The theories of leadership fronted by Fielder
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Introduction
This essay discusses the theories of leadership fronted by Fielder. The first part of this essay compares the original model of leadership outlined by Fielder named as the contingency theory of leadership with the latter theory known as cognitive resources theory.
The cognitive resources theory is a theory that looks into the development of the leaders in an organization. This theory is based on the premise that leadership is personality based and the personality of leaders determines whether they will be task oriented or relationship oriented. Fielder used a sixteen point scale where the leaders who scored low points on it were deemed to have a task orientation as they tried to rate their least preferred co-workers as having low performance (Lewis, 2006). The relationship-oriented leaders tried not to offend their co-workers and rated them highly thereby scoring high on this least preferred co-workers scale. According to this theory, those with high task orientation were preferred for high stress work as they would be inconsiderate and force their co-workers to improve on performance. However, in instances where the leader requires the cooperation of coworkers this model is not effective (Chemers, 2004).
The cognitive resource theory on the other hand takes into consideration the cognitive processes that the leaders in various positions undergo in the process of decision-making. In this theory quality decisions are based on factors namely the leader’s experience, intelligence and whether the situation is high stress or low stress environment. This means that the leader should have experience and intelligence to handle different situations. This theory was an improvement of the previous contingency model of leadership and sought to include other factors apart from task and relationship orientations, which determine the nature and quality of decisions that the leaders make (Barrett, 2003).
The type of leader who is most suitable to handle high stress scenario is a leader who is more experienced rather than a leader who is highly intelligent. Stress reduces the ability to rationalize and think critically. Therefore, a leader who is inclined to rationalize in high stress events where critical decisions are required like in a fire incidence makes low quality decisions (Garcia, 2007). However, for a leader who has experience in such stress events, decision-making will be easier as he or she will use the experience or previous decisions to deal with such an occurrence. The high stress events therefore require a leader who is highly experienced rather than highly intelligent (Chemers, 2004). In police leadership positions, one of the areas that require an experienced leader is the Flying Squad commandant position because it is a high-risk position where the officers are always on the run. Therefore, experience is required especially when there are intensive pursuits and the robbers are armed. In such a scenario, there is no time to rationalize and something has to be done. The flying squad commandant should therefore be a person who is experienced in dealing with such scenarios. He or she should be a person with more than fifteen years of experience in that squad.
In situations and scenarios that are low risk and the leader has the opportunity to rationalize, intelligence makes it possible to make high quality decisions. The quality of decisions is therefore determined by the ability to analyze, criticize and act accordingly (Barrett, 2003). In police leadership positions, low risk scenarios such as traffic policing require a leader who is highly intelligent rather than experienced because there is time to rationalize and deal with traffic offenders as they are not high risk and this type of work is routine oriented hence easy to handle rationally.
The transactional model of leadership refers to a situation where the leader wields a lot of power over the subjects. In transactional leadership there are revered power structures where power flows from top to bottom. The subordinates receive orders from the seniors while the senior does not need to consult the subordinates in decision-making (Godfrey, 2009). This type of leadership is usually present in police institutions where power flows from top to bottom. The transformation leadership style is an incorporative type of leadership where the leader has to consult the subordinates before making any decision. This type of leadership is imperative in decision-making (Barrett, 2003). It is appropriate in instances where creativity and consultancy is required, as the leader does not yield a lot of power. For instance, in law firms the organizational members consider themselves as collaborators rather than employees. Visionary leadership is a combination of both styles in order to motivate the participants to productivity. It is appropriate for organizations or scenarios where the leader has a lot of power but prefers to delegate or incorporate others in the decision making process in order to motivate the subordinates (Mahar, 2006).
Conclusion
Discussion on leadership is imperative due to its ability to bring leaders on board who can handle different situations appropriately. Knowledge on the best leadership model for the leader to use is critical in ensuring that there is effectiveness in making decisions.