Types of Leadership Theories- Report

Running head: STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
Strategic Leadership
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Past experiences of leadership
The three different experiences that took place in my workplace have taught me the
different ways in which one must be able to take control of the situations. Self-reflection is one
of the best ways in which one will always be able to understand the different areas of strength
and weakness that are present and also formulate the future strategies to overcome the areas of
weakness as well. The first experience took place when I was in charge of a sales team in my
organization. In the initial time, the team was performing well and all the members were able to
carry on with their tasks in a proper manner. They were also very happy with me as they could
rely on me for getting any kind of help. However as days went by, I realized that there are some
issues in the team as employees were not able to get the collaboration or the unity that is needed.
There was a lack of proper understanding and also the clash of opinion. This was because many
new employees were recruited who did not have proper knowledge about the assignments or how
the company projects must be done. As marketing and sales are a very dynamic area, it is
essential for all the employees to be updated and also be able to develop all the new kinds of
skills including communication and interpersonal skills. Many employees were from the non-
English speaking background and they had many problems in understanding the group meetings,
business discussions, and many other such works. However, this was creating a huge issue
because the already existing members refused to help them out. The tenure employees had
brilliant knowledge in the field of computer handling, communication skills, and others.
However, they were able to understand the task and also complete it easily.
However, I have been influenced by the transformational leadership theory in this
aspect. This is a transformational leader is one who inspires all his followers by the means of his
flexible and charismatic nature (Berkovich 2016). I realized that this cannot go on as I have to

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develop a team bonding and a proper unity among the team. I arranged for some regular personal
sessions like the one to one sessions and also the group discussion session where I carried on
some inter-team interactions and asked them to understand that they have to cooperate and help
each other.
A sound team is one that exists on a mutual understanding and cooperation.
I arranged for some English communication classes and also cross-cultural training sessions so
that the team members can understand the social and linguistic differences' of every individual. I
also hired external trainers so that they could train these employees on how to embrace the cross-
cultural differences.
I developed a horizontal communication system instead of the top-down approach that
was existing in the company. This has been very helpful as this taught the employees that they
can reach out to their leader whenever in need.
A horizontal communication system helps develop a freely moving two-way communication
system. This has helped a lot in removing all the confusions and the employed were able to
communicate with each other in a free and also open manner. I have been able to set a proper
example in front of all my employees by making them understand that they have to cooperate so
that they can overcome all the different conflicts that are arising in the team.
The next experience took place when I was working as an assistant operations manager. I
was in charge of taking care of the company operations and to see if employees are well fitted in
the ongoing business system. However, later on, I realized that the employee attrition rate was
increasing very much. This is mainly because the employees were unhappy with some aspects of
the existing operations of the organization. I was trying my best to solve this problem. Being one

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of ten company leaders I realized that I have some duties or responsibilities towards my
followers and they need my support. I arranged a group discussion session and also one to one
sessions with all so that I can understand the different issues that they are facing. Safer taking
with them I realized that they were not receiving any rewards or any kind of recognition for the
constant hard work that they are giving. Many employees have not even received any proper
increase in their pay scales. This is naturally making them frustrated and they are resigning.
However, I realized that transactional leadership theory must be used here. As per this theory,
a leader has to adequately reward and also punish his followers (as they deserve) so that they can
get the motivation and also the lesson respectively. As a leader, he must ensure that he is
motivating his employees by giving different rewards like the extra monetary benefit,
complimentary off and others. I took this issue to the management and also the head operations
manager and highlighted the cause behind this increased rate of employee attrition. However,
this issue was taken seriously and they revised the salary slabs for all the employees based on
their performance and also their areas of expertise. Apart from this, I also suggested that there
must be some regular appreciation mails or bonuses given to the employees so that they can get
the needed motivation and can stay within a similar company rather than thinking about a switch.
Therefore the transactional leadership theory has been of great help in this aspect.
The other experience I had was during ongoing project work in my workplace. I was in
charge of a team project that would be delivered in front of some foreign clients. I was in charge
of the team ad in the initial phase the work was going on properly. However, after a week, there
were many errors in the deliverables. This was because the business decisions were not properly
being delivered to people of all the departments. This was a team of 20 people and only 10 of