Critical Analysis: Leadership, Generational Differences, Mindfulness

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership, focusing on generational differences and the impact of mindfulness. It critically examines two articles: one discussing the limitations of applying traditional leadership theories to millennials and another exploring the positive relationship between mindfulness and leadership performance. The analysis includes a comparison of the authors' positions, highlighting the shift in leadership styles due to generational gaps and the importance of mindfulness in handling various situations. The essay concludes that modern leaders should leverage mindfulness to enhance their leadership effectiveness and adapt their approaches to suit the evolving workforce.

Running Head: LEADERSHIP 1
Leadership

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Executive Summary
Leadership is a significant function of management that assists the organization to increase the
efficiency and to attain the objectives of organization. There are some specific qualities and
characteristics which each and every leader should possess. Considering the significance of
leadership and its different attributes, the major objective of this paper is to analyze two
articles about the leadership and styles. A critical analysis of two articles is conducted in the
paper. First article is “What works for you may not work for (Gen) Me: Limitations of present
leadership theories for the new generation” which helped in understanding the differences
between leadership approach of millennials and leaders from old generations. Second article
establishes a positive relationship between leadership and mindfulness. The articles are
analyzed considering the authors’ opinions and ideas from other articles about leadership
practices. From the critical analysis, it is found that personalities of leaders change with the
generation gap and situations. It is very important for the leaders to handle the situations by
using mindfulness. At the end, it is recommended that the today’s leaders should use
mindfulness to enhance the overall performance of leadership.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Critical Analysis............................................................................................................................................3
Author’s Positions....................................................................................................................................3
Article 1...............................................................................................................................................3
Article 2...............................................................................................................................................4
Comparison.............................................................................................................................................5
Learning Experience................................................................................................................................6
Article 1...................................................................................................................................................6
Article 2...................................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................7
References...................................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Leadership is one of the most significant components of an organization that refers to the
abilities of a leader to provide direction, implement plans and inspiring its people ( Northouse,
2018). The major objective of this paper is to analyze the chosen articles critically. First article is
named as “What works for you may not work for (Gen) Me: Limitations of present leadership
theories for the new generation” that states that there are some differences between the
leadership styles of GenMe and millennials and employees in prior generations. Moreover,
second article is named as “Mindfulness and job performance: a study of Australian leaders”
which describes that mindfulness is related to becoming aware about the present reality and
living in a moment and while connected to well-being. In this article, it has been tested by
taking the sample of special leaders. Critical analysis of both the articles is conducted by
defining the position of authors. Furthermore, the opinions of both authors are compared and
contrasted. At the end, learning experience is identified from each article.
Critical Analysis
Author’s Positions
Article 1
By analyzing the first article given by Anderson et al. (2017), it can be stated that authors write
about how suitable it will be to utilize the standard leadership models which have been
adopted in past decades also for millennial generation. People who were born between the
year 1982 and 1999 belong to the millennial generation that will the most significant and strong
work force in the coming future. By giving the opinions of many authors, Anderson et al.
researched that there are some major differences between the former and millennial
generations. The core reasons are changing attitudes and personalities towards work and the
values as compared to past generations of employees (Anderson, et al, 2017). Millennials
incline to become selfless and look for the healthy work-life balance, whereby work loses its
significance in comparison to other generations. Moreover, the authors argued that this
generation of employees is seeking for self-fulfillment and more individualism. However, the

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millenials are in pursuit of better payment and external motivation such as fast promotions.
Additionally, response is significant for these people. Thus, the authors positioned that all the
above changes in personal differences, working attitudes and values have to be handled in
leadership.
To under this context, different leadership theories and their issues with the changes in
generations have been discussed by the authors. The core of transformational leadership style
is the inspiration of people by establishing the organizational and group objectives so that they
can attain a good result. Nowadays, employees are very much interested in personal goals and
they are less interested in common goals. Transformational leaders may have personal
objectives in a group for effective motivation. Then the authors stated about information
processing as another leadership theory. It is developed by how the follower perceives a
particular leader and by the understanding of organizational environment. It is not well-
matched with individualism of millennial generations who have many thoughts about leaders
(Chou, 2012).
Moreover, the authors stated that authentic leadership is the style that asks both leader and
follower to trust each other. It is based on enhanced support, engagement and commitment.
The extent of authenticity may change but most significant is that people actively participate in
the process of leadership. Authentic leaders motivate their followers and make them follow
their values and beliefs. As being separable is vital to millennial generation and they are not
probably to get along with the authentic leaders. Moreover, another type of leadership is
ethical leadership that states that this type of leadership want that their followers behave
morally and ethically. In this, this assumption can be evidenced that this relationship is made on
the basis of trust but compared to transformational leadership, it is significant to ethical leaders
to impact their employees with unselfish causes (Salahuddin, 2010). The author made the
argument that ethical rewards are not that much important to millennials as extrinsic
motivation. They are not interested in spending time to get rewarded, it seems time consuming
and ineffective to them. The article evidences some recommendations which are given to adjust
above theories to current leadership with Millennials being engaged. Thus, the author

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concluded that employees from younger generations are different from the people in old
generations. They differ from prior generations in context of importance of work and attitude
towards work.
Article 2
The major objective of second article that is authored by King and Harr (2017) is to find out the
relationship between the mindfulness with the leadership organizational transformation and
self-mastery. In this article, the mindfulness is related to becoming aware of current reality and
living in the moment and when connected to wellness. This fact is examined by taking the
samples of some Australian special leaders. In the survey, the data was gathered from 120 top
managers of international engineering firm that is based in Australia. This organization uses a
project-based system with cross-functional teams. The major reason behind selecting top
managers is that company has recognized this level for a leadership training program. Despite
attention, the connections between job performance and mindfulness are scarce, with the
leaders’ performance. The present article examines the self-stated mindfulness of 84 leaders in
Australia towards different forms of leadership positing as ranked by their reporting manager.
By using the structural equation technique, the authors found that mindfulness has positive
relation with the leadership organizational transformation and self-mastery (King & Haar,
2017).
From the assumptions, it can be evidenced that the best fit theory for analyzing this data was
full mediation technique. Moreover, the moderating impacts of tenure duration are tested and
it was found that mindfulness is advantageous for self-mastery at lower tenure duration. In this
article, the theoretical arguments can be understood by looking at some specific points like
mindfulness affects the performance by improving some other leadership skills like emotional
intelligence, self-leadership, self-regulation and self-reflection that impact the performance
results. Moreover, the authors assumed that mindfulness positively influences the performance
directly by affecting some general leadership abilities, for instance decision making data,
interpersonal relationships and improving the distribution of information. The authors
identified that this effect is possible because of aspects of mindfulness which provide a wide
awareness about the current data. By analyzing the data collected in the survey and theories, it

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is identified that mindfulness is estimated to affect the performance of leadership as it
facilitates the self-regulatory behavior and eventually management of leadership behaviors
(King & Haar, 2017). In this article, the authors concluded that tenure has a moderating role on
the mindfulness towards dimensions and performance. Moreover, it can be stated that
performance of leadership is improved by having the leaders who are more present and
mindful in the workplace.
Comparison
From the above analysis, it is identified that both of the articles are based on the performance
of leadership by the leaders at different levels like millennial generation and senior managers.
The articles are very meaningful for leaders, followers, organization and society as well. In the
first article, the leadership practices and styles are differentiated on the basis of generation gap
while another article determines the performance of leadership based on the tenure and mind
state of the leaders and followers. In their article, Anderson et al. stated that there should be
changes in the leadership theories and styles with the growing changes in today’s workforce. In
contrast to this, King and Harr (2017) analyzed that there should be a positive relationship
between mindfulness and leadership as this relationship can help the leaders and followers in
the organization transformation and self-mastery. These authors stated that mindfulness has
positive impact on the performance by improving the psychological well-ness and enhancing
the flexibility of leaders and their followers and it ultimately directs them to the effective and
efficient performance.
As compared to this, the first article identified that organizational people from millennial
generation hold diverse expectations related to significance of work to their lives and it brings
different attitudes and personalities to the both leaders and their followers. As there is a
continuous growth in the number of millennials every year, so separation between them and
older colleagues becomes more significant, putting challenges for the organization and its
leaders. Thus, this conclusion can be drawn for leadership practice that leadership should be
changed in an organization with the generation gap and mindfulness (Meichenbaum, 2017).

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Trait theory of leadership is the most important theories that can be related to the first article.
This theory states that each and every leader has different attitudes, personalities and traits
which assist them to perform their roles and responsibilities in an organization (Zaccaro, 2007).
The theory defines that there are some behavioral characteristics which are common in both
millennial and prior generation employees. In context of second article, cognitive resource
theory is identified that states experience and mindfulness are some cognitive resources which
are the major factors in the success of a leader (Leahy, 2015). These resources are very much
useful in predicting the performance of leaders and their followers. They need to understand
that stress can impact their ability to take organizational decisions.
Learning Experience
Article 1
Yes, the sayings and opinions of authors are agreeable as it can be seen in the practical life that
changes in the personalities and attitudes of millennials towards work may force them to
reconsider of five mostly use leadership theories. It is very important to understand the
leadership conditions and how the research of leadership must develop to deal with the
changing workforce (Thompson & Gregory, 2012). From this article, it has been learned that
leadership style should be altered by looking at changing workforce and situations. As a leader,
this learning will be implemented to lead the followers effectively by using democratic
leadership practices (Woods, 2004). At my workplace, I will give the opportunities to all the
millenials to use their knowledge in decision making process as they have a growing mind. As a
follower, I will be actively participating in the decision making process. It will help both leaders
and followers to enhance practical leadership in the workplace (Northouse, 2017).
Article 2
The sayings of this article are also right at some place as leaders need to very smart and mindful
to take significant decisions of company. I have learned so many important things from this
article that can be used by me in handling some typical situations like effective management of
highly diversified teams. In this situation, I can handle the situation by using Leader-Member
Exchange Theory that defines that how the group leaders maintain their state via different
agreements with members. At my workplace, the team can be divided in both role taking and

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role making divisions by identifying their mindfulness and tenure. It will help in balancing the
power and talent for the benefits of organization (Hopen, 2010).
Conclusion
In the limelight of above report, it can be concluded that leadership is very important factor in
the growth and success of an organization. The leaders need to identify the situations and
adopt the most suitable leadership styles as per their attitudes and mindsets. The above paper
critically analyzes both the articles in context of leadership performance. It is identified that
there is a difference in the leadership styles of millennial generation and older people. They
prefer to earn more money without spending time on other activities. Moreover, another
article stated that mindfulness is the most significant factor in improving leadership
performance.
References
Anderson, HJ, Baur, JE, Griffith, JA & Buckley, MR (2017). What works for you may not work for
(Gen) Me: Limitations of present leadership theories for the new generation, The Leadership
Quarterly, 28 (1) 245–260.
Chou, SY (2012) Millennials in the workplace: A conceptual analysis of millennials’ leadership
and followership styles. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 2(2), 71-83.
Hopen, D (2010) The changing role and practices of successful leaders. The Journal for Quality
and Participation, 33(1), 4.

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King, E & Haar, JM (2017). Mindfulness and job performance: a study of Australian leaders', Asia
Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 55 (3) 298–319.
Leahy, RL (2015). Contemporary cognitive therapy: Theory, research, and practice. US: Guilford
Publications.
Meichenbaum, D (2017) Teaching thinking: A cognitive behavioral perspective. In The Evolution
of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (pp. 85-104). UK: Routledge.
Northouse, P G (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. US: Sage publications.
Northouse, PG (2017) Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice. US: Sage Publications.
Salahuddin, MM (2010) Generational differences impact on leadership style and organizational
success. Journal of Diversity Management, 5(2).
Thompson, C & Gregory, JB (2012) Managing millennials: A framework for improving attraction,
motivation, and retention. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 15(4), 237-246.
Woods, PA (2004) Democratic leadership: drawing distinctions with distributed
leadership. International journal of leadership in education, 7(1), 3-26.
Zaccaro, SJ (2007). Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American psychologist, 62(1), 6.