Supportive leadership
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Transcript of Supportive leadership
Supportive Leadership Behavior
www.humanikaconsulting.com
Types of Supportive Leadership Behavior
Being friendly, informative, and
encouraging
Being considerate and
understanding
“Showing concern for followers needs”
“Being sympathetic
to other’s problems”
“Helping followers develop abilities and
careers”
Why Supportive Leadership is
Effective?
# 1
They satisfy people’s needs to be liked and appreciated by others, to be
respected as capable and valuable, and to be continually improving; and
“Supportiveness helps keep a group together by promoting cohesion among members and keeping
individuals from becoming alienated”
#2
Can Supportive Behavior ever be Ineffective ?
• Yes! • A short story
• A leader must be careful how supportive behavior is used and tailor the approach to the needs and concerns of followers.
How to Be Supportive: Skills and Power Bases
Skills, Traits, and Sources of Power
Technical and professional competence
Reward Power
Referent Power
Expert Power
Communication Skills
Interpersonal Skills
Communication skills as supportive leader behavior tool:
Interpersonal Skills as supportive leader behavior tool:
•Through positive, friendly interpersonal relations, leader supports
followers, cooperates with them, develops trust with them, and
assists them.
•Provides social support when followers are upset or under pressure.
•Shows appreciation and takes interest in followers’ lives.
•Sociable leaders enjoy spending time on a regular basis with each
follower. Maintain positive cheerful disposition, said to be easy to
get along with, show consideration and trust towards others.
Expertise as supportive leader behavior tool:
•Must have expertise to provide training and development.
•Supportive resource in solving problems
•Provide useful feedback on performance
•Increases leader’s confidence and willingness to support followers.
Skills, Traits, and Sources of Power
Technical and professional competence
Reward Power
Referent Power
Expert Power
Communication Skills
Interpersonal Skills
How to Be Supportive: Skills and Power Bases
In addition to developing specific skills, supportive leaders also work at
developing three different power bases from which they can effectively apply their
leadership skills: expert, referent, and reward
•Expert power helps leaders support followers by providing knowledge, skill and
ability in performing important tasks and solving problems. The more important
the follower’s problem, the greater the likelihood the leader will have to rely on
expert power. Effective leaders use expert power to support followers by
providing needed knowledge, being available as a source of technical advice,
helping individuals solve job problems, providing explanations of processes, and
referring followers to needed sources of information or assistance.
•Leaders whose personality, accomplishments, and integrity cause followers to
admire and identify with them acquire referent power. When leaders have referent
power, followers attribute favorable motives to the leaders, they want their leaders’
approval, and they interpret small, insignificant behaviors by the leader as
supportive (e.g. smile, or other friendly gesture).
•Reward power can be used to provide needed resources, a better work schedule, a
larger expense account, or advice to for followers. Therefore supportive leaders
should work toward acquiring reward power.
• Effectively convey
their ideas and
feelings, listen actively,
and elicit ideas and
feelings from their
followers.
• Be responsive to
followers’ task-related
problems, complaints,
and personal problems.
• To indicate how much
followers are valued .
Communication Skill
Where are Supportive Behaviors Likely to be Employed?
• When superior is supportive
• Organizational mission
– Human services
– Work with volunteers
– High involvement, high commitment cultures
Supportive Behaviors Around the World
• Britain - sharing of information and welcoming follower suggestions
• Japan & Hong Kong - interactions with group in and out of work
• U.S. - Open door policies, management by walking around
Who Should Receive Supportive Behavior?
Propositions: a) The leader should show the
most concern, be most considerate, and provide the greatest encouragement for the best performers because positive behavior should be reinforced.
b) Interpersonal support should be provided to followers as needed regardless of performance.
Impact of Supportive Leadership
Follower Benefits:
• Satisfaction with work, job & supervisor
• Increased commitment
• Reduced stress
• Increased self-confidence
• Increased performance
• Increased cooperation
• Increased productivity
Organizational Benefits:
• Increased cohesiveness & harmony
• Lower turnover, absenteeism, lateness, grievances
Impact of Supportive Leadership
Situations Where Supportiveness may or may not be Effective
1) Followers are under high stress while trying to complete a dangerous task.
2) Followers are new to the job and are unsure of their abilities and positions.
3) Followers are small group of counselors in a student services dept. of a state university.
4) Followers are very opinionated and stubborn in their point of view.
5) Followers are a large group (over 30) who work at widely varying tasks at different locations.
6) Tasks require creativity and new learning with much competition and possible conflict with other groups.
7) Work involves designing & testing computer programs. Personnel is highly trained and competent and obtain a great deal of satisfaction from their work
Situations Where Supportiveness may or may not be Effective
• Favorable environments: 1,2,3, & 6. They reflect a need for
supportiveness that can enhance or increase leadership
effectiveness.
• Decrease or neutralize: 4 & 5. Indicate followers who may
resist or are immune to the positive effects of supportiveness.
When supportive behaviors are present, they will likely
produce little or no impact in follower reactions. May be
subject to other types of influence.
• Replacement of followers’ need for supportiveness:
Environment 7. When workers find tasks especially satisfying
and basis for high follower commitment and performance,
little supportiveness from leader is necessary.
Situational Factors that Increase Effectiveness of Supportive Leadership
Situational Factors
Task Characteristics
•Dissatisfying •Stressful •Highly structured •Requires creativity •Requires learning
Follower Characteristics
•Low self-confidence
•Low self-esteem
•Insecurity
•Expectation that leader will be supportive
•High growth needs
Organizational and Group Characteristics
•External Conflict
•Newly formed group
•Cohesive group with shared beliefs in leader
•Formal plans, goals, and procedures
•Mission emphasizing human services
•Authoritarian superior
Task Influences: Showing confidence in workers, treating them with empathy relieves
stress and allows works to be more effective.
Organizational and group influences: External Group conflicts - workers appreciate
leader reassurance. Also newly formed groups highly influenced by supportive leader
when he/she helps define goals and role definitions. These people need more support
and attention than other groups.
A cohesive group has a high degree of solidarity, unity, and felt closeness among the
members, and supportive leadership often pays off well in increased productivity as
well as worker attitudes. Group norms can influence outcome here--if favorable to
leader, works for, if not favorable will work against and decrease the positive effects of
a leader’s supportive behavior.
Followers in bureaucratic organizations respond well to supportive behaviors.
Apparently seen as rare caring human rather than organizational machine.
Follower Characteristic Influences: Followers w/above characteristics see supportive
leader as considerate and understanding as a source of comfort and encouragement and
therefore show positive reactions to this behavior. Leaders who are supportive in
individuals reaching their goals is well received.
Situational Factors that Decrease Effectiveness
Factors that Decrease
Effectiveness
Large Group
High Level Job
Dogmatic Followers
Broad Task Scope
Situational Factors that Replace the Need for Supportive Leadership
Situational Factors
Feedback from Task
•Rapid
•Specific
•Accurate
Intrinsically satisfying task
•Interesting
•Gratifying
•Meaningful
High importance placed on organizational rewards
•Pay Raises
•Promotions
Leadership Process Model for Supportive Leadership
Leader Supportiveness
Enhancers of Supportiveness
Follower Psychological
Reactions
Follower Behavioral Outcomes
Neutralizers of Supportiveness
Replacements for Supportiveness
This is a pictorial of the model of supportive leader behavior.
Starting at the top, supportive leader behaviors are shown to
influence follower/group psychological reactions, which in turn
affect the followers’ behavioral outcomes. Situational factors that
can increase or decrease the effectiveness of supportive behavior
are shown on each side and their impact comes to play when they
interact with the supportive behavior. The arrows from the leader
supportiveness box to situational factor boxes indicate that the
leader sometimes can manipulate situations to improve followers’
reactions indirectly and thereby replace the need to provide
supportive behaviors.
Leader Supportiveness
•Concerned, trusting, and respectful of followers
•Considerate understanding attitude
•Friendly, encouraging, communicative
•Fostering follower development
Enhancers of Supportiveness
•Dissatisfying or stressful job
•Low follower self-confidence, insecurity, or self esteem
•Follower expectations of high growth needs
•Structured work tasks
•Complex creative task
•External group conflict
•New or cohesive group
•Organizational mission
•Authoritarian superior
Neutralizers of Supportiveness
•Dogmatic followers
•Large group
•Broad task scope
•High job level
•Satisfaction of esteem and acceptance of need
•Satisfaction with work and supervisor
•Overall job satisfaction
•Organizational commitment
•Lower perceived stress and burnout
•Group harmony and cohesion
Follower Psychological Reactions
Follower Behavioral Outcomes
•Lower Turnover, tardiness, absenteeism, and grievance rates
•Increased individual and group performance
THE LEADER is ...
YOU