An In-Depth Examination of Leadership Theories and Frameworks

This essay delves into various leadership theories and frameworks, providing a comprehensive analysis of their principles and applications in a business context. The essay begins by examining the trait approach to leadership, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. It then explores the Hersey-Blanchard model, focusing on situational leadership and the importance of adapting leadership styles to the maturity levels of subordinates. The connected leadership framework is also discussed, emphasizing the significance of intention, self-identity, leadership skills, exploration, and execution. Finally, the essay concludes with an examination of servant leadership, emphasizing the leader's role as a servant and its impact on team dynamics and performance. The author provides personal reflections on each leadership theory, drawing from their experiences in leading various teams, and advocating for transformational and servant leadership approaches. The essay underscores the importance of authentic leadership, team member engagement, and the development of leadership skills. The essay concludes by emphasizing that leadership involves making an impact, empowering others, and fostering a culture of service within organizations, leading to better outcomes. This essay is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources for students.

Running header: Leadership in business 1
Leadership in business
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

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In most of my school activities and projects, I have been chosen to lead various teams so
as to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and results. The various challenges have always tested
my ability in producing a notable difference in each of the activities am assigned to spearhead. I
am a firm believer in transformational leadership since developing team members engagement
and performance as well as focusing on behaviors that support strategic vision is particularly
beneficial to the accomplishment of goals in a more comfortable and effective manner. In my
journey in the various leadership positions, I have always been authentic since I believe in being
myself. Although leadership can be challenging and complicated, the following leadership
theories and frameworks reflect much of my behavior and understanding of leadership.
To begin with, we have the trait approach to leadership. This approach comes from the
“great man” theory since it identifies the key characteristics that successful leaders exhibit
(Storey, 2016). According to the trait approach to leadership, people with leadership traits are
isolated then recruited, installed, and selected into leadership positions. This approach was
particularly used in the military to select candidates for commissions (Northouse, 2018). In my
opinion, I believe this approach is ineffective since more focus is placed on leaders being born
rather than being made. This is because the absence of some qualities or traits considered to be
the basis does not necessarily mean that a person is not a leader. In addition, I believe everyone
deserves a chance to be a leader since most people lack the charisma to stand out by themselves
and serve as a leader or discover their leadership potentials. Some need guidance to discover
their uniqueness and traits which by doing this may be of great benefit to them and organizations
or activities they are given to lead.
Secondly, we have the Hersey-Blanchard model of leadership. This model leans towards
a situational perspective of leadership where the developmental levels of a leader’s subordinates

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dictate the leadership styles that are most appropriate (Kiersch & Peters, 2017). I believe this
theory is considerate since it focusses on three aspects that is; task behavior, relationship
behavior, and maturity that involve leader’s subordinates. One, the task behaviors allows a leader
to engage with individuals to the extent that a leader can spell out the responsibilities and duties
to a group or individual. It’s a one-way communication since the focus is on task distribution.
This is common among leaders, and also in my experience, I have always shared responsibilities
and tasks to my group members or team that I am working with. This has been instrumental in
empowering the team members to bring their contribution to the team.
Two, the relationship behavior allows a leader to engage in multiway or two-way
communication. I love this particular aspect because it allows a leader to listen, support, and
facilitate a relationship behavior that promotes social-emotional support. From some of my
mentors, I have learned that creating an atmosphere/ relationship for employees or managers to
work is crucial. This is because the easier it is for employees to communicate and relate with
their leader, the easier it is to work towards the attainment of goals and objectives (Maqbool,
Sudong, Manzoor & Rashid, 2017). In addition, I also believe the rate of insubordination is
reduced among employees or team members due to their intentional acceptance to obey the
leader.
Lastly, maturity is another aspect that increases the personal responsibility of directing
one's own behavior. I consider this aspect necessary since people tend to have a varying degree
of maturity in regards to handling specific tasks, function, and objective. I believe everyone can
be a leader in a different setting; however, maturity is crucial to carrying out a leadership
assignment. Therefore, even though anyone can become a leader, understanding the maturity of a

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person in terms of handling specific tasks, may either increase or decrease the effectiveness or
efficiency of carrying out a task (Kim & McLean, 2015).
In my opinion, the Hersey-Blanchard model of leadership exhibits a form of leadership
that makes leading exciting and impactful. This is because focus is laid on the subordinates’ level
of development and readiness. In addition, a leader is able to direct, coach, support, and delegate
the subordinates more effectively. However, since the model may have different results in an
organization, as a leader, I would increase on relationship behavior so as to ensure the team or
employees reach a moderate level of maturity.
Thirdly, we have the connected leadership framework. I consider this leadership
framework comprehensive since it evaluates a leader’s effectiveness in demonstrating leadership
qualities. This framework focusses on various aspects. One, we have a leader’s intention.
Leaders are considered effective if they are able to understand what they aspire to accomplish as
well as being driven to achieve their purpose (Sartain, 2015). Intention accelerates the journey of
leadership since it is a motivating spark that propels leaders to continue taking risks, grow, and
continually learn. As a personal mantra, I always repeat to myself that I can achieve anything I
am set to accomplish. Therefore, I am motivated to take risks that I believe may bring
worthwhile results to my team hence bringing a difference.
Two, we have self-identity. Effective leaders are first considered as leaders that can self-
construct meaning they must hold to positive self-esteem about their leadership capabilities
(Peachey, Zhou, Damon, & Burton, 2015). In addition, they are regarded as consistent to their
beliefs, temperaments, and behaviors. As highlighted earlier, I believe in being authentic since it
helps me address things the way I would love them to be addressed. I have a set of beliefs that I
believe bring forth positive outcomes when put out to work. However, since I a firm believer in

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transformational leadership, I always engage my team members so that I can find out what can
work best for them in relation to my beliefs. In addition, I always encourage my team members
to consider assuming their self-identity since it increases their self-esteem and capabilities to
work unmonitored.
Three, we have leadership skills and abilities. These can also be referred to as behavioral
meta-competencies, which are associated with effective leaders. Leadership skills and abilities
draw some elements from self-identity since these behaviors are engaged by a leader’s identity
(Sartain, 2015). As a leader, I love nurturing other subordinate leaders in my team since they are
able to grow their skills and abilities. I also agree to the fact that leaders should be competent and
therefore, I am always learning new ways to lead better and to have impact among my team
members. This is important since, in my future endeavors, the meta-competencies may be of
assistance in my various responsibilities and job roles.
Four, we have exploration. As a leader, I have a heightened sense of inquiry and
exploration of the best leadership best practices. Therefore, I am always challenging myself in
synthesizing new information as well as learning more from my mentors. I try to be the best
while still having the leadership needs of my team members in mind. This has helped me be
more effective as a leader. Also, more of my members have literally grown since I delegate more
and ensure my relationship with them helps them be more mature in terms of leadership.
Five, we have execution. This aspect is surely important since one can have the best
strategizes to employ but without skills on how to prioritize or execute, effectiveness cannot be
achieved (Pihlainen, Kivinen, & Lammintakanen, 2016). Therefore, I am very critical on how I
foster accountability, execute strategies, and track the strategies. In addition, so as to sharpen my

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team’s execution abilities, I at times distribute the burden of execution so as to ensure they stay
on course and make continuous progress.
Fourthly and lastly, we have servant leadership. This theory emphasizes that leadership
arises out of the desire to serve rather than the desire to lead (Black, 2015). According to the
founder of the center for servant leadership, Robert Greenleaf, a servant leader, is a servant first.
This consciousness allows one to be able to aspire to lead since one has the necessary skills such
as listening, foresight, trust, and collaboration that are required to lead. I agree with this theory
since it addresses the aspect of service before establishing leadership. For instance, followers can
share in the vision of the leader since the leader understands what it means to serve. This theory
is also popular in the church since more emphasis is on serving on a higher purpose. In my team,
I therefore ensure everyone understands what being a servant leader means since they can
increase the probability of serving better in their future leadership roles.
In conclusion, I believe leadership is about making an impact and empowering those
below you. This is because high performance cannot be obtained if team members are not
aligned and empowered with the leader’s vision. I also believe there are no bad employees, its
only bad managers. Therefore, through leadership, I believe people can be bettered, developed,
and motivated if proper efforts and strategies are laid down. More emphasis on servant
leadership should also be promulgated; hence ensuring leaders can stand on the shoes of servants
and still perform better.

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References
Black, S. A. (2015). Qualities of effective leadership in higher education. Open Journal of
Leadership, 4(02), 54.
Kiersch, C., & Peters, J. (2017). Leadership from the Inside Out: Student Leadership
Development within Authentic Leadership and Servant Leadership Frameworks. Journal
of Leadership Education, 16(1).
Kim, J., & McLean, G. N. (2015). An integrative framework for global leadership competency:
levels and dimensions. Human Resource Development International, 18(3), 235-258.
Maqbool, R., Sudong, Y., Manzoor, N., & Rashid, Y. (2017). The impact of emotional
intelligence, project managers’ competencies, and transformational leadership on project
success: An empirical perspective. Project Management Journal, 48(3), 58-75.
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Peachey, J. W., Zhou, Y., Damon, Z. J., & Burton, L. J. (2015). Forty years of leadership
research in sport management: A review, synthesis, and conceptual framework. Journal
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Pihlainen, V., Kivinen, T., & Lammintakanen, J. (2016). Management and leadership
competence in hospitals: a systematic literature review. Leadership in Health
Services, 29(1), 95-110.

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Sartain, J. (2015). The Connected Leadership Framework: A Grounded Theory of Evidence-
Based Leadership Development - CODA Partners. Retrieved from
https://codapartners.net/2015/11/18/the-connected-leadership-framework-a-grounded-
theory-of-evidence-based-leadership-development/
Storey, J. (2016). Changing theories of leadership and leadership development. In Leadership in
Organizations (pp. 17-41). Routledge.