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Oligarchy is mainly about leadership done by a few leaders over many followers and the challenge with this type of leadership is effective “leadership”, such as public speaking. Polyarchy is about leadership done by the many and the main challenge is effective “followership” such as public listening (Obolensky, 2008). If polyarchy is fast replacing the old oligarchy assumptions does this make these old leadership models redundant? I don’t believe so. Not one model is more important or effective alone. It’s important to know that there must be a balance between the oligarchy leadership models and the polyarchy models. One form of rebalancing leadership when only one model of leadership is used is to use “both/and” instead of “either/or”. It’s also important to remember that the environment is always changing, so a good understanding and knowledge of these two types of leadership models is very important in order to help the organization remain effective even during times of crisis. This type of understanding also helps leaders understand the chaos and complexity of organizations.

Reflecting on the traditional form of leadership from the perspective of complex adaptive leadership, one of the implications is that traditional leaders seem to believe that old traditions, structures, and forms of leadership are still effective. Another implication of this is the belief that these old forms of leadership can overcome any situation or problem without damaging or increasing the negative effect of any situation/problem. Business environments are no longer the same compared to businesses from over 30 years ago. So it is a false assumption to believe that the old forms of leadership alone are still effective today. This knowledge will affect me in the future as a leader because it lets me know that in a few years more research will be done on the aspect of leadership. Meaning, new forms of leadership styles will be found more effective than the forms of leadership known now. This lets me know as a leader that in order to remain effective, I must keep up with the most current knowledge of leadership. I believe that in about 10 – 15 years I must revise and/or revisit my overall leadership style in order to remain effective. But in the mean time, I must remain self-aware of my leadership style and the changing environment around me so I can adapt to it. This will hopefully lessen the impact that new forms of leadership styles will have on my future strategies.

Reference:

Obolensky, N. (2008, September 11). “Chaos Leadership and Polyarchy”. Complex Adaptive Leadership. Retrieved March 14, 2014, from http://www.complexadaptiveleadership.com/v2/assets/BAM2008v2.pdf