Chapter 15

Leadership

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning Objectives

Define the term leadership Discuss the trait approach to leadership Describe two major behavior approaches to leadership Explain what situational approaches are and describe several significant ones Identify a number of substitutes for leadership

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Introduction

Research focuses on two key leadership issues

Why some organizational members become leaders, while others do not Why some leaders are successful, while others are not

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What is Leadership?

There is no consensus on what leadership is

Leadership qualities important in one situation may not be required in another

Variables with which every leader must deal

The people who are being led

The task the people are performing

The environment in which the people and task exist

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What is Leadership?

The process of influencing others to facilitate the attainment of the organizations goals Informal leaders can be just as important to a groups success as is the formal leader

A formal leadership position is not needed to exert leadership behavior

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What is Leadership?

Virtually all leaders of effective groups

Provide direction and meaning to followers Generate trust Favor action and risk taking Are purveyors of hope
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Is Leadership Important?

Leaders can make a difference in end results

The specific behaviors used to do this are ambiguous Evidence of the effect of leadership on performance is modest

Even at the highest levels, leaders do not have unilateral control over resources and external factors

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Is Leadership Important?

Bosses are often replaced with teams, but no successful team is without leadership Self-managing teams

Empowerment teams
Autonomous work groups No successful team is without leadership

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Trait Approaches

The trait theory of leadership

An attempt to identify specific characteristics associated with leadership success Characteristics can be physical, mental, or personality
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Trait Approaches

Intelligence Personality Physical Characteristics Supervisory Ability

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Trait Approaches

Reasons For Trait Theory Contradictory Research Findings

The list of important traits is endless

Trait test scores arent consistently predictive of leader effectiveness Leadership traits dont operate singly, but in combination Patterns of effective behavior depend largely on the situation
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Behavioral Approaches
Job-centered Leaders

Employee-centered Leaders Focus on the people doing the work Delegate decision making Satisfy employee needs Creative a supportive work environment
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Focus on completing the task

Use close supervision to ensure subordinates perform tasks using specified procedures

Initiating Structure and Consideration

Initiating structure

The leader organizes and defines relationships in the group Establishes well-defined patterns and channels of communication Spells out ways of getting the job done

Consideration

Behavior indicating friendship, trust, respect, warmth, and rapport between leaders and followers
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Initiating Structure and Consideration

The linkage between consideration and initiating structure is complex

Those scoring high on initiating structure had more employee grievances, but received higher proficiency ratings Those with a high consideration score received lower proficiency ratings, but had fewer subordinate absences

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Trait and Behavioral Approaches

Trait and behavioral approach shortcomings

Behaviors and characteristics, helpful or essential in some situation, are unimportant in others

These approaches fail to consider the interaction among people, tasks, and environments

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Situational Approaches

Situational theories suggest that leadership effectiveness is a function of the situation

Each model has its advocates

Each tries to identify the leader behaviors most appropriate for a series of situations

Each tries to identify the leader-situation patterns or interactions for effective leadership

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Situational Approaches

Contingency Leadership Model (Fiedler)

Group performance depends on the interaction between leadership style and situational favorableness Leadership style measured by the LeastPreferred Coworker Scale (LPC)

Situational favorableness

Leader-member relations

Task structure
Position Power
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Summary of Fielders Variables & Styles

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Leadership Actions to Change Situations

To modify leader-member relations

Request particular people for work in the group Transfer subordinates out of the unit Volunteer to direct difficult or troublesome subordinates

To modify task structure

Introduce new or unusual tasks/problems Break jobs down into smaller subtasks that can be more highly structured
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Leadership Actions to Change Situations

To modify position power

Show subordinates who is boss by exercising fully the authority you have Make sure that information to the group gets channeled through you
Let subordinates participate in planning and decision making

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Vroom-Jago Leadership Model

Vroom and Yetton assumptions The model should help managers determine which leadership style to use in various situations No single style is applicable to all situations Focus should be on the problem to be solved and the situation in which it occurs The leadership style used in one situation should not constrain the styles used in other situations Social processes influence the amount of participation by subordinates in problem solving
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Vroom-Jago Leadership Model

Key Components of the Vroom-Jago Model Specifies the criteria by which decision effectiveness is judged Framework for describing specific leader behaviors or styles Diagnostic variables that describe key aspects of the leadership situation

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Vroom-Jago Leadership Model

Decision effectiveness is based on decision quality and subordinate commitment

Decision quality: the extent to which the decision impacts job performance Subordinate commitment: how important it is that subordinates be committed to or accept the decision May also be influenced by time constraints

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Vroom-Jago Decision Styles

Autocratic

Group

Delegated

Consultative

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Vroom-Jago Diagnostic Procedure

Perform a situational diagnosis by asking a series of questions

How important is the technical quality of the decision? How important is subordinate commitment to the decision? Do you have sufficient information to make a good decision? Is the problem well structured? And so on
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Path-Goal Leadership Model

Leaders are effective because of their positive impact on followers

Motivation, ability to perform, and satisfaction

Leaders influence followers perceptions of

Work goals

Self-development goals
Paths to goal attainment

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Path-Goal Leadership Model

Leader Behavior

Situational Variables

Directive Supportive Participative Achievementoriented

Personal characteristics of subordinates Environmental pressures and demands

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Revised Path-Goal Leadership Perspective

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Situational Leadership Theory

Hersey and Blanchard developed an appealing situational leadership theory

Advocates that managers understand their own behavior Emphasizes followers and their level of maturity

Leaders must use a leadership style that matches the followers maturity level

Job readiness

Psychological readiness
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Situational Leadership Theory

Telling

Proposed Leadership Styles

Delegating

Selling

Participating

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Situational Leadership Theory

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Comparing Situational Approaches

Similarities between the situational leadership models

All focus on the dynamics of leadership All have stimulated research on leadership All remain controversial because of measurement problems, limited research testing, or contradictory research results

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Comparing Situational Approaches

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Other Perspectives, Concepts, Issues of Leadership

Charismatic Leaders

John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Sam Walton, and Walt Disney were charismatic leaders

Charisma enables leaders to motivate followers to achieve outstanding performance

People who take on hero qualities gain charisma

A charismatic leader creates motivation based on an emotional commitment to, and identity with, his/her vision, philosophy, and style

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Defining Charismatic Leadership

Charisma

Greek word meaning gift Combination of charm and personal magnetism

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Two Types of Charismatic Leaders

Visionary Through communication ability, links followers needs and goals to job or organizational long-term goals and possibilities

Crisis-Based Focus is on the short-term

Has an impact in situations where existing resources, knowledge, and procedures are inadequate

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Transactional Leadership

Helps followers identify what must be done to achieve desired results

Takes followers self-concept and esteem needs into consideration Relies on contingent rewards and management by exception

Uses path-goal concepts

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Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership is not often found in organizational settings

The majority of workers do not feel that good pay is contingent on good performance

Leaders must learn to

Understand what employees want

Administer rewards in a timely manner Emphasize the pay-performance link

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Transactional Leadership

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The Transformational Leader

Motivates followers to work for

Goals instead of short-term self-interest

Achievement and self-actualization instead of security The employees reward is internal

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The Transformational Leader

To achieve their vision, transformational leaders make major changes in the

Mission Way of doing business Human resource management Philosophy, system, and culture of an organization

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The Transformational Leader

Bass identified five factors that describe transformational leaders

Charisma (transformational) Individual attention (transformational) Intellectual stimulation (transformational) Contingent reward (transactional) Management by exception (transactional)

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Coaching

Everyday interaction of helping another employee improve his or her understanding of the work in order to improve performance
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Coaches

Comes in all varieties Leader skills, experience, abilities

Arent always linked to seniority Exceptional communication ability

Talent for observing and decision making

Knows rewardperformance feedback

Nonjudgmental

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Coaching

Coaching hints

Observe the detail Develop the persons strengths Work to improve people, not change them Require continual improvement

Pace the person

Believe you can be the best

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Recommended Coaching Techniques

Practice active listening Support learning with action & reflection Move from easy to hard skills Set goals Provide tactful feedback, positive and negative

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Servant Leadership

The servant leader

Emphasizes employee growth and service to others as worthwhile ends in and of themselves Places others needs in front of their own
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Multicultural Leadership

A leaders personality, efforts, or style may conflict with the context of the environment

Bass found that leadership attributes linked with effective leadership vary across cultures Employees who rank high on power distance prefer an autocratic leader Employees low in power distance prefer a participative style of leadership

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Factors Linked to Leadership Effectiveness

Preferred awareness Actual awareness Submissiveness to rules and authority Reliance on others Favoring of group decision making

Concern for human relations

Cooperative peer relations

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Multicultural Leadership

The complexity of a global environment requires the careful study of

The culture History Expectations Working environments

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Substitutes for Leadership

Task, organizational, or subordinate characteristics can render leadership impossible or unnecessary (leadership neutralizer)

Substitute variables tend to negate the leaders ability to either increase or decrease followers satisfaction or performance

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Substitutes for Leadership

Substitutes for Leadership

Cohesive work groups Intrinsically satisfying tasks High levels of subordinate ability, experience, and knowledge

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