Sample Essay On Strategic AND Visionary Leadership

Business 5: Leadership Styles

Business 5: Leadership Styles
“Leadership is defined as the process of influencing others in order to accomplish a goal”( Slawinski, 2007, ). There are several different types of leadership that have been presented and analyzed in empirical research. There are also different types of leaders that exhibit unique characteristics that provide a rationale behind the various behaviors, work ethics, decision making skills, and influence that leaders have on other employees, people, and associates within an organization. Along with the aforementioned leaders do not only manage and supervise others, but they also create wealth and value in the organization that they work for. Several tactics, skills, and methods are used by leaders to develop efficiency and positive outcomes in organization. Leaders can also cause adverse results in an organization, but for sake of this paper the focus will be on strategic, visionary, and managerial leadership and leaders. One type of leadership that is very significant to the overall operation and aligning of organizational goals is strategic leadership. Strategic leadership focus on influencing people within an organization to produce, perform and make routine decisions that encourage the achievement of organizational goals. Concurrently, strategic leadership also directly affects the organizational financial effectiveness(Glenn, 2001 ). Visionary leadership is the ability to take an idea or an organizational vision and transform it into a realistic action. According to Brown and Anfara (2003) visionary leadership is the “capacity to create and communicate a view of a desired state of affairs that clarifies the current situation and induces commitment to an even better future”(p. 16). Visionary leaders are brainstorming thinkers that later become strategic leaders once they implement a plan or idea into operation . Lastly managerial leaders combine planning, organizing; budgeting with aligning; implementing and the vision of the organization. In this paper, this scholar will share personal experiences with strategic and visionary leadership; illustrate the advantages of working with a visionary leader; and discuss the type of leadership that this writer closely identifies with.

Strategic and visionary leaders have unique traits that not only differentiate one another in title, but also differ in the effect the role that they play in an organization.

Strategic Leadership

As previously mentioned, strategic leadership is geared toward influencing people to engage in their organization that they work for. There are several different methods and styles that are used to accomplish this goal of engagement. In my personal experience I have worked under a transformational and an authoritative leader. The transformation leader was excellent. He used several different teaching methods to grasp my employees and I attention in the learning process. He also recognized everyone’s weaknesses and created strategies to strengthen those weaknesses. For instance, one of my weaknesses was difficulty speaking in front of groups. This particular skill was very significant to my job title as a group instructor because some of my main job duties were speaking to groups of adolescence and teens. Another significant component of my boss was that he motivated employees and me by encouragement and constructive criticism. According to Judge, Woolf, Hurst, and Livingston(2006) transformational leaders inspire other people that they work with. In addition, transformational leaders challenge their employees by through intellectual stimulation, providing a module example, and focusing on the individual needs of the staff that the leaders supervise. By focusing on the aforementioned factors my boss influenced me to become one of the best public speakers and group leaders in the organization. Hence, strategic leaders influence others through motivation, encouragement, model behavior, and capitalizing on the individual needs of employees.

Visionary Leadership

Visionary also known as transformational leaders have an idea or plan that has already been developed but is awaiting the next stage implementation. This type of leader has already initiated his or her plan of action by making the decision to engage in a specific project or several tasks. My experience with a visionary leader was in a scholastic setting, which is a common environment where visionary leadership is frequently encountered. Some of the applicable characteristics of a visionary learner describe some of the most effective educators and instructors. Those characteristics surround the concepts of empowerment and guidance. Fortunately I was subjected to this type of leadership in high school. I was both inspired and empowered by my history teacher. Not only was she working full-time as a teacher, she was also attending graduate school to get her Doctorate of Philosophy; and she was only 33 years old. I found that to be very motivating and I admired all of her efforts. While evaluating my teacher, I made a plan to continue throughout my education and to also earn a degree that will allow me to learn as much as feasibly possible about the different components of business. My ultimate goal is to find my own niche and open my own business. Hence, visionary leaders inspire other people to strive to be great and to take chances through guidance and motivational principles.

Advantages of Working with a Visionary Leader

There are several advantages to working with a visionary leader. Those advantages include: visionary leaders are charismatic, motivating, influential, and assertive. My experience with a visionary learner occurred when I worked at a group home. The group home administrator was a mellow and caring man that was also kind. The goals of the group home were to provide a supportive environment for troubled youth. This was made a reality counseling groups, and several outings that were geared to exposing troubled, abused, and misunderstood teens to the positive life experiences. After working here for 4 years, the owner informed my colleagues and myself about the new legal changes that were about to be implemented into the organization. These changes were detrimental to the counseling process and made it a bit difficult to effectively communicate with the troubled population that was assigned. As a result, the owner paid for everyone to take a training course will ameliorate the change process and simplify the employees’ job . In addition, to keep the employees motivated the owner bought us lunch every Friday. Visionary leaders do more than provide a foundation for workers to replicate, they actually change the way that one views the organization that they work for and motivates them to add more value to it. According to Cousin (2013) “transformational leaders strive to understand employees’ abilities, skills, and needs, and offer them coaching and mentoring to overcome any weaknesses”(p 6). When people learn to overcome their weaknesses it gives them a sense of empowerment. In addition, they feel like they are a more valuable asset to the organization that they work for because their productive potential increases. Hence, a visionary leader’s ability to increase production, empowerment, and influence on employees also boost employee morale and organization cohesiveness.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is the type of leadership that best describes me because it coincides with my personality traits and the way that I communicate with other people. Personally, I have had experience as a leader and as a member of groups in diverse settings and win different goals. One thing that is for certain is to maintain the momentum, and drive for excellence in a group it is very significant for the leader to be open, knowledgeable, resourceful, and focused. Personality characteristics that are exhibited by transformational leaders are supportive, team oriented, motivational, and good communicators. In a team on an individual basis I strongly believe that providing support to staff that I supervise by providing them with guidance, clear and concise directions, and encouragement. All three of the aforementioned traits ameliorate the chances of building a healthy and collaborative relationship with subordinate staff. According to Avolio, Walumbwa, and Weber (2009) “leadership is significantly affected by the way followers construct their understanding of the leader in terms of their interpretation of his or her personality, behaviors, and effectiveness”(p. 435). Leadership style and the personality of the leaders play an intricate role in subordinate employee’s perception of the leader, the organization, and their value in the organization that they work for. Transformational leaders can also influence the waterway a Q feels about his or her self in general. Support for subordinate staff also displays that the leader is genuinely concerned for the well being of his or her staff. This type of support system is the beginning of the development of collaborative and team oriented relationships between staff on all levels. As a transformational leader I also believe that motivating and treating others with support, respect, and as a team member can reduce the value that is placed on work titles, and occupational status; and focus more closely on achieving organizational goals as a cohesive unit opposed to many separate parts. Lastly, as a transformational leader I strongly value the significance of having open and frequent communication with staff because doing so minimizes confusion on accomplishing goals, improves staff and leadership skills, and hones and strengthens staff and management weaknesses. Hence, transformational leader’s personality traits and actions shape employee’s perceptions, and behavior, and productivity in the organization that they are employed in.

Conclusion

Within every organization there are different types of leadership. There is strategic, visionary, and managerial leadership tactics that are used. Strategic and visionary leaders have unique traits that not only differentiate one another in title, but also differ in the effect the role that they play in an organization. As previously mentioned, strategic leadership is geared toward influencing people to engage in their organization that they work for. There are several different methods and styles that are used to accomplish this goal of engagement. Visionary leaders have an idea or plan that has already been developed but is awaiting the next stage implementation. Visionary leaders are coaches and mentors that find the strengths that people have to ameliorate the weaknesses. This is an excellent type of leadership in businesses and social sciences because by teaching people about their weaknesses and strength, one is capable of honing and developing underdeveloped skills and promoting strength based strategies within organizations. Transformational leadership is the type of leadership that best describes me because it coincides with my personality traits and the way that I communicate with other people. Hence leadership styles and leader’s characteristics significant to all organizations because they directly affect organizational culture, operation, and productivity.

References

Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F. O., & Weber, T. J. (2009). Leadership: Curent Thoeries, Reseach, and Future Directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 421-449.
Brown, K. A., & Anfara, V. A. (2003). Paving the Way for Change: Visionary Leadership in Action at the Middle Level. NASSP Review, 16-33.
Cossin, D., & Caballero, J. (2013). Transformational Leadership. IMD GLOBAL BOARD CENTER, 1-23.
Judge, T. A., Woolf, E. F., urst, C., & Livingston, B. (2006). Charaismatic and Transformational Leadership. Organisationaspsychologie, 203-214.
Rowe, G. W. (2001). Creating wealth in organizations: The role of strategic leadership. Academy of Management Executive, 81-94.
Slawinski, N. (2007). Strategic Leadership. In G. W. Rowe, Cases in Leadership (pp. 297-334). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.