DR. LORA HELVIE -MASON, COMS 404

Leaders and Leadership (Chapter 12)

Before you read…

Be prepared to self-reflect during this chapter

Remind yourself of the leaders who have come and gone in your various organizational experiences

Consider the industry you will enter after graduation—what expectations exist for leaders?

Leadership as a process

Leadership is interactional, contextual, and is a process (not a trait someone has)

Various elements help leadership emergeA leader is a person who takes charge of the

situation and influences the attitudes and actions of others They don’t always have the title of leader They see a need and possible answers, and then voice their

ideas They influence the behavior of othersThink about it…

A “manager” knows all of the policies and procedures and

does them correctly. A “leader” knows how to do the right thing even if

it is not spelled out in a manual

Situational Leadership

Early research focused on the person and TRAITS he or she had with the assumption that “leaders are born rather than made.” Consistently, research focused on intelligence,

dominance, self-confidence, energy, activity, and task-related knowledge

More recent research, SITUATIONAL leadership, focuses on behavior, not traits. Behaviors are flexible depending on the situation Leaders, it is assumed, have a “leadership style”

Successful Leadership

Hersey & Blanchard (1988) found characteristics of the followers are relevant to successful leadership Follower maturity Follower ability and willingness

Leaders, then, adjust their behaviors based on the group needs and situation (“styles”) Telling - must tell followers how to do task Delegating – must give followers authority to carry out task Selling – must sell followers on the idea that they can do the

task Participating – must build relationships and share decision-

making

So what?

What’s the big deal about these concepts? Leaders can CHANGE their styles of

interacting with followers by considering their ability and involvement in the task. They will be more successful as they assess and adapt to their followers.

Responsive leaders, flexible leaders, are successful

Charismatic Leadership Theory

House, 1977Charisma is the effect that a leader has on his

or her followers Followers identify with the leader The leader is able to communicate emotional

involvement with the organization’s mission Such leaders often have:

Strong presence A desire to influence others Self-confidence Strong sense of one’s own moral values Goes beyond traits to behaviors

Transactional leadersTransformational leaders

Focused on contingent rewards

Employs management by exception-active or management by exception-passive

The motivation of followers takes place through a system of rewards and punishment based upon performance that is monitored

Appeals to higher order needs of followers

Charisma (or ability to gain trust, respect and confidence from followers)

Demonstrates idealized influence (role model)

Instills inspirational motivation

Intellectually stimulatingCommunicates concern for

his or her followers

Transformational Leadership

Relational Leadership Model

Relationships are CENTRAL to an individual’s success or failure as a leader

Leaders must Create positive relationships with all levels of

employeesCentral principles:

Inclusiveness Empowerment Ethics Purposefulness Process-orientation

Think about it…

Do you feel these principles are necessary? What

thoughts do you have on the role of relationships in

leadership?

Feminist Perspective

Consider the influx of women into positions of higher authority Socialization process begins in childhood. Factors such as family, culture, and

social factors influence the development of leadership capacity Tannen (1990) argued that women and men are socialized from early

childhood to engage in distinctively different communication styles with different purposes, rules, and understandings of how to interpret interactions.

These differences may lead to two different leadership models; one based on masculine instrumentality and the other on feminine collaboration. While both models possess usefulness to an

organization, many feminist scholars argue that the feminine model has historically been rejected by male-dominated organizational structuring processes.

Leadership as Serving

Leadership as serving means “doing things for others that enable them to do their jobs; serving means taking obstacles out of employees’ way rather than putting them up” (Fine & Buzzanell, 2000, p. 131).

Leaders who serve many might experience Hopefulness for fundamental change. Strength in the feminist vision. Watchfulness lest service become servitude. Humbleness in knowledge that the server is an

instrument of change. Wonderment at the passages of self, other, community,

and principal growth.

Responsibilities of Leaders

Leadership brings responsibility and expectations:

1. To act2. To build a team3. To ask the right questions and continue to

search for responses4. To make effective decisions5. To practice constant and continuous

communication Consider what role POWER plays in leadership.

Leaders as Change Agents

Change agents are leaders who directly or indirectly implement new processes, train employees on new policies and procedures, and generally act as role models to demonstrate different and better ways of working (Arrata, Despierre, & Kumra, 2007).

Think about it…

Read Canterucci’s five

levels of change leadership

skills.

What do you think about

change agents?

Change agents are unique!

Can envision a future as no others see it

Courage/confidence to gamble with careers

Charisma, can create excitement in others

Social Responsibility

Organizations must now consider social responsibilities—consumersare demanding they are held accountable

Leaders are held accountable and must live up to organization’s SR goals

Corporate social responsibility is defined by the International

Organization for Standardization as a “balanced approach for

organizations to address economic,

social, and environmental issues in a way

that aims to benefit people,

communities, and society.”

Think about it…Explore examples in your text of the fines, fraud, public relations issues, and litigation…can you think of more examples? What

impact do these items have on the organization, employees, and

leaders?

Passionate Leaders

One critical aspect of outstanding leadership is passion: passion for the job, passion for the organization, passion for the people in the organization. Leaders who don’t love what they are doing often fail We often choose to do what we love

Think about it…

Does passion really matter? What do you

think?

Personally reflect on your leadership skills. How would others rate you? How do your strategies change when you are at work, at home, or at school?

What elements of social

responsibility should our

leaders be concerned

about in today’s

competitive marketplace?

Examine the organization you are following this semester. How do their leaders act?

What are their expectations? Do they met them?