"Module: Organisational Behaviour Contents1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 22. Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 3A. Traditional Leadership theories ....................................................................................... 3B. Contemporary Leadership theories .................................................................................. 43. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 5References .................................................................................................................................. 6Student ID: 1558292 Page 1 Module: Organisational Behaviour 1. Introduction Leadership is essentially the process of a person influencing the actions or behaviour of otherpeople. Management is now moving away from its traditional role of close supervision of theworkforce and now looking at leadership to achieve their goals through a process ofempowerment, support, coaching and delegation. The dynamic process of leadership focuseson interpersonal behaviour in a broad context with reciprocity expected in the leader-followerrelationship and a strong positive correlation between leadership development and employeemotivation (Mullins, 2013). Thus an increasingly important facet of leadership is seen as itsability to drive employee motivation and in doing so align the objectives of the organisationwith that of its employees.Student ID: 1558292 Page 2 Module: Organisational Behaviour 2. DiscussionThere are numerous and conflicting theories of leadership. However, they all fall under the twobroad categories of traditional and contemporary.Traditional theory is an approach where a leader influences other people towards achievementof a goal/s. Contemporary theory is where a dynamic two-way relationship exists between aleader and his collaborators, where they work together achieving high levels of motivation andmoral development towards real change (Hudson, 2014). As such traditional theory can be seenas a task driven approach to leadership, in contrast to contemporary theory, which is morerelationship driven and would yield more organisational motivation. Traditional theoriesinclude the autocratic, bureaucratic and the Hersey and Blanchard models, whereascontemporary theories include approaches like transformational, transactional, charismatic andLevel 5 (Mohanta, 2015).A. Traditional Leadership theoriesAn autocratic leader makes decisions with little or no input from his subordinates, leading todiscontent and lack of organisational innovation and motivation (Shead, 2011). A primeexample of autocratic leadership and its flaws was that which was pursued by Leona Helmsleyof the Helmsley hotel chain, which sapped the popularity of the business and produceddangerously disgruntled employees (Nayab, 2015).Bureaucratic leadership style put the emphasis on policy to drive organisational growth anddevelopment and expect it to guide employees. Processes and procedures are emphasized,whereas development and motivation of employees are ignored. Policies are seen to comebefore people and their efforts and any employee resistance is criticized (Germano, 2010). Abureaucratic leadership approach is followed at Blackberry, which in part can be blamed for itsbusiness failures. Blackberry which has a history of nepotism follows a policy of promotingemployees based on tenure rather than on competence and contribution, which does notmotivate employees to perform (Johansson, 2013). Student ID: 1558292 Page 3 Module: Organisational Behaviour B. Contemporary Leadership theoriesTransactional theory of leadership involves pursuing a system of passive management,correcting employees only if standards are not met and motivating employees through offeringthem rewards if clarified goals and outcomes are achieved, thus encouraging a system of mutualdependence and exchange (CIMA, 2007). Transactional leadership theory is followed byEnglish business magnate, Sir Alan Sugar, who expects hard work and self-discipline from hisemployees in a context of a supportive communication structure, where employees arerewarded when they succeed (Kay, 2006).Perhaps the best known approach in contemporary theory is Transformational leadership,which involves establishing a vision for the organisation and encouraging employees to achievethat vision through creating high levels of motivation and commitment by appealing to thehigher ideals of employees and creating an environment of trust and loyalty (Mullins, 2013).An excellent example of a successful transformational leadership story is that of the approachtaken by Larry Page at Google where he strives to create “the happiest most productiveworkforce” through various initiatives like enhanced benefits, flexi- hours and relaxedmanagement control. This has created high levels of employee motivation, which havebenefitted the Company through the employees becoming more entrepreneurial and productive,developing more innovative products, even during their free time e.g. Gmail and GoogleSuggest (Cleverism, 2014).In Charismatic leadership approach, the leaders have a vision for the organisation andthrough charming personality traits that bring admiration for the leader are able to persuadetheir followers to execute that vision by simply wanting to follow such leaders (Germano,2010). A good example of charismatic leadership is that which was followed by Steve jobs atApple, where his charismatic leadership used to churn motivation and innovation in hisemployees through activities like his inspiring “Town hall” style company meetings (Tobak,2010). The drawback to such a leadership approach is that when such leaders leave, theorganisation is left without direction and focus. This is evidenced by the current flounderingstate of innovation and motivation at Apple after Steve job’s demise (Somaney, 2015).Student ID: 1558292 Page 4 Module: Organisational Behaviour 3. ConclusionWhen studying leadership styles in organisations, it is best to note that one approach will notfit all organisations and the optimum leadership style for a particular organisation thatmaximises employee motivation will depend on a number of factors including national culture,environmental influences, organisational type and structure, employee and managercharacteristics, nature of tasks etc. (Mullins, 2013).Even in one organisation, a particularmanager should use emotional intelligence to select differing styles of leadership in differentsituations when dealing with distinctive employees in order to get the best out of everyemployee (Goleman, 2004).Student ID: 1558292 Page 5 Module: Organisational Behaviour ReferencesCIMA, 2007. Leadership. Topic Gateway Series , Volume 30.Cleverism, 2014. The Google Way of Motivating Employees. [Online] Available at: http://www.cleverism.com/google-way-motivating-employees/[Accessed 20 March 2016].Dems, K., 2015. Famous Examples of Different Leadership Styles. [Online] Available at: http://www.brighthub.com/office/home/articles/76450.aspx[Accessed 21 March 2016].Germano, M. A., 2010. Leadership Style and Organizational Impact. [Online] Available at: http://ala-apa.org/newsletter/2010/06/08/spotlight/[Accessed 21 March 2016].Goertzen, B. J., 2012. Contemporary Theories of Leadership. 1st ed. Burlington: Jones &Bartlette Learning, LLC.Goleman, D., 2004. What makes a leader?. Harvard Business Review, Volume Best of HBR1998.Henry, B. C., 2012. Leadership: A Systems Thinking Perspective. Scientific & AcademicPublishing - Management, 2(5), pp. 266-269.Hudson, K., 2014. Contemporary leadership styles - 3CEs. [Online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/arslanrana712/contemporary-leadership-styles[Accessed 20 March 2016].Johansson, A., 2013. 5 Businesses Sunk by Poor Leadership. [Online] Available at: http://www.leader-values.com/wordpress/5-businesses-sunk-by-poor-leadership- anna-johansson/[Accessed 21 March 2016].Kay, R., 2006. Head to head: Tough boss, good boss?. [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4758833.stm[Accessed 20 March 2016].LOCKE, E. A. & LATHAM, G. P., 2004. WHAT SHOULD WE DO ABOUTMOTIVATION THEORY? SIX RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE TWENTY-FIRSTCENTURY. Academy of Management Review, 29(3), p. 388–403.Mohanta, G. C., 2015. Leadership, early & contemporary approaches to leadership. [Online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/GaurangaMohanta1/leadership-early-contemporary- approaches-to-leadership[Accessed 20 March 2016].Mullins, L. J., 2013. Management & organisational behavior. 10th ed. Harlow: FTPublishing.Student ID: 1558292 Page 6 "