Good Example OF Leadership Style Essay

Nowadays leadership is viewed in three different aspects: as an art; a natural characteristicof a person and a science. Therefore, lots of different approaches to leadership were introduced in books and manuals. The most common definition views leadership as the activity that deals with being a leader of a group of people, as well as a capability of realizing this activity. Leadership can be also defined as the position or function of a leader, who is a person, whose activities deal with directing performance of the group (Schein 13-15). Leadership encompasses lots of interrelated functions, such as establishing a clear vision of a goal that needs is to be achieved by an organization that consists of people, sharing this vision with others; helping them implement the vision, and providing guidelines over the process of vision implementation that includes coordination and mediation of conflicting interests of those, who take part in the implementation process (Beatty& Quinn 4-11)
With regard to current developments in leadership studies, it is worth emphasizing growing importance of strategic leadership that aims at providing companies with the opportunity to gain or maintain competitive advantage in long-term perspective. Strategic leadership tasks also include gathering information, linking it up, making decisions on organizational wellbeing, as well as acting in accordance with these decisions and being responsible for them.
While leadership tasks, as well as the ones of strategic nature are common for different types of organizations, there is no unified view on the way leadership-related tasks need to be implemented. Therefore, in leadership studies, it is common to distinguish between different leadership styles. Leadership style is a leader’s style of providing members of a group with direction and guidance, formulating what needs to be achieved and motivating people to get these goals implemented.
My ideal leadership style is represents a mix of authentic leadership and LMX style. I chose authentic leadership as a key component of my ideal leadership style, because I have a developed sense of purpose and specific personal values. As these traits tend to characterize authentic leaders, I think that I may have a natural lodging towards leadership. I can substantiate this thesis by referring to my successful leadership of school and university team projects. These experiences also allow me suggesting that I possess a range of skills, inherent for authentic leadership, such as listening (as one of the determinants of successful communication); empathy (attempt to understand the way subordinates feel) and the ability to take integrated position, when viewing things. Furthermore, I think that authentic leadership is highly beneficial for businesses that have developed corporate social responsibilities due to the fact that authentic leaders are frequently characterized with the commitment to community-building and growth (George 33). As I would like to be leading a socially responsible business in terms of my future career, this trait of authentic leaders might be of significant helpfulness for me.
The second element that constitutes a part of my ideal leadership style is LMX style. According to leader-member exchange theory, leaders, who utilize LMX style, form different kinds of relationships with group members (subordinates). By-turn, the group of subordinates constitutes in-group and out-group. The relationships between the members of an in-group and the leader are based on the sense of mutual trust and obligations Members of the in-group receive considerably more attention. They can communicate a leader directly, and may utilize significantly more resources as the members of the out-goup. Role responsibilities of an in-group are negotiable, and can be expanded. They also tend to have high-quality personalized exchanges with the leaders that help him/her, understand the core of the vision implementation process and identify issues that are faced by group members in terms of vision implementation. Relationships between an out-group and a leader are framed by a formal dimension, namely defined roles, described in an employment contract. LMX style seems to be ideal in cases there is a need of managing a company with a flat organizational structure (e.g., it is necessary to deal with the operation of teams that work independently on a single project).
In the future I would like to become a manager for Google. I think that my ideal leadership style, based on the fusion of authentic leadership and LMX leadership, will be of use for the company. This thesis can be justified by referral to several arguments related to both elements of my leadership style. First of all, authentic leadership is appropriate for any type of company, because it is natural and characterized by “leading for others”. In other words, an authentic leader’s purposefulness and developed vision of what needs to be achieved by members of a group is likely to have a motivating effect on employees. Motivation is of crucial importance for Google as the company, whose success is dependent on its capability of launching innovative products.
Secondly, it is necessary to mention that Google is committed to the development of philanthropy and addressing global challenges, such as climate change. While tackling climate change issue on systemic basis, Google also elaborates on launching specific charitable endeavors. It also tends to develop responses to management of disasters’ consequences, such as funding construction of educational institutions in the city of Mianyang in Sichuan province in China after the earthquake in 2008 (Google). Therefore, enjoying leadership by the people, committed to global and community wellbeing and growth, is of use for Google as a multinational enterprise that plays its own in the world system of tackling global issues.
Thirdly, as the work of Google is based on independent operation of teams, it is of vital importance to possess a tool to manage the activities of these teams without creating hierarchy-related borders to creativity and innovation. LMX model will allow maintaining relations with all the teams through their members without formalizing them as it happens in case of hierarchical organizational structure. At the same time, utilization of LMX style will help coordinating efforts of different teams, keep them informed about the activities of one another, so that common work on the development of new projects can be launched. Thus, LMX provides for flexibility of networks and leadership’s being able to create opportunities for communication between members of different teams, who may be capable of developing a new project together.
Thus, it can be concluded that I chose authentic leadership and LMX due to both personal and organization-related reasons. From the personal viewpoint, both authentic leadership and LMX leadership style allow me making best use of my inherent character traits, such as sociability, purposefulness and possessing developed personal values. Furthermore, utilization of a fusion of these styles is capable of assisting in meeting the objectives of Google, namely enhancing professional creative networking for innovation, growth and tackling global issues.

Works cited

Beatty, K., Quinn, L. “Strategic command: taking the long view for organizational success”. On strategic leadership. Ed. S. Rush. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership, 2012. 1-11. Print.
George, B. “The journey to authenticity”. Leader to Leader Journal, 31 (2004): 29-35. Print.
Google. “Corporate social responsibility”. Web. 6 January 2014.
Schein, E. Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisko: Jossey Bass, 2006. Print.