Order Number |
3344322222 |
Type of Project |
ESSAY |
Writer Level |
PHD VERIFIED |
Format |
APA |
Academic Sources |
10 |
Page Count |
3-12 PAGES |
LEADERSHIP DEFINED:
Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts. Have they thoroughly defined leadership? Have they included all of the important elements relevant to the practice of leadership today? Do you agree or disagree with their personal definition of leadership?
JANA’S POST:
Good evening,
Present a personal definition of leadership and explain why your definition is appropriate and relevant to the practice of leadership today.
Leadership is an active role that includes embracing change, encouraging others to participate in said changes, and influencing those affected by changes enforcing acceptance and adoption of change initiatives. A little wordy, but leadership is a difficult role that encompasses many different roles. The most important competencies in today’s world for a leader to possess are change management and team building skills (SHRM, 2008). Change is a constant force that needs to be addressed and with technological advancements occurring almost hourly it is important to assess and manage how these changes affect individuals, the organization and the market. A successful leader makes hard decisions. A successful leader communicates how new ideas and innovations are relevant as well as being open to listening to obstacles and challenges that subordinates face in the implementation of new ideas or initiatives. There are numerous leadership theories but I feel service leadership is the most prevalent and all-encompassing of what a leader truly. A leader leads other to achieving their fullest potential.
Provide an example of a current leader who embodies this definition. Explain how this individual is a relevant example of your personal definition of leadership.
Reed Hastings CEO of Netflix is a great example of an individual that displays and embodies service leadership. Netflix is a highly successful company that has answered many consumers wants and needs and revolutionized the way the world watches movies and shows. Even the misstep taken when Reed increased rental prices in 2011 marks a vital point that mistakes do not have end in complete disaster as long as the lesson is learned. Hastings is also a philanthropist. He served as the president of the California State Board of Education for four years. Hastings is an impactful leader that has made a notable difference.
God bless and have a great night.
-Jana H.
Hibler, J. (2021, October 4). Reed Hastings. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Reed-Hastings
SHRM. (2008). Leadership competencies. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/leadership-and-navigation/pages/leadershipcompetencies.aspx
BLAINE’S POST:
Present a personal definition of leadership and explain why your definition is appropriate and relevant to the practice of leadership today.
Leadership is pulling people together from different backgrounds, differing personalities, strengths, and weaknesses to achieve a common goal. The leader creates a vision that everyone works together to accomplish. The best leaders exhibit emotional intelligence, but more importantly, they listen to team members. Listening is vital in creating a positive culture because there is no such thing as a complaint that does not matter.
Many theories around leadership involve similar facets; shared visions, communication, relationships, and change. Leaders incorporate a variety of aspects to fit their style (Warrick, 2016). Listening helps create relationships, bring together ideas, and ultimately aid in accomplishing the shared goal. People come from unique backgrounds in the business environment, which requires leaders to shape their leadership style to different scenarios.
Provide an example of a current leader who embodies this definition.
A leader that I had the pleasure of following was my last DO (Director of Operations). The DO controls the processes of the entire building by gathering information and making informed decisions. The DO had positive relationships with every employee in the building. In the moment, it was hard to realize the impact he had on the culture of the building, but as he transitioned to a new position, his absence was felt. He always spoke about a unified vision and the importance of what everyone did daily. He took all complaints seriously and would always make time for people, no matter what he did. He would stop and focus entirely on the conversation, which made people feel like he genuinely cared.
Explain how this individual is a relevant example of your personal definition of leadership.
The most relevant aspects of my former DO were listening and creating a shared vision. He believed or gave the impression of believing in what the company did for the customers and the lives it ultimately saved. He made a unified front to tackle metrics by creating the reason why improving metrics improved the customer experience.
Warrick, D. D. (2016). Leadership: A high impact approach. Bridgepoint Education. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.
TARA’S POST:
“Transactional leadership focuses on the transactions, or exchanges, that occur between leaders and leaders and followers in getting the job done and achieving goals” (Warrick, 2016, sect 4.3). Transformational exhibit zeal and passion for building or accomplishing something great” (Warrick, 2016, sect 4.3). Transactional leadership involves the use of rewards for positive results, good behavior, or positive feedback (Nielsen et al.,2019). Transactional leadership believes rewards and punishments are dependent on the performance of the followers. The relationship between the manager and employee is an exchange- gives something to get something in return. Meaning if the employee performs well, they receive a reward. When the performance is poor, there is some type of punishment to be gotten. It’s important for transactional leadership to have rules, procedures, and standards. They do not encourage employees to be creative nor identify solutions to problems. Transactional leadership is more effective when problems are simple and clear.
Transformational leaders on the other hand inspire followers with a vision of the future, appeal to higher ideals and motives of the followers, moving and change existing structures towards new possibilities. Transformational leaders command the admiration and trust of followers who are willing to expend exceptional effort in translating the vision into reality. Transformational leadership is a very influential paradigm when it comes to leadership literature referring to the behavioral actions of employees as a result of the influential leader’s guidance can have (Nielsen et al., 2019). Transformational leaders are also individuals who possess qualities that can transform others.
References:
Nielsen, P. A., Boye, S., Holten, A., Jacobsen, C. B., & Andersen, L. B. (2019). Are transformational and transactional types of leadership compatible? A two‐wave study of employee motivation. Public Administration, 97(2), 413–428. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1111/padm.12574
Warrick, D. D. (2016). Leadership: A high impact approach. Bridgepoint Education.
BRUCE’S POST:
Situational Theory
This theory is based on the leader making best Choices from the situation the leader is placed in. ” Leaders here work on such factors as external relationships, acquisition of resources, managing demands on the group and managing the structures and culture of the group” (Changing Minds, 2013). The relationship between leaders and the followers. This creates a common performance, uses task specific performance measures, and promotes leaders to accurately understand and read their environment to make leadership decisions from the environment’s situation.
Authentic Theory
Leaders that are seen by followers and peers as real, authentic. Authentic leaders seem real and approachable by followers. Authentic leaders’ passion can also be seen as their purpose. They are seen with real true values. Those values provide the followers the perception of the leader being authentic. “Values have an impact on the types of behaviors that a leader permits and/or emphasizes; the type of climate or work environment a leader creates; and the emphasis a leader places on people and performance, how things get done, and even use of language” (Warrick, 2016). The leaders that are authentic will have distinct strong values that followers will bring respect for the authentic leader.
Common characteristics on the leadership styles of situational and authentic is that the skills are commonly sought after in current trends. Both styles must apply the skills to what presents in the current situational. Example would be the COVID pandemic. Leadership for both styles would have to adopt, adapt, and structure in the current situation. Another common link between the two leadership are that in a crisis, both leaders are looked to. Situational Leadership in a crisis will use the environment of the crisis and navigate through the crisis. Authentic leadership will use the situation and the support of the followers to navigate through the crisis.
Differences are known between the two leadership styles. Situation leadership is where the leaders is going to adapt to the issue the leaders is handling and the employees or followers being able to handle that current situation. Authentic leadership will have an approach using traits, values to handle the current situation.
References:
Changing Minds. (2013). Leadership theories (Links to an external site.) . Retrieved from http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/theories/leadership_theories.htm (Links to an external site.)
Warrick, D. D. (2016). Leadership: A high impact approach . Bridgepoint Education.