Leadership Theories and Styles

Leadership Theories and Styles Leadership theories refers to the approach that a manager adopts in order to exercise authority in the work place and be able to direct staff towards meeting the organizational mandate as outlined in their job descriptions. It is the way that a manager resorts in order to discharge all the sum total of responsibilities that entails management and leadership. Leadership theories have just recently been advanced and well understood, earlier literature that is available which attempted to identify and classify leadership theories focused on personality aspects that defined leaders and which defined followers. It was not until 1939 when, Kurt Lewin as the lead researcher was able to provide a well documented and thorough research of leadership theories at the time in a study that formed frameworks and references of future studies in leadership theories and styles. The results and finding of the research were published in the U.S Army Handbook. Current available literature on leadership theories in the context of modern organization is still varied in terms of the number of the main leadership theories. In the journal of Harvard Business Review, Schmidt and Tannenbaum has summarized the four common leadership theories that can be identified in modern organizational leaders. First theory of leadership is referred as Autocratic or authoritative style, as the name would suggest it refers to an approach where a manager maintains and run an organizational with a tight leash on the apparatus of power. A manager is this type of style expects his word to be law and employees do not have room to present their suggestion for consideration. Decisions are made at the highest level of an organization and handed down through established protocols to be implemented across the appropriate levels by the employees through existing organizational procedures. In this type of leadership motivation among employees is very minimal or nonexistent and the techniques that are used to provide motivation apply a combination of threats and promises such as benefits and retributions (Tannenbaum Schmidt, 2008). The other type of leadership theory is bureaucratic style of management. In this type of management a manager requires that all work procedures within the organization be done in such a way as clearly outlined in the organizational manual or according to the set policy. Regardless of situations that are unique and in which the organizational policies might not apply, a bureaucratic leader is more likely to insist on sticking to the organizational way of doing things (Tannenbaum Schmidt, 2008). This leadership kills creativity in the work place and might give rise to work burn out, however it is appropriate in a work setting such as in laboratory research environment where all variables of interests are carefully controlled in order to achieve desired results. The third type is democratic leadership style also referred as participative style since it strives to involve employee in organizational management and decision making. In this type leadership a manger understands that employee are more informed in some instances than their leaders and can therefore provide valuable insight that can enable informed decisions at the management level. It makes an employee feel important and appreciated at the work place and is therefore a very motivating method of running an organization. By involving employees in organization management and decision making serves to impart this skills in their routine job requirements besides grooming them for their next career levels within the organization (Tannenbaum Schmidt, 2008). However this style is only effective in an organization where employees are skilled and very knowledgeable in their areas of specialty since they are less likely to make work related mistakes that might be costly to the organization. The final and fourth leadership style is the Leissez-Faire a French word that loosely translated describes lack of interest, and rightly so because in this case a manager is almost detached away from the intricacies of organization and employee management. Much leeway is given to employee to use their best judgment and achieve individual or teamwork requirements, meet targets and work deadline (Hofstede, 2007). The manger hardly ever supervise employee or follow up on their progress but relies on internal organizational systems. As with the democratic style this style too should be adopted where the employee are qualified and competent in discharging their duties without direction and are mature to achieve self motivation. This being the styles that a manager can use in organization and people management, there are other factors that are crucial in determining which leadership style a manager is likely to apply or indeed must apply in order to efficiently provide leadership. One is the managers personality type that is usually determined by the level of education, skills, experience, and previous work environment, this factors will significantly determine which approach a manager will use. For instance previous work environment could shape a managers future leadership roles to match with that experience. Another factor is the personality type of the organizational employees that is also shaped by other factors such as skills, competence, experience and their level of position. Depending on the employees personality a manager might not have choice on the type of the leadership to use (Kovacevic Builder, 2010). Finally an organizational values, traditions, and policies will also provide bearing as to how an organization is run and a manager might find that deviating from previous managers leadership approach might result in management crisis. Geert Hofstede, the Germany psychologist who researched the revolutionary findings that provided the first measurable evidence between association of culture and organization in what he termed as power distance, explains that the approach that a leader adopts to manage people is as a result of the attitude of the manager towards the employees (2007). Positive leaders he notes are likely to adopt the democratic or Leissez-Fare style that places much trust in employees and sets to achieves motivation through providing rewards. Negative managers on the other hand are more predisposed to adopt authoritative leadership style that uses set of punishments to achieve employee cooperation and ensure motivation. Leaders also use consideration and structure in employee and organizational management. In consideration the managers seeks to ensure that employees concerns are addressed and their need met. A manager therefore is aware that these way employees are more likely to perform well in discharging their duties through undivided attention. The other approach is structure where a leader approach to employee management is through increased task and job output assessment. The focus is on continuously providing employee with duties as the only way to measure employee performance (Hofstede, 2007). Let us now do an analysis of leadership style in practice using examples of known organizations that are managed by leaders that we are familiar with. Google incorporation recently found in early 2000 is now worth billions of dollars and has revolutionized the way internet search is done; they have the most efficient online search engine which is the company trademark (Kovacevic Builder, 2010). Google CEO Eric Schmidt organizational leadership perhaps is the single most significant factor that has contributed to the success of the organization besides it ability to continuously launch online innovate products compared to their rivals, Microsoft incorporation. Microsoft Incorporation that was establish decades ago by it founder and present CEO Bill Gates has been in the business of developing consumer softwares and recently has increasingly ventured towards cutting a niche of market share that is presently found online. Microsoft incorporation has decades of experience in consumer development products and marketing strategies that rivals Google, now it biggest competitor and the undisputed leader on online advertisement and its search engine thats can now been enabled through use of 36 languages (Kovacevic Builder, 2010). Microsoft Incorporation strengths lies in it experience and domination of the market for many years and it organizational strengths. Bill Gate the leader and CEO of Microsoft has over time adopted leadership style that has been instrumental in defining Microsoft organizational values, traditions and management approaches at other levels. The management style that Bill Gate has now used for a long time and which defines Microsoft Incorporation is the one where employees are managed top down by their manager with the managers exercising great control and clout in decision making process (Kovacevic Builder, 2010). Bill Gates is the leader who has largely shaped the vision and organizational direction that Microsoft has so far taken over the years. Being the founder of the company it is right to assume that Bill Gates would exercise more control and authority on where he would want his company to head. But this authority is in no way limited to making important decisions in that pertains to the future of the organization. In employee management Bill Gates has put internal mechanisms that provide oversight of employees performance and usually provide direct supervision to ensure that organizational project are on course and employee are adequately involved in the process. Each department manager is supposed to oversee and provide directions to junior staff on the shape that project are expected to focus on in line with decisions made at higher levels. This leadership style of Bill Gates therefore seems to be a blend of democratic and authoritative, which tends to lean towards authoritative style (Kovacevic Builder, 2010). As a result employee creativity is hampered and channeled to focus towards pre-arranged lines of ideas on which they are managed in order to deliver. For instance decisions arrived at board meetings of senior management personnel might decide that Microsoft as an organization need to focus more on developing an online search engine that is more superior to Google in order to remain competitive, as recently happened. Then employees are given directives that are supposed to implement this strategy without deviations, an employee who might be having a fresh idea that could be pursued to redefine the organization product might therefore have no platform for presenting such an idea and the organization innovativeness is likely to slump back as is now the case at Microsoft Incorporation (Kovacevic Builder, 2010). In Google Eric Schmidt prides himself in running an organization where less time and effort are delegated in terms of employee management. Back in 2002 when Eric Schmidt was hired as the CEO of the Google Incorporation he never realized that an organizational vision and direction could be largely defined by the creativity of the employees. The Google Incorporation founders Larry Page and Sergy Brin are even less involved in providing leadership and employee management. The leading factor that is used in staff recruitment at Google incorporation is the ability of a person to be creative. At Google incorporation employee are not managed per se but are put in very small teams of 3-5 persons and have as much leeway on any area they wish to focus that they believe hold potential of defining future opportunities with consumers. After a team comes up with an idea that they think the company should pursue they present all the facts in support of the idea including the budget requirement and possible time frame that might be required before initial results can be achieved for assessment, additional resources that would be necessary are also requested at this point (Tannenbaum Schmidt, 2008). The report is then presented to a committee comprised of very senior and experienced employees that would go through the report for vetting based on its strengths, resource requirements, time frame, and relevance of the application to consumer among other variables. Since employees are in an environment that continuously nurtures and encourages creativity at work place, more ideas keep coming from the employees that are as varied as the breath of products that Google incorporation keeps launching in the market place with an astonishingly regular rate. It is this Leissez-Faire leadership style by Eric Schmidt that is also the culture of the organization that has enabled Google to remain competitive and above all define new frontiers in the industry that some years back was unheard of. In just about ten years Google Incorporation has launched more consumer online products and applications than Microsoft has achieved in the decades that they have been operational (Kovacevic Builder, 2010). The future of Google as a company is going to be more influenced by the diversity of it employee which is the key to its strength besides the Leadership style that continues to encourage workplace creativity. As is now the norm Google is in a position to continue dominating the market share not only in online products but will continue chatting the future and the shape that future products will take and where online market wars will occur (Tannenbaum Schmidt, 2008). References Hofstede G. (2007). Culture and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw- Hill Publishers. Kovacevic, L., Builder, A.U. (2010). Google Incorporation Vs Microsoft Incorporation. Retrieved April 9, 2010 from http://www.builderau.com.au/strategy/soa/Google-vs-Microsoft/0,2000064882,339290499,00.htm Tannenbaum, R., Schmidt, W. (2008). How to Choose a leadership Pattern. Harvard Business Review, 733(23), Retrieved April 9th 2010 from http//www.havardbusinessreview.org U.S. Army Handbook. (1973). Military Leadership. Washington DC. Government Press.

A Doll’s House and The Cherry Orchard Essays -- Comparative, Ibsen, Ch

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard were famous for the way in which they depicted the changing of cultures. Both plays act as a sort of social commentary during times of widespread liberation, and use the contortive nature of these seemingly stereotypical characters’ actions to speak about groups of people as a whole. Throughout the course of both plays, this subversion of how different groups of people were typically perceived created a distinct contrast which often shocked and appalled audiences of the time. However, the effects of these plays were felt long after they were presented. Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, written in 1879, is set in late-19th century Norway. Upon publication, Ibsen’s biting commentary on 19th century marriage stereotypes created widespread uproar. In the play’s first act, the viewer is introduced to a young married couple by the names of Nora and Torvald. In tune with stereotypes of the time, the relationship is controlled almost dictatorially by the husband. Nora is often treated by Torvald the way one might expect a father to treat his daughter. For instance, Torvald incessantly refers to Nora by child-like nicknames such as â€Å"my little squirrel† and â€Å"skylark† and often speaks to her in a condescending manner. Nora, who acts as a symbol of all women of that time, initially fits in very well with the common perception of women in late-19th century Scandinavia. Torvald himself even extends this sentiment of male infallibility and female submissiveness to the whole female race, saying, â€Å"Almost everyone who has gone to the bad early in life has had a deceitful mother (Ibsen 27).† However, throughout the play Nora begins to break the mold of inferiority that was associ... ...Russian society and social norms. The greatest reminder of this is found in the fact that Lopahkin, the man who Ranevsky once spoke to condescendingly, is now the family’s last hope for survival. Ironically enough, Lopahkin is often glancing at his watch, a reminder that time is changing, and a message that he, himself, is a testament to. In both Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House the subversion of perception and the insubordination of supposedly inferior characters has massive implications on the overall message of the play. These mechanisms bring to light a multitude of questions about the correctness of social norms and the future of both Russian and Norwegian society. They are powerful reminders of ever-changing society and the nature of human relationships, and they leave the reader at once confused and motivated for change.

In Arthur Miller’s play the crucibl Essay

In Arthur Miller’s play the Crucible, Reverend Hale changes as the plot unfolds. When Reverend first arrives in Salem he is certain he will use scientific methods to find witches. As the court hearing begins to unfold, Reverend Hale opposes the actions being taken, thus begins using his own judgments. Hale attempts to save the guiltless when he realizes they were convicting innocent people. The plot takes place in 1619, in a small town named Salem. The town was young; being only 40 years old was very religiously strict. A group of teen girls were caught dancing naked in the woods. They started making accusations of witchcraft across the town. Reverend Hale, who was a witch expert, was called from a near by town to put a stop to the matter. One reason Reverend hale changed as the plot unfolds is because he at first believes that he will be using scientific methods to find witches. Hale firmly follows the law to sustain order. By keeping to his books he prepares himself to pay no heed to conclusions. He trusts his books to keep control over the problems arising in Salem. â€Å"†¦ all the invisible world, caught defined, and calculated. In these no fear now-we shall find him out if he has come among us, and mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face. † (Miller, 39) One reason Reverend Hale changed as the plot unfolds is because he at first believes that he will be using scientific methods to find witches. Subsequently Reverend starts to evolve his thinking during the trail and starts going by his own judgment. He pleads with the judge to let Proctor return, only to be rejected by him. Hale fought against the judge’s verdict realizing it was unjust. Hale then decided to leave the court. â€Å"I denounce these preceding. I quit the court. † (Miller, 115) Subsequently Reverend starts to evolve his thinking during the court hearing and starts going by his own judgment. Then at the end, Reverend changes even more when he realizes they were accusing every one of witchcraft and tries to save the innocent. Reverend declares he will not take a life of an innocent person â€Å"†¦ I am a minister of the Lord, and I dare not take a life without there be proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscious may doubt it. † (Miller, 99) He realizes that it is not the convicted people, but that of a hunt to find a cause for there problems. He encourages Mr. proctor to confess to witchery. Also pleading with Procter’s wife, he protests the foolishness of admitting to something you did not do. Finally Reverend Changes for the better realizing that not everyone is a witch and attempts to save the innocent Hale changes from being in favor of the witch trails to opposing it due to the amount of unnecessary convictions with sentences of death. He finds that, when you stop accusing people every for every incident and mishaps, many of the folks are innocent. It is hard to believe that many innocent people were killed during the Salem witch trials. Certainly nothing like that will ever happen today. Reverend Hale changes as the scheme unfolds in Arthur miller’s play, the crucible. Work Cited Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York Penguin, 1952 Jonathan Schneider Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

Psychology, Cognitive, And Behavioral - 942 Words

Every single human being goes through periods of feeling anxious or overwhelmed. It’s a part of the natural human behavior. Some of us go through bouts of depression that makes it hard for us to even get out of bed. Sometimes we suffer from really serious anxiety around things like test taking, flying, lots of things. All of which are brutalizing our self-worth and affecting our daily performances in work and life. At this point, one would be ready for professional help and, lucky for us, we have a lot of options. Psychotherapy includes a therapist using a range of techniques to help a patient overwhelm troubles, gain insight, and achieve personal growth. There is a variety of techniques to that experts analyze and treat ailments of the mind. They each create their own experience for a person looking for help and in fact, some approaches are better suited for treating certain psychological conditions than others. Psychotherapy is commonly grouped into three major schools or o rientations, which are humanistic, cognitive, and behavioral. I will also be discussing the areas of agreement and disagreement between these groups. Humanistic therapy, championed by Carl Rogers, Viktor Frankl, Fritz Perls and many others, focus on conscious material and believe the present and future are worth more attention than the past. The founders emphasized people’s inherent capacity for making rational choices, achieving self-acceptance, and attaining their maximum potential. Humanistic therapyShow MoreRelatedCognitive Psychology : Cognitive Behavioral Therapy1447 Words   |  6 PagesCognitive Behavioral Therapy Djiedjorm Doe (Dede) Middlesex Community College Cognitive behavioral therapy, commonly known as CBT, is a systematic process by which we learn to change our negative thought into more positive ones. CBT is a combination of two types of therapy, cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy. cognition is our thought, so cognitive behavioral therapy combines working with our thought process and changing our behavior at the same time. Cognitive behavioral therapistsRead MoreCognitive Behavioral Theory Of Psychology Essay1764 Words   |  8 PagesYosef Friedman Professor E Cohen History and System of Psychology (11280 LPSN 332) December 8, 2016 Final Cognitive Behavioral Theory: Cognitive Behavioral Theory can be divided into three parts, or â€Å"waves† of development. The first of the three is Behaviorism. In 1913 Watson launched the behavioral school of psychology, publishing an article, Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it. A few years later, in 1920 Watson and Rayner conditioned an orphan known as Little Albert to fear a white rat. In 1936Read MoreCognitive Psychology : Cognitive Behavioral Therapy1700 Words   |  7 PagesCognitive Behavioral Therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy is a school of psychotherapy that intends to assist individuals with conquering their emotional issues. A focal idea in CBT is that you feel the way you think. Therefore, CBT focuses on the fact that you can live all the more cheerfully and effectively in you begin thinking with a better mindset. CBT urges you to comprehend that you re thought process or beliefs lie between the occasion and your definitive sentiments and activities. TheRead MoreCognitive Psychology : Cognitive Behavioral Therapy1403 Words   |  6 PagesCognitive therapy, now called cognitive behavioral therapy was developed by Aaron Beck. Beck believed that dysfunctional thought processes and beliefs are responsible for an individual’s behaviors and feelings. He also believed that individuals’ have the ability identify these distorted thoughts and change them to more realistic thinking in order to relieve their psychological discomfort. This type of therapy is designed to be a short-term, straight-forward and structured approach to counseling inRead MoreCognitive Psychology : Cognitive Behavioral Therapy1502 Words   |  7 PagesCognitive Behavioral Therapy, in its most modern form, was developed in 1960 by Aaron T. Beck. However, CBT has an interesting history dating back to the 1920s in the United States and even earlier in other parts of the world. â€Å"Precursors of certain fundamental aspects of CBT have been identified in various ancient philosophical traditions, particularly Stoicism. Stoic philosophers, particularly Epictetus, believed logic could be used to identify and discard false beliefs that lead to destructiveRead MoreCognitive Psychology : Cognitive Behavioral Therapy2155 Words   |  9 PagesMedications are easy way out-it’s a form of escape that suppresses the illness rather than cure it. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, on the other hand, is a guided education technique that teaches one how to live a healthy lifestyle by understanding and overcoming their fear, thus curing the illness from it’s root. Cognitive behavioral therapy, a form of short-term psychotherapy was originally designed to treat depression, but over the years have been used for a number of mental illnesses includingRead MorePsychology : Cognitive Behavioral Theory840 Words   |  4 PagesCognitive-Behavioral Theory Presenting Concerns Catalina came to counseling seeking help in dealing with traumatic events from her past, which has led her to problems in her marriage, mistrust in others, and high levels of anxiety. She is having a difficult time letting go of the past. Catalina was physically abused by her aunt from the age for 10-14. The only male figure ever present in her life was her aunt’s son Roberto, who attempted to sexually abuse her when she was 14 years old. Although herRead MoreInterpersonal Psychology : Cognitive Behavioral Therapy1560 Words   |  7 Pages1970 s by Gerald Klerman, Myrna Weissman, and Eugene Paykel. Initially, IPT was the control treatment while investigating the effectiveness of antidepressants and found the treatment comparably effective to medications and as credible as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) (Robertson, Rushton, Wurm, 2008). According to Mechanism of Change in Interpersonal therapy (Lipsitz Markowitz, 2013) IPT was utilized in conjunction with medications t o treat depression then onto try and treat other typesRead MorePsychology : Cognitive Behavioral Therapy1823 Words   |  8 Pageswouldn’t be many goals or life changes within the client. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Key Concepts Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is based on the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not external things, like people, situations, and events. Beck called it cognitive therapy because of the importance it places on thinking. It is now known as CBT because the therapy employs behavioral techniques as well. Cognitive therapists believe that one s perceptions of situations areRead MoreBiological, Psychodynamic, Behavioral and Cognitive Approach to Psychology948 Words   |  4 Pagespsychodynamic psychologist could eventually be able to come to the conclusion that the unconscious painful memories of this murderer was what killed these people, not the offender himself. Another viewpoint would be seeing things from a behavioral approach. Behavioral meaning a controllable aspect of each individuals life, that can be altered and tweaked until it is near perfect. Take for instance a two year old child. From the day it was born to the time of it’s death, behaviors are taken in from lessons