Contingency Theory of Leadership and Distributed Leadership (Short Essay)

by: May Anne Joy D. Romanes

majromanes57@gmail.com

          One of the concepts, which is closely associated with leadership, is power.  The leader in the past is hailed as the sole powerful person in the organization; however, this scheme has proven to be more impractical and tiring for the leaders.  As a result, leaders learned to make little leaders out of their more skilled members.  A lot of questions arise from this however, such as the motive of the leader in empowering the members, and the confidence of the leaders to achieve goals themselves in the midst of the whirlwind of work.  The leader might be misinterpreted that he/she is not serious in doing what is commonly expected of him/her.  Also, tradition has still its influence over how people think today.  For instance, a leader might be thought as being lazy and incompetent when he/she lets members become little leaders, because it is not traditional to do so.  Further, society is not used to see the leaders fade out in the limelight while the members shine.

Putting aside what the society thinks of a modern leader, there will be still problems that will occur in an organization.  If leaders become more relationship-centered, a great adversary comes along the way---that is, lack of resources.  Making ends meet is the common reason why leaders prioritized tasks more than their relationships with their members.  When this happens, leadership usually becomes misunderstood as being authoritative.  The thing is, distribution of work in an organization require more resources to spare.  Each member is unique, and sometimes though they have fresh and great ideas for a task, the finances might not permit it.  Also, when members are not yet skilled at a certain work, it is possible that there will be failures, which can mean loss of finances, time, and effort.  Same is true when the output did not meet the expectations of the leader.

          If the goal of leadership is to make lives better, then it is crucial for a leader to give importance to their members first, not just in words, but also in deed.  How can an organization be successful in improving the lives of their clients, when they cannot improve the lives of people working for them?  If the head of the organization truly loves his work, he/she will love his/her members.  If the members are loved, the leaders must let them know that they are giving back; not just hoarding all the good returns because they also want and need them (DeJoria as cited by Brown, 2017). 

If leaders want their members to do their work with passion, they must lead with their hearts (Eisenberger & Kohlrieser, 2012).  Similarly, the leaders must be ready and skillfully do what they ask of their members.  If they ask for change, they must be willing to change.  If leaders want quality output, they must be able to produce it themselves well.  Also, they must be able to pass what they know to their members.  They must be the teachers of those they lead.  In this way, members will imbibe the skills that the leaders believed is beneficial to the organization.  Also, leaders must not be afraid of empowering their members.  Leaders must be like a sun.  The sun does not look for spotlight (Dhliwayo as cited by Goodreads, 2017), and when it starts shining, it brings life, thus things become better. 

          Power is not lessened when it is shared.  It is lost when it is either kept, or left unused.  Good relationship with people is a side result of how power is distributed, and how wisely limited resources are used.  Once good relationship is established, passion increases.  Passion produces extraordinary work.  It is the duty of leader to remain passionate, keep the balance of power, and make the assets sustainable, to successfully reach the goals of the organization.

References:

Brown, A. (2017). Follow these 10 values and principles to create a great business. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2017/09/22/values-principles-for-a-great-business/#1606b8542d71

Eisenberger, N. & Kohlrieser, G. (2012). Lead with your heart, not just your head. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/11/are-you-getting-personal-as-a

Goodreads. (2017). Quotes about shine your light. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/ quotes/tag/shine-your-light