Leadership, Managerial Roles, and Organizational Culture

Answer

Fiedler’s Contingency Theory of Leadership

This is the leadership theory that I like most. The theory classifies leaders into two categories which include people-oriented and task oriented leaders (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014). There are two main reasons which makes Fiedler’s contingency theory my best. First, the theory has brought about flexibility in the management style. This is because it focuses on different ways to classify leaders as opposed to some theories which provide only one way.  The flexibility of this theory is seen from how it outlines that different management styles work best for various businesses based on organizational structures, type of work and stress level (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014). This theory thus, allows every organization to tailor and asses its management in relation to organizational needs.

Secondly, this theory presents a flexible task structure to the organizations. Fielder’s contingency theory takes into account the fact that every task requires different structural levels. For instance, it outlines that production and manufacturing environments require strict structuring while creative occupations require less structuring to allow more freedom for creativity exploration.

Trait leadership theory

Trait theory is my least favorite leadership theory. This is because, the theory can easily mislead a person into believing that all the existing good leaders have main traits of the theory. However, a person’s possession of these core traits is not a guarantee that the person will be an effective leader (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014). Some studies categorically state that there is no trait that is universally related to effective leadership. This theory also approaches the leadership from a general point of view. Although it proves that leaders share some common attributes, it is impossible to identify the specific leadership characteristics due to the existence of situational factors.

Q2.

Fiedler’s contingency theory of leadership describes the most motivating factor for me at work. My most motivating factor at work is the freedom to be heard and involved in decision making. Fiedler’s theory bases its argument on the fact that, leaders’ success or effectiveness is dependent on their relationship with the employees (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014). Therefore, if this theory is followed at my workplace, then my leaders will fit into the overall culture of the firm and treat employees with the utmost respect that we deserve.

There are two major motivators at my workplace. First, the existence of efficient communication. I prefer a workplace where there is honest and frequently two way communication between managers and common employees. Secondly, control over job assigned. The act of hiring me as one of the firm’s employees means that it has a great deal of trust in my capabilities. Therefore, I expect the organization to allow me do any assigned work without interference (Miner, 2015).

Motivation go hand in hand with effectiveness of every leadership style. This is because it is a goal oriented characteristic that enables an individual to achieve a set objective (Miner, 2015). Secondly, motivation makes a person want to stay doing a given task until it is completed. These elements directly relate motivation to leadership theories. An example is path-goal theory which closely relates with motivation expectancy theory. It states that motivation arises from the expectations that a leader has concerning the results of the leadership actions. The path-goal theory indicates that effectiveness of a leader depends on the motivation and satisfaction that the subordinates enjoy. As such, motivation is clearly related to leadership theories.