What Is Leadership?

Leadership
The ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals

Management
Use of authority inherent in designated formal rank to obtain compliance from organizational members

Both are necessary for organizational success

Trait Theories of Leadership

Theories that consider personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from nonleaders Not very useful until matched with the Big Five Personality Framework Leadership Traits
Extroversion Conscientiousness Openness Emotional Intelligence (Qualified)

Traits can predict leadership, but they are better at predicting leader emergence than effectiveness.

Behavioral Theories of Leadership

Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from nonleaders

Differences between theories of leadership:

Trait theory: leadership is inherent, so we must identify the leader based on his or her traits

Behavioral theory: leadership is a skill set and can be taught to anyone, so we must identify the proper behaviors to teach potential leaders

Leadership Skills Required at Different Organizational Levels

Organizational Levels

Top

Conceptual

Middle

Human

Supervisor

Technical

Knowledge & Skills required

Important Behavioral Studies

Ohio State University
Found two key dimensions of leader behavior:
Initiating structure the defining and structuring of roles Consideration job relationships that reflect trust and respect Both are important

University of Michigan
Also found two key dimensions of leader behavior:
Employee-oriented emphasizes interpersonal relationships and is the most powerful dimension Production-oriented emphasizes the technical aspects of the job

The dimensions of the two studies are very similar

They defined two dimensions initiating structure and consideration.

Initiating Structure It refers to an individuals ability to define his own as well as the subordinates tasks and get these tasks accomplished on time. The people who score high on this dimension will put pressure on their

subordinates to meet deadlines and maintain certain standards of

performance.

Consideration This refers to the extent to which a leader cares for the subordinates, respects their ideas and feelings and establishes work relations which are characteristics by mutual trust and respect. The studies revealed that the people who scores high on both the dimensions initiating structure and consideration were able to achieve higher levels of performance as well as job satisfaction compared to these who scored low on either one of the dimensions or both the dimensions.

A high-high type of leadership yielded the best results.

University of Michigan studies Twelve high-low productivity pairs of section were selected and kept under observation at the Prudential Insurance Company. Leadership behaviors could be categorized along two dimensions: employee-oriented and production-oriented. Employee-oriented dimension emphasizes the importance of inter personal relations. Leaders who score high on this dimension take a personal interest in their subordinates needs and accept individual differences among members. It was observed that the productive groups had employee oriented supervisors.

(Contd.)

Leaders who are high on the production-oriented dimension are more concerned with tasks and goals. They

consider employees to be means to achieve goals and pay

little or no attention to any problems the employees may face. For them, employees are no different from machines.

Blake and Moutons Managerial Grid

Draws on both studies to assess leadership style
Concern for People is Consideration and Employee-Orientation Concern for Production is Initiating Structure and Production-Orientation

Style is determined by position on the graph

(High) The Leadership Grid

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1.9 Country Club Management 9,9 Team M.anagement Work accomplishment is from committed people; interdependence through a common stake in organization purpose leads to relationships of trust and respect.

8 7 6 5 4

Thoughtful attention to needs of people for satisfying relationships leads to a comfortable, friendly organization atmosphere and work tempo.

CONCERN FOR PEOPLE

5,5 Middle of the Road Management Adequate organization performance is possible through balancing the necessity to get out work with maintaining morale of people at a satisfactory level. 1.1 Impoverished Management 9.1 Authority-Compliance

2 1

Exertion of minimum effort to get required work done is appropriate to sustain organization membership.

(LOW) 1 (LOW) 2 3

Effidiency in operations results from arranging conditions of work in such a way that human elements interfere to a minimum degree.

4 5 6 7 CONCERN FOR PRODUCTION

910 (High)

Contingency Theories
While trait and behavior theories do help us understand leadership, an important component is missing: the environment in which the leader exists Contingency Theory deals with this additional aspect of leadership effectiveness studies Three key theories:
Fielders Model Hersey and Blanchards Situational Leadership Theory Path-Goal Theory

Fiedler Model
Effective group performance depends on the proper match between leadership style and the situation
Assumes that leadership style (based on orientation revealed in LPC questionnaire) is fixed

Considers Three Situational Factors:

Leader-member relations: degree of confidence and trust in the leader Task structure: degree of structure in the jobs Position power: leaders ability to hire, fire, and reward

For effective leadership: must change to a leader who fits the situation or change the situational variables to fit the current leader
2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved. 12-12

Fiedlers contingency model Leadership requirements depend on the situation the leader; and the choice of the most appropriate style of leadership depends on whether the overall situation is favorable or unfavorable to the leader. The favorability or unfavorability of a particular situation to a leader is analyzed based on the following parameters:

a)

Leader Member relationships This indicates the extent to which a leader is accepted by the subordinates. If a leader has friction with majority of his subordinates, then he scores low on his this dimension.

(Contd.)

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b) Degree of task structure This refers to the degree to which the task on hand can be

performed efficiently by following a particular method. c) The leaders position A leader has more power if he is in a position to decide the rewards and incentives for his followers. A situation is considered to be favorable to the leader if the scores on all the three dimension are high. Fiedler proposed that a task-oriented, tough-natured leadership style is most effective in highly favorable or highly unfavorable situations and a people-oriented, lenient type of leadership style is most appropriate in moderately favorable or unfavorable situations.

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Graphic Representation of Fiedlers Model

Used to determine which type of leader to use in a given situation

Assessment of Fiedlers Model

Positives:
Considerable evidence supports the model, especially if the original eight situations are grouped into three

Problems:
The logic behind the LPC scale is not well understood LPC scores are not stable Contingency variables are complex and hard to determine

Fiedlers Cognitive Resource Theory

A refinement of Fiedlers original model:
Focuses on stress as the enemy of rationality and creator of unfavorable conditions A leaders intelligence and experience influence his or her reaction to that stress

Stress Level Low High

Intellectual Abilities Effective Ineffective

Leaders Experience Ineffective Effective

Research is supporting the theory.

Hersey & Blanchards Situational Leadership

A model that focuses on follower readiness
Followers can accept or reject the leader Effectiveness depends on the followers response to the leaders actions Readiness is the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task

A paternal model:
As the child matures, the adult releases more and more control over the situation As the workers become more ready, the leader becomes more laissez-faire

An intuitive model that does not get much support from the research findings

Hersey and Blanchards situational theory The maturity level of the subordinate plays a major role in influencing the leadership style of the superior. Leadership styles can be categorized into four types telling selling

participating and delegating.

Followers Unable and unwilling: Unable and willing Able and unwilling Able and willing Leadership style Telling Selling Participating Delegating
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Houses Path-Goal Theory

Builds from the Ohio State studies and the expectancy theory of motivation The Theory:
Leaders provide followers with information, support, and resources to help them achieve their goals Leaders help clarify the path to the workers goals Leaders can display multiple leadership types

Four types of leaders:

Directive: focuses on the work to be done Supportive: focuses on the well-being of the worker Participative: consults with employees in decision-making Achievement-Oriented: sets challenging goals

Path-Goal Model
Two classes of contingency variables:
Environmental are outside of employee control Subordinate factors are internal to employee

Mixed support in the research findings

Leader- Member Exchange theory

Leaders establish a special relationship with a small group of subordinates, usually, early in their interaction. This usually happens due to the time constraints the leaders faces in interacting with all the subordinates. This small group of subordinates is referred to as the in-group while the rest are referred to as the out- group. The leaders thrust the subordinates, who belong to in group, give them more attention, interact with them frequently and offer them special privileges. The out-group people less of the leaders time attention. Also, the interactions, between the leader and the out-group are less frequent and purely formal.

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Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory

A response to the failing of contingency theories to account for followers and heterogeneous leadership approaches to individual workers LMX Premise:
Because of time pressures, leaders form a special relationship with a small group of followers: the in-group This in-group is trusted and gets more time and attention from the leader (more exchanges) All other followers are in the out-group and get less of the leaders attention and tend to have formal relationships with the leader (fewer exchanges) Leaders pick group members early in the relationship

LMX Model
How groups are assigned is unclear
Follower characteristics determine group membership

Leaders control by keeping favorites close

Research has been generally supportive

Yroom and Yettons Leader-Participation Model

How a leader makes decisions is as important as what is decided

Premise:
Leader behaviors must adjust to reflect task structure Normative model: tells leaders how participative to be in their decision-making of a decision tree
Five leadership styles Twelve contingency variables

Research testing for both original and modified models has not been encouraging
Model is overly complex

Leadership-participation model
The Leadership-participation model proposed by Vroom and Yetton is normative in that it provides a sequential set of rule that can be followed for ascertaining the type and amount of participation required in decision making in different situation.

Problem Attributes The leader should assess a situation in terms of its problem attributes.

Decision-quality dimensions include cost considerations, information availability, and nature of problem structure.
Employee-acceptance can have dimension like need for commitment, their prior approval, congruence of their goals with that of the organization, and conflict among the employees.

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Leadership Styles:

Once the leader identifies the nature of the problem, he can adopt one of the following five styles of leadership:

a)

Autocratic I (A-I)- Using the information available, the leader takes a decision on his own. Autocratic II (A-II) The leader obtains relevant information from subordinates and then attempts to find the solution to the problem.

b)

(Contd.)

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c)

Consultive I (C-I) - The leader explains the problem to concerned subordinates individually and invites their ideas and suggestions to solve the problem. However, he takes the final decision. Consultive II (C-II) - The leader meets a group of subordinates, discusses the problem with them and listens to their ideas and suggestions. Later, he may take a decision that may or may not in accordance with his subordinates suggestions. Group II (G-II) After sharing the problem with the subordinates, the leader initiates a group discussion on alternative solution and moderates the discussion till the group reaches a consensus on the solution to be adopted.

d)

e)

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LEADERSHIP STYLES
Autocratic Leadership Leaders who adopt this style retain all the authority and decision making power. They do not consider employees suggestions options or views. They believe that they are more competent and intelligent then their subordinates.

Consultative leadership

Consultative (or participative) leaders encourage to participate in decision making. The leader listens to subordinates ideas and opinions, but takes the final decision himself. The leader delegates some of his responsibilities to his subordinates and believe that they are capable of carrying out those responsibilities.

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Laissez Faire or Subordinate centered In this style, the leader completely delegates the responsibilities, and decision making power to the subordinates. The leader simply presents the task to the subordinates.

Bureaucratic Leadership

Leaders set certain rigid rules and regulations and procedures. Both leaders and their subordinates obey these rules. The subordinates are thus obliged to carry out their tasks in a particular way along.

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Manipulative Leadership In this style of leadership, leaders believe that employees should be manipulated to get them to behave in the way the leader wants them to behave. The leaders identify the needs and desires of employees and use this information against them to achieve their goals.

Expert Leadership
In this leadership style, a person with a high level of knowledge and abilities lends the groups.

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