A Reflection on Leadership Style for Managers

Running head: A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR MANAGERS
A Reflection on Leadership Style for Managers
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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

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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