Effective Business Leadership: Skills, Development, and Experiences.

This essay delves into the multifaceted aspects of business leadership and management, emphasizing the critical roles both play in an organization's success. It differentiates between leadership, which motivates team members, and management, which directs employees. The essay examines the qualities of a successful leader, categorizing essential skills into individual, relational, and contextual domains, and discusses the development of these skills through various theories such as the Big Five personality traits, Katz’s three-skill model, and situational leadership approaches. It also addresses the debate on whether leadership can be developed, arguing that while inherent traits exist, skills can be honed through experience, observation, and adopting effective leadership styles. The analysis draws on examples like Mark and Spencer’s to illustrate how leadership effectiveness evolves with skill development, highlighting the importance of adapting to changing situations and fostering strong leader-member relationships. Desklib offers additional resources and solved assignments for further study.

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
What is involved in being a successful leader?...............................................................................4
Can good leadership be developed, and if so, how?........................................................................9
What have you learnt about leadership from your own experiences, on this course and elsewhere
.......................................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14

Introduction
Leadership and management is one of the most significant pillars in case of any organization.
Both of the factors play a significant role in accessing where the organization stands in the
current times. The meaning and the significance of the terms vary from each other, though both
of them are important for ensuring the operations of the organization. While leadership
incorporates the ways in which an individual motivates the team members to work more
effectively, the manager on the other hand identifies the individuals who may force the
employees to work- there is thus a difference among the two of the factors.
For understanding the impact of leadership in case of any organization, the case study of Mark
and Spencer’s has been chosen. The below assignment will concentrate on the factors such as the
essential steps and the procedures that are needed for being an effective leader and the lines of
difference that exists among the leaders and the managers.

Individual
RelationalContextual
What is involved in being a successful leader?
In the words of Whaley and Gillis, (2018), the leader is essentially an individual who motivates
the employees to work more effectively for the success of the organization. However being an
effective leader is never an easy nut to crack. There are indeed a number of steps as well as
processes, which are involved in being a successful leader. The different skills that are needed in
this regard can be broadly summarized as a combination of Individual, relational and contextual
skills
Figure 1: The traits of a leader
(Source: Whaley and Gillis, 2018)

Individual skills
It needs to be noted in this regard that the successful leaders are always accompanied by a
combination of right skills, traits as well as styles to perform the skills effectively.
Traits
The different traits that are possessed by the leaders can be understood effectively with the help
of the following theories
Big Five personality traits- The theory has been developed by Lewis Goldberg and is one of the
most prominent theories of the contemporary times. The theory identifies five (5) of the most
significant factors that may be useful for understanding leadership in a more effective manner.
The different significant traits that are identified are Conscientiousness, extroversion,
agreeableness, neuroticism, as well as the openness towards gathering new and effective
experiences. In the words of Krantz and Gilmore (2018), the combination of these traits is
extremely significant for being a successful leader.
Openness to new experiences- A leader needs to be open enough towards gathering new
experiences. The new experiences that are occurring in the external environment incorporate a
new sense of perception, knowledge among the new individuals. It is extremely important for
the leaders to be open enough to the external environment- this will actually be useful for the
leaders to understand the things ( problems) in a new way.
Conscientiousness- this identifies the tendencies of a leader to be dependable, organized as well
as dutiful and self disciplined.
Extroversion- the trait identifies the assertiveness, emotions, surgecy, as well as the sociability
and the tendency for seeking communications in the organization
Agreeableness- the leader should always be compassionate as well as co operative. The negative
traits of the leaders such as antagonistic and the suspicious nature should always be avoided.
Neuroticism- In the words of Sharma and Gamlath (2018), this identifies the tendencies of
becoming emotionally stable in all situations. It is quite an obvious fact that a leader is subjected

to a number of complex situations while working in an organization. It is extremely important
and significant for the leader to keep his emotional cool in all of the situations.
Skills- the different skills that a leader need to posses can be further understood with the help of
the Katz’s three skills model. In accordance with the model, a leader need to posses can be
further divided as technical skills, human skills as well as the conceptual skills. The theory
further argues that the skills are quite different from the leadership traits as well as qualities. The
skills provide an effective idea about the skills that a leader need to accomplish, the traits on the
other hand are the inborn characteristics of the leader. The technical skills identify that a leader
needs to have the basic computer proficiency that are needed for carrying out the job role
prolifically (Bolden, 2016). The human skills, in simple terms specify the capacity of getting
along with the others as well as forming a proper workable and trustworthy environment in the
organization. The conceptual skills identifies that the leader need to be effective enough in
working with the different emerging concepts as well as ideas in the organization.
Styles
The concept mainly encircles around identifying the different behaviors of the leader. The
Lewin Leadership managerial grid is one of the most effective theories that are useful in this
regard. The theory identifies the three significant styles of leadership and these are
Democratic (participative)- This type of leadership style are mostly useful when the leader
need to make some of the most effective and quick decisions and is often an example of a
demoralizing leadership style.
Autocrative ( Authoritian)- these type of leadership style in most of the cases encourage
creativity and also helps in creating an effective working environment in the organization, The
participative leadership usually allows the employees to take part in the whole of the decision
making process and thus enhances the overall job satisfaction of the employees of the
organization (Bush, 2018).
Laissez- Faire (Delegative leadership)-This is an example of a discrete type of leadership where
the leaders help the employees with the resources as well as by other methods only when it is

needed. The leaders do not involve themselves in any of the decisions and the activities. This
level of leadership often develops job satisfaction among the employees.
Contextual skills
Situational Approach- As put forward by Weathersby (2018), the situational leadership is one of
the significant approaches to leadership. The theory clearly puts forward that the leaders are
born out of situation. There are certain situations (critical or not) that ensurges the leadership
skills among the individual. The theory thus developed by Kenneth Blanchard points out that the
organization (Mark and Spencer’s) in this regard need to adjust the styles in accordance with the
changing situations in the organization.
Contingency model- The concepts thus put forward by this theory is however a discrete one. The
theory identifies that there are no particular or one certain way of organizing a corporation.
There are actually a number of ways and the organization should consider all of them before
making the best choice.
Path goal theory- The path goal is indeed an interesting theory that has been developed in the
late of the 1970s. The path goal model clearly identifies that the leaders need to change and
modify the leadership styles in accordance with the employees as well as the environment of the
organization. The leader identifies that the sole aim of leadership is to enhance the motivation as
well as the skills of the employees and the leader should do all of the possible things to enhance
the goals of the employees.
Relational skills
Servant leadership- In the words of Rost (2017), the servant leadership is one of the significant
approaches that identifies that the leaders should be driven with the feeling and the want to serve.
This self-consciousness among the leaders are the driving force that makes a leader an effective
one.
Transformational leadership- the transformational leadership refers to the type of leadership
that allows the leaders to work effectively in the organization for identifying the need of any
changes in the organization. The type of leadership also encircles that the leaders need to create
a proper vision for guiding the changes and for executing them in an effective way.

Leader member exchange theory- The Leader member exchange theory (LMX theory) is an
example of a relationship based model of leadership. The theory emphasizes on the development
of a two-way leadership theory- the members and the leaders. In accordance with the theory, the
leaders should select the best of the members who are capable of doing that particular job and the
members should also be given the rights to accept and reject the offer. One of the greatest
advantages of this type of leadership it leads to the development of an effective leader member
relationship in the organization (Mark and Spencer’s) in this regard.

Can good leadership be developed, and if so, how?
The above question is n example of one of the most debatable topics till date. While a number of
views are in support of the above statement a few others are not. In the words of Kotterman
(2016), leadership is something that can never actually be developed. The leadership traits and
hence the leaders are inborn. The leaders are the individuals who are born with specific traits
that actually defines them and it is a known fact that traits are inborn and can never actually be
incorporated ( also discussed in the above sections). However with the passage of time, the
concepts have indeed changed a bit. Though it will be unjustified to say that effective leaders can
be developed just with the blink of eyes but yes there are some of the processes that can be
followed for making an individual an effective leader. The processes can be classified on the
basis of the following
Individual perspective
It is quite an obvious fact that developing a trait within an individual is almost the most difficult
thing that can be done and in the words of Smircich and Morgan (2017), this is next to
impossible.
The skills such as the technical, human and the conceptual skills can however be developed if
proper time are allocated and proper steps are taken, The technical skills can be develop with
proper expertise and joining proper courses. The human and the conceptual skills can be
developed with proper observations.
The styles can also be changed in accordance with the needs and the demands of the situation.
Contextual skills
In the words of Tomey (2018), the contextual skills are those that helps in identifying the
different contexts of a particular situation. The skill identifies the approach of the leaders
towards a particular situation. With proper observation and experience, the leaders can modify
their perspective towards certain situations. This type of approaches may prove to be useful in
incorporating some leadership skills.
Relational skills

The relational skills help in identifying and modifying the relationship that the leaders have with
the members of the team. It is extremely significant for the leaders to maintain an effective
relationship among the members of the organization. This actually enhances the overall leader
member relationship in the organization.
From the above section, it is quite evident that with the incorporation of a whole lot of skills and
the adoption of a set of effective leadership styles, leaders can be developed. The development of
the skills is some of the significant ways through which an effective leader can be developed.
The example of Marks and Spencer’s can be considered in this regard. It needs to be considered
in this regard that when Mr. John joined the organization as a leader the individual was not at all
effective enough in performing his duties, but gradually with the application of proper tactics
and with the incorporation of a whole lot of new skills he proved to be effective in serving his
duties. Though, in times of crisis, Mr. John often fails to perform his duties effectively.
Thus it can be concluded that the leadership can be developed to some extent but developing a
leader who is an expert in all wings is like making the sun rise in the west- both are impossible.`
What distinguishes leadership from management?
In the words of Tomey (2018), there are some of the strict differences that exist among
leadership and management and it is of extreme importance to have an effective idea of them
before indulging into the concept further. The term management in the simple terms identifies
the capabilities that are related to the process of dealing with things as well as people.
Management ideally refers to the process of getting things done in the organization “by hook or
by crook”. Contrarily leadership identifies the process of motivating the individuals for
performing their duties effectively within the organization. From the definitions, itself it is clear
that there are indeed some of the strict differences which exist among them.
The significant difference that has been identified in this regard is that the manager is the
individuals for whom the people work. The leaders on the other hand are the individuals who the
people follow- the individuals whom the employees love. One of the major factors of
differentiation is the way of approach of both of the operations. The main work of the
management is to make the individuals do the work in the organization in any way possible. The
leaders on the other hand motivate the individuals to work more effectively within the

organization. Management is a much systematic approach as compared to leadership. If the case
of Marks and Spencer’s are considered then the managers of the organization work on the four
basic principles such as planning, organizing, staffing, controlling and directing. The managers
of the organization lay much more emphasis on these factors. The leaders on the other hand do
not have any of such factors that are to be followed by them. The leaders can follow any basis of
work- their ultimate aim is motivating the employees to work more effectively towards the
success of the organization. The basis of management is control while that of leadership us trust.
As put forward by Tomey (2018), leadership mainly works for inspiring the individuals (as
discussed in the above sections), the management on the other hand works for controlling the
activities of the organization. Management emphasizes more on managing the different activities
of the organization, the concepts pertaining to leadership work around inspiring the different
individuals to work more effectively towards the success of the organization. In case of Mark
and Spencer’s the management of the organization work for the purpose of bringing stability
among the different activities of the organization. The management is much active in estimating
that all of the activities of the organization are working in the same order exactly in the same
way in which it was planned. The management also ensures that the goals and the activities of
the organization are being carried out in proper order within the estimated time frame. The
leaders’ o the other hand work towards ensuring that the employees are motivated enough to
work effectively within the organization and a positive working environment exists among the
organization.
However irrespective of the immense differences that exist among the leadership and
management, both of them are equally essential for ensuring the success of the organization. IN
the words of Bolden (2016) leadership and management both work hand in hand towards
ensuring the success of the organization.
What have you learnt about leadership from your own experiences, on this course and
elsewhere
Leadership is one of the most significant aspects that helps an organization (Marks and
Spencer’s) in this regard to stand where it s in the contemporary times. There are a number of
real life examples, which have pointed out leadership as one of the most significant factors

contributing towards the success of the organization. It is a proven fact that leadership is one of
the significant factors that helps in modifying the entire working environment of an organization.
In my experience also I have noted that leaders are more effective than the leaders in carrying
out the different activities (even at resolving disputes) in the organization more effectively. In the
month of January, the organization organized for a training and development program for
enhancing the qualities of the employees. Two lists were prepared one for the employees who
needed technical training and the others were the individuals who needed training regarding
communications. On the precise day, it was observed that the manager in charge of the whole
activities have already messed up everything. The manager was comparatively new and had little
idea about these factors. It was noted that the list had already messed up. The list pointed out that
every one needed training in communication, even the individuals whose name was in the
technical training list was placed in the communications list and there were no arrangements
made for technical training. The situation of course raised ample disputes and disruptions among
the individuals. The situations further worsened when the manger literally forced the individuals
to take part in the process.
It was then when the role of the leader was identified. The concerned leader handled the
situation effectively and he in fact inspired the employees to take part in the process. He
discussed the importance of communications in shaping up the career of an individual and in
fact inspired to make the full use of this “golden opportunity” of enhancing the communication
skills. The situation was much under control. This changed my opinion about leadership greatly.
Previously I always presumed that management is the driving force behind the success of any
organization, but after experiencing the session, I noted that leadership is far more important than
management in ensuring effective operations in the organization