3.3 Basic Approaches to Leadership

Leadership

A process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.

Process of influencing & supporting others to work enthusiastically toward achieving objectives.

Trait Theories

Differentiating leaders from non-leaders by focusing on personality, social, physical or intellectual attributes

Traits

can be defined as a person’s enduring characteristics or dispositions which give rise to their behavior or behavior patterns

Drive

Leaders have high levels of effort, a lot of energy, a relatively high desire for achievement, ambitious, and persistent in their activities

Desire to lead

Leaders have strong desire to influence others and have the willingness to take responsibility

Honesty and integrity

Leaders build trusting relationships with followers by being truthful, or non-deceitful, and by showing high consistency between word and deed

Self-confidence

Followers look to leaders who do not doubt themselves.

Leaders, therefore, need to show “ “ to convince followers of the rightness of their goals and decisions.

Intelligence

Leaders need to be “ “ to be able to gather, synthesize, and interpret large amounts of information, and they need to be able to create visions, solve problems, and make correct decisions

Job-relevant knowledge

Effective leaders have a high degree of knowledge about the company, industry, and technical matters.

Extraversion

Leaders are energetic, lively, sociable, assertive, and rarely silent or withdrawn.

Proneness to Guilt

“ “ is positively related to leadership effectiveness because it produces a strong sense of responsibility for others

Employee-oriented leaders

leaders who emphasizes interpersonal relations

Production-oriented leaders

leaders who emphasizes on the task aspects of the job

Managerial Grid

concern for people and concern for production

Fiedler’s Contingency Theory

postulates that the leader’s effectiveness is based on ‘situational contingency’, that is a result of interaction of two factors, known as 'leadership style ' and 'situational favorableness ‘

Least preferred co-worker questionnaire

questionnaire with 16 contrasting adjectives e.g. pleasant-unpleasant, open- guarded purports to measure whether a person is task- or relationship- oriented (LPC)

Leader-member relations

Situational variable: degree to which a leader is accepted and supported by the group members (i.e., good or poor)

Task structure

Situational variable: extent to which the task is structured and defined, with clear goals and procedures (i.e., stuctured or unstructured).

Position power

Situational variable: the amount of formal authority the leader possesses by virtue of his or her position in the organization (strong or weak).

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory

focuses on the followers’ readiness i.e. the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task

Directing Style

If followers are unable and unwilling to do a task, the leader needs to give clear and specific directions.

Selling Style

If they are unable but willing, the leader needs to display high task orientation to compensate for followers’ lack of ability and high relationship orientation to get them to “buy into” the leader’s desires.

Participating Style

If followers are able but unwilling, the leader needs to use a supportive and participative style

Delegating Style

If they are both able and willing , the leader doesn’t need to do much.

Path-Goal Theory

created by Robert House

It’s the leader’s job to provide followers with the information, support, or other resources necessary to achieve their goals.

Directive, Supportive, Participative, Achievement-oriented

4 Leadership Behaviors: DSPA

Directive

lets followers know what is expected of them, schedules work to be done

Supportive

friendly and shows concern for the needs of the follower

Participative

consults with followers and uses their suggestions before making a decision

Achievement-oriented

sets challenging goals and expects followers to perform at their highest level

Leader-Member Exchange Theory

Argues that because of time pressures, leaders establish a special relationship with a small group of their followers.

In-Group

circle of trusted assistants or subordinates who often get high levels of responsibility and access to resources

Out-Group

Only formal relationships exist; have lower performance ratings, higher turnover, and less job satisfaction ; put constraints on the leaders; perception of unfair treatment

Leader-Participation Theory

Directed at determining how much input subordinates should have in the decision-making process.

Depending on the situation, the leader may make a decision alone or may involve subordinates in the decision process.

Autocratic Type 1

Leader makes own decision using information that is readily available to him at the time.

This type is completely autocratic.

Autocratic Type 2

Leader collects required information from followers, then makes decision alone.

Here followers' involvement is just providing information.

Consultative Type 1

Leader shares problem to relevant followers individually and seeks their ideas and suggestions and makes decision alone.

Here followers do not meet each other, and the leader’s decision may or may not reflect his followers' influence

Consultative Type 2

Leader shares problem to relevant followers as a group and seeks their ideas and suggestions and makes decision alone.

Here followers meet each other, and through discussions they understand other alternatives. But the leader’s decision may or may not reflect his followers' influence

Group-based Type 2

Leader discusses problem and situation with followers as a group and seeks their ideas and suggestions through brainstorming.

Leader accepts any decision and does not try to force his idea. Decision accepted by the group is the final one.

Vision and articulation

Has a vision—expressed as an idealized goal—that proposes a future better than the status quo; able to clarify the importance of the vision in terms that are understandable to others.

Personal risk

Willing to take on high personal risk, incur high costs, and engage in self-sacrifice to achieve the vision.

Sensitivity to follower needs

Perceptive of others’ abilities and responsive to their needs and feelings

Unconventional behavior

Engages in behaviors that are perceived as novel and counter to norms.

Contingent Reward

Contracts exchange of rewards for effort, promises rewards for good performance , recognizes accomplishments.

Active Management by Exception

Watches and searches for deviations from rules and standards, takes corrective action.

Passive Management by Exception

Intervenes only if standards are not met.

Laissez-Faire

Abdicates responsibilities, avoids making decisions.

Idealized Influence

Provides vision and sense of mission, instills pride, gains respect and trust.

Inspirational Motivation

Communicates high expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts, expresses important purposes in simple ways.

Intellectual Stimulation

Promotes intelligence, rationality, and careful problem solving.

Individualized Consideration

Gives personal attention, treats each employee individually, coaches, advise

Authentic leadership

focuses on the moral aspects of being a leader.

They know who they are and what they believe in, and they act on those values and beliefs openly and candidly.

Ethical Leadership

influences not only direct followers but spreads all the way down the command structure as well because top leaders set expectations and expect lower-level leaders to behave along ethical guidelines.

Servant Leadership

go beyond their self -interest and focus on opportunities to help followers grow and develop.

Characteristic behaviors include listening, empathizing, persuading, accepting stewardship, and actively developing followers’ potential.

Substitutes to Leadership

factors that make leadership roles unnecessary through replacing them with other sources

Neutralizers

attributes of subordinates, tasks and organizations that interfere w/ or diminish a leader’s attempts to influence employees e.g. physical distance between leader and employees, indifference towards rewards, intrinsically satisfying tasks, Inflexible work rules, rigid reward systems

Enhancers

elements that amplify a leader’s impact on the employees.

Self-leadership

Leading oneself to perform naturally-motivating tasks, as well as managing oneself to do work that is required but not naturally rewarding.

Superleaders

People who actively work to unleash the potential of their subordinates

Attribution Theory of Leadership

Says that leadership is merely an attribution people make about other individuals.

We attribute the following to leaders: intelligence, outgoing personality, strong verbal skills, aggressiveness, understanding, and industriousness.