Leadership

Leadership Classical Theories 

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

Leadership: the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of collective goals 

Perspective 1: Trait Theory 

• Leadership = individual difference 

• Traits Theories of Leadership (1900-50s) 

• This framework is based on “the great man theory”, which assumes that the leader’s personal traits are the key to leadership success. It considers personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from non-leaders. 

• This theory focused on identifying the innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great social, political, and military leaders. It was believed that people were born with these traits and that only the “great” people possessed them. 

• Studies: how can we differentiate leaders from non-leaders (focus on personal qualities and characteristics?) 

• Assumptions: 

• Leaders are born 

• Leaders differ from others in small number of key traits 

• These traits do not change over time 

• These individuals have the potential to be great leaders at any point in time, in any society 

• Bottom line: 

• Personal characteristic can predict leadership 

• However, traits are more predictive of leader emergence (who becomes a leader in the first place) than leader effectiveness (how well the person leads) 

• Limitations: 

• Personal characteristics can predict leadership 

• No universal traits found to predict leadership in all situations 

• Unclear evidence of the cause-and-effect relationship between traits and leadership 

• Better predictor of emergence than leader effectiveness 

• Does not distinguish well between effective and ineffective leaders 

Where does leadership come from? 

Power: a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes 

The key to power: 

Dependency: B’s relationship to A when A possesses something that B requires 

The General Dependency Postulate (Premise): The greater B’s dependency on A, the greater the power A has over B. 

What makes someone more or less dependent on another person? Access to resources that are: 

1. Important 

2. Scarce 

3. Non-substitutable 

Leadership vs Power 

Leadership: 

• Focuses on goal achievement of group goals 

• Requires goal compatibility with followers 

• Used for downward influence 

Research focus: leadership styles and relationships with followers 

Power: 

• Used as a means for achieving individual goals 

• Requires dependency 

• Used for lateral, upward, and downward influence 

Research focus: power tactics for gaining compliance 

Formal power: established by an individual’s position in an organization 

• Coercive power 

• A power base exercised via fear 

• Derived from having the perceived capacity to penalize or punish others for non-compliance 

• This is subject to abuse and is often associated with legitimate power 

• The use of this power will inevitably damage any relationship with the subordinate 

• Reward power 

• Compliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable 

• Gives or withholds rewards such as: 

• Salary increases 

• Bonuses 

• Promotions 

• Recommendations  

• Legitimate power 

• The power a person receives as a result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an organization (acceptance of authority) 

• Associated with having status or formal job authority 

• The person has the right to make demands, and expect obedience from others 

• Example: project director, CEO, politician. 

Personal power: comes from an individual’s unique characteristics 

• Expert power 

• Influence based on special skills or knowledge 

• Power that accrues to someone based on the information or expertise that they possess 

• Ex. Doctors, tax accountants 

• Referent power 

• Influence based on followers personally identifying with the leader. Followers tend to like, admire and want to emulate their leader 

• Leaders who have admirable personal characteristics, charisma, and an excellent reputation often possess referent power 

• Referent power sometimes used by people wit 

Perspective 2: leadership as power 

Leadership = influencing others (power is the source) 

Power: the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events 

Perspective 3: Behavioral Theory. 

• The focus is moved to understand the relationship between a leader’s actions and the follower’s satisfaction and productivity. 

• Leadership = leader’s certain actions (behaviors) 

• Trait theories of leadership. 

• Focus = leader selection 

• Behavioral theories of leadership 

• Focus = leader training 

• Ohio State Studies of Leadership – key assumption 

• Leaders are made not born 

• Focuses two types of leader behaviors described by employees: 

• Initiating structure & consideration 

• Leadership = leader’s certain actions (behaviors) 

• Initiation structure: the extent in which leaders organize and define the roles of individuals in the pursuit of goal attainment 

• Initiation: creating, facilitating, and sometimes resisting new ideas or practices 

• Organization: defining and structuring work, clarifying roles and coordinating employees 

• Production: setting goals and providing incentives to meet those goals and providing incentives to meet those goals 

• Consideration: the extent to which leaders actively create job relationships based on mutual trust, respect for employees, and consideration of co-workers feelings 

• Membership: mixing with employees, informal interactions 

• Integration: encouraging a pleasant atmosphere, reducing conflict 

• Communication: providing information to employees, seek information for them 

• Recognition: expressing approval or disapproval of the behaviors of employees 

• Representation: acting on behalf of the group 

Bottom line: behavioral tendencies are important to leadership, but they do not generalize across situations 

Perspective 4: Situational Theory. 

• Leaders did more than simply “act” - they often had to “react” to specific situations. 

• Situational Model of Leadership: 

• Aka Life Cycle Theory 

• Optimal combination of initiating structure and consideration is reliant on the readiness of the employees within the work unit 

• Readiness 

• The degree to which employees have the ability and willingness to accomplish their specific takss 

• R1: Telling: leader focuses on providing structure (specific instructions) to establish clear goals and roles for the team. The leader also closely monitors team performance. 

• R2: Selling: Employees find tasks more difficult than expected resulting in dissatisfaction. Leader provides support and encouragement to protect employee confidence levels. 

• R3: Participating: Employees gain more ability, so guidance and direction become less necessary. The leader provides support to help members adjust their more self-manages situation. 

• R4: Delegating: Leader delegates responsibility for key behaviors to employees. Minimal observation and monitoring is required to make sure the group’s efforts stay on track. 

‘Modern’ definition of leadership: the process of influencing other people so that they are motivated to contribute to the achievement of collective goals 

• Leadership should be understood as a process rather than a property 

• Leadership is not something people do on their own – it necessarily involves other people 

• The real evidence of leadership is found not in the particular ways that leaders act but in encouraging others to act in particular ways 

A leader’s decision-making style reflects the process the leader uses to generate and choose from a set of leadership styles to solve a problem. 

• Decision-making styles capure how a leader decides as opposed to what a leader decides 

• Four primarily styles with regard to follower involvement in decision-making process 

Delegative: the leader gives an individual employee or a group of employees the responsibility for making the decision within some set of specified boundary conditions 

• The leader plays no role in the deliberations unless asked, though he may offer encouragement and provide necessary resources behind the scenes 

• Good to use when with strong and competent subordinates 

Facilitative: the leader presents the problem to a group of employees and seeks consensus on a solution, making sure that his or her own opinion receives no more weight that anyone else's.  

• The leader is more a facilitator than a decision maker 

Consultative: the leader presents the problem to employees and ask for their opinion before making the decisions 

• Employees have a say in the process, but the ultimate authority still rests with the leader 

Autocratic: the leader makes the decision and informs others about it 

• Uses the information the leader already has and make the decision 

• Asks team members for specific information and once the leader has it, s/he makes the decision 

Assigned leadership 

• Assigned leaders derive their authority from their positions 

• The titles carry weight with employees they lead and you expect employees to show respect for the position 

Emergent leadership 

• The leader proves him/herself before being formally given a leadership title 

• An individual is perceived by others as the most influential member of a group or organization regardless of the title 

• Emerges over time through interactions 

Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory 

Focuses on the interactions between a leader and subordinates 

In group: more information, influence, confidence, and concern from leader 

• More dependable, highly involved, and communicative than out-group members 

Out group: less close to leader, usually just comes to work, does their job, and goes home 

Core implications: rather than concentrating on differences, leader focuses on ways to build trust & respect with all subordinates – resulting in entire work group becoming an in-group.  

How leader-member relationships develop over time: 

Role taking phase: a leader describes role expectations to a member and the members attempts to fulfill those expectations with his or her job behaviors 

Role making phase: the members' own expectations for the relationship get mixed in with those of the leader. A free-flowing change, the leader offers more opportunities and resources and the employee contributes more activities and effort. 

Core implications of LMX theory: 

• Leaders should nurture high-quality exchanges with their subordinates 

• A quality of subordinates interactions with their supervisors can be indicative of your likelihood in advancing in your organization 

Shared leadership - Focuses on how leadership can be distributed among members 

• Shared leadership refers to an emergent team property whereby leadership is distributed among team members rather than focused on a single designated leader 

Pros: 

• Ownership & autonomy in their work 

• Better decision making 

• Higher cohesion & trust 

Cons: 

• Coordination effort 

• Confusion in roles and responsibilities 

Motivational perspective: leadership = inspiring followers 

• Laissez-faire 

• Avoidance of leadership 

• Avoids involvement when important issues arise 

• Important actions are delayed 

• Responsibility is ignored 

• Power and influencer is unutilized 

• Most passive and ineffective style 

• Transactional leadership 

• Management by exception: a style of business management that focuses on identifying and handling cases that deviate from the norm 

• Passive management by exception passively monitors mistakes, and then makes corrections. 

• Active management by exception actively monitors mistakes, and actively corrects. 

• Contingent reward: leader-follower agreement, what can be expected when performance goals are met. 

• Transformational leadership: a pattern of behavior where the leader inspires followers to commit to a shared vision that provides meaning to their work while also serving as a role model who helps followers develop their own potential and view problems from new perspectives. 

• 4 key elements of transformational leadership: 

• Individualized consideration – behaving in ways that help followers achieve their potential through coaching, development, and mentoring. 

• Idealized influence – behaving in ways that earn the admiration, trust, and respect of followers, causing followers to want to identify and emulate the leader. 

• Inspirational motivation – behaving in ways that foster an enthusiasm for an commitment to a shared vision of the future. 

• Intellectual stimulation – behaving in ways that challenge followers to be innovative and creative by questioning assumptions and reframing old situations in new ways. 

Dark side of transformational leadership 

• When transformative leaders speak about what can be lost as a result of failure (ex. Loss of market share), the resulting unethical behavior of its members can be astonishing 

Theory X leadership: assumed that employees can only be motivated by rewards and punishment 

• Uses the transactional model and focuses on the task to be completed 

• Leaders sets the goals of what the leader wants from the employee and communicates what he or she will get out of it