Strategic Leadership and Practice: Styles, Theories, and Analysis

This report delves into the realm of strategic leadership, focusing on its concepts and significance in driving long-term organizational success, particularly within Fin-bank, a commercial bank in Burundi. It explores various leadership styles such as autocratic, democratic, transformational, transactional, cross-cultural, and laissez-faire, highlighting their characteristics and potential impacts. The report further examines leadership theories, including trait, contingency, behavioral, participative, situational, and system theories, to provide a comprehensive understanding of leadership principles. The analysis culminates in a recommendation for Fin-bank's senior management to adopt a combination of participative and autocratic leadership styles, leveraging the strengths of both approaches to foster clear direction and employee engagement for optimal performance and decision-making. The report emphasizes the importance of effective leadership in maximizing individual efficiency and achieving organizational goals, providing valuable insights for strategic management and leadership development.

Strategic Leadership and
Practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Concepts of Strategic leadership......................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Strategic leadership is termed as the ability of a leader in order to influence others so that
they can make decisions voluntarily which later leads in enhancing prospects for long term
success of an enterprise and also maintain reputation and brand image (Amanchukwu, Stanley
and Ololube, 2015). In the following report, Fin-bank has been taken into consideration. It is a
commercial bank that is basically located in Burundi. It is therefore licensed by Bank of
Republic of Burundi which is the central bank and also national banking regulator. It was
therefore established in 2002.
Thus, in the following report, different types of leadership styles and theories has been
discussed. Further, selection of the best leadership style will be done that senior manager of a
particular company can adopt in order to achieve high profitability and long term success. In
addition to this, present study also highlights on various recommendations that has to be adopted
by Fin-bank in order to make organisation reach the boost.
Concepts of Strategic leadership
Strategic leadership is that term that basically refers to potential of a manager in a
particular organisation in order to express vision for the whole enterprise (Antonakis and Day,
2017). This will also allow them in motivating those members that are involved with them so
that they can acquire particular vision that has been targeted. In other words, it is also known as
utilising strategy in terms of managing employees in particular company.
Importance of strategic leadership
The process of leadership is basically is just to use non coercive influence in order to
direct and coordinate activities of members of the group that is unorganized so that they can
accomplish and fulfil all the group objectives. Thus, it is one of the most important function of
business management and basically in Fin-bank as it leads in maximising the efficiency of an
individual and also in achieving the targeted goals of a particular organisation. If there is absence
of effective leadership than none of the organisation can further work in effective manner. There
are also some points that may assist in order to justify the actual importance of leadership in a
particular organisation that has been cited. Leaders are those who starts their work with
communicating with subordinates about all policies and plans. They also provide guidance to
employees or members working under them and also motivates them for working in a positive
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way that later leads them in achieving long term profit and high level of productivity. Leaders of
Fin-bank also provides members with high level confidence as it plays significant role in
building efficiency of an individual. They also try to give them rewards and incentives so that
they get motivated and put their complete and positive efforts in a particular task which they are
being allocated with (Macdonald, Burke and Stewart, 2017).
In addition to this, strategic leadership also plays significant role in building morale of
employees and also in building positive work environment in a stated organisation. Leaders must
have personal contacts with all followers that will help them in building loyalty base of
employees and they will later work in efficient and effective manner. Good and appropriate
leadership style is also important in order to create coordination and they also have to play
critical role in motivating employees. Hence, all this must be termed as their primary motive.
Types of leadership styles
Leadership style is defined as methods of leaders in order to provide direction,
implementation of plans and also in motivating peoples. It is also referred to as behavioural
pattern that has been employed by a leader of a particular firm so that they can integrate both
organisational and personal interests to fulfil goals and objectives that has been targeted by them
(Otley, 2016). Thus, there are various leadership styles that can be used by leader in order to
achieve organisational goals in effective and efficient manner which has been discussed as per
below context-
Autocratic leadership- Autocratic style of leadership is been centred on the boss and
leaders holds all the authorities and responsibilities. If this style being adopted by Fin-bank, then
they can make all the decisions on their own and don't have to communicate with their
subordinates regarding this. Thus, leaders basically reach to decisions that has to be selected and
later communicate that with all subordinates that are involved. They also expect for proper
implementation. While, the work environment under this type of leadership style has no
flexibility and guidelines, policies and also procedures are all termed as the natural addition to
the autocratic leader.
Democratic leadership- in this type of leadership style subordinates are also involved
with leaders in order to make any kind of decisions. But, leader is the one who holds final
responsibility and delegates authority to other member who may determine projects. Democratic
leadership style has one of the most unique feature as the communication is active on both side
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either may be from upward or from downward. It is termed as one of the most effective
leadership and preferred by every organisation. The decisions that are made are very much fair,
competitive, creative and also honest.
Transformational leadership- Transformational leadership style is that style in which
leader of Fin-bank works with a team in accurate way so that they can identify those changes that
are needed in an organisation for the growth (Pitelis and Wagner, 2018). Leaders adopting this
style can further motivate employees that are working under them so that they can work in more
effective manner by pushing their maximum amount of efforts in a particular task. In addition to
this, this type of leaders also has the clear vision so that they can achieve whatever they actually
want and also gain ability in order to communicate with followers in clear manner so that they
can easily understand what has been asked by them to do.
Transactional leadership- this type of leadership style has its focus mainly on supervision,
organisation and also performance. If this style is adopted by leader of Fin-bank than they can
promote compliance by followers through both way as rewards or punishments. Thus, this style
in terms of rewards and punishments assist in motivating employees and also in making them
work the way they want them to do. In addition to this, basic leadership skills of transactional
leadership is to be clear, focus on expectations and also to give feedback to the followers. They
also clarify what their followers has to meet and also explain them accordingly.
Cross cultural leadership- This type of leadership is that which exist basically where there
are various cultures in a particular society. This type of leadership style if adopted or used by
Finbank than it will help them in understanding individuals of various cultures and interact with
them in smooth and clear manner. This also leads them in order to adjust in different
environment easily and quickly. It has also been industrialised in that way which treasures front
runners who basically work in market which is globalised in contemporary manner.
Laissez faire- Laissez faire leadership style gives authorities to employees. It is also been
termed as delegative style if adopted by leaders of Fin-bank than they will have to allow group
members to take any kind of decision. This is not worth as it leads to lack of productivity among
members involved in a particular group. It is also been termed as one of the least satisfying and
lack of effectiveness in terms of management style.
Leadership theories
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Leadership is that process in which one person influence other so that they attain or
acquire particular objectives (Romager and et.al., 2017). This leadership theories can help
particular organisation in order to grow and develop and also maintain skills of leaders and also
identify potential leaders during the process of recruitment. Thus, there are various theories of
leadership which has been explained in below context-
Trait theory of leadership- Trait leadership has been defined as an integrated pattern and
is based on various characteristics of number of leaders. This is further used in order to predict
the effectiveness of leadership (Storey, 2016). This theory mainly have concentration on that
idea as great leaders are those which are born with abilities that has been given to the and not
that which is learned by them in the future. In addition to this, there are 6 different qualities that
includes enthusiasm in order to perform task, confidence, toughness, integrity, warmth and
humility. This particular theory of trait was developed basically to determine number of effective
characteristics that leaders have.
Contingency theory of leadership- this theory of leadership claims that best way is not
available in order to organise corporation, or to lead a company and make any kind of decisions
related to particular organisation. The style of a person depends on personality and not change as
per the situation. Further, it has been stated by Fielder that personality traits can be eith human
oriented or task oriented. Thus, those who are task oriented are termed as the most effective in
extreme type of situations. In addition to this, personality that is human oriented are more
effective in those situations that are middle ground.
Behavioural theory- Behavioural theory mainly states that leadership depends on
behaviour and style of person rather than their personality traits. The result of the study that has
been undertaken in leadership style indicates that followers prefer the democratic approach
towards leadership and also performance increase when leaders use positive type of
reinforcement. In addition to this, it has been stated that individual can learn various styles of
leadership in order to become leader with help of training and also observation.
Participative theory- This theory is the management style in which employees in a
particular group are invited to share their views and also decisions for any kind of situation
(Rothaermel, 2015). The main aim of the leaders under this theory is to encourage members or
followers to participate in in process of decision making and provide with unique and innovative
solutions that is required in the future. Leaders provide staff with all important information and
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issues that they are facing so that each and every members can share their ideas and solutions.
This will lead particular organisation to select the best one and implement on it accordingly in
order to achieve huge profitability and long term success.
Situational theory- Situational leadership theory states that traits and also behaviours that
are desired by a particular leader mainly depends on situation. Thus, there is no best way that has
been analysed in order to lead the situation (Saleem, 2015). In this theory, leader or manager of
FinBank has to adjust their style accordingly in order to fit development level of that of followers
which they are actually trying to influence. Leader has to change their style as per the needs and
requirements of customers and make them satisfy accordingly. In addition to this, leaders of a
particular organisation mainly uses this styles to match the level of followers which they are
leading at that time.
System theory- this leadership theory leads in enabling people or leaders of an
organisation that has been stated for creating such conditions where people that are involved at
all levels may work in effective manner that later aids in high productivity. Thus, sound
principles has been used about human behaviour to create models of good leadership, strategies
of organisation, systems design and also social process.
The best style opted
Being a senior manager of Fin-bank, I would like to opt participative and autocratic
leadership style for my organisation. This is because if I opt autocratic style then it will help me
in directing employees without any confusion. My mission and vision will also be clear. It also
involves decision making process in quick manner which will help me in taking all kind of
decision easily without any kind of guidance. Further, this style will also help me in improving
overall communication by eliminating issues because the communication is directly passed to the
workers that are involved with me. Autocratic leadership style will also help me in improving the
productivity and also reduces stress. So this leadership style will be more effective for Finbank to
achieve long term success.
In addition to this, participative leadership style can also be used by me if I would be a
senior manager of Finland. Thus, the main advantage of this style is that it allows everyone's
voice to be heard and make all members to feel that they are valued and respected (Sosik, Jung,
Sosik and Jung, 2018). Thus, it will also help me in bringing all types of diverse perspectives
which later can be used for selecting and making final solution which in turn assist in achieving
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long term success and high term profitability. If I adopt participative leadership style in my
organisation, then it will allow me to identify those team members those have potential to
become leaders in the future. Further, this style will also help me in offering my employees with
such opportunity that will help them in improving their income by performing in good manner. I
can increase employee retention and loyalty base of employees and also in cutting down cost of
turnover. Employees will then feel confident and can share their personal views or any other
issues that is faced by them and I will find it easy to derive some appropriate solutions for that
particular problem.
Democratic leadership style is also good If used as it helps in encouraging creativity
instead of micro managing situation and also leads in strengthening team member relationship.
Here team members can connect to each other because there is huge importance of idea and
feedbacks that has been shared by them. But it also has huge limitations (Yahaya and Ebrahim,
2016). If I use this leadership style than it may lead in creating negative emotions among
followers and it becomes essential to manage these emotions or else it would reduce
productivity. And this is one of the major disadvantage that I will have to face if I adopt this style
as a senior manager in FinBank. Thus, if due to any reason my team fails than the failure is
pushed on that member who have shared their views and gave decisions. Therefore, I would like
to choose participative and autocratic style of leadership in order to maintain productivity and
also long term success.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that leaders are the most important part of
any organisation in order to achieve success. They are the one who does the right thing by
focusing on people and innovates new ideas and develops the team efficiency. Further, this
report also helps in analysing various types of leadership style and also leadership theories that if
adopted by leaders of FinBank will help them in increasing employee morale and also raise
employee retention level. In addition to this, this report also highlights on the best style that has
to be opted by Senior manager of FinBank in which it has been analysed that participative and
autocratic is one of the best style in order to increase productivity and make the cited company to
reach the boost.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Leaders of FinBank must treat people in right way as it plays very important part. As
some people requires high level of praise and recognition and others are those who try to produce
results by working in effortful manner. Therefore, leader has to manage all this accordingly so
that they can make each every employee feel happy and enthusiastic in performing their task in
accurate way. Further, they must also try to learn from their mistakes as best leaders are those
who are the best learners and this learning will help them in increasing their ability in a particular
work or task. They must also try to listen to their members or followers about what they actually
think and want to share rather than only talking and pushing their decision on them. They must
try to measure their interest and skills and accordingly assign them work so that they may feel
interested in performing and accomplishing that task in which they are specialised and will later
lead in giving good result for that. This will later help in increasing productivity and employee
retention that in turn will assist in achieving huge brand image and company may reach the
boost.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
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principles and styles and their relevance to educational management. Management. 5(1). 6-
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Antonakis, J., & Day, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Macdonald, I., Burke, C., & Stewart, K. (2017). Systems leadership: Creating positive
organisations. Routledge.
Otley, D. (2016). The contingency theory of management accounting and control: 1980–
2014. Management accounting research. 31. 45-62.
Pitelis, C. N., & Wagner, J. D. (2018). Strategic Shared Leadership and Organizational Dynamic
Capabilities. The Leadership Quarterly.
Romager, J. and et.al. (2017). Influences of Authentic Leadership Styles and Challenges to
Enduring Pervasive Leadership Models.
Rothaermel, F. T. (2015). Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education,.
Saleem, H. (2015). The impact of leadership styles on job satisfaction and mediating role of
perceived organizational politics. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 172. 563-569.
Sosik, J. J., Jung, D., Sosik, J. J., & Jung, D. (2018). Full Range Leadership Development for
Strategic, Social, and Environmental Initiatives. In Full Range Leadership Development:
Second Edition (pp. 1-37). Routledge.
Storey, J. (2016). Changing theories of leadership and leadership development. In Leadership in
Organizations (pp. 33-58). Routledge.
Yahaya, R., & Ebrahim, F. (2016). Leadership styles and organizational commitment: literature
review. Journal of Management Development. 35(2). 190-216.
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