Leadership Style Investigation Essay

Different leaders have different styles of leadership. For instance, there is never a one-size-fit all leadership style for every business as all companies operate differently, and individual traits can be more successful in some environments than others can. However, senior executives, politicians and religious leaders should have a thorough understanding of the various leadership styles to adopt the best characteristics for themselves. Different leaders across all the sectors have shown different leadership styles such as transformational, charismatic, servant, transactional among other leadership styles.

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To begin with, the first leader in my list is Winston Churchill. He was exemplary in his leadership with his style classified as both transformational and charismatic. He was a good leader in keeping his subjects motivated through delivering inspirational speeches to keep them going at difficult times. For instance, during the Second World War, he provided extensive guidance and support to Great Britain through developing courage and strength among his people. As a leader, he built morale, motivation, and sense of identity that were crucial for his success (Eagly et al., 2013). He focused on three essential aspects for developing a charismatic personality that had elements such as excellent communication skills, coming up with a vision so that people can keep the focus on a single goal and developing trust so that his subjects were willing to support him. Furthermore, his planning and decision making that dealt with both political and military decisions were efficient and straightforward. His engaging personality enabled him cement an alliance with Russia and the United States, which went on to win the biggest war ever.

The second leader is Martin Luther King Jr. who was an American Baptist Minister and activist who rose to become the most prominent spokesperson and leader of the civil rights movement up to his death in 1968. He employed a variety of styles in leading and establishing the movement that was key to success in ending segregation in the U.S. Mostly; he was a servant leader. He was also transformational to some extent, but he could also be authoritarian. During his fight and struggle for equality, he was arrested more than 26 times and assaulted at least five times, but he never backed down. He set perfect examples to others, as his life was a textbook of insightful lessons for those aspiring leadership (Sinek, 2016).

Dr. King took his time to offer support and encouragement to his followers by emphasizing with their trials and tribulations in the hands of police brutality. He encouraged them to continue working with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. His Christian faith ensured that his leadership team and followers to participate in nonviolent protest as he felt that violence was not just for their cause. His "I Have a Dream" speech brought awareness and humanity to the national consciousness about Civil Rights (Tichy et al., 2012). This speech helped him win the hearts and minds of public opinion with a power that is still deep today. It is through his excellent communication skills through speeches that he was effective in ending racial segregation in the U.S.

Thirdly, the other leader highly regarded in the business world is Bill Gates. He had an authoritarian or autocratic style of leadership. Up to the point of him retiring from Microsoft, was known to be very demanding and being the slightly abrasive leader that encouraged creativity and innovation and recognized individual and team achievement (Baldoni, 2015). He would request his employees to present and report out their ideas and findings to him on a regular basis. During his meetings with his staff, he would regularly interrupt to question and challenge facts. However, Gates adopted other leadership styles such as transformational and servant leadership that enabled him to associate more with his workers. However, his authoritarian style of leadership enabled him to keep control of the business. This style of leadership is the instrumental style in case of emergencies or in situations where quick decisions are made. Hence, much of Bill Gate's success can be attributed to his quick decision-making process.

On the other hand, is a leader who has failed in his duties. A perfect example is Martin Winterkorn who is the former CEO of Volkswagen who had a bureaucratic style of leadership. He ensured rules were followed rigorously by everyone. Martin who had been at the helm of the company since 2007 went against the same rules that he should have protected in the company (Rath & Conchie, 2014). His actions contributed to the company's unethical and illegal installation of software that failed to report emission in its vehicles accurately. He also had the habit of calling his employees out and criticizing them publicly that made them hide information to keep their jobs or made them believe it was okay to cheat, as long as it helped the company meet its goals. This instance made him ineffective as a leader and unpopular in the eyes of the public.

Conclusion

Hence, we can only learn that leadership style is situational. Your behavior as a leader should vary depending on circumstances. A leader should first have a clear vision of his company and then decide on the best leadership style fitted in uniting him with his staff and ensuring that they become part of the journey towards achieving that vision.

References

Baldoni, J. (2015). Great motivation secrets of great leaders. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Eagly, A. H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C., & Van Engen, M. L. (2013). Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: A meta-analysis comparing women and men. Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 569.

Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2014). Strengths-based leadership: Great leaders, teams, and why people follow. Simon and Schuster.

Sinek, S. (2016). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. Penguin.

Tichy, N. M., Cardwell, N., & McLarty, R. (2012). The cycle of leadership: How great leaders teach their companies to win.