Directive Leadership

An authoritative leader addresses the end but generally gives workers freedom to innovate, experiment and take risks. The authoritative style works best for organizations that are off track, it helps in creating a new course and fresh long-term vision. The affiliative style strives to keep employees happy to create harmony among. The style has a positive effect on communication. People who like one another a lot talk lot. They share ideas, inspirations leading to flexibility, innovation and risk taking. This style should only be employed when trying to build team harmony. The democratic style allows leaders to build consensus through participation. By spending time getting people’s ideas, a leader is able to build trust, respect and commitment. This style works best when a leader is uncertain about best direction however, it does not make sense if employees are not competent. Pacesetting is a leadership style that expects excellence and self-direction. The leader is obsessive about doing things better and faster, and expects the same of everyone around

Leaders are some of the most influential individuals in any society. They have the ability to influence those around them with various leadership styles including coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and coaching. Effective leaders consistently adapt to the environment around them to either enhance or correct any situation facing them. Within these leadership styles the most effective style has been considered that of the authoritative style. This style brings individuals together, builds self-confidence, and easily adapts to the environment around it.

The third style of leadership is supporting. Supporting is similar to the coaching style but employees are not in need of direction. The employees who require a supportive leader already have the skills and knowledge of their job duties but either lacks motivation or confidence. This type of employee requires a lot of praise to encourage motivation and improve confidences.

Leaders are not merely those who control others, but act as visionaries who help employees to plan, lead, control, and organize their activities. As states by (Hood, Leddy, & Pepper, 2006), “leadership is a complex term with multiple definitions but is normally defined as a process of influencing others or guiding or directing others to attain mutually agreed upon goals” (as cited by Agnes, 2005). There are several recognized leadership styles such as bureaucratic — where the leader rigidly follows rules, policies, and regulation; or participative — where the leader allows the staff to participate in decision making and seek the

This research focuses on four leadership styles that have been used within the organization. These styles play apart in the success of objectives and tasks being accomplished.

Leadership is the ability to inspire and focus members on a common goal, whether short term or long term and have the same vision. Leadership is more than telling or ordering, but having members believe and want to follow the same path as you. It’s a commitment to your people built on trust and respect. Many leaders shaped my personal leadership philosophy, to include several negative and positive experiences. Negative experiences from poor leaders and lessons learned on my part have uniquely shaped this vision. Difficult to be a good follower when your leader lacks competency, integrity, and your trust. If a leader takes credit for work other than their own, or forces and ideology onto others, but does not follow it themselves; these negative influences damage the trust and respect required by all leaders. However, positive experiences can also have a career lasting impact. A leader who inspires through personal actions and convictions can change how an entire unit operates without ever saying a word.

In the reading by Daniel Goleman, the six different type of leadership are described, and defined. The writer states the different types are Coercive, Authoritative, Affiliative, Democratic, Pacesetting, and Coaching (Goleman, 2000). “Coercive leaders demand immediate compliance. Authoritative leaders mobilize people toward a vision. Affiliative leaders create emotional bonds, and harmony. Democratic leaders build consensus through participation. Pacesetting leaders expect excellence and self-direction, and coaching leaders develop people for the future,” (Goleman, 2000). The reading state out of the six, Authoritative leadership is the type which has the most positive effect on workers because in the realm of Emotional Intelligence it shows empathy, and self-confidence (Goleman, 2000). The other positive leadership styles are Affiliative, Democratic, and Coaching (Goleman, 2000). In all of these types, the common theme is empathy, and working together.

Implementation of the Participatory leadership can be done in three ways. Engaging all staff and empowering and collecting knowledge and innovation from all staff. Strengthen relationships with stakeholders. Training and nurturing personal leadership, collective learning and self-organization for staff to step in and take charge of the challenges facing them (Nielsen, 2016)

The supportive leadership role involves showing concern for subordinates' well being and personal needs. This type of leadership behavior is

A leader who is someone who leads. They are responsible for showing their followers a path and helping them along the way. There are several different types of leadership styles ranging from democratic to laissez-faire. Styles of leadership are important in the success and failure of the leaders. One style that has been around since the early empires is authoritarian leadership.

The contents and assignment in this course has helped me understand the various theories of leadership and how different leadership styles can have a negative or positive effect on followers and organizations. The leadership theories helped me understand the concept of leadership better because it educates me on the different leadership options that are available. Leadership and followership is not based on specific characteristics. Leaders must draw from things and approaches to find the right style. A follower’s attitude determines the way a leader leads. According to Johnson (2011) “Being a good follower means ensuring your boss is supported, but only if he is making optimum decisions”.

The key strengths of the supportive leadership style are that it helps to build and maintain effective interpersonal relationships because managers, using this leadership style, are considerate and friendly toward their employees. As a result, the manager is likely to gain and maintain the loyalty of the employees. Additionally, supportive managers, tend to build relationships with employees, create relationships build on trust. Further, employees will feel liked, appreciated, and valued. Also, in a group setting, supportive leadership, helps build cohesion and keep the group together. The primary strength of supportive leadership style is that it helps to build and sustain positive, supportive relationships where employees are more likely to also support the leader and his goals.

The basic premise for leadership is the process of influencing other people to follow your lead in order to accomplish a goal. It is about the relationship between the leader and the followers. A good leader tries to motivate people to bring about positive changes revealing a common objective without using coercion or manipulation. Leadership is not about control, but permitting interaction and communication between the leader and the individual followers. With empowering others, leaders build a foundation of collaborative thinking and encourage an atmosphere of personal involvement; a leader can strengthen the respect and loyalty of his or her followers. Leaders can affect this process by applying their own personal characteristics, such

3. Participative Leadership: This style of Leadership behavior gives a better outcome when the subordinates believe that they control their own destiny i.e. internal locus of control.

The Path-Goal Theory of Leadership identifies four types of leader behavior: (a) supportive (relations oriented), (b) directive (task oriented), (c) achievement oriented, and (d) participative leader behavior (Seyranian, 2012). In addition, the Path-Goal Theory also identifies follower characteristics and task characteristics. The Path-Goal Theory predicts supportive leadership behaviors may increase the followers’ interest in accomplishing the task and further encourage the followers’ expectations in meeting organizational goals (Seyranian, 2012). In situations of a vague or complicated task, directive leadership behaviors could increase a followers’ positive expectations in attaining the goal (Goswami, Li, Beehr, & Goffnett, 2014; Seyranian, 2012). According to Huhtala and Parzefall (2007), a supportive work environment, as demonstrated by the Path-Goal Theory of leadership, positively influences employee innovativeness. Garcia-Morales et al., (2012) affirmed that a collaborative, supportive, and participatory leadership style is more likely to encourage innovation within the organization.