Abstract

For several decades, leadership theories have been proposed to explain various behaviors of leaders from different studies. Mike comes to practice and reality; various scholars have tried ideas that allow leaders to become authentic and become different from everyone else. Consequently, several theories of leadership that have been proposed include Path-goal theory, transformational theory, and behavioral theory. Behavioral theory gives a new perspective to leadership that focuses on the behavior of leaders welded letting their mental and physical strength or characteristics. The cause-effect relationship is what determines the behavior of leaders from a point that those who have right mind conditions belong to an elite club and are naturally gifted. This theory believes that leaders are made and therefore are made. Transformational theory state that leadership comes as a result of interaction between leaders and employees which later on leads to building a better relationship that leads to the motivation of their employees and better output. According to Path-goal theory, a leader’sbehaviors influence the production of the people. This paper will analyze three leadership theories in Path-goal, transformational, and behavioral theories. The analysis will be based on the book Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter Guy Northouse

Keywords: Path-goal theory, transformational theory, behavior theory, leadership, Peter Guy Northouse.

 

 

 

 

 

Leadership in managing organizational conflict

Introduction

Leadership refers to an area or practical skill that involves an individual or an organizational ability to guide other teams or other individuals. It is not easy to become a good leader. Therefore it is always important to analyze the ideas behind the right leaders. According to (Northouse, 2018), leadership qualities can be explained by the theories that show how crucial and effective they can be to lead a group of people within an organization. Several leadership theories have been proposed for a long time. This paper will cover an analysis of three major leadership theories including; Path-goal theory, transactional theory, and behavioral theory.

Overview of Overview of the leadership theories

The diversity and specialtyinvolved in the operations of various organizations, most of them usually opt tostratify their services in different ways. Organizations adopt this structure so that they can harmonize their operations and the best leadersalso have the best skillsets that can be used in a flexible situation according to (cherry, 2018). Each of these teams or units are usually under a leader who could be a manager, team leader or any other recognized authority in that organization.

Within an independent team, members interact on different levels.These tasks also determine how effective the leaders are and how they can perform dependent tasks (Stanley et al., 2015).Consequently, the role of a leader in these operations is to ensure that all members operate optimally and none of them causes any delays. From their competence level to their code have to be addressed by the leaders.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Leadership Theories in Reducing Team Conflict

The concept of leadership exceeds the conventionalities of authority and leading. It takes more than power or dictation for a leader to be successful. The dynamicity of operations and the unyieldingly troubled interactions within the team members of an organizationput the leaders in a tight spot ofdecisiveness. These dynamics are showing the key to the success of a business (Wilson, 2017). For these reasons, leaders ought to know various leadership theories that they can adopt or apply to counter and control the intermittent discords that emerge among team members.

Adopting problems solution requires excellent leadership skills. The fundamentals of good leaders transcend to the members of the organization (Stanley, Rose, and Ololube, 2015). This is because most problemsare anintegration of several issues and elements that have different characteristics. Therefore, to increase the chances of success, several theories should be integrated to solve a particular problem.

Transformational theory

This type of leadership theory is based on the creation of value, a vision, and an overall sense of performance among members. The theory mainly uses a psychological approach to promote and enhance the output and contribution of each team member. The theory is based on the ideas of the leaders that transform the behavior of the workers according to (Anderson, Baur, Griffith, and Buckley, (2017). There are those that prefer to use the reward methodology where benefits are accorded to the members who perform exceptionally.

Other leaders using this theory prefer to use motivation, inspiration or a vivid vision to steer their teams into high productivity. Findings from by theCorporate Finance Institute (2019) indicate that despite the specific methodology that a leader uses, the members develop a sense of admiration, honesty, loyalty, trust, and respect for their leader. This consequently places the leader to a better chance ofstrategizing,implementing ideas, improving performance, and solving any challenges that may come along.

Strengths:

This theorycreates a strong bond between the team members and the leader. This opens a clear communication network that is generally efficient. According to the information given by (Stanley, Rose, and Ololube, (2015), this method of leadership does not have to rely on other people to improve on the performance of the employees. Therefore, it is an important theory that can be applied in both small and larger organizations

The approach establishes a general sense of loyalty and obedience which makes it easier for the leader to come up with decisions and implement them. Cherry (2018),adds that his leadership style is the most appropriate for smaller organizations because of the ease of implementation. The theory promotes productivity and team efficiency. Ithas a relatively high efficiency in strategy implementation as opposed to other theories.

Weaknesses:

One of the vulnerabilities of this theory is that it is not efficient in solving impromptu challenges. This is because it takestime to establish trust and loyalty among team members.  The theory cannot be used in solving complex situations as well(Stanley, Rose, and Ololube, 2015).This theory takes time to beadopted effectively. Mistakes can easily be made by an entire team due to the trust that members have in the decision-making processes of their leader.

Path-goal theory

This theory is founded on the behavioral tendencies of the leader. According to the theory, a leader’s behavior is contingent on the performance, productivity, output, and satisfaction of the team members and their subordinates (Stanley, Rose, and Ololube, 2015). Therefore, this theory uses a model where the leader acts as the model for the members to look up to. When applying this theory, the leader uses an outstanding quality that best fits the subordinates’ behavior and working environment.

It is crucial to note that the common trait, behavior, ideology, principle or tendency has been established, the leader finds a way to culminate it within their team. Therefore, the team operates under an ideology that is propagated by its leader (Anderson, Baur, Griffith, and Buckley, 2017). Hence, the leader becomes the pacesetter and ‘object’ of emulation in this operation.

Strengths:

This theory is effective in promoting unity and togetherness among the team members and their leader. This enhances productivity and efficiency (Anderson, Baur, Griffith, and Buckley, 2017). This theory is easily adaptable and applicable to an organization. It is not resource-intensive like other theories. It yields fairly good results in the organizations where it is adopted. The theory is easily manageable since there is a sense of control bestowed to the leader.

Weaknesses:

Due to diversity, the theory may not be easy to adopt in some organizations. It may take some time for the adoption of the theory to materialize. Finding an ideology, principle or trait that is common among a group of individuals is not easy (Stanley, Rose, and Ololube, 2015). The theory can spark rebellion or defiance among the team members because looking up to the behavior of a leader may not be accepted in unison. The fundamentals of the theory can predispose the operations of an organization to catastrophic failure’ especially when the ideologies do notapply.

Behavioral theory

The behavioral theory of leadership uses the concept that leadership can be learned and it does not necessarily have to be inherent. This theory is structured within an assimilative model where individualscan be trained to adopt certain behaviors together with the tendencies that pacify them as competent leaders. According to Cherry, 2018, this theory mainly contextualizes the managerial aspects that are based on an organization’s routine operations. The behavior of individuals in the company can show the accurate reflection of the leadership and the type of leaders that they have.

If a specific leadership position requires a leader who is strategic, this theory stipulates that a leader meet the criteria by learning how to be strategic.Several sub-theories lie under behavioral theory. This theory gives the keyto telling the ability of a leader in terms of flexibility (Nawaz, and Khan, 2016).  The theory has been successful in recent times morethanthe others because of its ease of application.

Strengths:

The theory is quite specific in countering the challenges at hand. It also offers an opportunity for leaders to adapt to circumstances and issues. It is also keen on its standpoint as compared with the others as it analyses the emotional influence of the leader (Wilson, 2017). The theory has a relatively higher success rate as compared to other theories. It pushes leaders to diversify their skillsets and scope of knowledge.

Weaknesses:

This theory has a high specificity which reduces its flexibility in application. It can be resource intensive especially if leaders are frequently trained by the organization to tackle every emerging challenge that is not within the scope of their skillset. A leader should be able to be flexible in some situations that call for it Stanley, Rose, and Ololube, 2015). This means that the theory cannot be adopted successfully when solving specific problems.

Synthesis of Leadership Theories

Identified Theoretical Components

Transformational Theory:

In the context of the leadership challenge,in this case, some approaches can be used to provide a solution. Disagreementamong employees may be caused by many factors. The Corporate Finance Institute (2019) stipulates that when every team member performs their duties. Therefore, it reduces the probability of team conflict is reduced substantially.

Fortifying this sense of proficiency through the adoption of the transformational theory is the primary way that this approach offers a solution to the leadership challenge in context.Therefore, the specific component of this theory that will be crucial in addressing the issue at hand is the influence and power that a leader has. When a leader has a positive or negative impact on their subordinates, the same is reciprocated on the subordinates’ performance (Stanley et al., 2015).It is through the strategic fortification of this element of the theory that can be effective in providing a solution.

Path-goal Theory:

Some structures of this theory can be applied to provide a solution to the stated problem. As outlined earlier, the main reason why team members may rub shoulders in an organization is incompetence in task completion or implementation (Stanley, Rose, and Ololube, 2015). Therefore, the leader can act as a model through the adoption of an ideology that fortifies competence. This can be demonstrated by the role models of timeliness and punctuality of the employees.

Through such a system, the team members are compelled to fall in line and become punctual in their task completion. This will further increase the overall efficiency and rate of task completion. Therefore, the specific component of this theory is that leaders get to be role models to their team members. Stanley, Rose & Ololube (2015) state that subordinates tend to conform to the ways of their leaders since they picture them as their role models. They feel that their leader should be the epitome of how they should undertake their duties and how they should conduct themselves.

Behavioral Theory:

For the problem at hand, this theory can be applied in a way to offer a solution. It has been deduced that insufficiency and incompetence are the fundamental factors that result in the stated problem (Amanchukwu, Stanley, and Ololube, 2015). Therefore, contextualizing this theory give the leadership qualities that a team leader would need to have so that they counter the emerging challenges. According tobehavioral theory, a leader can be trained to be sufficient and competent.

Once they have been trained, it implies that they will be competent and sufficient in their undertakings. It is through the possession of these required leadership qualities that a leader can be at a position to implement them within their respective team. The Corporate Finance Institute (2019) stipulates that a leader would need to be trained to be competent and sufficient so that they can be instrumental figures in solving this problem. The skills and knowledge acquired in training would be the fundamental‘tools’ used to control the current challenge. Therefore, with adequate training, leaders are prepared to handle organizational challenges that come their way.

Synthesized Theoretical Approach

Leadership theories often work coherently to address certain problems within an organization. Even the most straightforward challenges may need two or more theories to be integrated so that a solution can be found. This can come from the processes that are repeated through time (Amanchukwu, Stanley, and Ololube, 2015). For the challenge of discord among team members in an organization, specific structures of the discussed leadership theories merged to provide a compressive solution.

In the transformational theory, the specific element identified was the influence and power that a leader has on their team members or subordinates. Regarding the path-goal theory, the fact that leaders get to be role models to their team members was the critical component that finds a context in the issue at hand. Team membership is crucial in the cases that demands trust in an organization (Wilson, 2017). Hence, leadership training was the main component chosen from the behavioral theory. Integrating these components into a single structure may depend on several factors.

For instance, the urgency with which the problem at hand needs to be addressed may play an essential rolein determining how the three components are integrated. Problems to be solved are in every organization (Nawaz, and Khan 2016). For the above reason,it will be assumed that the issue is urgent and it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Due to the urgency, the aspect of training will not be prioritized.

The influence and power that a leader has on their team members or subordinatesare adapted and infused in the solution.This enables the leader to control the issue before it can become a concern in the organization.A powerful leader is likely to be respected by everyone (Offermann, and Coats, 2018). Hence, being a role model is a form ofpsychologicaltuning that is based on modeling people’s perceptions, and it takes time to be developed.

The two ideas abouttraining and idolizing the leader into a rolemodel will be integratedsimultaneously. In the end, this integration is sequential and requires some time tobe successfully implemented. Training the employees also saves the company the jobs in the future and from wastes (Schyns, and Riggio, 2016). Therefore, the time all the three components are initiated, the problem will have solved substantially or fully.

How the synthesized theoretical approach willReduce Team Conflicts(Discussion)

The identified components of the three leadership theories will be applied strategically for an amicable solution to be found. First, it is important to note that the problem will not be solved at an instance. It is important to consider the solutions to all of the problems (Anderson, Baur, Griffith, and Buckley, 2017).Theapplication of the first component becomes a strategy for damage control.

The leader can sometimes call a team and spearhead a discussion about the widespread problem. After contemplations, they will further head a critical session where the team members will be able to propose solutions to the identified problems. The strategies are usually in the form of a list (Anderson, Baur, Griffith, and Buckley, 2017). Once the solutions have been noted, the leader will edit them into a compressive list of strategies to be adopted.

Most of the strategies will be values or codes of conduct that the team members will be expected to abide by. Ideas for training are usually adopted through time (Cherry, 2018).After the team meeting and the stipulation of strategies to be adopted, the leader can be a role model by being a strict adherer to the strategies.Leadersmotivate the team members to realize the extensive output by the employees.

Leaders have the responsibility to become a role model by always being punctual. Training will be integrated alongside the other two components. Training can also mean that the leaders will not accept anything less than required (Stanley, Rose, and Ololube, 2015).With the advanced technology of this age, the leader can take online training classes on how to tackle the challenge at hand and others. Therefore, they will not have to be absent from the training to take place.

Conclusion

Leadership is an essential aspect of organizations and society, in general. Leadership theories explain the behavior and ability of the leaders within an organization (Stanley, Rose, and Ololube, 2015). The theories selected here are Path-goal theory, transformational theory, and behavioral theory.In organizations, individuals operate in teams and departments that are led by elected or appointedleaders. Due to the unavoidable interactions between team members, discords and disagreements frequently occur in such settings. These disagreements can lead to underperformance,insufficiency, unprofessionalism, and even loses. Poor leadership results in poor performance by the employees leading to the downfall of an organization (Anderson, Baur, Griffith, and Buckley, 2017). When any of this happens, the leader is usually answerable. For this reason, such leaders are forced to adopt leadership theories that put them at the forefront of curbing such challenges. Through the selective adoption of specific components of the transformational theory, path-goal theory, and the behavioral theory, a leader can solve the discords that emerge among team members of an organization.

 

References

Amanchukwu, R. N., Stanley, G. J., &Ololube, N. P. (2015). A review of leadership theories, principles and styles and their relevance to educational management. Management, 5(1), 6-14.

Anderson, H. J., Baur, J. E., Griffith, J. A., & Buckley, M. R. (2017). What works for you may not work for (Gen) Me: Limitations of present leadership theories for the new generation. The Leadership Quarterly, 28(1), 245-260.

Cherry, K. (2018). The Major Leadership Theories: The Eight Major Theories of Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-theories-2795323

Corporate Finance Institute (2019). Leadership Theories:Schools of thought explaining how and why certain individuals become leaders. Retrieved from https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/careers/soft-skills/leadership-theories/

Nawaz, Z. A. K. D. A., & Khan_ Ph.D., I. (2016). Leadership theories and styles: A literature review. Leadership, 16, 1-7.

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: theory and practice. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.

Offermann, L. R., & Coats, M. R. (2018). Implicit theories of leadership: Stability and change over two decades. The Leadership Quarterly, 29(4), 513-522.

Schyns, B., &Riggio, R. E. (2016). Implicit leadership theories. Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, 1-7.

Stanley, J., Rose N. A. & Ololube, G.N.P. (2015). A Review of Leadership Theories, Principles and Styles and Their Relevance to Educational Management. Retrieved from http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.mm.20150501.02.html

Wilson, A. L. (2017). Measuring the Impact of Implicit Leadership Theories on Leadership Efficacy and Developmental Readiness. Cardinal Stritch University.

 

 
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