Differing Leadership Styles

1.0 This aim of this essay is to examine differing styles of leadership and their effect on group performance and communication by defining each style and explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each. Due to word constraints this paper will only provide an overview of the topic and will focus on leaders of business task groups in particular.
1.1 Leadership style can be defined as “a pattern of emphases, indexed by the frequency or intensity of specific leadership behaviour or attitudes which a leader places on the different leadership functions” (Casimir, 2001). Alternatively, Anderson and McColl-Kennedy (2002, p. 546) suggest that leadership style is the way in which a leader mobilises and focuses the group members toward achieving organisational goals. Group performance relates to how effectively members achieve the overall tasks and functions set for the group (Lie et al, 2003), whilst communication is broadly defined by The Cambridge Dictionary of American En...