Describe the factors that will influence the choice of leadership styles or Free Essay Example

1.1 Describe the factors that will influence the choice of leadership styles or behaviours in workplace situations. In most working environments you will see several styles of leadership being used. Whilst a leader usually has a dominant style of leadership, a good leader will alter their style dependant on the situation. This can increase results. The basic factors that determine the styles are the same regardless of which leadership style is used, whether this is more dominant or democratic. The basic factors are the situation, task, individual, the team, the environment or situation and finally the preference of leader themselves.

Task ” Different leadership styles may be beneficial for different tasks. If there is a deadline to be hit it may help to take on a more autocratic style. If it is a creative task it may help the process if a more democratic style is used. Team ” All teams have a unique dynamic. How a team works together and the individual’s role within the team can affect how you will lead.

A bad team dynamic can make it very difficult to lead and team members maybe become dissatisfied and lazy. Individual team member – Each person has their own way of working and responding to situations and tasks. As a leader you should asses the person you are dealing with and work out how best they will respond to your leadership. If possible, it is beneficial to alter your leadership style to get the best results from the team member. Environment ” where you work can affect what type of leadership is used.

If you are managing a shop floor you are likely to use a more dominant style than perhaps you would in our offices here at Chelsea. The culture of the business can also help dictate the leadership style. Leader ” Several factors can directly affect how a leader will lead. How the leader was trained, their personal preference of style and their personality type. There are three different leadership styles that are usually used with the above in mind:Autocratic ” a strong, directional form of leadership. The leader’s decision is final. Democratic ” The leader seeks input from the team and will discuss with them the best course of action. Laissez – faise ” the team is trusted to complete the tasks with little guidance from the leader. 1.2 Explain why these leadership styles or behaviours are likely to ha a positive or negative effect on individual and group behaviour. An autocratic leader has complete control over a situation and the team. They will make decisions based on their own judgments and allow very little input from team members. This style can be useful in certain situations as it can allow decisions to be made very quickly and there is a clear chain of command. There are, however, several drawbacks. Group input can be discouraged and moral of a team can be affected which could lead to resentment and bad attitudes. Team members can easily be overlooked despite them having experience or ideas that could help. This style of leadership can be seen in our mega store at work. Usually the employees do not have a commitment to the job and are not willing to go the extra mile. As such the leadership is very autocratic and the leader’s decision is final. This is a shame sometimes when an enthuastic team member is overlooked and could have to potential to be achieving much more than they currently are. In a democratic style of leadership, the team will be given the opportunity to participate, ideas are talked through. The leader still offers advice, guidance and control but the team is encouraged to all work together to achieve the goal. This kind of leadership is usually the most popular as it encourages a high level of productivity. Team members are more committed and happier as they feel valued. It encourages the free flowing of new ideas and directions for the task to be completed. There are a couple of areas where a democratic style of leadership can fail. If the team is unskilled then poor decisions can be made. Team members will become frustrated and feel overlooked. Communication can also suffer if the leader does not continue to monitor and guide the team. This style is evident in my experience in my office. Teams work well together to achieve a desired goal. Occasionally confusion will arise when a task is attempted but the team does not have the correct skills. This is when autocratic leadership maybe more beneficial. A laisse”fiare style of leadership leaves the team to make many decisions by themselves. The team are given complete freedom to make decisions and the leaders just provide the tools and resources for them to do so. This style of leadership can work when the team are highly skilled in their field. This style does require a highly motivated team as if motivation is lacking then it can result in poor results and low accountability. 2.1 Assess own leadership behaviours and potential in the context of a particular leadership model and own organisation’s working practises and culture, using feedback from others. In my job I manage a team of people who support operations on a match day. We are a close-knit team who spend a lot of time working together. I must use my leadership skills in a high-pressure environment whilst ensuring a 5-star service. I decided to investigate the Blake and Mouton model and how that applied to feedback about me gathered from my team. This grid helps to show where management faults can be identified from which training can be delivered. This model details five different types of manager on the grid; The 1.1 Impoverished’ Manager ” is not interested in the job at hand. They are unmotivated and do not usually have a long-life span at a company. The 1.9 Country Club’ Manager ” creates a friendly and satisfying environment but may not be strong enough to have to make enforced and decisive decisions. The 5.5 Middle of the Road’ manager ” has balance and gets the job done but does not overachieve. The 9.1 Authority-Compliance’ manager ” gets the job done but without concern for the teamThe 9.9 Ideal Team’ manager ” has both concern for the team and for the job in hand. These are what every manager should aspire for. I showed the grid to 4 members of my team and asked where they would place me upon the grid on relation to several management scenarios. I averaged between 5.5 and 7.5 for all scenarios. This makes clear several things clear to me. I have a high concern for people and a much lesser concern for the task. I am Middle of the Road’ management level. I believe this is accurate and is the norm for people of my level in my organisation. The culture is based around people, with quite a family environment. I believe this is reflective and visible in middle management. I am certainly guilty of putting the emphasis and attention on to people and being more concerned with the atmosphere rather than the task at hand. Leadership within the organisation is usually democratic with small teams working together and splitting jobs. I think this pushes me into placing more emphasis into making sure the team are happy working than focusing on the job that needs to be done. 2.2 Describe appropriate actions to enhance own leadership behaviour in the context of the particular leadership model. Moving forwards I need to look at being more concerned for the task without losing the concern for people. I need to focus on balancing my approach to become more of a Ideal Team’ manager. Currently I look to find the middle ground, balancing the needs of the team and the task. This produces ok results, but not great results. In addition to this there were a number of other areas where I need to improve as detailed below. Communication ” I need to keep my team members more in the loop’. To achieve this, I will set up more team meetings in addition to regular one to ones where I will also ask for feedback. Confidence ” I am not confident enough when talking to peers or those higher up the organisation. I need to practise talking in groups of people and have faith in my ability as a leader. Delegation ” I tend to try to do all of the tasks alone. By doing this I am demonstrating to the team that I do not trust them and their ability. I need to let them take ownership with guidance. Authority ” I need to be firmer in certain situations and demonstrate that I am the leader. This will give the team clear direction rather then confusion. This will help to improve my standing on the Blake and Morton model. Finally, I have asked my line manager if he will mentor me as I respect his leadership style and hope that through this I can improve my own.

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