Alexis Holmes

OGL 300: Theory and Practice of Leadership

Dr. Joy D’Angelo

November 11, 2021

Module 7: Paper

Introduction

How do you define leadership? Leadership is an amazing tool to have throughout your entire life.
Whether that be influencing people in the workplace or influencing your best friend to take a
once in a lifetime promotion. This paper will be a discussion about leadership, leadership
theories, leadership experience, and team-based leadership evaluation.

Part 1

What is leadership? How does leadership impact employee performance? These are frequently
asked questions amongst researchers everywhere. Leadership isn’t a simple idea; it is complex
and has such depth to it. “Some researchers conceptualize leadership as a trait or behavior,
whereas others view leadership from an information-processing perspective or relational
standpoint” (Northouse, pg.1). I believe both are rightfully correct due to the idea that leadership
can be circumstantial. How you lead a soccer team will be completely different to leading an
engineering team. Both teams involve different types of people with all different types of
personalities. Researchers have come up with different leadership theories in which you can
learn new skills or traits to be able to impact employee performance based on the circumstances
you are in as a leader. With that being said, leadership greatly impacts employee performance.
Employee performance is crucial within any company to be able to not only run a smooth
working environment but create quality results. Leadership impacts employee performance
through providing quality working conditions, promoting a positive work environment,
following through on commitments, and listening to employee’s concerns and opinions. Without
these ideals the workplace can become unbalanced, creating hostile and resentful employees.

Employees, also known as followers, have the most impact on a leader. Leadership is based off
their followers which they can gain in many different shapes and sizes. There are six bases of
power as a leader which include referent power, expert power, legitimate power, reward power,
coercive power, and information power. Referent power and Expert power are seen as personal
power where it is the influence capacity a leader derives from being seen by followers as likable
and knowledgeable. When leaders act in ways that are important to followers, it gives leaders
power. Legitimate, reward, coercive, and information power are seen as positional power which
is the power a person derives from a particular office or rank in a formal organizational system.
It is the influence capacity a leader derives from having higher status than the followers have.
These six bases of leadership power show ways in which leaders gain followers. How these
leaders lead their followers is a completely different story.

Diving into researched leadership theories of today, three in which have resonated in a positive
way include the skills approach, situational approach, and path-goal theory. All these theories
have beneficial ways to approach leadership. Skills approach is a theory based on a leader-
centered perspective on leadership. Instead of focusing on personality characteristics, skills
approach emphasizes skills and abilities that can be learned and developed. “Katz suggested that
effective administration depends on three basic personal skills: technical, human, and conceptual.
Leadership skills are defined in this chapter as the ability to use one’s knowledge and
competencies to accomplish a set of goals or objectives” (Northouse, pg.44). Katz states,
“Technical skills include competencies in a specialized area, analytical ability, and the ability to
use appropriate tools and technique. Human skills are quite different from technical skills, which
have to do with working with things” (Katz, 1955). Human skills deal with people and how to
work with their followers to accomplish organizational goals. Conceptual skills are the ability to
work with ideas and concepts. A leader with conceptual skills focuses on ideas the shape an
organization and can easily locate the company’s goals and values. These skills are known as the
three-skill approach. There’s another skill-based model on the skills approach that Mumford’s
group put together that has five components which include competencies, individual attributes,
leadership outcomes, career experiences, and environmental influences. The skills model frames
leadership by describing five components of leader performance. Situational approach focuses on
leadership situations. This theory holds into account how different situations in the workplace
call for different kinds of leadership. The situational approach has both directive and supportive
dimensions that can be applied when certain situations arise. The directive dimensions enforce
delegation, directions, and establishing goals. Supportive dimensions are a two-way
communication where followers feel emotional support. Path-Goal theory discusses how leaders
motivate followers to accomplish designated goals, it emphasizes the relationship between the
leader’s style and the characteristics of the followers and the organizational setting. There are
four types of leadership behavior in which help indicate different ways in which leaders motivate
their followers. These leadership theories all have unique ways in which you can lead your
followers and will always resonate in a positive manner. Two theories that have resonated in a
negative way include trait approach and leader-member exchange theory. Trait approach is a
theory that has been challenged by many researchers on exactly the specific traits a leader held.
It was believed that people were born with these traits, and that only the “great” people
possessed them. This is contradicting to the idea of human development, thus is why this theory
is brought to light in a negative manner. Leader-member exchange theory conceptualizes
leadership as a process that is centered on the interactions between leaders and followers.
Leader-member exchange theory is a bit overcomplex in the sense that researchers have
established complicated ways in how leaders should have a relationship with their followers.
Leaders should always have a positive interaction with their followers. That is why the leader-
member exchange theory is looked in a negative manner.

After discussing these leadership theories, it has come to light that these theories do in fact have
major similarities and differences. Some major similarities between these theories include ideas
on leadership focused, leadership being in control, and goal orientated. The differences between
these theories are described in how they go about their leadership. Trait approach is a completely
different way of leadership than skill approach. Trait approach is focused on personality whereas
skill approach is focused on the skill capacity to achieve one’s goals in an organization. The
leader-member exchange theory is different than all the theories because it’s focus is on the
followers. Overall, these theories all have unique ways to go about leadership in which some
might be beneficial for one leader, and some might not work for another.

Part 2

After looking at the 200 top paid CEO’s of 2016 it has brought no surprise at what companies
have taken over the market. Thomas M. Rutledge CEO of Charter Communications, which is the
second-largest cable operator in the United States by subscribers, has rung in $98 million dollars
in 2016 alone. Next is CEO Leslie Moonves from CBS and has made $68.6 million in 2016. The
list goes on, and the top companies on the list are part of the technology era. Technology is now
a big part of society and will forever be on top of the food chain. There will always be a need for
technology, it’s forever growing year by year. Some other companies listed include Nike, Walt
Disney, AMC Networks, JPMorgan Chase, Netflix, Advanced Auto Parts, Starbucks, Wal-Mart
Stores, Aetna, etc. Starbucks is a company that’s been around for 50 years, and in the year 2016
Howard Shultz received $21.8 million. It’s a well-deserved salary considering it took almost 50
years to get to that point. Most CEO’s that are on the list are part of companies who have been
around for decades. What stands out amongst this entire list is that most of the money the CEOs
are earning isn’t from their yearly salary but from stocks or bonuses. How do these CEO’s get
bonuses, yet most first line employees don’t get a single bonus or a decent pay? It’s unfortunate
that CEOs even receive bonuses. Another question to ask would be, what do these CEOs spend
their bonuses on? Do they put the money back into the company already or do they pocket it for
their own selfish interests? It would be interesting to investigate each of these CEO’s lives to see
not only how they achieved these types yearly pay, but what they do with the yearly pay. Most of
these companies will remain on this list for years to come because of the demand and loyalty
among customers. It will be interesting to look in the next decade what companies fall off,
remain, or become replaced by other companies. Overall, the world is full of competition and
companies will never be safe due to the ever-changing market.

Part 3

I have recently become a Barista at Starbucks in early September of 2021, where I have been
able to learn the ways of its management for the past couple of months now. An experience that
has frequently occurred at Starbucks within my new management team is a sense of
understanding and empathy towards all employees. There’s a great team atmosphere within my
work environment. I feel my manager, Ruben, qualifies as a servant leader. Servant leadership is
an approach to leadership that runs counter to common sense. Servant leadership emphasizes that
leaders be attentive to the concerns of their followers, empathetic with them, and nurture them.
For example, my manager has monthly meetings with each employee and continually asks how
we are doing. My monthly meeting was during thanksgiving week where Ruben sat down with
me to discuss any concerns I had about the workplace and the potential of moving up within the
company. I have never had a manager take time out of his schedule to focus on each individual
employee. This newfound sense of appreciation in a company felt amazing. Not only does it
make me want to perform my best for the team but makes me feel exhilarated for all the new
possibilities I could be capable of. I think that a lot of companies lack the understanding of
having a relationship with your employees. I have acquired many jobs in the past where I left due
to poor management. Poor management is simply because they lack leadership skills and traits.

An instance of conflict I continuously encountered while working as a server at Texas

Roadhouse was with another employee. She was a new server, yet I have been a server for
multiple years but have never encountered this sort of conflict before. She continuously wouldn’t
complete her closing tasks correctly, use other employees work for her own, and disappear
multiple times during shifts. At first, I cut her some slack because she was new to this type of
working environment where you must be past paced and always on alert. A couple months later
she still was pulling this type of work ethic. This type of work ethic isn’t something I can let go,
especially because it started to affect my work by having to pick up her slack. Other servers
started to complain about her not being able to do her job correctly which ultimately forced me
to step up as a leader. I don’t have a set management or leader role within Texas Roadhouse, but
I felt that it was a situation that had to be addressed for the betterment of the Texas Roadhouse
team.

I was able to apply behavioral approach theory. “Researchers studying the behavior approach
determined that leadership is composed of two general kinds of behaviors: task behaviors and
relationship behaviors. Task behaviors facilitate goal accomplishment: They help group
members to achieve their objectives. Relationship behaviors help followers feel comfortable with
themselves. The central purpose of the behavioral approach is to explain how leaders combine
these two kinds of behaviors to influence followers in their efforts to reach a goal” (Northouse,
pg.73). I used this theory in a way to achieve a shift in her task and relationship behaviors with
the help of the middle-of-the-road management technique. This technique creates a balance in
both behaviors at a satisfactory level. I was able to influence her to reach a goal of her achieving
a higher standard within the company. All employees want to feel that they are valued for the
work they put into a company, and I feel she never felt like her work mattered, which ultimately
is why her work ethic was so poor. Overall, with the help of this leadership theory I was able to
achieve satisfied coworkers.

If I were to have used a different leadership model like the authentic leadership theory, I believe
the outcome of this event could have gone different. Authentic leadership is more of an abrupt
style to leadership where the leader emphasizes his or her own values and beliefs. With that
being said, if I were to say or do everything I believed or valued within an organization than I
probably would lose my job. When trying to influence someone in a different direction you must
go about it in a cautious manner. You must be understanding to the situation and the follower
you are dealing with.

Part 4

I was once employed with a marketing team for a software company called SquadPod. I was
hired as a social media ambassador but was later brought on as a social media coordinator and
demo specialist. My duties consisted of marketing, demoing, networking, researching, and data
analytics. My marketing team would consistently have weekly meetings not only about updates
within the company but creative workshop meetings as well. Our team lead itself in a manner of
openness, understanding, and realism. Our team was upfront about everything at hand in the
organization. Yet while we all were delegated different tasks, we were still a team.

Leadership was shared amongst the team, which I think allowed us to have so much success
within the organization. We all had the same personality traits and skills, so when problems
arose, we were able to easily produce quick results in a timely manner. I would say we definitely
held the major leadership traits which include intelligence, self-confidence, determination,
integrity, and sociability. I think what made our team work so well together was because we all
had the same goal, which was an understanding of wanting the company to be as successful as it
could be. The motivation of that end goal is what really brought us all together. Even the other
departments sought out for success within the company. There was a time where we had issues
with communication skills between the marketing department and the development department.
This was easily solved by making sure to have more meetings between both departments.
Communication and leadership go hand in hand. Without communication there won’t be quality
results. Throughout working with SquadPod I was able to learn more about my own leadership
style. Knowing when to take charge and when to sit back silently to produce amazing results
were some of my strong suits. I was known to be fearless in trying out new tasks or projects,
especially if they were ones I’ve never encountered before. Some weaknesses I found in my
leadership skills were not always speaking up. When I look back at some of the meetings I had, I
wish I was more vocal in discussions because it could have led to new ideas. Overall, I would
say I am a very determined employee who can be shy but can also rise to the occasion when
needed.

I don’t think there will ever be any way to prepare yourself for the sort of challenges one will be
faced in “real life”. Someone’s perspective of “real life” can be completely different than
someone else’s perspective. There are continuous shifts in life and society to where no one will
ever be able to be fully prepared for “real life”. You can train and read up on as many things as
you possibly could, but still, no one will ever reach a scenario where one would be fully
prepared. I have gone through continuous jobs and trainings, yet the customer service industry
will still amaze me to this day. Everyday brings about new people, new cultures, and new rules. I
think leadership styles will work best though to bring out the uneasiness of “real life” challenges,
especially if someone has a difficult time with human skills. It can make an employee confident
in their abilities by having the knowledge of all the different types of leadership styles. In my
opinion I think the leadership styles that work best include Authentic leadership, Situational
Approach, Path-Goal Theory, and Behavioral Approach. Why I feel these theories work the best
is because they all don’t have set guidelines. They have guideline but are vague in the sense that
they understand situations, people, and society aren’t always the same. It would be silly to try to
have a set of rules laid out for leadership. For example, algebra has a fixed formula for problems
and there’s usually no way to solve those problems unless you know the formula. This is where
people get hostile, confused, and frustrated. Leadership should be a creative environment, like
completing proofs in geometry.

I believe the most important things I learned from working at SquadPod consisted of “real life”
customer service, “real life” conflict, and “real life” organizational skills. I think growing up in
minimum wage jobs will never fully prepare someone for a corporate setting. Most minimum
wage jobs don’t take the necessary time to help employees learn skills to become a leader. Nor
do minimum wage jobs try to progress employees into top tier management jobs. I truly believe
having hands on experience is crucial to achieving high quality employees. Understanding the
concept of “real life” customer service, conflict, and organizational skills have helped me
become confident in my abilities for my future career path in project management. Project
management is a leadership job that focuses on producing goal-orientated results. These goals
wouldn’t be achieved without your team. I’m truly excited to be able to lead an extraordinary
team one day where I can use these leadership theories. I know the process will be a lot of trial
and error considering everyone has a different sort of working styles, but that will make things
interesting.

Conclusion

All in all, leadership is a great skill to not only have but understand. Even if you aren’t a leader
within the organization you reside in now, doesn’t mean you won’t ever be called into a
leadership position. I think the importance of leadership goes beyond business. This course has
taught me a lot of knowledge which will in turn help me influence others. Leadership, leadership
theories, leadership experience, and team-based leadership has given me more power than any
other course has. It’s truly a gift to be able to lead a team to set goals.
 References

Northouse, P. (2018). Leadership Theory and Practice. SAGE Publications.