A Reflection on Leadership Style for Managers

This essay discusses the different theories and styles of leadership for managers, including trait theory, behavioral theory, contingency theory, and transformational leadership theory. It also covers different leadership styles such as transactional, autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, servant, bureaucratic, consultative, and situational. The importance of leadership qualities for managers is also discussed, along with personal experiences and practical applications of leadership.

Running head: A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
A Reflection on Leadership Style for Managers
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
The concepts of Leadership
A leader is an individual with a vision to accomplish a greater good. He or she does so
by aligning and mobilising those around him or her through motivation, inspiration and
planned organisation (Yukl 2013). This process by which the leader influence others to act
coherently and directs them to a path of constructive change to achieve a common goal is
referred to as Leadership. The following essay aims to describe specific theories of leadership
and leadership styles. This has been explained with the help of my own personal experience
as an Operations Executive in ABC Corporate.
Theories of Leadership
The concept of Leadership can be further explained with the help of four theories:
Trait Theory: It was the first systematic approach to understand Leadership. As per this
theory, Leaders possessed certain traits that form as a combination of physical, personal and
social dynamics such as appearance, height, intelligence, cognitive ability, decision-making
and problem solving skills, enthusiasm, self-confidence, interpersonal skills, proactiveness,
persistence, honesty and integrity (Goncalves 2013). However, later evidences contradicted
the validity of trait theory by stating that the presence of such traits are not exclusive in case
of leaders as many non-leaders were also found to possess those. In my organisation, Mr.
Daniels, the Senior Manager of my department, that is operations, was a short, bald and lean
man. However, his oratory skills could match up to anyone in the debates of National
Television and he was a great coach. In the quarterly meetings, he always used to
communicate the objectives clearly and also took our suggestions and implemented them
wherever necessary. He used to handle grievances with equal dexterity.
Behavioural Theory: When theorists tried to explain how effective a leadership is from the
behavioural aspects of leaders, they came across four important behavioural parameters like

2A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
the manner in which a leader delegates the tasks, motivate and inspire their employees or
followers, communicate with them and discharge their own responsibilities (Goncalves
2013). Based on these parameters the researchers identified the continuum the graded
leadership style ranging from a less preferable boss-centric approach to a more flexible and
acceptable subordinate centric approach.
Contingency Theory: This particular theory had emerged from the idea that not all traits or
behavioural aspects were equally applicable in all situations. It is because only the demand of
a situation carves out a leader. Contingency Theory is hugely applicable in organisational
setting whereby organisational policies and practices strongly affect a given situation and
thus proves the leadership quality in an individual (Thiel, Griffith and Connelly 2015).
Transformational Leadership Theory: The concepts of Management and Leadership are
often considered synonymous. However, the Theory of Transformational Leadership strives
to state the fundamental difference that not all managers are necessarily leaders (Thiel,
Griffith and Connelly 2015). Managers essentially follows a definite path to achieve the
organisational goal. But a leader is someone who innovates that path towards goal
achievement. A particular trait that distinguishes a leader from managers is charisma.
Charismatic leaders tend to have a magnetic influence on their followers through exceptional
oratory and problem-solving skills. Such charismatic and intellectually stimulating leaders
lay the foundation of transformational leadership. We, in the operations were quite fortunate
to have a manager like Mr. Daniels to guide us through thick and thin. He was an energetic
man, always eager to try out unique but realistic methods for problem solving. He never gave
up on the less proficient members of our team and took time out from his schedule to coach
them on their deficiencies. On many occasions, he had readily taken the full responsibility
when the team was not able to deliver as per expectations, but made sure it did in the next

3A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
quarter. He was a hard-working man with an enigmatic personality that gave us hope even in
the most critical situations.
Leadership Styles
The theories of Leadership led to the emergence of certain specific leadership styles.
These styles are adapted by managers either in isolation or in combination with other styles. I
wish to add here that not one style is exclusive for a particular manager as he or she might
change it with the demand of the situation. Some of these leadership styles are as follows:
Transactional Leadership Style: This leadership style is characterised by group
organisation and a clear chain of command in the management activities. The leaders make
sure that good performances are noticed and recognised but they also penalise the employees
for bad decisions (Goncalves 2013). Therefore this style of leadership is known to be
effective in short term. However, under such circumstances, employees are unlikely to reach
their full creative potential.
Autocratic Leadership Style: Autocratic leaders have considerable command over their
staff and they prioritise management with an iron fist over suggestive-approach to achieving
organisational goals. Such leadership style is not much fruitful in practical life except for that
in military camps, as it leads to high turnover and increased level of absenteeism among the
staff (Saeed et al. 2014).
Democratic Leadership Style: In organisational setting it is also referred to as Participative
Leadership Style where the relationship between managers and staff is built on trust and faith.
The managers encourage their subordinates to participate actively in decision making in both
upward and downward communication channels while retaining their right to take the
ultimate decision after soliciting the best advice from the lot. However, this style of
leadership in-spite of having the benefits of creative thinking and good interpersonal

4A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
relations, fails to work in areas where the need to take quick decision is crucial (Goncalves
2013).
Laissez-faire Leadership Style: This style is characterised by the flexible and easy-going
nature of the leaders who give complete autonomy to their followers and allow them to
deliver a responsibility in a manner they see it fit (Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy 2014).
It works well for settings where the employees have reasonable amount of experience and do
not require much monitoring of their superiors.
Servant Leadership Style: This type of Leadership works on a power sharing model that
emphasise on collective decision making. It is considered to be a beneficial style as it helps in
improving the diversity of organisational culture and also boost the employee morale
(Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy 2014).
Bureaucratic Leadership Style: It is mostly applicable in administrative domains where
strict adherence to rules and regulations are considered to be most important (Saeed et al.
2014). A definite hierarchy is maintained for communications. Such style of leadership works
well in healthcare setting.
Consultative Leadership Style: In many ways it is quite similar to Democratic Leadership
style. However, in this, leaders do not have complete faith in all of their subordinates
(Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy 2014). Hence they solicit advice from only a handful of
their trusted employees, taking the final decision themselves.
Situational Leadership Style: It encompasses a range of different styles based on the
environmental demand. Factors like complexity of business process and worker seniority
requires adopting to different styles (Goncalves 2013). However, in few instances, switching
between roles becomes challenging for those individuals who are comfortable in maintaining
a fixed style. In our operations team, however, Mr. Daniels used to keep it flexible. At times

5A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
he used to give all the members complete autonomy of carrying out a project after having
outlined it in the meeting. He used to follow up with us in every 2 weeks for a six months
projects and suggested us only when we needed one. At other times he used to form a few
sub-teams, heading one of those and then delegate each team with a particular portion of the
whole task. Therefore situational leadership defined his style.
Importance of Leadership Qualities for Managers
In an organisational setting managers are often held in the position of leaders. They
are expected to possess a vision of how the current scenario in the organisation can be
improved to deliver better result with higher economic efficiency. With vision, managers
should also be innovative in their approach to communicate their ideas to their juniors in a
way that they feel motivated to carry out their part of the task with utmost readiness, honesty
and integrity (Pierro et al. 2013).
In my experience in the corporate I have observed that in order to have the
proficiency of a leader, the manager must possess one or more of the qualities such as
positivity, extremely good communication skill, emotional intelligence, effective capability to
delegate the responsibility among juniors, listening and decision making skills and above all,
they need to be empathetic. It is the leader within a manager who makes a difference in
maximising the efficiency in accomplishing the organisational goal and justifying the
importance of each of his or her subordinate’s contribution in that accomplishment.
A personal experience that I can reflect on to explain the above mentioned aspects of
a quality leader would be a situation that occurred at the time when our organisation was
undergoing a major merger with a competitor firm. I belonged from the operations team
which was supposed to go through considerable amount of reorganisation. Our Senior
Manager, Mr. Daniels, who was a very supportive person helped the entire team to

6A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
understand the basic values and principles in which the competitor organisation worked and
would be eventually incorporated in the framework with those of ours. There were new
hierarchies which, initially, were to adjust with. But with the help of our manager we, the
operations team were able to synergise our duties and responsibilities in a way that was best
suited for the new structure of our organisation. Our manager earned our respect when he
acknowledges our team decisions in the presence of new team leaders and encouraged a
participative approach during quarterly meetings. This really helped us, the old team, to know
our new members better and also address the organisational change with positivity. Thus it
was the remarkable leadership approach by our manager which assisted us in the crucial
situation of merger and inspired us to accept a change with flexible mind for achieving
greater good.
Leadership as applied in Practice
Every leader has their own individualistic approach in modelling after a leadership
style which they deem fit for their organisation setting (Beer 2015). In way of putting such
leadership style to practice, they cultivate a brand for themselves. Such personal style is
primarily concerned with addressing the challenges, looking after the interpersonal
environment within the organisation, and the level of autonomy he or she allows for the
subordinates. Such leadership brand is both exclusive and specific for the individual
exercising authority that defines their objectivity and worth in the organisation. There are
certain ways in which the leader can put his or her brand into effective practice, as per the
need of the situation. Apart from the common ethical values of honesty, strength of character,
integrity, commitment and truthfulness, there are few other principles that a leader adapts in
order to be more acceptable in the organisation and among his or her subordinates. These
values, principles and approaches which serve to set one leader apart from the other are as
follows:

7A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
First and foremost, the leader must be able to clearly communicate his intentions about
achieving the organisational goal to his or her subordinates (Menges et al. 2015). Well-versed
orators or speakers possessing excellent articulation and communicative power always get
greater acceptance from their juniors or followers.
Secondly, these intentions must outline a definite path with a realistic deadline by which the
duty needs to be delivered, keeping the interest of the key stakeholders intact (Men 2014). At
this juncture I would like to cite an example that took place in our organisation. Deadlines are
considered to be of paramount interest when it comes to deliverance of a consignment.
However, there might be issues like physical injury, accidents and natural or socio political
disasters which can jeopardise the delivery. At times, the risk is averted through an
alternative plan and at other times, there is no option but to accept the failure and begin with
the task again. Even in such critical situation, an organisation ties to avert any
misunderstanding with the stakeholders. So in order to balance between employee crisis and
commitment to stakeholders, I have seen Mr. Daniels to follow an alternative deadline, which
is usually much before than that of our team for the same task, in case of any mishaps. He is
quite realistic about the possibility of deliverance within the stakeholder’s or client’s interest.
In extreme cases of non-deliverance he had been a scapegoat to the client for the sake of
maintaining the reputation and goodwill of the organisation.
Thirdly, the leader himself or herself needs to identify his or her key strengths and
weaknesses and accordingly enforce or improve those for the purpose of preserving the
organisation’s reputation. It is important for the leader to avoid being too engrossed in his or
her strengths which lets them to overlook the crucial weakness that may cause to effect the
organisation adversely (Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee 2013). He must have patience to
withstand substantial criticism. This is identified as a core leadership trait.

8A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
Fourthly, a leader needs to be innovative and at the same time, encourage his or her
subordinates towards effective brainstorming sessions. In such circumstances, leaders must
provide their followers with substantial amount of creative independence so that they can
nurture their abilities and potentials towards fulfilling the organisational purpose (Little,
Gooty and Williams 2016).
Fifthly, it is the leader’s most important responsibility to recognise the potential of his or her
subordinates, give them the opportunity to voice their opinion, consider those advices in
relevant situation, evaluate the potential risks and sum it up with the other credentials to
finally take the decision for proceeding with a particular job. Thus, effective delegation,
follow-up, feedback, counselling are all associated aspects which an efficient leader needs to
address appropriately for the sake of organisation’s sustainability (Hackman and Johnson
2013).
The Leader as Relationship Builder
Leaders, as mentioned in the beginning are role models who are looked up to by the
subordinates. Therefore, to enhance and redefine the perceptions, the leader must align his or
her ambition with that of the organisation. This means that a leader is required to put the
interest of the organisation before his or her self-serving interests. Along with the
organisation, he or she needs to ascertain that stakeholders’ interest are kept and also the
contribution of the juniors are acknowledged. In light of this fact it can be stated that
relationship building and maintaining falls among the key areas of responsibilities of a leader
which he or she needs to discharge for the sake of organisation’s health (Chemers 2014).
In professional relationships, values like trust, commitment and empathy are very
integral. In order to have trust on a leader, the employee subordinates have complete right to
assess him or her on the domain knowledge and past credentials. If and only if they are

9A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
satisfied on these two parameters, they would give importance to what he or she needs to
communicate to them. Commitment is a mutual factor which depends on the amount of trust
one has over the other. If the subordinates have complete faith on their leader’s intentions and
plan of work, they would be readily committing to his delegations and also actively
participating in the discussions. Whereas in situations of conflicting ideas they would rely
less on their leaders. Such conflicts can be reduced or eliminated with proper listening skills
and empathy on part of the leader (Connelly et al. 2013). He or she is someone who is
supposed to be unbiased and neutral but having adequate emotional intelligence to understand
the nature of crisis faced by his or her subordinates. With these skills, the leader is well
equipped to build successful relations within the organisation. I had experienced this entire
aspect during my days in ABC Corporate as an operations executive supervised by Mr.
Daniels. He was very much aware of the importance of interpersonal relationships and took
extra care to keep it working till the last day of his retirement.
It must be duly noted that not always a leader stands up to his o her people’s
expectations. Because in a diverse cultural setting where each individual is unique with
respect to their background, upbringing and socio economic status, it is a difficult job to
arrive at a consensus by fulfilling everyone’s needs. This is the exact point where a good
leader can be distinguished from an average or inefficient one. Although the above aspect is
difficult to achieve in the light of practicality, a good leader would be able to win over
majority of the populace with one or more of the above iterated skills. It is only an adverse
situation which leads to the emergence of a competent leader (Alegre and Levitt 2014).

10A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
References
Alegre, A. and Levitt, K., 2014. The Relation Between Emotional Intelligence and
Transformational Leadership: What Do We Really Know?. International Leadership
Journal, 6(2).
Beer, J., 2015. Diversity in leadership. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher
Education, 19(2), pp.40-42.
Chemers, M., 2014. An integrative theory of leadership. Psychology Press.
Connelly, S., Friedrich, T.L., Vessey, L., Shipman, A., Day, E.A. and Ruark, G., 2013. A
conceptual framework of emotion management in leadership contexts. Leader interpersonal
and influence skills: The soft skills of leadership, pp.101-136.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R.E. and McKee, A., 2013. Primal leadership: Unleashing the power
of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.
Goncalves, M., 2013. Leadership styles: The power to influence others. International Journal
of Business and Social Science, 4(4).
Hackman, M.Z. and Johnson, C.E., 2013. Leadership: A communication perspective.
Waveland Press.
Little, L.M., Gooty, J. and Williams, M., 2016. The role of leader emotion management in
leader–member exchange and follower outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(1), pp.85-97.
Men, L.R., 2014. Strategic internal communication: Transformational leadership,
communication channels, and employee satisfaction. Management Communication
Quarterly, 28(2), pp.264-284.

11A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
Menges, J.I., Kilduff, M., Kern, S. and Bruch, H., 2015. The awestruck effect: Followers
suppress emotion expression in response to charismatic but not individually considerate
leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(4), pp.626-640.
Nanjundeswaraswamy, T.S. and Swamy, D.R., 2014. Leadership styles. Advances in
management, 7(2), p.57.
Pierro, A., Raven, B.H., Amato, C. and Bélanger, J.J., 2013. Bases of social power,
leadership styles, and organizational commitment. International Journal of
Psychology, 48(6), pp.1122-1134.
Saeed, T., Almas, S., Anis-ul-Haq, M. and Niazi, G.S.K., 2014. Leadership styles:
relationship with conflict management styles. International Journal of Conflict
Management, 25(3), pp.214-225.
Soieb, A.Z.M., Othman, J. and D'Silva, J.L., 2013. The effects of perceived leadership styles
and organizational citizenship behaviour on employee engagement: The mediating role of
conflict management. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(8), p.91.
Thiel, C., Griffith, J. and Connelly, S., 2015. Leader–follower interpersonal emotion
management: Managing stress by person-focused and emotion-focused emotion
management. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 22(1), pp.5-20.
Yukl, G.A., 2013. Leadership in organizations. Pearson Education India.