Chapter 11: Leadership

What are you responsible to learn?

• Contrast leadership and management
• Summarize the conclusions of trait theories
• Identify the limitations of behavioral theories
• Describe Fiedler’s contingency model
• Explain Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory
• Summarize leader-member exchange theory
• Describe the path-goal theory
• Identify the situational variables in the leader-participation model

What is Leadership?

The ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals.

• Leadership plays a central part in understanding group behavior.
• There are many definitions of leadership and various theories have been proposed
• Is "Management" the same as "Leadership"? What does a manager do? What does a leader do? Why is “coping” important according to Kotter? (p. 313)

LEADERSHIP THEORIES….

Trait Theories

Theories that consider personal qualities and characteristics that differentiate leaders from non-leaders.

• Some traits increase the likelihood of success as a leader, but none of them guarantee success.
• Some limitations to trait theories…. There are no universal traits - traits appear to predict leadership in selective situations only; Traits generally predict behavior in “weak” vs. “strong” situations; cause and effect relationships are not clear; do traits simply predict the appearance of leadership rather than effective vs. ineffective leadership.

Behavioral Theories

Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from non-leaders.

Ohio State Studies

• Initiating structure vs.
• Consideration

University of Michigan Studies

• Employee oriented vs.
• Production oriented

The Managerial Grid

• Concern for people vs. concern for production (i.e. 81 different styles on which a leader's behavior may fall)

Scandinavian Studies

• Effective leaders display “development-oriented behavior” (value experimentation, seeks new ideas, and generates and implements change)

Contingency Theories

Five contingency models are explored...(what works in one organization may not work in another; e.g., Linda Wachner of Warnaco, p. 319)

Fiedler Model

Effective group performance depends upon the proper match between the leader's style of interacting with subordinates and the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to the leader.  Assumes an individual's leadership style is fixed.

• Identify style via the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale

        Leader-member relations

                Task structure

                Position power

Match leaders and situations

*Cognitive resource theory: stress unfavorably affects a situation. Intelligence and experience can lessen the influence of stress on the leader…

Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Theory

• Situational leadership theory (SLT) – Focus on “readiness” of the followers (ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task)

Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX)

Leaders create "in-groups" and "out-groups", and subordinates with in-group status will have higher performance ratings, less turnover, and greater satisfaction with their superior.

Path-Goal Theory

A leader's behavior is acceptable to subordinates insofar as they view it as a source of either immediate or future satisfaction.

• Directive vs. Supportive leadership

Leader-Participation Model

Provides a set of rules to determine the form and amount of participative decision making in different situations.  There are now 12 contingency variables in the latest revision of this model (please see page 327).  This model is often too complicated for managers/leaders to actually put into place in organizations.

Summary and Implications for Managers

Leaders usually are the members of an organization who provide the direction toward goal attainment.

Re: Traits - Generally speaking, individuals who are ambitious; have high energy, a desire to lead, self-confidence, intelligence, and are flexible are more likely to succeed as leaders than those without these traits.

No particular style (behavioral theories) is effective in all situations

Contingency models help us better understand leadership. Consider…..Task structure of the job, level of situational stress, group support, leader intelligence and experience, and follower characteristics (personality, experience, ability and motivation)

Chapter 12: Contemporary Issues in Leadership

What are you responsible to learn?

Identify the five dimensions of trust

Define the qualities of a charismatic leader

Contrast transformational with transactional leadership

Identify the skills that visionary leaders exhibit

Explain how framing influences leadership effectiveness

Identify the four roles that team leaders perform

Explain the role of a mentor

Describe how online leadership differs from face to face leadership

Identify when leadership may not be necessary

Explain how to find and create effective leaders.

Trust: The Foundation of Leadership

Trust

• A positive expectation that another will not act opportunistically
• Competence, consistency, loyalty and openness are dimensions of trust
• You cannot lead others who do not trust you!  Reengineering, downsizing, and the use of 'temps' have undermined employee trust in management

Three Types of Trust

• Deterrence Based Trust (based on fear)
• Knowledge Based Trust (based on predictability over time)
• Identification Based Trust (based on mutual understanding of wants and needs)

Leaders as Shapers of Meaning

Framing Issues

§ A way to use language to manage meaning

Charismatic Leadership

• Followers make attributions of heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors (ex - Martin Luther King and JFK)
• Are charismatic leaders born or made? Can charisma be a liability?

Transactional vs. Transformational Leadership

• Transactional - leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements

• Transformational - leaders who inspire followers who transcend their own self-interests and who are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers.

Visionary Leadership

• The ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, attractive vision of the future for an organization or organizational unit that grows out of and improves upon the present.

• Q: What skills to visionary leaders exhibit? A: The ability to explain the vision to others, the ability to express the vision not just verbally but through the leader’s behavior, and the ability to extend the vision to different leadership contexts.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) & Leadership Effectiveness

• EI has 5 key components - which "great" leaders demonstrate:
1. self-awareness
2. self-management
3. self-motivation
4. empathy
5. social skills
• EI may be added to our list of "traits" of effective leaders (Chapter 11)

Contemporary Leadership Roles

Providing Team Leadership

• Many leaders are not equipped to handle the change to teams.
• New skills such as the patience to share information, trust others, give up authority, and knowing when to intervene are paramount.
• Team leaders are liaisons with external constituencies, troubleshooters, conflict managers, and coaches

Mentoring: A senior employee who sponsors and supports a less-experienced employee.

Self-Leadership: A set of processes through which individuals control their own behavior.

Moral Leadership

• Leadership is not value free - before we judge who is an "effective" leader, we must consider both the means used to achieve goals and the moral content of those goals.

ONLINE LEADERSHIP: SOME SPECULATIVE THOUGHTS

§ Most research has been conducted with “face-to-face” and “verbal” leadership situations.

§ What about online leadership? There is no “non-verbal” component (you cannot “read” the other person via email).

§ Instead, the structure of words in digital communications can influence reactions: full sentences, phrases, USING ALL CAPS, formality, importance/urgency, style (emoticons, jargon, abbreviations, etc). Messages can convey trust, status, task directives, or emotional warmth.

§ Writings skills are likely to become an extension of interpersonal skills in the future.

Challenges to the Leadership Construct

Leadership as an Attribution

§ Is leadership merely an attribution that people make about other individuals?

Substitutes and Neutralizers to Leadership

§ Some argue that sometimes leaders are not even needed! Sometimes individual, job, and organizational variables can act as substitutes for leadership or neutralize the leader's effect to influence followers (ex = a highly structured task)

Finding and Creating Leaders

§ Can we use selection to help? (personality tests, interviews – match to situation)

§ Training (can we train leadership? E.g. trust building, mentoring, situation-analysis skills)

Summary and Implications for Managers

• Trust is important - as organizations are less stable, personal trust is key in defining relationships and defining expectations
• Transformational leaders are in demand. Organizations want leaders with vision and charisma to carry out the visions.
• Invest in leadership selection and training (and follow up with assessment centers, courses, workshops, rotating job responsibilities, coaching, and mentoring)