Leadership Styles Leadership Theories Northouse

Leadership Styles

Leadership Theories

Northouse (2006) notes that there are many different ways to finish this sentence "Leadership is…" He posits that there are just as many definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it (2006).

It is much like the words democracy, love, and peace. Although each of us intuitively knows what he or she means by such words, the words can have different meanings for different people. As soon as we try to define leadership, we immediately discover that leadership has many different meanings (Northouse 2006).

While there are many definitions for leadership, there are many different styles of leadership and, of course, differing opinions on which styles of leadership are the most effective. This paper will not attempt to define leadership or delve into the myriad of styles, but will, rather, take a look at three different styles of leadership -- Level 5, Transactional, and Transformational -- all of which have proven to be very effective.

Executive A came to the job as CEO when the company was weak; the company was losing money (approximately $2 million a year) and its stock had gone down in value to about $23 a share. During Executive A's run as CEO, the stock rose 128% and the company profited after years of losing money. While the media believes that the CEO is the person responsible for the success of the printing company, Executive A has been very humble in accepting full responsibility, usually saying that it is the great leaders of the company that are the reasons for the company's success. Because Executive A is also able to accept responsibility for the mistakes that have been made as well as for all the reasons aforementioned, Executive A is exhibiting Level 5 leadership.

Level 5 leaders are confident individuals who are able to leave their positions as leaders with the next leader being set up for success. Level 5 leaders are also usually humble and are not attention seekers, arrogant, or in need of having media attention. They always give credit to others, which is exactly what Executive A has done.

Executive A has been unwavering in his determination to make the company a success. In part, Level 5 leaders must know talented individuals when they see them so they can use those employees' talents to aid in the success of the company. Level 5 leadership is "a combination of unique, counterintuitive quality of humility and unwavering perseverance" (Ronco & Ronco 2005). Jim Collins, author of the 2001 book, Good to great, says that "Level 5 leaders are a study in duality: modest and willful, humble and fearless" (2001). He then goes on to use Abraham Lincoln as an example of a Level 5 leader since "he never let his ego get in the way of his primary ambition for the larger cause of an enduring great nation" (2001). This is a very good example to get a clear idea of what kind of people Level 5 leaders are. They are inspirational because they are good human beings, modest and humble, yet very willful at the same time.

A possible successor to Executive A, Executive B, exhibits more of a Transactional type of leadership. Transactional leaders believe that there is an association between effort and reward. These types of leaders often believe in very standard forms of incentive, reward, and punishment. Transactional leaders often set goals for their subordinates and they offer rewards when the subordinate has done a good job with the task. Transactional leadership depends on the leader's ability to reinforce subordinates for their successful achievement of their end of the deal.

Executive B. is a perfect example of a Transactional leader. He believes in a clear chain of command and in rewarding good performance. He believes that if a subordinate is given a task to complete and that task is not completed, the subordinate is 100% responsible. He believes that when responsibility isn't met, the subordinate should be punished.

Executive C, on the other hand, is more of a Transformational leader. As the word "Transformational" implies, these types of leaders try to ignite feelings of great emotion in their followers, motivating them to perform beyond their best ability. The leadership style is quite proactive and it will create new types of expectations in the followers.

Executive C. wants followers to transcend their own self-interest for the good of the organization and he believes that people are able to be very successful when they can be inspired by the vision of the leader. Executive C. possesses a very good understanding about what an inspirational vision can do. If Executive C. is able to inspire his followers, the idea is that the followers will work beyond their own self-interest.