Contemporary Leadership styles

Old leadership style?

The major leadership models are Autocratic, Democratic and the Laissez-Faire model. Is the process of leading too old for the current generation? A generation where the employees are more knowledgeable than yesterday , where information is all around the

place. This type of environment may not have existed in the early 20th Century. We are living in a world where so much has changed , the way people think has changed, then would the same leadership style work in an organisation?

Let’s have a look at that.

The old approach

The moment we think about the leaders in an organisation it is usually thought about people who are on top of the corporate ladder, having great authority and someone who has been looked up to in a company. According to Alice H. Eagly et al  (Gender and leadership style 1990) the general leadership style is mainly differentiated by genders which is an inter personally style for women and a task oriented style for men.This is called as gender stereotype differentiation in leadership styles where it is believed that a different leadership style is performed by women and a different by men. Some authors with extensive leadership experience have written books on management and leadership stating the similar stereotypes . So Autocratic! 

For example, Loden (1985) said that there is a masculine mode of management which includes competency, hierarchical authority, high control for the leader, with unemotional and analytic problem solving.  He argues that women tend to behave in an alternative feminine leadership style characterised by cooperativeness, collaboration of managers , lower control for the leader and problem solving is based on intuition, empathy as well as rationality.

The new approach

Leadership can be performed by everyone , even at the bottom level of the hierarchy. According to Uhl-bein et al ( Complexity leadership theory) She argues that the shift from the 20th to the 21st Century has led to drastic changes in the way people work , it has been described as the shift from the Industrial era to the Knowledge era. The current era has been described as the knowledge era because knowledge  has increased and its sharing too is consistent and can be taken as a commodity. Hence the Democratic model. It has been argued that revolution of technology and globalisation of businesses has led to a more complex, competitive and ever changing business environment.

The leadership systems proposed focus on more complex adaptive systems (CAS) where the systems consists of an administrative system consisting of all traditional elements of leadership like bureaucracy and hierarchy. This is mixed with adaptive and enable systems which focus more on the learning and adapting process which would enable more innovation and creativity in problem solving.

Conclusion

Current leaders who have been used to following the trends from the past are facing difficulties with adaptation of technology revolution and globalisation. It has been difficult for them to understand their followers likes and dislikes and what can make them work in a much more efficient way.

For example in CEO’s from the Asian countries like Chinese CEO’s find it difficult to adapt to western leadership styles for expanding their business internationally since they are bound to use traditional methods and hence a survey made on Chinese CEO’s shows that the major challenges faced are talent management , organisational climate and innovation.(Hay 2007; East meets West)

But look at Mr. Antonio ( CEO of Lloyd’s bank) has been such a role model for the organisation and has indeed proven the best results for the company. The major challenge he is facing today is developing managerial effectiveness and driving for change. He has to adapt to the new trends in technology and understand the  need of having information about employees  and their needs in this knowledge based era.It needs to be understood that adding value to the work will definitely avoid corruption. Belbin’s team roles can be allocated to suit the best role for an individual.

Research shows no differentiation on leadership styles due to gender orientation, it is the situation in what an individual is set to handle things and the readiness to perform a  given task, relations and change.Women should be encouraged and are seen to be taking bolder steps in companies to move forward in their careers by first self disclosure and asking for feedback by colleagues to uncover the hidden and blind areas of the  Johari’s window to attain self disclosure. especially in Asian , African and middle east countries , women must be strongly encouraged to perform leadership roles.(E.Reuben 2017)

Leadership in today’s fast paced changing business environment requires adaption of new strategies along with some level of bureaucracy because at the end of the day they do need to report to someone . Most importantly if you have to deal and lead the people of the future generation then you must  know what draws the best results out of them.

 

References

Eagly, A. and Johnson, B. (1990). Gender and leadership style: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 108(2), pp.233-256.

Loden, M. (1985). Feminine leadership or How to succeed in business without being one of the boys. New York: Times Books.

Moore, S. and Cope, J. (2012). Gender differences in occupational leadership styles. [Greenville, N.C.]: East Carolina University.

Mullins, L. and Christy, G. (2016). Management and organisational behaviour. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Uhl-Bien, M., Marion, R. and McKelvey, B. (2007). Complexity Leadership Theory: Shifting leadership from the industrial age to the knowledge era. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(4), pp.298-318.