Chapter 16: Managing Leadership and Influence Processes

1. Nature of Leadership

• Definition: Leadership is the process of using noncoercive influence to shape group or organizational goals, motivate behavior towards achievement of those goals, and help define organizational culture.

• Property of Leadership: A set of characteristics attributed to those perceived as leaders.

• Distinction between Management and Leadership: While related, leadership focuses more on influence and vision, whereas management deals with planning, organizing, and controlling.

• Power Types: Managers and leaders utilize various forms of power including:

  • Legitimate Power

  • Reward Power

  • Coercive Power

  • Referent Power

  • Expert Power

2. Two Generic Approaches to Leadership

• Trait Approach: Assumes basic traits differentiate leaders from non-leaders.

• Leadership Behavior Approach: Focuses on the specific behaviors that distinguish effective leaders, emphasizing:

  • Work and performance

  • Employee welfare and support

• Research Contributions: Studies from the University of Michigan and Ohio State University highlighted these behavioral types.

3. Major Situational Approaches to Leadership

• Situational Leadership: Acknowledges that leadership behavior must vary depending on specific contexts.

  • LPC Theory: Suggests leaders' behaviors should be task-oriented or relationship-oriented based on situational favorableness.

  • Path-Goal Theory: Proposes that leader behaviors adapt (directive, supportive, participative, achievement-oriented) based on subordinates' attributes and environmental conditions.

  • Vroom’s Decision Tree Approach: Advocates that leaders vary the level of subordinate participation in decision making based on problem attributes.

  • Leader-Member Exchange Model: Focuses on individual relationships between leaders and followers, differentiating in-group and out-group dynamics.

4. Related Approaches to Leadership

• Substitutes for Leadership: Identifies factors that can substitute for leader influence, reducing the need for direct leadership intervention.

• Charismatic Leadership: Examines how a leader’s charisma can motivate and influence followers.

• Transformational Leadership: Focuses on how leaders inspire and create significant change within organizations.

5. Emerging Approaches to Leadership

• Strategic Leadership: Involves the ability to influence and manage organizational vision and execution strategically.

• Cross-Cultural Leadership: Addresses the need for leaders to adapt their approaches to diverse cultural contexts.

• Ethical Leadership: Emphasizes the role of ethics and morality in guiding leader behavior and organizational direction.

6. Political Behavior in Organizations

• Political Behavior: Defined as influence processes that often involve self-promotion or information control.

• Impression Management: A key tactic of political behavior focused on enhancing one’s image in the eyes of others.

• Management Strategies: Managers can implement strategies to limit the negative impacts of political behavior within their organizations.