Leadership Theories: Learning About Transformational Leadership and Authentic Leadership

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As a Senior Human Resources Officer and a Leader in the United States Army, I found this class not only to be very informative, but very useful for future practice and application. Through the myriad of different leadership theories and approaches, I have developed a better understanding of the historical, political, social, cultural, psychological, and organizational contexts in which leadership occurs. I am knowledgeable on several ways to identify personnel who may be make for better leaders using the Trait Approach, Skills Approach, and Style Approach. I am also able to better match leaders with subordinates by using the Situational Approach, Contingency Theory, and Path-Goal Theory. Finally, and probably most importantly, I have learned different techniques of leadership that I can personally apply as a leader to better understand and influence my subordinates.
The ability to identify leadership candidates will be a very useful skill set I can apply in hiring and promoting personnel into leadership positions. From the instruction in this course I have learned several approaches to identify potential leaders. Through the Traits Approach, which emphasizes the personality characteristics of a leader, the Skills Approach which emphasizes leader capabilities, and the Style Approach which emphasizes the behavior of the leader, I can select the right people to succeed in leadership roles (Northouse, 2013). All three approaches can be affectively used to identify people who have the potential to be strong leaders. I would potentially use the questionnaires for all three approaches during the hiring process to help determine if they have the traits, skills, and behavior of the type of leader the organization would like to hire...

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...st adapt my leadership style based on the subordinate to achieve optimal results. With the model, I now know how to assess my subordinates better and what leadership style to take based on their competency/commitment level whether it be Directing, Supporting, Coaching, or Delegating. I have also learned valuable insight from the Leader Member Exchange Theory in how to create higher quality exchanges with my subordinates. Learning about Transformational Leadership and Authentic Leadership has also provided a greater understanding on how I can inspire by subordinates through my words and actions. This course has definitely provided me with beneficial knowledge that will make me a much more effective leader as I continue my career as a Human Resources professional.

Works Cited

Northhouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership. (6th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

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