Unit I Essay (Study Guide attached) APA 7th edition
MSL 6040, Current Issues in Leadership 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
6. Explain the significance of different types of leadership theories. 6.1 Identify the leadership theory that aligns with a specific leadership style. 6.2 Describe how leadership theories can help an individual in his or her future career.
Course/Unit Learning Outcomes
Learning Activity
6 Unit Lesson All Required Reading
6.1 Unit I Essay: Personal Leadership Training Plan: Template/Outline Overview
6.2 Unit I Essay: Personal Leadership Training Plan: Template/Outline Overview
Reading Assignment In order to access the following resources, click the links below: Kunnanatt, J. T. (2016). 3D leadership—Strategy-linked leadership framework for managing teams.
Economics, Management & Financial Markets, 11(3), 30–55. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=http://search.ebscohost.com/logi n.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=116928680&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Landis, E. A., Hill, D., & Harvey, M. R. (2014). A synthesis of leadership theories and styles. Journal of
Management Policy & Practice, 15(2), 97–100. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=http://search.ebscohost.com/logi n.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=100404843&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Zheng, Y., Graham, L., Epitropaki, O., & Snape, E. (2020). Service leadership, work engagement, and service
performance: The moderating role of leader skills. Group & Organization Management, 45(1), 43–74. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=bsu&AN=141028172&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Unit Lesson In this unit, we will be looking at the different types of leadership theories—specifically, the traditional, behavioral, situational, transactional, transformational, and visionary. Consider the following scenario: After the September 11 attack in New York, airlines and airports were forced to shut down, which left many travelers stranded without any way to get home. The leadership of many airlines did not know how to respond and decided to just wait and see what would happen. Southwest, however, decided to act. Southwest leadership decided to give customers refunds and did not reduce staff (Glynn, 2014). Southwest continued to strive for outstanding customer service, which paid off, and the company still managed to make a profit (Glynn, 2014). It takes a strong leader to act during times of crisis.
UNIT I STUDY GUIDE
Leadership Framework
MSL 6040, Current Issues in Leadership 2
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What are the takeaways from this lesson? What will we learn?
1. There are multiple classical schools of leadership theory and behavior. 2. A leader needs to know who he or she is with regard to attributes, knowledge, skill sets, and
experience. 3. A leader needs to read the situation and know how to integrate the correct leadership style by
synthesizing his or her traits in item #2 into the situation. 4. Realize that there is no “perfect” leadership style. You will have great success at times, and you will
fall short sometimes. It is all about gaining experience and applying what you have learned. 5. See how the 3D Leadership Framework gives a very dynamic approach by incorporating multiple
leadership theories into a single framework. Let’s start by making it clear that leadership is not easy. Leadership is a challenge. Why is leadership a challenge? Every day, a leader’s job revolves around a situation. Reflect on your day at work: What situations did you deal with at your level? What situations were brought to you to be solved? Leaders have to focus on many situational issues, but the main five are included below.
1. What is the requirement or the end state? 2. What is my vision and strategy to get there? 3. How do we motivate and integrate our people to meet the milestones and metrics to get to the end
state? 4. How do we deal with the challenges of employee relationships, employee maturity, motivation, and
organizational change? 5. Finally, how do I deal with setbacks and problems that I did not consider?
As you can see, there is a lot going on here and a lot that can go wrong. People may have issues dealing with motivation or dealing with inappropriate behavior. Additionally, there are operational processes that fall short of meeting goals and operational requirements that are not fully analyzed and, therefore, lead to additional problems. The possible setbacks with strategy, suppliers, and external force factors, such as laws, regulations, and social responsibility, can cause other problems as well. Bolden, Gosling, Marturano, and Dennison (2003) lay a solid foundation with regard to the classical leadership theories, which include the trait theory, the behavioral school (including McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y and the Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid), and the contingency situational school (including Fiedler’s Contingency Model and the Hersey-Blanchard [HB] Situational Leadership Model). Each theory described looks at the leader, the situations the leader is placed in, the leader’s actions in dealing with the situation, and the leader’s framework of internal values, norms, and behaviors that are based on attributes, knowledge, skill sets, and experiences. At this point, you can now see the value of the project within the course of developing a leadership template. Given all of these theories and behaviors, is there a perfect model? Is there a perfect type of leader? Is there a cookie-cutter approach to leadership and success? Absolutely not! The value of the assignment and each leadership theory you are presented with will work as the baseline in Unit I. Know yourself, know the situation, know the theories, and use them accordingly, given the situation. There is no steadfast rule that you cannot mix and match theories. Why would you lock yourself into a framework that might not work? The point here is that leadership is a fluid set of skills. Leaders read the situation, leaders look at the internal and external factors, and leaders react by choosing the correct behavior-contingency framework to deal with the situation. Now that you have read the major classical theories, let us look at Kunnanatt’s (2016) article, “3D Leadership—Strategy-Linked Leadership Framework for Managing Teams.” Kunnanatt’s (2016) model reflects upon all of the classical leadership theories. His framework addresses the introduction to this discussion with the following questions: What is the situation (environment)? Where does the leader have to take the organization or team (vision)? As a leader, what do we have to consider to move the organization forward and motivate employees and teams (behaviors, style, mode, and team management)? These are not stand-alone items; they are all synchronized together to determine an end state (Kunnanatt, 2016). You, therefore, cannot open a book or a corporate manual to have the answer. Instead, by comprehending the 3D framework that Kunnanatt (2016) delivers in his article, you can embrace all of the moving parts of a leader’s behavior in getting the job done correctly (through commanding, consulting, and confiding) from the motivational side of leadership to the guidance-driven side of leadership (high, medium, and low guidance).
MSL 6040, Current Issues in Leadership 3
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What does this translate to again? Read the situation as a leader. According to Kunnanatt (2016), the better you can read the situation, the more effective and efficient you will be in using the correct leadership style. You will be better able to delegate, develop, or direct the situation toward success through goals, mission objectives, and vision. The 3D framework embraces all of the classical theories of leadership, but it mostly mirrors the HB Situational Leadership Model. Please note that the word situation will appear again. This model, like the 3D model, reflects on three main points: task behavior, relationship behavior, and maturity. According to Bolden et al. (2003), the leader clearly has to define the task, objective, and requirement on what is to be accomplished. Second, the leader must have clear and open two-way communication with employees to establish deadlines and clear task fulfillment expectations. The final component is maturity. Think about life, work, and your family. Is everyone on the same maturity level? No, and if we were, we would live in a robotic society where everyone was the same. Leadership would be easy! However, this is not the case. Leadership is a challenge mostly due to everyone being different. Everyone has different attributes, knowledge levels, skill sets, and experiences that they reflect on and use to accomplish a task. Note that, at times, their skill sets are short of the requirement; hence, they need further direction. Bolden et al. (2003) note that the HB Situational Leadership Model takes two leader behavior paths: directive behavior and supportive behavior. Directive behavior involves one-way communication from the leader to the subordinate and close supervision of the subordinate to accomplish the task(s). Followers’ roles are clearly described in detail with clear expectations. The second part of the framework is supportive behavior. As you might have figured out, maturity levels are higher, comprehension of tasks is higher, communication is between the employee and the leader, and there is a clear interaction between both parties on expectations, deadlines, and the impact on the mission. In very simple terms, the leader reads the situation (maturity level of the employee) and determines the best way to tell, sell, participate, or delegate the task. Again, read the situation.
References Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano, A., & Dennison, P. (2003). A review of leadership theory and competency
frameworks. Retrieved from http://www2.fcsh.unl.pt/docentes/luisrodrigues/textos/Lideran%C3%A7a.pdf
Glynn, M. (2014, May 19). Ex-Southwest Airlines CEO offers lessons in leadership from post-9/11 crisis.
Buffalo News. Retrieved from http://www.buffalonews.com/business/ex-southwest-airlines-ceo-offers- lessons-in-leadership-from-post-911-crisis-20140519
Kunnanatt, J. T. (2016). 3D leadership—Strategy-linked leadership framework for managing teams.
Economics, Management & Financial Markets, 11(3), 30–55. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=http://search.ebscohost.com/logi n.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=116928680&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Suggested Reading In order to access the following resources, click the links below: The article below shows how a leader can select his or her leadership style based upon those whom he or she is leading and the needs of those individuals. Blanchard, K. (2008). Situational leadership. Leadership Excellence Essentials, 25(5), 19. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=bth&AN=31950744&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Consider reviewing the website below, which is affiliated with Paul Hersey and contains information concerning trainings following the Situational Leadership Model.
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Center for Leadership Studies: http://www.situational.com/ The website below is where you can find information about workshops, speakers, training materials, and the Ken Blanchard Executive MBA program. Ken Blanchard Companies: http://www.blanchardtraining.com/ The article below also examines the Situational Leadership Model, as no leadership model fits all clients and situations. Lang, D. (2016, April). Choosing an appropriate leadership style. NZ Business + Management, 30(3), M30.
Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=bth&AN=113772996&site=ehost-live&scope=site
The article below depicts Jack Stahl, the former Chief Executive at Coca-Cola and Revlon. The article examines some of Stahl’s leadership tips and ways to stay current. Prewitt, M. (2007, September 11). The situational leader. Retrieved from http://www.strategy-
business.com/article/li00042?gko=f3702