Blueprint for Professional &Personal Growth
Segun Adeyemi
Walden University
10/17/2015
Blueprint for Professional &Personal Growth
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I am a MBA student taking different courses to develop a great understanding of the various aspects that businesses entails. I want to be well –versed in a variety of other areas that will make me confident in my career. ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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”.
As a good follower, I need to accept responsibility and I need to be aware of the tasks that I have to take on. I have to readily support my leader at all times and I should be able to voice my opinions to my leader in a very supportive way. Leaders can only lead an organization successfully if they have personalities that appeal to their followers. The individual reflection and big five
There is a great importance put on business leadership, this is directly due to how a business not only functions but in how fruitful the company can become. A great leader essentially can take a business plan that is weak yet turn it into a success, whereas a poor leader stands a higher chance of ruining the best of business plans. That is why it is essential to develop effective leadership throughout a companies entire management program at all levels. How does one develop or retain strong leadership? Companies must be focused on hiring strategies that encompass very specific parameters, building from within whilst creating a strong foundation for employee development and succession planning. Leadership is essential in any organization. The style and theory embraced determines whether the company will or will not achieve their goals. in all cases theory must be embraced, as a companies theory, style, and strategy is greatly dependent on the industry the company is in (Sadler, 2014). “The behavioral theory is one of the widely used theories of management. It suggests that leaders are made and not born. It gives room for training to install leadership traits in leaders at the expense of denying them a chance. There are various leadership styles embraced by companies (Cyert, & March, 2005).” This paper takes a look at the management styles of two specific
A1. Leadership Style Upon conducting research, it is clear that the definition of “leadership” is not agreed upon. It is fluid, based upon many perceptions, situations, and surroundings. According to Robinson (2010), adopting a specific style of leadership is rather futile as it is, “contingent on the personal traits of the leader, the people being led, and the nature of the activity.” Tools are available to help guide potential leaders in determining a preferred style of leadership. For example, utilizing the “Leadership Self-Assessment
This course has provided me with a multitude of tools, and it has definitely taught me to put careful thought into every situation as it pertains to change; whether it relates to work, school, or things that are going on in my personal life. These tools are both important and necessary in order to become an effective manager in the future.
Leadership scholars have presented many theories in understanding leadership. However, making sense of hundreds of books and thousands of studies is a complicated task, which is why many mistakenly think that leadership is an indefinable phenomenon. Some of us presume complete authority in our own favored ways. Novel leaders often discard the entire system used by the exiting leaders. In a catastrophic situation, persistence on individual style can be helpful; yet in a democratic culture, leaders don’t own the organization and must consider the right of the followers. Personal style and preference must be avoided in
Is leadership more imperative than management? First, let’s appreciate what a leader and a manager are or do. According to (Daft, 2015), leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes (p. 5). Therefore, a leader enjoys a high degree of influence and soft skills and appeals largely to the intrinsic needs of their followers, subsequently the extrinsic needs of their followers come as a result of their work.
Leadership Theory versus Leadership Practice can be compared to as two whole different worlds. Leadership Theories are explained and built in an imaginary world by taking few real life factors that might affect decision making of a leader. Whereas leader ship in practice is decision making of a leader in an unpredictable world. This paper is all about the compare and contrasts between Leadership Theory versus Leadership Practice, give my personal opinion on this topic and come to a conclusion if Leadership Theory and Leadership Practice are same always or they are different sometimes. According to Lussier and Achua (2012) there is a leader in everyone and everyone plays a role of a leader. In practical life you are a leader for your life. There are hundreds of fine studies and theories are produced for the past multiple decades which studies the leadership styles, their traits and sorting procedures for an understanding of your personal traits and leadership style. These studies and theories are of a huge importance for a self as well as for an organization. For self, according to me these studies gives valuable information on yourself traits, know more about you and your hidden talents. This will be a huge help in improving your positives and your strengths and also correcting your negatives and your weaknesses. Coming to an organization, these studies and tools are like a power shields for the Human resources team and the management team to hire a new employee or promote a
The leader-follower theory combines methods from other leadership and followership theories; such as adaptive change theory, social identity theory and leader-member exchange. According to Grayson (n.d.), “The possible development of a single formal leadership theory allows business leaders and educators to explore the way firms organize effective leadership, and provide direction to middle management and other administrative workers” (para 2). It is important to understand that without followers, there would not be leaders. Leaders have clearly defined roles in a workplace environment; the expectations with upper level leaders must be met. However, the relationship and expectations with the follower must be met as well. Pertaining to leader and follower
There are so many dimensions and concept to the very idea of what is leadership, how to define leadership, what traits and characteristics makes a great leader, and what is the purpose of leadership. It can be about perspective and whom it is that defines what makes a leader because in some environments the term leadership and management are interchangeable. A leader is more than the authority figurehead that controls the decision-making and direction of a group of people. According to Fairholm & Fairholm (2009) a leader will create a culture of trust, progress, and growth that enables the workers/followers to grow mature and develop to their fullest potential and at the same time to develop the leader skills (Fairholm & Fairholm, 2009, p. 2).
“Leadership can be defined as a process by which one individual influences others toward the attainment of group or organizational goals. Three point about the definition of leadership should be emphasized. First, leadership is a social influence process. Leadership cannot exist without a leader and one or more followers. Second, leadership elicits voluntary action on the part of followers. The voluntary nature of compliance separates leadership from other types of influence based on formal authority. Finally, leadership results in followers’ behavior that is purposeful and goal-directed in some sort of organized setting. Many, although not all, studies of leadership focus on the nature of leadership in the workplace.” (referenceforbusiness) When looking at the theory behind leadership this is the true sense of leadership. In this paper we will examine further into the leadership model that deals with team performance outcomes. We will also, look a couple of examples of contemporary leadership theories and further explain how a leader who follows the leadership theory how that leader would interact with members of their team to maxim the full strength of each team member.
I performed a self-evaluative test to find what kind of leader I am and found that by large I am a participative leader. I do agree with these test findings, as I feel each team member is equally important. I do not believe that any one person can have all the answers to everything, rather, that everyone should work together and come up with solutions. In regards to the other two leadership styles, I scored next highest in the delegate category and the least amount in the authoritative category. In this paper I will give a comprehensive overview of leadership styles and leadership management theories and how they relate to my style. Lastly, I will discuss my type of work environment, and three key actions or behaviors that I must demonstrate to be a successful leader.
Leadership style has an impact on all aspects of business in organization. Therefore over the last four decades, leadership scholars and practicing
This paper will identify one leadership theory or style that best aligns with my own personal thoughts of what leadership means. This paper will provide information as it pertains to
In today’s vibrant and difficult environment, upcoming business models are surfacing and an important aspect of all these new models is leadership. Leadership has never been emphasized so much as before more than ever leadership is recognized as central to determine the success or failure of any organization. (Sadler 2003) According to Achua and Lussier, “Leadership is the influencing process of leaders and followers to achieve organization objective through changes”. With this growth in importance of leaders, the numbers of theories about leadership has increase as well. With these new theories and ideas about
There is the age old question of what is the difference between a manager and a leader? Most people will say that you can’t be a manager without being a leader. Leadership and management are an ongoing development.This search for the characteristics or traits of leaders has been ongoing for centuries. Some people believe they go hand in hand and some believe they are two complete different things. This continues development had resulted in many different theories over the centuries. In this paper we will discuss in detail, the most common and recent theories and what each one means as well as well as what is it that leaders and managers do, can leaders and managers be one in the same. I will
There are various theories of leadership and they each carry their own values for decades now. To become a successful leader one must not only understand but learn to follow them as well. Leadership should be distinguished from management. Management involves planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling, and a manager is someone who performs these functions. A manager has formal authority by virtue