Leadership: Exploring Traits, Styles, Culture, and Social Impact

This essay delves into the multifaceted realm of leadership, exploring the essential traits, motives, and characteristics that define effective leaders. It examines various leadership styles, including charismatic, transformational, contingency, and situational approaches, highlighting their unique features and applications within organizations. The essay further investigates the critical role of organizational environment and culture, emphasizing how these factors influence leadership and employee behavior. It also addresses the significance of ethics and social responsibility in leadership, underscoring the importance of ethical standards and their impact on business conduct and public perception. The essay draws upon a range of academic sources to provide a comprehensive overview of leadership principles and practices.

Running head: LEADERSHIP
Leadership
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Leadership helps is making changes within the organization in a positive manner. It helps
in inspiring and stimulating the members of the team in a better manner so that they can achieve
the goals for the organization. Thus, it can be said that leadership helps in boosting up the
confidence and provide support to the employees so that the goals of the organizations can be
met easily. Leadership also constitutes of a partnership with the members of the team so that they
can be connected with each other and can balance the work in a better manner. The partnership
with the leaders helps in exchanging the purpose of the work along with the accountability of the
workers in a joint manner. The members of the team along with the leaders have to trust each
other so that there can be clarity of ideas between them.
The leaders help in influencing and directing the members of the team towards the right
direction so that the behaviors of the members can help the organization in achieving its goals
and missions. It will also help in bridging the gaps between the members and the leaders in
formulating the plans so that the members can be guided towards the goals of the organization.
The leaders are also important within the organization, as they help in influencing the people and
manage the conflicts that may arise within the organization.
Traits, motives and characteristics of leadership
The traits that need to be present within the leaders will help them in guiding the team
members in an organized manner. The trait such as self-confidence will help the leaders in
instilling confidence among the group members, as the leaders show that they are full of
confidence while performing the tasks within the organization.

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Assertiveness is another type of trait that helps the leaders in expressing their point of
view in a straightforward manner so that the objectives can be achieved in a better way. the
leaders also need to be enthusiastic in nature so that it can help in motivating the employees who
are working under them. This will help in raising the interest of the employees so that the duties
towards the organization can be performed in a better manner.
The motive of the leaders should be that they can control the people who are working
under them so that they can be influenced in a better way. The motivation that will be provided
by the leaders to the employees will help them in gaining satisfaction from the accomplishment
of the objectives, which will help them in progressing in their career paths. The tenacity of the
leaders also needs to be of strong determination so that they can help the team in achieving the
desired goals.
Charismatic and transformational leadership
Charismatic leadership
It was first coined by Max Webber, which helped in reviewing the quality of the
personality of the individual, which will help in distinguishing them from the ordinary people
due to the exceptional qualities that are possessed by the leaders. This style of leadership is
characterized through the abilities that the leaders have in expressing different behaviors at
different times, which helps them in accomplishing the tasks. These leaders need to have a
proper vision so that they can be sensitive towards the needs of the organization and the
outstanding behavior that are expressed by them during the difficult times.

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Transformational leadership
It helps the leaders in inspiring the followers so that the interests of the members of the
team can be transcended for the good of the organization, which creates a positive effect on the
followers in the team. The members of the team have to be concerned with the needs and
preferences of the members, which will help in promoting the intelligence and communicate the
expectations of the work in a better manner.
Contingency and situational leadership
Contingency leadership
Contingency leadership helps the leaders to be effective as well as being insightful and
flexible in the work place. The path-goal theory of leadership is a type of contingency leadership,
which helps the leaders in influencing the performances of the employees so that they can attain
satisfaction by fulfilling the duties within the organization. It helps the leaders in instilling
themselves with a sense of responsibility, which helps the subordinates in being monitored in an
efficient manner.
Situational leadership
This theory of leadership was developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard who stated
that the leaders have to be effective with the variances in their styles so that the members of the
team are ready to follow them in a proper manner. This model of leadership is based on
delegation and selling along with the participation and selling. The relationship with the
members of the team has to be supported and accepted by the members of the team so that they
can work in a proper manner.

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Different types of leadership styles
Autocratic leadership- These leaders make their own decisions and do not consult the
ideas with the members of the team even if their insights can be valuable within the organization.
This helps the decisions to be taken in a quick manner by the leaders so that the necessary
outcome for the team can be analyzed. This style of leadership can be demoralizing in nature, as
it increases the level of absenteeism within the organization by the employees.
Democratic leadership- These leaders make the decisions for their team by taking in to
account the inputs of the team members. This helps in encouraging the creativity, which helps in
increasing the level of satisfaction of the employees so that productivity can be increased.
Laissez-faire leadership- This style of leadership helps the members of the team to attain
freedom so that they can set their own deadlines for the work that are performing in the
organization. The members are provided with adequate resources so that they can utilize it to
carry on with the work in an efficient manner. This type of leadership takes place when the
managers have no power to control the employees over the work that they are performing.
Environment and culture of organizations
The environment that exists within the organization helps in defining the culture, which is
crucial for the entities that help in shaping up of the organization. The attitudes, performances
and behaviors within the organization are influenced directly by the culture of the organization,
which differs from person to person. The culture that exists within the organization defines the
attitude, belief, experience and the psychology of the organization, which is important to the
employees, as they would getter better insights regarding the cultures that are followed within
the organization. The organizational culture comprises of different elements that are as follows:

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 Unstated and stated values
 Implicit and overt expectations of the behavior of the members
 Rituals and customs that are followed within the organization
 Myths and stories that are present within the groups and,
 The type of language that is used within the group
 The use of symbols and metaphors, which are done by the groups also needs to
be considered to understand the culture within the organization
The culture that is followed within the organization can be seen through the style of
leadership that is being followed within the organization. The leaders have to be responsible for
maintaining and improving the culture that is present within the organization so that the quality
of work can be improved in a better manner.
The culture within the organization can be divided in to various parts which are as
follows:
 Role culture- This is a common style of culture that is present within the
organization where the individuals are responsible for the roles that they carry out
within the organization.
 Task culture- The organizations work in a particular manner so that the team that
is responsible for the work to be carried out within the organization can make
better and free decisions. It helps in increasing the level of creativity among the
employees with respect to the actions that will be taken up in the organization.

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The culture that is present within the organization helps in helps in clearing out the
success of the organization, as a positive environment within the organization will help in
motivating the employees.
Ethics and social responsibility
The ethics that are present in business are the standards and principles that are
determined within the business organization so that the conduct can be analyzed that will help in
better performance for the business. The behavior that is present within the organization helps
the business to be accepted among the customers, groups of interests, competitors and the public.
The consumers are of the belief that the businesses should not have only a profit mentality but
needs to consider the social implications as well. The social responsibility obliges the business to
create an impact that is positive on the society so that the products and services of the business
can be provided to the customers in a better way.

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Bibliography
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leadership (pp. 11-29). Queensland, Australia: John Wiley & Sons.
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In Management, (3rd edition) Chapter 4 John Wiley and Sons, Milton, Qld.
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The Journal of New Paradigm Research, 70 (1) 19-27.

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