Question

. Research and explore some of the new theories of leadership. Despite the amount of time and effort that companies dedicated to leadership, and the efforts that universities dedicate to training leaders, there is still a need for good leaders in business.

what is a new theory in management and state whether you agree with what you know. Address some of the challenges in leading modern organizations including moral challenges. Describe your own path to leadership. What type of leader are you? Finally, write a plan to develop leaders in your ideal company. How can a company develop a leadership talent flow?

Answer 1

Leadership refers to an act of leading a group of people. The power of leadership is the power of integrating. The leader stimulatea what is best in us, he unites and concentrates what we feel only groupingly and scatteringly. He creates confidence and zeal among people and creates an urge in them to be led.

A good leader can be compared to a dynamo gemerating energy that charges and activatea the entire group in such a way that near miracles may be achieved.

Some of the theories of leadership are:

1. Management Theories

Popularly known as transactional theories, management theory lays a lot of emphasis on supervision, organization and teamwork. The management theory establishes a system of reward and punishment, which means if you do well, you will be rewarded and if you don’t, you will be penalized.

A task management software like TaskQue can help you in implementing this system by letting you track task progress and hold your employees accountable for their action.

2. Relationship Theories

Relationship theory is also known as transformational leadership theories. It revolves around the bond between leader and follower. The stronger the bond the better will be the results. Transformational leaders inspire and motivate their followers and keep them on the same page.

Such leaders usually have high ethical and moral values and would never compromise on these values irrespective of what the situation might be. They want to achieve their goal but also want each member of their team to contribute and perform at the potential.

3. Behavioral Theories

When it comes to leadership, the world is divided into two different camps. One thinks that leaders are made, while other camp believes that leaders are born. Behavioral theory sides with the people in the former camp and challenges the notion that leaders are born. As a result, it completely ignores all the qualities that set natural leaders apart from their trained counterparts. This theory puts its weight behind actions of leaders and advocates the fact that people can learn from their experience, observation and teachings to transform into a good leader.

4. Participative Theories

Leaders can be divided into two broad categories. One that follows the autocratic leadership style and makes decisions on their own. On the other end of the spectrum are those leaders who take input from others. Participatory theory backs the approach of the latter.

Leaders who follow participative theory welcome suggestions from team members and encourages them to speak up. As a result, the team members think that they have their say in the decision-making process. Although, the leader reserve the right to stop taking input but in most cases, they don’t exercise that right.

5. Trait Theories

As the name suggests, leaders inherit certain  leadership qualities and traits that make them stand out from the crowd. These leadership abilities propel them to leadership status. The trait theory focuses on these personality traits. For instance, commitment, integrity and confidence are characteristics that are usually associated with a great leader.

By linking certain qualities with leadership, you are literally limiting its scope. What about people who possess these qualities but are not leaders. On the other hand, there are many examples of leaders who don’t possess these qualities but still lead the team well. Ronald Reagan summed it up brilliantly when he said, “The greatest leader is not one who does greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do greatest things.”

6. Situational Theories

Situational leadership theories encourages leaders to act by critically analyzing the situation. It argues that instead of following a single leadership approach, leaders should change leadership approach based on the situation. For instance, there is a situation where a leader is the most knowledgeable and experienced, they should opt for an authoritarian style of leadership and take a decision on their own. On the flip side, they should let team members handle the situation if they are subject matter experts by following a democratic leadership style.

7. Contingency Theories

Contingency theory takes things to the next level and proposes leaders to take action based on certain variables instead of looking at the situation as a whole. Take all the variables influencing the situation into account before choosing a course of action.

According to leadership experts White and Hodgson, “Effective leadership is about striking the right balance between needs, context and behavior.” Great leaders focus on the needs of the followers, analyze the situation and tweak their behavior accordingly. Success in leadership hinges on multiple factors such as leadership style, relationship with followers and the situation.

The 34th President of United States, Dwight.D.Eisenhower once said, “The supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” Honesty and integrity are two important ingredients which make a good leader.

The new leadership theory, is a concept that is focused on subordinates or employees having more of a voice when it comes to resolving problems. This fosters a shared leadership type of work culture.

Conflicts are an integral part of every day life of an individual or an organisation. Conflict may be defined as "the appearence of difference, difference of opinions, of interests..

Conflicts can be avoided only through open interaction, thereby improving the team cohesiveness. According to me good leader must be one who is a model to his team and who can influence his people with his values and behaviour in work. He should honest and possess good communication skills. He should be aware of new trends, changes in the industry and should be adaptive to the changing environment.

A company can develop a leadership talent flow by giving adequate training to employees, giving them a challenging situation to work with, to bring a competitive environment within the employees, use the role play techniques among the people in the organisation. Thus, we have understood that effective leadership depends on the traits of the leader, situations and his followers. By giving enough trainings and other techniques an organisation can boost the talents of its people.