Critically argue that a style of leadership as deployed by a business leader has been successful in terms of the performance of the business and employee motivation/engagement for the longer term.  In analysing your case, an assessment should also be made of the organisational culture factor – where the leadership style has influenced the organisational culture or where the culture has impacted on the leadership style.

2. Theoretical Framework
We come across leaders in different areas of our lives – at business, at school, at university, in sport and even within our own circle of friends. Someone always stands out and takes  the lead.  They not only influence us such that we look up to them and follow them but also we often wonder what is it they have that we, who follow, haven’t.  We ask ourselves: ‘Are they born with it?’ (Traits theory) or ‘Is it what they do and how they do it that defines their leadership and therefore can they learn it?’ (Behavioural theories)  or is the environment and situation that produces them?   (Situational theory)     Or …………….
In organisations too, how a leader influences others to achieve the mission, goal, or objectives is affected not only by the leadership style they choose but also by the situation, the followers and their own skills and abilities.
Leadership Styles
There are various approaches to defining leadership and these are categorised into ‘leadership theories’. The Great Man theory and the Traits theory are the earliest approaches to defining leadership.  The Behavioural approach focuses on the leader’s skills, what the leader does (functions) and the Styles of leadership.  The Influence approach is about factors that affect leadership such as the leader’s personal charisma and also culture of the organisation. Relational theories view leadership as a relational process, how leaders and followers interact and influence one another rather than what something a leader does to a follower.  The significant relational theories are Transformational,   Transactional, and Servant leadership.
For the purpose of the assignment, ‘styles’ are used in the broader sense, i.e. not just those listed in the ‘Leadership Styles’ topic but also the various ‘approaches’ to leadership.  These, as has been covered in the module, are:
– Autocratic- Democratic – Laissez-faire (Lewin, 1939)
– Tells- Sells- Consults- Joins (Tannenbaum & Schmidt, 1958)
– Impoverished- Authority-Obedience- Country Club- Team- Middle-of-the-Road (Blake & McCanse, 1991)
– Visionary (or Authoritative)- Coaching- Affiliative- Democratic- Pacesetting- Commanding (or Coercive) (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2004)
– Charismatic (Weber, 1922; House, 1976)
– Transactional (Burns, 1978)
– Transformational (Bass & Avolio, 1994)
– Servant (Greenleaf, 1977)
– Level 5 (Collins, 2005)
– Telling/Selling/Participating/Delegating (Situational Leadership, Hersey & Blanchard, 1993)
Crucially, underlining all of the above approaches is the contextual situation – where the leadership behaviours and styles are contingent upon situational factors.  The most effective leader, therefore, will adopt a contingent/situational approach to leadership rather than being associated with a specific behaviour or style.
(Note: The assignment should draw ONLY from the above Styles).

Leadership & Motivation
A key characteristic of leadership is getting others to follow or getting others to do things willingly. It is about how the leader influences the behaviour and actions of others.  In other words, how the leader motivates the followers. ‘Motivation’ is concerned with why people behave in a certain way and, consequently, to predict likely behaviour in given situations. This ability is essential if a leader is to get followers to do something willingly. It is achieved through an understanding of internal cognitive processes which are divided into two contrasting approaches – Content theories and Process theories of motivation.
Content theories place emphasis on the nature of people’s needs and ‘what’ motivates them. Major contributors to this school are:- Scientific Principles of Management (Taylor, 1911)- Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow, 1943) & Steers & Porter’s (1991) interpretation- ERG Theory (Alderfer, 1972)- Two-Factor Theory (Herzberg, 1959)- Acquired Needs Theory (McClelland, 1985 )
Process theories place emphasis on the actual process of motivation, how behaviour is initiated, directed and sustained. Contributors are:- Expectancy Theory (Vroom, 1964)- Goal-setting Theory (Locke, 1968)- Equity Theory (Adams, 1963)
Employee engagement is an outcome of motivation. It emphasizes that motivated employees who perform well in their jobs feel valued and involved in their work emotionally, cognitively and behaviourally.  In a sense, therefore, it goes a step further because motivation theories focus on job satisfaction and fulfilment of needs.

(Note: The assignment should draw ONLY from the above Motivation theories).

Leadership & Culture
Organisational Culture
Successful leaders recognise that organisational culture is a core element in helping the organisations meet strategic goals and attain the vision.  Leaders align people with the vision by influencing organisational culture and shaping the environment that determines morale and performance.  The nature of the culture is highly important because it impacts a company for better or worse.  Thriving companies have attributed their success to the cultures their leaders helped create.  Many leaders recognise that organisational culture is an important mechanism for attracting, motivating and retaining talented employees, a capability that may be the single predictor of overall organisational excellence. One long-term study discovered that organisations with strong culture outperform those with weak ones on several primary measures of financial performance.