Basic Approaches To: Leadership

Basic Approaches to

Leadership

 Kotter – “Organisations are underled and overmanaged”.  McClelland – “Effective leader turns all followers into leaders”.  Mintzberg – “Managers play many roles and Leadership is one of the ten roles”.  Managing people well is different from performing individual job well. Delegating jobs, the discomfort in giving orders – going over or underboard are common problems.

“Leadership is the interpersonal influence, exercised in situations and directed through the communication process, towards the attainment of a specified goal or goals”.

Questions most often asked: What makes a good leader? Can leadership be learnt? How can I get the job done most effectively? How can I build commitment and loyalty among members of my work team to me and to the company?  When should I listen and when should I give orders?  If I become too friendly with my subordinates, will I lose their respect?    

What Is Leadership? Leadership The ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals

Management Use of authority inherent in designated formal rank to obtain compliance from organizational members

Trait Theories

Traits Theories of Leadership

Leadership LeadershipTraits Traits

Theories that consider personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from non-leaders

•• Conscientiousness Conscientiousness

•• Extraversion Extraversion •• Openness Openness •• Emotional EmotionalIntelligence Intelligence (Qualified) (Qualified)

Trait Theories

Limitations Limitations •• No Nouniversal universaltraits traitsfound foundthat thatpredict predict leadership leadership ininall allsituations situations •• Unclear Unclearevidence evidenceofofthe thecause causeand andeffect effectofof relationship relationshipofofleadership leadershipand andtraits traits •• Better Betterpredictor predictorof ofthe theappearance appearanceofof leadership leadershipthan thandistinguishing distinguishingeffective effectiveand and ineffective ineffectiveleaders leaders

Trait Approach  Traits (examples) – Extraversion – Conscientiousness – Openness

 Assumption: Leaders are born  Problems – Traits do not generalize across situations – Better at predicting leader emergence than leader effectiveness

Behavioral Theories Behavioral Theories of Leadership Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from nonleaders

Behavioral BehavioralTheory Theory Leadership Leadershipbehaviors behaviorscan canbe be taught taught vs. vs. Trait TraitTheory Theory Leaders Leadersare areborn, born,not notmade made

Behavioral Approach

 Ohio State Studies/University of Michigan – Initiating Structure/Production Orientation – Consideration/Employee Orientation

 Assumption: Leaders can be trained  Problem: Effective behaviors do not generalize across situations.

Ohio State Studies Initiating Structure The extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or her role and those of subordinates in the search for goal attainment

Consideration The extent to which a leader is likely to have job relationships characterized by mutual trust, respect for subordinate’s ideas, and regard for his/her feelings

University of Michigan Studies Employee-oriented Leader Emphasizing interpersonal relations; taking a personal interest in the needs of employees and accepting individual differences among members

Production-oriented Leader One who emphasizes technical or task aspects of the job

The Managerial Grid (Blake and Mouton)

Contingency Theories  All Consider the Situation – Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model – Fiedler Contingency Model – Path Goal Theory

– Cognitive Resource Theory

 Assumptions underlying the different models: – Fiedler: Leader’s style is fixed. – Other’s: Leader’s style can and should be changed.

Contingency Approach: Hersey and Blanchard Situational Model  Considers Leader Behaviors (Task and Relationship) – Assumes leaders can change their behaviors

 Considers Followers as the Situation – Follower task maturity (ability and experience) – Follower psychological maturity (willingness to take responsibility)

Assumptions – Leaders can and should change their style to fit their followers’ degree of readiness (willingness and ability) – Therefore, it is possible to train leaders to better fit their style to their followers.

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory Situational Leadership Theory (SLT) A contingency theory that focuses on followers’ readiness; the more “ready” the followers (the more willing and able) the less the need for leader support and supervision.

LOW

Amount of Follower Readiness

Amount of Leader Support & HIGH Supervision Required

HIGH

LOW

Fiedler Model  The first comprehensive contingency model for leadership was developed by Fred Fiedler who proposed that effective group performance depends upon the proper match between the leader’s style and the degree to which the situation gives control to the leader. Identifying Leadership Style  Fiedler believed that a key factor in leadership success is the individual’s basic leadership style and this style is fixed – it cannot be changed. He created the least preferred coworker (LPC) questionnaire for this purpose.

LPC » It purports to measure whether a person is task- or relationship-oriented. » The questionnaire contains 16 contrasting adjectives (such as pleasantunpleasant, efficient-inefficient, open-guarded, supportive-hostile). » It asks respondents to describe the one person they least enjoyed working with by rating him or her on a scale of one-to-eight for each of the 16 sets of contrasting adjectives. » Fiedler believes that based on the respondents’ answers to this questionnaire, he can determine their basic leadership style.

 If the least preferred coworker is described in relatively positive terms (a high LPC score), the respondent is primarily interested in good personal relations with this co-worker.  If the least preferred coworker is seen in relatively unfavorable terms (a low LPC score), the respondent is primarily interested in productivity and thus would be labeled task-oriented.

Defining the Situation After assessing leadership style, it is necessary to match the leader with the situation. Fiedler has identified three contingency dimensions: » Leader-member relations—The degree of confidence, trust, and respect members have in their leader » Task structure—The degree to which the job assignments are procedural » Position power—The degree of influence a leader has over power variables such as hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases

The next step is to evaluate the situation in terms of these three contingency variables. » Leader-member relations are either good or poor. » Task structure is either high or low. » Position power is either strong or weak.

 Fiedler states the better the leader-member relations, the more highly structured the job, and the stronger the position power, the more control the leader has.  Altogether, by mixing the three contingency variables, there are potentially eight different situations or categories in which leaders could find themselves.

Matching Leaders and Situations  The Fiedler model proposes matching them up to achieve maximum leadership effectiveness.  Fiedler concluded that task-oriented leaders tend to perform better in situations that were very favorable to them and in situations that were very unfavorable. (See Exhibit 12-2) » Fiedler would predict that when faced with a category I, II, Ill, VII, or VIII situation, task-oriented leaders perform better. » Relationship-oriented leaders, however, perform better in moderately favorable situations—categories IV through VI.

Findings of the Fiedler Model Good

Performance

Task-Oriented

Relationship -Oriented

Poor Favorable

Moderate

Unfavorable

I II III IV V VI VII VIII • Category • Leader-Member Good Good Good Good Poor Poor Poor Poor Relations • Task Structure High High Low Low High High Low Low • Position Power Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak

 Fiedler has condensed these eight situations to three. Task-oriented leaders perform best in situations of high and low control, while relationship-oriented leaders perform best in moderate control situations.  Given Fiedler’s findings, you would seek to match leaders and situations. Because Fiedler views an individual’s leadership style as being fixed, there are only two ways to improve leader effectiveness. » First, you can change the leader to fit the situation. » The second alternative would be to change the situation to fit the leader.

Studies have shown that respondents’ LPC scores are not stable. Also, the contingency variables are complex and difficult for practitioners to assess.

Path-Goal Theory Premise • Leader must help followers attain goals and reduce roadblocks to success • Leaders must change behaviors to fit the situation (environmental contingencies and subordinate contingencies)

Leader-Member Exchange Theory Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory • Leaders select certain followers to be “in” (favorites) based on competence and/or compatibility and similarity to leader • “Exchanges” with these “in” followers will be higher quality than with those who are “out” • Result: “In” subordinates will have higher performance ratings, less turnover, and greater job satisfaction.

Path-Goal Theory

Leader-Member Exchange Theory