Leadership Styles Persuasive

Throughout the history of law enforcement, leaders have used many different styles to lead employees. From the early styles of Autocratic and Laissez-Faire to Participative (democratic), Transactional and Transformational leadership. Leadership within policing has evolved over the years in some organizations to a more participative style and yet there are still leaders who cling to an antiquated domineering style. This study will investigate the influence of work motivation, leadership effectiveness and creativity on Employee performance in the Nigerian workplace but the main idea of this paper is to examine the effect of leadership styles on creativity. Creativity has always been at the heart of human endeavor, now it is recognized as central to organizational performance.

Creativity has become and will remain indispensable as organizations and their environments change fundamentally and as jobs become more complex and work designs include more autonomy. In order to survive, adapt, and gain competitive advantage, organizations need to unleash their employees’ creative potential, because employees’ creative ideas can be used as building blocks for organizational innovation, change, and competitiveness. There are different types of leadership styles, some enhance creativity, and others suppress the growth of creative ideas from employees. Therefore it is recommended that employer, human resource managers and other leaders in organizations to show greater interest in the welfare of workers to make them more valuable contributors to the success of the organization. In addition the Climate or environment for work should be such that will foster employee Creativity rather than suppress it. This paper is going to give us an insight on the different types of leadership styles and how each in its own way enhances creativity. There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.—Edward de Bono INTRODUCTION

Leadership is a social influence process in which the leader seeks the voluntary participation of subordinates in an effort to reach organization goals, a process whereby one person exerts social influence over other members of the group (Bamigboye, 2000), a process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group of individuals in an effort towards goal achievement in given situations (Akanwa, 1997), and a relational concept involving both the influencing agent and the person being influenced. Effective leadership is the extent to which a leader continually and progressively leading and directing his/her followers to the agreed destination which is defined by the whole group. Leadership style is the pattern of behaviors engaged in by the leader when dealing with employees. Lewin, Lippit and White (1939) identified three leadership styles which are autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire.

Autocratic leadership style involve the leader making all the decisions, wielding absolute power, assigning tasks to members of the group and maintaining a master-servant relationship with members of the group. On the other hand, democratic leadership style involves the use of consultative approach, encourages group participation in decision making and maintaining a master-master relationship with group members. The laissez-faire leadership style involves non-interference policy, allows complete freedom to all workers and has no particular way of attaining goals, However, there is no one best style of leadership. The effectiveness of a particular style is dependent on the organizational situation. Work stress which is the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of a job do not match the capabilities, resources or needs of the work (United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1999) as we will see reduces the creative ability of employees.

WHAT IS CREATIVITY?
According to Wikipedia, ‘Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new (a product, a solution, a work of art, a novel, a joke, etc.) that has some kind of value’. Also according to www.brainstorming.co.uk ‘Creativity is the bringing into being of something which did not exist before, either as a product, a process or a thought’. Creativity can be said to have taken place if one invents something which has never existed before, invents a new process of doing things, bringing a new idea into existence thereby developing a new way of looking at something, changes the way someone looks at something, or Reapply an existing process or product into a new or different market. From Human Motivation, 3rd ed., by Robert E. Franken: ‘Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others’. (Pg. 396) Creativity simply means that you have the ability to think and create something new and different. You are able to bring to life something that you alone have thought into being. In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new ways or from a different perspective. Creativity is something unique to each individual; it’s like mutation in evolution. It is preposterous to claim that you taught someone to develop that unique individuality. And, if you are going to claim it, you better be able to prove it; otherwise you are taking credit for someone else’s work.

LEADERSHIP STYLES
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TO LEADERSHIP
Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience (Jago, 1982). According to Yukl (2005), numerous studies on the theory of leadership can be summarized into five broad theories by name; trait, behavioral, contingency or situational approach, contemporary integrative approach, and power and influence approach. The trait approach refers to the personal characteristics of the leaders that are inherent where the original trait conception of leadership was founded on the major assumption that leaders possess universal characteristics that made them leaders; those traits were seen to be relatively fixed, inborn, and applicable in various situations. The behavioral approach is defined as behaviors or actions that define a leadership style. Later, contingency or situational approach came into the picture which largely displaced the dominant trait and behavior approach. This approach views leadership effectiveness as dependent upon a match between leadership style and the situation. It also focuses on the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to the leaders within the context of the larger situation which it occurs. The contingency approach also proposes that the effectiveness of a leader or the organization is contingent on two elements which is: the leaders’ motivational structures or leadership style and the degree to which the leadership situation provides the leader with control and influence over the outcomes.

LEADERSHIP THEORIES AND STYLES
Leadership style is the combination of traits, skills, and behaviors leaders use as they interact with employees (Lussier & Achua, 2004). In order for one to favor a leadership style, one must understand where the leadership styles originated. Throughout the years, the topic of leadership has been debated. However, research indicates that certain characteristics or traits are inherent in leaders (Murphy, 2005). Trait theory indicates that leaders are born and not made and depending on the need a leader would surface. The limitations of trait theory are that leaders cannot be developed through their skills and education (as cited in Murphy, 2005). In contrast with trait theories, the behavioral methodology centers on the recognizable actions that made a person an effective leader (Wright, 1996). Personal Behavior Theories discussed in the University of Michigan and Ohio State University studies identified two more Styles of Leadership: job-centered (task) and employee-centered (people). The job-centered (task-initiating structure) behavior focuses on the leader taking control in order to get the job done and the employee-centered (people-consideration) behavior focuses on the leader meeting the needs of employees and developing relationships (Lussier & Achua, 2004).

The findings in the Michigan study indicated that leaders who were highly employee oriented and allowed participation fostered more productive teams. On the other hand, leaders who were more concerned about accomplishing tasks cultivated lower producing teams. The findings from the Ohio State University study emphasized the consideration and initiating structure as the two underlying structures found in the University of Michigan study. The Ohio State University study concluded that both structures were separate components, but if a leader were dedicated in both they could achieve higher results (Murphy, 2005). The most common leadership styles used today includes; Transactional – Transactional theories of leadership assert that people will follow leaders who are inspirational. The leader will develop a vision (possibly collaboratively), sell the vision and lead the way. Transactional leaders achieve set goals by acting within established procedures and standards, they focus on operations or the “business” of the organization. This leadership goal is to maintain the status quo. In this leadership style, the leader assigns specific, well-defined tasks to subordinates and requires that they fulfill their responsibilities and meet standards precisely as prescribed or agreed upon.

According to Bass and Avolio (1994), transactional leaders employ three factors: (1) contingent reward (2) management-by-exception active and (3) management-by-exception passive. In contingent rewards, leader provides followers with material and psychological rewards contingent on the fulfillment of contractual obligations. Rugieri (2009) contends that a transactional leader is more commanding, has high confidence and is usually more fixated on the job. Trott & Windsor (1999) stress that transactional leadership is best suited for group settings that are under crisis because it offers satisfaction through an urgent resolution. Transformational – According to Sullivan & Decker (1997), the transformational leader is not concerned with the status quo, rather with “effecting revolutionary change in organizations and human service”. Past studies have constantly reported that transformational leadership is more effective, productive, innovative, and satisfying to followers as both parties work towards the good of organization propelled by shared visions and values as well as mutual trust and respect (Avolio and Bass, 1991; Fairholm, 1991).

Transformational leadership generally aims at higher goals than transactional leadership does. It focuses on creating a new and shared vision of the future. Goals are achieved by inspiring and motivating followers and encouraging their initiative. This style seeks to transform the organization by going beyond just monitoring the performance of the followers and being reactive but by putting a great emphasis on being proactive, establishing long term goals, facilitating change, seeking continuous improvement, and giving the followers an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. Transformational leadership is based on four primary dynamics to influence the behaviors and attitudes of others: idealized influence (“charisma”), inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. One’s leadership style dimension has to do with control and the perception of how much control one should give to people. For example, the laissez faire (delegative) style implies low control, the autocratic style is high in control while the participative one lies somewhere in between. Kurt Lewin (1939) led a group of researchers to identify different styles of leadership.

This early study has been very influential and established these three major leadership styles. The three major styles of leadership are: Authoritarian or autocratic; this style of leadership is considered job-centered as identified by the University of Michigan and Ohio State University studies. The job-centered (task-initiating structure) behavior focuses on the leader taking control in order to get the job done quickly. Autocratic leadership is an extreme form of transactional leadership, where a leader exerts high levels of power over his or her employees or team members. People within the team are given few opportunities for making suggestions, even if these would be in the team’s or organization’s interest. Most people tend to resent being treated like this. This form leadership can usually lead to high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover and this does not encourage creativity at all. Also, the team’s output does not benefit from the creativity and experience of all team members, so many of the benefits of teamwork are lost.

The autocratic leadership style offers several advantages: swiftness of project completion keeps group members from producing alternatives that influence the minority negatively, guarantees the leader is heard and informs members when their conduct is undesirable. The disadvantages of the autocratic leadership style are: dissociates group members, non-development of employees and convenience of use instead of round tabling quandaries (Professional Organizations). One might use this style of leadership when the group is in danger of not accomplishing a task in a timely manner or in a crisis situation Participative or democratic; Participative leadership requires and encourages participation from everyone and shares decision-making for the betterment of the organization. Participative leaders empower their employees in the decision-making process by meeting with them periodically and listening and trusting them, although a democratic leader will make the final decision, he or she invites other members of the team to contribute to the decision-making process. This not only increases job satisfaction by involving employees or team members in what is going on, but it also helps to develop people skills.

Employees and team members feel in control of their own destiny, and so are motivated to work hard by more than just a financial reward. As participation takes time, this style can lead to things happening more slowly than an autocratic approach, but often the end result is better off. It can be most suitable where team working is essential, and quality is more important than speed to market or productivity. The research contends there are some advantages and disadvantages to using this style of leadership. Skogan (2006) noted that leaders who allowed employees to participate in decision-making showed improvement in labor-management relations, encouraged employee commitment, enhanced community service, and diminished employee rejections of police restructuring. Research provides a plethora of findings for implementing participative leadership such as: increased occupational contentment, organizational allegiance, an organizational ownership behavior, apparent support, labor-management collaboration and employee performance. Delegative or Free Reign; The Laissezz-Faire leadership style places an emphasis on the employee centered attribute that was discussed in the University of Michigan and Ohio State University studies. Leaders who use this style fail their employees because they offer no positive or negative direction nor do they interfere at any time (Webb, 2007). In this style, the leader allows the employees to make the decisions.

However, the leader is still responsible for the decisions that are made. This is used when employees are able to analyze the situation and determine what needs to be done and how to do it and It can be effective if the leader monitors what is being achieved and communicates this back to his or her team regularly. One cannot do everything; you must set priorities and delegate certain tasks. This is not a style to use so that you can blame others when things go wrong, rather this is a style to be used when you fully trust and put confidence in the people below you. There are some advantages and disadvantages of using this style of leadership. It allows team members to develop a working relationship in an informal setting and generates an opportunity to be successful by making their own decisions. On the other hand, a team member can dominate and take control which could lead the team to make incorrect decisions and possibly have the team reprimanded which would lead to negativity within the group; affecting the process and their motivation. This absence of leadership leads to nothing happening which promotes ineffective leadership.

THE CRISIS OF LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA WORKPLACE
One of the most politically significant countries in Africa that may likely attract a lot of foreign investors is Nigeria. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country (has about one-fourth the population of the entire continent) and has an abundance of mineral resources potential to become the largest market in Africa for foreign goods and services. There is the probability that foreign industrialists would rush into Nigeria to establish businesses, and take advantage of the cheap labor prevalent in the country since the military dictatorship, which governed the country for the past two decades, before it handed over power to an elected civilian government. Everyone wants to be the boss in the Nigerian work environment. It is an issue that inherent in the way we were colonized. The contemporary Nigerian leadership style in the workplace is a carry-over from the British style of leadership of dictatorship during the colonial period. In recent years, the incident of being overworked and burnt is common in Nigerian organizations/workplace.

Employees put in an average time of 14 to 16 hours at work just to achieve productivity, yet most employers don’t appreciate this. This may not be unconnected to the culture of these organizations which among other things are competition and result- drive. The primary aim of most Nigerian organizations is ‘profit’ which invariably emphasizes that all employees must work to their optimum levels even if it means spending the night in the office. Most managers and leaders in Organizations practice authoritarian leadership without being aware of it. Due to the fact that they feel insecure with their position, they try to make the workplace of employees unbearable thus suppressing their ability to be creative. Even when employees come up with brilliant ideas, some managers become threatened because they think the ‘employee’ may replace them due to the creative idea they just brought up. I am talking from my experience and the experiences of people I interviewed in the cause of this project. A friendly and conducive work environment is necessary in order to promote employee creativity which is not applicable in most Organizations in Nigeria because of the struggle for power.

Early researchers suggested that the social climate or atmosphere created in a workplace had significant consequences in employees’ perceptions of the work context thus influencing the extent to which people were satisfied and perform up to their potential, which in turn, was predicted to influence organizational productivity (Katz& Kahn, 2004). Only a happy and fulfilled employee will be more likely to generate creative winning ideas capable of ushering the company into prosperity, this can be seen from successful companies in Nigeria like KPMG. The most valuable resource any employee can bring into the organization is his creativity. It is true that a small idea can be very valuable and cost- effective when it is measured over time. As managers, I believe it is your role to be receptive to suggestions made by your workers or team members. This involves keeping an open mind and considering even the most unusual ideas which am sorry to say is uncommon for most leaders in Nigeria. Employers should give room for mistakes so that employees can be open to give better results and they should also resist from putting their workers under undue stress because creativity is a skill and attitude that can be learned and developed through practice.

How will employees fully devote their abilities and yield positive result in the organization if they are put in the box. There are rules guiding the workplace in Nigerian but they are not implemented as those we have in the U.S. We hear stories of discrimination, sexual harassment and unfair treatment of employees, yetno one is willing to stand up and fight. An employer can wake up one morning and terminate an employee’s contract without good reason and there’s nothing the employee can do rather than look for another job. Nigeria is a beautiful country full with business opportunities but we need a change in our work place and how employees are treated to attain the highest efficiency and productivity there is. I am not writing all these to paint a bad image of my country but for people to know that the Nigerian workplace has a lot to developing to do when it comes to employees and the way they are treated. Don’t get me wrong either, not all Nigerian workplace are like this.

I will say most Nigeria employers use the Authoritarian or autocratic form of leadership because they feel they have the final say and can make decisions independently, they call the shots and want employees to go by them. They are the boss and that’s all that matters, you either adhere to their rules or quit. They feel there is a laid down way of doing things and they have a final say to everything that goes on in the organization. There are perennial issues inherent in the Nigerian Workplace which includes; discrimination, corruption, dishonesty, indiscipline, lack of commitment, social injustice, and preference for mediocrity over excellence. At the end of the day employees don’t experience higher job-related tension because they don’t participate in decision making process, delegation and are needs are not considered. However, autocratic leaders differ on a single dimension, which is the degree to which they delegate decision making authority to their subordinates. However, it is the responsibility of the leaders to take great care of their subordinates, to involve them in discussion, to motivate them to build team performance, to make decision, and to guide and direct the workers.

These responsibilities can be carried out by leaders irrespective of the style of leadership of the leader. It is to be noted that without direction and guidance, the subordinates can become ignorant of their work activities, and therefore go astray. Employees need to be satisfied with the work they do, that is where Job satisfaction comes into play; it is the degree of happiness which people experience with the totality and various aspects of their work (Ajila 8c Adegoke, 1998). It is a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or experiences. Satisfaction has to do with an individual’s perception and evaluation of his job, and this perception is influenced by the person’s unique circumstances like needs, values and expectations, and that people will therefore evaluate their jobs on the basis of factors which they regard as being important to them. If employees are given little or no room to be creative or show-case their creative abilities, they won’t get satisfaction from their jobs. RESPONSE FROM INTERVIEW CONDUCTED

In some countries like Nigeria, personality comes into play rather than creativity and satisfaction which is modified by strong cultural beliefs. In an effort to compare the leadership style of the United States of America and Nigeria. In order to have a clear comparison, I decided to conduct an interview with a Nigerian who has had several years of experience in both countries as a staff and supervisor. This interview is intended to identify the difference between both countries’ perspective about leadership with regards to creativity.

On the 9th of February, 2012 an interview was conducted with Mr. Babatunde Aborchie, the following questions were asked: A)What is your experience as a staff/supervisor in Nigeria with respect to leadership/creativity? B)What is your experience as a staff/supervisor in the U.S with respect to leadership/creativity? According to Mr. Aborchie, Nigeria is multi-cultural community that associates culture to every area of life. Culture has a tremendous influence on leaders and their subordinates in association with creativity in most organization in Nigerian. An example of this is; when a subordinate in an organization has a creative idea, he/she tends to bottle it up until that idea fades out; which is due to high cultural influence negatively affecting him/her mind that it may be disrespectful to supervisors to present an idea when one is not required of him to do so.

This is so because culture has it that you do not talk when elders are talking, this is one of the many depressive training every Nigerian child go through in the home and it is a big part of even the educational sector. It takes a good organization to train its staff and a well exposed leadership to bring out the best in Nigerian subordinates. The opposite is the case in the United State where every child is trained to be self-expressive regardless of who they talk to and be creative to any level they could possibly reach; which cuts across homes and the educational sector. In the U.S., organizations leaders encourage creativity by providing suggestion boxes, holding meetings monthly and encouraging subordinates to contribute to the growth of the organization that they belong. Incentives are also provided for anyone with a bright idea that can move an organization forward. In the United States organizations big and small provide basic training for all employees and frequent updates to ensure creativity across the board.

HOW LEADERS SHOULD COMMUNICATE
Effective leadership requires communication, motivation, and teamwork. The good news is that anyone can become a good leader as long as they are willing to learn. There are many factors that contribute to good leadership; one of those factors of good leadership is communication. Communication is one of the most key elements of leadership. Communication is a process by which information and understanding are transferred between a sender and a receiver, such as between a leader and an employee, an instructor and a student, or a coach and a football player (Richard L. Daft L.E5e). Leaders have a huge communication responsibility directing and controlling in an organization.

Good communication skills need to be learned to effectively become a good leader or manager. When communication occurs, as a leader, you will be able to accurately convey your ideas and thoughts to those that work for you. In fact, simply being able to convey these ideas in the first place, much less accurately, puts you in the right direction for leadership. If employees have no idea what is on your mind, your leadership is going to falter. Employees are not typically mind readers. If there is a problem a certain employee is experiencing, good communication can filter the problem out. You, as a leader, can dissect the problem and offer solutions in various ways. Ideas that are given to employees work both ways, as well. Employees can give helpful feedback and generate new ideas to you that help the company as well, when good communication is present. The first step in improving communication is to provide a good working climate that will encourage open communication between employers and employees.

WAYS TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION IN THE WORK PLACE
Often leaders shy away from simple lists of suggestions and guidelines. Yet by following basic suggestions we can become better leaders and enhance communication. Here are practical suggestions for effective communication; 1. Hold regular staff meetings. Regularly scheduled meetings that encourage input on various issues from all staff members can be a great way to improve workplace communication. These meetings also send the message to staff that their opinions are valued, which makes them more likely to share their concerns and ideas. 2. Ensure that supervisors are accessible to the staff they manage. With such busy workloads, it’s difficult for supervisors to maintain an “open door” policy, but if a supervisor is always behind a closed door or rarely in the office, their staff members are often at a loss when it comes to communicating with them. Ensure that supervisors set aside some “open door” time each day when they are available to staff. 3. Minimize the middlemen; to a busy CEO or manager, assistants often seem like the solution to improving productivity and efficiency. However, when two higher-ups begin to communicate with each other solely through their assistants for simple tasks, things can get unnecessarily convoluted and time-consuming. 4. Schedule regular employee reviews.

Regular reviews can be a good opportunity for supervisors and the staff they manage to sit down and discuss issues affecting their jobs and the workplace as a whole. 5. Encourage Feedback; Subordinates discover quickly what leaders want and supply that information to them. But subordinates are unlikely to provide negative feedback or communicate bad news to those above them since they fear that, much like ancient messengers delivering bad news, they will be punished. Encourage them to give you both good and bad news. Welcome disagreement on issues. Then, make certain you positively reinforce rather than punish them for such information. 6. Listen effectively; Effective listening requires physical and mental preparation, Listen for ideas, not just for facts. Concentration exclusively on the facts often causes leaders to miss main ideas. Facts may be interesting in their own right, but the reason facts are given is usually to develop a generalization from them.

CONCLUSION
Effective leaders recognize the importance of good communication. Communication problems can cause bottlenecks in the organization and suppress creativity in employees. But before you blame subordinates for bottlenecks, stop and examine a bottle then notice where the neck is. Responsible leaders communicate effectively, they work hard to prevent bottlenecks and keep channels open up, down, and throughout the organization by (1) establishing an appropriate working climate and adjusting their communication behavior to fit the situation, and (2) practicing techniques to improve communication in their organization. Accountable and suitable leadership is essential to the success of any organization. Murphy & Drodge (2003) claimed that a leader should be ethical, grounded in the mission of the organization, should be emotionally engaged with employees, if this is incorporated in the Nigerian workplace, it will be a better place.

Bass (1997) suggested that the old standards of job-centered or employee-centered leadership and autocratic or democratic leadership and related exchange theories of leadership overlooked the effectiveness of the leader-employee relation of sharing a vision, representation and sacrifice. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs indicates that a person needs to have their physiological needs, safety needs, love, belonging, esteem needs, and self-actualization met. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory claims in order for a person to feel successful they have to be motivated and this is accomplished by achievement, recognition of this achievement, advancement, responsibility, and the nature of the work itself. There are some factors that hinder being motivated and those are rules and regulations, administration, supervision, working conditions, and interpersonal values. Leaders who focused on stimulating employees intellectually, listening to ideas they bring up, offer rewards, have charisma and individual consideration are more apt to increase motivation and success in their employees. An effective leader must be open-minded and able to accept feedback and adjust their style of leadership, if necessary, to accommodate the concerns brought forward.

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Achebe, C. (1966) The Problem with Nigeria Lagos Nigeria.
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