What Is Leadership?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

Both are necessary for organizational success

Trait Theories of LeadershipTrait Theories of Leadership

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

Not very useful until matched with the Big Five Personality Framework

Leadership Traits– Extroversion

– Conscientiousness

– Openness

– Emotional Intelligence (Qualified)

Traits can predict leadership, but they are better at predicting leader emergence than effectiveness.

Behavioral Theories of LeadershipBehavioral Theories of Leadership

Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from nonleaders

Differences between theories of leadership:

– Trait theory: leadership is inherent, so we must identify the leader based on his or her traits

– Behavioral theory: leadership is a skill set and can be taught to anyone, so we must identify the proper behaviors to teach potential leaders

Important Behavioral StudiesImportant Behavioral Studies

Ohio State University – Found two key dimensions of leader behavior:

• Initiating structure – the defining and structuring of roles

• Consideration – job relationships that reflect trust and respect

• Both are important

University of Michigan– Also found two key dimensions of leader behavior:

• Employee-oriented – emphasizes interpersonal relationships and is the most powerful dimension

• Production-oriented – emphasizes the technical aspects of the job

– The dimensions of the two studies are very similar

Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid®Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid®

Draws on both studies to assess leadership style– “Concern for People” is

Consideration and Employee-Orientation

– “Concern for Production” is Initiating Structure and Production-Orientation

Style is determined by position on the graph

Situational LeadershipSituational Leadership

As the name of the approach suggests, situational situational leadership leadership focuses on leadership in situations. The principle of the theory is that different situations demand different kinds of leadership. So from this perspective, the theory says that each situation demand different types of leadership styles.

Situational LeadershipSituational Leadership

Situational leadership says that leadership is composed of two dimensions as:

Directive Behaviors : Leaders will help group members in accomplishing goals by giving directions, starting goals, setting time lines, defining roles, and showing how the goals are to be achieved. Supportive Behaviors: Leaders help members feel comfortable about themselves, their coworkers, and the situation. Examples of supportive behaviors include asking for input, solving problems, praising, sharing information about oneself, and listening. Supportive behaviors are mostly job related.

Delegating: The leader offers less task

input and social support, facilitating

employees’ confidence and

motivation in reference to the task.

this style lets subordinates take

responsibility for getting the job done the way they see fit

Delegating: The leader offers less task

input and social support, facilitating

employees’ confidence and

motivation in reference to the task.

this style lets subordinates take

responsibility for getting the job done the way they see fit

Supporting: The leader does not focus

exclusively on goals but uses supportive

behaviors that bring out the employees’

skills around the task to be accomplished. The supportive style

includes listening, praising, asking for

input, and giving feedback.

Supporting: The leader does not focus

exclusively on goals but uses supportive

behaviors that bring out the employees’

skills around the task to be accomplished. The supportive style

includes listening, praising, asking for

input, and giving feedback.

Coaching: the leader focuses

communication on both achieving goals

and meeting subordinates’

socioemotional needs. However,

coaching is an extension of S1 in that

it still requires that the leader make the final decision on the

what and how of goal accomplishment.

Coaching: the leader focuses

communication on both achieving goals

and meeting subordinates’

socioemotional needs. However,

coaching is an extension of S1 in that

it still requires that the leader make the final decision on the

what and how of goal accomplishment.

Directing: In this approach, the leader

focuses communication on goal achievement,

and spends a smaller amount of time using supportive behaviors.

Using this style, a leader gives

instructions about what and how goals

are to be achieved by the subordinates and then supervises them

carefully.

Directing: In this approach, the leader

focuses communication on goal achievement,

and spends a smaller amount of time using supportive behaviors.

Using this style, a leader gives

instructions about what and how goals

are to be achieved by the subordinates and then supervises them

carefully.

Level of DevelopmentLevel of DevelopmentLevel of DevelopmentLevel of Development

Rene Martinez, owns a house painting business. Rene specializes in restoration of old homes and over 30 years has acquired extensive knowledge of the specialized abilities required including understanding old construction and painting materials and techniques, plaster repair, carpentry, and window glazing. Rene has three employees: Ashley, who has worked for him for seven years and whom he trained from the beginning of her career; Levi, who worked for a commercial painter for four years before being hired by Rene two years ago; and Anton, who is just starting out.

Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational LeadershipHersey & Blanchard’s Situational Leadership

A model that focuses on follower “readiness”– Followers can accept or reject the leader

– Effectiveness depends on the followers’ response to the leader’s actions

– “Readiness” is the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task

A paternal model: – As the child matures, the adult releases more and more

control over the situation

– As the workers become more ready, the leader becomes more laissez-faire

An spontaneous model that does not get much support from the research findings

Paternal: Paternal: Fatherly; behaving as or characteristic of a fatherFatherly; behaving as or characteristic of a father

Contingency Theory Contingency Theory

The story of the theory:

Contingency theory is a leader–match theory, which means it tries to match leaders to appropriate situations. Fiedler developed contingency theory by studying the styles of many different leaders who worked in different contexts, primarily military organizations. After analyzing the styles of hundreds of leaders who were both good and bad, Fiedler and his colleagues were able to make empirically grounded generalizations about which styles of leadership were best and which styles were worst for a given organizational context.

Contingency Theory Contingency Theory

In short, contingency theory is concerned with styles and situations. It provides the framework for effectively matching the leader and the situation.

Leadership stylesSituational Variables

Leadership StylesLeadership StylesLeadership StylesLeadership Styles

Task Motivated Leaders:are concerned primarily with reaching a goal…

Relationship Motivated Leaders: are concerned with developing close interpersonal relationships.

To measure leader styles,

Fiedler developed the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale. Leaders who

score high on this scale are described as relationship motivated, and those who score low on the scale are

identified as task motivated.

Situational Variables Situational Variables Situational Variables Situational Variables

Leader–Member Relations : Leader–member relations consist of the group atmosphere and the degree of confidence, loyalty, and attraction that followers feel for their leader. If group atmosphere is positive and subordinates trust, like, and get along with their leader, the leader–member relations are defined as good. On the other hand, if the atmosphere is unfriendly and friction exists within the group, the leader–member relations are defined as poor.

Situational Variables Situational Variables Situational Variables Situational Variables

Task Structure: The degree to which the requirements of a task are clear and spelled out. Tasks that are completely structured tend to give more control to the leader, whereas vague and unclear tasks lessen the leader’s control and influence. A task is considered structured when (a) the requirements of the task are clearly stated and known by the people required to perform them, (b) the path to accomplishing the task has few alternatives, (c) completion of the task can be clearly demonstrated, and (d) only a limited number of correct solutions to the task exist.

Situational Variables Situational Variables Situational Variables Situational Variables

Position Power: The amount of authority a leader has to reward or to punish followers. It includes the legitimate power individuals acquire as a result of the position they hold in an organization. Position power is strong if a person has the authority to hire and fire or give raises in rank or pay; it is weak if a person does not have the authority to do these things.

Graphic Representation of Fiedler’s ModelGraphic Representation of Fiedler’s Model

Used to determine which type of leader

to use in a given

situation

How Does Contingency Theory Work?How Does Contingency Theory Work?

Effective in Categories – 1, 2, 3, & 8

If individual’s style matches appropriate category in the model, leader will be effective

If individual’s style does not match appropriate category in the model, leader will not be effective

Low LPCs – Task-OrientedLow LPCs –

Task-Oriented

Middle LPCsMiddle LPCs

High LPCs – Relationship-Oriented

High LPCs – Relationship-Oriented

Effective in Categories – 4, 5, 6, & 7

Effective in Categories – 1, 2, & 3

How Does Contingency Theory Work?How Does Contingency Theory Work?

How Does it Work?How Does it Work?

Example:Situation

Leader–Member Relation – GoodTask Structure – HighPosition Power – HighCategory – 1Low LPC – (Individual who is task-oriented will be effective)

By measuring Leader’s LPC score and the 3 situational variables, it is possible to predict whether a leader will be effective in a particular setting

Case StudyCase StudyCase StudyCase Study