Simon sinek explains the millennial paradox

Week 1: Oct 21 - 27

BMGT 365 7981 Organizational Leadership (2198)

Week 1: What is Meant by Leadership and Who are Leaders?

Theme 1: Understanding the nature of leadership helps to frame the viewpoint of a leader

Although many scholars have defined leadership, but the definition of leadership is dynamic. This week, we will discuss the definitions of leadership to understand the field of study upon which we are about to embark. The definition of leadership has significantly changed over the past generation to meet the needs of a contemporary business environment. In fact, many scholars have disagreed on the nature or essential characteristics of leadership but instead have offered a variety of perspectives as to what leadership is not. As we discuss the contemporary definitions of leadership, pay close attention to various definitions and compare them to those of prominent leaders today. Are they similar? If so how? If not, why not?

Read:

Pages 18-22 (you will read the rest next week) of: Gandolfi, F., & Stone, S. (2017). The Emergence of Leadership Styles: A Clarified Categorization. Review Of International Comparative Management / Revista De Management Comparat International, 18(1),

Simon Sinek on Leadership at TED

What is Leadership?

Aldrin, A., and Gayatri, R. (2014, August). Leadership Not a Title Nor a Position. International Journal of Current Research and Academic Review, 2(8), 356 – 366. Retrieved from http://www.ijcrar.c

Satel, G. (2014, June 1). To Create Real Change, Leadership Is More Important Than Authority

Theme 2: The evolution of leadership theory can help to explain what makes a good leader today.

The second theme for week 1 details how the definition of leadership has adapted to fit the changing business environment. Changes in the definition of leadership are reflected in how leadership has been viewed by scholars. Leadership theory took root in

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/#66ba86a15b90
http://www.ijcrar.com/vol-2-8/Anitha%20Aldrin%20and%20R.Gayatri.pdf
http://www.digitaltonto.com/2014/to-create-real-change-leadership-is-more-important-than-authority/
p y p y the social science fields of sociology and psychology. People wanted to know what made a good leader and whether they could become a good leader by adapting the “good” traits. Debate still rages on in leadership research as to whether leadership is inborn or learned. By examining leadership theory this week, we will begin to define leadership in terms of answering the question of what should Biotech's leaders look like for success today. The evolution of leadership theory illustrates how leaders have perceived the act of leading and how the psychology of leading people interfaces with the real job of leading others. How one views and defines leadership influences the beliefs, values and behaviors maintained while leading and relating to others.

As mentioned earlier, leadership experts have perspectives/ theories about leadership. It is important to understand the history of leadership theories, because it will help define the way leadership is today. The business environment controls the view of the leader as it controls the actions needed for a company to survive. By reviewing the chart below and the leadership theories from the attached readings, it should become clear to you how leadership has evolved. Understanding how leadership theory has evolved to meet the needs of the organization over time will help to define us as leaders today.

Decade(s) 1950-60 1960-80 1980-2000

Theories Great Man/Trait Behavior/

Contingency

Influence

Organizational Structure

Vertical/

Pre-bureaucratic

Vertical Hierarchy/

Bureaucratic

Horizontal/Cross-Team

Leader View Single Hero Command and Control Team/Change Leade

Decade(s) 1950-60 1960-80 1980-2000 Environment Post-War Stable American Business

Growth/ Stable MNC Dominance/Japan

Model/ Chaotic

Source: Adapted from Daft, R. L. (2010). The leadership experience (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning

TAKE AWAY POINT FROM LEADERSHIP THEORY EVOLUTION

The flow from “Great Man” views of leadership to “Learning Leader” illustrates that the view of good leadership is colored by the demands of the business landscape of its time. Leadership and its definition is dynamic and complex. Leadership changes in response to the needs of the organization.

Presently, many business leaders are continuing to transition from the “Calm Chaos” of the latter half of the 20th century to the “Turbulent Chaos” of the 21st. Leaders are focusing on change management, facilitating vision and values to encourage high performance and continuous adaptation. New theorists, such as Jacob Morgan, are modeling the organizations of today blending the vertical structures of the 80’s and 90’s

with the flat structure of the 21st century. Morgan (2015b) maintains that it is costly and inefficient to dismantle the vertical structures that currently house many of the viable business organizations. Instead, Morgan (2015a) proposed a new structure known as a “flatarchy,” that can be relatively flat yet can create an ad hoc hierarchy to work on a project or function and then disband when finished. The organization can also have a loose hierarchy that can flatten when required and then return to a loose hierarchy when the need is over. The leader of today must find ways to transition quickly from the old to the new. Implementing fast change and getting people to accept and implement the change is the greatest task facing leaders.

The leader must combine the “soft” skills of leadership with the “hard” skills of management to effectively guide an organization.

Understanding the evolution of leadership theory helps a leader to define the contemporary concept of successful leadership by identifying strengths and weaknesses

of scholarly perspectives from the past to the current time, and explore the relationship of leaders to the business environment.

Introduce Yourself! Discussion Topic

References

Morgan, J. (2015a, July 20). The 5 Types of Organizational Structures: Part 2, 'Flatter' Organizations. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/07/08/the-5-types-of-organizational- structures-part-2-flatter-organizations/#33fcf6e6dac3

Morgan, J. (2015b, July 20). The 5 Types of Organizational Structures: Part 4, Flatarchies. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/07/15/the-5-types-of-organizational- structures-part-4-flatarchies/#6865b2ca6707

Read:

The Most Important Leadership Theories The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory The Relational Leadership Model What Does Leadership Look Like in the Future of Work?

Complete:

Review syllabus Post your introduction Participate in week 1 learning activities - Initial response due by Thursday, 11:59 p.m. eastern time. Follow up response due by Sunday, 11:59 p.m. eastern time.

0 % 0 of 5 topics complete

Kindly tell everyone a few facts about yourself and your aspirations. Provide:

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2016/03/28/what-does-leadership-look-like-in-the-future-of-work/#3e0fb23b2eac
How to Analyze a Case Study Word Document

Instructor Notes Web Page

BMGT 365 - Biotech Company Profile (Fall 2019) PDF document

Week 1 Discussion Discussion Topic

Your name Your major/minor Where you are in your degree program Who you work for and what you do How many other courses you are taking at the same time Why you are taking this course and what you are looking to get out of this course

Please note that the "Introduce Yourself" does not count toward participation in Week 1 learning activities

Week 1 Discussion

You will read the discussion below and follow the instructions provided. You will create the memorandum and submit in the discussion area. Post the entire memorandum into the discussion area rather than provide as an attachment.

Do not post in the discussion area until you have written the memorandum. If the seal is broken without posting, a zero for this assignment will be automatically assigned.

You will read the following scenario and provide the memorandum by Thursday, 11:59 p.m. eastern time. By Saturday, 11:59 p.m. eastern time, you will read the memoranda of your classmates and will comment on at least three other classmates addressing the following

Comment on the positive aspects of the memo posted by others. Comments on key leadership language that could be used to strengthen the memo.

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Would you change your response in the memo? If so, why? if not, why not?

By Sunday, 11:59 p.m. eastern time, respond to the classmates who responded to your memorandum.

Read the Following Case Scenario

A recent survey was taken among employees at Biotech Health and Life Products (Biotech). The results were alarming, as it appeared the leadership has been less effective than in the past. Some of the common complaints seemed to focus on the lack of vision, a breakdown in communication and a lack of connection with staff.

You have read the results and as Vice President of Biotech, you completely agree with employees. Leadership is the cornerstone to success in any organization and to permit poor leadership can only spell trouble. It occurred to you that the place to start change was staring you in the face - the new management hires planned for Warehouse Operations in Dallas and Miami. Mumbling to yourself “but what do I want them to look like?” you decide that you must write a memo to HR Director, Jennifer Diaz to make sure the “right” description of a leader is asked for in the soon-to-be released job description. Scrambling around on the desk, you find the old job announcement so that you can make some changes. It reads, “Biotech is looking for experienced warehouse managers who focus on keeping the distribution speed high and shipping costs low. Manager must be able to motivate employees to keep distribution, packing, and shipping moving smoothly and efficiently. Must be someone who can handle a fast-paced environment, is used to meeting deadlines, is driven and results-oriented. Goal oriented and policy adherence critical to succeed in the department.”

Instructions

You will act as the Vice President of Biotech. Write a memorandum to the HR Director, Jennifer Diaz that explains the need for a new job announcement for managers at Biotech. The memorandum will explain how the business environment has changed the view of the leader and defines the vision you have based on synthesizing the course material about leadership theory and definition of a leader in today’s business environment opposed to leaders hired in the past.

In writing the memorandum, use the course material from week 1 (you may also use course material from week 2) to support the reasoning and conclusions made. You will

also use the Biotech Company Profile . Answer the following:

Explain how the existing job announcement for new hires was effective in the past based on the theories and view of leadership through the 1990’s. Explain why the leader of today would no longer fit the definition set out in the old announcement. Describe what a leader looks like today and what theories and leadership definitions support this description.

Memorandum Set Up

Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document (no pdf files allowed) using 12-point font. A memo is left justified with no indentations of paragraphs. A memo is single- spaced with a double space between paragraphs to make the memo easy to read.

In business, writing must be concise, easy to read and free of writing and grammatical errors.

You are required to use in-text citations with an associated reference list.

Use headings for each element. It is suggested that you set up the memo with all of the required headings and then fill in each section of the memo.

Use a memo format:

To:

From:

Date:

Subject:

Remember, you are sending this memo to the HR Director so this is a formal memo. Proof the memo carefully for typos, grammatical errors and ensure the memo conveys the points you are to address. Why? Because your work products is a reflection of who you are – it is your brand! A good brand can lead to future opportunities in an organization such as a promotion.

Make sure the memo is audience appropriate, concise, coherent, readable, uses appropriate terminology, is professional, provides a factual tone (no opinion and no recommendations), and is visually appealing.

Memorandum Requirements

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You are sending this memo to the HR Director, Jennifer Diaz. Read the memo to ensure all required elements are present. You also need to use facts from the case scenario and course material to support the ideas and reasoning put forth.

The language in the announcement has to be just right so that Biotech attracts the best candidates. Therefore, it is important to help Jennifer capture the essence of a leader at Biotech.

Make suggestions about language that should appear in the job announcement that supports the definition and characteristics you derived for the leader of today. Provide an explanation so Jennifer knows why the specified language is important to convey the definition and characteristics of a leader;

Make suggestions about language that would not be in the job announcement for this leader;

Provide an explanation why the specific language should not be in the job announcement.

Not just anything is acceptable so make sure to read the course material and make wise selections in creating this memo.

The following items are required in writing the memo. Check off to ensure compliance to the following requirements.

Use the grading rubric while completing the project to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.

Third person writing is required. Third person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing).

Contractions are not used in business writing, so do not use them.

Students will not use direct quotation marks but will instead paraphrase. What this means is that you will put the ideas of an author or article into your own words rather than lifting directly from a source document. You may not use more than four consecutive words from a source document (including the case scenario) or change words in a passage as doing so would require direct quotation marks. Use a passage from a source document by putting into your own words (paraphrase) and attribute the passage to the source document. Changing words

from a passage does not exclude the passage from having to have quotation marks. If direct quotes are presented, they will not be included in the grading.

Use in-text citations and provide a reference list that contain a reference associated with each in-text citation.

Provide the page or paragraph number in every in-text citation presented. Refer to this link for more guidance on how to do this: In-Text Citations - Including Page or Paragraph Numbers

Self-Plagiarism: Self-plagiarism is the act of reusing significant, identical or nearly identical portions of

one's own work. You cannot re-use any portion of a paper or other graded work that was submitted to

another class even if you are retaking this course. You also will not reuse any portion of previously

submitted work in this class. A zero will be assigned to the assignment if self-plagiarized. Faculty do not

have the discretion to accept self-plagiarized work.

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18 Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 Review of International Comparative Management

The Emergence of Leadership Styles:

A Clarified Categorization

Franco GANDOLFI1

Seth STONE2

Keywords: leadership, leadership styles, leadership categories, categorization

JEL classification: M12, M14

Introduction

The world is in the midst of a leadership crisis. Despite the fact that there is

a vast body of literature on leadership, it has remained one of the most misunderstood

business phenomena (Gandolfi & Stone, 2016). Thus, it becomes of paramount

importance to understand the consequences, both positive and negative, that emerge

from the various known and validated leadership styles found in modern-day

organizations. Further, it is critical to have metrics in the form of known attributes

of effective leadership to serve as a benchmark for the effectiveness of each

leadership style. A thorough understanding of both the potency and effectiveness of

recognized leadership styles will benefit the academic and professional communities

alike.

Therefore, the purpose of this article is to showcase the different leadership

styles in practice in organizations today and to provide a categorization of existing

leadership styles. A key objective of this research is to compare leadership styles to

a functional and comprehensive working definition of leadership. With this in mind,

1 Dr. Franco GANDOLFI, Georgetown University, Email: francogandolfi@hotmail.com 2 Dr. Seth STONE, Regent University, Email: sethmstone@gmail.com

Abstract

The study of leadership has become a prominent scholarly and professional focus

in an ever-changing, multi-dimensional globalized world. Despite abundant scientific and

anecdotal work on the effectiveness and potency of “good” leadership, several leadership-

related questions have remained unanswered. For instance, what does good, effective

leadership look like? What is a leadership ‘style’ at its most basic? What leadership styles

are at a leader’s disposal? While leadership may be seen as one of the most over-

researched topics, it remains one of the most misunderstood phenomena of our time

(Gandolfi & Stone, 2016). This conceptual paper addresses the notion of a leadership style

and purports to categorize the ever-increasing pool of leadership styles that emerge both

in scholarly and professional circles. The paper culminates in a graphic depiction of the

categorization of leadership styles based on the scientific work of Lewin, Lippit, and White

(1939).

mailto:francogandolfi@hotmail.com
mailto:sethmstone@gmail.com
Review of International Comparative Management Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 19

this work begins with a brief review of a working definition of leadership and the

key empirically researched attributes of effective leaders. The article then provides

a deeper analysis of the various leadership styles by juxtaposing them against the

authors’ working definition of leaders and the attributes of effective leaders, thereby

providing insights into the positive and negative attributes of each style. Next, the

paper focuses on a definition of what a leadership style is, and highlights various

styles of leadership. Finally, the paper showcases a categorization of leadership,

culminating in a graphic classification of leadership styles (Figure 1).

Defining Leadership

The study of leadership is not new and leadership definitions abound.

Various scholars have attempted to define leadership operationally and theoretically.

Gandolfi (2016) asserts that the combination of five components render a potent

working definition of leadership -(i) there must be one or more leaders, (ii)

leadership must have followers, (iii) it must be action oriented with a legitimate (iv)

course of action, and there must be (v) goals and objectives (Gandolfi, 2016). So

how can leadership be defined? Based on the presented five criteria the following

definition was selected for the purpose of this research:

“A leader is one or more people who selects, equips, trains, and influences

one or more follower(s) who have diverse gifts, abilities, and skills and focuses the

follower(s) to the organization’s mission and objectives causing the follower(s) to

willingly and enthusiastically expend spiritual, emotional, and physical energy in a

concerted coordinated effort to achieve the organizational mission and

objectives.”(Winston & Patterson, 2006, p. 7).

This definition was chosen for two important reasons. First, having surveyed

the leadership literature, Winston and Patterson (2006) provide a definition as it

relates to the components needed for defining leadership as stated above. Second, it

clearly demonstrates that leadership is not one-dimensional. In fact, it requires a deep

understanding about how people play a role in the ultimate success of the mission

and vision of the organization. How leaders develop and grow will be critical to the

effectiveness of the organization; their development as leaders must be intentional

for the organization to reach its stated objectives and goals.

Key Attributes of Effective Leadership

Given that many scholars, professionals, and thought leaders have weighed

into the conversation regarding the attributes of effective leadership, which views

matter most? Research reveals a clear line between those attributes of effective

leadership that are anecdotal in nature versus those that stem from scientific research.

While assertions based on observation and/or personal experience are undoubtedly

valuable marketing tools and often carry some practical wisdom, it is the authors of

20 Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 Review of International Comparative Management

this study’s assertion that they do not get the global leadership community any closer

to an understanding of desirable leadership style(s). This paper will focus exclusively

on known attributes of effective leadership grounded in scientific, empirical research.

Before delving into the attributes for effective leadership, it is important to

note two guiding principles, that is, (i) virtually everyone has some capacity to form

leadership relationships, and (ii) leaders are made and not born. Andersen (2012)

postulates that while some people are born with innate qualities and character

attributes that propel and/or accelerate their leadership journey, the vast majority of

people live in a practical reality where their leadership skills must be intentionally

cultivated to achieve their maximum potential leadership output. Such cultivation

cannot happen without relationships (Komives, Lucas, & McMahon, 1998). These

notions bring the conversation full-circle with regard to the guiding principles

provided by the authors of this paper.

Kouzes and Posner (2007) are widely regarded as authorities on the study of

leadership and have produced some of the most authoritative research on the subject

of leadership effectiveness. Over more than thirty years of global research, they have

arrived at five key attributes of effective leadership. These are; (i) to model the way,

(ii) to inspire a shared vision, (iii) to challenge the process, (iv) to enable others to

act, and (v) to encourage the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2007).

Examining the attributes in more detail, first, to model the way means that

the leader personally demonstrates the behavior they desire or expect to see in their

followers (Brown & Posner, 2001). Second, to inspire a shared vision creates mutual

context between leaders and followers, while clearly demonstrating what the

organization values most (Kelly, 2000). Third, leaders who challenge the process ask

the question, “Why do we do this?” (Galbreath & Rogers, 1999, p. 169). This type of

leader will never be satisfied with a reply that suggests satisfaction with the status

quo (Galbreath & Rogers, 1999). The fourth attribute, to enable others to act, means

the leader does not seek dominant authority, rather the opposite, by giving away

power and decision making ability to followers (Russell, 2001). Fifth, to encourage

the heart is to show an outpouring of sincere care and provide genuine celebration

for achievements and success (Posner, 2015).

These five attributes of effective leadership are highly relational and require

intentional effort by the leader to put into practice, thus, tying directly back to the

two guiding principles for effective leadership that have been presented. It requires

leaders to open pathways for engagement throughout every level of an organization

and with all of its people. In fact, these attributes, once put into practice, are

significantly more follower-centric than leader-centric (Gandolfi & Stone, 2016).

Understanding the follower centricity of effective leadership will aid in

understanding the consequences of the leadership styles presented in a subsequent

section of this paper.

Review of International Comparative Management Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 21

What is a leadership style?

While much research exists addressing various leadership styles, there is a

surprising shortcoming of research that examines what a leadership “style” actually

is. It appears to be an unspoken and assumed element of the leadership styles

discussion. Perhaps, this lack of clarity contributes to the widely disparate views on

leadership, and may be one of the reasons that academicians and professionals have

not agreed on what constitutes leadership. Having said that, what exactly is a

leadership style?

First, a look at context is important to help understand why there are so many

different leadership styles. Clearly, the global business community has come a long

way from when Frederick Taylor gave the world the gift of scientific management.

As Buchanan (2013) explains, the world has moved through different phases of

leadership since the early part of the 20th Century. Historically speaking, there was

first the notion of “command-and-control” that prevailed into the 1980s, which was

followed by “empower-and-track” through the mid 2000’s, and, finally, the

“connect-and-nurture,” approach, which is the current approach (Buchanan, 2013).

While not every organization has tracked through this sequence in the provided

timeframe – some have not even caught up to the second phase, much less the third

that Buchanan presented - this progression provides a high level understanding and

illustrates dramatic shift points that may help explain why there are so many viable

leadership styles in existence. Further, the early theories of leadership made the

assumption that good leadership was based on traits (Shazia, Anis-ul-Haq, & Niazi,

2014). Whether it is personality, charisma, or physical features such as appearance,

many simply believed, and some still do today, that leaders are born and not made.

It was the notable psychologist Kurt Lewin and his team (1939) who

introduced through their research that leaders could be made and were not

necessarily just born. In their seminal work, Lewin, Lippit, and White (1939)

categorized and introduced three leadership styles that set the framework for future

styles to emerge (Martin, 2015) – autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire.

Subsequent styles that emerged began to focus on the leader/follower relationship

and how the actions of one will impact the other (Shazia et al., 2014). This was a

significant step forward for the leadership styles movement. With this historical

understanding in mind, it appears as if the research and practice communities are far

from nearing the finish line when it comes to fully understanding and agreeing upon

an optimal leadership style. Thus, it is of paramount importance to understand and

define what a leadership style actually is.

Three key elements involved in pragmatically leading people have helped

researchers arrive at the myriad of existing leadership styles and will likely inform

new ones that have yet to emerge. First, Armandi, Oppedisano, and Sherman (2003)

note that leadership is about influencing a group of people in the direction of a

decided common goal. Whether one believes that leaders are born or made, scholars

and practitioners agree that leadership involves influence regardless of the chosen or

inherent style. While influence can be difficult to understand given its immeasurable,

22 Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 Review of International Comparative Management

intangible nature, influence forces movement both literally and philosophically.

Additionally, leadership is highly intentional. Rooke and Torbert (2005)

assert that differences among leaders are not determined by their philosophy of

leadership, personality, or even style of management, at least according to most

developmental psychologists. Instead, it is how they read and interpret their

surroundings and how those interpretations influence reactions in the midst of

challenges. Most successful leaders, no matter their preferred style, make

organizational decisions based on a process and philosophy of leadership. This

requires a high degree of self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and environmental

context both inside and outside the organization, all of which will never happen

accidentally (Rooke & Torbert, 2005).

A third key point is that leadership has as much to do with perception as it

does with reality. This should come as no surprise given how often business leaders

are heard using the common colloquialism ‘perception is reality’. Despite its

pithiness, there is great psychological power in this reality. According to McDermott,

Kidney, and Flood (2013), leadership effectiveness in the eyes of followers is closely

tied to the leader being driven, able to inspire, and prioritize needs, which in turn,

produces a sense of safety and calm for followers. Thus, if followers’ perceptions of

what they need in a leader are met, they will feel secure in their leader through a

multitude of different organizational circumstances.

With the understanding that influence, intentionality, and perception are

vital components of practical leadership, the authors of this paper define a leadership

style as follows:

“An intentional means by which a leader influences a group of people in an

organization to a widely understood future state that is different from the present

one.”

This operational definition intentionally leaves space in which a number of

different leadership styles can fit, with the hope of arriving at the most optimal

leadership style through a review of those that are currently accepted.

Styles of Leadership

The two most basic characterizations of the popular leadership styles that

are widely accepted and practiced today are (i) trait based and (ii) skills based styles

of leadership. These juxtapose one another and provide the oldest and most hotly

debated question in the study of leadership theory: Are leaders born or made?”.

Armandi, Oppedisano & Sherman (2003) state that when this old-age question is

discussed, it regularly takes a tone similar to “What came first, the chicken or the

egg?”. It should come as no surprise that this debate has seemed almost futile in

many discussions amongst academics and practitioners alike. While academic

researchers began trying to understand what the innate traits of a leader were early

in the 20th Century, what the trait theory fails to account for is that the environment

Review of International Comparative Management Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 23

both inside and outside an organization and the followers within an organization

influence their interaction with a leader (Armandi et al., 2003). In other words, this

confined understanding misses a significant portion of the big picture when it comes

to all that is involved in leading people and organizations. Indeed, such a short-

sighted view of leadership disqualifies the trait theory as an ideal leadership style for

today’s organizations, especially in light of the increasing complexity facing

organizations.

Not unlike the trait approach to leadership, the skills theory is entirely

leader-centric, yet completely counter to the trait approach in that the skills theory

states that leadership can be developed through the intentional approach of building

known and accepted leadership skills (Northouse, 2007). Thus, it presupposes that

leaders are made and not born. This appears to be a step in the ‘right’ direction from

a leadership development perspective, but again with such a limited view, this theory

would need to be significantly expanded to account for organizations and people.

However, this theory did provide some meaningful guidance for new theories that

would emerge over time.

Situational leadership theory, for instance, essentially boils down to

“situational favorability” (Horner, 1997, p. 271). This matches an organizational

situation to the skills of the leader in an effort to determine how positive or negative

the outcome of a particular organizational situation might be and what type of

leadership skill sets might be required, based on where the organization currently

stands or is attempting to go. This game of matchmaker would suggest that,

depending on conditions both inside and outside the organization, leadership could

change significantly and regularly over time; in contrast, long tenure for leaders has

the potential to produce organizational unrest with leadership. Situational leadership

theory deals with follower readiness for where the leader is attempting to take them

and the organization (Silverthorne, 2000). Thus, there are multiple forces at work in

attempting to match the appropriate leader within a given organizational situation.

This theory lacks the critical element of follower development presented in the

adopted definition of leadership in this research inferring instead that organizations

seek the right person for the right moment in time and little else. Thus, it is plausible

to conclude that there is not enough long-term sustainability tied to this theory to

make it the most ideal or desired leadership style.

The contingency leadership style is squarely based on the organization. It

proposes that the effectiveness of a leader will depend solely upon the organizational

context to determine if the leader’s style will be effective or ineffective (Northouse,

2007). This is a one-to-one relationship between the leader and the current reality of

an organization. Like situational leadership, the followers could have influence on

the contextual present of the organization. However, nowhere does this style take

into account the needs of those who are following the leader toward the

organizational mission.

Shifting gears once again, transactional leaders often tend to focus on

transactions in furtherance of a set of goals rather than show concern for the people

executing those goals (Yahaya & Ebrahim, 2016). While this style of leadership

24 Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 Review of International Comparative Management

focuses more on the interaction of the leader and the follower than each of the

previous examined styles, the focus is still on output and production, which is

ultimately for the benefit of the organization. Presumably, any set goals are more for

the benefit of the organization than for those who serve in it. In the transactional

leadership style, leader- or follower-orientation is predicated on a set of mutual

benefits (Tung, 2016). In other words, the leader makes it clear to the follower, if

you give me X, I will give you Y. Sales roles provide a great generic example here

and most often those roles are in the best interest of the organization. Thus, it may

be concluded that the transactional leadership style is a mission (organization) first

style of leadership.

The leader member exchange (LMX) style of leadership in its most basic

sense is about working dynamics; the more effective the working relationship is, the

closer the leader and follower are and, presumably, the follower becomes more

effective in their work, with the inverse also presumed to be true (Northouse, 2007).

This leadership style has been colloquially referred to as the “in club” and the “out

club”. This should make one question the health of these types of dynamics, as this

style suggests that being on the boss’s “good side” is the best path forward. It is

highly personal in nature, which brings its focus toward the leader/follower

orientation, or people (employees) first at the initial glance. However, the ultimate

measure of this style is about worker effectiveness, once again supporting the needs

of the mission before those of its people.

Transformational leadership is built on the premise of “idealized influence,

inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration”

(Gregory, Moates & Gregory, p. 807). This style is highly people or employee centric.

The leader must appeal to the ideals of the followers in order to influence them. The

leader’s goal is to inspire the employees and motivate them toward the vision that

they have created for the organization. These leaders stimulate the intellect of their

followers by helping them be a part of the solution; such leaders genuinely care about

the individuals in the organization. This style is so close to servant leadership that it

can be difficult for many to distinguish between the two. The key point of

understanding when it comes to the transformational leadership style is that the

leader engages the followers as closely as he or she does, in order to solicit their

efforts in achieving the vision he or she has set, because, the leader knows that he or

she cannot achieve the vision alone. Thus, the transformational leadership style is

most definitely a mission (i.e., organization) first style of leadership.

Servant leadership represents the final leadership style to be explored in this

brief review and discussion of categorization. Based on the pioneering work of

Robert Greenleaf, who coined the term servant leadership in 1970, Spears (2004)

states that to become a great leader, the leader must first be a servant to those they

lead. Spears (2004) contends that Greenleaf’s ideas of real leadership or true

leadership only arise when there is a genuine motivation to help others with no

ulterior motives, essentially making it the primary driving force of the leader. In

servant leadership, the emphasis is clearly on the followers. As a direct consequence,

all other organizational priorities become secondary to this notion of serving those

Review of International Comparative Management Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 25

whom the leader leads. Thus, from a categorization of leadership styles perspective,

servant leadership is the only style that emerges that puts the people within the

organization ahead of its mission.

Categorization of leadership styles

Throughout decades of study, many leadership styles emerged to be

considered valid and effective. This is due to the fact that a leadership style is a

tangible demonstration of the process a leader chooses for leading (Shead, 2011).

While in itself quite accurate, such a vague definition of leadership styles naturally

lends itself to the emergence of several styles that have come to be accepted both in

the communities of research and practice. A review of the literature suggests that

noted scholars and practitioners cite as few as three styles, while others categorize

six, eight or in excess of twelve major styles. For instance, Blanken (2016) cites

charismatic, innovative, command and control, laissez-faire, pace setter, servant,

situational, and transformational leadership as legitimate leadership styles. Yet, even

in this attempt, several known and popular leadership styles are clearly omitted.

This begs the question as to how much we know about the categorization of

leadership styles? Shead (2011) asserts that there is not a singular right way to view

and understand the various leadership styles and suggests that varying views on

understanding leadership styles all contain value. While this very well may be true

and is a useful part of the ongoing leadership styles discourse, it does not help bring

further clarity to the discussion and could in fact, perpetuate more confusion and

uncertainty.

With this understanding, it becomes clear that a deeper understanding of the

categorization of leadership styles would be an invaluable addition to both the

academic and professional communities. Thus, having examined the wide ranging

categorization of styles, the authors of this article have reviewed the work of Kurt

Lewin and colleagues, Douglas McGregor, and Daniel Goleman and team, as each

of these individuals have contributed with their work in their respective time to the

study and understanding of leadership styles. This section also addresses another

aspect of the categorization of leadership styles from the perspective of leader-

centered versus follower-centered styles, all of which is explored with the aim of

bringing enhanced clarity to the leadership styles categorization discussion.

As previously stated, Lewin et al.’s (1939) work produced three leadership

styles, autocratic (also referred to as authoritarian), democratic (or participative), and

laissez-faire. Specifically, autocratic leaders are hands-on leaders who take charge

and set clear expectations for the what, when, why, and how tasks done by followers

should be completed. Autocratic leaders take sole responsibility for making

decisions without input from followers in the organization (Cherry, n.d.). Lewin et

al. (1939) believed that their second proposed leadership style, democratic leadership,

was largely the most effective style, as it promotes input on decisions, both large and

small, from followers within the organization and further promotes a spirit of

collaboration in the completion of goals and tasks (Cherry, n.d.). Presumably, the

26 Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 Review of International Comparative Management

democratic style would lend itself to more two-way communication between leaders

and followers as opposed to the one-way style of communication often seen within

autocratic leadership. Lewin et al’s (1939) third style, laissez-faire leadership,

translates to “leave well alone” (Pawar, 2014), where leaders are completely hands

off when it comes to how followers complete their tasks and provide significant

amounts of decision making authority amongst followers. Cherry (n.d.) notes that

while this style can be effective when there is a high degree of expertise and

motivation among followers, it can also create role confusion and become

demotivating when lack of clarity and vision from the leader persists. While each

style in each category of leadership styles offers its own benefits and disadvantages,

Lewin et al.’s (1939) early work was critical in laying the foundation for the more

formal study of the categorization of leadership styles and future study and the work

that would emerge in subsequent decades.

McGregor (1960) differed from Lewin et al. (1939) by classifying leadership

styles into two categories, centering his work around the orientation of how the

leader perceived his or her followers. McGregor (1960) postulated that leaders see

followers in one of two ways, termed “Theory X” or “Theory Y”. Accordingly, if a

leader sees his or her followers as responding only to orders connected with reward

and punishment, then the followers were unmotivated and uninspired, which would

fall under Theory X (Head, 2011). To the contrary, Theory Y suggests that a leader

sees his or her followers as passionate, highly motivated, and a group of people who

can critically think and make decisions on their own (Head, 2011). While these two

theories are starkly opposed, each fits nicely within one of Lewin et al’s (1939) three

leadership styles. A Theory X leader would by its own definition need to act as an

autocratic leader for tasks to be completed within an organization. Pawar (2014)

suggests that this type of leader likely has no time or inclination to consider the needs

of followers. On the other hand, a Theory Y manager would likely bend toward being

democratic leader (Pawar, 2014). One could also make the claim that a theory Y

leader could fall into the laissez-faire category of leadership if the right

circumstances presented themselves. While McGregor’s (1960) work represents a

valuable contribution to the study of leadership styles, his work, though taken from

a different vantage point, strengthens the case for the legitimacy of Lewin et al.’s

(1939) work.

Goleman, McKee, and Boyatzis (2002) posited the existence of six

leadership styles. He distinguished among coercive, authoritative, affiliative,

democratic, pacesetter, and coach. The coercive style is a command and control

approach that requires compliance; the authoritative style directs people to a

common vision created by the leader (Greenfield, 2007). Leadership power closely

aligns with the singular decision-making that is taken on by the autocratic leader as

described by Lewin et al. (1939). The coach, afilliative, and democratic leaders are

focused on things such as relationships, team building, consensus, and people

development respectively (Greenfield, 2007). Thus, these three follower-centric

styles match up closely with the democratic leader as defined by Lewin. The outlier

of Goleman et al.’s (2002) six leadership styles, the pacesetter, may not be what one

Review of International Comparative Management Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 27

might imagine it to be at first glance. The mentality of the pacesetter often leads to a

lack of trust in followers, thus causing the leader to undermine, albeit unintentionally,

the actions of the follower (Ackley, n.d.). When such a situation arises between

leaders and followers, it is highly plausible that the leader might take matters into

his or her own hands, thus potentially reverting to an autocratic style of leadership

to accomplish the goals they have set for the followers in a given situation. While

Goleman et al.’s (2002) vantage point provides an important insight, it may be

concluded that each of the six styles he presented found their roots in Lewin et al.’s

(1939) work.

Finally, Masslenikova (2007) suggested that leadership styles could be

categorized as either leader-centered or follower-centered. She posits that leader-

centered styles would include authoritarian, transactional, and charismatic leadership.

Particularly regarding authoritarian, or autocratic leadership, this certainly aligns

with Lewin et al.’s (1939) definition of an autocratic leader. In contrast, follower-

centered leadership styles would include participative, servant, and transformational

leadership (Masslenikova, 2007). Again, this validates Lewin et al.’s (1939)work in

that follower-centric leadership styles often hinge on the inclusiveness of the

democratic leader.

This brief review of the categorizations of leadership styles has revealed that

there are various ways they may be viewed and placed into meaningful categories.

Therefore, the authors of this paper propose the following categorization model in

the form of a continuum to provide a visual representation of how each of the

accepted leadership styles discussed tie directly back to Lewin et al.’s (1939) original

three leadership styles and viewed on a leader-centric versus follower-centric

continuum. This is graphically shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Categorization of leadership styles - Leadership styles continuum

Leader-Centric Follower-Centric

Autocratic Authoritative Coercive Transactional

Theory X Situational

Contingency

Democratic Skills Based Transformative Coach

LMX Affiliative

Democratic

Laissez-Faire Trait Based Theory Y Servant

Source: developed for this research study

28 Volume 18, Issue 1, March 2017 Review of International Comparative Management

Concluding Thoughts

This review of the categorizations of leadership styles has revealed that there

are various ways to view them and place leadership styles into meaningful categories.

A lot will depend on a person’s context or point of view on the most important

elements of leadership assessment. Clearly, most leadership scholars tie their work

back to Lewin et al.’s (1939) pioneering work with its three overarching leadership

styles. While many leadership styles have emerged and will continue to emerge,

most if not all have their roots in one of Lewin et al.’s (1939) three categories.

References

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in a time of leadership crisis,” Review of International Comparative

Management, 17 (3), pp. 212 – 224.

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perspective taking as an antecedent of transformational leadership behavior,"

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College Students What Want to Make A Difference,” San Francisco: Jossey-

Bass.

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19. Lewin, K., Lippit, R., & White, R. K. (1939). “Patterns of aggressive behavior

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leadership.html.

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leadership styles,” Leader Advance Online, (XI), pp. 1 – 8.

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development: Learning from leaders,” Leadership & Organization

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Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.

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in All Things Multi Languages, 2 (7), pp. 12 – 14.

26. Posner, B. Z. (2015). "An investigation into the leadership practices of

volunteer leaders," Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36 (7),

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relationship with conflict management styles, "International Journal of

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What Is Leadership?

Careers

Kevin Kruse Contributor

TWEET THIS

 Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others,

towards the achievement of a goal.

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W h a t i s

L E A D E R S H I P ?

What is leadership, anyway?

Such a simple question, and yet it continues to vex popular consultants and lay people

alike. I’ve now written several books on leadership for employee engagement, and yet it

occurred to me that I never actually paused to define leadership. Let’s start with what

leadership is not…

Leadership has nothing to do with seniority or one’s position in the

hierarchy of a company. Too many talk about a company’s leadership referring to

the senior most executives in the organization. They are just that, senior executives.

Leadership doesn’t automatically happen when you reach a certain pay grade. Hopefull

you find it there, but there are no guarantees.

Today In: Leadership

Leadership has nothing to do with titles. Similar to the point above, just because

you have a C-level title, doesn’t automatically make you a “leader.” In all of my talks I

stress the fact that you don’t need a title to lead. In fact, you can be a leader in your plac

of worship, your neighborhood, in your family, all without having a title.

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Leadership has nothing to do with personal attributes. Say the word “leader”

and most people think of a domineering, take-charge charismatic individual. We often

think of icons from history like General Patton or President Lincoln. But leadership isn

an adjective. We don’t need extroverted charismatic traits to practice leadership. And

those with charisma don’t automatically lead.

Leadership isn’t management. This is the big one. Leadership and management

are not synonymous. You have 15 people in your downline and P&L responsibility?

Good for you, hopefully you are a good manager. Good management is needed.

Managers need to plan, measure, monitor, coordinate, solve, hire, fire, and so many

other things. Typically, managers manage things. Leaders lead people.

So, again, what is Leadership?

Let’s see how some of the most respected business thinkers of our time define

leadership, and let’s consider what’s wrong with their definitions.

Peter Drucker: "The only definition of a leader is someone who has

followers."

Really? This instance of tautology is so simplistic as to be dangerous. A new Army

Captain is put in the command of 200 soldiers. He never leaves his room, or utters a

word to the men and women in his unit. Perhaps routine orders are given through a

subordinate. By default his troops have to “follow” orders. Is the Captain really a leader

Commander yes, leader no. Drucker is of course a brilliant thinker of modern business

but his definition of leader is too simple.

Warren Bennis: "Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.

Every spring you have a vision for a garden, and with lots of work carrots and tomatoes

become a reality. Are you a leader? No, you’re a gardener. Bennis’ definition seems to

have forgotten “others.”

Bill Gates: "As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those

who empower others."

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This definition includes “others” and empowerment is a good thing. But to what end?

I’ve seen many empowered “others” in my life, from rioting hooligans to Google worker

who were so misaligned with the rest of the company they found themselves

unemployed. Gates’ definition lacks the parts about goal or vision.

John Maxwell: "Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less."

I like minimalism but this reduction is too much. A robber with a gun has “influence”

over his victim. A manager has the power to fire team members which provides a lot of

influence. But does this influence make a robber or a manager a leader? Maxwell’s

definition omits the source of influence.

So what is leadership?

DEFINITION: Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes

the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal.

Notice key elements of this definition:

Leadership stems from social influence, not authority or power

Leadership requires others, and that implies they don’t need to be “direct report

No mention of personality traits, attributes, or even a title; there are many styles

many paths, to effective leadership

It includes a goal, not influence with no intended outcome

Lastly, what makes this definition so different from many of the academic definitions

out there is the inclusion of “maximizes the efforts”. Most of my work is in the area of

employee engagement, and engaged employees give discretionary effort.

I guess technically a leader could use social influence to just organize the efforts of

others, but I think leadership is about maximizing the effort. It’s not, “Hey everyone,

let’s line up and get to the top of that hill someday.” But rather, “Hey, see that hill? Let’

see how fast we can get to the top…and I’ll buy the first round for anyone who can beat

me up there.” So what do you think of my definition of leadership? Social influence,

others, maximize effort, towards a goal. Do those key elements work for you?