Leadership refers to a situation where there is an entity (say an individual or a group) that is providing guidance to people (Antonakis and Day 2017). For leadership to exist there must be a leader, followers and a situation that requires guidance (Van 2014). Although only those in formal leadership positions are usually seen as leaders, that is not the case. There was a time we were given some group assignment by our lecturer. We formed a group of seven and the group members elected me to be their leader. This is one of the situations where I exercised leadership. The main role as a leader was to ensure that the group achieved its target.
Participatory theory of leadership is one in which the leader involves the followers in decision making (Heifetz and Linsky 2017). It is also referred to as democratic theory of leadership. This type of leadership has become more popular in the 21st century. Conventionally, decision making has been the role of managers while employees/followers were seldom involved. In my role as a group leader, I employed this theory greatly. When working with a group, it is unwise and ineffective to give orders to group members. The best way is to involve the group members to make decisions about issues of the group. There are several ways in which I ensured that the group members were involved in decision making. First, I listened to every member’s suggestion of when the group should hold its meetings. Once all gave the time and venue that they would be comfortable with, we selected time and venue for the group meeting. Since every group member was considered, the group meetings were successful and there was no absenteeism. The other way was through giving each of the group members an opportunity to share their ideas on how we should go about completing the task. Once we agreed on the way forward, every member knew what was expected of them. The other way through which I used the participatory theory of leadership was through giving each group member an opportunity to represent their findings before compiling the group assignment. The other role that I had as a leader was to ensure that order was maintained in the group by requesting any member who disturbed the peace of the group to desist from doing so. As it can be seen from this discussion, leaders are not only those in formal positions. It involves offering guidance at different levels.
Conclusion:
Through the role of the group leader, I learnt several things about leadership. One of the lessons was that that it is very important to involve the people being led in making decisions. Most of the times, the decisions made by leaders have some consequences on the people being led. It is therefore fair to include the followers in the process of making the decisions. I also learnt that involving the followers may provide one with more insight. The quality of the decision made is high as a result. The final lesson is that people are likely to observe a decision if they were involved in making it.
The public health area that I would like to provide leadership in future is that of severe acute malnutrition among children below the age of five years. Extensive research shows that if this form of malnutrition is corrected or prevented, children are more likely to lead healthier lives later in life (Rolfes, Pinna and Whitney 2014). If not managed however, the condition may lead to a vicious cycle of malnutrition which could be costly to both the families affected and the nation (Trehan and Manary 2015). I plan to offer leadership by spearheading appropriate public health interventions in affected areas to ensure that the problem is significantly reduced or even eradicated. There are several public health strategies that I could adopt as a leader. One would be to source for funds to buy supplements and mobilise for treatment of the severely malnourished. The second way would be through spearheading mother education. As Whitney and Rolfes (2018) observes, if mothers are educated on the best dietary approaches to adopt for optimal health of their children, the burden of malnutrition would greatly reduce. The third would be to source funds to help households be food secure using what they have, say a piece of land. My hope is that someday, children will not die from malnutrition.
Behavioural theory of leadership suggests that the success of a leader is dependent on the set of behaviours that they have (Buchholz and Sandler 2017). Psychology suggests that learned behaviour can potentially be unlearned and replaced by new ones (DuBrin 2015). One of the behaviour change models is that of knowledge-attitudes-practice. Extensive evidence has shown that the model is very successful in shaping behaviours. The model suggests the knowledge one has could potentially influence their attitudes.
For instance, if a person knows that consuming a high fat diet may pose risks to their health, they may have a negative attitude towards high fat foods. The model further suggests that when attitudes are affected, there is potential for change of behaviour. Let us take the example given above. If an individual was consuming a high fat diet and then they are educated on the health disadvantages of such a diet, they may end up referring a low-fat diet. This is a clear illustration of how knowledge leads to behaviour change. The discussion made above aims at giving an example of how the behavioural theory of leadership works. Unlike the traditional theory (great man theory) that suggests that leaders are born, behavioural theory of leadership suggests that any individual can be a leader (Holten and Brenner 2015). The argument put forth is that, the behaviour of successful leaders can be identified through studies (Fairhurst and Connaughton 2014). After identification of the behaviours, any individual can be taught on how to behave in such a manner to exhibit leadership. The theory therefore suggests that leaders are made and that any person can be trained to be a leader.
This theory of leadership would be very beneficial in shaping the future leader in me. As indicated earlier, the area that I would like to offer leadership is that of severe acute malnutrition among children below the age of five years. This theory would come in handy through several ways. One, I could specialize on management of severe acute malnutrition in my next level of study. The specialization would help me get equipped with knowledge and skills necessary for management of sever acute malnutrition. Such a specialization would also help me become a better leader as I would be more informed on the key areas of concern.
In a nutshell, the education process would make me a more effective leader. While I may not have been born a leader, the specialization would play a part in equipping me to become one. The other way through which the theory would apply in this case, is through leadership training. I plan to enrol to a leadership training program someday. My hope is to learn how to become an effective leader. This is pure application of the behavioural theory of leadership. This is in the sense that I the leadership training would involve being trained on how to behave to be an effective leader. Since the development of the behavioural theory, studies have been done to single out the behaviours that contribute to effective leadership (Storey 2016). After isolation, the set of behaviours identified have been used to train people on how to become effective leaders. According to Northouse (2018), the process has seen many individuals train on how to become effective leaders. It is without doubt that the theory of leadership would be very beneficial in helping me become a better leader. There are two main studies that have been done to form the behavioural theory of leadership. One is Ohio State Studies while the other is Michigan State Studies. They have revolutionized the field of leadership and it is without doubt that the theory would be of great significance in helping me become an effective leader.
Conclusion:
There are several lessons obtained from the discussion above. The first one is that leaders can be made. Unlike the great man theory of leadership which stipulates that leaders are born; the behavioural theory of leadership proves that leaders can be made. They do this this through studying the behaviours of effective leaders and then isolating them. The behaviours identified can then be taught to others. The good thing is that individuals can learn new behaviours. The second lesson learnt is that it is possible to be equipped to become an effective leader. In my endeavour to help reduce the burden of malnutrition, I can offer appropriate leadership from such activities as taking a course specializing in management of severe acute malnutrition. Enrolling in a leadership course would also be very beneficial. In a nutshell, the behavioural theory of leadership would be very significant in helping me become an effective leader in my future endeavours.
References:
Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Buchholz, W. and Sandler, T., 2017. Successful leadership in global public good provision: Incorporating behavioural approaches. Environmental and Resource Economics, 67(3), pp.591-607.
DuBrin, A.J., 2015. Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills. Nelson Education.
Fairhurst, G.T. and Connaughton, S.L., 2014. Leadership: A communicative perspective. Sage Publications.
Heifetz, R. and Linsky, M., 2017. Leadership on the Line, with a New Preface: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Change. Harvard Business Press.
Holten, A.L. and Brenner, S.O., 2015. Leadership style and the process of organizational change. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(1), pp.2-16.
Northouse, P.G., 2018. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Rolfes, S.R., Pinna, K. and Whitney, E., 2014. Understanding normal and clinical nutrition. Cengage Learning.
Storey, J., 2016. Changing theories of leadership and leadership development. In Leadership in Organizations. Routledge.
Trehan, I. and Manary, M.J., 2015. Management of severe acute malnutrition in low-income and middle-income countries. Routledge.
Van Wart, M., 2014. Dynamics of leadership in public service: Theory and practice. Routledge.
Whitney, E.N. and Rolfes, S.R., 2018. Understanding nutrition. Cengage Learning.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download