Topic > The Role of Teamwork and Leader ServicesConclusionReferencesIn this essay, the main objective is to find out why leadership and teamwork are so vital in public services. There are many responsibilities and difficult situations that they have to face and to be successful in these situations, the team must be structured and everyone must have their own roles and responsibilities, Belbin's theory dives into this idea. The leader is what the team does, so it is crucial that they take the right approach to ensure the success of the team. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Importance of Leadership and Teamwork in Public Services Public services function in a hierarchical style and many responsibilities fall on those at the top. Those who sit lower rely on those higher up to guide and assist them throughout their careers. This is essential for the correct functioning of the service. As for the military, competent leaders of character are needed to be able to meet the challenges in the dangerous and complex security environment currently faced. An ideal military leader has a strong intellect, physical presence, professional competence, high moral character, and serves as a role model for all those he leads. A leader who leads by example is normally also highly respected. Many times a connection is shown that if a leader has to misbehave and break the rules, even those who admire him will feel as if they can do the same and this will lead to a reversal of service. Those of lower rank are also trained to adapt to become a leader when the situation arises. Having many members at high ranks and levels does not always mean that the service can function efficiently. The main factor for a successful service is communication. All service members are responsible for clear communication to ensure everything runs smoothly. This is more vital than ever in a public service scenario because people's lives are very often at stake. Those of high rank are normally responsible for the final decisions, sometimes they may need to adopt an autocratic leadership style to ensure the right choices are made to combat the situation at hand. From this writer's point of view, to conclude, they think that the most important part of being a leader is taking into account the opinions of those below them as there is never enough room for multiple views and opinions and In some cases, those lower down actually have better suggestions than those in charge. Analysis of Leadership Theories Kurt Lewin's Leadership Theory Kurt Lewin's leadership styles are some of the oldest leadership approaches that exist. The styles originated in the 1930s and consist of democratic leadership, built on empowering and engaging team members to engage in decision making, with the goal of consensus. The favorable climate welcomes all opinions and leads to a definitive solution. However, the Democratic leader still has the final say on any decisions. This style is sometimes slow but generally very productive. Autocratic leadership, when the leader holds all the decisive power and rarely consults others. Autocratic leadership is unpopular, has many disadvantages, and leads to poor engagement and occasionally an unpleasant environment to be in. Autocratic leadership can be useful and sometimes necessary in a crisis, when control and quick decisions are crucial. Laissez-faire leadership is onemore autonomous leadership style in which team members are free to make all decisions. Laissez-faire leadership leads to low productivity and the perception of a disengaged leader. This leadership style can work with capable, highly skilled and self-motivated teams. According to Lewin's experiments, autocratic leadership is the most productive, followed by democratic leadership. For those who experience an absent leader, productivity remains in democratic leadership, but declines rapidly in autocratic leadership. Laissez-faire is considered the least productive of the three leadership styles. The strengths of Lewin's leadership styles are as follows: they are very easy to perceive, the extreme differences between laissez-faire, democratic and autocratic make it much easier to understand one's personal leadership in comparison, and the significant difference can boast some decisions good and useful in a group.The Great Man TheoryThe Great Man Theory of leadership became popular during the 19th century. The mythology behind some of the world's most famous leaders, such as Abraham Lincoln, Julius Caesar, Mahatma Gandhi, and Alexander the Great, has helped contribute to the idea that great leaders are born, not made. In many examples, it seems that the right man for the job emerges almost magically to take control of a situation and lead a group of people to safety or success. One of the key problems with the Great Man theory of leadership is that not all people who possess so-called natural leadership qualities actually become great leaders. If leadership were simply an innate quality, then all people who possess the “necessary characteristics” would end up in leadership roles. Instead, research has found that leadership is a surprisingly complex topic and that numerous factors influence how successful a particular leader may or may not be. The characteristics of the group, the leader in power, and the situation interact to determine what type of leadership is needed and the effectiveness of this leadership. The strengths of the Great Man theory have some qualities such as persuasiveness, charm, demanding personality, heightened perception, courage, intellect, aggression, and being action-oriented, skills that cannot be taught or learned. The Great Man theory has no scientific basis and experimental legitimacy. The theory is more of a provisional perception. The limitation of the Great Man theory, aside from the unlikelihood that characteristics are passed down through genes, is the ridiculous belief that some people become great, successful leaders based on their surrounding situations. Hersey and Blanchard Situational Theory The Hersey-Blanchard model does not suggest a single leadership style is better than another. Instead of focusing on workplace factors, the model suggests that leaders adapt their styles to the people they lead and their capabilities. According to this model, successful leadership is both task- and relationship-relevant. It is an adaptive and flexible style, whereby leaders are encouraged to consider their followers, whether individuals or a team, and then consider the factors that impact the work environment before choosing how they will lead. This ensures that they will achieve their goals. Leaders who live by this model must choose the leadership style that best suits the maturity of the followers. For example, if follower maturity is high, the model suggests that the leader needs to provide minimal guidance. Conversely, if follower maturity is low, the leader may need to provide explicit direction and closely supervise the work to ensure that the group has clarity ontheir goals and how they are expected to achieve them. The maturity level of followers is divided into three categories: high, moderate and low. Those considered high maturity include highly capable and confident individuals who are experienced and work well on their own. Moderate maturity is generally further divided into two groups: the first are capable workers but lack sufficient confidence to tackle the problem responsibility to do so, the second group has confidence but is not willing to carry out the task at hand. Workers with low maturity are not skilled enough to do the task, but are normally very enthusiastic. One of the benefits of an adaptive leadership style is that leaders can change their style at their own discretion at any time. Second, employees may find a leader who adapts to changes in the workforce to be a desirable trait. It is also a simple and easy to apply leadership style, meaning that a manager can quickly assess a situation and make decisions as they see fit. The downside is that situational leadership can place too much responsibility on the manager, whose decisions may be poor. Furthermore, the model may not apply to all work cultures. The model can also prioritize relationships and tasks, over the company's long-term goals. In this writer's opinion, the most effective leadership style is Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership. The reason is that, especially in public services, it is very important that high-level officials are able to make decisions based on the situation. Due to the different nature of calls, it is important that each leader can change to adapt to the situation and the team around them to ensure smooth execution of the situation. Theories of Belbin and Maslow Meredith Belbin undertook extensive research to discover how people work together in teams. The key takeaway from his findings is that effective teams need to fill certain key roles. Everyone has a tendency to behave in a certain way when working with other people, which does not mean, of course, that they will always behave this way. Belbin's theory states that there are nine roles that must be filled within every team. These are: Coordinator, Establishment, Resource Investigator, Shaper, Monitor Evaluator, Teamworker, Specialist, Implementer and Completer Finisher. Even though there are nine team roles, that doesn't mean a team needs nine people to be effective. Everyone seems to prefer one or more of these "Team Roles" when they behave naturally in a group. If you have more than one "natural role", you can switch between them if you want, and this is useful knowledge if you ever need to fill a different role on a team. The benefits of Belbin's theory are: identification of behavioral strengths, identification of behavioral weaknesses, development of individual team members, improvement of internal communication and improvement of collaboration between multifunctional teams. On the other hand, the negatives are: Specifically designed for teams, Designed to be used in a work environment and measures only behaviors and not personality. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory of motivation that states that five categories of human needs cause an individual's behavior. These needs are physiological needs, esteem needs, love and belonging needs, safety needs and self-actualization needs. Maslow's theory presents his hierarchy of needs in the structure of a pyramid, where the basic needs are found at the base of the 241121]