Week 7 Part A: Workplace Psychology: Workplace Leadership

Learning Objectives

• Major Theoretical Approaches to Leadership
  • Trait, Behavioral, Power and Influence, Contingency, Full-Range Leadership Model, Authentic Leadership, Servant Leadership, Strategic Leadership, Implicit Leadership, and Substitutes for Leadership.
• Points of Convergence: Understand similarities among leadership approaches.
• Dark Side of Leadership: Recognize potential negative aspects.
• Leadership in Teams: Assess how leadership manifests in team settings.
• Cross-Cultural Issues: Summarize leadership variances across cultures.
• Diversity in Leadership: Discuss implications of diversity.
• Entrepreneurship Concept: Define entrepreneurship in the leadership context.
• Full Range Leadership Styles: Differentiate between effective and ineffective leaders.
• Management vs. Leadership: Clarify distinctions between managers and leaders.

Definition of Leadership

• General Definition: Leadership is a process wherein an individual influences other group members towards achieving defined organizational goals.
  • Key Components of Leadership:
  1. Involves influence, changing actions or attitudes of others.
  2. Focuses on specific goals in a group or organization.

Importance of Leadership in I-O Psychology

• Leadership is a central topic within Industrial and Organizational Psychology and relates significantly to organizational performance.
  • Various Approaches:
  • Characteristics of Leaders
  • Dynamics of Leader-Follower Relationships
  • Situational Leadership
  • Integrated Models: Combining insights from different leadership theories can be particularly useful.

Bases of Power and Influence

• Definition of Power: A resource that enables influence over others' attitudes and behaviors (Yukl, 2002).
• Types of Power:
  1. Organizational/Positional Power:
  • Reward Power: Capacity to give rewards.
  • Coercive Power: Capacity to impose penalties or sanctions.
  • Legitimate Power: Authority from the position held.
  1. Personal Power:
  • Expert Power: Based on knowledge or expertise.
  • Referent Power: Based on personal attributes and relationships.

Approaches to Leadership

• Main Leadership Styles Identified:
  1. Autocratic: Centralized decision-making, high control.
  • Characteristics: Demands obedience, rewards failure.
  1. Democratic: Shared decision-making, encourages participation.
  • Characteristics: Involves team members actively.
  1. Laissez-faire: Minimal control or guidance from the leader.
  • Characteristics: Shows limited involvement unless necessary.

Theoretical Approaches Status Over Time

• Evolution:
  • Trait Theory: Early belief in innate traits determining leadership.
  • Behavioral Theory: Shift towards learnable behaviors (1940s-1960s).
  • Contingency Theory: Emphasizes the situational factors influencing leadership effectiveness (1960s-1980s).
  • Modern Theories: Recognizes interplay between innate factors and socialized experiences.

Behavioral Approach Details

• Key Research: Identified dimensions of behavior affecting leadership effectiveness:
  1. Initiating Structure: Focus on task completion.
  2. Consideration: Focus on relationships with team members.
  • Effective leaders typically display high levels of both.

Trait Theory Factors

• Key Traits Linked with Effective Leaders:
  • Self-Confidence: Assurance in one’s abilities.
  • Boldness and Assertiveness: Willingness to take risks.
  • Interpersonal Skills: Ability to connect with others.

Motivation in Leadership

• Types of Leader Motives (McClelland):
  • Need for Power: Desire to influence and lead.
  • Need for Achievement: Drive to solve problems and excel.
  • Need for Affiliation: Desire to create healthy relationships with others.

Leader-Follower Relationship Dynamics (LMX Theory)

• Quality of Relationships: Differentiated engagements between leaders and followers can affect commitment and performance.
  • Ingroup vs Outgroup: Favorable engagement leads to higher satisfaction and performance ratings for ingroup members.

Situational Leadership Framework**

• Key Theory (Hersey & Blanchard):
  • Adjust leadership style based on follower readiness, which is a combination of competence and motivation.
  • Four styles:
  1. Directing: Directive for less experienced followers.
  2. Coaching: Directing with motivational support.
  3. Supporting: Collaborative and participative style for skilled followers.
  4. Delegating: Hands-off approach when followers are both skilled and motivated.

Path-Goal Theory Overview

• Core Concept: Leaders adapt styles (Directive, Supportive, Participative, Achievement-oriented) based on follower and environmental factors, aiming to enhance motivation and performance.
• Leader Behavior: Focus on guiding followers to achieve goals and support their capabilities.

Group Processes in Leadership

• Group Identification: How leaders embody group norms affects their perceived effectiveness.
  • Leader Prototypicality: The closer a leader aligns with group values, the more effective they are perceived to be.

Leadership Types Summary

• Transformational Leadership: Aims to inspire and motivate followers beyond self-interest through vision and values.
• Transactional Leadership: Centers on system structures, rewards, and penalties to manage group effectiveness.
• Authentic Leadership: Stresses self-awareness, ethics, transparency, and balanced processing of information.

Final Notes on Leadership Dynamics

• Leadership effectiveness is often a product of both personal traits and situational context, with an interplay that affects group processes and organizational outcomes. Leaders should be flexible and adaptive to the evolving needs of their followers and organizational goals.