Leadership

This document discusses the key attributes of contemporary leaders, the role of leaders in groups and teams, contextual leadership, contingency theories, leadership and change, and the dark side of leadership. It emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence, effective communication skills, self-confidence, and more in leaders. Find study material, assignments, and essays on leadership at Desklib.

Running head: LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Introduction
Leaders comprise of several tools at their removal to support an ethics and value
in their work climate. As leaders have exclusive opportunity to influence an ethical
climate due to their access to power, it is highly imperative to realize the way leaders
can more effectively use power at their disposal. Furthermore, regardless of varying
opinions, scholars in recent times tend to agree that contemporary leaders key
attributes must primarily depend on emotional intelligence, effectual communication
skills, self-confidence, constructive approach, insight, allocation skills and exhibiting
utmost legitimacy (Rajbhandari et al. 2014). Furthermore, it is essential to note that
these attributes must inclined more towards behavioural traits rather than formal skills.
The following paper is a reflection of leadership and various aspects of it which have
been covered in the course of my curriculum. As a management student, I believe that
leaders must understand what people expect from them, reasons behind behavioural
patterns of people and not every individual incline towards same motivators and lastly
various people have different reactions.
Discussion
The course on leadership started by shedding light on the way managers,
management, leaders and leadership tend to draw variance. It is important to note that
in the globalized era, contemporary leaders must possess skills and attributes of
empowerment by exhibiting skills of showcasing proximity to clients and also power of
collaborating teams in times of crises and further stimulate followers to unleash their
desires and expertise around collective vision. Tortorella, Fettermann and Fries (2016)
in their studies have shed light on the importance of leaders in having strong
communication which tends to increase pace of the alignment of activities, resources
and priorities and proficiently endorse the distribution of results, skills, insights and
effective practices within the business. Thus, effective leadership sheds light on the
proper utilization of essential abilities implemented at suitable time to circumvent risks
and complexities. To make us attain greater understanding of leadership as a process
and not as position, my lecturer has cited example of the leadership issues faced by

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Uruguayan rugby team involved in plane accident on their way to participate in rugby
match. Leadership skills shown during the crisis situation exhibits how true leaders use
different tools of successfully managing different personalities, values and motives
during critical situations. Thus, skills shown in such critical settings are regarded as vital
across situations. Delving into various evidence-based and scholarly articles, I have
obtained the understanding that the connection between leadership, management as
well as enterprise performance is extensively unspoken and acknowledged. Thus,
enhancing leadership tends to improve management and elevates the prospects of
better performance. Keating, Rosch and Burgoon (2014) have stated that
organization’s boards often change leaders when enterprises are losing their capacity
tend to substantiate the importance placed on leadership. Drawing relevance to these
factors, it is important to highlight that the flip side of leadership is followership which
stands to explain that if leadership is central to performance, followership must have
certain implications on leadership. However, as per authors’ opinion, followership
attains insignificant fraction of the airtime that leadership does. Meanwhile, followership
problems tend to manifest them in destabilized work ethic, appalling self-esteem and
disruption from goals in addition to discontented customers and weak competitiveness.
Thus, at the farthest, destabilized style of leadership along with weak followership is
regarded as two sides of the same coin with similar outcomes related to organizational
uncertainty and poor performance. However, good followers are recognized as good
workers with utmost attentiveness, motivation, commitment and focus on every critical
aspect of the organization. Thus, followership will remain as shadow of leadership.
However, if there are no leaders without followers and incomplete success with weak
followers will typically prove obscure (Khan 2017).
Furthermore, another aspect of leadership covered in the curriculum sheds light
on the role of leaders in groups and teams. Although leaders serve as major player in
the game that includes critical challenges and risk, they often lose information regarding
their teams and operations. Such lack of information typically results due to
disconnection and lack of association of leaders with their teams. Thus, an effective
leader requires gathering competence and stimulating value and excellence within the

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group which must not be executed from the sideline (Gilson et al. 2015). On gathering
insights of lectures and notes provided in this module, I have obtained the
understanding that effective team leaders in current times must realize teams’ vision
and goals and form collaborative environment to facilitate the most effectual thinking
and insights of team to be signified. For example, good management team is extensive
in relation to background, insights, education, knowledge and expertise. Qantas CEO,
Alan Joyce is of the perception that unless a management team is diverse, the primary
focus will be constricted and big ideas will tend to be subdued (Qantas 2019). Thus,
through Joyce’s leadership skills he developed diverse team with three business leads
with key role given to women.
Meanwhile, while delving into the insights of contextual leadership and scholarly
evidences, I have realized that contextual leadership mainly shifts the focus from the
individual attributes of leaders to the association between leaders and the context in
which they direct. López et al. (2015) have cited examples of Steve Jobs who has been
exhibiting contextual leadership skills and have the competence not only to realize and
benefit from environmental development, but also able to foresee new and exceptional
business enterprises and products, optimize or re-imagine current businesses. Thus,
through contextual leadership, modern leaders will be able to shape their style to
acclimatize to the cultural patterns and context of the organizations they direct.
Additionally, contingency theories chiefly shed light on the context of leadership
and consider the effects of the situation on the accomplishment of a leader.
Furthermore, efficiency of contemporary leaders is heavily determined by the situation
in which he or she is. On the grounds of contingency theories is Fiedler's Contingency
theory which is all about leadership. On gathering information and understanding of
varied aspects of leadership, I have learnt that one of many varied types of contingency
theories which profess one fact states that the achievement of any leader in
contemporary times mainly relies on their approach towards leadership and on the kind
of regulation and influence which pertains in a situation. Thus, as a student of
management, I believe that for a leader to gain efficacy, the connection between the
leader and associates must be constructive. Furthermore, the tasks which pertain in the

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team must have utmost distinctive goals and the leader must gain the competence of
passing out punishments and rewards and recognition to members for diverse
responsibilities they accomplish within the company. As per the studies of Keating,
Rosch and Burgoon (2014), Fiedler's Contingency theory is mainly linked to a form of
qualification of Contingency theory. However, to comprehend Fiedler's Contingency
theory, it is important to develop a focus on a single aspect of the scenario between
leader and follower. However, one of the important aspects essential for any potential
organizational leaders to take into consideration is that this contingency theory operates
in several circumstances and thus can be accurately implemented to establish which
circumstances can serve most efficient for leaders to lead in. In addition to this, the
concept of Follower readiness model must effectively be applied by students who aim to
develop themselves as efficient leaders who prefer situational leadership approaches.
As per Follower Readiness model effective leadership primarily is acquired by selecting
suitable leadership techniques chiefly based on the extent of followers’ willingness and
inclination (Tortorella, Fettermann and Fries 2016). Thus, contemporary leaders who
draw insights from Fiedler's Contingency theory tends to provide directive and
encouraging behavioural techniques in which leaders and their followers tend to share
opinions, judgements and insights during decision-making procedures with key role of
the leaders relies on facilitating and communicating weakened relationship activities.
Traditionally, leaders are held accountable for determining and communicating
the vision as well as mission of the organization to their groups. However, in recent
times, the task must surpass to leadership knowledge development and training. The
curriculum on leadership has helped me to attain ideas regarding the new approach to
leadership training that is situational engineering. According to Pradhan and Pradhan
(2015), situational engineering has currently been perceived to generate constructive
and significant developments in job performance. The concept of situational
engineering relates to the process of training leaders attained in the Leader Match
program which offers methods and techniques for altering aspects of their own situation
as per the prescriptions of Fiedler's Contingency Model of Leadership. The Leader
March training program executed as per the concept of Situational leadership will help

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potential leaders and management students understand relationship-oriented leadership
skills and competence which they will leaders perform most efficiently in considerate
control situations and task-oriented leaders are expected that they will perform most
efficiently to low or high control circumstances. Thus, by undertaking Leader March
Program I will be able to obtain instructions to ‘engineer’ their personal situations in
order to obtain best match of the situation with their leadership approach. However,
leaders in conditions with poor leadership performance are expected to be supreme
such as relationship-oriented leaders in high control situations. By gathering insights
from scholarly evidences, I have understood that trainees who report working in an
unparalleled situation before training are taught in the suggested Situational approaches
in order to help them attain a paralleled situation subsequent to training and
consequently turn out to be more useful.
Leadership and Change
Modern leaders have realized their inability to bring resolution for each and
every issues experienced by the organization. As a result, these leaders and CEOs call
for flexible and committed employee base. Recently, companies are refurbishing and
advancing their strategies to create agile and horizontal approach to achieve the
demands and requests of customers and stakeholders (Havermans et al. 2015).
Effective change leaders initiated by creating the case for the change they desire for. To
my understanding, to implement successful change, leaders with effective leadership
abilities must use effective skills and strategies to achieve desired goals.
Dark Side of Leadership
The curriculum on leadership has chiefly shed light on the dark or destructive
side of leadership. Thus, to my understanding, potential leaders must apply trait
approach in understanding destructive leaders. The articles which I have studied mainly
summarize the main personality traits that classify destructive leaders that involve
narcissism, psychopathy, hubris as well as Machiavellianism. According to Mathieu et
al. (2014), the dossier offers brief suggestions on the way organizations can manage
destructive leaders. The dossier argues that organizations are most efficiently served

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through recognizing these individuals and ensuring that they are not positioned in
arrangements of power. However, as per the knowledge which I have gathered, I have
understood that for avoiding negative ideas and concepts of leadership, CEOs of
companies must obtain enhanced levels of self-understanding and concepts related to
positive personality traits. Supermarket giant Woolworths CEO, Bradford Banducci has
started feedback sessions to gather any kind of complaints and grievances employees
have from its leadership techniques (Spain, Harms and LeBreton2014).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, contemporary leaders key attributes must
primarily depend on emotional intelligence, effectual communication skills, self-
confidence, constructive approach, insight, allocation skills and exhibiting utmost
legitimacy. Leadership offers a crucial role in current businesses to inspire and
persuade the employees to adapt organizations’ strategies to be able to support and get
used to the business environment and to effectively establish the business to expand
and formulate originality.

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References
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