Question

Please no copy and paste.

1. Discuss one of the Barriers within the profession as explained by Schafer. What is your assessment of that barrier?
2. Several leadership behaviors are discussed by Yukl. Select one of those behaviors that you feel is the most important, or near the top of the list. Discuss that behavior and explain your rationale for selecting it.
3. In the reading by Malos eight leadership theories are presented. Select one theory that you believe has little validity or legitimacy. Briefly discuss that theory and then explain why you made your selection.

Number your responses and cite your sources.

Answer 1

1. The major barriers to the expansion of effective leaders and the quality of leadership as defined by Schafer includes the cultural, political and structural barriers. The cultural barriers includes the resistance to change and the politics, whereas, the structural barriers includes the absence of systems that promote effective leadership development.

Schafer, J. A. (2009). Developing effective leadership in policing: perils, pitfalls and the paths forward. Policing An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 32(2), 238-260.

Assessment about the barrier - When the organization consists of employees from different culture, they may have difficulty in adapting to the culture of the organization and the policies that are followed there. This may serve as a barrier for the leaders to recognize, support, develop, and manage these employees. Hence, identifying the cultural barriers and overcoming it effectively will help the leaders or the managers to enhance their leadership skills.  

2. Yukl proposed the hierarchical taxonomy of leadership behaviors in which he divided the leadership behaviors in to four meta categories such as task oriented, relations oriented, change oriented and external. Under each of these meta categories, he mentioned 16 component behaviors with four behaviors under each of the categories.

Yukl, G. (2012). Effective leadership behavior: What we know and what questions we need more attention. Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(4), 66-85.

I feel that the most important behaviors are the task oriented behaviors because it includes the component behaviors such as clarifying, planning, monitoring operations and problem solving that are very essential for a leader. Only when the leader has clarity over their responsibilities and the situation, he or she will be able to plan the task according and also effectively monitor the operations. Even if any problems arises, a leader must be able to identify and solve the problem effectively.

3. The great man theory of leadership was developed by studying the behaviors of authority and military figures of the 1800s. This theory states that some people are born with the attributes such as heroic courage, superior intelligence and great inspiration that are necessary for becoming a good leader and for attaining the positions of authority and power.

This theory has very low validity because it only focused on the people who possessed power and neglected those who were common people. This theory only considered the inherited traits but neglected the impact of environmental factors that influence a person to become a great and successful leader.