Leadership Models

There are various leaders that I look up because of their successes and the manner in
which they run their organizations. The two models that attract me the most are Richard
Branson and Warren Buffet. Both of these leaders started small businesses that they have run
over time to become some of the most successful businesses in the world.

Richard Branson is one of the most successful and wealthiest businessmen in the
world. Born in the U.K, Branson struggled with dyslexia and even dropped out of 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, including 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 huge
business empire is very inspiring.

While I admire Branson’s business success, I have an even bigger admiration for his
leadership style. He employs democratic style of leadership where all employees are
considered important, equal, and their suggestions and feedback 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 more
responsibility as Branson is a great delegator (Schawbel, 2014). By making all of his
employees to 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 Branson’s businesses.

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The other leader that I greatly admire is Warren Buffet. Buffet, the CEO of Berkshire
Hathaway, is an American businessman who is considered to be one of the most successful
investors of all time (Hagstrom, 2019). He is also one of the wealthiest men in the world.
Like Richard Branson, Buffet showed interest in business at a young age. Over decades of
hard work and dedication, Buffet has managed to build a large business empire that is worth
billions of dollars.

Apart from his business success, I also admire Buffet’s leadership approach. His
leadership style is Laissez-Faire or delegative 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
own 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, I also like his personality. 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 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 fully
responsibility for their actions.

Personal and Professional goals

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Goals are important as they not only give a person reason for living, 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.

My other personal goal is improving my communication skills. I consider myself a
clumsy 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 public speaker and communicator.

Equally important, I plan to improve my time management skills. I can never be able
to achieve my long-term objectives if I cannot set and accomplish daily tasks. Additionally,
poor time management skills have a negative effect on productivity. To improve my time-
management skills, I plan to create to-do lists daily and allocate time for each of the task on
the list. 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 appropriate educational qualifications and experience. With
regards to education qualifications, I plan to get an MBA degree. Such program will provide
me with important knowledge needed to be an effective business executive, such as
managerial finance, statistics and accounting, negotiations, and entrepreneurship.

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As for experience, 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 managerial 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 in 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 in the lives of
people through supporting introduction of innovative products and services to consumers.

Approaches to Project Management Leadership

Project managers use a number of leadership styles depending on their personalities
and situations. One of the styles is coercive style. In this style, the project manager demands
complete and immediate compliance with their orders (Mikkelson & Riis, 2017).
Subordinates are required to do whatever that they are told by their project manager without
asking any question. Generally, this leadership style is applied in times of crises. For
instance, when there is danger of missing deadline, the project manager may adopt a coercive
leadership style in order fasten completion of tasks.

The other leadership style that is used by project managers is authoritative leadership.
Under this style, the project manager motivates their subordinates and mobilizes them to
achieve a given goal within a given period of time (Mikkelson & Riis, 2017). This leadership
style is effective when circumstances change and project team needs a new vision. The

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leadership style is usually effective as it generally has a positive impact on the motivation of
team members.

Affiliative leadership style is another style that usually have 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.

Another leadership style that is commonly applied by project managers is 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 definition and measurement of a
given project’s objectives. There are various situations that make democratic style of
leadership appropriate. For instance, 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 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 crises. 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 situation where the style is most commonly used is when the
project manager needs to have quick results.

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With regards to motivation, authoritative style leads to the highest level of motivation
among team members. Coercive style 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, affiliative style of leadership also results in little motivation among team members. The
other leadership styles have generally minor impact on motivation of team members.

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References

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

Mikkelsen, H., & Riis, J. O. (2017). Project Management: A Multi-Perspective Leadership
Framework. Emerald Group Publishing.

Rahbi, D. A., Khalid, K., & Khan, M. (2017). The Effects of Leadership Styles On Team
Motivation. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 16(2).

Schawbel, D. (2014, Sep. 23). Richard Branson’s Three Most Important Leadership
Principles. Forbes. Retrieved on 13 th January, 2021 from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2014/09/23/richard-branson-his-3-most-
important-leadership-principles/?sh=1eee05b23d50.