Leadership Effectiveness in Organizations Essay

Introduction

The aim of this report is to highlight leadership effectiveness in organizational frameworks. The text also sheds light on the healthy impact that a capable leader has on the organization’s performance. These discussions on the effective leaders will be backed by studies that highlight key leadership theories, concepts and models. Furthermore, leadership styles would also be discussed and a consensus on the most effective leadership style will be drawn. Finally, the essay will be concluded by drawing a reasonable assertion based on the most viable definition of an effective leader.

Leadership Theories

The role of an effective leader is integral to the organization’s operations (Sirisetti, 2011). Effective institutional leaders create empowering organizational cultures, clarify the organizational values and it’s objectives and also efficiently integrate all organizational resources to achieve the best outcomes for the company (Zeb, Ahmad, & Saeed, 2018). Furthermore, the leader also acts as a role model for his employees, keeps the employees adhered to their job commitments and is able to successfully mold their beliefs and values in coherence to the organization’s needs (Hao & Yazdanifard, 2015). This enables the company to successfully achieve it’s goals and increase it’s profitability. 

Effective leaders possess certain personality traits that makes them a suitable fit for the management position. These traits include drive, honesty and integrity, leadership motivation, self-confidence and cognitive ability. The trait theory defines drive as the energy, the ambition and the tenacity to achieve the organizational objectives. Furthermore, it also includes the initiative-taking capability. The persistence of this drive determines the success of the organization. Honesty and integrity has been defined as the ability of the manager to pursue ethical/moral leadership and execute his tasks with utter trustworthiness (Ahmed & Bach, 2014). Research suggests that honesty was ranked as the most powerful attribute when leadership effectiveness was measured. Hence, this is one of the most powerful personality traits (Wieck, Prydun, & Walsh, 2002).

Leadership motivation has been described as the ability to lead and avoid the misuse of power. This trait is essential since it encourages the employees and enables them to practice commitment and persistence (Naile & Selesho, 2014). Furthermore, it also creates a positive environment that increases the employees’ productivity. Self-confidence has been linked to the idea of the leader having emotional stability, extraversion, stress tolerance, sociability and a sense of alignment to the vision. The adherence to the vision is particularly important for the leader since he uses his own core beliefs, values and guiding principles to influence the labor class working under him (Flynn & G, 2008). Lastly, cognitive ability has been defined as the ability of an individual to be more conscientious and open to experiences. The cognitive ability would enable the leaders to confidently develop strategies, engage into problem-solving, motivate employees and closely monitor the environment. Moreover, leaders with greater cognition also have powerful analytical skills hence, they are able to gather, integrate and interpret bundles of information in a short span of time. Therefore, possessing this trait would enhance the effectiveness of the leader to a great level (Ahmed & Bach, 2014).  

One essential consideration in the Trait Theory has been highlighted by (Zaccaro, 2007), who came up with the multistage Model of Leadership. The researcher considered the ‘interaction with the environment’ as an integral characteristic in the development of an effective leader. Furthermore, he developed the model on two fundamental premises. The first premise stated that the effective leadership is a result of a combined set of traits, instead of just separate, independent traits (Nyukorong & Quisenberry, 2016). For instance, a constellation of social and cognitive qualities would create an impactful leader. Cognitive ability without social competence would fail to depict an effective leader (Zaccaro, 2007). Furthermore, the second premise of the multi-stage model states that the leadership characteristics may largely vary depending on the consequent proximal effect on leadership This means that certain traits such as cognitive and personal qualities etc. serve as potential precursors for the development of further advanced personality traits. Moreover, the model also highlights some intrinsic leadership traits which includes decision-making, problem-solving skills, creativity, flexibility and managerial skills etc. (Nyukorong & Quisenberry, 2016). 

By combining multiple traits like need for achievement, assertiveness, intelligence, task competence, responsibility, adaptability, decisiveness, trustworthiness, the trait theory remains a successful measure in ensuring that these traits prove to create effective leaders in organizational frameworks. These personality traits would enable the leaders to manage the employees efficiently, increase employee satisfaction, elevate organizational performance and profitability and motivate all the employees to stay adhered to the organization’s mission, vision and objectives (Fleenor, 2006)

Trait Theory has proven to be an effective determinant of effective leaders in organization, however in certain situations the theory fails to achieve it’s aim. One of such instances may be when a leader derails on the job by failing to exploit his full potential. Studies show that around 47 percent of people in leadership positions end up falling in this bracket. Those leaders may be low on integrity, honesty, conscientious and extroversion etc. thereby yielding a low level of personality traits (Parr, Lanza, & Bernthal, 2016). Furthermore, trait theory identifies a number of traits that should be present in effective leaders, however, arguments on the most effective leadership traits are still pertinent. Hence, the trait theory fails to predict one exact definition of a successful leader. Moreover, there has been several studies that defy the concept of the trait theory. One such study by Ralph Melvin Stogdill asserted that leadership is not based on predefined qualities, in fact it is based on social and situational interaction (Cherry, 2019). Hence, it can be affirmed that trait theory is an effective way to justify successful leadership, however, it is not the best way to define it.

Effective leadership in organizations can also be attained by following the contingency theory. The contingency approach suggests that effective leadership can be attained by matching leadership styles to worker’s needs and to the characteristics of the work situation (Gill, 2011). Hence, this theory suggests that there are no best leadership styles. Following this theory and the Ohio and Michigan Leader behavioral theories, the path-Goal theory was introduced under the contingency theories. It involved the leader to employ different behaviors in different situations in order to amplify the employee satisfaction and increase endeavors towards the task accomplishments. This approach also gave an opportunity to the leaders to encourage subordinates to achieve specific results (Kovach, 2018). This theory identifies that an organization can portray effective leadership by showcasing four kinds of leadership behaviors in different situations. These include relationship-oriented, task-oriented, participative-oriented and achievement-oriented leadership behaviors (Zeithamal, Varadarajan, & Zeithaml, 37-64)

A successful leader portrays the relationship oriented style of leadership when the task being given to the employees is boring and extensive. In such a situation, the subordinates are in a dire need of encouragement and a friendly attitude that would ease the task accomplishment for them. Providing this support will help boost the employees’ self-confidence, increase employee satisfaction, mitigate their dissatisfaction, stress, fear of failure and enable them to move boldly towards their learning goals and objectives. The second most important leadership style, known as the directive/task-oriented approach will be used by wise leaders when the employees fail to comprehend the instructions of a task and are unsure on how to achieve their respective goals. Effective leadership will be showcased when the leader is able to quickly respond to the subordinate’s problems. The leader should be able to direct the employee towards the procedures, standards and rules that would be followed to achieve the consequent goals. Furthermore, the leader should make sure that the employees engage in planning and organizing activities that will help them to understand the organization’s structure and it’s standards of performance (Farhan, 2018)

The third leadership style is the participative leadership which involves the leader to share duties and responsibilities amongst employees (Nahavandi, 2015). This step enables the employees to feel empowered and thereby increases employee satisfaction and performance. Furthermore, a successful organization will employ this leadership style wisely by using this as a tool to encourage innovation, creativity, collection of diverse ideas, solutions and suggestions. The fourth leadership style proposed under the Path-Goal theory is the achievement-oriented approach to Leadership. This approach is particularly employed by effective leaders when the efforts are faced towards a challenging task/goal. In this scenario, the employees expect leaders to have confidence in their performance and achievement of goals. The leaders can successfully adapt this role by eliminating obstacles amidst the goals, pushing for achievement and delegating responsibilities. These leadership styles when properly employed will lead to the development of effective leaders who are able to fulfill the organizational objectives and are able to keep the employees satisfied (Farhan, 2018).

The contingency approach has been a very productive approach in explaining leadership effectiveness however, this approach fails to highlight some integral characteristics of leaders. It fails to highlight the charismatic and the visionary aspect of leadership. Furthermore, it also lacks focus on the leader’s ability to be innovative and inspirable at all times (Khan & Nawaz, 2016). This theory’s extra emphasis on the situation of the problem, also drifts attention from the characteristics of the leader himself. Also, this theory is very rigid to practice since it defines four leadership styles and bounds all leaders to be present in either of the brackets (Martin, 2019). This criticism proves that despite the efficiency of the contingency theory, it has multiple limitation and hence it cannot be assumed as the most effective measure in this regard. 

Leadership Styles

In today’s competitive world, most of the great organizations possess brilliant leaders who are well-versed at monitoring and supervising the employee’s performance. An excellent leader will enable the employees to become more dynamic and proactive, thereby increasing the productivity of the work executed. Therefore, the leadership styles pursued by various leaders are a core consideration in influencing the organizational culture and performance (Carnes, Houghton, & Ellison, 2015).

There are a wide variety of leadership styles that managers adapt in order to become more effective. This may vary from an autocratic approach to a democratic, entrepreneurial, servant and a narcissistic approach. However, the most common amongst these are the autocratic and democratic styles. Leaders who adapt the autocratic style tend to exercise power and authority at a greater level. These managers do not engage their employees in the decision-making process, use a structured and a fixed system of rewards and punishments to influence their employees and communicate in the form of instructions and orders. Under such a leadership, a disciplined work place is established and clear instructions are given on the tasks to be executed. The manager may employ both the positive and negative reinforcements depending on the employees’ code of conduct. This kind of leadership style tends to maintain stability instead of introducing change and aims at attaining specific goals for both the leader and the employees (Lussier & Achua, 2004). This style may elevate leadership effectiveness since the positive reinforcements used by the leader may enable the employees to adapt the correct behavior and properly endeavor to achieve the goals (Alia, Janggaa, Ismaila, Kamala, & Alib, 2015)

 On the other hand, the democratic style of leadership is described as the ability of the manager to encourage intellectual simulation through inspiration and motivation. This leadership style enables the employees to be a part of the decision-making and achieve extraordinary outcome through their own hard work. The managers following this style, delegate work responsibilities to all the employees and establish a positive work environment by boosting employee satisfaction, employee morale and team spirit. The employees’ productivity increases since they attain a sense of freedom to work on the goals and stay coordinated with their manager. These leaders encourage their subordinates to exploit their full potential and elevate their aspirations for the benefit of the organization. Furthermore, the employees adhere to their commitments in this kind of a work place since, they have an opportunity to showcase their creativity and hard work at a greater level (Khan, Khan, Afaq, & Ismail, 2015). Managers adapting to the democratic style of leadership are effective managers since they are able to boost employee’s self-confidence and their satisfaction, thereby enhancing the organizational performance and the adherence to the organizational goals (Alia, Janggaa, Ismaila, Kamala, & Alib, 2015).  

After carrying out a thorough research on the leadership styles it can be asserted that the best leadership style is the one which combines both the autocratic and the democratic styles. A successful leader would be the one who would set specific goals and targets and encourage employees to meet them via a system of rewards and punishments, while simultaneously inspiring and motivating the followers. Secondly, an effective leader will be the one who is able to change his style from autocratic to democratic when needed (Aarons, 2007). He would adapt an autocratic role when the employees need extrinsic motivation and he would switch to a democratic role whenever the employees are in need of a charismatic and a visionary role model. Hence, there is no fixed definition of an optimum leadership style

Conclusion

Every organization has a different standard of work attitudes, employee behaviors, management perceptions and client outcomes. Hence, every institutional framework has a unique definition of a successful leader who would serve as an asset for their firm. On a general level, an effective leader will be the one who possesses personality traits and task-related traits that are required to guide, inspire and motivate the employees and that would enable them to adhere to the organizational goals and objectives. An effective leader would have the talent to switch leadership styles according to the worker’s needs and changing situations. Hence an organization will have an effective leader when all of the above characteristics enlighten the leader’s personality and he is able to achieve the organization’s mission, vision and objectives.