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Introduction
A leader is a central figure in any organization because their actions determine the vision and motivation for work. Some of the misconceptions about leadership include the idea that one can be born a leader or that intellectual capabilities are the sole and most essential quality that one must possess. However, modern research on leadership discovered many leadership principles that contradict these ideas different styles of leadership and emotional intelligence or other personality traits as the basis of good leadership. This paper will discuss principles for leading people and organizations, including the pros and cons.
Chapter 10 of the textbook by Bauer, Erdogan, and Short (2018) focuses on the different elements of leadership and the development of leadership research and theory. The role of leadership is explained by Bauer, Erdogan, and Short (2018) as essential for a businesses success, since they hold their companys future in their hands and the central leadership styles are directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented (Bauer, Erdogan, & Short, 2018, p.3; p. 18). Each of these styles has its pros and cons that allow a leader to use an approach that is the best fit for a particular organization and situation. The following chapters will discuss the pros and cons of different leadership principles in detail.
Initial Thoughts and Pros
Chapter 10, titled Leading people and organizations, is dedicated to explaining how the research on leadership developed over time and what the contribution of leaders to an organizations success is. The Planing-Organizing-Leading-Controlling (POLC) framework includes leadership as one of the four core elements, which means that leadership is essential (Bauer, Erdogan, & Short, 2018). One major pro of having a good leader is fulfilling the other elements of the POLC, for instance, planning, organizing, and controlling. Therefore, having a leader in a company is a necessary element that predetermines the success of its operations.
Initially, when reading Chapter 10, one may conclude that leaders possess some particular personality traits that allow them to affect others, such as charisma. This is because according to Bauer, Erdogan, and Short (2018), leadership is defined as the act of influencing others to work toward a goal (p. 2). However, upon further reading, one can understand that charisma, although it can contribute to a managers leadership, is not a predefining element of it. Therefore, another pro argument for the development of personal leadership characteristics is the fact that leadership principles are complex and can be adapted to different contexts.
Another argument towards developing leadership qualities in oneself and one of the core principles of leadership is that although leaders often have formal power, they do not use it to affect others. Leaders can hold managerial positions or have an authority to impact the decisions of others, but people willingly choose to adopt the leaders goal without the use of force or punishment (Bauer, Erdogan, & Short, 2018). This means that leaders work towards creating an agreement within the organization and encouraging or motivating people to work towards a common goal. Hence, when reading Chapter 10 about leadership principles, one may initially conclude that leadership is an issue of extreme responsibility, and leaders have to be prepared to take responsibility for their organizations future. Moreover, since there are several leadership styles, each has its pros and cons.
Cons
One argument against the principles of leadership may be that following the Situational Leadership theory. Leaders have to adopt different styles to suit their followers needs. This contingency theory implies that the level of followers development is the factor that must determine the leadership style (Bauer, Erdogan, & Short, 2018). Hence, since leaders should be diverse, there is no need to develop some qualities because they may be unnecessary in a given context. However, as Bauer, Erdogan, and Short (2018) note, a good CEO may lack some of the basic EQ traits of a good leader, for instance, the former CEO of HP Carly Fiorina, who lacked regard for the people in the company. Therefore, although different styles of leadership and not all of them are suitable for different types of organizations, one should aim to develop the essential characteristics of a good leader and be aware of these different styles.
Another issue that one may view with leadership principles is the assumptions that leaders are born and not made. Therefore, some people are born leaders, or they should never hold a managerial position. This is not true, although the initial research into leadership was focused on the traits and characteristics of leaders (Bauer, Erdogan, & Short, 2018). However, soon the researchers realized that many character traits could contribute to becoming a leader and some peoples personalities differ drastically, although they are leaders in their organizations. Hence, more recent research is focused on examining the different types of leadership styles and ways in which one can develop personnel leadership.
The leadership theories may be viewed as proof that leaders success in an organization is based on factors that they cannot affect. However, situational leadership or the path-goal theory of leadership proves the contrary. One issue with situational leadership is that research results for the theory have been mixed, suggesting that its assumptions are not always valid (Bauer, Erdogan, & Short, 2018). Path goal theory, however, seems to have a comprehensive assessment of the work environment and employee characteristics.
Pros and Cons Argument
There are several ways of approaching the refutation of the need to have strong leaders within an organization. Firstly, apart from formal leaders appointed by a CEO and a Board of Directors, there are often informal leaders who are respected and listened to by their colleagues (Bauer, Erdogan, & Short, 2018). One explanation for this phenomenon is that people naturally strive to listen to recommendations of competent, intelligent, and charismatic people. Notably, although the theory of leadership is extensive, there are many examples of leaders that do not possess the traits that are perceived as necessary for a leader. For example, Bauer, Erdogan, and Short (2018) cite the CEO of Craigslist, Jim Buckmaster, who is an introvert and does not like to have meetings, which is the opposite of extraversion, a core leadership trait in the Big Five.
Leaders are both intelligent and have a high level of self-awareness. While IQ is a generally understood concept, emotional intelligence (EQ) and its impact on leadership are less commonly known. Bauer, Erdogan, and Short (2018) state that EQ is a high level of self-awareness, motivation, empathy, and social skills (p. 5). The pro factor of this assumption is that it is not enough to be intelligent, since organizations often rely on the work and motivation of people working for them. The cons of this approach are that EQ factors may overshadow the IQ. For example, outgoing and extraverted individuals will become leaders, even if their introverted colleagues are more suitable for this role because of their professional qualities.
The Big Five personality traits developed by Goldberg are linked to a perception of an individual as a leader (Bauer, Erdogan, & Short, 2018). However, apart from the Big Five, there is self-esteem, which is an essential predictor of ones leadership capabilities. Integrity can be defined as having high moral standards and holding oneself accountable for actions. Hence, the pro factor of these principles is that management can use different types of assessments based on the Big Five to determine people suitable for leadership roles.
One factor that supports the cons argument against developing leadership characteristics is that there are personality traits, which are negatively linked with ones perception as a leader. Notably, agreeable people who are modest, good-natured, and avoid conflict are generally not perceived as leaders by others (Bauer, Erdogan, & Short, 2018, p. 10). However, this does not mean that these individuals cannot modify their behavior at work or work for organizations where these qualities may be needed.
Conclusion
Overall, this paper focuses on the principles of leadership, their meaning to an organization, and the pros and cons of leadership. Intelligence, EQ, Big Five personality traits, self-esteem are the factors that determine ones predisposition to becoming a leader. However, there are several arguments against using these characteristics and examples of leaders who do not possess extravert qualities. On the other hand, their standards of leaders who are highly intelligent, such as the CEO of HP, but who lack EQ to motivate the people working for the company. This proves that although the various leadership theories help determine people who are likely to become good leaders, one must approach these theories with caution. The situational leadership and path-goal leadership theories help mitigate these potential issues by assessing different characteristics of the followers or organizations and determining a suitable leadership style based on the findings. However, the cons of situational leadership are that little empirical research has proven its effectiveness.
Reference
Bauer, T., Erdogan, B., & Short, J. (2018). Principles of management. FlatWorld.
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