Introduction to Management

This document provides an introduction to management, including discussions on trait theory, situational, transformational and servant leadership, identification of a leader, leadership scenarios, and personal leadership/management profile.

RUNNING HEAD: Introduction to Management 0
Introduction to management

Introduction to Management 1
Contents
Trait theory............................................................................................................................................2
Situational, transformational and servant leadership.............................................................................3
Identification of a leader........................................................................................................................3
Leadership scenarios.............................................................................................................................4
Personal leadership/ Management profile..............................................................................................5
References.............................................................................................................................................6

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Trait theory
The trait theory of leadership is used to predict the effectiveness of leadership. The three
leadership traits possessed are discussed below:
Honesty and integrity: The trait theory has helped me to attain honesty and integrity which
helped in building a trusting relationship with other employees in the organization. It has
represented higher consistency between the word and deed. The honesty and integrity are the
fundamental values which are sought by the employers. For instance, the honesty and
integrity attained by me helped the employer in the clear communication at the meetings.
Following moral and integrity helped me in doing the right things in all the circumstances
(Anderson, et al. 2018).
Job relevant knowledge: The trait of the relevant job knowledge is possessed from the trait
theory. The high degree of knowledge is attained regarding company, industry and technical
matters. In-depth knowledge has allowed me to make well-informed decisions and
comprehend the inferences of the decisions. For instance, having relevant knowledge helped
me in gaining the attention to the higher authority. It even assisted in the performance
appraisal process. The relevant knowledge helped me in handling challenges in the
organization skilfully, thoroughly and successfully.
The desire to lead: I have attained a strong desire to influence and lead others. It has even
demonstrated the willingness to take responsibility. For instance, having a desire to lead
helped in my career to value employer-employee relationships. It even helped me to engage
towards work and in the commitment. My contributions towards the organization were
appreciated. It even helped me to strengthen my relationship with the managers. It even
enhanced the ability to interact with the people in the best possible manner. I was been given
the employee recognition award from the last three months.
The integrity is not must to have as a trait of the trait theory. But it has a role in gaining the
interest of both seniors and subordinates. It essentially contributes to becoming an effective
leader.
The traits like relevant knowledge and desire to lead are sufficient enough to be an effective
leader. The relevant knowledge has a role in contributing effective efforts whereas desire to
lead made employees contribute extra efforts towards the organization.

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Situational, transformational and servant leadership
The situational leadership style refers to the leadership style when a leader adjusts his style in
order to fit in the organization to influence. It is more of an adaptive leadership style. This
leadership is not based on the specific skills of the leader, but they modify as the
requirements of the organization. This leadership style relies on the fundamental principle of
‘no single best style of the leadership. On the other side, transformational leadership inspires
others to attain unexpected results (Goswami, et al. 2016). It offers employees sovereignty
over the precise jobs along with the ability to make decisions. The basic characteristics of the
transformational leadership are stimulating. This leadership inspires employees to work in the
efficient ways of attaining goals. It creates appreciated and optimistic change in the
organization. It consists of the goal of emerging followers into leaders. Servant leadership
initiates with the feeling that one wants to serve to serve first. It is the set of activities
practiced to enrich the lives of others in order to build a better organization. It ultimately
creates a better organization and aspires to lead. This theory mainly focuses on the growth
and wellbeing of the employees to which they belong. It is the foremost priority of servant
leadership is to serve others than just leading. A servant can become a leader if he remains a
servant (Graham, Ziegert & Capitano, 2015).
Out of situational, transformational and servant leadership, the most effective is situational
leadership. Servant leadership depends on the situation at hand. It focuses on leadership in
situations. This leadership makes use of different style as per the demand of different
situations (Wilton, 2016). It is composed of a directive and compassionate dimension and to
be useful in the certain situation. This leadership is most preferred as it evaluates the
employees and assesses their competency and commitment towards a given task. Depending
on the assumption, this leadership suggests the leaders change up to a degree to meet the
needs of the subordinates (Mulki, Caemmerer & Heggde, 2015).
For instance, a subordinate improves with the help of training and motivation as per the
changing situation. The leaders change their style by being fewer directives at every step.
Identification of a leader
Howard Schultz has used power and influence in a positive way. He is the CEO of Starbucks.
He has even proved to be preoccupied with sufficient profits. Schultz has proved himself by
pondering the social responsibility of the company with 22,000 stores. The company serves

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almost 75 million customers per week. Martin has expert supremacy as a motive for the use
of power. His top-level skills and years of experience caused the company to make growth on
the regular basis. He influenced everyone in the organization through continuous learning and
improvement (Renko, et al. 2015).
Martin Winterkorn, former CEO of Volkswagen has been identified as a leader who used
power and influence in a harmful way. Martin is having a history of nurturing a corporate
culture which is ‘cutthroat and insular’. He subsidized to the Volkswagen’s immoral and
unlawful installation of software which failed to precisely report releases on its vehicles.
Martin even appealed to be not aware of misconduct. He is well-known to be a hard-driving
perfectionist and carrying a measure while walking around to measure gaps between the car
devices. The motive behind the thought of Martin was informational power (Holten &
Brenner, 2015). It is a short term power and did not influence and build credibility. He had all
the information regarding the on-going projects but could keep this power for long.
Leadership scenarios
The Hershey Blanchard Model is a situational leadership model. The style is adjusted by the
leaders based on follower maturity. It is resolute by the ability and confidence of the member
who is attempting to lead. For instance, an employee having a lack of confidence and
underperforming can be motivated to adopt leadership as per the situation (Lynch, et al.
2018).
The path-goal model matches to the situational leadership. It has been experienced that an
employee in the organization is creative, competent and makes use of good judgment in her
routine work life. She was considered for the promotion in the near future. But suddenly, her
performance dropped and attitude changed (Thompson & Glasø, 2015). She also seemed to
be unmotivated, unhappy and unfocused. The path-goal theory can be used to guide her
through the path in the attainment of the daily activities. The leaders can motivate her with
specific behaviors.
Servant leadership is appropriate by using the path-goal model as per the scenario. The
employees feel demotivated due to lack of rewards which are not available for their
performance. The supportive leader behavior is utilized for the need, preferences, and
satisfaction of the employees. The leaders can show concern for the reward system that does
not work anymore.
As per the scenario, situational leadership can be used by using the Hershey Blanchard

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model. This model can be used to take into consideration the strengths, weaknesses, and
awareness of the followers which can improve the performance of the employees. It is more
of a degree of control which can be used to attain the desired results (Meier, 2016).
Servant leadership can be accompanied by the path-goal model to retain staff. The employees
in the restaurant can be taught to serve customers first. Being a general manager, the act can
be done in to influence the behavior of the employees (Hoch, et al. 2018). The moral of the
employees can be enhanced by providing support, information and other resources required
to accomplish the daily activities.
Personal leadership/ Management profile
The leadership profile is created with the core values like constant learning, accountability,
positive attitude, self-awareness, and differentiation. Constant learning is helpful to the
leaders in promoting innovations. The accountability of the mistakes and the tough
experiences gives courage to the employees and help them in succession. The insight of the
positive attitude helps to attain opportunity even in the case of difficulty. The self-awareness
has also a role in understanding own strength and challenges. The different approach also
helps employees to cooperate with other employees (Popli & Rizvi, 2016). The contingency
theory can be incorporated into practice. This theory relates to the environment to be focused
on specific variables. It determines which leadership style is greatest suitable for the
condition. As per this theory, there is no specific leadership style which is paramount in all
the situations. The balance should be made needs, behaviors and circumstances. According to
this theory, success depends on the several variables comprising leadership style, potentials
of followers along with the phases of the situation. The contingency theory can help me in
accomplishing organizational goals in an effective way. As per the situation, a suitable style
should opt. There is no restriction on the leadership style.

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References
Anderson, D. R., Sweeney, D. J., Williams, T. A., Camm, J. D., & Cochran, J. J. (2018). An
Introduction to Management Science: Quantitative Approach. Cengage learning.
Goswami, A., Nair, P., Beehr, T., & Grossenbacher, M. (2016). The relationship of leaders’
humor and employees’ work engagement mediated by positive emotions: Moderating
effect of leaders’ transformational leadership style. Leadership & Organization
Development Journal, 37(8), 1083-1099.
Graham, K. A., Ziegert, J. C., & Capitano, J. (2015). The effect of leadership style, framing,
and promotion regulatory focus on unethical pro-organizational behavior. Journal of
business ethics, 126(3), 423-436.
Hoch, J. E., Bommer, W. H., Dulebohn, J. H., & Wu, D. (2018). Do ethical, authentic, and
servant leadership explain variance above and beyond transformational leadership? A
meta-analysis. Journal of Management, 44(2), 501-529.
Holten, A. L., & Brenner, S. O. (2015). Leadership style and the process of organizational
change. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(1), 2-16.
Lynch, B. M., McCance, T., McCormack, B., & Brown, D. (2018). The development of the
Person‐centred Situational Leadership Framework: Revealing the being of person‐
centredness in nursing homes. Journal of clinical nursing, 27(1-2), 427-440.
Meier, D. (2016). Situational Leadership Theory as a Foundation for a Blended Learning
Framework. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(10), 25-30.
Mulki, J. P., Caemmerer, B., & Heggde, G. S. (2015). Leadership style, salesperson's work
effort and job performance: the influence of power distance. Journal of Personal
Selling & Sales Management, 35(1), 3-22.
Popli, S., & Rizvi, I. A. (2016). Drivers of employee engagement: The role of leadership
style. Global Business Review, 17(4), 965-979.
Renko, M., El Tarabishy, A., Carsrud, A. L., & Brännback, M. (2015). Understanding and
measuring entrepreneurial leadership style. Journal of Small Business
Management, 53(1), 54-74.

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Thompson, G., & Glasø, L. (2015). Situational leadership theory: a test from three
perspectives. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(5), 527-544.
Wilton, N. (2016). An introduction to human resource management. Sage.