OB 3 leadership

Leadership Overview

  • Dr. Neetika Shrivastava

Definition of Management

  • Management is a process of coordinating actions and allocating resources to achieve organizational goals.

Leadership Definition

  • Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward goal achievement.

  • Sherman (1995) emphasizes aligning people toward common goals and empowering them to act.

Key Concepts of Leadership

  • Leadership is a process of influence where leaders encourage others towards achieving goals.

  • Types of Leadership:

    • Formal Leadership: Based on a positional role in an organization.

    • Informal Leadership: Emerges when an individual demonstrates influence or leadership qualities without formal authority.

Differences between Leadership and Management

  • Leadership focuses on creating change; management copes with complexity.

  • Characteristics of leaders include:

    • A vision for the future.

    • The ability to inspire and align people.

    • Integrity based on self-awareness and honesty.

Manager vs. Leader Characteristics

  • Manager Characteristics:

    • Administers, maintains systems, focuses on control, and emphasizes short-term outcomes.

  • Leader Characteristics:

    • Innovates, develops people, inspires trust, focuses on long-range goals, and challenges the status quo.

Leadership Theories

  • Key Approaches to Leadership Theories:

    • Trait Approach

    • Behavioral Approach

    • Contingency Approach

Trait Theories of Leadership

  • Key leadership traits identified include:

    • Ambition, energy, honesty, self-confidence, intelligence, and relevant job knowledge.

  • Great Man Theory: Suggests leaders are born with necessary traits.

  • Limitations of trait theories include:

    • No universal traits universally predict leadership effectiveness.

    • Traits are better predictors of leadership appearance than effectiveness.

Behavioral Theories of Leadership

  • Autocratic Leadership: Centralized decision making; leader commands and controls.

  • Democratic Leadership: Participatory decision-making; delegates authority.

  • Laissez-faire Leadership: Passive-style; defers decision-making.

Ohio State and Michigan Studies

  • Ohio State Studies:

    • Initiating Structure: Defining and structuring roles for goal achievement.

    • Consideration: Building mutual trust and respect with subordinates.

  • University of Michigan Studies:

    • Employee-centered leaders are more effective than job-centered leaders.

Managerial Grid

  • Management styles based on concern for people vs. production:

    • 1,9 (Country Club Management): Comfort and relationships prioritized.

    • 9,9 (Team Management): Focus on both tasks and relationships.

    • 1,1 (Impoverished Management): Minimal effort to maintain membership.

Contingency Approaches

  • Acknowledges that situational factors influence leadership effectiveness.

  • Fiedler’s Contingency Theory: The effectiveness of a leadership style depends on the match between the leader's style and the situation's favorability.

Identifying Leadership Style - Fiedler

  • Measurement of leadership style through the Least-Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale; higher scores indicate relationship-oriented leaders, lower scores suggest task-oriented ones.

  • Effective Leadership Situations:

    • Task-oriented leaders succeed in favorable or unfavorable situations, while relationship-oriented leaders thrive in moderately favorable conditions.

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory

  • Situational leadership focuses on adjusting style based on follower readiness, categorized into:

    • Telling: High task, low relationship

    • Selling: High task, high relationship

    • Participating: Low task, high relationship

    • Delegating: Low task, low relationship.

Path-Goal Theory

  • The role of the leader is to assist and motivate followers towards achieving goals compatible with group objectives.

  • Leadership styles in Path-Goal Theory:

    • Directive: Focused on structure.

    • Supportive: Relationship-focused.

    • Participative: Involves followers in decisions.

    • Achievement-oriented: High structure and support.

Charismatic Leadership Theory

  • Charismatic leaders possess self-confidence, vision, and the ability to inspire enthusiasm among followers.

Transformational Leadership

  • Fosters engagement in a collective purpose among followers, characterized by high levels of motivation and cooperation.

Key Traits of Successful Leaders

  • Essential Traits Include:

    • Passion, honesty, empathy, innovation, stress tolerance, and commitment to goals.

  • Emotional Intelligence: Critical for understanding and managing emotions in leadership.

Future Directions in Leadership

  • Organizations of the future will focus on knowledge and interconnectedness.

  • New Leadership Approach: Focus on guiding using vision, mutual values, and fostering individual growth within a self-organizing framework.

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