Human Resource Management Leadership Styles Leadership Styles

Human Resource Management

Leadership Styles

Leadership styles vary between different leaders, based on their values, attitudes and approaches towards tasks and employees. The case provided with Executive A, and Leaders B. And C. demonstrate the different styles of leadership which may be adopted by those in charge of an organization. The paper will start by looking at the style of each leader, examining the evidence in the case provided that indicates the chosen style. After the assessment of styles, the potential impact of Leader A or B. taking over from Executive A will be discussed.

The three styles of leadership that are present in the case study are Level 5, transactional and transformational leadership styles. Executive A this is a level 5 leader, leader B. has a transactional style, and leader C. has a transformational style. The identification of leadership style is achieved by examining the attitudes and behaviors of the leaders in the company and the characteristics associated with the different leadership styles.

The level 5 leadership style is relatively rare: Collins (2001) studied a total of 1,435 Fortune 500 companies, and found that only 11 had been able to attain stock returns in excess of three times that of the market. In every case the leaders of these highly successful companies could be categorized as having a level 5 style of leadership (Collins, 2001). Therefore, level 5 leaders have the potential to be highly successful. However, this is not sufficient to define and categorizes leadership style. Collins (2001) defines this leadership style of one where there is a combination of deep humility combined with an extremely high level of professional will. The leaders will often be mild-mannered, shy away from the limelight being happy to give others the credit, but have a clear vision and focus on the way in which the company should develop, and be intolerant of mediocrity (Collins, 2001). One example of a level 5 leader is the shy and awkward Darwin Smith who became leader of Kimberly-Clark in 1971, transforming the organization into one where stock returns a 4.1 times the overall market (Collins, 2001).

Executive A took over the company during a difficult period, where the organization was the losing in excess of $2 million per year and the share price was very low. After taking over executive A has transformed the organization, increasing the stock value by 128%. Therefore, there are indications of greatness in the way that the company has been transformed and growing aligned with the Level 5 leadership model. The media are stated as hailing Executive A is the reason for the transformation, but it is noted the executive shied away from the attention of the media, and was happy to give credit to others within the organization for the success. This indicates humility, which is also present in the Level 5 leadership style. The last characteristic identified by Collins (2001), was that of an intense professional will. Upon taking over as the CEO of the executive was described by colleagues as being fiercely ambitious as well as entirely focused on the company's success, indicating the professional will it is the last characteristic. Executive A embodies all of the characteristics of a level 5 leader. Collins (2001) also notes that level 5 leaders are good at choosing their successors, as they wish the company to continue to succeed and grow. The two potential successors are Leader B. And Leader C.

The next leadership style is that of transactional leadership. Transactional leaders may be argued as having a task focus, but this is not undertaken with disregard for the needs of employees. Transactional leaders have a solid understanding of the relationship between effort and reward, often relying on traditional approaches towards reward, motivation and punishment in order to manage and control employees (Mathis and Jackson, 2010). Motivation will often be undertaken by the setting of specific goals with the employees being promised specific rewards for achieving the goals (Mathis and Jackson, 2010). In the transactional style where a leader delegates responsibility, the individual will be held responsible for the relevant performance, rewarded when performance is good, or held accountable when targets are missed (Mathis and Jackson, 2010).

Leader B's style is aligned with the transactional approach. The case indicates that Leader B. has practice of establishing clear goals and defining specific task requirements, which Mathis and Jackson (2010) had indicated is one of the characteristics associated with transactional leadership styles. The belief by Leader B. In a clear line of command, and holding employees who have received delegated tasks personally responsible for results, good or bad. are also associated with transactional leadership styles.

By contrast, the transformational leadership style is one that could be argued as being people centric rather than task centric (Mathis and Jackson, 2010). A transformational leader will try to engage the emotions of their employees, and inspires them. The leadership style is very positive; those using this approach will generally be optimistic and expect the best of their employees, they will facilitate improvement by creating learning opportunities, have a strong vision of their own, and the good motivators encouraging employees to work for goals that are greater than purely self-interest (Mathis and Jackson, 2010).

Leader C. is very optimistic, believing that individuals are able to act beyond their own self-interest and undertake actions for the good of the organization. He has high expectations of the employees, and tries to facilitate their growth, wishing to be seen more as a mental coach rather than a manager. Furthermore, the people centric approach manifests with this leaders attitude towards employees, cinemas individuals and trying to remember birthdays other special events. Therefore, leader C. has a leadership style that is most aligned with the transformational leadership approach.

When Executive A retires, it will be either Leader B. Or Leader C. that will take over. If Leader B. takes over there will be a number of benefits. There will be a clear level of understanding regarding the roles and responsibilities of employees within the organization, and the relationship that the leader will maintain between performance and rewards can be highly motivational leading to potential success within the organization. However, there are also some negative organizational outcomes associated with this leadership style. The clear goals and tasks can be stifling, and individuals may have little discretion in order to improve their own levels of motivation or job satisfaction (Mathis and Jackson, 2010). The transactional approach also tends to focus on short-term goals in the way that targets set and progress towards the targets is assessed (Mathis and Jackson, 2010). Therefore, this style of leadership may have some benefits for the organization, but the constraints may lead to a reduction in motivation levels, which in turn may lead to high attrition levels and reduce levels of productivity in the mid to long-term.