Leadership Comparison

Leadership Comparison
There are many different definitions of leadership that have been derived throughout history.   According to Yukl (2012) “leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives” (p.8).   There is no single correct management leadership style and effective leaders are often flexible and are able to change their style of leadership to suit changing circumstances.   The best leadership style is the one that meets the challenges you are facing and the needs of the people you are leading.   The purpose of this paper is to compare the leadership qualities and style of the successful businessman Howard Shultz with the ones that the student Luis Ramos has, and apply the concepts for the student’s professional improvement.
Leadership Styles Definitions

In order to describe the leadership styles of the subjects of this paper, following are some brief definitions for autocratic, democratic, and laissez faire leadership styles.   The autocratic style is focused on who leads and who control the followers, and when and what is to be done.   They are also known as the authoritarian leader.   According to Yukl (2012) “The manager makes a decision alone without asking for the opinions or suggestions of other people, and these people have no direct influence on the decision; there is no participation” (p.107).   Democratic leaders are mentors to group members, but they also allow input from the group members.   Democratic leaders like to make followers feel that they are an important part of the team, which helps them commit to the goals of the group.   They are also known as participative leaders and according to Yukl (2012) “it involves a leader’s use of decision procedures that allow other people such as subordinates to have some influence over decisions that will affect them” (p.6).   Democratic...