Leadership and You

An influential increment over and above mechanical compliance with routine directives of the organization

What is leadership?

Leadership Over Time Traits (1940s) Behaviors (1950s-60s) Situational/Contingency (1960s-70s) Follower-Based Approaches (1970s-80s) Charismatic Leadership (1990s) Leader Authenticity and Ethics (Today)

Trait Theories: What Characteristics Do Leaders Have?

Are leaders intelligent?

Are leaders strong?

Leaders are Great Men!! But what makes them great?

Trait Theories: What Characteristics Do Leaders Have?

Search for personality characteristics associated with leadership was not successful

Despite progress on measuring traits, we could not use them to identify leaders

Problems:◦ Unrefined measurement◦ Negates the situation◦ Leaders have many styles

What kind of leader are you?

Leadership Style Self-Assessment

Styles of Leadership

Democratic Style – the leader takes collaborative, reciprocal, interactive actions with followers; followers have high degree of discretionary influence

Laissez-Faire Style – the leader fails to accept the responsibilities of the position; creates chaos in the work environment

Autocratic Style – the leader uses strong, directive, controlling actions to enforce the rules, regulations, activities, and relationships; followers have little discretionary influence

Behavioral Theories: What Do Leaders Do?

Initiating Structure – leader behavior aimed at defining and organizing work relationships and roles; establishing clear patterns of organization, communication, and ways of getting things done

Consideration – leader behavior aimed at nurturing friendly, warm working relationships, as well as encouraging mutual trust and interpersonal respect within the work unit

Leadership Grid

Concern for People

Concern for Production

High

HighLow

Low

Leadership Grid – an approach to understanding a leader’s or manager’s concern for results (production) and concern for people

Organization Man (5,5) – a middle-of-the-road leader

Authority Compliance Manager (9,1) – a leader who emphasizes efficient production

Country Club Manager (1,9) – a leader who creates a happy, comfortable work environment

Team Manager (9,9) – a leader who builds a highly productive team of committed people

Impoverished Manager (1,1) – a leader who exerts just enough effort to get by

Types of Leaders

Situational Theories Numerous theories which all focus on the

situation as critical including◦ Contingency Theory (Fielder)◦ Path Goal Theory (House)◦ Normative Model (Vroom & Yetton)

All theories point to the situation as a critical factor in determining who leads and does so effectively

Refutes “great man” theory- leaders do not lead equally well in all situations

Fiedler’s Contingency Theory Measures leader style by Least Preferred Coworker Classifies the favorableness of the leader’s situation based on three elements

◦Task Structure – degree of clarity, or ambiguity, in the group’s work activities

◦Position Power – authority associated with the leader’s formal position in the organization

◦Leader–Member Relations – quality of interpersonal relationships among a leader and group members

Leadership Effectiveness in the Contingency Theory

High LPCrelations oriented

Correlations between leader LPC & group performance

Low LPCtask oriented

1.00.80.60.40.200-.20-.40-.60-.80

I II III IV V VI VII VIII

Unfavorable for leader

Favorable for leader

Focus on the follower as the critical situation that matters

Each follower is unique, “good” leadership differs by follower

Follower-Based Approaches

No “One Best” Leadership StyleLeader Behavior

Task Behavior(Directive Behavior)

(Su

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(low) (high)

(low)

(high) S3Share ideasand facilitateIn decisionmaking

S2Explain decisions and provideopportunityforclarification

S1Provide specific instructions and closely supervise performance

S4Turn over

responsibilityfor decisions

and implementation

Low-RelLow Task

High TaskHigh-Rel

High TaskLow-Rel

High-RelLow Task

Del

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Part

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Telling

SOURCE: P. Hersey and K. H. Blanchard and D.E. Johnson, Management of Organizational Behavior: Leading Human Resources, 8th ed. (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2001). 182. Copyright © 2001. Center for Leadership Studies, Escondido, CA. Used with permission.

®

Depends on Followers

High Moderate Low

R4 R3 R2 R1

Able and willing or confident

Able but unwilling

or insecure

Unable but willing or confident

Unable and

unwilling or

insecure

LeaderDirected

FollowerDirected

Follower Readiness

SOURCE: P. Hersey and K. H. Blanchard and D.E. Johnson, Management of Organizational Behavior: Leading Human Resources, 8th ed. (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2001). 182. Copyright © 2001. Center for Leadership Studies, Escondido, CA. Used with permission.

Charismatic

Leaders

Strong vision and articulation

Self-sacrificing, risk-taking

Unconventional, novel behavior

High expectationsBuild self-esteem in followers

Self-confident, dynamic

The Dark Side of Charisma

Good leadership is strengths-based◦ Uses your unique attributes to leverage a

leadership style that works for you Good leaders are authentic

◦ “Be yourself, with more skill” Good leaders care Good leaders have integrity

Ethics and Authenticity