Leadership Styles and Approaches: A Critical Evaluation

This report critically evaluates different leadership styles and approaches, their impact on organizational culture and diversity policies. It also discusses the importance of feedback loops in leadership.

LEADERSHIP
REPORT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
Discussion over the statements........................................................................................................1
Styles and approaches of Leadership...............................................................................................2
Transformational Leadership......................................................................................................2
Participatory Leadership.............................................................................................................3
Value-based Leadership..............................................................................................................3
Situational Leadership.................................................................................................................4
Servant Leadership......................................................................................................................4
Impact on organisational culture......................................................................................................4
Impact on diversity policies.............................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Leadership can be referred to as the ability of an individual to persuade the behaviour
patterns as well as characteristics of other individuals working under them (Garfield, Hubbard
and Hagen, 2019). In other words, it can be comprehensively stated that leadership is nothing but
a process by way of which a person guides, supervises, directs and influences others to work in a
manner that is proposed by them as they consider it to be fit for the accomplishment of assigned
targets in a timely manner. A leader seeks to build zeal as well as confidence amidst their
subordinates so that they undergo an edge to be led and work as per the supervision of the leader.
When working under the leader, it is seen that the subordinates get encouraged to display their
sheer dedication towards the realisation of goals and objectives.
The present report seeks to critically evaluate two statements by throwing light upon
some leadership styles and theories. Also, it consists of the impact on diversity policies and
organisational culture.
Discussion over the statements
The leader creates a path which leaves footprints for the subordinates to follow so that
they can get empowered and carry out their self enrichment. Thus, it can be stated that leadership
is the linking between the individual efforts put in by the employees and effective guidance as
well as motivation which can make them work together as a collaborative unit for the
achievement of goal and objectives in a timely manner (Yammarino and et. al., 2020).
"Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making
sure that impact lasts in your absence." - Sheryl Sanberg, COO of Facebook.
As per the above statement said by the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook named
Sheryl Sanberg, it can be said that leadership is a process through which a leader seeks to create
an ideal image of themselves in front of their subordinates. The leader tends to act in a manner
by way of which they can serve like a role model in front of others. Thus, they put forth an ideal
behaviour and performance in front of other individuals which should be followed by personnel
in order to achieve the assigned targets in due course of time (Cheong and et. al., 2019). With the
help of this, the leader instils a sense of trust and confidence among the subordinates. It lays
down the foundation to development of healthy relations between leader and the followers. In
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this way, the leadership is able to make the subordinates better by providing with adequate
guidance and supervision. Not just in the presence of leader, such leadership ensures that the
individuals become better even in the absence of such leadership as the impact of the supervisor
stays for a long period of time.
"I think it's very important to have a feedback loop, where you're constantly thinking
about what you've done and how you could be doing it better. I think that's the single best
piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning
yourself". - Elon Musk, founder of PayPal and Tesla.
On the basis of the above statement said by Elon Musk, it has been analysed that no
leader can be said to be perfect. There can be problems with the leader as well as the leadership
they exhibit. In this relation, it has been further analysed that the decisions taken by a leader can
also not be obviated to be right always. This gives rise to the importance of making use of
feedback loops. These loops provide due assistance in collecting feedbacks from the human
resources present within the organisation (employees) and the human resources outside the entity
(customers). With the help of attainment of feedbacks, a leader can analyse if he/she is going in
the right direction or not. In case the feedback loops point out to the inference that the decisions
undertaken by the leader are not right, then the individual can consider the option of
reconsidering their decisions (Bratton, 2020). These feedback loops not just acquaint the leader
with the shortcomings related to the decisions undertaken by them but also the way in which
things can be done better. Constantly thinking about the way in which things can be made better
is an effective way of improving the leader as well as their leadership. Thus, feedback loops form
an important part of the questioning upon the decision making of the leader of an organisation.
Styles and approaches of Leadership
The discussion upon both the statements will be further carried out by throwing light
upon some of the most prominent leadership styles and approaches.
Transformational Leadership
The leaders who make use of this style of leadership tend to act as role models for others
and seek to inspire them with their behaviour (van Knippenberg, 2020). Transformational
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leadership seeks to enhance the output delivered by employees within the confines of an
organisation along with their morale. Such leaders make a connection with the identity of
individuals in the organisation and the collective identify of a company (Chan, 2019). Thus, a
transformational leader can be said to be a visionary person who aims to inspire other individuals
by making them critically via incorporation of innovation. This leadership style is mainly put to
use when leaders intend to bring change within the company. The attainment of feedbacks on a
constant basis is often seen in case of transformational leaders who analyse the feedback loops
and thereby bring about changes in the entity. The organisational leaders such as Steve Jobs and
politicians such as Winston Churchill leveraged transformational leadership.
Participatory Leadership
This type of leadership style emphasizes upon bringing a democratic context to the
management rather than utilisation of a traditional top down approach. Participatory leadership
acknowledged that employees are one of the most important stakeholder group of an entity and
thus deserve an access to use their voice. Thus, these leaders give a chance to the employees to
get empowered by including them in the process of decision making. Participatory leaders make
others under their guidance better in their presence and leave a mark that makes the individuals
grow even in their absence (Leithwood, Harris and Hopkins, 2020). In this relation, it has been
identified the that former CEO of Southwest Airlines named James F. Parker possessed this
leadership style whereby he put the needs of staff at priority post the attacks of 9/11. Rather than
cutting the jobs of several employees similar to other airline companies at that time, James
started a profit sharing programme.
Value-based Leadership
The leaders exercising this style of leadership provide guidance to their teams by way of
encouraging it to function as per shared values of the company. Rather than emphasizing
exclusively upon the metrics, this leadership tends to stimulate a positive change in the entity by
focussing upon the mission as well as the purpose of enterprise. This implies that value based
leader upholds the founding principles of that corporation (Alvesson and Einola, 2019) . Thus,
value based leader is driven by the alignment of their core values with that of the company. Such
leaders make others better in their presence and leave a long lasting impact that can be felt even
in their absence. With reference to this, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the former president of India and
one amongst the best scientists of the nation embodied this style of leadership. The personal as
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well as work ethics of APJ acted as a model for inspiring other individuals within the creation of
ISRO.
Situational Leadership
This approach to leadership was coined by the best selling writer named Ken Blanchard
along with the behavioural scientist named Paul Hersey. This is identified to be a framework for
the leader to match their behavioural conduct in accordance with the performance needs of the
individuals who are operating to influence (Daniëls, Hondeghem and Dochy, 2019). The
situational leaders possess the ability of diagnosing the readiness of a person in relation to their
performance for accomplishment of an activity. This leadership style emphasizes upon adapting
the leadership in accordance with the situations prevailing in market place. Situational leadership
is focussed upon communication of an influence approach in a way which can be comprehended
and easily perceived by the followers. An exemplary leader practising situational leadership is
acknowledged to be the former NBA Coach named Phil Jackson. He managed the team by
leveraging the strength, weakness and stimulator of individual players.
Servant Leadership
Servant leaders enrich the lives of others by focusing on building better organizations and
ultimately creating a world that is more caring and equitable. First coined by Robert K.
Greenleaf, the term servant leader refers to a person who makes a conscious decision to aspire to
lead in a way that places other people’s needs as their highest priority (Moldoveanu and
Narayandas, 2019). The servant leader dedicates himself or herself to the growth and well being
of people in the community. Instead of focusing on accumulating power, this leader shares power
and helps others perform as highly as possible. Well-known advocates of this style of leadership
include Ken Blanchard, Steven Covey, and Larry Spears.
Impact on organisational culture
An organisation whereby the leader constantly improves other personnel even in their
absence tends to have a positive organisational culture. Hereby, positive relations prevail
between the leader and the employees (Western, 2019). Thus, even when the leader is not there,
the subordinates preach what the leader had guided them and work in accordance for the
achievement of organisational goal and objectives in a timely manner. In case of an entity
whereby the leader focuses upon feedback loops, the chances of right decision making enhances,
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implying the facilitation of democratic or participative leadership. This also has an affirmative
influence on the culture of the company.
Impact on diversity policies
In both the cases as per the statements, it can be analysed that the leader would be
respecting the diversity prevailing among the employees. This instils a sense of trust and
empowerment within the employees (Gardner and et. al., 2020). As a result of this, the workforce
gives its best performance to attain the goal and objectives in due course of time. In an enterprise
whereby diversity is given priority to enjoy the emergence of different types of ideas, the
employees are positively stimulated to outperform the targets. This implies good for individuals
as well as the company itself.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it can be easily stated that leadership is the backbone of
an organisation, project or a country. In the absence of leadership, no organisation or nation can
survive in an effective manner. In addition to this, it has been analysed that leadership seeks to
improve other individuals not just in their absence but also in their absence with the help of their
ever lasting impact. Besides this, it has been inferred that feedbacks are important to be taken by
the leaders upon the decisions and activities executed by them. This is significant as no leader is
perfect. This implies that the leaders need to constantly check or verify whether the decisions or
actions undertaken by them are aligned with the goal or objectives which are supposed to be
achieved by the team. The feedback loops thus provide a scope for incorporating improvement
within the leader along with the leadership they demonstrate.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Daniëls, E., Hondeghem, A. and Dochy, F., 2019. A review on leadership and leadership
development in educational settings. Educational research review, 27, pp.110-125.
Alvesson, M. and Einola, K., 2019. Warning for excessive positivity: Authentic leadership and
other traps in leadership studies. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(4), pp.383-395.
Leithwood, K., Harris, A. and Hopkins, D., 2020. Seven strong claims about successful school
leadership revisited. School leadership & management, 40(1), pp.5-22.
Chan, S. C., 2019. Participative leadership and job satisfaction. Leadership & Organization
Development Journal.
Bratton, J. ed., 2020. Organizational leadership. SAGE Publications Limited.
Western, S., 2019. Leadership: A critical text. SAGE Publications Limited.
Gardner, W. L. and et. al., 2020. The leadership trilogy: A review of the third decade of the
leadership quarterly. The Leadership Quarterly, 31(1), p.101379.
Cheong, M. and et. al., 2019. A review of the effectiveness of empowering leadership. The
Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), pp.34-58.
van Knippenberg, D., 2020. Meaning-based leadership. Organizational Psychology
Review, 10(1), pp.6-28.
Garfield, Z. H., Hubbard, R. L. and Hagen, E. H., 2019. Evolutionary models of
leadership. Human Nature, 30(1), pp.23-58.
Yammarino, F. J. and et. al., 2020. Is leadership more than “I like my boss”?. In Research in
Personnel and Human Resources Management. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Moldoveanu, M. and Narayandas, D., 2019. The future of leadership development. Harvard
Business Review, 97(2), pp.40-48.
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