Leadership Theories and Individual Differences Flashcards

Registration

Each session requires registration using a provided code, which must not be shared.

Introduction

Leadership and individual differences will be explored.

Aims

• Explore definitions of leadership
• Understand key characteristics of a good leader
• Examine individual differences in leadership
• Explore some traditional approaches to leadership

Initial Task

Identify who you believe is the greatest leader of all time and what made them successful.

Leader vs. Leadership

• Leader: An individual assigned or delegated to lead a group, team, or organization.
• Leadership: The action, not the position of the individual. A leader can be assigned but not exhibit leadership behavior.

Definitions of Leadership

• "A process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal" (Northouse, 2010, p. 3).
• "The process of influencing others in a manner that enhances their contribution to the realization of group goals" (Haslam, Reicher, & Platow, 2011, p. 247).

Plato's View

Some individuals are naturally suited to be leaders, while others are meant to be followers (Plato & Jowett, 1901, p. 175).

Key Qualities of a Successful Leader

• Excellent organization skills
• Good at encouraging others
• Strong morals and ethics
• Promotes connection and teamwork
• Strategic thinking

Traditional Approaches to Leadership

• Great Man Theory
• Trait Theory
• Behavioral Theory
• Transactional Approach
• Transformational Approach

Great Man Theory

• Originated in 1847 by Thomas Carlyle. Leaders are born with heroic potential.
• Leaders possess unique qualities that capture the imagination of the masses.
• Leaders are born, not made and cannot be taught to be effective leaders.
• Leaders are extraordinary people with inherent greatness.
• Early focus on traits/abilities of great leaders (e.g., assertiveness, wisdom, glamour, decisive).
• Leaders are more adept at directing others and solely responsible.

Trait Theory

• Expands on the Great Man Theory, suggesting effective leaders have particular personality qualities.
• Born leaders have specific physical traits and personality characteristics distinguishing them from non-leaders (e.g., intellect, extraversion, fluency).
• Ignores whether leadership traits were genetic or developed.
• Stogdill (1985) suggested individual traits have little diagnostic or predictive significance but in combination create personality dynamics advantageous to leadership.

Stogdill's Research

• 1948 Study: Examined 124 trait studies from 1904-1948.
  • Relevant leadership traits included intelligence, self-confidence, alertness to others’ needs, understanding of tasks, initiative and persistence, desire to take responsibility, holding positions of dominance and control.
  • Each trait was context-specific.
• 1974 Study: Second literature review of 163 trait studies from 1949-1970.
  • Identified many of the same traits as the first review.
  • No evidence for universal leadership traits.

Challenges to Trait and Great Man Theories

• Lack of scientific evidence for the Great Man Theory, refuted as early as 1948 (Stogdill).
• Many traits cited are typical masculine traits.
• Evidence suggests leadership skills can be developed (Haslam, Platow, & Reicher, 2011).
• No agreed collection of special traits that define a great leader.
• "A person does not become a leader by virtue of the possession of some combination of traits, but the pattern of personal characteristics of the leader must bear some relevant relationship to the characteristics, activities, and goals of the followers" (Stogdill, 1948, p. 64).

Leadership and The Big 5 Personality Traits

• Openness: Linked to creativity, imagination, and insight (John & Srivastava, 1999). Leaders visualize an exciting future (Bono & Judge 2004).
• Conscientiousness: Disciplined in goal attainment. Clearly defines role expectations (Bass, 1985).
• Extraversion: Assertive, energetic, enthusiastic, and charismatic. Strongest predictor of leader emergence (Judge et al., 2002).
• Agreeableness: Considerate and empathetic leaders. Promotes cooperation and helping behaviors (Hurtz & Donovan, 2000).
• Neuroticism (Emotional stability): Emotionally stable leaders stay calm in crisis and recover quickly from failures.

Leadership and the Dark Triad

• All three Dark Triad traits relate to need for power and social dominance (Hodson, et al., 2009; Jones & Figueredo, 2013).
• Narcissism: Strong egoistic focus (Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001). Views others as inferior. Generally viewed negatively, resulting in poorer group performance (Judge et al., 2006).
• Machiavellianism: Cold, calculating, long-term oriented, and strategic style (Jones & Paulhus, 2009). Less likely to share knowledge (Liu, 2008).
• Psychopathy: Impulsive and antisocial style (Williams, et al., 2007). Negatively related to job performance (O’boyle et al., 2012). Least explored in leadership research.

Behaviorist Theory

• Leadership is a learned behavior (Skinner, 1974).
• Reinforcement of leadership behaviors (rewards & punishments) determines who becomes a leader.
• Challenges the view that leaders are born, not made.
• A leader's performance is influenced by behavior, not inherent traits.

Transactional Approach

• Considers social exchange over time.
• Social systems work best with a clear chain of command.
• Value of a hierarchy for enhancing organizational effectiveness.
• Rewards or punishments are given to followers based on performance.
• Leaders outline plans and tasks and monitor attainment before recognizing success or failure.
• The prime purpose of a subordinate is to do what their manager tells them to do.

Shortcomings of Behaviorist and Transactional Approaches

• Power is not something that leaders ‘have’ but "power through".
• Based on controlled laboratory experiments (often with animals) and ignore emotional factors and social values.
• Does not account for human agency, followers contribute and can become leaders.

Transformational Approach

• Leaders inspire and motivate followers to achieve their potential through an inspiring vision (Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978).
• Emphasizes building interpersonal relationships between leaders and followers.
• Followers are motivated and inspired due to respect, trust, and admiration.

Transformational Approach Details

• Leaders focus on followers’ needs to transform everyone into a leader by empowering and motivating them (House & Aditya, 1997).
• Change-oriented and places charisma as a central part of transformational processes (Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978).
• Transformational leadership = charismatic leadership?

Charismatic Leadership/Charisma

• Uses charm and influence to persuade others to help fulfill a mandate or achieve a goal.
• Leaders make others believe they can achieve any goal, even in adversity.
• Transformational leaders produce an appearance of convincing vision of the future and move them toward higher and more universal needs and purposes" (MacGregor, 2003).
• Charismatic leaders rely on personality and skillset to move followers, while transformational leaders rely on the shared vision to create change.

TL Components (Bass & Avolio, 1990)

• Idealized influence: Leaders act fairly to gain the respect and trust of subordinates.
• Inspirational motivation: Leaders raise subordinates’ awareness of a vision and motivate them to work towards high expectations.
• Intellectual stimulation: Leaders challenge group members to look at old problems in a new, creative manner.
• Individualized consideration: Leaders attend to individuals’ needs within the group.

TL Research

• One of the most frequently studied approaches to leadership (Day et al., 2014).
• Meta-analysis (Lowe, Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996) suggests transformational leadership is positively associated with employee satisfaction and performance.
• More recent meta-analysis found transformational leadership positively related to performance at team and organization levels (Wang et al., 2011).
• Transformational leadership positively predicts positive measures of well-being and negatively predicts negative measures of well-being (Arnold, 2017).

Measurement of Leadership

• Followers’ perceptions of the leader?
• Leaders’ perceptions of their own leadership?
• Followers’ behavior / performance?
• Differentiated Transformational Leadership Inventory (DTLI): (Callow et al., 2009)
  • Contains 27 items forming 7 subscales: individual consideration, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, fostering acceptance of group goals and promoting teamwork, high-performance expectations, appropriate role model, and contingency reward.

Critical Reflection on Transformational Leadership

• Transformational leaders enhance intrinsic motivation, performance, and cohesion (Callow et al. 2009; Charbonneau et al. 2001).
• Does not explain what transformation is or when it works.
• Limited insight into processes explaining why a leader is able to influence, inspire, and stimulate. Focus remains firmly on the leader as an individual (Haslam et al., 2011, p. 42), overlooking the context (Currie & Lockett, 2007).

The New Psychology of Leadership: Social Identity Approach

• Focuses on the influential and contextual process within leadership.
• Proposes that social psychological processes underpin leadership effectiveness.
• Leaders influence group members through individuals’ social identities (Haslam et al., 2011; Hogg, 2001).

Social Identity Approach to Leadership Details

• Leaders and group members are connected through a sense of belonging and emotional attachment to their group.
• Research demonstrated that social identities lay the foundation for effective leadership (Haslam et al., 2011).
• Leaders that create social identity and are perceived as in-group leaders are more effective (Platow & van Knippenberg, 2001).

4 Principles of SIL (Social Identity Leadership)

• Leaders as in-group prototypes – represent the ideals of the group.
• Leaders as in-group champions – make decisions/act in the group’s interests.
• Leaders as entrepreneurs of identity – develop and evolve the essence (i.e., vision/values) of the group.
• Leaders as embedders of identity – provide structure/activities for “us” to achieve our vision. Haslam et al. (2011); Slater et al. (2014)

Final Thoughts

• There are no agreed set of traits that determine a great leader.
• Leadership is not a rank; it is a responsibility.
• "Leadership is not about being in charge; it is about taking care of those in your charge" (Simon Sinek).
• Successful leadership involves developing a sense of ‘belongingness’ between leadership and followers.
• Follower individual differences? – Exploring the perceptions of followers can be useful in better understanding leadership processes.

Participate in Research- SONA

• SONA is an online platform for advertising research.
• Participating in research is a great way to interactively engage with psychology and expose you to the kind of research you could conduct as part of your dissertation in your final year.
• Likely be using SONA to recruit participants for your own research project.
• Log in to SONA by visiting https://salford- psychology.sona-systems.com/ and clicking ‘University of Salford Log In’.
• Please contact Psytech@salford.ac.uk if you have any issues with logging in.