LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP

According to a Layman, Leadership is the process of encouraging and helping others to work enthusiastically towards objectives.

“When you boil it down, contemporary leadership seems to a matter of aligning people toward common goals and empowering them to take the actions needed to reach them.”

Sherman, 1995

A LEADERSHIP STORY: A group of workers and their leaders are set a task

of clearing a road through a dense jungle on a remote island to get to the coast where an estuary provides a perfect site for a port.

The leaders organise the labour into efficient units and monitor the distribution and use of capital assets – progress is excellent. The leaders continue to monitor and evaluate progress, making adjustments along the way to ensure the progress is maintained and efficiency increased wherever possible.

Then, one day amidst all the hustle and bustle and activity, one person climbs up a nearby tree. The person surveys the scene from the top of the tree.

And shouts down to the assembled group below… “Wrong Way!” (Story adapted from Stephen Covey (2004) “The Seven

Habits of Highly Effective People” Simon & Schuster).

“Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things”

(Warren Bennis and Peter Drucker)

STYLES OF LEADERSHIP

There are four types of Leadership styles:

Autocratic Democratic Laissez-Faire Paternalistic

AUTOCRATIC

Leader Expects complete obedience from his subordinates.

No Suggestions or initiative from subordinates is entertained.

The power of decision making is in the hands of the leader.

Can create de-motivation and alienation of staff.

Leader is the formal head of the org. and is generally disliked by the subordinates.

DEMOCRATIC

This style implies compromise between autocratic and laissez-fair style of leadership.

Encourages decision making from different perspectives – leadership may be emphasised throughout the organisationConsultative: process of consultation before decisions

are takenPersuasive: Leader takes decision and seeks to

persuade others that the decision is correct

May help motivation and involvement.

Workers feel ownership of the firm and its ideas.

Improves the sharing of ideas and experiences within the business.

Can delay decision making.

LAISSEZ -FAIRE

Maximum freedom is allowed to subordinates Free to make independent decisions. Creates self confidence in workers and provide them an

opportunity to develop their talents. Can be very useful in businesses

where creative ideas are important.

PATERNALISTIC

Leader acts as a ‘father figure’ Paternalistic leader makes decision but may consult Believes in the need to support staff

LEADERSHIP TRAITS

Adaptable Alert to social environment. Self confident Willing to assume responsibility Make others feel important Admit mistakes

THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP

o Trait theorieso Behaviouralo Contingency Theorieso Path-Goal Theory

TRAIT THEORY Trait which are essential to be a successful leader Believe is that the leadership traits are inherited or in born It consider personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits to

differentiate leaders from nonleaders

Leadership behavior - facilitating goal attainment and recruitment of followers regardless of the context (5 usual traits)

Intelligence

self-confidence

determination

integrity

sociability

LEADERSHIP TRAITS• Ambition and energy• The desire to lead• Honest and integrity• Self-confidence• Intelligence• High self-monitoring• Job-relevant knowledge

Limitations:

• No universal traits found that predict leadership in all situations.

• Traits predict behavior better in “weak” than “strong” situations.

• Unclear evidence of the cause and effect of relationship of leadership and traits.

• Better predictor of the appearance of leadership than distinguishing effective and ineffective leaders.

BEHAVIOURAL THEORY

Leadership involves an interpersonal relationship between a leader and subordinates.

It propose that specific behaviors differentiate leaders from nonleaders.

Emphasized on particular behavior by him The main purpose of this theory is to determine how

various kinds of specific behavior affect the performance and satisfaction of subordinates.

• Trait theory:Leaders are born, not made.

• Behavioral theory:Leadership traits can be taught.

• Trait theory:Leaders are born, not made.

• Behavioral theory:Leadership traits can be taught.

CONTINGENCY THEORIES This is a leader match theory because it tries to match

leaders to appropriate situations A leader’s effectiveness depends on how well the

leader’s style fits the context The theory was developed by studying the styles of

leaders in situations and whether they were effective (primarily in military organizations)

Concerned with styles and situations Leadership styles are either task motivated or

relationship motivated Situations have three factors: leader-member relations,

task structure and position power

Leadership as being more flexible – different leadership styles used at different times depending on the circumstance.

Suggests leadership is not a fixed series of characteristics that can be transposed into different contexts

It depend on:Type of staffHistory of the businessCulture of the businessQuality of the relationshipsNature of the changes neededAccepted norms within the institution

PATH GOAL THEORY

Path Goal theory is about how leaders motivate subordinates to accomplish designated goals

The stated goal of leadership is to enhance employee performance and employee satisfaction by focusing on employee motivation

Emphasizes the relationship between the leader’s style and characteristics of the subordinates and the work setting

The leader must use a style that best meets the subordinates motivational needs

Advantages: Helps understand how leader behavior effects subordinates

satisfaction and work performance Deals directly with motivation – one of the only theories to

address this Provides a very practical model – make a clear path and follow

it

Limitations: This is a very complex theory that incorporates many aspects of

leadership Research only partially supports the theory Fails to explain adequately the relationship between leader

behavior and subordinate motivation Treats leadership as a one way street, places a majority of the

responsibility on the leader

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