Leadership
Table of Contents
I. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………
II. Leadership Theories……………………………………………………………………………
1. The Path-Goal Theory…………………………………………………………………………..
2. The Leader-Member Exchange Theory developed ……………………………………………
3. The Full-Range Leadership Theory…………………………………………………………….
III. Personal Leadership Approach………………………………………………………………..
IV. Personal Application of the Chosen Leadership Theories and Approach…………………….
V. Summary……………………………………………………………………………………...
Reference List……………………………………………………………………………………
Leadership
Introduction
One of the most interesting and at the same time the most difficult question which excites interest both among researchers and general public is defining the factors that contribute to the turning of an average person into an effective leader. This question becomes especially important in conditions of global competition when employees and managers become one of the major assets of any company and an effective leadership is understood as a very important factor influencing the development of any company. In modern business world there are many examples proving that a charismatic leader becomes a major key to success. In this respect the companies created by Steve Jobs, Hiroshi Okuda, Richard Branson should be mentioned just among the few and these companies can be used as a very good illustration of the statement mentioned above.
A company or an organization cannot function well without an effective leadership. It is a common wisdom that the ultimate aim of any business is to increase efficiency and to get higher profits. There are several effective methods that are applied by the companies in order to reach these aims. One of the most productive methods is to create a warm and friendly atmosphere contributing to the development of good relationships between employees and between the management and employees. Recent scientific publications demonstrate that the creation of this atmosphere is the major task of company’s or organization’s leaders. The problem of effective leadership and leadership theories belongs to the main issues of scientific discourse. This problem was researched by such scholars as House (1971), Kerr & Jermier (1978), Bass (1985), Harter & Evanecky (2002), Antonakis, Avolio & Sivasubramaniam (2003) and many others.
The main task of this paper is to compare and contrast different leadership approaches and on the basis of this analysis to explain our own leadership philosophy and practice. For the purpose of this research we will concentrate our attention on the Leader-Member Exchange theory, the Path-Goal theory and the Full-Range Leadership theory. The choice of these leadership theories is explained by their wide application in modern business environment and by different approaches that served as the basis of their formation and development.
Leadership Theories
Modern science and leadership practice offers more than a dozen of various leadership theories and models. Such a big number of theories and models, on the one hand, proves the importance of the leadership issues for business and on the other hand demonstrates how complex and complicated this issue is. Kerr & Jermier (1978) concentrated their attention on the research of effective leadership styles. They …