Human Resources Management

Learning Team A Reflections Week 5

Ben Coe, Christopher Davis, Brianna Espinosa, Barbara Jewett, Clever Kanyanta

University of Phoenix

Leadership Organizations

LDR 531

Dr. Ethel Vesper

May 14, 2012

Learning Team A Reflections Week 5

Here are last weeks objectives.

1.1 Compare and contrast leadership theories.

1.2 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of established leadership styles.

1.3 Evaluate the effectiveness of substitutes for leadership.

Last week the team reviewed the leadership theories and their effectiveness. With the many definitions and applications of leadership, coupled with the understanding of organizational structure, company culture and group dynamics, leadership theories can better be evaluated for effectiveness. Whether evaluating based on traits, behaviors, or situational constructs different variables work in different situations. As Oyinlade (2006) pointed out “Just as scholars have defined leadership in different ways, they equally vary in their perceptions of the factors of effective leadership” (p. 25).

Trait theories focus on the most commonly demonstrated traits of successful leaders which then led into behavior theories which focus on the behaviors of successful leaders. Contingency theories on the other had focus on the situation and the person-to-person interaction to define what makes a leader successful. The most recent attempts to define successful leadership have been focused on the individual and their ability to motivate and convince others to act based on the influence they can exert in any given situation.

Learning Team A discussed the strengths and weaknesses of several leadership styles. One of the styles studied was transformational leadership (Burns, 1978). In transformational leadership, leaders, through their personal traits and their relationship with...