What recent academic studies say about leadership

Research for business decision making
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Running head: LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP
What recent academic studies say about leadership
Many researchers on studies of leadership and implication for business have studied various
aspects of leadership and their significance for business firms. In recent academic studies
many researchers have explained impact of different types of leadership on perception of
followers, organisational outcomes and have explored their influence on behaviour of
followers. Various studies on leadership have established three main types of leadership:
1. Ethical leadership: ethical leadership is a leadership form that utilises ethical
behaviour concepts as a guide to influence and manage followers. As ethics deals with
principles of correct or right behaviour so ethical leadership in impacts followers to
attain goals and hence ethical leadership is described as leadership kind that
influences people through ethical behaviour.
2. Entrepreneurial leadership: entrepreneurial leadership is a form of leadership that
involves actions or decisions towards establishment of business at individual level,
decisions towards practising innovation at organisational level and actions towards
leveraging from opportunities that are differentiated at market level. Entrepreneurial
leadership is concept that is blend of leadership potential with entrepreneurial spirit
which helps to influence and direct performance of followers towards attainment of
organisational goals that includes identifying and exploiting entrepreneurial
opportunities.
3. Strategic leadership: strategic leadership is form of actions that leaders use by
application of distinct styles of management which enables them to develop and
communicate vision of enterprise or remain competitive in dynamic economic and
technological climate. Leaders utilise strategic leadership to communicate vision to
followers and motivate teams or departments by fostering sense of togetherness. Also
strategic leaders offer direction to followers to execute change in enterprise and
primary purpose of strategic leadership is to streamline process, enhance strategic
productivity, promote innovation and nurture a climate that motivates followers to be
productive and independent. Also strategic leadership enables followers push forward
their own ideas so as to reach goals.
4. Transformational leadership: transformational leadership is described as an
approach that encourages change among people and social systems by developing
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LEADERSHIP
valuable and positive change in followers with end purpose to develop followers into
leaders. Transformational leadership extends motivation, morale and performance of
followers through range of mechanisms that involves relating followers sense of
identity and self to the mission and collective identity of enterprise, being role model
to followers that motivates them, challenging followers to take larger ownership for
work and interpreting strengths and weakness of followers so that leaders can match
followers with tasks that optimise their performance.
These distinct types of leadership are found to influence behaviour of followers and
influence outcomes for business. This paper discusses four recently published articles that
explored leadership influences and their different aspects.
Why understanding leadership influence on behaviour of followers and business
outcome is important?
Understanding influence of leadership on behaviour of followers and implication on
business enterprise is significant as ability of leadership skills to impact followers help to
attain organisational demands by guiding followers effectively towards goals attainment.
It also considers skills of followers which helps them to produce necessary and desirable
outcome. Thus leadership helps to balance talent development with organisational goal
attainment so that both followers and business are placed on trajectory of attaining
performance and success. Also leadership helps to understand and reflect on behaviour of
followers which motivates them for change and influences goal attainment. The first
article directly explores perceptions of followers of ethical leadership and investigates
their association with follower outcomes. The study has used social learning and social
exchange concepts to explore relationship between ethical leadership and follower
outcomes. The second article explores entrepreneurial leadership and dynamic strategic
leadership as capabilities that are needed to thrive VUCA environment and investigates a
link between VUCA, high order organisational capabilities, business model innovation
and strategic leadership orientations. The third article explores relationship of ethical
leadership with organisational context by investigating on empathic concern, common
humanity, mindfulness and kindness as mediators to establish link between ethical
leadership and organisational citizenship behaviour. The fourth article explored features
of person-environment fit concept and dynamic influences of transformational leadership
needed and received which impacts followers and their work attitudes. These four
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