Leadership Challenges, Styles, and Personal Capabilities Report

This report examines the multifaceted challenges of leadership within organizations, focusing on how different leadership styles influence organizational behavior and employee performance. The analysis begins with an exploration of leadership challenges encountered in a multinational company, highlighting the impact of a shift from a more flexible to a more structured leadership approach, and its effect on employee morale and attrition. The report then delves into various leadership styles, including autocratic, democratic, and cross-cultural leadership, discussing their characteristics and how they are shaped by cultural, historical, and geographical factors. It further investigates the impact of these styles on employee performance, referencing Fiedler's contingency model and emphasizing the importance of leaders adapting their approach to suit the situation. Case studies of leaders like Adolf Hitler, George Washington, and Steve Jobs are included to illustrate the practical implications of these leadership styles. Finally, the report analyzes the student's personal leadership capabilities using the Seven Leadership Mindsets theory, assessing the need for future professional development and reflecting on the definition of an effective leader.

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

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Introduction
The purpose of the assignment is to figure out the challenges related to leadership that
influence the organizational behavior. The various style of leadership is discussed in order to
know their influence in the employees and in turn the organization. The impact of leadership
on the performance of the employees is also mentioned. The aspects of the seven leadership
mindset has also been used for analyzing owns capabilities as a leader.
Challenges of leadership in an organization
I was working in a multi-national company for more than 2 years. I was appointed as
the branch manager. On the very first day of my job, I had interacted with the employees. My
higher authority helped me understand the task entirely. I was asked to lead 3 teams, 10
employees in each of the teams. My job role was to motivate these employees, train them,
interact with them in order to know the challenges and try helping them overcome it and
finally assist them to finish the projects assigned. On the 2 day, I called each of the groups for
a meeting where my intention was to interact with the employees to build trust and rapport. I
had asked them about the challenges they were facing before I was appointed. Only 2 people
out of 30 people spoke about the challenges. Rest of the employees claimed to be quite happy
with their previous leader. After an introductory session of 40 minutes, I explained them their
respective task and allocated group tasks to each of the teams. I informed them about the
deadline of the project and assisted them to begin with the task. After about a year, the
turnover of the company began to decrease and the attrition rate of the employees in the
organization has increased extensively. I along with the board of directors started
investigating to find out the reasons behind this. In a weeks’ time we were successful in
figuring out the loopholes of the company. Earlier, under the leadership of the previous

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leader, the employees had the freedom to work according to their convenience and were
encouraged to put forward new ideas for any tasks. When I was appointed, I changed the
structure of the organization and now the employees had to directly report to me. The
employee did not feel motivated working with me and started to leave the organization. They
did not recognize my transformational style of leadership (Goddard, Hazelkorn and Vallance
2016). Initially the employees failed to understand the importance of re-structuring the
strategies of the company. I had introduced the online test in order to understand their
knowledge and skills, post which the students who had failed were given training from the
beginning in order to overcome such a challenge. I was worried by the entire situation as my
inspirational leadership style in my previous organization turned out to be extremely
successful. Although, employees have started to coordinate and work with me in order to
fulfill the goals of the organization (Johnson 2017).
Thus, it is seen that every style of leadership depends on certain factors like culture,
history and geographic locations. Thus, the working culture and behavior of the employees in
the organization for the longest time did not allow the employees to accept the
transformational style of leadership as they were content with the old organizational structure
and working style. The employees only started to accept the new style of leadership after
getting accustomed to this. The geographical location of an organization is of great strategic
importance to the company. That also helps in analyzing the ideal style of leadership in the
organization.
The various leadership styles are-
Autocratic Leadership: In this style of leadership the leaders possesses all the
responsibilities and authority. Leaders make decisions on their own and they prefer not to
discuss it with the subordinates (Bosiok and Sad 2013). The leaders only communicate the

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decisions to the employees and do not allow work flexibility (Rast III, Hogg and Giessner
2013). For example: Adolf Hitler followed this type of leadership where he was the dictator
and never chose to listen to any of the citizens of the country. The culture and the condition
of that place influenced the leadership style of Hitler. American racism influenced the
leadership style. He was culturally influenced by the D.A.P. It is the group that made him
realizes his hatred for the Jewish community. In his dictatorship, he had failed to inspire the
citizens and instead ordered them to ill-treat the Jews. Thus, culture, condition and geography
of a place influence leadership style (Toland 2014).
Democratic Leadership: This style of leadership involves the subordinates and allows
them to take decisions. Unlike autocratic leadership style, this style is not leader centric. The
leaders take the final decision but they delegate power to various other people. For example:
George Washington follows the democratic style of leadership. The geographic condition of
the place influenced the leadership of George Washington. The high-tech and medical
industries allow him to follow this style, as high amount of group effort is required to execute
the functions. His leadership style has influenced history. He was an inspiration to many and
he successfully had set standards in aspects like political power, economy policy and military
practice. He believed in a republican, independent and constitutional government. Thus,
democratic leadership differs from that of autocratic one in many ways depending on the
culture, condition and the geographic location and life.
Cross-cultural Leadership: This style of leadership pertains when there is a range of
various cultures in the society. Workplaces require leaders who can effectively cope up with
the multi-cultured environment. For example: Most of the organizations in United States have
cross-cultural environment and thus they require leaders who can follow this kind of
leadership style. Heisman Trophy winner Mariota Marcus showed this leadership style. His

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background made him an unpretentious player. He did not play as an aggressive one. He
adjusted with the cross culture of the team (Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy 2014). He
came out as a successful leader. The school and colleges organize training programs to
educate them about diversity and openness, as many individuals or groups still believe and
work according to the Anglo-Saxon-American viewpoint of the world. In Spain, leaders put
forward their point of view in a précised manner and they easily adjust with the varied
cultures of various people around the world.
Impact of the various leadership styles on employee performance:
Fred Fiedler in his theory of leadership contingency model had explained how
behavior, style, capabilities and competency of a leader affects the performance of the
employees. Thus, the theory suggests that leaders should adopt their style according to the
situation in order to motivate employees.
Participative style of leadership helps in identifying goals and developing strategies in order
to reach the goal. This style of leadership heavily relies on the functioning of the leaders.
Leaders are expected to have a good rapport with the subordinates or the employees so that
work can be performed smoothly. This setting can be utilized in business, function of the
home or society and to volunteer organizations. This cordial behavior of the leader motivates
the employees to work harder and in turn influences the performance of the employees in a
positive manner (Iqbal, Anwar and Haider 2015). Leaders favoring this style encourage
active involvement of everyone and enable them to share new ideas and innovation.
Effective leaders provide guidance. They also share their knowledge with the employees for
them to perform better. They help in making the employees experts in whatever they are
doing in order to maintain the quality of the work. Introducing the standards of leadership

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encourages the promotion of the core values and work responsibility (Yahaya and Ebrahim
2016).
Democratic style of leadership is beneficial for most of the companies. This style
concentrates on the management as they provide help and guidance to various departments
and teams. The decisions of the organization are made in consent with the employees. This
democratic style promotes responsibility sharing and continual consultation. The managers
recommendations and suggestions effectively allot tasks to the employees or the subordinates
(Iqbal, Anwar and Haider 2015). Full control is given to them for completing the tasks
effectively. This leads to more commitment of the employees to reach the goals of the
organization. Thus, in turn it elevates the performance of the employees.
In the case study stated above, my transformational style of leadership did not motivate the
employees and just after I had joined the organization, the attrition rate had increased
extensively (McCleskey 2014). This implies that my style of leadership de-motivated the
employees. They were not given the authority to innovate or make decisions in the
organization. Their freedom was also curbed, as they had to directly report to me.
Transforming the structure of the organization influenced negatively and affected the
performance of the employees. Thus, leadership styles effects the performance of the
employees positively or negatively in an organization.
Leadership style determines who will follow and how they will follow
Inspirational leaders passionately feel the mission and vision of an organization. Their
behavior and leadership style influences people around them. Autocratic leaders do not allow
the involvement of the employees in making any decision of the organization. They are
instructed by their leaders to carry out tasks as given. Thus, there is no job satisfaction of the
employees (Latham 2014). They do not have the authority to innovate and suggest new ideas

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to their leaders. This de-motivates the employees and they do not follow their leader. On the
other hand, charismatic, democratic leaders are driven by the commitments and convictions.
Their focus is always the audience. Dr. Martin Luther King followed the charismatic style of
leadership. He used powerful oratory and he was an engaging personality and concentrated
on the positive changes in the lives of millions of people. People followed him thoroughly as
he was empathetic towards them always. Inspirational leaders listen to the employees of the
organization. In order to inspire people around the leaders, it is important to include and
involve them in the activities. The dictatorship of Adolf Hitler de-motivated every citizen of
the country as he introduced strict rules under his leadership (Toland 2014). On the other,
hand Steve Jobs with his inspirational and charismatic leadership motivated his employees in
various ways (Heracleous and Klaering 2014). He had worked with his employees and
understood the challenges they faced in the organization. He had divided teams according to
the talents of specific people. Thus, the teamwork of Steve Jobs played a very vital role in
making the company Apple successful. Nelson Mandela had enough patience and dedication
to handle situations. He was the first democratic president of South Africa. He was one of the
greatest transformative leaders of civil right. He directed peaceful demonstrations against the
government of South Africa because of deep racism. He was not a politician but he believed
in improving the lives of people and inspired people to fight for freedom. Thus, millions of
people started walking on the paths of Mandela, as he did not fail to inspire and motivate
people around him with his goodness. Mother Teresa did not fail to work with the people and
for the people. She showed immense devotion to help the poor people of the world. This
gentle gesture of Mother Teresa influenced many lives and hearts. She is still remembered by
the world for her outstanding quality of leadership.

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Personal leadership capabilities using the Seven Leadership Mind-sets
theory and analyzing the need for future professional development:
As a leader, I followed the transformational style of leadership. Initially when I had
joined the organization, I had faced various challenges and difficulties in managing the
employees. As a leader I had the skills to manage the employees but the employees were too
comfortable with the previous structure of the organization. I had the personality trait of
agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness and extraversion (Holten and
Brenner 2015). These qualities of a leader had helped me to manage the employees for so
long and finally made them understand and support the re-structuring of the organizational
strategies. On the other hand, I became impatient as after my joining in the organization, the
attrition rate had increased terribly and the major reason for this was my style of leadership
that did not match their expectations. They wanted a laid back, liberal leader who would
support and encourage them in anything and everything. My situational leadership behavior
did not motivate the employees. The training session did not turn out to be an interactive
session as the employees preferred to follow their old traditional methods. Hence, I failed in
strengthening the relationship with the employees. Initially I was not able build trust and
rapport but I had worked on my skills to improve the relationship and finally after a year, I
could manage to enhance the bond and thus, the employees started believing in my re-
structuring and the various strategies I made to run the organization effectively. Initially I
doubted my influencing skills but I thoroughly worked hard in order to influence and
motivate the employees (Saeed 2014). In order to work in an organization in future and
effectively handle my job-position as a marketing head, I should concentrate more on certain
skills. I should improve the ability in getting the task done and try to foster a positive and
comprehensive organizational culture. These improved behaviors would help me in my future
job position of marketing head. These qualities will help me in influencing employees to

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work according to the vision and mission of the company and help the employees to think
freely in order to come up with new ideas and strategies to market any particular product.
I would like work as a marketing head in the telecommunication industry. This
industry requires a lot of creativity and innovations in order to come up to new ideas of
marketing and also requires good communication skills which is required to communicate
with the client and also with the employees. In order to develop all the skills required for such
a job position. The main aim of nurturing the skills is to improve the organizational culture
and create a positive environment for the employees to work in. I would communicate more
frequently with the customers and the employees in order to come up with solutions to their
issues. This will in turn create a favorable working environment for all the workers.
Effective leader:
Effective leader portrays a very strong character. Effective leaders should be honest,
ethical and trustworthy. The most essential aspect of a leader is the dependability that implies
that a leader should maintain the responsibilities in the most effective way so that the
followers, employees and subordinates depend on the leader entirely (Senge, Hamilton and
Kania 2015). Leader should also be more empathetic towards the subordinates and give them
the freedom to take the necessary decisions. They should be encouraged to come up with new
ideas. Effective leaders give guidance. They share their knowledge with the employees for
them to perform better. They help in making the employees experts in whatever they are
doing in order to maintain the quality of the work. Introducing the standards of leadership
encourages the promotion of the core values and work responsibility. An effective leader
always has perseverance (Batool 2013). Any task or challenges in the organization can be
overcome by this quality of the leader. Integrity is also an important aspect of effective

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leadership. Leaders possessing firm principles ensure the most responsible decisions. These
certain characteristics help in justifying the true quality of an effective leader.
I have evolved as an effective leader in managing the organization. Initially I had
faced various challenges in the company due to the lack of many skills as a leader. Initially I
had failed to understand the emotions of the employees. Later in the company, with hard
work and patience, I had grown my relationship with the team members in order to
effectively complete the tasks on a daily basis. Although, I still believe that I should improve
more in being influential and encourage people to share their viewpoints in order to overcome
the challenges they face (Batool 2013). As an effective leader, it is my responsibility to look
after the well-being of the people around me.
Recommendation
Democratic, participative and effective style of leadership influences employees in a
positive way. This style of leadership motivates the employees and helps them to perform
better. These leadership styles allow and encourages employees to provide innovative ideas
and suggestion. This in turn affects the overall performance of the company. Whereas the
autocratic style of leadership does not encourage new ideas and the employees are not given
the authority to take any kind of decisions. Thus, this leadership style de-motivates
employees and reduces their performance. Hence, this leadership style should not be followed
in the organizations.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that leaders can shape the structure of the organization. A
good leader can motivate the employees to perform better, whereas a bad leader will lead to
the increased rate of attrition in an organization. Thus, leaders should be chosen very

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carefully. Leaders influence the subordinates or the employees in order to enhance the
performance of the company. Their job of building good rapport and trust with the employees
and customers can affect the business of the company.

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