NR 504 Week 3 Assignment – Leadership Reflective Essay A leader’s style affects follower’s motivation.

Along with a leader’s behaviors comes how their style can affect a follower’s motivation. Personally, I am the kind of person who likes to be trained and sat with maybe twice until I feel in control of what I am accomplishing. Once I feel confident in my tasks, I do not enjoy feeling like I am being micromanaged, and this goes back to a leader’s style. Although there is no one way to be a leader or even to train followers or employees, the way in which you approach your specific style does affect them. As I was saying, being micromanaged is not for me, but I know that when my team lead does it, that is not how she sees it. For her, it is gaining a greater understanding and giving herself a refresher on the tasks that I do so that she doesn’t forget them if I ever am out of the office. However, oftentimes, I do not see it as her trying to take a load off my plate or giving herself a refresher but more as a polite way of telling me I am not doing my job. When I feel that way, it causes me to be less motivated to achieve my tasks if I think she is just going to backtrack and review all the things I have already done. This is why I believe that types of leadership are heavily dependent on the follower as well as what level the follower is at, whether it be a beginner and just learning the aspects or has been doing it for a while but an easier or better way has been found and then showing them that way to help them be more effective.

Leader-Member Exchange

Leader-member exchange assumes that a follower wants to constantly improve and, in a sense, succeed. However, that may not always be the case, and it could happen for many different reasons. One is that the follower is just fine with what they are already doing and is completely fine staying in that department or position for the remainder of their career. Second, when an employee wants to grow and move in a different direction, they decide to leave their current job. It all depends on the initial stance of the leader. If the person leaving never respected their leader, then leaving does not mean that they want to form a relationship with that leader, and in that case, it would not be an “improved career-oriented social exchange.” It would be more of an annoyance to the person. There was an article in my research that stated the following, “LMS is determined by a number of antecedents, and in turn, influences a wide range of individual and organizational outcomes” (Leader-member exchange theory: The past and potential for the future). This exchange really ties into our two other points because it brings back the concept that it really does take two or, in this case, the leader and the followers.

NR 504 Week 3 Assignment – Leadership Reflective Essay

To conclude, as I mentioned above, leaders need to take steps back and approach their followers in styles in which they can retain and like to be taught information, but followers also need to be willing to learn in the style that the leader is most comfortable with. As all parties become comfortable with one another, they are better able to communicate and give improvements for everyone as a whole without anyone feeling as though they are being attacked for how they complete things. At the end of the day, it is all about fulfilling the task at hand.

References

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Liden, R. C., Sparrowe, R. T., & Wayne, S. J. (n.d.). Leader-member exchange theory: The past and potential for the future. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-07308-002

Mana 5345 – exam 1- Chapter 7 flashcards – quizlet. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://quizlet.com/535200634/mana-5345-exam-1-chapter-7-flash-cards/

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Northhouse, P.G. (2022). Leadership theory and practice. SAGE Publications

Phillips, A. S., & Phillips, C. R. (2016). Behavioral styles of path-goal theory. Management Teaching Review, 1(3), 148-154. doi:10.1177/2379298116639725