A leader is someone who guides a group of people or a team towards a goal, and encourages each individual to pursue their task. A manager usually has a higher job title, and it is their job to complete a set task. Both a leader and a manager are in charge of the team, however a manager controls the team as part of their job, a leader naturally controls the group because of their own decision and a decision made by the team that they will be a good leader to get the task done.
There are different types of leaders, some people believe that people have certain traits which make them ‘born leaders’, however others believe it is something that you have to learn. There are also democratic, autocratic, and laissez-faire leadership styles, which usually depend on the type of organisation. My leadership example is from when I worked at Waitrose.
In Waitrose there are a number of different leaders; one for each section, who controls their group of employees. On the main shop floor of Waitrose the leaders show a democratic leadership style. Employees are encouraged to make decisions themselves, but have support of their leader if necessary. This gives employees empowerment to make their own decisions, which means less decision making needed from the leaders and a better working team. However, in the head office the leadership style is more autocratic, and all decisions are made by only the very top leaders. In one branch of Waitrose, primary research has shown that the leaders follow the ‘Trait theory’. This suggests that leaders are born with certain traits, such as: intelligence, responsibility and enthusiasm; all of which are needed to be a successful leader. Primary research at Waitrose shows that most of the leaders already have all the traits needed to be a good leader, suggesting that they were born with these traits, and therefore are already a respectable leader. One of my colleagues had no higher job role than me, however was seen as a leader of the team as they were very enthusiastic and showed a lot of initiative. This suggests that they were more of a ‘born leader’ than some of the other employees.
John Adairs’ contingency theory suggests that good leaders should have full command of the three main areas of the Action Centered Leadership model, and should be able to use each of the elements according to the situation (John Adair, 1992). The three areas are; achieving the task, managing the team, and managing individuals. Adair suggests that we are not born leaders, but with the potential to become leaders. Waitrose shows a link to this theory in their leadership styles; they are set a reasonable task and it is up to the leader to make sure the team as a whole and each individual knows what they can do to help achieve the task. Each individual can help towards their end goal by making the right decisions and in the end will feel empowered that they have been part of the team. This also relates to my colleague, who was always the person to encourage us to pursue the task, therefor a good leader.
Goleman has suggested that there are six different leadership styles: visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pace-setter, and commanding. Research has shown that most leaders in Waitrose are pace-setters, although it depends which section they are leading. Pace-setters push to accomplish tasks, making sure every member of their team knows the set goals. This is a good leadership style to have as Waitrose is very large and has a lot of employees, so the leaders need to make sure every employee is pushing themselves to reach the goals.
References:
Schein, E. H. (2010) Organisational Culture and Leadership. 4th Ed. USA: P.B. Printing.
Detailed blog, good differences made but reference every source. Good org example and clear links to varied theories, well done. Remember to include a clear conclusion.
ReplyDelete