Style approach free essay sample

?There are various characteristics and styles of leadership; the emphasis of the style approach is the focus on the actions and behavioral characteristics of the leader. There are two behaviors of the style approach that researchers have observed, task behaviors and relationship behaviors (Northouse, 2013). People who are in roles of leadership should acquire both behaviors to be successful in their position and maintain motivation and the quest for achievement in their subordinates. Task behaviors are those traits that keep others motivated to work to complete objectives. Relationship behaviors are characteristics and actions that leaders possess that make others feel respected, understood and want to work towards a common goal. Unlike other approaches to leadership, such as the trait approach, the style approach looks at a leader’s behaviors and actions. Balancing these two behaviors is the key to being an effective leader (Northouse, 2013) In case number 4. 2 Susan Parks is a determined and diligent leader at Marathon Sports. Marathon Sports is an athletic equipment store that specializes in running shoes and accessories. She manages ten employees that are college students and work part time during the week and full time on the weekends. Marathon Sports has a huge opportunity for great growth with the store being located in a college town with a population of 125,000. According the case the store is estimated to have a fifteen percent growth each year. Susan Parks seems to have the perfect situation for a great team to be successful. Susan Parks works long hours and she performs several different jobs from sales, buyer, planner and manager. She is constantly working and never seems to take a break. The rumor is that she eats her lunch standing up. It seems that Susan Parks has all the right attributes in performance and meeting a task but she does not seem to fully posses the relationship approach to leadership. Her employees have a mixed reaction to her leadership style. Most agree she is effective and organized. Susan Parks has great communication skills and clearly explains to her staff what the task is at hand. Her staff feel accomplished at the end of the day but ultimately they do not feel much of a relationship connection with Susan Parks. Susan needs to examine the style approach. According the Northouse text â€Å"The style approach gives them a great deal of nurturance and support. The style approach gives the leader a way to look at his or her own behavior by subdividing it into two dimensions. † As we see Susan Parks has the task oriented leader. Susan Parks is an authority compliance leader. She communicates tasks with the employees but nothing beyond the task at hand. Susan is a mother and a wife and she struggles with her professional and personal balance, her fellow employees could relate better to Susan if she was more approachable and relatable. Her ‘nothing but business’ attitude makes her cold to her subordinates. Her focus is strictly on the goal and not on the people that help make achieving the goal possible. By connecting to her subordinates on a professional and personal level, it will motivate and influence her team members to work harder for her. It is important for her to adopt the Team Management approach. In chapter 4 of Northouse, Team management is explained as â€Å"a strong emphasis on both tasks and interpersonal relationships. It promotes a high degree of participation and teamwork in the organization and satisfies a basic need in employees to be involved and committed to their work. † Employee values, attitudes, and leadership behavior play a very important role in enhancing employee work motivation and performance. Employee work values, attitudes and leadership behavior can carefully be adjusted to produce a strong impact on employee work motivation. There are several ways Mrs. Parks can connect to her subordinates, by taking a break to eat lunch she can use that time to talk to her employees about their day and home life. By taking those small moments to her advantage and to learn more about what makes her employees tick and what stresses them outside of their job. Just like Susan Parks experiences trouble balancing work and home life. If her employees notice her taking a break and that there is more to her life then meeting the stores goal. If during those moments she motivates and compliments her subordinates on the hard work that they do, she will gain more of their respect and appreciation. Susan Parks could also implement a reward system or staff parties for when they achieve their goal. This way she is getting to know her staff better and rewarding them for their good work. This will make them want to work harder for her to make Marathon Sports that much more successful. Ultimately, she will have more trust for her staff to be able to take on more duties, which will allow her to take a lunch not standing and be able to balance her home and work life better. The more she motivates and connects with her subordinates the harder they will work and want to come to work. Making a positive warm environment with clear communication skills is ideal for a successful team. With a younger staff juggling school and work, is difficult to keep a committed staff, especially if they are not enjoying work. Using team building activities, reward systems and simply taking the time to ask how someone’s day is, this will boost the team morale and make coming to work more exciting. They will go home feeling accomplished and ready to come back to work and be motivated to be successful and loyal. Susan Parks has all the resources and communication skills, she just has to connect and be approachable to her employees.