How cultural and personality differences impact on leadership in Essay

How cultural and personality differences impact on leadership in organizations - Essay Example This in turn is supposed to improve the organization's operational flexibility and thus the ability to deal with change. For the study of leadership, the above mentioned changes have led to the widespread adoption of empowerment strategies. Such an adoption is understandable: if one flattens an organization's structure, there is little choice but to empower the organisations lower-level workers with broader decision-making responsibilities. As a result, the traditional "limits to power" once designated by boundaries of hierarchy and rational authority are blurring [1]. This paper deals with the questions of leadership and how it is affected by culture and personality differences. The paper consists of three major parts, related respectively to leadership, culture and leadership, as well as personality and leadership, each chapter discussing theoretical concepts and empirical research. The New Leadership paradigm incorporated three main categories of theory - transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and culture-based leadership. ... Chapter 2: Transactional and transformational leadership The New Leadership paradigm incorporated three main categories of theory - transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and culture-based leadership. The transactional leadership theorists, including those theorists who explored the concept of leadership through the eyes of followers, explained leadership as contingent on a condition of transaction or exchange between leaders and followers. Alternatively, transformational leadership theory argues that "good" leadership is achieved through more than just tangible inducements. It suggested that leadership can be conceptually organized along a number of charismatic and situationally correlated dimensions [2]: charismatic leadership, inspirational leadership, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration (See Table 1). The culture-based theorists viewed leadership as being culturally specific, where "good" leadership, among other things, primarily depends on whether or not a leader's style is in synchronization with hi s or her organization's culture [1]. The transformational leader has been characterized as one who articulates a vision of the future that can be shared with peers and subordinates, intellectually stimulates subordinates, and pays high attention to individual differences among people. This transformational leader was posited as a contrast to the transactional leader who exchanges rewards contingent upon a display of desired behaviours [3]. Burns considered the transformational leader to be distinct from the transactional leader, where the latter is viewed as a leader who initiates contact with subordinates in an effort to exchange something of value, such as rewards for