Critical Analysis Of Leadership Theories Expert Answer

 Theories surrounding leaders and leadership continue to advance/develop as the complexity, scope of organizations shift from command and control structures to more agile structures for managing change. In today’s environment, the pace of disruptive innovation is fast tracking which is forcing organizations to rely on the latest leadership theories to keep organizations competitive in rapidly changing markets.

Task: Do you agree with the statement.

Introduction:

The advent of advance technologies has undoubtedly reshaped every segment of our lifestyle, mode of thinking, working style, and demands. Not only the communities are influenced by the advance technologies, operational and management procedures of organizations are quite changed as compared to the procedures few decades back. Remarkable modernization of technologies has generated multiple opportunities for the organizations to develop and expand their operations, at the same time it has also formed many challenges for the organizations.

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Organizational procedures or its management system is based on its leadership style, in the past as organizations were faced with least challenges, leadership style was of minor value. As leadership enables organizations to be more productive and profitable, but the extent of success depends on the style of the leader (Fiaz et al, 2017). In the current scenario of continuous development of technologies, intense competition, volatile economies and customer’s changing demands, leader’s competencies or the leadership style adopted to administer the management system has become a significant factor for the success of any organization.

Leadership style is the illustration of a set of rules implemented by the organizational leader/leaders for the performance of management and other processes. Scholars and researchers had been establishing varied theories to define leadership styles, whereas, all theories were established focusing on the management procedures and the environment organizations were operating in those days. In the current advance world, where organizations are constantly countering with unlimited challenges, traditional leadership theories are either not applicable or requires modifications for the organizations to cope up with the external or internal challenges.

Leader’s Competencies and Leadership theory works in coordination with each other:

Traditionally leaders are rewarded for the success or failure of their organization. Claiming a leader’s characteristics vital for the success of an organization may be true, but in the absence of appropriate principles of a leadership theory, a leader’s skills or competency would be ineffective. Principles of a leadership theory acts as a directive for all organizational processes, leaders in consideration of all influencing factors determine the principles of a leadership theory to be followed. Hence it is the leader’s abilities to select the most appropriate principles of a leadership theory for his organizational processes.

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The challenges of the current advance world demands that the leadership theory to be implemented must not be an imitation of the conventional theories, all potential factors that might affect the proceedings of organizational procedures like impact of economies, technological advancements, employees loyalty and customers enhancing demands must be considered prior to selection of the theory to be followed. Once the leadership theory is determined and implemented, again it is dependent on the characteristics of the leader either inborn or developed through training or experience, to make sure that the organizational procedures are aligned with the principles of leadership style defined by the implemented theory of leadership. Hence, organizational procedures to achieve desired targets are dependent on leadership theory to follow, whereas a productive leadership theory is reliant on the skills of an individual in a leader’s role.

Role of leadership theories in Organizational Procedures:

To succeed a leader has to adopt a particular leadership style or blending of style together to achieve the aim and the objective of his organization (Shamaki, 2015). Whereas, leadership styles are presented through their respective leadership theories, hence, implementation of leadership theory that fits well with the organization’s mission and aids in steering the organization on the right course to achieve its targets is highly valued for the success of an organization.

An analysis of varied leadership theories and its principles is vital for the leaders to opt for the most competent theory for their organization. In contrast of the past when a common hierarchical leadership style was being followed by most of the organizations, at present, organizations operating in different circumstances and faced with varied challenges adopts leadership theories according to their operational needs, thus not every theory or leadership style fits in every situation.

Moreover, though specific inborn traits of a leader are claimed as the major factor that dominates his working style and mode of management, enabling the leader to successfully lead the organization towards the planned targets, however, not every individual in a leaders role is ingrained with the same traits, for such leaders, leadership theory acts as a leverage outlining a systematic procedures for managing operational processes of the organization successfully.

Alkahtani (2015) stated that leaders must possess special ability to diagnose the organizational environment, accurately identify the contingent factors and subsequently make a sound decision in leading the organization toward success. Different Leadership theories exhibits different approaches for leaders to accomplish their goals. As a leadership involves multiple segments of organizational procedures, like employee’s motivation, stakeholder’s interest, market competition and customer’s preferences, leadership theories suggest a blue print of how to align all segments in accordance with the organizational goals. Hence, in depth knowledge of principles of each individual leadership theory is crucial for the leaders for their planning processes.

Are Conventional Leadership Theories Now Obsolete?

Leadership theories had been formulated and presented during different phases, in consideration of organizations working style, external and internal circumstances, stakeholder’s role, employee’s involvement, market trends, economies and customers preferences. However, in the past there was no concept of technology developments, market competitions were quite meager and organizational operations were restricted within the regional boundaries. As such, leadership theories were least discussed or valued, and top-down leadership style was followed in general. Previous leadership theories and practices were focusing on what leaders do, and how they do it (Ali et al, 2015). Leaders were the sole authority for any decision-making process, and their instructions were forwarded in a hierarchical style to the concerned manager or a worker. Basically, individuals with inborn leadership traits were quite successful as leader in the past. For instance, Henry Ford the founder of Ford Motor Company is a true example of autocratic leadership style, influenced by his inborn traits, Henry took all his decisions solely and leaded his company to the highest level of success.

The world is now modified into a globalized village, organizations leveraged with technological advancement are constantly developing their operations in urge to be the market leaders. Modern technologies besides presenting multiple opportunities for the organizations has generated many challenges for the organizations simultaneously. Studies have shown that different leadership styles play a significant role in promoting both employee wellbeing and organizational outcomes (Samad et al, 2015). As such, Organizational leaders adopt varied leadership styles to cope up with the likely challenges.

Secondly, in contrast of the past, involvement of all concerned stakeholders, particularly the employees for any decision-making process is now regarded as beneficial for the organizations in terms of enhanced employee’s loyalty, seamless and productive procedures and customers satisfaction. Also, immense developments among the fields of training and technologies has modified the traditional concept of inborn leadership traits being mandatory to be a leader, modern theories now state that skills or traits required for an effective leadership can be developed through learning, training or experience. Thus, conventional leadership theories that were based on the personal qualities of a sole leader does not fit in the organizations of the current advance world.

Leadership Theories for the Advance World:

Conventional leadership theories were mainly focused on the personal leadership traits of the leaders, while other factors having meager influence on the organizations were ignored. However, in the current world organizations are expanding their operations across their regional boundaries, implementing new technologies to enhance their performance and continuously changing their strategies to cope up with the market competition. And as stated by Ukaidi (2016) that organizations productivity is dependent on the leadership style adopted, organizations for a seamless flow of their procedures have to adopt different leadership styles according to the varied circumstances in which it is operating.

Moreover, relying on sole leadership for operational processes might not aid in achieving the targeted goals. The advance world has also highlighted the importance of employees and other concerned stakeholders for the success of an organization, organizational leaders for an effective decision-making are now taking onboard their employees and stakeholders as well. Thus, leadership theories applicable among the organizations of the present world are anonyms of the theories formulated in the past.

Beginning of 21st century was also the beginning of technological advancements, it was the period when organizations started modernizing their operations and expanded their operations across global boundaries. With the changes in organization’s working environment, new leadership theories were presented by the researchers and scholars. A comparison of the theories presented in different phase will enable us to determine theories applicable for the organizations in the current scenario and why conventional theories are unfit for the current environment.

Great-Man Theory:

Thomas Carlyle in 1847 presented a theory stating that leaders are born and not made (Khan & Nawaz, 2016). According to this theory it is the specific inborn traits that makes a leader, and any other individual without such traits cannot perform in a leader’s role. No doubt every action and mode of perceiving things of a leader is propelled by his inborn traits, enabling him to successfully accomplish his goals, however, in the current scenario the traits of a sole leader are not sufficient to counter with the multi-level and types of the challenges organizations are facing at present.

Moreover, every individual has his limits i.e., he can be creative or innovative to some extent, organizations relying on the traits of its leader, will restrict the level of innovation and creativity among their procedures. Whereas, ceaseless creativity and innovations among organizational procedures is a major requirement of organizations to retain their position among the competitors, and which can be created through involvement of more concerns in the routine procedures.

The era of advance technologies has also nullified the main theme of Great-Man theory that leadership traits are only inborn or natural, as modern technologies has generated heaps of training and learning opportunities to develop the same traits required for an effective leadership. Thus, great-man theory of leadership appears to be void in the current modernized world.

Contingency Theory:

Fred Fiedler presented a new concept of leadership style during the early 1960s, highlighting the significance of factors influencing organizational processes (Miner, 2015). The period of late 20th century was the era of modifications and developments, lots of innovations were introduced, organizations reshaped their structures and modified their operations, competition level enhanced, even global economies were also not constant during this phase of changes. Fielder acknowledging the changes and impact of these changes on the organizations, concluded that leadership style should be developed or determined in consideration of the factors influencing the organizational procedures. According to the theory, the factors that might affect the organizational procedures must be evaluated prior to selecting a leadership style, that is the selected leadership theory should be based on all influencing factors. The message conveyed through this theory is that only a leader’s characteristics are not enough for the success of organization, consideration of all influencing factors is also vital for implementing a productive leadership style. Hence, contingency approach has also nullified the conventional approaches claiming personal traits as the only mode of success.

Jack Ma the founder of a renowned online store, “Alibaba Express’, is a live example of Contingency leadership style. Going through the history Jack Ma, how he learned English language, conceived the idea of establishing Ali Baba, and promoted his online platform, portrays his personal leadership traits and abilities to maneuverer his organization according to the consumers demands.

Situational Theories:

Situational leadership uses existing leadership models to achieve leadership goals that are appropriate to the desired situation and achieve maximum goals (Maisyaroh, 2019). The theory suggests that a rigid leadership style cannot be implemented in all situations, and as operating in different situation requires different organizational strategies, leaders to be more effective should adopt different style in accordance with the nature of the task and current situation.

As at present organizations are operating in different locations and owing to the market competitions are faced with multiple challenges, adjusting their leadership according to the current situation is most feasible to be successful in a longer run.

Participative Leadership:

Participative leadership style is that involves all members of a team in identifying essential goals and developing procedures or strategies for reach those goals (Iqbal, Anwar, Haider, 2015). At present it is the most result oriented and preferred leadership style of the organizations. Employees are the major strength of any organization, their loyalty and performance are regarded as a major support for the organization’s success. Main theme of Participative theory is the relation between a leader and his employees, it points to employee motivation as a building block to superior employee performance (Lumbasi, K’Aol, Ouma, 2016). According to Almutairi (2016) Effective leaders adopt styles that support employees, provide them with a vision, instill hope and motivate them to think innovatively. By involving employees in decision-making processes, their motivation can be enhanced making them more productive. Thus, participative theory can be termed as the most productive theory for the current scenario.

Conclusion:

Before the era of developments that is early 20th century, theories focusing mainly on an individual’s specific traits like Great-man or Trait Theories were mostly followed by the organizations. The leadership style presented by the same theories was successful during that period as the organizational procedures were limited and even there was a meager competition among the organizations. But as the world entered into the phase of technological advancements, organizations expanded their operations creating new challenges for themselves. The era of technological advancements also enhanced the influence of many factors over the organizational procedures.

Acknowledging the impact of multiple factors, relying solely on the traits of a leader turned to be impotent for the organizations of the developed world. Considering the influence of multiple factors over the organizations and importance of employees, new theories were presented illustrating different leadership styles according to the current environment. At present leadership styles presented by two theories that are Situational and Participative theories, can be termed as more productive for the organizations of the current world.

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