Introduction
Leadership is one of the most important strategies used in achieving high performances and effective operations within a corporate organization. This implies that the success of an organization is greatly dependent on the kind of leadership it has (Agard, 2010).
Leadership styles of the leader’s A, B, and C
Leader A adheres to the level 5 leadership style. A level 5 leader is one who creates excellent results within the company (Daft, 2008). Besides, the leader shuns any form of public exaltation; he or she enhances the development of leadership amongst other employees, especially those serving under him or her (Daft, 2008). Leader A fits into this description. According to the provided information, colleagues describe the leader as one who has a fierce ambition. The leader is also much focused on the successes of the company. Moreover, the leader has managed to bring the company’s performance from low to high. Leader A also tends to give credit to other leaders for the successes of the company. The leader is also quick to accept responsibilities for blunders that happen in the company; this implies that the leader is not quick to associate a colleague or followers with mistakes, which is good for the confidence of the employees and other followers.
Leader B can be associated with a transactional leadership style. A transactional leader is one who uses a conservative reward and punishment model to ensure compliance from the followers (Waite, 2007). From the provided information, leader B exhibits a significant number of characteristics associated with transactional leadership. For instance, the leader believes in a strict chain of command that must be followed by employees. Furthermore, leader B uses the strategy of rewarding employees who perform according to expectations (Waite, 2007). The leader emphasizes that every follower should take responsibility for his or her actions; this is typical of a transactional leadership style where employees must show what they have done in exchange for expected rewards (Waite, 2007). Again, leader B also tends to be domineering. This is evidenced by the leader’s guidance of the employees on what to do toward achieving the corporation’s goals and objectives.
Leader C exhibits the characteristics of a transformational leadership style. This leadership style capitalizes on the mutual model and elevations that transform a leader’s followers into leaders (Sadler, 2003). The leadership style also may transform leaders into moral representatives (Sadler, 2003). Leader C can be categorized within a transformational leadership style also because the leader demonstrates the ability to inspire and offer individualized selflessness, idealized persuasion of followers, and intellectual motivation to the followers. For instance, Leader C constantly puts high anticipations for subordinates. Besides, the leader favors the strategy of inculcating a sense of pride and corporation amongst the followers. In order to inspire and encourage followers to work hard. Again, leader C knows how to appeal to employees’ personal or intrinsic issues. For example, the leader knows that employees value their birthdays so much. The leader never forgets the days and other events significant to the employees. In addition, leader C is ready to help employees solve their personal problems. These traits are typical of the transformational leadership style (Sadler, 2003).
The impact of leadership styles of leaders B and C
As identified earlier, leader B tends to adopt a transactional leadership style. One of the outstanding characteristics of this kind of leadership style is that the leader is predisposed to be directive. They are also dominating. This kind of leadership is ineffective and does not give individualized consideration to employees’ intrinsic expectations (Hickman, 2009). In light of this, because leader B uses this style, the performance of both the employees and the corporation may be negatively affected. For instance, when leader B believes that employees to whom tasks are delegated are solely responsible for every mistake they make, the employees are highly unlikely to take initiatives they believe may improve the corporation’s performance. Instead, they will just wait to be informed on how tasks are to be handled. Worse still, the employees will tend to shy away from taking up challenging tasks, especially those that they believe they are not competent enough to handle. Transformational leadership in general is not good for a corporation that needs to register a sustained high performance in a competitive business environment.
The leadership style adopted by leader C could be one of the best leadership styles for the corporation. This kind of leadership style will definitely increase and sustain the high performance of both the employees and the corporation. Apart from focusing on the goals and objectives of the corporation, the leader is also concerned with the intrinsic expectations of the employees. The leader knows how to appeal to the emotions of the employees while also instilling a sense of pride and cooperation in them. This will make the employees feel that they are a valued part of the corporation. This will in turn motivate them to work hard and achieve the goals and objectives of the corporation. The overall performance of the corporation and the employees will definitely improve.
Conclusion
All three leaders can be associated with different styles of leadership; leader A uses level 5 leadership style, leader B uses a transactional leadership style while leader C exhibits a transformational leadership style (Waite, 2007). The style of leadership adopted by leader B has the potential to lower the performance of the employees and the corporation. However, the leadership style used by leader C is better than that adopted by leader B. This kind of leadership has the potential to motivate the employees and hence enhance their performance and the performance of the organization.
References
Agard, K. (2010). Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations: A Reference Handbook, Volume 1. New York: SAGE.
Daft, R. (2008). New Era of Management. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA.
Hickman, G. (2009). Leading Organizations: Perspectives for a New Era. New York: SAGE.
Sadler, P. (2003). Leadership. London: Kogan Page Publishers.
Waite, M. (2007). Fire Service Leadership: Theories and Practices. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.