Q1 what are the different styles of leadership? (there are 10 styles)
Q2 Examples of leaders in each style.
Q3 what are the qualities of good leaders?
Q4 Are you a good leader? Why? Explain with examples from you own life.
Q5 If you were a leader of a team project.
-How will you manage your team?
Introduction
Leadership has been described by Chemers (2002) as the “process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”. Another definition (cited by Kouzes and Posner, 2007) comes from Alan Keith who said "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen."
There are mainly three approaches for studying leadership. The first approach proposes that good leaders are heroic, genetically pre-determined to rise to the role of leader at the right time. Dali Lama is thought to have been destined to be leaders of their time. The second approach believes that people have certain qualities that are stable and intrinsic. Of course, good leaders have a particular set of qualities that mean they have a natural affinity to the role. However, there are many people who have the set of qualities considered to indicate good leadership style but do not become leaders. The final approach suggests that a good leader may have a set of general qualities that provide optimal support, but they also have specific qualities and skills they can use to effect outcomes in particular situations (www.worksolutions.com.au).
Leadership styles and examples
There are about 10 leadership styles and they are listed below. In this section, I will briefly describe each style and provide examples for each style.
Transactional Leadership
Transactional leadership is really a way of managing rather leading people. It has serious limitations for knowledge-based or creative tasks, but it remains a common style in many organisations. This style of leadership starts with the principle that staffs agree to obey their leader totally when they take a job on. The organisation pays the team members, in return for their effort and compliance. As such, the leader has the right to punish staffs if their work does not meet the preset standard. Team members can do little to improve their job satisfaction under transactional leadership. The leader could give team members some control of their reward by using incentives that encourage even higher standards or greater productivity. Alternatively a transactional leader could practice “management by exception”, which is that rather than rewarding better work, the leader would take corrective action if the required standards were not met (www.mindtools.com). This type of leadership exists commonly in many small hospitality businesses.
Transformational Leadership
A person with this leadership style is a true leader who inspires team members with a shared vision of the future. Transformational leaders are highly visible, and spend a lot of time communicating. They don’t necessarily lead from the front, as they tend to assign responsibility amongst their teams (www.mindtools.com). In many organisations, both transactional and transformational leadership are needed. The transactional leaders or managers ensure that routine work is done reliably, while the transformational leaders look after initiatives that add value.
Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leadership is an extreme form of transactional leadership. The leader from this style has high levels of power over his followers. People under this type of leader not often have the opportunity for making suggestions, even if these would be in the team's or organisation’s interest. Because of this reason, autocratic