Leadership & Power – Exam Notes

Definition & Core Ideas of Leadership

• Leader: ability to influence others without force.
• Leadership: directing behaviour toward goals.
• Key tasks:
  • create future vision
  • design strategy
  • communicate vision so all understand & believe.
• Importance:
  • motivate employees to contribute
  • secure cooperation & teamwork
  • raise performance quality.

Leadership Approaches

• Trait Approach
  • Personal characteristics viewed as primary determinants of leadership success.

• Behavioral Theories
  • Ohio State: $2$ key behaviours
  – Initiating Structure (task)
  – Consideration (people)
  • Michigan: $2$ behaviours
  – Production-Centred
  – Employee-Centred
  • Managerial Grid (axes: concern for people vs production)
  – Indifferent $(1,1)$
  – Accommodating $(1,9)$
  – Dictatorial $(9,1)$
  – Status Quo $(5,5)$
  – Sound $(9,9)$

• Contingency Theories
  • Hersey-Blanchard Life-Cycle (leadership adapts to subordinate readiness)
  $1$ Telling – High Task / Low Relationship
  $2$ Selling – High Task / High Relationship
  $3$ Participating – High Task / Low Relationship
  $4$ Delegating – Low Task / Low Relationship
  • Path-Goal (leader clarifies path to rewards)
  – Directive
  – Supportive
  – Participative
  – Achievement-Oriented

Power

• Definition: capacity to marshal people, information or resources & influence decisions to achieve goals.
• Sources
  • Position Power: Legitimate, Information, Coercive, Reward
  • Personal Power: Referent, Expert

Islamic Perspective on Leading

• Leading = moving people through motivation; leader serves & helps others.
• Muslims select leaders per Quran & Seerah; aspiring leaders must embody Islamic qualities.