This policy document aims to investigate different leadership theories and styles.

It identifies the theory

which has emphasis on team building for effective leadership in organizations. The purpose of this paper
is to give readers a holistic view of leadership and provide a leadership framework for team building
skills.

Leadership

Literature defines leadership as an ability to influence group of people towards the achievement of a
goal.

Leadership theories

There are several leadership theories that literature have identified over the years. These leadership
theories open an understanding of different leadership styles and their effectiveness in different
environments. A good knowledge of the leadership theories can help organization in several ways such
as hiring the right kind of people, forming the best teams and getting the tasks done effectively.

These are the prominent leadership theories as suggested in literature (Leadership Styles & Team
Building, n.d.).

Theory
Trait theories
Contingency theories
Situational Theories
Transformational Theories
Description
Theories that consider personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits
to differentiate leaders from nonreaders
This theory suggests that a leader's effectiveness is contingent
on whether or not their leadership style suits a particular
situation.
It suggests that Effectiveness of leader depends on the followers’
response to the leader’s actions
It suggests that effectiveness of leaders depend on how they Inspire
followers to transcend their self-interests for the good of organization

Role of Leadership

Function Role of Leadership

Creating and Agenda Establishing direction
Developing People Aligning people
Execution Motivating and Inspiring
Outcomes Produces positive and sometimes dramatic changes

Team building and leadership effectiveness

Small organizations’ owners and managers have different leadership styles which lead to different
outcomes. Some leadership styles give more autonomy to their workers while others are more
authoritative. and micro manage their task and work. According to literature, participative and
transformational leadership theories are more effective in team building as these styles focus more on
leader-follower relationships. On the other hand, authoritarian and laissez faire leadership styles
are considered to be counterproductive in team building as these theories have more
individualistic approach (“Transformational Leadership and Project Success,” 2016)

Participative leadership and Team building:

Participative leadership is one of the most effective leadership styles for incorporating team building
skills in the followers and it is more suitable style of leadership in the environment where team work is
crucial.

 Participative leadership encourages creativity, innovation and it helps increasing efficiency in

team environment.
 Participative leadership is considerate to its followers where the leaders understand the
situation of their followers and are inclusive to individual needs to form a compatible team.
 A leader of this style has individual consideration for his followers and he understands the
individual potential and their compatibility with a particular project.
 A participative leader should be a source of intellectual stimulation and inspirational motivation
through his or her influence on the followers.

(“Leadership Skills,” 2016)

Transformational Leadership and team building:

The role of transformational leadership is to improve social relations among team members, clarify team
roles, solve tasks and inter personal problems that could affect the team functioning.

Goal setting

The role of a leader is to clarify the goals and objectives to his followers (team members). Those team
members then should be made involved in action planning to identify ways to achieve those goals.

Role clarification

A transformational leader should clarify individual roles, expectations, team norms and shared
responsibilities among team members and the leader should emphasis communication within team.

Interpersonal processes and communication

A transformational leadership should foster open discussion for better team relationship and conflict
resolution. Mutual trust, open communication, and confidence should be encourage to build team
cohesion.

Problem solving

Team members should be encouraged to identify problems, generate relevant information and engage
in problem solving.

Intellectual stimulation and conflict management

Effective conflict management can lead to better team performance. Moderate level of conflict should
be viewed as functional so transformational leaders should encourage constructive conflict as it leads to
functional benefit.
Transformational leaders create an environment where questioning assumptions and inventing new
ways of looking at things are considered healthy for the organization.

The right use and development of all these team building skills in transformational leadership theory
enhance the leadership effectiveness in the organization that can help an organization to achieve its
objective and growth.

(Dionne et al., 2004)

 References

Leadership Skills: How to Use Leadership Theory to Your Advantage. (2016, May 6). Bookboon.

https://bookboon.com/blog/2016/05/leadership-skills-using-leadership-theory-to-your-advantage/

Leadership Styles & Team Building. (n.d.). Small Business - Chron.Com. Retrieved December 5, 2020, from

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/leadership-styles-team-building-4833.html

Transformational leadership and project success: The mediating role of team-building. (2016). International

Journal of Project Management, 34(5), 806–818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.02.012

Dionne, S. D., Yammarino, F. J., Atwater, L. E., & Spangler, W. D. (2004). Transformational leadership and

team performance. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 17(2), 177–193.

https://doi.org/10.1108/09534810410530601