Every individual is unique; therefore, I believe that each leader’s method of directing a team is distinct. In my opinion, an individual’s personality is what determines their leadership approaches. Some managers are lenient, while others are strict, some are hesitant, and others are sympathetic. From my learning experience, the classification of leadership styles depends on the personality of the leader. Thus, one can classify leadership styles into five different categories: transformational, transactional, laissez-faire, democratic, and autocratic styles of leadership. All these styles of leadership have their advantages and disadvantages. Additionally, each of these styles is more efficacious in particular types of workplaces than others. Therefore, I think that the most productive style of leadership relies on the diversity of the worker’s personalities or their level of experience.
Transformational leadership style is among the most recognizable forms of leadership techniques. In my opinion, this leadership approach entails providing employees with a clear vision for success. The business objective, in this case, can be from the leader or the organization as a whole. I believe that the transformational leadership style encourages motivation and typically develops a positive culture within the workplace. Managers act as role models to their workers, value their interpersonal relationships with employees, and consistently focus on the organization’s vision. On the other hand, I view transactional leadership as one that involves using incentives to motivate employees.
The goal of a leader using this technique is structure and order within the work environment. From my perspective, under this leadership method, self-motivated workers often perform better since the manager has defined a structure in which poor performers do not receive incentives. The advantage of this method is that it provides clear and defined long-term and short-term goals. However, the technique provides very little for adaptability and flexibility.
The other form of leadership is laissez-faire, which I believe further encompasses distinct traits. In this instance, the leader grants each employee equal roles when it comes to decision-making. In other words, every individual’s opinion is as important as the next person’s. A laissez-faire leader aims to instill a sense of being important in each employee within the organization. Nevertheless, I think that this form of management can cause bottlenecks and confusion in strategic processes. When it comes to democratic leadership, I have learned that the leader includes every worker in the decision-making process; however, the manager makes the final judgment.
Despite being a time-consuming process, the leadership style encourages employees to participate in company processes while at the same time feeling valued. Contrarily, I view the autocratic leadership technique as one that involves a leader having all the powers when it comes to decision-making. In this case, the individual does not involve employees and has all the control when it comes to making changes.
As international markets emerge and the demographics in the workplace shift, I think that diversity in the workplace moves closer to becoming a basic need in the business environment. I believe that workers reap both intangible and tangible incentives from workplace benefits. For instance, when there is diversity in the workplace, workers develop mutual respect for each other. From my viewpoint, in a work environment with co-workers with different styles of work or disabilities, what becomes the norm is a synergistic surrounding. Additionally, a diverse work environment empowers marginalized employees within the work environment.
For a long time, there has been the marginalization of several able-working individuals due to disabilities, ageism, and racism. I think that when a person is not able to utilize their skills, find work, or is paid below the minimum wage, they cannot sustain their livelihood. As a result, this affects both the organization and the economy as a whole. Therefore, managers should be more proactive in promoting a diverse work environment since it affects the performance of the employee, which in turn negatively impacts the whole company.
In my personal opinion, diversity in the workplace means having different cultural norms within one setup. I believe that the role of a manager is to ensure that there is a balance between expectations and distinct cultural norms. I think that globalization in the business sector is rapidly increasing; therefore, leaders must use their ability to ensure every employee is engaged. Managers must focus on the different cultural norms each employee possesses and create an effective balance that would benefit both the employee and the organization. In my view, there is a huge difference in communication between small and large groups, particularly in business surroundings. Small communication strategies are more effective compared to techniques targeting huge groups. The reason is that there is more employee engagement and creativity, which leads to higher performance.
I have learned that small groups can work effectively without a formal leader. Since there are few people within the group, each member can choose to perform tasks that would contribute to the overall success of the group. On the other hand, in large groups, some employees may not contribute to the overall group performance. As a result, there is a need for a leader to ensure that everyone performs designated tasks. Companies further need to invest in virtual teams since they benefit organizations by saving costs and enabling them to attract talent from different parts of the world. To manage virtual teams, managers must incorporate tools of communication and messaging to enable them to access employees. I have worked with a virtual team, and some of the methods we used to communicate were video conferencing and emails.