Prepare an Analysis Report using data and information from studies on leadership styles and characteristics derived from empirical research, and explain how the information applies to successful leade

Overview of Leadership Styles The Four Styles narrative of Leader- ship is written in three sections, which are Overview of Leadership Styles, Analysis of Leadership Styles, and Applications of Leadership Styles.

While the primary foun- dation for its development was generated from more than 30 years of research and studying leadership styles in education, the secondary foundation is generated from clients and colleagues representing more than 100 schools, colleges, and universi- ties.

This article is designed to facilitate awareness and provide instruction for lead- ers struggling with identification of their own leadership styles, as well as the iden- tification of the most appropriate leadership style of subordinates. Perhaps, the most important work that influenced the author's position was the brain quadrant research conducted by Ned Herrmann. Ned Her- rmann, who mentored the author during the late 8O's in North Carolina, provided the cognitive framework for the styles of leadership based upon his extensive work with research on brain quadrants. Addi- tionally, data were generated from various research/case studies done by the author at The University of Alabama, Harvard Uni- versity, Fort Valley State University, Talladega College, Atlanta Metropolitan College, Miles College, Stetson Universi- ty, The Citadel University, Webster University, and numerous school districts and technical colleges. It is from these sources that this classification system for preferred leadership styles has emerged.

Personal Leadership Style There are key questions that must be answered when defining personal leader- ship style. They are: What is leadership?

What is your preferred leadership style?

How does your style impact the people, tasks, and environment that you are lead- ing? What is the preferred leadership style of the members of your leadership team?

What tasks are best assigned to team mem- bers based upon their preferred leadership style? Can you change the preferred lead- ership style of your leadership team members? These and additional questions will be answered to aide you in enhancing the quality of your institutional/organiza- tional effectiveness. In an easy to read narrative format, you can leam more about your preferred leadership style.

Even more importantly, you will leam how to identi- fy the leadership styles of your leadership team members. You will also be able to identify the most appropriate tasks to assign leadership team members based upon their preferred leadership styles. Thus, you will enhance your ability to increase the pro- ductiveness of your organization.

Leadership in General Leadership and leadership styles have been a subject of considerable debate and discussion for as long as people have worked in groups. Leadership has as many definitions as there are writers of literature on the subject. Some writers include one of the following: behavior, personal char- 384 Leadership Styles.../ 385 acteristics, and leadership situations.

After three decades of experience and research, it is the author's opinion that leadership must include all three elements. Leader- ship is the process of communication (verbal & non-verbal) that involves coach- ing, motivating/inspiring, directing/ guiding, and supporting/counseling oth- ers.

This results in the timely production of predetermined organization goals.

War- ren Bennis, noted author and researcher, believed that all leaders of effective groups have four characteristics in common. First, they provide direction and meaning to the people they are leading. The leaders are responsible for keeping team members aware of important stated goals and objec- tives.

Second, they generate trust. They act in an honest manner that creates an envi- ronment of trust.

Third, they prefer action and risk taking. They are willing to oper- ate outside of the safety circle of tradition.

Fourth, they are communicators of hope.

Using effective communication skills, lead- ers encourage others to believe that the expected behavior will result in successful realization of stated goal. Fred Fiedler, a noted author, concluded that a leader could be effective or ineffective depending on the situation. He concludes that a leader's style is based upon his/her personality.

Thus, it would take an enormous amount of time to modify his/her personality. Nei- ther a graduate class nor a series of workshops would change an individual's personality. Ivancevich and Matteson, in their book entitled.

Organizational Behav- ior and Management, concluded that individuals respond to the world around them through their perception, the cogni- tive process of selecting and organizing the external environment. Over time, an individual's perceptions of the best approaches to address the stimuli in their environment combined with their predis- posed genetic makeup result in preferred leadership styles.

Goleman (2000) stated that in organi- zations around the world, from massive conglomerates to new economy dot-coms, the same lament emerges: Where are the leaders?

Jack Welch at General Electric, Lou Gerstner of IBM, Andy Grove at Intel, and John Chambers of Cisco Systems are rec- ognized as holistic leaders because of their ability to appropriately use four leadership styles.

Certainly, not everyone has the skill to use four difl'erent leadership styles such Welch or Chambers and others listed above. The tme measure of effectiveness of any leadership style is tied to results, which means the actual realization of pre- determined goals achieved by the leader and team members.

Jack Welch, Lou Gerster, Andy Grove, and John Chambers are among the minor- ity of leaders who are able to use all four leadership styles effectively. They are very rare indeed. The unique ability to analyze diverse people, complex tasks, and a vari- ety of different cultures in the work environments is seldom mastered by aver- age senior leaders. Every person that the leader interacts with has a different per- sonality, perception of the world around him or her, abilities, attitudes, and skills.

Additionally, the task and the environment take on different connotations for each per- son because of his/her individual differences. Type-A (Fact Based) leaders are comfortable with people, tasks, and 386 / Education Voi.

126 No.

2 Anaiysis of Leadership Styies Leadership styles are divided into four types, which are reflected in the chart below.

Chart 1 Type-A (Fact Based) Expects others to perform at a high level, with emphasis on the bottom line.

Factual Formal Logical Conservative Technical High Task Analytical Quantitative Mathematical Theoretical/ Scientific Type-D (Control/Power Based) Provides specific and detailed instructions and does not tolerate deviation from assigned sequence.

Type-B (Creativity Based) Provides an open and creative work Environment, which provides opportu- nity for suggestions and clarification.

Artistic Flexible Imaginative Synthesizing Spontaneous Holistic Type-C (Feelings Based) Makes decisions based upon how he/she feels about the issue.

Controlled Detailed Planned Sequential Conservative Organized Dominant Highly Structured High Task Formal Emotional Talker (without reservation) Emphatic Intuitive Interpersonal Flexible environments that require facts, logic, the- ories, scientific applications, analysis, quantitative, mathematical, and technical processes to resolve. They establish high quantitative standards of behavior and expectations for employees and them- selves.

They rarely show emotion because they are more interested in the bottom line.

Leadership Styles.../ 387 Moreover, they are constantly seeking facts and the logical order of things. They are very organized, research oriented, and data driven in decision-making. Conversely, they are extremely critical of individuals who do not meet their expectations and standards. They continuously seek per- fection in themselves and others.

They are fonnal in appearance, while maintaining a conservative style. They prefer to think about problems before attempting to solve them. They are slow to act. They place major emphasis on the job or tasks relat- ed to the job. Accuracy, above all else, is the number one priority.

Unlike Welch, Gerster, Grove, and Chambers, most senior leaders resort to the use of one or two leadership styles for situations dealing with people, tasks, and environments. The Type-B (Creativity Based) leader prefers problem solving tech- niques that involve artistic, flexible, imaginative, spontaneous, and holistic responses. Like Feelers, they are open and direct in communicating with others.

Their thinking and behavior reflect a creative, casual, and relaxed style. They are con- fortable talking with anyone at any time, and they will often talk while they are thinkng. With some exceptions, the Type- B leadership style was all but ignored as a preferred leadership style by the majority of CEO's until the 195O's. From 1950 to about the late 198O's, the United States fell behind Japan in the production of quality products such as electronic and vehicles.

Due to the proliferation of high-quality popular Japanese electronics and vehicles that were produced by the imaginative, artistic, and flexible Japanese leaders, American industry leaders demanded the use of Type-B leadership styles by CEO's.

Thus, SUV's, PT Cruisers, and non-gaso- line cars are the by-products. Currently, boards of trustee are recruiting and select- ing holistic leaders because of the demands for quality and productivity from region- al accrediting groups and the Federal govemment.

J. M. Juran and W.

Edward Deming are Americans who contributed to the Japan- ese transition to holistic leadership. This transition placed emphasis on quality and flexible leadership that focused on meet- ing the customers' needs and expectations.

The formula for success, as described by Juran and Deming, necessitated the holis- tic approach to and constant use of holistic leadership. Quality is an imperative according to Deming and Juran, even though one used statistics and the other used quality principles to advocate holis- tic leadership styles. The Japanese incorporated Deming and Juran's concepts into holistic leadership, which transformed the electronic and automobile industries.

By implementing this same need for inno- vation, there is still hope for education in the USA.

Educators in the United States still lag behind the business community in adopt- ing change as dictated by the consumers.

At the secondary education level, educa- tors are struggling with the challenge of how to change the educational systems to meet the No Child Left Behind law regu- lations. This law requires a new approach to educational leadership, which includes standards-based curriculum, formal State achievement tests, and school ratings based upon student performance and overall assessment of each school. Some excep- 388 / Education Vol. 126 No. 2 tional educational leaders have discovered the benefits of holistic leadership. This style of leadership involves the effective use of all leadership styles in the transfor- mation of ineffective school districts to effective school districts.

Boards of trustees must recruit and select leaders who are capable of using all leadership styles, based upon appropriate analysis of the people, tasks, and environment. Boards of trustees must select leaders who are comfortable using the Type-B (Creativity Based) and other leadership styles if creative solutions are expected to solve current problems.

The leader that prefers Type-C (Feel- ings) leadership style makes decisions about how he/she feels about the people, tasks, and environment, often ignoring research and facts that are contrary to his/her decisions. Even more important, they may prefer to use emotions, empathy, intuition, and interpersonal relationships to guide their decisions. They are uncom- fortable with data as a source for making decisions, unless the data are compatible with their feelings. They do not use the principals of science to analyze and solve problems. They prefer intuition to science.

They are open and direct in their commu- nication style, which causes others to feel relaxed with them.

They are prone to think, act, and respond to stimuli in a fast-paced manner. They exhibit extreme flexibility in both their personal and professional behavior. They seek approval and recog- nition from those in control.

The leader who prefers to use Type- D leadership style (Control/Power Based) wants to use power and control over peo- ple, tasks, and environment. They lack imagination and creativity. Often, they expect all subordinates to play a submis- sive role with them, and they provide rewards accordingly. They choose control, details, planning, sequencing, and strict organization to respond to people, tasks, and environment. They are inflexible, unimaginative, and lack spontaneity. Ide- ally, you want your Chief Finance Officer (CFO) to use Type-D leadership style.

You would not want your CFO to use creative accounting methods. A creative accoun- tant is not a positive contributor in any organization. There are many aspects of an accountant's job that require many of the elements of a Type-D leadership style.

Audit trails must be established and main- tained for all incoming fiscal resources, which require a sequential and orderly process by the chief financial officer. Con- sequently, different people, tasks, and environments need different styles of lead- ership to accomplish desired results.

Leaders of this type are advocates and firm supporters of tradition because, " This is what worked yesterday." They neither encourage nor do they use creative prob- lem-solving primarily because they are afraid of failure. This approach is positive for accountants, but it could prove to be problematic for a leader attempting to moti- vate teachers and students to improve school ratings. Therefore, the leadership style must be dictated by the situation.

Applications of Leadership Style Leaders develop perceptions, attitudes, values, and a way of thinking and ranking systems of values for the stimuli in the world around them based upon their genet- ic predisposition and the results of the environmental impact during their forma- Leadership Styles.../ 389 tive years. Using this template, potential leaders develop a preference for a partic- ular way of processing stimuli and making decisions. For example, an A-Type (Fact Based) leader could be an individual who has a predisposition for logic and reason, has parents with doctorate degrees in sci- ence, has continued exposure to learning environments that reinforce the importance, and use of the scientific principles. Thus, the leader would have a strong preference for the elimination of feelings and emo- tions when solving problems pertaining to people, tasks, and environment. This type leader is strongly opposed to showing emo- tions and considers it inappropriate to do so in his/her work environment.

To assist an A-Type leader with access- ing the opposite leadership style, which is C-Type leadership (feeling), training must be designed from a fact based point of view.

They will leam, over time, and they will transfer to other ways of perceiving and responding to stimuli.

They are most recep- tive to fact-based leaming. Consequently, a fact based leaming technique should be used with them. Consider the following scenario. Fact one, an individual can feel and think at the same time. Fact two, you eliminate the appearance of being human when you do not show emotions. This per- ception will cause staff to feel alienated, and it becomes increasingly difficult to develop a shared reality with them. Fact three, Nedd Herrmann concluded that feel- ings are a different form of thinking, which can improve the quality of leaders' think- ing. Fact four, accessing and using feelings develops additional tools to gather infor- mation needed to lead the organization.

For example, a leader with the ability to access and use appropriately the feeling leadership style can sense when staff is feeling fear, hate, and anger. While staff may make contrary or incongruent state- ments with their demonstrated emotions as compared to their verbal statements, an effective leader will continue to probe so that the real issues are addressed.

Pamela Shockley-Zalabak concluded in her book entitled. Fundamentals of Organizational Communication, that sen- sitivity is one of four basic components of communication competency. She states that sensitivity, the ability to sense or become aware of a variety of organiza- tional meanings, is fundamental to developing shared meaning among leaders and workers.

It is most difficult to get leaders to devel- op skills in a leadership style that is opposite of their preferred style.

For exam- ple, it is extremely difficult to move either a preferred A-type leader to a comfortable C-type. It is much easier to move verti- cally. For example, it is easier to move an A-type leader (Fact Based) to a D-type leader (Control/Power Based).

The key to success is for leaders to have the range of skills that allows them to use the appropriate leadership styles according to the situation or assign tasks to leaders based upon their preferred leadership style.

As an initial step, the author supports the latter position of assigning tasks to lead- ers based upon their preferred leadership style.

Additionally, a long-term staff devel- opment system should be planned and implemented to assist leaders in develop- ing a holistic leadership style, the ability to use all four styles based upon the situ- ation.

390 / Education Vol. 126 No. 2 Prior to employing leadership consul- tants, you should first identify your preferred leadership style. You may be among the ehte 3% of the leaders who are able to effectively use all four leadership styles.

If you are not among the elite 3% who are holistic leaders, you must expand your own leadership styles to demonstrate correct leadership technique to your lead- ership team. Consider the following process: Make a list of the last nine deci- sions that you made, with a minimum of three decisions pertaining to people, three decisions pertaining to tasks and three deci- sions pertaining to work environment.

Starting with the first of the three decisions pertaining to people, write a verbatim state- ment of your perceptions about the issues prior to your decision. Write a concise statement reflecting your rationale for the perception. Write a concise statement of the decision that you made. For example, Dr Abraham Holy, President of High Point State College, had the following percep- tions:

1. Homosexuality is a sin. 2.

Homosexuals are immoral people. 3.

Homosexuals reflect negatively on the col- lege.

Rationale: 1. I learned from Bible lessons that homosexuality is a sin. 2. I have read cases in the newspaper of men molesting children. 3. Dr. John D. Love- joy, Professor of Humanities, was arrested but not convicted of sodomy three years ago.

Decision: Dr John D. Lovejoy, Pro- fessor of Humanities, was fired without stating a cause for his termination. Dr Holy is making a decision primarily from a C- Type leadership style (Feeling). He is without a doubt very religious and gives lit- eral interpretations to his readings. His perceptions are a direct reflection of his early childhood teachings, which were reinforced in a variety of means through his environment. He uses only emotions to make this critical decision, which has pro- found ramifications for Dr. Lovejoy, Dr.

Holy, and the entire High Point State Col- lege community.

All decisions made by leaders can be traced to their perceptions/value, and ratio- nale/ reasoning. However, it takes tremendous insight to examine your deci- sions with this kind of analytical thinking.

It often reveals perceptions and values that you are uncomfortable addressing at any level. Conversely, the 3% of the leaders who can comfortably use all four leader- ship styles are able to identify their perceptions and rationale for each deci- sion made. Most importantly, they have developed the ability to assess the situation and apply the appropriate leadership style.

Ideally, all leaders should aspire to acquire the ability use all four leadership styles.

However, it is unlikely that this goal will be reached without a firm commitment to long-term staff development.

Let's consider how an effective leader, who has the ability to use all four leader- ship styles, would have responded to the same case.

First, the effective leader would analyze the case from all four-leadership styles.

Upon completion of the analytical process, the effective leader would con- clude that the most appropriate leadership style is one that entails fact-finding, logic (What are the legal issues?), and princi- ples of science. There is only one leadership style with these elements: A- Type (Fact-Based). Perceptions: 1.

Homosexuality constitutes one of expect- ed diverse groups on a college campus. 2.

Leadership Styles.../ 391 Dr. Lovejoy was not found guilty of the charge of sodomy. 3. Dr. Lovejoy has the constitutional right of due process that is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, vi'hich must be honored by state colleges. Ratio- nale:

l.The President is obligated to accommodate diversity on the college cam- pus.

2. Dr Lovejoy has neither broken a college policy nor a state law. 3. Even if Dr. Lovejoy had broken both college pol- icy and state laws, he must be given due process prior to terminating him. Deci- sion:

Dr Lovejoy will continue teaching in his capacity of Professor of Humanities.

The ineffective college president could cost the college millions in damages from a lawsuit that Dr. Lovejoy would have brought because of discrimination, failure to follow college policy, and lack of due process, etc.

John Dewey, an educational scholar, concluded that, " To find out what one is fitted to do and to secure an opportunity to do it is the key to happiness." Leaders are not only happy, but they are more produc- tive when the tasks are correlated with their preferred leadership style. For example, Type-A leaders prefer positions like aca- demic affairs, law, finance, engineering, and other positions that require facts, logic, and analytical thinking. The opposite type leader, the Type-C leaders, prefers students services, social work, counseling, teach- ing, nursing, and other positions that require empathy, intuition, and flexibility.

Type- D leaders prefer to be computer pro- grammers, auditors, fiscal officers, bookkeeper, planners, and other positions that provide control and power. While the opposite is true of Type-B leaders. They prefer positions such as strategic planning.

artists, musicians, and other positions that involve imagination, spontaneous, and holistic approaches to problem solving.

References Bennis, W. (1997). Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.

Fiedler, F. E. (1967). A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness. New York, New York: McGraw- Hill Ghiselli, E.E. (1971). Explorations in Managerial Talent.

Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear.

Goleman, D. (2000). Leadrship That Gets Results.

Harvard Business Review, 1, PP.78-90 Ivancevich, J. M. & Matteson, M.T. (2002). Orga- nizational Behavior and Management. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.

Shockley-Zalabak, P. (2002). Fundamentals of Organizational Communication. Boston, MA:

Allyn & Bacon Stogdill, R. M. (1974). Handbook for Leadership.

New York: Free Press, 43-44.

About the author Dr.

W.

C. Howard is Vice President for Academic Affairs at Allen University, located in Columbia, South Carolina. He serves as President of Howard & Associ- ates, an educational consulting firm, located in Decatur, GA.