Leadership is the most significant factor for the outstanding and enduring success of a
business. According to (Arvey et al, 2006) , Leadership is method of social influence in which
one person can procure the aid and support of others in the achievement of common task. It is
the skill of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. A leader
guides or directs others. A leader is a person in a group or organization that has the
combination of character and skills that makes others in the group want to follow leader’s
direction.
Leadership style is leaders’ way of providing direction, executing plans and inspiring
people. (Smith et al, 1998) . There are many different leadership styles that can be
demonstrated by leaders in the political, business or other field which include; behavioral,
contingency and contemporary.
Behavioral leadership is the type of leadership which focuses on the behaviour of a leader
and what the leaders do and how they act. This theory assumes that leaders can be made and
are not necessarily born. Successful leadership is based on describable and learnable
behaviour. This leadership style focuses on specific behaviour of a leader. A leader’s
behaviour is the best determinant of the leadership success. Behavioral style of leadership
can be incorporated into the author’s leadership style by bringing out the best behaviour of
the author so as to improve on the organizational performance.
Contingency style of leadership stresses that the effectiveness of leadership is dependent
on matching a leader’s style to right decision. (Horton, 1992) It is defined by the relationship
of the leader to the members, if the members have trust, confidence and are motivated by the
leader then the leadership is positive. The task structure which measures the clarity of the
project, and clear guidelines to follow measures the effectiveness of the leader. Also the
positional power of the leader defines the success of the contingency style of leadership, if
the leader has the authority to influence the productivity of the worker and punish the worker
on equal measures, this leads to better performance. This is incorporated on the author’s style
of leadership in that the leader worker relation should always be good for work to be
performed better in an organization.
Contemporary leadership is the capability to change as the needs of the organization
change. Contemporary leader is aggressive to resolve to do what is best for the company
(Milterberger, 2004) . It takes into account the complexity, diversity and rapid changes of our
modern organization. It integrates the ideas from older theories as well as modern
understanding of human behaviour and interaction. Contemporary style of leadership is a
must have for every leader since we lead in a world where change is permanent.
Leadership and management must always go together. They are not one and the same
thing, but they are linked together and they supplement each other. Manager and leaders are
different in the sense that the work of a manager differs from that of a leader, and how each
one of them go about in carrying out duties. While Manager’s job involves planning,
organizing and coordinating, leader’s job is to motivate and inspire (Bass et al, 2006) .
Manager’s works involves developing policies and procedures while leaders job involve
RUNNING HEAD: Leadership Styles 3
vision and strategy. While managers concentrate more on projects leaders concentrate more
on people. The table below expound more on the difference between a leader and a manager
in terms of their duties and responsibilities.
Subject Manager Leader
Make up of a role Stability Change
Decision making Makes Facilitates
Approach Plans details around
constraints
Sets and lead
direction
Vision Short term Long term horizon
Control Formal influence Personal charm
Appeals to The head The heart
Culture Endorses Shapes
Action Reactive Proactive
For one to be an effective leader one must be proactive and reactive, the leader must
always think ahead, must work to master the environment, the leader must be flexible and
willing to adapt to new surroundings and situation. A leader must be good communicator,
respectful, open minded, delegator, resourceful, initiative and rewarding (Manktelow, 2012) .
Common managerial success trait include; communication, leadership, adaptability,
relationship, development of others and personal development, as a manager one has to have
strong communication skills so as to be able to instruct as well as listen. The manager should
be able to understand and relate the organization vision back to the employees. The ability to
adapt contributes to manager’s effectiveness at work despites the changes in the surrounding.
The manager should always strive to develop the manager’s skills and competitive ness as to
be able to develop other employees in terms of personal growth (Salazar, 2009) .
Trust is the basis for an effective communication, employee retention and employee
motivational and contribution of optional energy, it is the extra efforts that people voluntarily
invest in work. When trust exist in an organization, it is easier to achieve objectives of an
organization. According to (Howell, 2012) . Trust is the state of readiness for unguarded
interaction with someone or something. It is important to maintain trust in the environment,
this can be achieved by not breaking *.trust in the first place. Since the integrity of the
leadership of the organization is critical factor. The presence of strong unifying mission and
vision promotes trust at workplace.
RUNNING HEAD: Leadership Styles 4
List of reference
Arvey et al. (2006). “The determinant of leadership role occupancy: Genetics and personal
factors” The Leadership Quarterly, 17, 1-20.
Bass et al. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erilbaum
Associates publishers; US.
Horton, T. (1992). New York: The CEO Paradox (1992).
Howell, J. P. (2012). Snapshots of Great leadership. London, GBR: Taylor and Francis P.17.
Manktelow, J. (2012). “leadership Style’ Mind Tools. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
Milterberger, R. G. (2004). Behavior Modification Principle and Procedures(3rd ed). Belmont,
CA: Wadworth/Thomson learning.
Salazar, P.-j. (2009). , l’Hyperpolitique Technologies politiques De La Domination, Paris, 2009.
Smith et al. (1998). ‘A patter approach to the study of