Leadership Traits and Styles (Essay Sample)

The choice of organizational structure is an essential concern for every organization. A functional structure is effective in that it promotes morale, teamwork, culture, growth, and members can adjust when there are market changes. The traditional hierarchical structure, established in the 20th century, is still in use among various organizations today (Schell & Bischof, 2022). Nevertheless, most of the organizations currently consider the holocratic organizational structure. While the traditional hierarchical structure has been successful for the most organizations, its effectiveness has posed some questions. Either, the traditional structure has been replaced due to the shift in technological advancements, or, organizations have shifted to alternatives that best meet their needs (Postolov, Bardarova & Ristovska, 2019).
Traditional hierarchical model is a structure in which power is limited only to the upper management. For example, the CEO makes the final decision while the departmental managers carry out daily businesses operations and report to the CEO. The military, for example, is an example of traditional hierarchical structure since all soldiers report to the commanding officer. Contrary, the holocratic model is distributed structure lacking hierarchical management roles. It is a system a system of organizational authority establishing the framework of roles that people of a team work together.  People assigned to the tasks, such as employees, have the freedom to handle different tasks and have full control in execute (Schell & Bischof, 2022). Holocratic has less hierarchy and more structures, and makes the implicit explicit.
Holocracy replaces the traditional hierarchy model with a new structure. Rather that operating top-down, the authority is distributed across the organization, which gives the team or individuals freedom while aligning to the organizational aim (Krasulja, Radojević & Janjušić, 2016). This model has largely been applied in various organizations across the globe. In this case, the current article concentrates on the key values of holocracy as an alternative organizational structure to find out what it really brings for these organizations, including the evolution of organizational theory and behavior to bring it to the contemporary holocracy alternative.
Organizational Theory and Behavior
Organizations are comprised of people, such as employees, who engage to achieve certain goals. Behavior is what people do, and can be overserved of measured. Organizational behavior investigates the influence of individuals, groups, or structure on behavior in organizations. The study of organizational theory and behavior is applied in an organizational context to improve productive and create team cohesion (Akpor-Robaro, 2018). Organizational theory and behavior dates back in the 20th century, after the development of classical management theories like Frederick W. Taylor theories. Essentially, organizational behavior is categorized into different key areas of performance, innovation, leadership, and employee satisfaction. Through an analysis of these key areas, it is possible to recommend certain actions that can be considered to improve organizational effectiveness.
In today’s organizational setting, organizational behavior has been used in the structure of businesses and help leaders make critical decisions. It has also evolved to the study of corporate culture, while various theories like Maslow’s Need Hierarchy, Alderfer’s ERG, McClelland’s Need, and Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene relates to the study of how gender, race, and class structures influence employee interaction in the workplace (Gonzalez, 2017). People within an organization include employees and any other stakeholder who works towards the organizational goals and objectives. The behavior of employees in an organization can influence its growth and success. For example, if employees do not respect the culture of the organization, it can affect work performance and thus the organizational objective may not be achieved (Meinert, 2017). Motivation is a key aspect that can improve employee performance in the work place. According to expectancy theory, people are motivated to act in a way that brings positive outcomes (Dyson, n.d.). On the other hand, Douglas McGregor (1960) established an analysis on how people should be motivated. Referencing Theory X, people avoid work and responsibilities that come along with it. As such, people must be controlled, directed, threated with punishment to ensure they perform. McClelland’s theory also established individual needs that motivate people. When managing or leading a team, it is crucial to understand what motives them. McClelland’s theory allows managers or leaders to identify individual’s motivating behaviors which can praise, give feedback, assign tasks, and keep them motivated(Gonzalez, 2017).
Organizations have different structures which relates to individual roles. To effectively work, the individuals have to be elated in a structural way. For example, the upper management, such as the CEO, can make the final decision within the organization. Similarly, managers can oversee the daily operations within the business. Classical theory relates to the structure of an organization, which defines how tasks can be divided in the most effective and efficient way. The classical theory determines that dynamics and relationships in an organization and how the relationships can impact the function and production of the organization (Akpor-Robaro, 2018). An aim of this theory is help organizations create the most beneficial structures to help them accomplish their goals. This theory considers reward as a key motivation of employees. Giving compensations to employees ensures they can maximize their work to meet the goals of the organization. Consequently, leaders implement this strategy to reward high-performing team members with incentives to boost output. Similarly, it encourages employees who did not initially perform to improve their efforts.
Technology has a vital impact on the work relationships as it makes people work better, and can also restrict them in performing different tasks. With changes in technology, for example, organizations have been evolving into current structures that support their business needs likes operations. Technology has also improved how individuals communicate in an organization. For example, by use of emails, employees can be informed of the urgent tasks or operations. Also, they can work from home. Technology as well has reduced the work costs with innovation of tools that replace human labor (Gonzalez, 2017). The environment is also an element whereby organizations operate in a certain external environment. This is a larger part of organizational system that is comprised of other elements like government and other organizations. These elements are mutual to one another and influence each other to enhance a context for a group of people. The environment influence individual attitudes, their working conditions, and establishes how organizations compete.
In everyday, different changes are occurring in organizations. Therefore, organizations must be prepared for these changes to maintain their prosperity. These trends of change have transformed how employees perform their tasks in diverse organizations. Change has indeed become inevitable, and for organizations top remain competitive, they must embrace these changes. Various emerging trends have impacted organizational life such as globalization, diversity, flexibility, and so forth. These emerging trends have created tensions in organizations, both for leaders and employees, as they consider changes in organizations. While these tensions present opportunities, they as well represent threats. If not well managed, the tensions can create dysfunctional and dire consequences during and after change processes. Organizational behavior is based on the influence of behavior in organizations and how organizations can manage their environment (Akpor-Robaro, 2018). Through organizational behavior, the tools, theories, and concepts for managing attitudes and behavior in organization are understood. Further, understanding organization behavior can improve and change the behavior of an individual to achieve the organizational goals. Managers can use organizational behavior tools to increase performance and achieve organizational goals.
Leadership Traits and Styles
Leadership traits and styles can motivate individuals, teams, and groups in an organizational setting. Motivation is a process that initiates and helps individuals achieve their goals and objectives. Motivation pushes individuals to work towards attaining their goals. As a leader, it is crucial to have the right leadership traits to motivate the followers. While there is no certain blueprint for motivating, leaders should have a human nature perspective. Understanding the various individuals needs certainly make motivation easier among the followers. As an effective leader, it is vital to have a thorough knowledge on what motivate others (Mehta, 2020). They should know the basic needs of employees, peers, and their superiors.