According to Gunderman, 2016 (p. 8), a leader is anyone in a position to influence a group of people to achieve the set goals. On the other hand, ethical leadership is in respect to ethical values and beliefs and observing of others’ rights and dignity. Leaders should embrace ethical standards when performing in their leadership roles. Since they leaders have influence over their followers, they should ensure that they meet the threshold of certain ethical standards such as honesty, integrity, fairness, trust, and professionalism, among others. Moral development also influences one’s ethical leadership (Gunderman, 2016, p. 11). Thus, a great leader is self-aware, comprehends the significance of communicating with the society members and has the vision of helping the community or the group members to grow. Ethically, leaders are expected to lead by example and also are supposed to set new standards and enforce the power of learning and teaching (Clop, 2015, p. 12). It is the role of a leader to be the first one then followed by others as they feel motivated. One has to have a deep-rooted concern that he needs to achieve without being observed.
One of the major requirements for an ethical leader is to have a personal vision, honesty, trustworthy and treat his group members with dignity. The importance of leadership is that one must have vision and purpose (Clop, 2015, p. 19). It is important to note that it's not easy to achieve set goals without the help of other members of the group or the community. It is essential to integrate the organization’s goals with those of the group or the community. According to Halaychik, 2016, (p. 23), leaders have to be practical and realistic and talk the same language of the idealist. As a leader, one has to set goals that are achievable, inspiring, measurable, and shared.
However, there are many different styles of leadership, and everyone has a unique style of leadership. This analysis is based on my style of leadership (Gunderman, 2016, p. 17). I had taken a personal assessment to enable me to determine my leadership style. Factors that I took into consideration as I did my assessment include; own magnetism deficit inventory, express emotional scale, task-oriented attitudinal and behavior evaluation. After considering the above evaluations, I learned that my leadership style is a participative one. Participative leadership is a style whereby the person in charge shares the decision making with other members (Clop, 2015, p. 21). During the evaluation period, I had to incorporate ethics by ensuring everything is done transparently.
Being a participative leader, my style advocates teamwork. Teamwork is considered to be the backbone of my leadership style and considering the ethical part is that respect should prevail to everyone. The importance of this style of leadership is that it gives an opportunity to the group members to participate in decision making; this also makes the team to have a sense of belonging as well as ownership (Clop, 2015, p. 32).
The strength of supportive leadership style is that it strives for consensus. It is a strength as it empowers the group members and as a result, it leads to a sense of belonging to the group members (Gunderman, 2016, p. 24). However, this leadership style has got its weaknesses. One of the shortcomings in my leadership style is that once a member does not agree to something or disagrees on an issue, no decision can be made or reached until all members agree (Clop, 2015, p. 41). This results in time wasting since all members have to reach a consensus on which way forward. Despite being a weakness, it is also a hindrance as it loses time and productivity stops until agreement.
Other leadership styles that I can incorporate into my leadership style are the entrepreneurial leadership and the autocratic leadership. This type of leadership is characterized by acts of a leader retaining most authority for him (Halaychik, 2016, p. 37). It is clear that authoritative leadership style operates in a way that is opposite of the participative style whereas, in participative style, the decision is made by all members while in autocratic leadership, the leader decides on behalf of the team, thereby the leader retains most of the power. Additionally, authoritarian leaders are less concerned with team members (Clop, 2015, p. 44). Those practicing participative leadership styles, enable the team members to enjoy the privileges accompanied by this style. Members can give their opinions and concerns as well as decision making.
Another form of leadership style is the entrepreneurial style meant for individuals who are innovative enough to open and operate their own business (Gunderman, 2016, p. 33). This form of leadership style is different from other leadership styles in various ways. The entrepreneurial leadership style has got more achievements compared to other leadership styles whereas participative approach strives for consensus. Entrepreneurial leadership style brings creativity and enthusiastic (Clop, 2015, p. 51). Participative leadership puts into account employee’s demands while entrepreneurial method solves immediate solution to arising problems.
For one to be an active leader, one has to understand different types of leadership styles incorporating ethical conduct as well. In my case, leadership styles helped me know my areas of weakness and improve on them. After identifying my areas of weaknesses and work on them, and gain more and new skills (Halaychik, 2016, p. 42). By learning other leadership styles, being able to put the skills, knowledge, and abilities. By putting these skills together, I will be ready for more creative leading to gaining and implementing new leadership styles (Clop, 2015, p. 55). The newly acquired skills will help me improve in all aspects of my leadership styles thus making me more effective.
Additionally, for one to be an active leader, one needs to understand different types of leadership styles as this will help improve communication skills as well as other skills and abilities related to leadership. Leaders need to be emotionally intelligent and be able to handle and minimize problems arising in workplaces (Halaychik, 2016, p. 52). Understanding differences emerging in groups helps reduce or eliminate miscommunications. It is vital for groups to handle and solve miscommunication in the group. One of the best ways of managing miscommunications is by holding regular group meetings to encourage member’s input (Gunderman, 2016, p. 41).
This is a clear indication to the members that the leader is accessible to by all members. Another advantage of regular meetings is that it's an open door policy for members. An open door demonstrates to members that the leader is always available and is reachable (Halaychik, 2016, p. 54). Open door policy is an opportunity for leaders to know their members personally and it also increases members or employee morale. Another method of growing member’s moral is by organizing team building activities (Clop, 2015, p. 58). The potential advantages of that may be linked to leadership styles are the ability to work together with other group members, ability to make decisions confidently, and to obtain a higher level of enthusiasm.
Participative style enables members to gain knowledge and establish skills presented by other group members. Working together allows the group members to let both leaders and members develop and acquire new ideas. Entrepreneurial leadership style provides a platform for leaders and members the chance to be enthusiastic while doing their work. Enthusiasm motivates both leaders and team members to be driven while handling their duties. Autocratic leadership provides an opportunity for leaders to decide on business-related issues confidently (Gunderman, 2016, p. 51). When leaders are given the power to make a decision independently, they develop self-confidence and feel empowered.
Team productivity and implementation of skills presented by other team members are likely to increase as members are to share ideas that are likely to empower others. Members who perform their duties while enthusiastic motivate and stimulate all group members including the leaders (Halaychik, 2016, p. 58). Ethical practices also ensure members are treated equally and with dignity, when collaborated with leadership, positive changes can be felt among the members. When managers develop the ability to makes sound judgments about business with confidence, this shows that the leaders are empowered thus the team members become subordinates to the leaders thus leading to increased production as leaders become more responsible for monitoring group members’ performance.
References
Clop, M. (2015). Personality, Management/Leadership Styles and Views on Great Leadership. Successful Professional Women of the Americas, 4(4), 4-65.
Gunderman, R. B. (2016). Styles of Leadership. Leadership in Healthcare, 1(4), 5-85. doi:10.1007/978-1-84800-943-1_4
Halaychik, C. S. (2016). Leadership Styles. Lessons in Library Leadership, 4(1), 3-96.
