Models of Leadership in Organizations: Motivation, Leading Teams (Essay Sample)

THE ESSENCE OF LEADERSHIP
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Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc437053121 \h 3A literature review PAGEREF _Toc437053122 \h 4Models of leadership in organizations PAGEREF _Toc437053123 \h 4 Theories of leadership PAGEREF _Toc437053124 \h 4Leadership and motivation PAGEREF _Toc437053125 \h 4Leading teams PAGEREF _Toc437053126 \h 4Leadership capabilities, competencies, and learning PAGEREF _Toc437053127 \h 4Facilitation skills for leaders PAGEREF _Toc437053128 \h 5Evaluation of the behavior of selected leaders PAGEREF _Toc437053129 \h 5Summary and conclusion PAGEREF _Toc437053130 \h 5
Introduction
Individuals that hold positions of power are described as leaders and the task of leading entails being in charge of a group or an entire organization. Those surcharged with the duty offer direction and guidance to their subordinates to ensure the smooth running oh business operations. As highlighted in the article of Ann Elder Knight, their roles include establishing a clear vision for the team members or the organization and sharing this vision with the relevant persons. According to the author, a leader also provides information aimed at encouraging the rest of the people to work towards fulfilling the established vision. This includes knowledge and methods that make the realization of the vision faster and efficient. Besides, leaders help coordinate and create a balance in the conflicting interests that the stakeholders of a particular organization hold.
As discussed, the firm looks up to the leadership when crisis emerges an expect solutions. This makes leadership fundamental for the success of an organization. It is almost impossible for an organization that lacks an efficient an effective leadership team to excel. For this reason, many companies conduct a thorough screening process when selecting the overall head of the organizations as well as the heads of different departments. However, challenges still manifest in administration as leaders elicit different leadership styles but this should not prevent continuity in screening. Instead, organization should continue investing in the process to help in the choice of a leader whose leadership style matches its needs. This leader should also be in a position to adopt and promote the organizational culture. In line with the discussion, the paper analyses various aspects of leadership that include the different models of leadership exhibited in different organization and the facilitation skills for leaders. It also discusses how the leadership influences the levels of motivation in a particular organization and other issues of interest. The objective is to facilitates identification of the traits that leaders ought to possess and the parameters that advance progress in organizations
A literature review
Models of leadership in organizations
Leadership models in organizations are synonymous to leadership styles. Organizations depict varying leadership models mainly influenced by the leaders. When the leader exercises a particular leadership style, the organization is highly likely to adopt a similar model. Below is a discussion of some of the popular leadership theories and styles.
Theories of leadership
Scholars and researchers have proposed various leadership theories over time. These include the contingency theory, the behavioral theories (theory X, managerial grid, theory Y), the Great Man theory, and the trait theory. Transformational leadership, situational leadership, and transactional theories are also part of the leadership theories that have been developed. According to the trait/Great Man theory, the personality traits of the leader differ from those of the average person. These could be their intelligence, their levels of ambition, or their ability to persevere. This theory assumes that every person has innate traits, some of which are best suitable for leadership. This implies that, for one to be a successful leader, he or she must possess the right combination of traits. The trait theory emanates from the early research on leadership that mainly sought to discover leadership traits through an analysis of the successful leaders. It initiators believed that if a person possessed some of the traits that the successful leaders had then they also had a chance of becoming great leaders.
Dissimilar to the trait theory, behavioral theories propagate the idea that successful leadership is a learnable behavior. This means that people do not have to be born with certain traits to excel in leadership; rather, they can grow into grow leaders with time. These theories focus on the leadership functions instead of inborn traits. They define success based on describable actions. There are two main behaviors that leaders exhibit; the concern for production and the concern for people. In some cases, the leader exhibits the two kinds of behavior. Arguably, an increase in a leader’s consideration reduces absenteeism and minimizes employee turnover. Some researchers also argue that employee performance rises with an increase in the leader’s task orientation. However, organizations are likely to experience contradictory results. Under the behavioral theories category, Theory Y differs from Theory X. For instance, Theory X indicates that people have an inherent dislike for work. They can only reach the desire goals through coercion or threats. On the other hand, the supporters of Theory Y believe that people can view working as natural as playing or resting. They also argue that, with high levels of commitment to the set objectives, employees are bound to exhibit self-control and self-direction.
Leadership styles
Participative leadership entails involving other people in the decision making process. These could be the superiors, junior staff, and other stakeholders. Participative leadership assumes that involving people in decision-making helps them understand the issues involved. It also assumes that an individual is more willing to commit to certain goals if he or she is allowed to contribute to the relevant decisions. The possibility of making better decisions increases when several people participate in the decision making process. Besides, working towards joint objectives heightens collaboration and reduces unhealthy competition. This approach to leadership is sometimes referred to as Managed by Objective (MBO), consultation or power sharing.
Leadership and motivation
The primary goal of leadership is facilitating accomplishment of specific set of objectives. However, such is unattainable without motivation. For that reason, it is advisable for organization to institute in place guidelines that ensure selection of leadership with motivational capabilities to facilitate task accomplishment. As illustrated by Ann Elder-Knight in the article, facilitation skills for leaders, motivation is a key pillar for success thus its inculcation in individual ought to feature on tops of the list of the needs of an organization. As a prerequisite of leadership, motivation determines the outcome of productivity in an organization hence the reason, the capability ought to be prioritized in selection of leaders. According to the explanation of Ann Elder-Knight, the manner in which a leader relates with other individuals in an organization in many ways influences the outcome of the accomplishment of task. For instance, in a team where a significant majority is motivated as a result of the efforts of the leaders, the levels of productivity increase. The opposite is the case when many feel they are being forced to accomplish duties. In essence as illustrated in the article, the works of a leader is inspiring action in others. Therefore, when given the task to lead individuals in various activities, one ought to bear in mind the consideration prior to settling on which strategy to use in advancing leadership.
In the years before scientist came up with theories on leadership, the assumption of the masses was that randomness influenced the selection of leaders and the person’s level of their interaction with the subordinates in a team. However, with the increase in scientific experiments the perception of people changed leading to the acknowledgement of the role of inspirational traits in influencing the outcome of an action. Likewise, in assessment of individual capability, in a situation where one is employing the participative approach, the outcome will necessarily differ with the situation where a handoffs leader fails to motivate the team. The reason for the deduction is that two individuals will approach issues on the basis of their understanding and not the circumstances surrounding an issue. Hence in selecting a leader to guide organization in any task, it is mandatory focusing on selecting a person with motivational capabilities.
Reading the conclusion of the author of the article, on facilitation requirements insinuates that the manner in which a leader motivates a team greatly influences the nature of relationship amidst individuals in a team. Considering that people’s needs differ there lacks a universal approach to leadership, the behavior of a supposed leader ought to be scrutinized thoroughly before his inclusion in an organization. However, the use of criteria alone should not formulate the basis for the justification on who to choose as a leader. Instead, recruiters ought to corroborate their wants with the selected leader as well as the stratagem employed by the individual in inspiring people into action. In cases where the division in a team is so huge that makes it hard selecting a motivational leader, a consideration of a myriad of factors is necessary prior to the selection of a leaders and the approach for use in leadership. In particular, a leader ought to ascribe to theories of leadership that implies that possession of certa...