Being a manager in the XXI century has various challenges since there is a high level of competition these days that requires the constant development of employees. The main lesson that I have learned is that managers must be good leaders as they impact the performance and well-being of their followers and, therefore, the organization in general (Al Khajeh, 2018). Based on a particular leadership style, managers promote certain behavior in employees. For example, transformational leadership encourages employees’ development and positively affects organizational performance (Al Khajeh, 2018). On the other hand, transactional leadership also can enhance organizational performance, but as it focuses on the exchange of tasks and rewards with subordinates, it does not encourage creativity and innovation (Al Khajeh, 2018). I have learned that for a company to be successful, managers should pay attention to their leadership styles and what sort of behavior they promote in employees.
Two action items I intend to take forward into the workplace are based on enhancing employees’ performance. First, I plan to assess the workplace environment, including basic areas of control, to determine what leadership style would better affect employees. Second, although I may focus on transformational leadership, I intend to gather employees’ opinions on what they would want to see in their manager. Moreover, although my appreciation of business evolved over the last seven weeks in terms of understanding better how organizations operate, I have some questions:
- Would an implementation of combined leadership styles be beneficial, and if yes, what are the ways of doing so?
- Which major companies have experienced a change of leadership styles, and how has it affected them?
I would like to investigate these questions more to determine if the answers would change my intentions in the workplace.
Reference
Al Khajeh, E. H. (2018). Impact of leadership styles on organizational performance. Journal of Human Resources Management Research, 18, 2018, 1-10.