LEADERSHIP, GROUP DYNAMICS & CULTURE

CONTENTS

• Leadership styles and applications:
  • Trait, Situational, Transformational and Ethical Leadership.
• Group Dynamics:
  • Tuckman’s Model.
• Fostering ethical workplace behavior.
• Organisational Culture:
  • Meaning.
  • Quinn and Cameron’s organisational culture types.
  • Ways to learn organisational culture.
  • Creating a positive organisational culture.

LEADERSHIP

• Definition: Leadership styles refer to the behavioral methods and approaches that leaders use to direct, motivate, and manage teams.
• Common Leadership Styles:
  • Autocratic
  • Democratic
  • Laissez-faire
  • Transformational
  • Transactional
  • Coaching
  • Authoritative
  • Delegative (or Participative)
  • Pacesetting
  • Servant leadership

LEADERSHIP STYLES

Autocratic (Authoritarian)

• Definition: Leader makes all decisions, provides clear direction, and expects obedience.
• Usefulness:
  • Effective for crisis situations or inexperienced teams.
  • May discourage creativity and team participation.

Democratic (Participative)

• Definition: Leader involves team members in decisions, encourages input, and supports collaboration.
• Usefulness:
  • Effective for fostering innovation and team engagement.
  • Decision-making may be slower due to consensus requirement.

Laissez-Faire (Delegative)

• Definition: Leader gives team considerable freedom, delegates authority, and offers guidance only when needed.
• Usefulness:
  • Best for skilled, self-motivated teams.
  • Can result in low productivity if guidance is lacking.

Coaching

• Definition: Leader guides and supports employees in personal development and skill improvement, balancing direction with encouragement.

Pacesetting

• Definition: Leader sets high standards and leads by example, expecting others to follow suit.
• Usefulness:
  • Effective with high-performing teams.
  • Can lead to burnout due to high expectations.

Bureaucratic

• Definition: Leader focuses on rules, procedures, and hierarchy.
• Usefulness:
  • Effective in highly regulated industries, but may stifle innovation.

Transactional

• Definition: This theory is based on a system of rewards and punishments.
• Explanation:
  • Leaders motivate followers by appealing to their self-interest, offering rewards for good performance, and imposing penalties for poor performance.
  • Described as a "tell and sell" approach where the leader clarifies tasks and expectations.

Ethical Leadership

• Definition: Ethical leadership emphasizes integrity, fairness, and a strong moral compass in decision-making.
• Characteristics: Leaders are guided by principles and values, promoting trust, transparency, and long-term organizational health through ethical practices.

ADDITIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORIES

Great Man Theory

• Definition: Proposes that great leaders are born, not made.
• Focus: Suggests that leadership is an intrinsic quality possessed by a select few, often with a heroic or mythic destiny.

Behavioral Theories

• Definition: Argue that leadership is based on learned behaviors and actions.
• Key Distinction:
  • Task-oriented behaviors: Focus on accomplishing the job.
  • People-oriented behaviors: Focus on building relationships and supporting team members.

Transformational Leadership

• Definition: Transformational leaders inspire and motivate their followers to exceed their self-interests for the good of the group or organization.
• Methods:
  • Creating a shared vision.
  • Providing intellectual stimulation.
  • Offering personalized support.
• Key Focus: Proactivity and fostering growth and innovation.

Servant Leadership

• Definition: This theory prioritizes the needs of the followers.
• Goal: To serve team members and help them grow, develop, and succeed.
• Characteristics: The leader is a facilitator, empowering others to perform at their best.
• Common Context: Organizations that value collaboration and employee well-being.

GROUP DYNAMICS

• Definition: Group dynamics is the study of how individuals behave, interact, and influence each other within a group setting, focusing on processes, attitudes, and forces that shape collective outcomes.

TUCKMAN’S MODEL

1. Forming

   • Description: Team acquires and establishes ground rules.
   • Characteristics: Formalities are preserved; members are treated as strangers.

2. Storming

   • Description: Members communicate their feelings but see themselves as individuals rather than part of the team.
   • Characteristics: Resistance to group leaders, showing hostility.

3. Norming

   • Description: People feel part of the team and understand that they can achieve work by accepting other viewpoints.

4. Performing

   • Description: Team works in an open and trusting atmosphere where flexibility prevails, and hierarchy is less significant.

5. Adjourning

   • Description: The team assesses the year and implements plans for transitioning roles and recognizing members’ contributions.

FOSTERING ETHICAL WORKPLACE BEHAVIOUR

• Definition: Ethical workplace behaviour refers to actions that align with accepted moral principles, company values, and professional standards (e.g., honesty, integrity, fairness, respect, accountability).
• Key Strategies:
  • Leadership role modelling.
  • Clear codes of conduct.
  • Accountability systems.
  • Ethics training.
  • Open communication channels.
  • Recognition and rewards.
  • Supportive environment.
  • Tech-enhanced transparency.
  • Continuous learning and feedback.

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

• Definition: Organisational culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, norms, attitudes, and practices that shape workplace behavior.
• Characterization: Often described as the "personality" of an organisation, it governs employee connections with the organization’s mission, vision, and goals, influencing their behavior at work.
• Development: Evolves through written rules and unwritten traditions over time through member interactions and experiences.

QUINN AND CAMERON’S ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE TYPES

1. Clan

   • Focus: Inward-looking and flexible.
   • Values: Teamwork, collaboration, close-knit support, responding to external world.

2. Hierarchy

   • Focus: Inward-looking and focused on control.
   • Values: Efficiency, process, control, structure, and predictability.

3. Adhocracy

   • Focus: Outward-looking and flexible.
   • Values: Fast-paced, dynamic, entrepreneurial, innovation, risk-taking, growth.

4. Market

   • Focus: Outward-looking and focused on stability and control.
   • Values: Outcome-driven, competitive, market achievement-oriented.

WAYS TO LEARN ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

1. Train the employees
2. Reinforce spaced repetition (key information is repeated at regular intervals)
3. Discuss organisational stories
4. Set rituals and ceremonies
5. Assign organisational heroes
6. Establish cultural symbols
7. Use a consistent tone of voice
8. Organise team-building activities
9. Offer mentorship programs
10. Allow mobile learning

CREATING A POSITIVE ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

• Strategies:
  • Define clear values and vision.
  • Lead by example.
  • Hire for cultural fit.
  • Foster open communication.
  • Recognize and reward positive behavior.
  • Support employee development.
  • Promote work-life balance.
  • Create a collaborative environment.
  • Maintain consistency.

REFERENCES

• Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge and Neharika Vohra (2018), 18th Ed. Organisational Behaviour. Pearson Education Asia.
• Fred Luthans (2017). Organisational Behaviour: An Evidence-Based Approach, 12th Ed. McGraw-Hill Education.