An Exploration of a leadership Grid to Identify Management Potential.

The purpose of this piece of research was to look at the leadership styles engaged by senior management in company X to see if a leadership grid could be developed which identified those leadership styles most prevalent amongst senior managers and those deemed to be most effective by them. The objective of the study was to gain an insight into the senior managers leadership styles and to establish which styles of leadership they used according to Golemans (2000) 6 different styles of leadership. The result of the initial analysis allow for the development of a management development programme specifically targeted at developing and nurturing those leadership styles considered effective within the organisation and as such is bespoke to them. The resulting analysis also provides the potential to assess existing and potential future managers to gauge their level of preparedness to take on leadership roles within the organisation. The data for the study was collected using quantitative methods in the form of in-depth interviews. These were conducted with five senior employees in the organisation. The research found that overall the senior managers liked to think that they were using a suite of styles rather than just one style within their role in the organisation. But on analysis of the interviews all the managers with the exception of one agreed that they had a dominant style which was used predominately. The style that they utilised was a mix between the affiliate and democratic style. One manager confirmed that by having a dominant style he would undermine his own credibility and therefore felt that he no longer portrayed a dominant style. In conclusion the best development plan for any new senior manager within the organisation is learning through experience using a combination of practices. To confirm that effective leadership development is less about which one or combination of practices that are used by the organisation but more about the consistent implementation of these practices