Leadership Models

One of the definitions of leadership is the ability to influence a group of people toward
the achievement of a given goal. A leader is one who has been able to inspire followers to
great success in business, politics, science, military, and other fields of human endeavors.
This paper examines two inspirational leaders – Richard Branson and Warren Buffet, the
personal and professional goals that I have set for myself to be a high achiever like these
model leaders, and application of leadership theories in everyday activities, particularly
project management.
Richard Branson is one of the most successful and wealthiest businessmen in the
world. His success is attributed to a strong determination to succeed, and a passion for
entrepreneurship. Born in the United Kingdom Branson struggled with dyslexia and dropped
out of high school while still a teenager (Schawbel, 2014). Despite possessing limited formal
education, Branson went on to become a successful entrepreneur whose Virgin Group owns
400 companies in different industries. The companies consist of music, airlines, hotel chains,
banks, and pension plans (Schawbel, 2014). Such has been the success of his businesses that
he is now a billionaire and is among the wealthiest people in the United Kingdom. For a
person who struggled with dyslexia and dropped out of high school, becoming the owner of
such a large business empire is very inspiring.
As a business leader, Branson’s has managed to effectively use the democratic style of
leadership to great success. Democratic style of leadership is one where all employees are
considered important, equal, and their suggestions and feedback are given serious
consideration (Schawbel, 2014). Branson uses ideas and suggestions from employees to
improve his business organization and implement innovative ideas. Employees are also given

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more responsibility as Branson is a great delegator (Schawbel, 2014). By making all of his
employees feel important and valuable to the organization, Branson makes them highly
motivated and effective in the performance of their duties. The result of this leadership
approach has been the great success of the billionaire’s businesses. It is Sir Richards
astonishing capabilities as an entrepreneur, explorer, futurist, environmentalist, and
philanthropist that makes mega-billionaire Sir Richard Branson a great role model fo all
entrepreneurs to emulate.
The other leader to be admired is Warren Buffet. The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway,
whose success can largely be attributed to a strong passion for entrepreneurship and ability to
build a skilled team. Like Branson, Buffet began entrepreneurial ventures when he was still a
teenager. He became an investor and is now considered the most successful investor of all
time with a business empire that is worth billions of dollars (Hagstrom, 2019). His business
success can be attributed to his ability to choose talented and skilled personnel and then
empowering them to achieve his goals. His style of leadership consists of a Laissez-Faire
approach. Under this approach, a leader empowers employees to make decisions and provides
them with all the resources that they require to achieve the desired results (Rahbi, Khalid &
Khan, 2017). This approach has been criticized for lowering levels of productivity; however,
it has other strengths that have worked in favor of Warren Buffet. By giving highly
competent managers full autonomy, Buffet has created an atmosphere where the managers
feel motivated and confident in their abilities (Hagstrom, 2019). Their desire to have
Berkshire Hathaway succeed is as strong as that of the owner.
In addition to Buffet’s leadership style, his personality is also to be desired. He is a
humble and optimistic person with a jolly attitude (Hagstrom, 2019). Even when things
around him are not going well, he always maintains a positive attitude. This positive attitude

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also helps to keep the work environment relatively stress-free. Buffet is also one of the few
leaders who often openly admits his mistakes instead of making excuses or blaming other
people (Hagstrom, 2019). This trait sets an example for other leaders under him to take full
responsibility for their actions.
Branson’s and Buffet’s leadership models are key contributors to their success. First,
Branson’s democratic leadership model is very significant when it comes to motivating
employees and enhancing productivity. As a leader, I would also use the democratic
leadership model because it inspires trust and respect among employees. This model also
gives each member of the workforce an opportunity to contribute unique skills and abilities
that would, otherwise be left untapped when a rigid hierarchical approach is used. I also
value this leadership model because it enhances group effort and overall employee
satisfaction. Second, Buffet’s Laissez-Faire approach appeals to me because it allows
employees to be extremely creative and innovative. This model also ensures that employees
learn and enhance their skills, making them more productive and efficient. As a leader, I
would use this approach when dealing with technical tasks that require innovative and
creative thinking

Personal and Professional goals

Goals are important as they not only give a person something to focus on and achieve,
but they also help one to effectively allocate their time, energy, and financial resources. At a
personal level, my goals include improving my physical fitness, communication skills, and
time management skills. To improve my physical fitness and health, I plan to walk for half an
hour daily. Apart from improving my fitness and allowing me to work effectively, such
physical exercises will also help me to reduce the risk of suffering from depression, high
blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and other lifestyle diseases.

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Some personal goals are improving my communication skills. I consider myself an
awkward public speaker. Given the importance of public speaking and presentation skills in
both personal and professional growth. I plan to practice as much as possible until I become
an effective communicator. In addition to communication skills, I also plan to improve my
time management skills. I can never achieve my long-term objectives if I cannot set and
accomplish daily tasks. Poor time management skills hurt my productivity. To improve time-
management skills. Creating a to-do lists daily and allocate time for each of the tasks on the
list will be vital. Having solid time-management skills will help me to accomplish a lot in
both my personal and professional life.
Professionally, I have always dreamt of being a successful business executive. To
achieve this goal, I need to have the appropriate educational qualifications and experience.
With regards to education qualifications, I plan to get an MBA degree. Such a program will
provide me with important knowledge needed to be an effective business executive, such as
managerial finance, statistics and accounting, negotiations, and entrepreneurship. With
regards to the professional experience required to become a senior business executive, I plan
to work for an organization that quickly promotes people based on their performance rather
than age or relationship with top leaders. Being promoted to a managerial a level at a young
age will help me to become a senior business executive before I retire. This is because most
senior business executive positions usually require one to have managerial experience.
My personal and professional goals are driven by my desire to be healthy, wealthy,
and to have an impact on life. Daily physical activities will enable me to live a healthy life.
Being a senior business executive, such as a chief executive officer of a big business
organization, will enable me to be not only wealthy but also to have an impact on the lives of
people through supporting the introduction of innovative products and services to the market.

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Approaches to Project Management Leadership

Project managers use several leadership styles depending on their personalities and
situations. One of the styles is the coercive style. Coercive leadership is also called the
autocratic leadership style. It is a leadership style where the manager instructs subordinates
what to do and how to do it and expects strict compliance with the instructions (Mikkelson &
Riis, 2017). The leadership style demands results and often leaves very little room for error.
Project managers who exercise a coercive style of leadership usually have complete control
over their employees and offer them a very low degree of autonomy. Generally, the style is
applied when there is a crisis. For instance, when there is a danger of missing deadline, the
project manager may adopt a coercive leadership style in order to fasten completion of tasks.
The other leadership style that is used by project managers is authoritative leadership.
An authoritative leader sets the goals, when they are to be achieved, and determines steps that
will be taken to achieve the goals (Mikkelson & Riis, 2017). There is usually little to no input
from the manager’s subordinates about the goals or even how they are to be achieved. To this
extent, the authoritative leadership style resembles the authoritarian style. Where
authoritative leadership style differs from authoritarian leadership is that in authoritative
style, the project manager does not simply order employees to do what they want them to do,
they coach the employees and then let them work on their own. Thus, the authoritative
leadership style leads to more innovation than the authoritarian leadership style.
Affiliative leadership style is another style that usually has a positive impact on the
project team. Under this leadership style, the project manager strives to create strong
emotional bonds among team members and foster a strong sense of belonging (Mikkelson &
Riis, 2017). The style is most appropriate when the project manager seeks to rebuild lost trust
among team members or when the team is working under stressful circumstances.

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Another leadership style that is commonly applied by project managers is the
democratic style. Under this style, the project manager seeks to build consensus through
encouraging participation of team members in decision-making (Mikkelson & Riis, 2017).
For instance, each team member may be encouraged to contribute towards the definition and
measurement of a given project’s objectives. Various situations make the democratic style of
leadership appropriate. For example, when the project manager is uncertain about the course
of action to take in a given situation, they may use democratic style to get fresh ideas from
team members (Mikkelson & Riis, 2017). Another situation where a democratic style of
leadership may be appropriate is when the project manager wants to have high buy-in for a
given decision among team members. Democratic leadership style generally results in high
ownership of decisions because team members participate in the decision-making process.
Pacesetting is another leadership style that is applied by project managers, especially
in times of crisis. Under this style, project managers set high standards for themselves and the
team (Mikkelson & Riis, 2017). The style is appropriate if the team members are highly
skilled and motivated. The style is most commonly used when the project manager needs to
have quick results.
With regards to motivation, the authoritative style leads to the highest level of
motivation among team members. The coercive leadership style usually results in little
motivation of team members as the project manager relies on force and coercion to get
results. Even though it does not involve force, the affiliative leadership style also results in
little motivation among team members. The other leadership styles have generally minor
impact on the motivation of team members. The best leadership style for a project manager to
exercise is authoritative. The style promotes employee motivation and innovation, which
leads to superior results.

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Leadership Point of View

Key Events
Key events in my life that influenced how I lead others include loss, failure, and
building good relationships. At an early stage in life, I experienced losing a loved one who
died from an illness. The loss caused me much pain and affliction because I was not prepared
to face the grief. During the experience, I engaged in a lot of introspection, which helped me
examine my inner self. In turn, I learned to find inner peace by focusing on how I can grow
from a helpless state to become a stronger individual. I learned how to manage and
communicate my feelings to friends and loved ones. I also became more empathetic to the
plights of others.
Failure is the second life event that highly impacted my leadership perspective.
During my second year as an undergraduate student, I signed up for an internship program
during the long school breaks. Towards the end of the program, I was tasked with overseeing
the completion of a social media marketing strategy. Due to many factors that could have
been avoided, I failed to deliver a complete project. I also failed to lead a team of other
interns into success effectively. This failure made me develop self-doubt and feelings of
uncertainty. My supervisor forgave my mistakes and extended my deadline so that I would
complete the assigned task. Despite the adverse effects that I later experienced, including
depression and low self-esteem, I learned from this mistake. I learned how to forgive myself
and strive to become better and more competent. This event made me understand that when
people make mistakes, they can still turn around and do better if given a chance.
The third life event that continuously impacts how I lead others is building good
relationships. Initially, I was a reserved and quiet person. I hardly talked to strangers and
could only utter a few words when around other people like classmates, colleagues, and

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neighbors. This factor made me lonely since it was difficult to find friends that would
understand my nature. However, one day I decided to start talking to the people I
continuously meet. This includes the cashiers at stores that I would visit. I started greeting
neighbors, making small conversations with the people I met, and helping others whenever
possible. In time, this habit made it easier for me to develop good relationships with the
people around me. I also gained the confidence to express myself and communicate my
thoughts fearlessly. As a leader, this event influenced my approach to relationships because it
helped me understand the role of communication in creating good relationships.
Past Experiences
My past experiences have taught me numerous factors that contribute to good
leadership. For instance, working towards completing my education has provided much
insight into becoming more competent at what I do. I have learned that a good leader must
continuously learn to keep up with the latest trends in the industry and solve existing
problems innovatively. My educational experiences have shaped how I communicate with
and manage the roles of each person that I lead. Another factor is my accomplishments and
disappointments. I have learned to become patient and persistent when people I lead do not
accomplish what is intended. I have also learned to motivate others to aim higher after
succeeding in their current endeavors.
Further, past experiences that revolve around friends and family have taught me the
value of good relationships. As an individual, I have come to understand that I need others in
my life to help me grow and become a better individual. Interacting with family and friends
in both happy and unhappy circumstances helped me learn to listen to others. I developed the
art of listening to the ideas, instructions, and guidelines that other people present. This factor

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enhanced my perception of those I lead, wherein I now perceive each member of my team as
a part of my family.
Another experience that influenced how I lead others is through physical exercise
which I started in my early twenties. Initially, starting an exercise program was very difficult
because of the strenuous nature of the exercise. Each session was very hard, and I felt
resistance from my body. Despite the unpleasant nature of the activity, I continued exercising
until it became a regular aspect of my life. My physical appearance changed, and I also
became more alert and willing to take difficult challenges. The experience taught me how to
become resilient and keep working even when the task is quite unpleasant. In leadership, I
apply the same lessons by encouraging others to keep working hard even in the most
challenging situations.
Expectations
As a leader, individuals I lead should expect competence from me. I believe that
competency deals with both high efficiency and ethical considerations. This means that I will
complete my tasks with excellence and apply high ethical standards to ensure success (Oc,
2018). The people that I lead should also expect consistency. This implies that I will strive to
accomplish my goals with consistency. In case of a new approach to work, I will help to
ensure that there is consistency wherein people become accustomed to accomplishing their
goals systematically and continuously. For example, if a team can complete a project within
24 hours, all other similar projects must be delivered within 24 hours. This ensures that the
same project does not take more time but is consistently done within the set time.
Another element that is expected from me is respect. I believe that people can
accomplish the best if given equal opportunity and support to do it. Respect in my case deals
with my relationship with other members of my team. I intend to foster good relationships

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that are based on trust and respect. I believe in respect for other people’s capabilities, their
differences, and unique approaches to problem-solving. Respect also allows each member to
perform to their utmost best by removing all obstacles and limitations that prevent them from
doing well (Khorram-Manesh, 2019). For instance, if a culture of gossip emerges, I will work
towards a program that educates others and eliminates the problem without causing
humiliation or embarrassment to involved parties.
The expectations I have for those that I lead is that they become willful learners. This
deals with the willingness to learn new things, learn from past mistakes, and each other. In
today’s fast-paced world, numerous change is to be anticipated. This means that employees
may have to integrate constant changes regularly. The willingness to learn will help ensure
that there is no resistance to change and that the people I lead enhance their knowledge and
skills. Another expectation that I have for those that I lead is that they never give up. This
quality deals with patience and persistence, wherein I anticipate that they will keep trying to
do their best even in the face of failure or uncertainty. Finally, I expect those that I lead to
have strong will power. This means that they should be ready and excited about working
towards a given goal.
An effective leader must lead by example. To achieve this, I intend to do my part by
playing my role with high efficiency. This means that I will deliver my share of the work on
time and excel at the job to inspire others to do it. Second, I intend to lead by showing others
how to complete required tasks. For instance, if my team is working on a new marketing
strategy, I will be the first to present my ideas and initiate a plan for change. I can also teach
my team ways to accomplish assigned tasks. Third, I will lead by taking responsibility. As a
leader, one must take responsibility for any mistakes or shortcomings. This means accepting
my mistakes and taking charge to rectify the wrongs done. While others may make mistakes

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in your team, it is essential to take charge and be the first to recognize mistakes and rectify
them rather than blame others. Finally, I will lead by example by respecting the chain of
command and respecting each team member. Respecting the chain of command deals with
compliance to all organizational policies, regulations and guidelines. By doing this, others
will be motivated to do the same.
How Key Events, Past Experiences, and Expectations Have Shaped My View of Key

Leadership Skills

My past experiences, key events in my life, and expectations that I have highlighted
have shaped my views about important leadership skills that one needs to be an effective
project manager. These skills include self-leadership, participative leadership, and
empowerment.

Self-leadership

Self-leadership is based on the understanding that effective leaders are not just good
at leading others but also at leading themselves (Stewart, Courtright & Manz, 2019). In self-
leadership, a person does not work aimlessly or only does what they are told to do by their
superiors. Instead, they stipulate the desired outcome in any activity and then find ways of
arriving at the outcome. Sometimes the desired outcomes might be easy to achieve because
they involve activities that a person is naturally motivated to perform (Stewart et al., 2019).
However, in some cases, the activities may not be naturally motivating. For such activities, a
leader must find ways of directing themselves so that they are able to perform the activities
just as fast and as effective as the activities that are naturally motivated to perform (Stewart et
al., 2019). Thus, to me, self-leadership means setting one’s goals in any given situation,
making plans of achieving those goals, and then implementing those plans.

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Self-leadership is a desirable trait not just in project team leaders but also in
individual team members because it creates self-driven members. Projects usually involve the
performance of a wide range of tasks. Some of the tasks are more difficult than others and
therefore, require more motivation than other simpler tasks. In order to accomplish all the
tasks in a project regardless of the level of one’s motivation or the level of difficulty of the
task, it is important to have strong self-drive. As a project team leader, exercising self-
leadership will provide me with the necessary drive that is needed to successfully complete a
project. Given the importance of self-leadership in successful completion of projects, it is
important for a leader to encourage the development of self-leadership skills among team
members. Successful completion of projects requires teamwork. When a project’s team
members are not driven or motivated, the implementation of the project is unlikely to be
successful no matter how motivated the leader is. There are various factors that make self-
leadership among team members an important contributor to successful project completion.
One, self-driven team members can work more autonomously with very minimal supervision
leading to quicker completion of tasks (Stewart et al., 2019). Secondly, self-driven team
members are usually more productive than their less-driven counterparts (Stewart et al.,
2019).

Participative Leadership

In participative leadership, the team leader involves team members in decision-
making (Chan, 2019). It is for this reason that the leadership style is also called democratic
leadership. In this form of leadership, the team leader facilitates discussion of a given issue
among members of the team. The project’s team leader shares with team members all the
information that is useful in making decisions related to the project. Based on the information
provided to them by the team leader, members discuss various proposals and share ideas with

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the goal of arriving at a decision that is agreeable to the majority of the members (Chan,
2019). Once a satisfactory decision has been made, it is implemented as per the agreement of
the members.

Like other leadership styles or models, the appropriateness of participative leadership
depends on circumstances. One circumstance where participative leadership may be effective
is when there is need for greater buy-in for a given idea from team members. Participative
leadership has been found to lead to greater buy-in from team members because the input of
various members is often considered (Chen et al., 2020). Therefore, team members have
ownership of the decisions that are made. Additionally, any issues that a member may have
are often addressed before the implementation of a decision. Apart from securing greater
buy-in from team members, participative leadership is also effective when there is need to
boost morale (Chan, 2019). Instead of team members implementing directives from the
project’s team leaders, they feel like they are implementing their own ideas or ideas whose
input was considered.

Despite having many positives, there are certain drawbacks of participative
leadership. For instance, since the input of different team members is often considered, the
process of arriving at a decision is usually slow (Chan, 2019). Therefore, participative
leadership is not suitable in situations where decisions have to be arrived at fast, such as
when the project is behind schedule and there is a rush to complete it on time. Another
disadvantage of participative leadership is that it can lead to indecision especially when there
are strong disagreements among team members about the course of action to take. Such
indecisions can paralyze the activities of the project and lead to missed deadlines and
conflicts among team members. Lastly, participative leadership may also not work well when

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the team is mainly composed of less experienced or knowledgeable individuals. Such
members may not make useful contributions in the project’s decision-making.

As a project team leader, I will only employ participative leadership when I feel that
the circumstances are right for the use of such kind of leadership. In situations where I feel
that employing participative leadership may hinder the project’s successful completion, I will
use other more appropriate leadership models.

Empowerment

Research has found that team members who are empowered by their project leader
often perform better and enjoy greater job satisfaction than their counterparts who are less
empowered by their team leaders (Yu et al., 2018). Empowerment includes acts such as
delegation of authority, sharing of vital information that can help improve the project’s
execution, and seeking the input of subordinates in decision-making (Yu et al., 2018).
However, as it is the case with participative leadership, there are situations where
empowerment works well and others where its application may not yield the desired results.

One situation where empowerment works well is when team members may be
required to exercise some creativity. Empowerment has been found to promote creativity as
team members are empowered to make decisions and implement them without much control
from the project’s team leader (Chen et al., 2020). Rather than implementing what they have
been told to do, empowerment allows team members to exercise their judgment in different
situations and use their knowledge, skills, and experience to determine the most appropriate
course of action. Apart from fostering creativity, empowerment also makes team members to
feel valued and respected. Therefore, it leads to greater commitment of members to the team.

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However, there are some situations where empowerment may not work well. An
example of such a situation is when the project involves performance of routine tasks (Yu et
al., 2018). For such tasks, empowerment may not bring about any significant benefits as there
is little to be gained from independent thinking of team members. For these reasons, when
employing empowerment as a project team leader, I will take care to apply it only in
situations where there are likely to be clear benefits for the team.

Conclusion

Effective leadership is critical for the achievement of goals both group and
organizational levels. My model leaders, Richard Branson, and Warren Buffet have achieved
great success by using democratic and Laissez-Faire leadership styles, respectively. As the
analysis of the various leadership styles that project managers use to achieve results have
shown, there are other equally effective leadership styles. One of them is authoritative, which
has been found to promote greater employee motivation and innovation. The kind of
leadership style to exercise should be informed by the leader’s personality and the situation.

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References

Chan, S. C. (2019). Participative leadership and job satisfaction. Leadership & Organization
Development Journal.

Chen, L., Wadei, K. A., Bai, S., & Liu, J. (2020). Participative leadership and employee
creativity: a sequential mediation model of psychological safety and creative process
engagement. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.

Hagstrom, R. (2019). The Warren Buffet Way. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Khorram-Manesh, A. (2019). Learning to Respect Diversity, Gender Equality, and
Collaboration: A childhood Agenda or the Content of a Leadership Development
Program. Disaster, Diversity Emerg Prep, 146, 11.

Mikkelsen, H., & Riis, J. O. (2017). Project Management: A Multi-Perspective Leadership
Framework. Emerald Group Publishing.
Oc, B. (2018). Contextual leadership: A systematic review of how contextual factors shape
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Rahbi, D. A., Khalid, K., & Khan, M. (2017). The Effects of Leadership Styles On Team
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Schawbel, D. (2014, Sep. 23). Richard Branson’s Three Most Important Leadership
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2014/09/23/richard-branson-his-3-
mostimportant-leadership-principles/?sh=1eee05b23d50.

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Stewart, G. L., Courtright, S. H., & Manz, C. C. (2019). Self-leadership: A paradoxical core
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Yu, M., Vaagaasar, A. L., Müller, R., Wang, L., & Zhu, F. (2018). Empowerment: The key
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