Participative leadership styles is focused on a democratic theory. The ability to involve
team members in the decision making process. Team members will feel included, engaged
and motivated to contribute. This type of leader will normally have the last word in the
decision-making processes. However, if there are disagreements within a group, it can be a
time-consuming process to reach a consensus. So they are focused on the entirety of the
group, yet in the end make the final decision. Interestingly, I have worked for both men and
women leaders; and they have rotated the different types of leadership styles. Some women
are dictator-like and don’t like other women in similar roles, so talk down to them. Some
women build other women up. This is the same for men. There have been authoritative
men, and men leading through group discussion and respectfully communicating. It comes
down to the person, and what their personal style is.The person in my career I had most
difficulty with was a female manager. She didn’t like my management style, which is very
involved and understanding of others. She wanted me to become an authoritative
disrespectful in management. I was unwilling to change who I was to be a “dark” person.
Ultimately, it caused me so much stress over a year and a half that I got very sick. It was
“the perfect storm.” Due to her personality, she doesn’t have a close group of friends nor
co-workers. Looking back, maybe that is her personality, and doesn’t mind being on the
dark side. In the end, I am very happy with where I am today. In a management role that I
can be myself, and support a good cause. I feel that compassion, respect, humility, and
optimism are very valuable traits to have as a leader. I see a good leader as someone that is
humble and willing to take accountability for their mistakes rather than blame others. I
think a good leader is honest and open with good communication skills.I was working at a
technology retailer, and I started with a male manager and then a female manager took his
place when he left the company. I noticed that my job satisfaction increased once the male
manager left. I was more at ease because the female leader was more compassionate. My
sales actually increased because I felt I had more support rather than someone just breathing
down my back for results. I had a supervisor that I would describe as narcissistic. She did
everything she could to gain personal power and acted like she was superior to everyone.
Yes, she was in a position of authority, but she did not treat others with respect. She also
displayed Machiavellianism because she was manipulative and encouraged her subordinates
to break policy to get faster results. Her behavior hindered her success because she lost the
respect of her team after years of manipulation. I had a supervisor during a three year
period that initially just would drive me crazy. We were constantly clashing and having
issues working together to the point that others would set up a mediation to try to ease the
situation. One day, while having one of these meetings, I noticed that throughout all of the
meetings he always kept his calm and that I would be the one showing all the signs of
aggression Eventually I realized that he wasn't the problem, I was. Naturally, I corrected my
mannerism in his presence from then on. He became one of my closest friends and my
mentor. This was all due to his experience with dealing with employees like myself. He
knew that a logical person would eventually pay attention to the underlining issues and
make the necessary self corrections. I went on to learn the majority of my leadership style
from him. Someone I a would consider a great leader would be Abraham Lincoln. He was
determined, persistent, courageous, and had strong beliefs. Abraham Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation which ended slavery in the US. After reflecting on the traits
and leadership styles of a male and female leader there are some differences between their
approaches to leadership. Females in my opinion are very task oriented and focus
thoroughly on completing a task. I also believe their communication sometimes can be
indirect. Males in my opinion are a bit more laid back. I believe they have a more direct
way of communicating as well. A time I saw someone display behaviors that would be
consistent with the "dark side" traits such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, and
psychopathy would be at one of my previous jobs. At that company I dealt with
management being manipulative and very selfish. Those are dark traits that are bad for
companies and ideally can cause you to lose great employees. It can hinder ones success
because nobody will want to work with you if you are displaying dark traits. There are a lot
of great leaders throughout the world. But I want to focus in the sports area. One of the
biggest names in football if not the biggest, I think is a great leader. His name is Tom
Brady. When the other players get to play with such a great QB I feel like it brings the best
out of them. He knows what to do in almost every situation and is very vocal and let's
every one know what they need to do. I think one of the biggest attributes he has is
determination. It doesn't matter how bad the game is going, he is going to give it his all
every single drive. He isn't only a great quarterback and leader on the field, he is also a
great man off the field. He has donated tons of money to help provide meals for people in
need due to Covid and several other things. When it comes to male and female "leaders" I
have worked with I think the men are so much more relaxed. I feel like when women get
that manager position they are so worried about holding that standard they seem to be too
uptight and kind of rude. She was definitely a narcissist and it ruined peoples days and
ended up making a lot of people hate their job or just ended up quitting. I feel like America
needs to fix the whole standard of women in leadership because I think when they get that
position it kind of stresses them out. I would consider Nelson Mandela as a good leader.
His need for peace, forgiveness, and patience shows great leadership. He led the fight
against apartheid in South Africa, and he never gave up despite being incarcerated for 27
years. He inspired others by acting on his beliefs for the betterment of the people.
I have worked for a male supervisor who was very authoritative. He would hold meetings
and ask for opinions and suggestions, but at the end, what he wanted to happen is how it
went. His final decisions were always the answer to any issues that happened on the job.
On the other hand, he was very good giving feedback after his constructive criticism. He
would always provide solutions that actually worked.I, and some of my coworkers,
considered a woman supervisor I worked for in the past as a narcissist. She wanted control
in everything and would micromanage frequently. Any results or improvements made, she
always referred to herself for making it happen instead of praising the team as a whole. She
wasn't supportive and negative at many times. Because of her behavior, many employees,
like myself, left that job and started working for a company where they felt more
appreciated. One person I consider a significant leader is Nelson Mandela. I see some
character traits in him that make him splendid determined, intelligent, kind, and thoughtful.
I am lucky enough to have witnessed great female and male leaders who exhibit the same
traits. However, I find that male leaders tend to be more confident and bold in their
management skills. Machiavellians are sly, deceptive, distrusting, and manipulative. I have
experienced this manager when I was in working in fast food and the manager ould show
favoritism to those who went out their way to stroke their ego and become their friends.
Someone that I consider or view as a great leader and have the assess the traits and
interpersonal attributes that cause me to view him as a great leader that is in the public eye
would be Muhammad Ali. Some people would not think Muhammad Ali to be a great
leader, but he has many of the traits and interpersonal attributes that are necessary for
effective leadership. He is intelligent, articulate, and charismatic that made him a great
leader. Not only was he a great boxer, but he had a successful career that gave him a unique
platform to be an ambassador, a champion of social causes and a role model: one of the
greatest characteristics of a leader. He stood by his values and believed in his abilities.
Muhammad Ali had leadership qualities that he fought for us all with his inclination,
service, character, and his unrelenting desire to fight for the principles of peace, equality,
freedom, and self-determination. Muhammad Ali fought for us all. This is what made him
an authentic, purpose-driven leader. He had changed the world and he dedicated his entire
life or years to philanthropy and humanitarianism, pursuits that took him all around the
world to devote justice for numerous causes and goodwill missions.Reflecting on the traits
and leadership style of a male leader and those of a female leader with whom I had worked
for and describing any key differences between their approaches to leadership and their
male and female counterparts I would say that first thing is having been in the military and
having both male and female leadership from the top to the bottom of the leadership chain
as supervisor or commanders. Well, in my opinion the female leadership traits and
leadership style tend to be a little more approachable an tend to have a more cooperative,
democratic participatory style of leading and the male leadership style tend to have a more
aggressive, directive, type or a more take command and control, task-oriented style of
leadership. So, in retrospect there are many qualities associated in being an effected leader
for both men and woman that can make for an effective leader and I really do not see no
significant gender differences in leadership and the individual traits or skills that they
possess for the job and qualities that will make that person an excellent leader, it is just
depending on that person career goals, beliefs and personal strengths.Describing the time, I
saw someone display behaviors that would be consistent with the “dark side” traits of
narcissism, Machiavellianism, and/or psychopathy would be the time I was in the military
overseas in Germany at a joint command with Germany. The one commander or general for
Germany that was under our command but thought he oversaw us and showed the traits of
the dark side. These negative traits had a negative effect on the workplace or command and
caused serious damage to the command international leadership cooperation between the
two countries and had to be addressed actively and vigorously, to the extent did those traits
hinder the person’s career success in the organizations and had to be reassigned somewhere
else for the betterment of not only the command but for the Germany general himself. our
society needs business laws to protect employees from problem leaders. Laws like the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 attempt to legislate ethical behavior in large organizations by
instituting transparency as well as checks and balances. This law was designed to prevent
recurrence of Enron-like events. However, greedy managers may find other ways to abuse
subordinates and defraud the public. b I am not sure that we can legislate ethical leadership
behavior. Especially given the current corruption on both "sides of the aisle." Those who
are elected into office no longer have the best interest of the American people in their
minds, if they ever did in the first place. And considering they're the ones in charge of
legislation, it's hard to imagine them passing or following any legislation that limits
themselves. I have noticed that with age seems to come more patience also. I have noticed
that the older more experienced employees at work are better at handling the more
complicated issues. I do not think this is due to more expertise in their areas but more
credited to them taking their time and seeing the whole problem first instead of jumping
right into it. Thank you for your post Keron it is an eye opener for me to step back and
think first before over reacting. I think the overall experience of this class is that female
managers are more compassionate and offer a greater sense of support. I wonder what we
can do in our work culture to change that? Is it that we associate great males with more
authoritarian-type roles?. I also have endured the advantages of having both male and
female bosses and I can see the female leaders being more lenient towards personal issues
and not necessarily showing forgiveness, but having a sense of emotional connection
towards the employee that they are dealing with. On the flip side of that coin, I have also
dealt with female bosses that have seem to not even like themselves. I think this can fall
equal on both sides. Toxic leadership still exists on both ends of the spectrum. However, I
don't agree with the comparison of the greats of the past as examples for this assignment for
only one reason. I would never choose any of them because I never knew them. I would
rather cast judgement of this type on the individuals that I am aware of and are fully
capable of completing all tasks at hand in a respectable manner.
