Leadership and Awareness of the Issues

Question: Discuss about the Leadership Management Demonstrating Critical Awareness of the Issues Involved. Answer: Introduction Leadership is the essential part of organizations as it allows them to guide and lead other subordinates so that they can collaboratively accomplish their job responsibility to fulfill the organizational objectives. Cunha et al. (2016) in this case depicts that an effective leader understand the various approaches to leadership so that they can utilize right approach according to the raised situation. The success or the performance standard of the companies depends on the leadership capabilities of the management (Mills and McKimm 2016). There are several theories available, which help to attain understanding regarding the leadership in a business organization- contingency leadership theory, situational leadership theory, trait theory and others based on which leader not only manages their people but also attain business goals by fulfilling all the business cultures (Shao, Feng and Hu 2016). Offord et al. (2016) states that according to the trait theory, it is believed that leadersar e born and they possess the correct qualities that best suited toleadership; however, Cunha et al. (2016) argues that in contemporary condition, business aspect cannot be predicted beforehand and thus, a leader should be efficient enough to utilize their skills and competencies to guide their subordinates. The prime objective of this assessment is to emphasize on the argumentative comparison between the trait theory and contingency theories of leadership that will be supported with their application in the workplace. The scope of this assessment is to evaluate that irrespective of the fact that contingency theory provides flexibility in the leadership skills, trait theory is more important for the leader in the organization. Furthermore, the assessment also comprise of the advantages of both the contingency and trait theories by identifying which theory is better for the advancement of the organization. Moreover, critical issues faced by leaders will also be illustrated so that evidence can be represented for the conclusion drawn at the end. Roles and duties of a leader The success of the companies depends on the selection of leadership styles. The primary expectation of leadership is motivating the employees to achieve business goal through innovation and integrity (Zhang et al. 2017). At the present business world, leadership play vital role at the workplace. The leader of an organization is liable to develop appropriate strategies that can help other subordinates to achieve the business goals efficiently (Offord, Gill and Kendal 2016). At the same time, the leaders must be innovative enough, so that they can create a distinctive nature of the company, which attracts the customers towards the brand. Moreover, their role is to provide necessary training if any employees lacks their competencies and provide feedback regularly to them so that they can improve their performance. Sturm, Vera and Crossan (2016) also stated that communicate clear instructions to team members and monitor team members' participation are also two of the most essential roles of a leader in an organization. Analyzing whether the contingency theories of leadership, or trait theories of leadership are more useful for leaders in organizations The contingency theorists believe that there is no particular style of leadership; it depends on the behaviors and the capacities of the sub-ordinates in different situations (Yang and Lim 2016). Thus, the leaders must change their leadership styles as per the needs of the situations and sub-ordinates. Contingency theories include different theories related to leadership and among all the contingency theories, two theories are most important and these are Vroom-Jago Contingency and Situational theory. The Vroom-Jago Contingency guides the leaders during the decision making process. This particular theory mainly considers three decision making parameters and these are commitment, quality and time schedule. This leadership style majorly emphasizes on the autocratic, consultative and collaborative leadership style (Sturm, Vera and Crossan 2016). The autocratic leadership style helps the leader to make the decision bythemselves and consult the group members to gain more information before a decision is made. Moreover, Schaumberg and Flynn (2016) highlighted that the consultative trait in the leader help the leader to consult individuals or group to seek their opinion regarding their taken decision and also help their subordinates in taking effective decisions. The collaborative trait helps these leaders to work as a group for attaining business goals. The major advantage of this theory is the flexibility and it makes decision making process easier for the leaders. Another important c ontingency theory is the situational theory and it stated that the leadership style depends on the situation of every individual and so there is no leadership style, which can be considered as the best style. The Situational theory of leadership focuses mainly on four elements or factors and these are telling, selling, participating and delegation (Schaumberg and Flynn 2016). The situational leadership theory is very helpful for setting the right goal for a particular team. On the other side, the trait theory of leadership indicates the personality traits that make the leaders different from their sub-ordinates. At the same time, the trait theory of leadership also believes that the personality traits of the leaders are in born not earned or made (Offord, Gill and Kendal 2016). If the current business context is considered, then it can be said that these contingency or trait theories of leadership are very useful for the business organizations. Advantages of contingency and trait theories Contingency theory Advantages Rahman (2016) noted that the contingency theories help the leaders or managers understanding the specific leadership style in different situations. Following the contingency theories, the leaders can easily avoid the wrong leadership styles and decisions. This means, the contingency theories improve the analytical skills of the leaders. Neubert, Hunter and Tolentino (2016) stated that the contingency theories are very helpful for building better relationship between the management and employees. Therefore, the scope of employees-management misunderstandings gets reduced. At the same time, Jansen et al. (2016) mentioned that in the current dynamic business world, understanding the needs of the employees and maintaining better relationship between the employees and management are very important and this can be done by using the contingency theories. Neubert, Hunter and Tolentino (2016) stated that the contingency theories of leadership are more useful at todays context because it enhan ces the leadership capabilities of leaders. Trait theory Advantages Trait theory comprises of three aspects- human abilities, personal traits and motivators (Zhang et al. 2017). Image 1: Different aspects of trait theory (Source: Zhang et al. 2017) Crossan (2016) depicts that from abilities, the supervising ability, intelligence and new initiative taken by them are considered. Personal traits however reveals nature like decisiveness, maturity and self-assurance that provide ability in leader to guide their subordinates. Lastly, Cherry (2014) stated that in order to make the leadership traits effective, presence of motivators plays a crucial role like attainment of power, recognition, self-actualization and job security. As per the trait theory, these personality traits are in born gift to some individuals. Some of these exceptional personality traits are honesty, integrity, knowledge regarding the business, achievement will, motivational power, cognitive ability, self-confidence and emotional maturity (Schaumberg and Flynn 2016). According to Klotz and Neubaum (2016), in the current business context, the trait theory of leadership is very important to the business organizations. In this context, Sturm, Vera and Crossan (2016) stated that trait theory helps the higher management identifying the most suitable candidate at the time of recruiting for any higher position. On the other side, Alipour, Mohammed and Martinez (2017) noted that the Trait theory helps the higher management verifying and understanding the capability of a future leader. As this theory indicates the specific personality traits of a leader, the management can easily analyze those personality traits of the individuals before considering or recruiting them as leaders (Schaumberg and Flynn 2016). At the same time, Klotz and Neubaum (2016) mentioned that the Trait theory provides certain benchmarks, which are very useful for the company while identifying the proper leader for their organizations. Identifying which theory is better If the analysis of both of the leadership theories that are the contingency theory and trait theory are considered then it can be seen that both the theories are useful and have some flaws. However, if the comparison is made between the contingency theories and trait theory, then it can be said that contingency theories provide more flexibility to the leaders during the process of leadership (Zhang et al. 2017). On the other side, trait theory does not provide much flexibility to the leaders in leadership. In case of identifying the proper leader for the organization, the trait theory is more useful than the contingency theories. Trait theory provides the knowledge about the essential personality traits of a leader, which are not available in the contingency theories of leadership ((Magnusen and Perrewe 2016).). Following the trait theory, the management in the organization can easily understand who can lead their people in a better way (Tal and Gordon 2016). The management can easily verify the qualities of the leaders based on the trait theory. This indicates that the trait theory provides the definite list of personality traits of the leaders that can guide the managements identifying the best leader for their organizations. On the other side, in the comparison between the trait and contingency theories of leadership it can be identified that trait theory is highly concern about the outcome of the leadership style, but the contingency theories are not that much concern about the out come of the leadership style (Sturm, Vera and Crossan 2016). Contingency theories suggest changing the leadership style based on the change of the situations, but sometimes frequent changes in the leadership style can confuse the employees or team members. However, the trait theory is very specific and do not create any confusion to the employees or subordinates. In this context, Cunha et al. (2016) noted that in this ever changing business world, no specific style of leadership can be followed. Klotz and Neubaum (2016) moreover stated that as the business world is ever changing, it is very important for the business organizations to have the leaders, who have the proper qualities of leadership. These qualities can only be understood with the help of trait theories. Therefore, it can be said that in todays context, contingency theories and trait theory both are important to the business organizations. Critical issues faced by leaders Cunha et al. (2016) argued that following the contingency theories of leadership is not possible in all situations because sometimes the organizations or leaders do not have much time to understand the behavior first and then take decision. This means, in the emergency situations, the contingency theories are not helpful but on the other side, Cannatelli et al. (2016) argued that the contingency theory may create confusion in the minds of the leaders as it becomes difficult for them setting the strategies and taking different decision for different situation. Yang and Lim (2016) noted that the performance of the employees can be improved by providing them the comfort working zone. It is the duty of the leaders making the comfort zone for the employees or sub-ordinates through proper leadership. In this context, Mills and McKimm (2016) stated that in a business organization, different types of employees work together and it can be noticed sometimes that if a leader tries to satisfy the needs of the employees, some employees become highly satisfied or motivated but others are dissatisfied. In this type of situation, the contingency theories of leadership are not effective enough to handle the employees. Furthermore, Higgs and Dulewicz (2016) argued that the trait theory of leadership provides the subjective judgment at the time of identifying a leader. For example, at the time of recruitment, one member of the interview panel considers a particular candidate as honest, but at the same time, the other persons in the interview panel may think that the candidate is not honest. This means, the Trait theory may create confusions at the time of selection of a leader (Hogan and Foster 2017). At the same time, Tal and Gordon (2016) portrays that it is not completely true that the personality traits of the leaders are in-born, sometimes; the people can grow up these traits within themselves through knowledge and practices. In support of this Higgs and Dulewicz (2016) stated that honesty can be in-born trait of an individual, but knowledge about the business can be taken from the outside world and most of situations, people gain the knowledge about the business through personal experience. Therefore, it can be said that the personality traits of the leaders are in-born is partially true. Conclusion Insights Thus, it is concluded that contingency theory needs continuous development and adoption of traits with the changing situation; while trait theory help leaders to assess every situation with their intellect and leadership traits. However, in contemporary organization, leaders prefer to apply contingency theory but the trait theory can also be improvised with the application of behavioral aspects. Thus, behavioral theory should be implemented by leader in order to enhance their existing traits for better organizational outcome through employee performances. Value of other theories In this assessment it is shown that trait theory is more important than contingency theory, other form of leadership styles are there that can contribute in the betterment of the organization. Apart from the trait and contingency theory other leadership role that can enhance organizations productivity are style and behavioral theory of leadership. The style approach comprises of two general kind of style that a leader possesses- task-oriented behaviour and relationship-oriented behaviours.Facilitating goal accomplishment and help group members so that they can attain organizational objectives effectively is the major concerned of task-oriented leadership style; whereas helping subordinates to make them feel comfortable with the job roles and situation is the central propose of relationship oriented behavioral style. On the other hand, behavioral theory signifies that leadership requires a strong personality along with a well-developed positive ego. These leaders have traits like- dir ective, supportive, achievement oriented and participative behavioral aspects. Implications Thus it can be said that the trait theory also resembles to the behavioral theory as it defines the basic nature in a leader. Directive behaviour informs employees regarding the expectation of the organization and then gives specific guidance; whereas, due to supportive behaviour, leader can show concern for their subordinates and their needs. Achievement orientation in leadership resembles the provision of challenging role so that competencies of an employee can be found. Lastly, participative behaviour helps leader to take feedback from them regarding the working procedure and its effectiveness. All the traits enhance the trait theory of leadership. References Alipour, K.K., Mohammed, S. and Martinez, P.N., 2017. Incorporating temporality into implicit leadership and followership theories: Exploring inconsistencies between time-based expectations and actual behaviors.The Leadership Quarterly. Cannatelli, B., Smith, B., Giudici, A., Jones, J. and Conger, M., 2016. An Expanded Model of Distributed Leadership in Organizational Knowledge Creation.Long Range Planning. Cherry, K., 2014. 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