How to Become an Effective Business Leader

By Dr Jim Porter

Entrepreneurs Brief Guide – Volume 5. How to Become an Effective Business Leader.

This e-book consists of twelve “Entrepreneurs Brief Guide” publications for leadership success. It addresses briefly all you need to know about how to become an effective business leader; including leading by example, emotional intelligence, and networking. It also contains independent and practical advice for entrepreneurs and business leaders. This guide is invaluable to individuals, entrepreneurs and aspiring leaders who are seeking personal growth and success.

Learn how to: (1)Adopt an Leadership Style, (2)Match Commitments to Values, (3)Understand Power, (4)Increase your EI, (5)Manage Your Responsibilities, (6)Lead by Example, (7)Lead From the Front, (8)Raise Your Expectation, (9)Motivate Yourself to Lead, (10)Go the Extra mile, (11)Manage Time and (12)Stay Connected.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr Jim Porter
• Release date: Jan 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465920638

Dr Jim Porter

Dr Jim Porter is a chartered engineer, qualified to a PhD level from London University, with more the 25 years business experience. He has worked for several multinational companies in Europe and the USA. His experience stretches from new products development, project management, new business building, profit and loss responsibility, to the creation of several successful joint ventures and acquisitions.Currently, he is a senior executive, responsible for strategy development and growth initiatives, including partnerships and new businesses building. Dr Porter is particularly interested in business incubation, helping entrepreneurs and start up business owners to achieve their personal and business objectives.Dr Porter is the author of several publications, including a book titled “How to bake your business idea and eat it”, and the creator of “Entrepreneurs Brief Guides” series.Dr Porter is a Fellow Member of several professional organizations and institutions in Europe and the USA. He can be contacted on his email [e-mail] .

Book preview

How to Become an Effective Business Leader

Entrepreneurs Brief Guide – Volume 5

Dr Jim Porter

This e-book consists of twelve Entrepreneurs Brief Guide publications for leadership success. It addresses briefly all you need to know about how to become an effective business leader; including leading by example, emotional intelligence, and networking. It also contains independent and practical advice for entrepreneurs and business leaders. This guide is invaluable to individuals, entrepreneurs and aspiring leaders who are seeking personal growth and success.

Learn how to:

Adopt an Appropriate Leadership Style

Match Your Commitments to Your Values

Understand Power and Learn to Negotiate

Increase your Emotional Intelligence

Manage Your Responsibilities as a Leader

Effectively Lead by Example

Lead From the Front

Raise Your Expectation

Motivate Yourself to Lead

Go the Extra mile to Become a Better Leader

Manage Your Time

Stay Socially Connected

Copyright

How to Become an Effective Business Leader

Dr Jim Porter

Revision: SW.05.001

Copyright © 2011 – All Rights Reserved.

Smashwords Edition

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4659-2063-8

Publisher: Smashwords, Inc.

CHAPTER No.1: How to Adopt an Appropriate Leadership Style

For centuries we have witnessed various leaders and their distinct leadership styles. They have included Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela to name but a few. Business people and psychologists have broken down and created simple ways to explain leadership styles so that they can be of some use and guidance for aspiring leaders. So how do you decide which approach is the best for you?

Learn how to:

Appreciate the various styles of leadership

Appreciate different leadership theories

Figure out the best leadership style for you

For centuries we have witnessed various leaders and their distinct leadership styles. They have included Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela to name but a few. Business people and psychologists have broken down and created simple ways to explain leadership styles so that they can be of some use and guidance for aspiring leaders.

So how do you decide which approach is the best for you? Consciously or subconsciously, you will use a style of leadership pointed out in this publication. Understanding the styles and their impact can help you create your own personal leadership style and help you become more effective as a leader.

There are various frameworks that have shaped the present understanding and knowledge of leadership.

This publication will provide information on:

The different leadership theories (broadly four kinds)

Glossary for some extra leadership terms.

The various leadership theories

Social scientists and researchers have developed various kinds of leadership theories over the years, which can be broadly classified as:

The Traits theories

These theories look at what kind of a person makes a good leader. The theories argue that leaders share various types of personality traits and characteristics and that leadership emerges from these traits.

Traits are external behaviours that stem from things going on within the leader’s mindset. These thoughts and beliefs are important for effective leadership. This theory helps us to identify good leadership qualities, including empathy, good decision making, a pleasing personality, assertiveness and so on.

The Behavioural theories

These theories answer the question of what a good leader does. They focus on how leaders behave.

Back in the 1930s, Kurt Lewin developed a leadership framework based on leadership behaviour and argued that there are three types of leaders:

Autocratic leaders

These leaders make decisions on their own without consulting their teams. This is appropriate for times when quick decisions need to be taken.

Democratic leaders

These leaders allow the team to provide their input before they make a decision. This style is considered relevant when team agreement matters, however it can be difficult to manage when there are lots of different perspectives and ideas.

Laissez-faire leaders

These leaders don’t interfere and allow the team to take as many decisions as needed. This happens when the team is highly capable and motivated and does not require constant monitoring.

Apart from Lewin’s model, there is also the:

The Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid

This helps you to decide how to lead, based on your concern for people as opposed to the concern for production. This model describes five different leadership styles:

Impoverished

Country Club

Team leader

Produce or perish

Middle of the road.

These styles will help you understand your own leadership habits and adapt them to meet your team’s needs.

Another model is offered by John Adair:

Action-centered Leadership

This framework is consistent with behavioural theories of leadership. The best leadership style is discovered by balancing task, team and individual responsibilities. The behaviour of the leaders has a direct impact on their effectiveness.

The best leaders are those who can choose from the various different styles and select the right style for each situation.

The Contingency theories

The fact that there isn’t one correct type of leader has led to the theory that the best and most appropriate leadership style is contingent, i.e. it depends on the situation.

Different situations, such as when a quick decision is needed and the leader needs the full support of his/her team, require different styles of leadership.

The Hersey Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory is a popular contingency-based framework, which links leadership style with the maturity of individual members of the team.

The Power and Influence theories

These theories of leadership adopt a different approach. They’re based on the different ways in which leaders use power and influence to get things done, and their leadership style emerges as a result.

One of the most well known theories of this type is French and Raven’s five forms of power. This model distinguishes between using your position to exert power and using your personal attributes to be powerful.

French and Raven identified three types of positional power: legitimate, reward and coercive, and two sources of personal power: expert and referent.

According to this model, using personal power is the better alternative and expert power is the most legitimate of these. Leading by example is another highly effective way to establish and maintain your positive influence over the team.

Another leadership style supported by these theories is Transactional Leadership. This approach assumes that work is done only because it is rewarded and on no other basis, hence it focuses on designing the tasks and reward structures.

Although this may not be the most appealing leadership strategy in terms of building relationships, it does work and is used in most organizations to get things done.

However, there is one leadership style that is appropriate in many corporate situations, Transformational Leadership. A leader using this style must:

Have integrity

Set clear goals

Lead by example

Clearly communicate the vision and goal

Encourage and support

Recognize good work and people

Provide interesting work

Inspire and motivate individuals

Help individuals see beyond their interests and focus on team interests and needs.

Transformational leaders are highly motivating and trusted.

Some other terms to better understand leadership theories

There are various leader/leadership terms