not learn the skills to become leader.
Skills: Katz's three skills model
Robert Katz as described the three skills model of leadership. As per this theory, effective
leadership depends on three personal skills which is technical, human and conceptual. Katz states
that these three skills areas are most important which the leaders had in common and used on a
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regular basis. The three-skills approach argued that an effective leadership should have three
skills, technical skills refers to the efficiency of doing a specific activity and type of work
(Antonakis and Day, 2017). The human skills refers to the one which makes a leader enables to
work with people. This ability help a leader to get long with people and to communicate and
work with them. Whereas, the conceptual skills are abilities to work with ideas and concepts.
This skills help a leader to understand the situation and take better decision to take action in
workplace.
Strength of Katz skill model:
 It helps in developing leadership skills, rather than focusing on the skills that already
have.
 This theory acknowledged that anyone can become leader, a person only need to find
resources and work on skills of a good leader. This theory helps in providing scopes for improving and developing skills.
Weaknesses of Katz skill model:
 This theory is difficult to adopt as it extend beyond leadership also.
 This theory doesn't focus on the influence of the skills in leadership process.
STYLES : LEWIN’S LEADERSHIP STYLES
This theory divides the leadership into styles which helps them in making decisions.
Lewin identifies three leadership behavioural styles among leaders which is autocratic,
participative and delegative. In autocratic styles, the leaders will takes decisions without
consulting with others (Chance, 2013). This style is important when there is no need to include
anyone in decisions. In democratic styles, a leader will take opinion of his subordinates in order
to make decisions. In delegative style, the leader will give the decision making responsibility to
the group.
Strength of Lewin’s leadership styles:
 Autocratic leadership style is best when the time is less and workforce is well motivated.
 Democratic leadership styles helps to motivate the workforce and give them a sense of
confidence and value.
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 This style is heavily depends on the well motivated and skilled workforce which are
efficient enough.
Weakness of Lewin’s leadership styles:
 Autocratic leadership style is negative as it does not take consent of other people with can
be counter productive at certain situation.
 Democratic style is not appropriate when there is less time to complete the task (Martinko
and et.al., 2018).
 Delegative style is not suitable when the workforce is inexperienced or unskilled.
Contextual: Path goal theory
This theory is also a motivational theory, which developed for leaders to motivate their
employees towards a determined end. According to the path goal theory, leader will help his
subordinated by selecting a style of leadership which will assist in motivates followers and help
them in attaining their desired goals (The Path Goal Theory of Leadership , 2019). Path goal
theory also suggests to predict the style that will best suit to the leader and he will interact with a
follower's needs.
Advantage of Path goal theory:
One of the main advantage of path goal theory is that a leader can select different styles
that are available.
Disadvantage of Path goal theory:
The limitation of path goal theory is that leaders will have to adopt the style as per the job
requirement and organisational culture.
Relational: Transformational Leadership
As per this theory, leader will inspire his subordinated in order to achieve the unexpected
and remarkable results from their performance. It helps the employee to make decisions. In
Transformational leadership, leaders can adopt various techniques which assist them in inspiring
their employees to search for new ideas in order to achieve a goal.
Advantage of transformational leadership:
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 It helps in exploring new ideas from the employees.
 It helps in building strong employee relationship and mutual trust (Sosik and Jung, 2018). It will leads to increase integrity and high emotional intelligence.
Disadvantage of transformational leadership:
 This theory in ineffective in initial stage of operations.
Q.2. Can a good leadership be developed and how?
It can be said that, leadership qualities can not be though, but can be developed in a
person who wants to be a leader. A person with ability to influence and motivate others can be a
good leader. But as per the Great man theory of leadership, a leaders are born, not made.
According to this theory the leaders are born with some qualities that differentiate them from
others, it can not be made or learned (Renz, 2016). But this theory faces a lot of criticism as it
based on some powerful and great leaders only. With its criticism it can be said that some of the
leaders are born with leadership skills but there are some skills which can be learned or
developed.
There are various ways through which an effective leadership can be developed. Taking
the example of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook posses the leadership quality some of
which he is born with and some which he developed. As per the theory of leadership styles, he
uses all three styles in order to encourage and motivates his subordinates. He does commands his
employees to do work, but also ask for their responses. He does believes in his employees and
treat them equally. Mark Zuckerberg is often known as an democratic leader. According to the
Lewis Leadership style theory, a democratic leader will take opinions and feedbacks from the
employees and involves them in decision making process (Vaccaro and et.al., 2012). But its also
being argued that democratic style of leadership is not appropriate when there are lots of task to
complete within a short range of time.
It has been said that, leadership skills can be improved and developed if a person is
willing to be self-reactive and make efforts to do so. As per the theory of leadership style,
autocratic leaders are those who commands and take decisions without consulting or involving
their employees. For example, Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft is one of the richest and a
great leader. He is an autocratic leader, that reflects in his leadership quality. He is known as
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very demanding and abrasive who encourages creativity and innovation and recognises
individual and team achievement (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). As an autocratic leaders he
dominated and controls his follower's ability to be creative. However, this style is use in
emergency situation in order to make quick decisions.
As per the path goal theory, a leader will adopt various styles of leadership in order to
motivate its employees to achieve the desired outcomes. For example in IKEA, the managers
practices Paternalistic style that give more attention to the social needs and views of their
workers. They are more likely to give emphasis on the workers and how they feel in job. They
take feedbacks and opinion from their employees and make decisions accordingly. This style is
closely related to the Maslow's Hierarchy need theory of motivation.
As per Kartz's three skill model of leadership, effective leadership depends on three
personal skills which is technical, human and conceptual. It can be said that, the technical skills
in an employee can be developed as it is the proficiency and knowledge of doing an activity that
can be learned to improve the leadership skills. The human skill involves the ability of a person
in order to work with people which required an effective communication skills of a person. A
conceptual skills are ability of a person to work with an idea and concepts, it helps a person to
better understand the situation and make better decisions to take appropriate measures. It can be
said that this skills can be developed in a person whoo willing to be a leader.
Q3. What distinguishes good leadership from management?
Management:
“Management is the art of getting things done through others” it can be refereed
as a set of principles that are relating to the functions of planning, organising, selecting, planning
and controlling all the activities of the business entity irrespective of its nature, type, structure
and size. It can be defined as the act of managing all the business activity so that the members of
the organisation can work together, and achieve business objectives efficiently and effectively
(Adams, 2018). Management is concerned with optimally using 5M's which is man, machine,
material, money and method and it possible to achieve only when there is proper direction,
coordination and integration of the process and activities in order to achieve the desired results.
The different functions of management are as follows:
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 Planning: It is foremost essential function of management that is to decide the future
business activities of the business. It implies, formulating policies, establishing targets,
scheduling the ways and methods etc.
 Organising: After the plan is set up, the next task is to organise the activities and various
resources that are essential (Stacey, 2012). The organising functions will include
identifying the task, classifying them, and assigning responsibilities to the employees.
 Staffing: It is the process to hire the employees in order to carry out various activities in
the organisation. The function of staffing ensures that the right person will be appointed
for right job.
 Directing: This functions includes the manager or the supervisor to guide, lead and
motivate their employees in order to work in right direction as per the objectives of the
organisation. Controlling: This functions involves a number of steps that are essential to make sure
that the performance of the employee as per the plan. It also involves establishing the
company's standard and comparing them with actual performance.
Leadership:
It can be defined as a process through which an executive direct, guide and influence the
behaviour and work of their subordinates towards the accomplishment of specific goal.
Leadership can be defines as the ability of a person to motivate and enhance the workers with
confidence. Leadership can also be referred as the potential to influence behaviours of others and
capacity to influence a group towards a specific goals (Johnston and Marshall, 2013). An
effective leader re required to develop a future vision and will motivate the employees to achieve
the vision.
Characteristics of Leadership:
 It is a inter-personal process which drives the manager or leader to influence and guide
their employees towards attainment of goals.
 It is a group process which involves two or more person to interact with each other.
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 A leader is involved in shaping and moulding the behaviour of the group towards
accomplishment of organisational goals. Leadership denotes the qualities that will be presented in a person which includes the
interpersonal skills, maturity and personality.
Key differences between leadership and management
Leadership is very essential that helps in increasing the efficiency and provides the way
to achieve the organisational goals. It is not exactly same as management, as it is one of the
major element of management (Difference Between Leadership and Management , 2019). As
management is an art of manage all the activity and operations in the best possible manner from
the employees. One of the major difference between leadership and management, is management
is for formal and organized group of people only, whereas leadership is for both formal and
informal groups.
Basis of differences Leadership Management
Definition Leadership is an ability of a
person to influence, motivate
and enables the employees to
contribute towards the success
of the organisation.
Management is an art of
getting work done through
others. It comprises directing
and controlling a group in
order to coordinate them
towards the accomplishment of
group.
Basis Trust is the basis in leadership Controlling the employee is
the basis of management.
Personality style All the leaders posses the traits
and style that are different
from others. They are
imaginary and has vision for
the future of organisation.
Managers are often under
control and problem solvers.
They are focused on the goal
that are pre-determined,
structure, personnels and
availability of resources.
Orientation Leadership is people-oriented. Management is task and
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operation oriented
Focuses on Leadership focuses on leading
people to accomplish the
vision of organisation's success
Management focuses on
managing the work
accordingly and on time.
Outcomes It gives a result of achievement
(Turner, 2014).
It provides appropriate and
pre-planned results.
Strategy Derives new and creative
solution for the problem.
Creates policies and methods
to create teams and ideas that
are combined to operate
smoothly.
Formulation of Leadership is the formulation
of principles and guidelines.
Management formulates
policies and procedures.
Perspectives Leadership requires a good
foresightedness.
Management has short range
of perceptive.
Power through Influencing and motivating
others.
Through authority and position
to control others.
Organisation Leaders have followers. Managers has subordinates.
Hence, it can be said that management and leadership are inseparable concept in nature,
leadership is an essential part of management. It can be said that, in managers there has to some
leadership qualities so that he can inspire and motivate his subordinates. For example is IKEA a
private household retail business, is successful because of its effective leadership and
management (Gopee and Galloway, 2013). Talent of employees and their performance is the key
to success. For IKEA' s leadership style is autocratic, in autocratic management style is where
the managers sets objectives, allocate the staff with tasks and encourage them.
Q.4. Learnings from the study.
From the above study, I have learned that leadership very essential in every level of
organisation to achieve its business goals and objectives. I have analysed that in order to and
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influence and lead the employees to work in the determined direction, leadership is very
essential. I have also learned that leadership is different from management in various aspects and
is an essential element of management which helps in maximizing efficiency and achieve
organisational goals. As I have identified, leadership refers to influence the behaviour of
employees and motivate them to work efficiently (Mujtaba, 2013). Whereas, management is an
art to get the things don from others, it doesn't emphasis on employees need much. From the
above module, I have also studied various theories of leadership which helps in analysing
different styles, traits and approaches of leadership. In this module, I have also learned about
many leaders and their leadership styles which makes them successful in their respective field.
After studying this module, my perspective towards leadership prospects has changed a
lot. Before I use to believe that a leader is born with certain qualities which makes him
differentiate from other persons and this qualities can not be made or develop. But after studying
this module, I am pretty cleared with my perspective that though some leaders are born with
some specific quality, it doesn't mean that these quality can not be develop. Now, I do believe
that if a person wants to be a leader, he can develop and acquire the essential skills in order to
become a great leader.
From the example of IKEA, I have studied that they have adopted leading by example
approach of leadership. IKEA has also uses autocratic style of leadership , where the manager
will set the objective, allocates the staff and commands the decision without involving the
employees. As per my point of view, this approach of management is good as leads to make
quick decision and well managed business (Amanchukwu, Stanley and Ololube, 2015). But it
will also leads to demotivate the employees as they will be left-out from the decision making
process. They have to strictly follow the rules and decisions and will not free to give their
opinions. It will results in demotivated workforce which effect their performance and create
negative work environment.
As per my view, IKEA should adopt democratic leadership styles, as in this style leaders
involves employee also in their decision making process and motivate them in order to make
healthy employee relationship. As i have studied it will leads to increase the productivity of the
employee which assist the leader to influence and lead their team in achieving the organisational
goals efficiently
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Adams, D., 2018. Mastering Theories of Educational Leadership and Management. University
of Malaya Press.
Renz, D. O., 2016. The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management.
John Wiley & Sons.
Amanchukwu, R. N., Stanley, G. J. and Ololube, N. P., 2015. A review of leadership theories,
principles and styles and their relevance to educational management. Management. 5(1).
pp.6-14.
Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Chance, P., 2013. Introduction to educational leadership & organizational behavior. Routledge.
Goetsch, D. L. and Davis, S. B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Gopee, N. and Galloway, J., 2013. Leadership and management in healthcare. Sage.
Johnston, M. W. and Marshall, G. W., 2013. Sales force management: Leadership, innovation,
technology. Routledge.
Martinko, M. J. and et.al., 2018. An Examination of the Influence of Implicit Theories,
Attribution Styles, and Performance Cues on Questionnaire Measures of
Leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. 25(1). pp.116-133.
Miner, J. B., 2015. Organizational behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership.
Routledge.
Mujtaba, B. G., 2013. Managerial skills and practices for global leadership. ILEAD Academy.
Sosik, J. J. and Jung, D., 2018. Full range leadership development: Pathways for people, profit,
and planet. Routledge.
Stacey, R., 2012. Tools and techniques of leadership and management: Meeting the challenge of
complexity. Routledge.
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Turner, J. R., 2014. Handbook of project-based management(Vol. 92). New York, NY: McGraw-
hill.
Vaccaro, I. G. And et.al., 2012. Management innovation and leadership: The moderating role of
organizational size. Journal of Management Studies. 49(1). pp.28-51.
ONLINE
Difference Between Leadership and Management . 2019 [ONLINE] Available
through:<https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-leadership-and-
management.html>.
9 Ways to Develop Your Leadership Skills . 2019 [ONLINE] Available
through:<https://www.wrike.com/blog/9-ways-develop-leadership-skills/>.
The Path Goal Theory of Leadership . 2019 [ONLINE] Available
through:<https://bizfluent.com/info-7742158-path-goal-theory-leadership.html>.
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