Leadership Journal For Emotional And Physical Energy

Leadership Styles

Discuss about the Leadership Journal for Emotional and Physical Energy.

Leader is the one who selects, equips, trains, and influences a team or followers who have different abilities and skills. A leader helps the followers to focus on tasks that help in accomplishing the organization’s mission and objectives making the follower expend spiritual, emotional, and physical energy be himself in an effort to achieve the organizational goals (Winston, 2006).

There are several styles of leadership. Each leader may vary in their approach and may have their own style when dealing with a situation. This is the leader’s way of providing direction, executing a plan and motivating others (Du, 2013). Several leadership style have been recognized over the years. The most commonly known styles are authoritarian – where the leader command has to be followed and the leader is more of a dictator (Gonos, 2013), paternalistic – is where the leader acts more like a father figure and acts like a family to the follower by being completely concerned and invested in the followers interest, democratic – where the leader shares the decision making with the team, listens to them and promotes majority’s interest, laissez-faire as known as hand’s free leadership where all the rights and powers are given to the followers and the leader acts more as a guide or a mediator, transactional leadership where motivation of the team is through awards or punishments and transformational where the leader aims to transform his followers by challenging and inspiring his team. Each of this style is witnessed in the world today and each of it has its own attributes (Renko, 2015).

Authoritative leaders are more of commanders. They make sure that the relationship between the leader and the follower is clear and communication in most of these kinds of leadership is one directional (Hogg, 2013). The leader says and the followers follow. An authoritative leader should be able to stand by himself and be able to have a sense of control over his team. It is not always necessary that the followers actual believe in the vision of the leader but are simple lead by the leader through sheer force (Ertureten, 2013). Though this kind of leadership may seem a bit harsh it is the most commonly known form. From Hitler, the dictator to the school teacher who punishes for taking in the class, authoritative leadership is well known.

Authoritative Leadership in Aviation Industry

Authoritative leadership can be clearly witnessed in the aviation industry. For example, an aircraft is usually under the control of the Captain who is assisted by a Co-pilot. However, once in a steady state the captain lets the co-pilot take up the responsibility of flying the aircraft while the captain acts as an instructor or a safety pilot. This exercise is done to help the co-pilot understand how it feels to fly in a real life scenario and out of a simulator. This also gives the co-pilot a chance to understand the responsibility of flying an aircraft. It is more of a raining exercise which is done under the captain’s instruction. However, there is very little tolerance between the captain’s command and the co-pilot’s execution. If the captain has a doubt regarding the co-pilots execution, the captain would immediately take charge. There is no arguing or going back on this command. Though the co-pilot is given the responsibility, he is still liable to what the captain says and how he wants it to be executed. Authoritative leadership is often witnessed in military setup where it is crucial to follow commands. However, there are leaders who have come out the armed forces and have transformed there leadership into a charismatic form. The best example is Air Vice Marshal Mark Alan Skidmore, the current director of aviation safety at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Australia. A senior officer of the Royal Australian Air Force, Skidmore has taken up several responsibilities on field throughout his tenure. Though he has been a part of Australia air force where an authoritative leadership is commonly found, Skidmore has turned into a transformational leader. According to Skidmore himself the Air force had made him a humble man. With abundant experience and Member of the Order of Australia Skidmore is an inspiration for those who work in the aviation industry. He transforms his team through sharing the knowledge he has gained over years. Skidmore is said to have overhauled the organization structure at CASA to make it robust.

There is no one form of leadership that can be declared as the best. For a person to be an efficient leader one should have the ability to adapt according to the situation. According to the situational leadership theory developed by Dr. Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, popularly known as Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory, every situation cannot be dealt in the same way since the attributes of every situation is different (Hersey, 2014). It takes into consideration the concept of contingency thinking. Also, note that through situational leadership one can actually identify how good a leader is (McCleskey, 2013). There are several leaders that come up due to the situation demand, however it is not necessary that in every situation the leader would be able to hold his guard. An authoritative leader who emerges in crisis can unite a group by being bold and vocal but the same may fail in situations of condolences (Salehzadeh, 2015). According to the theory based on the competence and commitment of the team the leadership varies (Bates, 2014). It can be telling (specific guidance and close supervision), selling (explaining and persuading), participating (sharing and facilitating) and delegating (supervising and letting the team do it) (Thompson, 2015).

Situational Leadership

I have seen situational leadership in several areas of my own life. The best example could be my father. At home itself, we can see so many varied leadership styles in him that change according to the situation and the people he is talking to. When there was a death in our family, my father had to take up the responsibility of arranging the funeral. He turned in to a participating leader not only for our family but for all those who were at the funeral. He told people what to do and how to do it without being dominant or rude. He did not ask people for their opinion but made sure all his decisions were helpful to crowd. The same person becomes a telling leader when I take a rash decision. When I persisted that I wanted something of one kind and my father knew that I would not require it, he would just tell that it is not going to happen. His voice is loud and his command clear. There is no going back and arguing or requesting, the decision is made. This is his authoritative style. When there is a family decision to be made, such as a cousin’s marriage my father gathers all the concerned relatives and leads the discussion on whether certain things have to be done. He helps the group stayed focused on the situation and let them get to a conclusion through calm discussion. He only gives his opinion and lets the group lead. In case he finds that the decision of the group is irrational he helps them find direction. This is his delegating leadership style.

Through great observation and study of the several theories on leadership and the several traits of effective leaders around the world, Barry Posner and M. Kouzes have come up with a model that states that leadership is not about personality or about the qualities that a leader possess but rather the behavior of the of the leader (Kouzes, 2014). The model defines five practices that an exemplary leader should possess (Kouzes, 2013). The first is model the way where the leader sets the way the team is to be treated and how the goals are to be pursued. The leader sets an example and shows the path for others to follow. In order to make sure that the team is not overwhelmed by the final goal, smaller goals are set and team is motivated to achieve one goal after another to reach the final goal (Dekrey, 2013). The second is to inspire a shared vision, where the leader envisions the future and portrays this image to all the members of the team. They pursue the team to achieve this vision through creating exciting possibilities. The third is challenge the process where leaders search of challenging aspects of the process and use innovative ways to overcome the same (Zappasodi, 2014). Even if they fail they take it as a learning opportunity. The fourth is to enable others to act. A leader does not try to succeed alone but as a team. They collaborate, and build teams that are highly active and take up responsibilities. They strengthen each other, trust each other and help each other grow. The final practice is to encourage the heart. On accomplishing tasks they appreciate the team members openly (DuBrin, 2015).

Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership

There has been an incident in a carrier aircraft (not named due to NDA). The takeoff weight of the aircraft was close to the maximum due to the altitude of the airport and the high temperatures of the area. However, the weather was good and the regular cockpit checkup was done. The first officer and the copilot were both relatively knew and since it was a carrier craft the company was satisfied with the experience of the pilots. A casual taxi towards the runway and the craft took off. Just about 5 seconds in the air, the left engine of the craft failed alerting the flying officer. The flying officer immediately contacted the on ground officer informing the situation. The crew panicked. But the flying officer, told the crew that the situation can be handled. He asked the copilot to check the manual while he started taking instructions from the ground office. He made it clear to the crew that they would land safely and delegated work. He challenged the issue with a brave heart and made sure that the pilot and the copilot followed the instruction to the point. He took the help of copilot to under the instructions wherever he could not follow and landed the plane safely. He congratulated his crew for their support. The captain kept his calm and should exemplary leadership and followed the five practices.

Despite these styles and models there are several other leaders who follow a different theory called the path-model theory. It is very close to the concept of transactional leadership where awards and punishments are given to the team based on their performance. However, it is not limited to the same. The leader may command, cajole, sugar coat or tempt the team into doing work depending on the team but the idea is to achieve the ultimate goal. The leader clearly sets the objectives that is expected from the team, guides them, removes barriers if any and provides them with personal payoffs and development opportunities. The reason to adopt this theory is to deal with different kind of follower. Every member of the team may not have the same goal. But for the leader to achieve this goal the team member has to be aligned to do the same. The leader hence offers the team member with suitable perks for their contribution.

I have earlier worked in a small firm where I came across one such leader. My manager had a team of 3 under him and we each had individual tasks. These tasks where independent but we had to each complete a targeted number of task. The manager however had a different target number for us. Before the job began, the manager called each one of us individually and had a personal interview about us where he tried to understand what we liked and what motivated us. The next day, he set a target of his own and said that whoever completed the task in the stipulated time would be given a benefit, for some it was tickets sponsored by the company, for others it was a training program. At the end of a month turned out that with the weekly benefits our team reached triple of the targeted task without even realizing that we worked so much.

A leader is hence one who can mold and fit according to the situations and understand the team ,their expectations, their talents and skills and find ways to motivate them in achieving a set vision by setting an example. A great leader is one that molds for the team and molds the team positively to achieve success.

References 

Bates, C., 2014. A study of situational leadership theory. Journal of Radix International Educational and Research Consortium, 3(11), pp.1-7.

Dekrey, S.J., Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B.Z., 2013. Making Extraordinary Things Happen in Asia: Applying The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. Making Extraordinary Things Happen in Asia: Applying The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.

Du, S., Swaen, V., Lindgreen, A. and Sen, S., 2013. The roles of leadership styles in corporate social responsibility. Journal of business ethics, 114(1), pp.155-169.

DuBrin, A.J., 2015. Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills. Nelson Education.

Ertureten, A., Cemalcilar, Z. and Aycan, Z., 2013. The relationship of downward mobbing with leadership style and organizational attitudes. Journal of business ethics, 116(1), pp.205-216.

Gonos, J. and Gallo, P., 2013. Model for leadership style evaluation. Management: Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, 18(2), pp.157-168.

Hersey, P., 2014. The Hersey and Blanchard situational leadership theory.

Hogg, M.A. and Adelman, J., 2013. Uncertainty–identity theory: Extreme groups, radical behavior, and authoritarian leadership. Journal of Social Issues, 69(3), pp.436-454.

Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B.Z., 2013. The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: How Ordinary People Make Extraordinary Things Happen.

Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B.Z., 2014. The student leadership challenge: Five practices for becoming an exemplary leader. John Wiley & Sons.

McCleskey, J.A., 2014. Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), p.117.

Renko, M., El Tarabishy, A., Carsrud, A.L. and Brännback, M., 2015. Understanding and measuring entrepreneurial leadership style. Journal of Small Business Management, 53(1), pp.54-74.

Salehzadeh, R., Shahin, A., Kazemi, A. and Shaemi Barzoki, A., 2015. Proposing a new approach for evaluating the situational leadership theory based on the Kano model: The case of university students. International Journal of Public Leadership, 11(1), pp.4-20.

Thompson, G. and Glasø, L., 2015. Situational leadership theory: a test from three perspectives. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(5), pp.527-544.

Winston, B.E. and Patterson, K., 2006. An integrative definition of leadership. International journal of leadership studies, 1(2), pp.6-66.

Zappasodi, A.D., 2014. Review of The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices for Exemplary Leaders. Growth, 9(1).