pad 515

Theories of Leadership

Strayer University

PAD 515

Leadership Theories and Styles

Leadership theories and leadership styles are fundamental aspects as far as leadership and management are concerned. Leadership theories and styles may be used to explain and or define an individual's leadership approach. Therefore, it is imperative to understand theories and styles of leadership to help you be more effective in your role as a leader, particularly if your leadership position needs you to collaborate with people or the public regularly. A public leader is someone who holds a public office and serves the community at large. Typically, leadership theories study a good leader (Ahmed, Nawaz & Khan, 2016). Therefore, two leadership theories that define good public service leaders are transformational theory and transactional theory.

The transformational theory explains leadership as an outcome of a good relationship between leaders and followers (Ahmed et al., 2016). Therefore, according to the transformational approach, also known as relational theory, effective leaders ought to relate well with team members to change them for good. Transformational public leaders should motivate via their passion for the job (Giles, 2016). Besides, they are supposed to act as role models for their followers. Studies demonstrate that a transformational leader focuses on a team member's input and needs to transform every follower into a leader by supporting and inspiring them (Ahmed et al., 2016).

The transactional theory views effective leadership as one that is typified by hierarchy and focuses on results. Therefore, according to this theory, leaders ought to focus on rewards and penalties. Past research on leadership theories described transactional leadership as a contingency-reward form of administration characterized by optimistic and active exchanges between leaders and followers. The latter are rewarded for achieving the set goals or objectives (Ahmed et al., 2016). In a nutshell, this is common among public leaders where good performers are rewarded, poor performers are penalized, and order and hierarchy are prioritized more than creativity and innovativeness.

A Leadership style can be defined as the way through which a leader approaches the management of others. Leadership styles culminate studies on leadership theories; hence, each leadership style encompasses distinct qualities. Two of the common leadership styles for public leaders are authoritarian and democratic. An authoritarian leader is one who makes decisions without consulting anyone (Ahmed et al., 2016). They are controlling and demanding. Often, public service needs leaders who can independently make quick, definite, and clear decisions without seeking another person's input. After all, some situations need swift decisions such that lack of input from other involved individuals or teams would not affect the outcome. Some of the public service leaders who often use the authoritarian style of leadership are military generals. Usually, army officers are known for their tendency to shout orders to their juniors loudly.

A democratic leader is someone who allows others to participate in the decision-making process. Specifically, democratic leadership allows members of a team to share their opinions to influence the ultimate decision (Ahmed et al., 2016). It is important to note that while consensus is paramount, the leader is responsible for the final decision. However, one must listen attentively and take into consideration all the views before deciding what next. The appropriate way in which democratic leadership can be used is in the office of a mayor when the local government wants to increase land rates. The mayor must call all the relevant players to decide the most appropriate land rates for landowners within a municipality.

Differences between Successful Leaders in Public, Private, and Nonprofit Organizations Public, private, and nonprofit organizations vary greatly. Organizations in the public sector, for instance, focus on ensuring that a country runs effectively, whether at a local, state, or national level. On the other hand, organizations in the private sector are driven by high revenue and greater growth. Similarly, there are immense differences between successful leaders in these organizations. According to Lamo, Perez & Schuknecht, 2012), organizational goals and objectives represent the primary difference between successful leaders in public and private organizations. For instance, a successful leader in a public firm pursues and accomplishes goals such as effective the provision of different products and or services to members of the public. In contrast, a successful leader in the private sector manages to maximize financial returns for the company or its investors. Successful leaders in the private sector focus on wage management (Lamo et al., 2012), while in the public sector, they focus on the quality of service delivery.

Meanwhile, a successful leader in nonprofit organizations achieves a balance between expenditures, skills, and time. This can be attributed to the fact that nonprofit organizations are involved in charitable activities to help the public. Therefore, such organizations do not make any profit as they rely on sponsors and well-wishers. Thus, the capability to ensure the organization has adequate funds to run its operations is another attribute that differentiates successful nonprofits’ leaders from their counterparts in the public and private sectors. Successful leaders in private and nonprofit should maintain high standards or ethics while ethical leadership is largely ignored (Kar, 2020).

Excellent Leadership is a Born Ability

I think that leadership is a product of many things. Leadership may be an inborn quality for some people while contributing to other factors such as learning. Also, for other people, leadership may be a product of challenge or need. That leadership is inborn is a subject that has been debated since time immemorial. Many people believe all leaders are born. However, I disagree with this idea because many other leaders adopt leadership skills through learning or from circumstances. All the same, I think that excellent leaders are born and not made. That is to say, people born with leadership abilities or skills are likely to be better leaders than people who became leaders through training or coaching or due to circumstances. The great man theory of leadership backs the concept of leadership being an inherent ability. To be precise, this theory postulates that good leaders are never made, but born (Ahmed et al., 2016). Indeed, a born leader will inevitably have all the natural attributes of leadership. These include courage, intelligence, intuition, and confidence, among others (Giles, 2016). Such attributes may not be learned and are rarely developed by coincidence.

Nonetheless, research indicates that some attributes can only be learned. According to Giles (2016), some leadership attributes are difficult to master because they are not inherent within a human being. This means a leader will have to take time to develop and perfect them against their nature. For example, attributes such as high moral and ethical standards are developed (Giles, 2016). Therefore, while some leaders may be developed, those born with leadership qualities are more effective in leadership positions. Moreover, they are more likely to develop important learnable attributes such as ethical standards faster than those born without leadership abilities.

References

Ahmed, Z., Nawaz, A., & Khan, U. I. (2016). Leadership theories and styles. Journal of Resources Development and Management, 16, 1-7.

Giles, S. (2016). The most important leadership competencies, according to leaders around the world. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/03/the-most-important-leadership-competencies-according-to-leaders-around-the-world

Kar, S. (2020). Ethical leadership: Best practice for success. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM), e-ISSN: 2278-487X, p-ISSN: 2319-7668, 112-116.

Lamo, A., Perez, J. J., &Schuknecht, L. (2012). Public or private sector wage leadership? An international perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 114(1).