Behavioral Style Theories
Human leadership behaviors refer to the assortment of actions taken by an individual under the influence of culture, attitude, emotions, values, authority, rapport, persuasion, and coercion in the context of a leadership environment (Technofunc, n.d). According to the Behavioural Style theory, successful leaders are based on their behavior rather than a natural attribute, which emphasizes that leadership ability can be learned rather than inherent. It entails watching, analyzing, and evaluating how a leader behaves in various roles as they exercise their leadershipThis theory promotes the idea that all leaders are capable of learning and developing through adopting positive behaviors and putting them into practice in their workplace (Technofunc, n.d). It is based on the idea that a leader’s behaviors can be conditioned so that one can respond to specific stimuli. Behavioral leadership also encourages leaders to be conscious of their behavior and understand how it impacts the output and morale of their team. The four aspects of this leadership philosophy are task-oriented, relationship-oriented, passive, and transformative.
A task-oriented leader is one whose main focus is on completing tasks in order to meet established goals or targets by the allotted deadline, with the outcomes, performance, and productivity of the people, team, or department they are in charge of being the center of attention (May 2022). In other words, it would be referred to as transactional leadership because the tasks the employees are expected to do serve as a unifying factor between the leader and the workforce. These leaders are strong in goal setting, developing an organized, systematic action plan, and then seeing it through to completion as planned because they always have a strategic plan. The tasks and responsibilities of people under their supervision are clearly defined, and they assign work in accordance with each employee’s abilities and capabilities (May 2022). They always take great care to ensure that there are no errors or delays that would jeopardize their capacity to finish their work and achieve their objectives; this is made possible by regular communication with staff members, helpful criticism, and procedures that are consistently followed.
Relationship-oriented leadership focuses on people and relationships to encourage, inspire, and empower workers by giving them a sense of agency over their job through intrinsic motivation. It also fosters the growth of both individuals and teams through cooperative working (Lindberg, 2022). With this strategy, the leadership develops many distinct components of the workforce, including vision, purpose, communication, alignment, cooperation, engagement, and innovation. Its leadership prioritized the needs and desires of the group members in an environment of mutual respect and trust. Relationship-focused leaders invest most of their time forming close bonds of loyalty with each team member to understand better what worries, inspires, challenges, and develops them (Lindberg, 2022). Through progressive teamwork and collaboration between the leaders and the group of staff, they are guiding, resulting in emotional connection and the maximization of staff performance.
Passive leadership is characterized by ignorance and needing to be more willing to handle leadership tasks effectively, efficiently and with a focus on the progress of the operations in a business or organization. The leadership needs to avoid executing necessary actions when problems arise, treating employees incorrectly by failing to reward them and poor engagement with the staff (Lindberg, 2022). Such leaders are always abusive where. They exhibit hostility in verbal and nonverbal behaviors through sustained negative criticism before other colleagues. This leadership is not recommended because it destroys the organization due to demoralizing employees.
Lastly, transformational leadership entails inspiring individuals of an organization to go above and beyond their task requirements to achieve success by developing a high-performance workforce (Management study guide, n.d). Transformational leaders may unlock the potential and motivation of their followers to increase intrinsic motivation within their workforce, promote more productive working relationships, boost innovation, strengthen organizational commitment, and enhance overall performance. The team as a whole is able to accomplish the organization’s objective aim when their idealized impact is combined with inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation. This combination creates good role models for the individuals they are leading.
Suitability of Behavioral Style Theories in Leadership.
Behavioral style is among the suitable leadership because it revolves around the traits of a person. In most aspects, socialism plays an important role since it involves interaction which influences how someone would be doing their daily routine. In a workplace setting, an employee’s or the leader’s working traits determine the task output. Therefore, working towards good behaviors or positive traits directly translates to good results and the ultimate achievement of the target goal of an organization. Various distinct benefits make behavioral style suitable in leadership.
First Behavioral theory promotes the value of leadership styles, emphasizing concern for people and collaboration. This is achieved by creating influence through exhibiting organizational culture, attitude, general emotions, values, authority, rapport, hypnosis and persuasion in the working environment. Through that, the leadership promotes participative decision-making and team development by supporting individual needs and aligning individual and group objectives. This makes it a suitable leadership style because it results in the ultimate goal of achieving the organizational objectives.
Besides, the application of behavioral style theories helps managers evaluate and understand how their behavioral style as a manager affects their relationship with the team and promotes commitment and contribution towards organizational goals. Through self-assessment, the leaders cannot study the dynamics of the working environment with the organization’s staff and learn how to adjust their leadership approach in any situation. This trait is suitable because it tries to maintain the anticipated operational progress within the organization in learns of management in different situations.
Lastly, this theory helps managers find the right balance between different leadership styles and understand that they are human beings just like the employees, hence learning empathy. This self-awareness helps them decide how to behave as a leader, depending on concerns for the people they are leading and organizational productivity. This is suitable because it cultivates a positive mindset regarding work relations and working together towards achieving the organization’s objective.
Scenarios and Application of Theory
There are various examples of when behavioral style theories are applied. First, one was observed in the leader of Clemson University games, Dabo Swinney, where he applied the style and returned the team to the national championship after 40 years of losing. In his leadership conviction, he had various quotes for the team, which motivated the team towards winning. “run your race in such a way as to win”, do the common thing in an uncommon way, and command the respect of the world”, continue to be all in, continue to apply best is the standard, continue to be a person of excellence in everything you do”. These quotes motivate the team to take the task as their own, build courage and learn that everything is possible with a positive mindset.
Another scenario is in 2005 when an Irish singer Bono of the Irish band U2, who started his campaign with a volunteer-led movement, influenced lawmakers to commit resources to fund programs aimed at changing the lives of the vulnerable in society from Pepfa. This attracted global fund partnerships, which assisted in facilitations in fighting AIDS, TB, malaria, and vaccines for kids. Bono applied a servant leadership style, focusing on relations with people and how to help them change their vulnerable situations. He used this motto: “Go into the world to preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words; it is about being useful, and that what I want to be.” Bono utilizes behavioral style to impact society by understanding what he should do to influence the community through being empathetic and fitting to the feelings and emotions of the people.
Conclusion
Behavioral style theories greatly influence the leaders who apply them in their area or jurisdiction. It is a situation centered where the leadership is weighed on traits and conditional stimuli, which manipulates how to act in situational operations. There are various categories of behavioral styles, as mentioned, task-oriented, where the focus is major in bringing people together, and relationship-oriented, which focuses on how people should relate in the working environment. The other is a transformative style that focuses on positive organizational progress in the people building each other. These styles are suitable because they play a critical role in achieving the end goal of an organization. Behavioral style theories are widely applied in every aspect of life where leadership is required.
Reference
Lindberg, C. (2022, August 24). Transactional leadership: Passive Management by exception. Leadership Ahoy. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.leadershipahoy.com/transactional-leadership-passive-management-by-exception/
Lindberg, C. (2022, November 28). Relationship-oriented leadership. Leadership Ahoy. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.leadershipahoy.com/relationship-oriented-leadership/
Management study guide. (n.d.). Transformational leadership theory. Transformational Leadership Theory – Meaning, Criticisms and its Implications. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://managementstudyguide.com/transformational-leadership.htm
May, E. (2022, December 22). Are you a people-oriented or a task-oriented leader? Niagara Institute. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.niagarainstitute.com/blog/people-oriented-vs-task-oriented-leader
Technofunc. (n.d.). Behavioural theories of leadership. TechnoFunc. Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.technofunc.com/index.php/leadership-skills-2/leadership-theories/item/behavioral-theories-of-leadership
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