Leadership Styles, Theories, and Issues at Next PLC

This essay examines leadership concepts, styles, and theories, using Next PLC and its CEO, Simon Wolfson, as a case study. It begins by introducing the importance of effective leadership in organizations, highlighting the role of leaders in setting direction, guiding teams, and making decisions. The essay then delves into the leadership style of Next PLC's CEO, identifying it as autocratic, and discusses various leadership styles like democratic, charismatic, and bureaucratic. It explores leadership theories, including trait, behavioral, and situational theories, and analyzes the issues arising from the autocratic style, such as communication gaps and decreased employee motivation. The essay proposes adopting a democratic leadership style to address these issues, emphasizing employee involvement in decision-making, empowerment, and the creation of a healthy work environment to improve communication and performance. The conclusion reinforces the need for effective leadership at all levels to drive organizational success.

LEADERSHIP

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Main body........................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
In recent era, leadership is considered as a practical skill and ability of employee to lead others in an
organisation. In order to attain the success, effective leaders in enterprise are essentially required to lead and guide
individuals, teams and organisation. In this context, leaders mainly set the direction, guide and suggest the best
possible options in order to give effective response to any type of problem or situation (Kiefer and Tymon, 2011). In
organisation, leaders assist employees and team members to do right things at right time to move forward in positive
direction. As a leader, he/she has several types of responsibilities like taking right decisions, setting objectives and
motivates others in order to attain firm’s objectives.
The present essay helps in understanding the concept of leadership. For this purpose, CEO (Chief
Executive Officer) of Next PLC; Simon Wolfson is responsible to lead the entire managerial team as a leader. The
selected company is multinational clothing, home product and footwear Retail Corporation of the UK. The cited
firm is successfully operating its business operations and practices in the retail industry. The firm is headquartered in
Enderby, Leicestershire at England. The cited firm is a type of public limited company. In addition to this, firm has
about 700 stores situated in the UK and Ireland. In respect to sales measurement in the UK, cited firm is considered
as the largest organisation. Joseph Hepworth was the founder of this cited organisation. In addition to this, Next Plc
also earns approximately 812.1 million profits in year 2015.
In every organisation, effective and skilled leaders are required at every management level and department.
In respect to Next Plc, Simon is a good CEO as-well-as a skilled and efficient leader. In this context, there are
various types of leadership styles such as democratic, autocratic, bureaucratic and charismatic. From all these styles,
CEO of Next Plc adopts autocratic leadership style. This type of leadership style is effective but it also causes
various types of issues that are not favourable in context of employee as well as organisation.
In addition to this, Wellman and Humphrey (2011) describes that “the effective leaders are considered to
those employees in organisation who have the effective decision making skills, communication ability, motivation
skills, risk taking attitude, problem solving ability and time management style” (Wellman and Humphrey, 2011).
Furthermore, Dugan and Wagner (2011) define in research article that, “The leadership is considered as a process in
which leaders influence the thoughts, attitude and behaviour of subordinates or other employees” (Dugan and
Wagner, 2011). In addition to this, Clark, Abela and Ambler (2005) critiqued by defining leadership as a social
influence process through which one leader effectively garner the help and support of other employees in
organisation in order to attain strategic and common targets and objectives (Clark, Abela and Ambler, 2005). Along
with this; effective leaders of any group or team lead the members and support them in every situation. The essay
helps in understanding the concept of various types of leadership styles, theories and issues related to leadership
styles that are adopted by the CEO of Next plc. In addition to this, it also describes the solutions of resolving those
issues as well (Ogbonna, 2013).
1

MAIN BODY
In respect to Next Plc, CEO Simon has core responsibility to direct the organisation towards the right
direction so that defined objectives and targets can be achieved in effective manner. In cited firm, the other leaders
are also working effectively at every management level. In organisation, all leaders are required to communicate
with each other for the purpose of conducting effective business operations. It is considered that communication and
behaviour of leaders are associated with the organisational performance and outcomes (King and Nesbit, 2015). In
respect to the leadership process, various theories, principles and styles are present. In this context, the leaders who
follow this type of leadership style hold high degree of power and authority in respect to run the operations and
undertake decisions. This leadership style has become less popular but few organisations still use it. These types of
leaders want to drive their followers under their command to follow their ways. They prefer to make all the
decisions without taking any type of input from other people (Palanski and Simons, 2012).
In contrast to this leadership style, one could use another that is democratic leadership style. This is the
most preferred method of leading and is usually adopted by every leader. In this context, the leaders with a
democratic style allow the sub ordinates and other people to share their ideas and suggestions with their
subordinated and junior staff members. They also involve the other employees or sub ordinates in the decision
making process. In this type of leadership style, the subordinates always get motivated towards the work because
their ideas and suggestions are considered as an important thing.
The other style is known as charismatic in which leader develops the enthusiasm in team and always
motivates the members to attain the targets in managed and effective manner (Beinecke and Spencer, 2007). In
addition, the bureaucratic leaders basically believe in regulations and rules. At the time of taking decisions, this type
of leader will firstly prefer to refer the books, laws and regulations. In this respect, perfect leader is regarded as the
person who adopts any single style of leadership from the two discussed above. Leaders take the charge of situation
and also act accordingly in order to give the right response. In this context, the leader as a CEO of Next follows the
autocratic leadership style (Gardner and Laskin, 2011).
Along with these styles, few theories are also present such as trait, contingency, situational, behavioural
and transformational etc. In this context, the trait theory defines that in individual, leadership capabilities are directly
rooted with the personality traits such as extroversion, intelligence and self efficacy. Thus, Thomas stated that
leaders cannot be created because they are born. There is one theory which critiques the concept of trait theory and
is known as alternative theory. This theory describes that each and every person has the quality and capability to
become a leader. This theory describes that leadership quality has no relation or link with the heredity. In addition to
this, behavioural theory states that leaders are not born they are created (Kiefer and Tymon, 2011). It describes that
with the help of proper training and guidance, everyone can become as effective leader. Whereas, situational theory
describes that as per the nature of situation and condition, leaders select the best course of action to handle things in
effective manner. In this regards, leaders are expected to be more knowledgeable, capable and experienced.
With respect to Next Plc, CEO uses situational theory because as per the nature of situation prevailing at
the workplace, he takes the decisions. By following the autocratic leadership style, several types of issues are
generated at the workplace which affects communication and motivation level of the organisation (Leadership
2

Problems in Business, 2016). In undertaking decisions for business operations regarding project work, CEO does not
allow the subordinates and other employees to share the ideas and suggestions. In addition to this, without
considering the suggestions of others, CEO takes the decisions which sometimes result in positive manner. In some
cases, company had to face the failure because things were not discussed and shared with the stakeholders of
company. When team members are not asked or involved in decision making process, there are possibility that they
may feel unvalued and de-motivated. With the changes in time, they also stop to explore the innovative and creative
ideas. The problem increases because CEO follows “Me” concept rather than “We”. It also affects the
communication process because communication gap increases continuously. The attitude problem reflects in the
behaviour and communication process of the CEO acting as a leader. When the employees get de-motivated, their
performance also gets adversely affected. The reason is the performance of employees that are directly linked with
the performance of organisation (A Review of Leadership Theories, Principles and Styles and Their Relevance to
Educational Management, 2015).
An effective leader is considered as an individual who works on few principles such as:
 Develop sense of responsibility among team members
 Stay proficient technically
 Effectively supervise the actions and tasks
 Accomplish tasks in effective manner
 Keep update project status to all members
 Focus on well being of other people
 Seeks for self improvements (Beinecke and spencer, 2007)
 Train employees effectively
 Effectively utilise the skills of other staff members
 Make decisions on time
In respect to above described problem and situation of Next plc, if I were on the place of Simon as a chief
executive officer in this company, I would like to adopt and follow democratic leadership style. With the help of this
leadership style, I would have leaded the team in completely different manner by following best course of actions in
order to attain the objectives. In respect to this, if I was put in the same situation in Next, I will allow my
subordinates to actively participate in the decision making process and share the ideas and suggestions. It is to take
effective decisions by discussing both pros and cons to make advance planning to give response to negative result so
that they may convert into positive manner (Advantages and Disadvantages of Democratic Leadership, 2013). With
the help of this theory, I will be able to distribute the authority and power among employees, subordinates and
managers. This method will help me in managing the work in proper way and complete them on timely manner.
In addition to this, as per the nature of problematic situation and condition, I will adopt different types of
leadership styles and theories. Through this I will also be able to distribute the responsibilities as per the capabilities
of subordinates. In case, if they lack in some areas or face issues, I will discuss it by taking one to one meeting with
them. By giving the authorities, power and permission to take participation in business operations, employees will
be motivated towards their work. In addition, I will also empower the employees so that they can effectively
3

accomplish their responsibilities. With the help of this type of theory, I will also be able to create a healthy
communication process as well environment which will influence the employees to work hard and perform their
best. By involving the employees and subordinates in decision making process, they start to consider themselves as
an important part of organisation and get highly motivated to work (Gardner and Laskin, 2011). Through this,
employees will also allow the subordinates to take the responsibilities of new employees in respect to train them.
Through this, I will polish their leadership quality which will be beneficial for them as well as for organisation. In
addition to this, I will also monitor their performance level and evaluate their lacking areas. By giving the fair
feedbacks to them, I will guide and support them to improve their skills, capabilities and knowledge as per their
weak points. As per their strength, I will also give them authorities to make their strengths more strong and powerful
(Clark, Abela and Ambler, 2005). By establishing the friendly relationship among employees, the communication
process at workplace can also be improved. I will try to change the attitude and thoughts of employees in positive
direction. With the help of all these types of initiatives and actions, I will be able to make a strong impact on the
followers like employees.
CONCLUSION
With the help of present research essay, it is articulated that to attain the success, every organisation
requires effective leaders at every level. By following the different types of leadership styles and principles, leaders
can make a great impact on their followers. By involving the employees in decisions making process, effective
decisions can be taken in positive manner. The research helped to explore the presence of effective leaders at
workplace and how set objectives and targets can be attained in efficient manner. In addition to this, by taking the
positive initiatives how outcomes of action can be changed in positive direction with the help of guidance and
support of leaders has been gained.
4

REFERENCES
A Review of Leadership Theories, Principles and Styles and Their Relevance to Educational Management. 2015.
[Online]. Available through: <http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.mm.20150501.02.html>. [Accessed on 13th
May 2016].
Advantages and Disadvantages of Democratic Leadership. 2013. [Online]. Available through:
<http://bankofinfo.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-democratic-leadership/>. [Accessed on 13th May
2016].
Beinecke, R. and Spencer. J., 2007. International Leadership Competencies and Issues. International. Journal of
Leadership in Public Services. 3(3). pp.4-14.
Clark, B.H., Abela, A.V. and Ambler, T., 2005. Organizational motivation, opportunity and ability to measure
marketing performance. Journal of Strategic Marketing. 13(4). pp.241-259.
Dugan, J.P. and Wagner, W., 2011. The handbook for student leadership development. John Wiley & Sons.
Gardner, H. and Laskin, E., 2011. Leading minds: An anatomy of leadership. Basic Books.
Kiefer, T. and Tymon, A., 2011. Teaching implicit leadership theories to develop leaders and leadership: How and
why it can make a difference. Academy of Management learning & education. 10(3). pp.397-408.
King , E. and Nesbit, P., 2015. Collusion with denial: leadership development and its evaluation. Sage. 34( 2),
pp.134 – 152.
Leadership Problems in Business. 2016. [Online]. Available through: <http://smallbusiness.chron.com/leadership-
problems-business-2977.html>. [Accessed on 13th May, 2016].
Ogbonna, I. G., 2013. Transformational vs. Transactional leadership theories: Evidence in literature. International
Review of Management and Business Research. 2(2). p.355.
Palanski, M. E. and Simons, T., 2012. Authentic leadership and behavioral integrity as drivers of follower
commitment and performance. Journal of Business Ethics. 107(3). pp.255-264.
Wellman, N. E. D. and Humphrey, S. E., 2011. Trait and behavioral theories of leadership: An integration and meta‐
analytic test of their relative validity. Personnel Psychology. 64(1). pp.7-52.
5