Leadership Style Essay Example for Free

Leadership Style Essay The main focus of any organization is viability or productivity (Mastrangelo, Eddy and Lorenzet, 2004). This is further heightened by the increasing changes in product market activities (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), 2001). The fact that consumers now have a better and affordable access to market information has brought about an increase in their market power and the resultant effect is a more challenging and competitive market especially in the private sector. The public sector on the other hand is under increasing pressure for a more effective utilization of public funds. Consequently, the quest for a competitive advantage and increasingly better performance is becoming a major factor for consideration in virtually all organizations. In this light, the CIPD (2001) emphasized on the role of leadership as a major factor essential for an enhanced organizational performance. Taormina (2008) supported this in stating that in leadership is vested the ability to decide how organizations will be run and it plays a major role in influencing the organization to success. The CIPD (2001) further added that leadership (or people management) is the main element harnessing other success factors in an organization for effectiveness. A number of authors have also supported the foregoing discussions on the leader-success relationship (e. g Harris and Kuhnert 2008; Mastrangelo, Eddy and Lorenzet, 2004). Furthermore, research works have identified certain pointers to high performance leadership. A major one among these is leadership behavior or leadership style (Mastrangelo, Eddy and Lorenzet, 2004; Taormina, 2008). Leadership Style and Organizational Success: Drawing a Correlation Leadership style is one of the major traits that may be used to draw a line of difference between high performance and low performance organizations (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001). Since the management in an organization has a great impact on how it will be run, the style of leadership within the management cycle has a way of dictating the direction that such an organization will go. Taormina (2008) buttressed this point in his work. He established the fact that leadership behavior go along way in determining the culture or the prevailing atmosphere in an organization and this will in turn affect employees’ attitude towards performance and ultimate success of such an organization. A number of dichotomies on leadership behavior have been presented. However, leadership style can be broadly categorized into two – ‘People-Centered’ leadership and ‘Task-Centered’ leadership (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001 pg 150; Taormina, 2008 pg. 87). ‘People-Centered’ leadership Versus ‘Task-Centered’ leadership Various progressive attempts have been made at investigating leadership from the behavioral angle. However, a remarkable point was reached in the 1950s with the introduction of ‘Ohio State model’ which talked about ‘task-oriented’ and ‘people-oriented’ leadership (Taormina, 2008 pg. 87). These two categories seem to have been a perfect one that describes leadership behaviors because it is still being referred as at present. According to Adeyemi-Bello (2001), task-oriented style emphasizes on production and organizational goals. This leadership style is concerned about how the organizational goals may be implemented. People-oriented leaders on the other hand show great concern for the followers (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001). They create a warm environment within the organization and foster a strong positive relationship among members of the organization. While this style offers a system that respects the personality, feelings and opinions of the employees and gives them a feeling of empowerment (Taormina, 2008), task oriented approach is thirsty for achievements sometimes at all cost (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001). Subsequent studies after the initial presentation of these leadership models have made attempts at differentiating between them. The intention was to determine which one should be preferred above the other. However, Adeyemi-Bello (2001) explained that current researches have shown that preferences for any of the two styles depend on the current situation within the organization. There are cases where one style will fail to impact a good result, not because it is less effective but because the situation at hand does not create an environment conducive for its functionality (Mastrangelo, Eddy and Lorenzet, 2004). Furthermore, Jacques, Garger and Thomas (2008) remarked that the recent behavioral theory of leadership took the studies a step further by suggesting that the two behavioral approaches will be more effective when adequately blended under any given situation. Their paper revealed that graduates of project management performs better in leadership than those from another management related courses because of their ability to blend the two leadership styles; a training that the other group did not receive. Adeyemi-Bello (2001) had earlier presented this fact in her work. The result of her survey on 29 Baptist church leaders shows a better result when the two styles were combined in church leadership than when each one was singly adopted. She concluded for the extension of these results into leadership in other realms of human activities. The implications of these results are quite obvious. A paradigm shift in the content and delivery of leadership training programs has become very necessary. The current training inculcating strategic planning and tasks-focused practices should pave way for a more balanced approach in management training. People managers should also learn to engage in a better interpersonal relationship with those under them, create a warmer environment conducive for a healthy work relationship, and engage in strategies that will give employees a feeling of empowerment (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001; Monstarangelo, Eddy and Lorenzet, 2004; Taormina, 2008). The case of Kleine Plastics in the UK presented by Ludlow (1987) serves as a good example in driving home the points that has been raised so far (in Tyson and Kakabadse eds. ). The work contrasted between the leadership attributes of Joseph Kleine, the founder of Kleine Plastics and that of David, his son at a particular time during the early stages of the company’s development. It reviews Joseph Kleine’s attitude as ‘a charismatic leader with whom his managers and work force wish to identify’ (pg. 23). He engages a style that trusted and respected his employees and empathizes with their situations. To him, these people were his main assets. This, coupled with his result oriented tendencies, propelled the work force towards a high performance level. However, David Kleine could not maintain this approach when he had to stand in during his father’s absence. He wanted result at all cost without due regards for his team members. Objections to his propositions by his managers were downplayed no matter how genuine they may be. Though work was still progressing, enthusiasm and productivity level dwindled. The return of Joseph was welcomed with protests from every quarter. David style was found to be less effective because of its lack of ‘human face’. Conclusion Leadership style is an issue that will still continue to be a subject of interest among research workers. The world is ever changing and people are becoming increasingly dynamic in attitude and thinking. This calls for a leadership approach that will keep up with the pace of the changes. A dynamic leader is one that is better equipped to respond to changes and easily enlist the cooperation of people in managing them effectively towards a greater level of production performance.

Would I Become the Next Snow White? Essay -- Personal Narrative, Autobi

Would I Become the Next Snow White? Â   Ah, to be a Disney Girl! To possess beauty so divine it can melt the hearts of charming princes and gruff miners alike. To be able to use the same gift to tame temperamental beasts, while you attract, through angelic song, otherwise timid forest creatures. To know that, in the end-despite the fact that your wicked stepmother has forced you into a life of servitude and an evil queen is seeking your mutilated heart-yes, in the end, some day your prince will come. Â   The image of the perfect girl according to Walt Disney can be described, with little exception, in this way: she is always pretty, always fair, always model thin, always endowed with a beautiful singing voice and always the victim of some malevolent, often jealous, woman. The Disney Girl also has what one writer says she expected to receive when she became a woman: a life filled with "debonair men so overcome by [her] loveliness they burst into song" (Nirenberg 23). Â   Though originally products of medieval and Victorian literature, these female characters have been adopted into Walt's family and have so often been dipped in his colorful animation and sprinkled with his magical fairy dust that we have forgotten their origin and given them an identity that can only be described as, well, Disney. Â   Let's start with the first Disney Girl, Snow White. Now, Snow epitomizes what "gorgeous" represented in the 1930s. In other words, Disney allows her to be a little fat by today's standards (or is it the design of her dress?). Still, most of us agree with the evil queen's magic mirror that this Disney Girl, with her skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony, is, in... ...art, but with nature's uncontrollable hand, a raving beauty, a Sleeping Beauty, a Cinderella. Or-if you can believe I thought this, with my Black self-a Snow White. Â   No such thing happened, of course, but then, that is my point. Let's enjoy these tales, but let's make sure-for ourselves and especially for our children-that we understand what is happening here. Though the animation is superb and the stories are full of enchantment, wizardry, and the basic good and evil conflict, we should not be misled into believing that Cindy, Snow, Belle, et al. are the epitome of the ideal woman. Those who do this might find themselves often in the same predicament as that of Cinderella after the midnight chimes: sprawled on their butts in the dust, with their dreams dashed to pieces around them Work Cited Nirenberg, Sue. House Beautiful. Aug. 1991: 23+

Little Red Riding Hood Essay

The story of Little Red Riding Hood has been around for years. Throughout the years this story has been told many different ways. The story began as a folk tale that European mothers and nurses told to young children. The fable soon came to the attention of Charles Perrault (1628-1703). He was a French attorney who turned into a poet, writer, and anthologist. He published one version of the story in a 1697 collection of fairy tales, which is a book that became a French juvenile classic. The story was soon revised by the Grimm brothers which is the version known today. The moral of Little Red Riding Hood is to show that children should obey their mothers when they tell them about walking through dangerous areas and to beware of seemingly friendly strangers. Little Red Riding Hood starts with the setting of a small cottage in the middle of a thick forest which is the home of a humble girl name Little Red Riding Hood. One day, her mother said, â€Å"Grandma is ill. Take her this basket of cakes, but be very careful. Keep to the path through the wood and don’t ever stop. That way, you will come to no harm. Her mother plainly told her to follow the path to her grandmother’s house and never to stop; that way she can be safe. She disobeyed her mother by not staying on the path which will cause her to eventually meet the wolf, who is popular for playing the villain in most fables. â€Å"Little Red Riding Hood ran back and forth popping strawberries into her mouth†¦ In the meantime, two wicked eyes were spying on her from behind a tree a strange rustling in the woods made Little Red Riding Hood’s heart thump. † When she felt that someone was spying on her or when she heard strange noises, she should turn back or kept going on the path. The author made her get off the path several times by causing distractions such as butterflies which is a good because is shows no matter how great temptation is one should follow a mother’s orders. When she gained the knowledge that she disobeyed her mother, she said, â€Å"I must find the path and run away from here! † She gets back on the path and runs into the seemingly nice wolf. The wolf seems nice because of the pleasant conversation he had started with her. He asked, â€Å"Where are you going, my pretty girl, all alone in the woods? † â€Å"I’m taking Grandma some cakes. She lives at the end of the path,† said Little Riding Hood. Not only did Little Red Riding Hood talk to a complete stranger, but she told him where she is going. That leads towards her grandmother getting eaten by the wolf. When the grandmother is eaten it gives off a shocking surprise to the audience to point where they cannot wait to hear the rest. When Little Red Riding Hood arrives, a famous dialogue follows: â€Å"What great arms you have, grandma! The better to embrace you, my child. ‘What great legs you have! The better to run with, my child. What great ears! The better to hear with. What great eyes! The better to see with. What great teeth! The better to eat you with. † At this particular point in the story is where the story gets extremely interesting and grabs the audience’s full attention. The wolf eats Little Red Riding Hood and falls asleep. In Perrault version this was the end of the story. He was severely criticized for choosing a gruesome ending, but the Grimm Brothers added their ending to the story. A hunter came along and killed the wolf. Then the hunter sliced open the wolf’s stomach and freed the grandmother along with her granddaughter, Little Red Riding Hood. The Grimm Brother’s ending made the story have more justice, but was just as gruesome, if not more. In the end Little Red Riding Hood did disobey her mother, but she later learned her lesson even though it was in a unfortunate manner. The story is short and simple, but most importantly it teaches children about listening and talking to strangers. It can be told to any age group but read by elementary kids and up. The authors were very creative and imaginative. The fairy tale of Little Red Riding will continue to be told for generations to come.

Definition of Freeboard of a Ship or Boat

Freeboard in the simplest terms is the distance from the waterline to the top of a vessel’s hull. Freeboard is always a measurement of vertical distance but in most vessels, it is not a single measurement unless the top of the hull is completely flat and parallel to the water along the entire length. Minimum Freeboard One way of expressing freeboard is to refer to the minimum freeboard of a boat or ship. This is an important measurement since it determines how much weight a vessel can carry or how it will perform in wind and waves. If minimum freeboard ever reaches zero it is possible that water could run over the side of the hull and into the boat causing it to sink if enough water accumulates. Some boats have a very low freeboard design that allows easy access to the surface of the water. Examples of this are buoy tenders and research boats which must have easy access to the water to go about their business. By Design Naval architects design these ships with sealed decks so if water does reach the top of the hull it drains off back into the water and does not impact the buoyancy of the ship. Most vessels, large and small, do not have a simple freeboard that is a straight line. Instead, the freeboard is higher at the bow, or front of the vessel, and slopes down to the stern at the rear. The designers shape the hull like this because as a boat moves through the water it might meet waves which are higher than the surface of the water. The higher bow allows a boat to ride up the surface of a wave and keeps water out. Deadrise The method that is used to describe the shape of a hull in naval architecture is called Deadrise. Deadrise is used in all forms shipbuilding since it is an ancient solution to keep unwanted water out of your ship. Cross Section The ideas of freeboard and deadrise come together when we consider a cross section of a hull. If we cut a slice across the hull we see that the profile of the hull rises from the keel at the bottom up to the waterline and then to the top of the hull. The area between the water and the top of the hull is the area where freeboard is measured. If we look at other slices of the hull the freeboard may change from higher in the area of the bow to lower near the stern. Freeboard Is Not Fixed The amount of freeboard is not a fixed number unless a boat always carries exactly the same load. If you load any vessel with more weight the freeboard will decrease and the draft will increase. That is the main reason any vessel must operate within the load capacity calculated by the designers. Compared to old-style pencil and paper drafting techniques that resulted in blueprints which were interpreted by each foreman, new building techniques offer the potential for much more complex and efficient designs. State of the Art Software drafting programs now allow naval architects to design precisely and CNC machines allow builders to stay within a few millimeters of the planned dimensions, even on a 300-meter vessel. The key to this accuracy is the number of stations found along the length of the hull. In the old days, maybe three meters of the hull were described in detailed drawings. Today, the number of stations is only limited to the size of the plan. A taper of one centimeter over 100 meters is possible today, which lets designers make complex shapes and also allows for modular construction and float out before final assembly.