Perfect Position for Me Based on My

¶ … perfect position for me based on my leadership style. Given that I rated high in both people and task oriented leadership styles, this paper will discuss positions that are compatible with these characteristics. I will also discuss my strengths and weaknesses and how they affect my ability to be effective in my ideal position. This paper will also compare and contrast leadership styles, as well as discuss my personal leadership style.

Suitable Positions

I have a democratic leadership style and I scored 9 on the people orientation assessment. I also scored 11 on task orientation assessment. Suitable positions for me might be working in a creative group, such as advertising or design, or in the consulting field. Also working in a service industry or in the field of education would be possible positions that are suited to my abilities and talents.

My Strengths and Weaknesses

My strengths are that I like working with people. I enjoy coaching and mentoring people and helping them come up with new ideas and perspectives. I also like listening to other people express themselves because they give new ideas and important suggestions for improvement. I believe employees should feel empowered and appreciated. I want people to know that they make a valuable contribution to meeting our goals.

I can also be task oriented when I need to be. Because I enjoy the satisfaction of getting things done, I am good at meeting deadlines, and I like that trait in other people too. Also I am very organized and I believe being organized helps make people productive.

These characteristics can be weaknesses in certain work situations. Some people need very specific guidelines and job descriptions. This is often true if the company is facing a crisis or a change that makes people feel like they need more structure. Or, if decisions need to be made quickly and there isn't a lot of time to get people's input, I would be slowed down if I tried to get everyone's ideas. Under these circumstance I would need to adjust. I can make decisions without the team's input and I can provide more direction to the team of people that I lead. Otherwise they may feel confused and dissatisfied with their jobs.

Comparing and Contrasting Leadership Styles

The behavioral approach to leadership theory narrows leadership styles down to two types. Leaders may be either task-oriented or people oriented. Leaders who are considered to be task oriented are referred to as initiating structure. According to the Robbins and Judge book, the task oriented leader likes to work toward achieving goals. He or she stresses deadlines and performance standards.

By comparison, the leader who shows consideration behavior is more focused on respect for employees' ideas and concern for their feelings. The relationship between the leader and his or her employees is based on mutual trust. An employee-oriented leader is described as being friendly and easy to approach, and as being someone who treats all employees as equals. The people-oriented leader expresses appreciation and support for his or her employees.

Because I scored high on both people and task orientation, my scores indicate balance for the two characteristics. Now that I understand the differences between them, I can do a better job of adjusting my behavior to the situation. That way I can give employees the kind of leadership that makes them feel the most comfortable and the most productive.

The Robbins and Judge book also discusses transactional and transformational styles. The transactional leader may be a hands off manager who guides his or her team by focusing on roles and what is required. On the other hand, the transformational leader excites and inspires his or her people to put out extra effort to achieve group goals. Indeed, studies have shown that attributes of transformational leadership are universally recognized as contributing to outstanding leadership. According to Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Research Program, these attributes include "…motive arouser, foresight, encouraging, communicative, trustworthy, dynamic, positive, confidence builder, and motivational…" All these describe the charismatic and transformational leader (GLOBE Research, 1999, p. 250).

Bass (1990) discuses both transactional and transformational leadership. He describes transactional leadership, which involves the promise and reward for good performance, or threat and discipline for poor performance, as a "prescription for mediocrity" (p.20).

On the other hand, Bass' description of transformational leaders highlights their treatment of employees that shows superior leadership performance. Transformational leaders achieve superior results in various ways, by inspiring their employees, by meeting their emotional needs and/or by intellectually stimulating them (Bass, 1990, p. 21).

Riaz and Haider (2010) discuss the impact that transactional and transformational leadership have on job satisfaction and career satisfaction. They analyzed the results of 240 survey responses. The results showed that transactional leadership was significantly related to job success, while transformational leadership and job success were highly related to career satisfaction (p.29). Their study shows how important it is to consider one's leadership style in picking the perfect position if one is looking for job and career satisfaction.

Piccolo and Colquitt (2006) analyzed how job characteristics affect transformational leadership and job behaviors. They argued that transformational leadership affects task performance and organizational citizenship behavior through job characteristics, intrinsic motivation, and goal commitment. Their research also showed that transformational leadership relationships were much stronger for followers who perceived high-quality leader-member exchange, as you would expect (p.327).