Introduction
First of all, leadership can be defined as the ability to influence a particular group of individuals to attain a particular goal or mission. Every organization is goal oriented and the leaders have a responsibility to ensure that these goals are attained.
Behavioral leadership
This theory assumes that a leader is defined by the things he or she is capable of doing or has done. It bases its argument on the fact that a leader is supposed to learn different leadership styles. It refutes the belief that one is born a leader or leadership can be inherited. This argument paves way for the argument that someone develops leadership styles over time. It mainly looks at the actions and successful events of a leader to determine the relationship between a leadership style and its outcome whether failure or success. From that a style is linked with its outcome (Edgar Schein, 2004).
Situational leadership
This theory argues that different situations require different leadership styles. Leaders need to be very flexible because not all styles work for every situation. One is considered to be a good leader if he or she can immediately change a style to suite the present situation. The theory has four different categories of leadership styles grouped from S1 to S4. A directing leader which is S1 is one who has full control of the subordinates, him or her, makes all the decisions. A coaching leader; S2, is one who involves subordinates in making decisions but the final decision relies on him or her. A supporting leader; S3, is one who makes decisions but the subordinates have more control. A delegating leader; S4, is one who the subordinates choose when and how to involve him or her in decision making (Edgar Schein, 2004).
Self reflection in Organizational Management and Leadership
I have learnt that in managing people successfully in an organization, one need to identify the different situations to apply to a particular leadership style. Time needed to complete a task, the task itself and the type of employees realy determines the type of leadership approach one can use. For lazy employees on is expected to be autocratic thus make all the decision and for hard working ones, one can be a laissez-faire leader thus giving them all the freedom they need to complete their task (Edgar Schein, 2004).
Mentoring of new employees has major positive outcomes for the organization. Mentoring is simply refers to the help given by a more experienced employee to a new one. It can lead to new employees acquiring knowledge about the organizational culture very quickly (Edgar Schein, 2004).
It is evident that in organization like any other institutions, people do wrong and for that reason they need to be disciplined. It is important for all employees to know the rules and regulations of the organization very well. The management has the responsibility of ensuring that the rules and punishments are well explained. Disciplinary action steps need to be clear and simple for easy understanding. An impromptu disciplinary action needs to be avoided. An employee should be given a warning before any disciplinary action is taken against him or her. This avoids the different propagandas that can come up against the management of the organization. It further avoids employee-employer conflict (Edgar Schein, 2004).
For survival, the management needs to regularly change the culture of the organization to suite the current technological, economic and social changes (Edgar Schein, 2004).
Reference
Edgar Schein H., 2004. The types of leadership: Organizational Culture and Leadership. Pp. 230-420.
