Monday, January 27, 2020

Transformational And Charismatic Styles Of Leadership

Transformational And Charismatic Styles Of Leadership This paper investigated the qualities of great leaders, and examined specifically the characteristics of transformational and charismatic leaders. The analysis discovered that people of all levels within an organization need to be motivated and a great leader provides that foundation. The study revealed transformational and charismatic leaders have similarities and differences yet both can be exceptionally effective. A discussion on the qualities of great leaders and issues of leadership in general was offered followed by a discourse on transformation and charismatic leadership. An example was offered of a real-world experience of the author to illustrate the leadership styles. Finally, a conclusion was given to highlight and synthesize the main points of the paper. Introduction It is not enough to be a good or even a great manager to be a great leader. A leader must inspire, motivate, and possess key qualities that allow them to rise above the politics of the moment and keep the long-term view for optimal outcomes of their particular venture. The situations of Fortune 500 CEOs, and those of the leader of a local food bank, may vary in terms of financial statements, stock options, dividends, and clientele. However, what does not differ is the spark of a great leader, those particular qualities that make people want to follow and support the vision of the leader. While there are many differing ideas of what constitutes leadership, most would agree that regardless of the various theories, what makes a good leader can mean the success or failure of an organization or venture (DuPrin, 2004). Leadership is often the first line of problem-solving in many situations. Schools, government, even social media all do better depending upon the expertise of the leaders in charge. Most people want to follow, not lead. However, for those Churchills, Pattens and Kennedys that history has given the world, one can sense that without these key leaders and their unique qualities, the world would likely be much different. Common sense dictates that leadership is not only necessary, it is desirable. People want to know that someone competent is in charge. Yet, what defines competence, and how it is achieved and practiced, is a field of much study. While people demand and desire great leaders, they also tend to have reservations at the same time. One can see the deleterious effects of following a leader with the right qualities, but the wrong agenda. For example, Hitler was a leader, who abused his power and harmed millions of people. Extreme religious fanatics, while exhibiting leadership and getting people to follow them, also abused their power, subjecting their followers to atrocities (Charles Manson), and even death (Jim Jones and Jonestown). Luckily, great leaders have additional desirable qualities, that being to foster and nurture the safety and well-being of those they intend to lead. Leadership, therefore, is a relationship, not a thing. It is defined by the willingness of someone deciding to follow another. Indeed, leadership is a concept that happens among people in the leader/follower relationship. Without the consent of the follower to follow, there is nothing to lead. A question, then, is what causes a person to follow another person? The answer is found in part in the qualities that define a great leader, those certain characteristics that make and motivate others to follow them and their agenda. A great leader, in general will possess certain qualities. Key to being successful is the quality of effectiveness. There are eleven noted qualities of what makes an effective manager and four key principles that make an effective leader. The table below summarizes the eleven qualities of an effective manger: Command of Basic Knowledge Professional knowledge Sensitive to events Analytic Social skills and ability Emotional Resilience Proactive Creative Mental Agility Balance Learning Habits and Skills Self Knowledge (Pedler, Burgoyne, Boydell, 1944). While these elements as noted above are quite important for good management, a good manager does not necessarily make a good leader. (DuPrin, 2004) To be an effective leader, key characteristics are required. When asked, what is leadership, people tended to answer in one of the four main categories. Power: the ability to have people follow your agenda. Persuasion: the means to motivate. Vision: a leader provides the vision. Empowerment: a leader enables and empowers others to do their bidding. Generally, the conception is that a leader uses power in a non-coercive manner, to will people to engage in cooperative endeavors, in order to pursue the vision that rises above the self-interest of the follower (Bolman Deal, 1991). While the discussion of basic leadership fundamentals is important, the discussion will now turn to the types of leadership styles, focusing in on what is known as transformation leadership, and charismatic leadership. Transformational Leadership Transformation al leadership is a style where leaders not only widen the interest of their followers; they also tend to elevate those interests. This is accomplished through developing awareness of the vision and mission of the organization, and garnering acceptance of those purposes (DuPrin, 2004). In addition, transformational leaders motivate followers to go beyond their platform of self-interest, instead embracing a new paradigm of concern for the good of others. Transformational leaders employ the tools of vision, courage, motivation, charisma, and concern for the follower. Their vision is broad, their interest are those of the group, their mission is long-term and met through inspiring others to follower (Bass, Atwater, Avolio, 2008). The following diagram illustrates the dynamics and characteristics of a transformation leader: Beverly Alimo-Metcalfe,  John Alban-Metcalfe,  Margaret Bradley,  Jeevi Mariathasan,  Ã‚  Chiara Samele.  (2008). In short, a transformational leader is positive, has the long-term view in mind, and inspires people. Charismatic Leadership A charismatic leadership style differs from a transformational leadership style in one very key way: the charismatic leader uses personal characteristics in addition to general perceived characteristics in order to achieve the vision and mission of the organization. In addition to being masterful communicators, they build trust, and motivate people through channeling their own personal energy, excitement, and confidence onto the people they lead (DuPrin, 2004). They possess all the qualities of a transformation a leader, and can lead and inspire through their own devices of personality and charm. The charismatic leader motivates people to follow their agenda through ongoing personal contact, whether through training sessions, web meetings, motivational retreats, and consistent development of vision and goals that are effectively transmitted to their followers. The following diagram demonstrates the elements of a charismatic leader: (Ulrich, Zenger, Smallwood, 1999) Examples of famous charismatic leaders are Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, Richard Branson, Dr. Martin Luther King, Mahtama Ghandi, among many others, and not all are positive models. Leadership implies power. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely; such was the sentiment given by Lord Acton in 1883, in a letter he wrote to a friend. The concept was that leadership implies two main things: power, and the responsibility to use that power. Not all great leaders in history have been able to follow that axiom. Charismatic leadership, while an area of scholarly study, is also a real life concept. Once again, it should be noted that leadership is not a thing, not an item, it is a relationship based on an implicit relationship between leader and follower. Charisma, or charm, with its attendant energy, zest, irrepressibility, and constant motion, is an addictive quality to follow in a person, especially a person on charge: a leader. A charismatic leader runs the risk of being narcissistic, exploitative, and basically dangerous (Beyer, 1999). Such is the flavor difference between a transformational leader and a charismatic leader: the ability to get people to do what you want them to do based upon the leaders personal characteristics. Personal Experience: Combining Transformational and Charismatic Leadership Styles I would like to relate the experience of being a Lead Instructor and Technology Team leader. The background for this position stems from an unguided evolution from interested student, to job-seeker, lead instructor, to team leader. Additionally, the experience was not one that I initially sought. I did not want to be a lead instructor, or lead of anything. It just happened. I was in my twenties when I began working in education. My career began as a data control clerk and grew into a teaching position. My work ethic and knowledge spoke for itself and a friendly discourse arose between me and my principle. Eventually, I was offered a position as a Lead Instructor for the computer department which turned into a position as head of the Technology Department. On reflection, I can see that different factors came into play that influenced this course of events. 1) I was a motivated employee; 2) My work was exemplary, 3) I had an intuitive style for dealing with students of varying backgrou nds; 4) Students that I taught were inspired and motivated, and said so; 5) Scheduling and project management came naturally to me; 6) I had a sincere desire to teach, and do it well; 7) I was accessible, flexible, and ambitious. While these factors are not exhaustive, they do point to a leadership style that incorporates elements of transformational leaders and charismatic leaders, which to my great surprise I seem to possess. I motivated my students; they believed in themselves and hence produced good works. The outcome of this evolution has shaped my life forever. Not only did it lead to a lead role in the Technology department, it has prepared me for higher level positions that will be sought in the future after earning a higher degree in education. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to develop leadership skills and intend to search for ways to motivate people, manage projects, and produce good outcomes. Conclusion Leadership is something people need, and even subjectively desire. It connotes an implicit contract between the leader, and the follower. Without the consent of the follower, there is not leader. Qualities that comprise a good leader are those that the person will employ in the leader/follower relationship, such as being knowledgeable, trustworthy, accessible, and confident, among others. Leadership is inherently a concept of relationship, and leadership styles have evolved to attempt to capture that relationship, based on the setting and demands of the particular situation. Leaders are not machines. They are people and people are uniquely different from each other. Leadership is also a field of study, where styles and characteristics are plugged into matrixes, quantified, qualified, and verified. Such is the nature of leadership. Two styles of leadership are transformational and charismatic leadership. One could reasonably argue that charismatic leadership is the flashy cousin of tr ansformational leadership. Both styles incorporate a method of inspiring others, producing trust, sharing a common vision, and creating success for the organization or venture. Dangers linger in any relationship where one party holds power and the other party gives it. Any student of leadership, must recognize that tripwire, and assiduously avoid it through correctly recognizing the dangers that abuse of the power can bring.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

A Detailed Business Report of One Medium Size or Large Business :: Business Management Studies

A Detailed Business Report of One Medium Size or Large Business I have been asked to produce a detailed business report of one medium size or large business. My well- planned business report should contain: Ø The objectives, organisational structure and communication channels that operate within the business. Ø An examination of how these factors, interrelate in a way that can affect the success of the business. Ø An explanation of how quality assurance and control assurance and control systems help the business to add value to its products. Ø Consideration of alternative methods of quality assurance and control. Ø Consideration of how well the business is meeting its objectives. Ø An explanation of the impact of ICT upon the internal and external communications of the business. E1- The classification of the business according to its ownership, and an explanation of the benefits and constraints of this type of ownership. Mixed Economy – Businesses fall into two categories: A Private Enterprise or a Public Enterprise. In private there are businesses such as sole proprietors, partnerships, limited companies and franchises. In the public section you have public corporations, government departments and local authorities. I have written detailed descriptions of some of these below. Sole Trader - A sole trader is a one-person business, commonly found in trades where only small amounts of finance are required to set up and where there are very few advantages to the existence of larger organisations (e.g. hairdressing, newsagents, market traders). Sole traders often employ waged employees, but they alone have to provide all the finance (often savings and bank loans) and accept all the risks of the business venture. In return, they have full control of the business and enjoy all the profits. A sole trader faces unlimited liability for his/her debts and it is referred to as an unincorporated business – this means that there is no legal difference between the business and the owner. Partnerships – A partnership consists of between 2 and 20 individuals. Each partner is responsible for the debts of the partnership and therefore you would need to choose your partners carefully and draw up an agreement on the responsibilities and rights of each partner. Partnerships are relatively easy to set up and will generate more capital. The most common examples of a partnership are doctor’s surgeries, veterinarians, accountants, solicitors and dentists. Most partners in a partnership face unlimited liability for their debts. The only exception is in a Limited Partnership. This is where a partnership may wish to raise additional finance, but does not wish to take on any new active partners. Private Limited Company - Often private limited companies are small,

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Bear Minimum Essay

The lease of a combustion turbine by Big Bear Power from Goliath Co includes three provisions that we must examine to determine whether they should be included in the â€Å"minimum lease payment† as defined in ASC 840. Provision 1 This provision involves Big Bear paying $500,000 to its external counsel, and $1 million of legal fees to Goliath Co. The $1 million fee to Goliath Co. should be included in the minimum lease payment. This is supported by 840-10-25-6 which states: Fees that are paid by the lessee to the owners of the special-purpose entity for structuring the lease transaction†¦shall be included as part of minimum lease payments. The $500,000 to its external counsel should not be included because it was not an obligatory cost for the lease. Provision 2 To determine if the penalty payment from a default would be included in the minimum lease payment, we look at ASC 840-10-25-14: [Default covenants related to nonperformance do not affect lease classification if all of the following conditions exist: a. The default covenant provision is customary in financing arrangements. b. The occurrence of the event of default is objectively determinable (for example, subjective acceleration clauses would not satisfy this condition). c. Predefined criteria, related solely to the lessee and its operations, have been established for the determination of the event of default. d. It is reasonable to assume, based on the facts and circumstances that exist at lease inception, that the event of default will not occur. In applying this condition, it is expected that entities would consider recent trends in the lessee’s operations. If any of those conditions do not exist, then the maximum amount that the lessee could be required to pay under the default covenant shall be included in minimum lease payments for purposes of applying paragraph 840-10-25-1] The first condition about the default covenant provision being customary does exist due to the note stating that â€Å"this is a customary provision in  leasing arrangements†. The company has positive cash flow and is in compliance with all its debt covenants, which supports Big Bear’s belief that the chance of default is low. Thus conditions 2 and 4 are met. Condition 3, which involves predetermined criteria in case of a default, does not seem to have been met. Since not all the conditions have been met, the default payment covenant shall be included in the minimum lease payment. Provision 3 This provision states that Big Bear’s rent of $1 million will increase by the same percentage increase in the CPI. The most recent annual increase in CPI was 4%. 840-10-25-4 states that â€Å"lease payments that depend on an existing index or sate, such as the CPI or prime interest rate, shall be included in minimum lease payments based on the index†. Therefore after the first year, the minimum lease payment will rise by $40,000 per year or $3,333.33 per month.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Abraham Maslow Quotes About Psychology

Abraham Maslow was a psychologist and the founder of the school of thought known as humanistic psychology. Perhaps best remembered for his famous needs hierarchy, he believed in the basic goodness of people and was interested in topics such as peak experiences, positivity, and human potential. In addition to his work as a teacher and researcher, Maslow also published several popular works including Toward a Psychology of Being and Motivation and Personality. The following are just a few selected quotations from his published works: On Human Nature When people appear to be something other than good and decent, it is only because they are reacting to stress, pain, or the deprivation of basic human needs such as security, love, and self-esteem.(Toward a Psychology of Being, 1968)Getting used to our blessings is one of the most important nonevil generators of human evil, tragedy, and suffering.(Motivation and Personality, 1954)It seems that the necessary thing to do is not to fear mistakes, to plunge in, to do the best that one can, hoping to learn enough from blunders to correct them eventually.(Motivation and Personality, 1954)I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.(The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance, 1966) On Self-Actualization Self-actualizing people have a deep feeling of identification, sympathy, and affection for human beings in general. They feel kinship and connection as if all people were members of a single family.(Motivation and Personality, 1954)Self-actualizing persons contact with reality is simply more direct. And along with this unfiltered, unmediated directness of their contact with reality comes also a vastly heightened ability to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy, however, stale those experiences may have become for others.(Toward a Psychology of Being, 1968)Something of the sort has already been described for the self-actualizing person. Everything now comes of its own accord, pouring out, without will, effortlessly, purposelessly. He acts now totally and without deficiency, not homeostatically or need-reductively, not to avoid pain or displeasure or death, not for the sake of a goal further on in the futu re, not for any end other than itself. His behavior and experience become per se, and self-validating, end-behavior and end-experience, rather than means-behavior or means-experience.(Toward a Psychology of Being, 1968)Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What human beings can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization.(Motivation and Personality, 1954) On Love I may say that (Being) love, in a profound but testable sense, creates the partner. it gives him a self-image, it gives him self-acceptance, a feeling of love-worthiness, all of which permit him to grow. It is a real question whether the full development of the human being is possible without it.(Toward a Psychology Being, 1968) On Peak Experiences The person in peak-experiences feels himself, more than other times, to be the responsible, active, creating center of his activities and of his perceptions. He feels more like a prime-mover, more self-determined (rather than caused, determined, helpless, dependent, passive, weak, bossed). He feels himself to be his own boss, fully responsible, fully volitional, with more free-will than at other times, master of his fate, an agent.(Toward a Psychology of Being, 1968Expression and communication in the peak–experiences tend often to become poetic, mythical, and rhapsodic as if this were the natural kind of language to express such states of being.(Toward a Psychology of Being, 1968) You can learn more about Abraham Maslow by reading this brief biography of his life, further explore his hierarchy of needs  and his concept of self-actualization. Source: Maslow, A. Motivation and Personality. 1954.   Maslow, A. The Psychology of Renaissance. 1966.   Maslow, A. Towards a Psychology of Being. 1968.