Leadership Research
...between the leader and follower. During the 1960s, research focused on what made effective and ineffective leaders. From the 1970s to the 1980s, researchers focused on the individual elements of leaders that influenced the success and effectiveness. These investigations eventually lead to the conclusion that leadership and leaders are important, but multifaceted elements of companies (SEDL, 2008). This paper will analyze the influence of leadership styles on individual performance, develop strategies for managing the group process, examine the roles and interaction of group and team members, and apply conflict management methods to enhance group and team performance. This paper will also compare and contrast benchmarking done on General Mills, Procter and Gamble, and Whirlpool Corporation.
Influence of Leadership Styles
The command-and-control leadership methods of the last century are extremely inefficient in the fast changing technology world. Motivating environments are needed on the front-line with people who assume responsibility and exercise leadership. To attract and keep this type of person, the work environment must inspire and exploit employee capabilities. One way to do this is with the use of an effective leadership style. This section will identify a few of the leadership styles, analyze the influence of leadership styles on individual performance, and suggest ways that Good Sport would benefit from the benchmarks provided.
The most popular belief is that leaders transform organizations through their vision, communication, and ability to build commitment. This is evident in the benchmark of Whirlpool and Procter and Gamble. Both of these companies shaped a strategic vision to bond their employees together which focused their energy toward a common goal. Good Sport should create a strategic vision to create a “higher purpose” that will...
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