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Introduction
Leaders are not born they are made and that is why researchers have spent their effort time and money in coming up with tools that anyone can exercise to deliver when in leadership positions. These act as a benchmark to which managers measure their leadership skills and know when to adjust accordingly.
This paper seeks to outline some of the perspectives put forward (Scientific, excellence, values, trust culture and whole soul perspectives) and their characteristics. It also outlines the different aspects of each approach.
Introduction to five leadership perspectives
According to Fairholm (1998), individuals look at leadership using five different criteria. Primarily is the scientific management theory, which explains that the management is only interested in establishing the strategies that it may use for delivery in the business. It is a traditional method but very basic and so still holds water for some managers.
The second theory is mainly concerned with perfection in the organization. Excellence is key and the management directs its resources in making sure the people concerned in making the products or delivering services do that to the best of their ability. Here there is no compromise in the quality of work. The means and the ends are both scrutinized to maintain excellence. There is no room for mediocrity.
The third theory places importance on the nature of the relationship between the leader and the subordinate. There has to be a common vision between them that keeps the organization in check. For the management here it is more important than the leader and the follower have the same goals in mind so they work effectively. It further stresses that if vision is in place the management will not have to worry so much about controlling the subordinate. The leader’s role, however, is still emphasized. This is known as the values leadership perspective.
In a trust culture, which is the fourth theory, the focus is on the subordinate and how they relate with both the leadership and colleagues. Here trust is a fundamental quality that keeps everyone accountable to each other. This fosters team spirit and the spirit of sharing. Delegation of duties becomes the leadership’s joy since there is a sense of mutual trust between them. The spotlight is on the led.
The last perspective is very spiritual in nature and it entails the management is aware that the spiritual being of the led is what they interact with. In that, the personal lives of the followers relate very closely with what the leadership interacts with at the workplace. In this theory, emphasis is laid on the core of the person, the self drives the acceptance and how their attributes are what the leadership seeks to guide. It involves the management realizing that they deal with the spiritual qualities of a being coupled with intellect. It further expounds that, these ‘spirits’ seek an environment that they work and have the freedom to build themselves while at it. It is also known as the whole soul perspective.
Comparison of Leadership perspectives
In terms of the definition of roles, the values-leadership theory holds the torch in making sure the employees remember who is in charge. The excellence theory is not so much because they are more concerned with delivery, the role of the leader notwithstanding but not the main focus. Scientific management places a little more emphasis on the role of the leader than the excellence theory since it is the management that researches the strategies to be followed and presents them to the employees so they are active in their role. In the trust culture perspective, the emphasis is on the role of the subordinate and how important they are in making sure that the bond of trust exists between the leadership and the leader. The spirituality approach focuses on both the roles of the leader and the follower. The leader has to be aware of the spiritual personality of the led so they know how best to motivate them in the workplace, how to bring out their personalities and marry them with their agendas for the organization for accomplishment of goals and objectives.
The process is an aspect that the excellence theory concentrates on to the latter. The means, the ‘how’ and the ‘who’ are very important. This way the leadership is able to avoid surprises at the end of a particular assignment. It is important in this particular perspective that due to workmanship and thorough follow-up on the procedures so the end product has a sense of awe to it. The science-based system of leadership also puts emphasis on the process but in a broader sense. It focuses on the general strategies of running the organization for example according to Gulick (1937), ‘the mnemonic POSDCORRB (plan, organize, staff, direct, coordinate, report and budget)’ could work for any organization. The guidelines are not tailored to specific aspects of the organization but are pointers on how to run an organization. The values-leadership perspective is more focused on establishing that the leadership and the subordinate are on the same page after that everything works itself out since the employee is motivated enough. The leadership just keeps making sure the led is on track. In the trust perspective, it is more about the culture that is developed the trust culture, the team spirit, so that is what fuels the process.
Another aspect of comparison is how different people fit or use different perspectives. For instance, females tend to frequently use the excellence perspective and men lean more on the scientific approach (Fairholm, 2004).
He further goes on to say from his leadership perspective model that the placement of a person determines which perspective of leadership they may use. He goes further to illustrate that managers in the public sector dealing with safety in a country tend to rely more on scientific, excellence and value leadership approaches. Those in the sectors dealing in funding and monies mostly use the trust culture as the core. Finally, those operating in aspects of humanity make use of all the perspectives but mainly the ones low in the hierarchy (Fairholm, 2004, p. 583).
Conclusion
In general, all managers have a choice in the selection of leadership strategies. Be it the scientific approach, the excellence, the values leadership perspective the trust culture or the Whole soul approach, they only have to know who they are dealing with and what works best to their advantage. Most researchers see the perspectives as a build-up on one another so a manager could choose to start from the least in the hierarchy and work their way up to find out the perfect fit. On the contrary, they could just pick one based on the strengths and weaknesses of each as outlined.
Reference
Fairholm, M. R. (2004). Different Perspectives on the Practice of leadership.Public Administration Review 64(5). 577-590. Web.
Fairholm, G. W. (1998). Perspectives on leadership: from the science of management to its spiritual . United States of America: Greenwood publishing Group. Web.
Gulick, L. (1937). Notes on the Theory of Organization. In Papers on the Science of Administration, edited by Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick, 3–13. New York: Institute of Public Administration.
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