Leadership Style Paper

Leadership Style Paper
Tamekki Davis
HCS/475
January 15, 2014
Shannon Deacon

Leadership Style Paper

Effective leaders probably utilize a combination of management styles with one taking precedent over the others.   Participative leadership allows subordinates to have a say in what happens and actively involves them in the decision making process.   Transformational leadership focuses on leaders motivating their followers to transform or advance to higher levels of performance.   Shared leadership is a leadership style in which leadership arises from members of teams and not from the leader alone.   In my own career, I have seen the all three of these leadership styles at work and have experienced the benefits of being a part of an organization that utilized these styles of management.  
Robert Hause, one of the developers of the Path-Goal theory of management has a successful leadership style because he utilizes a democratic style of management and a combination of participative, transformational, and shared leadership styles.   In these styles of management and leadership, the manger shares responsibilities with his or her team/subordinates.   Managers who lead in this quality understand the importance of having a strong relationship with their employees and value their contributions and ideas.   A leader is not expected to know everything which is why they seek out skilled and knowledgeable individuals to be part of their team.
Participative managers motivate their employees to come up with ideas and suggestions that can benefit the organization.   Employees are encouraged by leaders and managers to actively participate in the decision making process.   The goal of this style of management is to encourage team work, achieve goals, and stay ahead of the curve (Management Study Guide, 2013).  
Along the same lines of participative management, shared leadership is based on the empowerment principles of participative and transformational leadership.   Shared...