Analysis on Leadership - Blog 3

 Introduction

Sets of duties and actions are required to management and leadership. While managers and leaders are related, they both influence others by utilizing specialized powers to achieve specific goal (Algahtani, 2014).

Despite the similarities, there are differences between them. Managers are focused on direction and control their resources including subordinate and organization systems, also managers aim to meet short-term objectives, avoiding risks, and use standardization to increase efficiency (Kotterman, 2006).  While leadership focused on an individual characteristic, skill, and relationship. Leaders strive to achieve long-term goals, influence their followers to follow their vision, and take risks to achieve common goals (Northouse, 2021).

 

Adair’s Leadership Model

The famous Leadership Model proposed by John Adair in 1973, which the model is focused on action-centered leadership and used to elaborate more functional approach in leadership (Ackah, 2019).

These three areas of needs within the group will determined leader’s effectiveness (Mullins, 2010). Team maintenance, task needs, and individual needs are the three types of needs. These three requirements are universal in all leadership positions. All activities should be balanced across all three primary areas of need for effective leadership (Ackah, 2019). 

Figure 1, Leadership Styles 2: John Adair – The Action Centred Leader (University of Cambridge).

Benefits and Limitations of Adair’s Model

Adair's Model appears to be the finest organizational form offered. The concept also benefits leaders in determining where they may sense the group or situation's requirement. Furthermore, the notion is adaptable on any scenario or company culture. However, the approach appears to be outdated and authoritarian; it is no longer applicable in today's workplace, where the emphasis is on driving change and supporting innovation (Adair, 1973).

 

Leadership styles

Kurt Lewin conducted study on leadership styles and established three types: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. Over time, more leadership approaches have coalesced into a single category known as Transformational Leadership (Davis, 2017).

First, Autocratic Leadership, may be described as "Do as you're told." They want their followers to work for them because they are domineering. The second style, Democratic Leadership, believing that leaders and subordinates must involve and has opportunity to contribute to decision-making. Third, Laissez-faire leadership; leadership style has a clear meaning: includes employees and being free and trusting them to do the task without micromanagement. Finally, transformational leadership focuses on growing followers and considering their requirements. Teams and leaders are unified for a common goal and are eager to devote their efforts, time, and energy to the business (Al Khajeh, 2018). In my opinion, transformational leadership is increasingly significant these days, particularly in technology businesses. However, authoritarian leadership is often outdated and irrelevant to business execution. 

The Good and Bad Approaches

CEO of Celsius Network – Alex Mashinsky (Autocratic Leadership)

Figure 2, Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius Network (Financial Times).

Everything had to be done in Alex Mashinsky's style. This resulted from his actions to mismanage a $2 billion Bitcoin investment, which culminated in bankruptcy (Nwobodo, 2022). Autocratic leadership has critical problems in managing organization, notably in investment firms. Market-investment is volatile; no one knows when the market will turn bullish or bearish. These judgments cannot be made by a single person, and in this scenario, Mashinsky should consult with Chief Investment Officer before proceeding with the investment. I believe that if he involved their subordinates in decision-making, Celcius will withstand the current crypto bear market and inflation.  

CEO of Google – Sundar Pichai (Transformational Leadership)

Figure 3, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google (BGR India).

Sundar Pichai is a superb transformational leader. Google's innovations demonstrate that leaders operate as cultural conduits, accepting and transforming knowledge from their teams and serving as facilitators of the process. He also instills faith in their personnel in projects, and assists them in their career advancement (Gendi, 2018). Transformational leadership has shown to be effective in defining and communicating visions, allowing everyone to share their ideas, and resulting to create a better work environment and engage creativity to develop innovations. Google DevOps is already adopting this leadership and producing successful software performances (Google Cloud).

 

Conclusion

Both managers and leaders should have good communication skills when learning real-world leadership cases. Developing this skill will enable companies to better understand their needs and processes to achieve their objectives. Aside from that, leaders and managers must be disciplined, capable of motivating others, a good listener, and open to feedback to achieve the best results.

References:

Ackah, D. (2019). Models of Leadership and Teamwork: Adairs Action-Centred Leadership Model (1973). Worldwide Journal of Multi-Disciplinary Studies, 1(5), 01-06.

Adair, J. E. (1973). Action-centred leadership (pp. 07-084428). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Al Khajeh, E. H. (2018). Impact of leadership styles on organizational performance. Journal of Human Resources Management Research, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.5171/2018.687849

Algahtani, D. A. (2014). Are leadership and management different? A Review. Journal of Management Policies and Practices, 2(3). https://doi.org/10.15640/jmpp.v2n3a4

Davis, C. R. (2017). Administrator leadership styles and their impact on school nursing. NASN School Nurse, 33(1), 36–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/1942602x17714202

Gendi, E. R. (2018). How Transformational CEOs Maintain their Innovative Edge. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-transformational-ceos-maintain-innovative-edge-dr-rasha-el-gendi/

Google Cloud. DevOps culture: Transformational leadership. Google. https://cloud.google.com/architecture/devops/devops-culture-transformational-leadership

Kotterman, J., (2006), “Leadership vs Management: What’s the difference?”, Journal for Quality & Participation, Vol. 29 Issue 2, p.13-17

Mullins, L. (2010), Management and Organisational Behaviour. 9th edn. Essex: Pearson     Education Limited, 330-390

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

Nwobodo, C. (2022). Celsius CEO’s alleged trading decisions led to bankruptcy. Cryptoslate. https://cryptoslate.com/celsius-ceos-alleged-trading-decisions-led-to-bankruptcy/