Leadership Unit I Essay

Leadership Unit I Essay

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Leadership Unit I Essay

Leadership is the process by which a leader influences the works of others to attain collective goals. A leader is a person who exerts personal influences on followers which allows him or her to align the personal goals of their followers of the organizational goals in the business settings. Leaders are able to attain a position by virtue of their exceptional skills and qualities and often by the mutual agreement of a group of people. A leader has to manage a group of people and face different challenges pertaining to the needs of people. Owing to this fact, different leadership styles exist according to different situations a leader might face. However, some of them are regarded as more effective. In my opinion, the effectiveness of a leadership style depends on the situation, followers, and the leader themselves, however, democratic or participative style of leadership is the most effective.

Democratic leadership emphasizes a participative approach; it is a more balanced approach to getting tasks done. Democratic leaders neither use their authority nor get their work done from people by rewarding them financially. Such leaders empower people, involve them in decision making and always make the final decision based on the opinion of others (Woods, 2004). This leadership style combines Laissez-faire and autocratic leadership style; one aims at zero supervision while the other at using the authority. The ultimate benefit of this leadership style is the high satisfaction of the followers. Every team member feels valued; they work hard and strive to attain. This style of leadership encourages others to participate in decision-making and take responsibilities.

The effectiveness of this style stems from the fact that it allows for synergy. It is a known fact that ‘the whole is more than the sum of its parts’. It allows for a collective effort and combines the talents and experiences of different minds. Besides, participative leadership also allows for making decisions that have a long term impact. It is also an effective approach since it leaders to complex problem-solving. The ability of democratic leaders to work collaboratively with others allows them to gather a number of opinions and ideas pertaining to a problem and let them chose best (Woods, 2004). In addition, democratic leadership also creates a creative environment by fostering innovation. Under this type of leadership, effective teams are made, cooperation flourishes and everyone is given high significance.

Some of the most successful companies highly demonstrate democratic or participative leadership style. One instance is Google; the founders of Google came up with the search engine while they were doing their final projects. The jump started their company and using the right mix of leadership approaches, especially democratic or participative leadership enhanced their operations. The talents of most of the people coupled with their own let them run Google which is one of the most successful organizations. History has also witnessed the style of most successful leaders to be the democratic or participative style. For instance, George Washington was famous for his democratic style of leadership. He knew to whom he has to pass the torch. Jeff Bezos the CEO and founder of Amazon has made his company among the top logistics company in the world only due to his preference for participative leadership style (Grossinger, 2016).

My strong belief in the effectiveness of this leadership style makes me a democratic leader and I see myself taking a participative approach in whatever I do. I believe participation is the most suitable method of getting things done effectively. I am also a firm believer in synergy, teamwork, and cooperation over competition.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Grossinger, P. (2016, December 5). 5 Democratic Business Leaders Who Can Win the Presidency in 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2019, from Inc.com website: https://www.inc.com/paul-grossinger/5-powerful-businessmen-who-can-win-the-presidency-in-2020.html

Woods, P. A. (2004). Democratic leadership: Drawing distinctions with distributed leadership. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 7(1), 3–26.