A Report On
FACTORS AFFECTING
LEADERSHIP STYLE IN
THE ORGANISATION
Submitted To: Submitted By:
Dr. Sanjeev Bhatnagar Surabhi Suman
Astt. Professor 1703535
Dept. of Management MBA (1st Year)
Dayalbagh Educational Institute
(Deemed University)
Faculty of Social Sciences
Session: 2017-2019
LEADERSHIP
Leadership is the ability to develop a vision that motivates others to move with a passion towards a
common goal. So leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an
objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent.
Definitions:
Leadership is the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid support of others
in the accomplishment of a common task.” -M. Chemers
“Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something
extraordinary happen.” -Alan Keith
“Leadership is the inspiration and mobilization of others to undertake collective action in pursuit of
the common good” -Crosby and Bryson
“Leaders’ influence will turn on their own qualities of character, expertise, prestige, intelligence,
charm and credibility, but these will have little impact unless they engage the relevant needs and
motivations of the persons being influenced.” -James McGregor Burn
Impact of leadership on organizational performance
ORGANISATIONAL
COMMITMENT
GLOBE DIMENSIONS ORGANISATIONAL
PERFORMANCE
Change in sales
Charismatic volume
Value Based
Return on
Team Oriented Investment
Participative
Earning last
Human Oriented
four years
Autonomous
Self Protected
Competency
(trait)
Perspective
Transformatio Behaviour
nal Leadership Perspective
Situational Leadership Contingency
Leadership Perspectives Perspective
Styles of Leadership
Autocratic Style
Participative Style
Affiliative Style
Democratic Style
Pace Setting Style
Paternalistic Style
Factors Affecting Leadership Style in the Organization
No two leaders perform in exactly the same way, as each leader tends to develop their own individual
style. A number of factors may influence the style a leader uses. Some of the factors may develop
naturally, while others are a product of the leader's environment. Some leaders may even need to
adjust their leadership style to adapt to a changing culture.
Personality Traits
A leadership style may become an extension of a leader's personality. If an individual is
outgoing and assertive, he may prefer to communicate directly with subordinates through
face-to-face interaction or confrontation, either on a group or individual basis. If he is more
reserved, he might choose to lead by example or rely on written communication. Rather than
addressing a group as a whole, the reserved leader is probably more comfortable meeting
with subordinates on a one-on-one basis to provide individual direction.
Level of Control
The level to which a leader wishes to maintain control also influences leadership style. Some
leaders want to be involved in all aspects of day-to-day operations and decision-making
processes, which require the need for micromanaging. Others may be more trusting of their
subordinates or may not want the heavy burden of making all decisions, so they tend to take a
more hands-off approach by delegating responsibility. Leaders who choose to delegate may
need to create an additional layer of management.
Organizational Structure
An organization's structure and operating methods may dictate the type of leadership style
that managers must adopt. Some organizations place heavy emphasis on encouraging
contributions or ideas from their members, requiring an open style of leadership where
members have a large say in determining their own roles and functions. Other organizations
operate with more of a "my way or the highway" mentality, where leaders dictate direction
and deviation or innovation is frowned upon.
Experience
A leader's level of experience, both as a leader and with a particular organization can have an
impact on his style. Someone who is new to a leadership role may be more inclined to lead
"by the book" to avoid potential mistakes, while a more experienced leader will often feel
more confident in following his own interpretation of rules and regulations. A leader who has
been part of an organization for many years will likely have a better understanding of the
organization's nuances than a new member, so she may be more comfortable when making
decisions.
Communication
Flow of information is at the core of effective leadership. While the conditions and styles of
communication change, the need to express yourself clearly in all situations remains. Regular
meetings may be difficult to implement in high-productivity manufacturing situations, and they may
be essential in collaborative workplaces. Likewise, written and verbal communications have
appropriate places. Avoid at all costs situations in which your employees feel that they have no
information. This appears as abandonment of leadership.
The leader
Leader's knowledge and skills can influence the choice of style in leadership. Just like what other people
said, lessons can be best learned through experience and so, as a leader, previous experiences whether
good or bad can be used as a basis in identifying which is more effective in choosing a leadership style.
The group
The group members' experience levels, their maturity when it comes to work attitudes and the group's size
can also influence leadership style. Supervising a big group will not be a problem if the subordinates are all
motivated and approach will depend on this group of people.
The situation
Leadership style also depends on each situation. The nature of task, time constraint, environment and
other external forces can also influence like if there are target dates, the leader can choose an approach that
will fit the need to meet the timeline.
Working with an international company means you can be assigned to any of its branches and will be
handling different kinds of people with different personalities, culture and behavior. Being the Senior
Manager, styles that effectively worked in the past experiences will be taken into consideration in choosing
the leadership style to achieve leadership goal. Since I will decide on this matter, I will initially observe my
employee, how are they as a person, their behavior and attitude towards work, what their special skills are
and how they react into different situations. Can these people perform well on their own or they need
closely monitoring and detailed instructions even in small tasks? From there I can create a plan on how to
manage them and what leadership style to use in order to lead them into a better and improved
management.
Conclusion
The success or failure of the company in a certain industry does not depend on the size of the business.
Some companies started only as a small or medium enterprise but eventually became big and known
internationally. It doesn't matter how much is your capital, how many employees do you have or how small
or big your office is. What matter is how you will manage to make it profitable and how to stay in the
business for long, especially now that there are lots of competitors in any kind of industry. Big companies
not necessarily mean they are successful because maybe they started with a big capital. Success is a vision
of flowing profits, industry respect and when it attracts customers. And how can we achieve it? Well, the
success of the business depends on the effective management and leadership. As the course assignment
implies, I assume the position of a Senior Manager in a food/restaurant industry and the job entails me to
apply concepts of leadership and management in my own management situation.
The Management Standards Centre states that the key purpose of management and leadership is to 'provide
direction, facilitate change and achieve results through the efficient, creative and responsible use of
resources. These purposes are analyzed as providing direction, facilitating change, achieving results,
meeting customer needs, working with people, using resources and managing self and personal skills
(Armstrong 2004).
References and Bibliography
United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN): Leadership Styles
Civil Air Patrol: Leadership Traits and Leadership Styles
Leopold Vansina –
1999
Introduction to Educational Leadership and Organizational Behaviour by Patti L.
Chance, Edward W. Chance
Leadership Styles of Principals by Anju Mehrotra
Organizational Behavior: The State of the Science, Hillsdale, NJ, England: Erlbaum
Associates, Inc, 1994 312 pp.
Barnard, C. I. (1938) The function of the executive. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press.
