Discuss the Advantages and Disadvantages of Some Common Leadership Styles and Evaluate How Modern Managers Can Best Implement Them to Deal with the Challenges They Face in the 21st Century. Essay Example
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of some common leadership styles and evaluate how modern managers can best implement them to deal with the challenges they face in the 21st century.
"Today's increasingly competitive, dynamic business landscape requires the ability to change, evaluate, and implement new courses of action" (Bucic, Ramburuth and Robinson, 2010: 228-248). The importance of the leadership and its significant impact on the business's performance , productivity of the organization and turnover is clear for most business people and scholars. It is a subject that has long excited interest among people (Yukl, 2010: 19). In addition, it has been classified in many different ways. However, this essay intends to explore only the advantages and disadvantages of charismatic and transformational style. Furthermore, it looks at how today's leaders can exploit these styles so as to overcome the 21st century challenges. "Charismatic leaders can be defined as those who have high self-confidence, a clear vision, engage in unconventional behavior, and act as a change agent, while remaining realistic about environmental constraints. Their key behaviors include role modeling, image building, articulation of goals, showing confidence and arousing follower’s motives" (McLaurin and Al Amri, 2008: 15). Although charismatic style has a lot of positive points, it has some negatives as well. "Charismatic leaders can have a powerful stimulus on an organization, but the consequences are not always advantageous. The personalized power orientation of these leaders can make them insensitive, manipulative, domineering, impulsive and defensive. They emphasize devotion to themselves rather than to ideological goals. Charismatic leaders tend to make more perilous decisions that can result in a serious failure" (Yukl, 2010: 294).
The world has seen some great charismatic leaders in its history namely, President John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill and the late
"Today's increasingly competitive, dynamic business landscape requires the ability to change, evaluate, and implement new courses of action" (Bucic, Ramburuth and Robinson, 2010: 228-248). The importance of the leadership and its significant impact on the business's performance , productivity of the organization and turnover is clear for most business people and scholars. It is a subject that has long excited interest among people (Yukl, 2010: 19). In addition, it has been classified in many different ways. However, this essay intends to explore only the advantages and disadvantages of charismatic and transformational style. Furthermore, it looks at how today's leaders can exploit these styles so as to overcome the 21st century challenges. "Charismatic leaders can be defined as those who have high self-confidence, a clear vision, engage in unconventional behavior, and act as a change agent, while remaining realistic about environmental constraints. Their key behaviors include role modeling, image building, articulation of goals, showing confidence and arousing follower’s motives" (McLaurin and Al Amri, 2008: 15). Although charismatic style has a lot of positive points, it has some negatives as well. "Charismatic leaders can have a powerful stimulus on an organization, but the consequences are not always advantageous. The personalized power orientation of these leaders can make them insensitive, manipulative, domineering, impulsive and defensive. They emphasize devotion to themselves rather than to ideological goals. Charismatic leaders tend to make more perilous decisions that can result in a serious failure" (Yukl, 2010: 294).
The world has seen some great charismatic leaders in its history namely, President John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill and the late