Leadership

1. Leadership • Leadership: the ability to guide a group toward the achievement of a goal • Leadership: the process whereby one individual influences other group members toward attaining defined group or organizational goals non-coercive attains Follower Leader Goal influence

2. Leadership • The distinction between leadership and management • The primary function of a leader is to create the essential purpose or mission of the organization and the strategy for attaining it. • The primary function is to implement that vision. • One implication of participate management practices is that leadership must be demonstrated by a greater proportion of the organization.

3. Leadership • Leadership Theories • Universalist Theories • Great Man/Woman Theory • Trait Theory • Behavioral Theories • Ohio State Studies • Michigan Studies

4. Leadership • Leadership Theories • Contingency Theories • Fiedler’s Contingency Model • The Path-Goal Theory • Vroom-Yetton Decision Making Model • Leader-Member Exchange Model • Situational Leadership Theory • Charismatic Leadership • Transformational Leadership • Substitutes for Leadership

5. Leadership • Great Man/Woman Theory • Great leaders are born, not made. • Great leaders possess key traits that set them apart from most other humans. • This approach suggests all great leaders share these characteristics, regardless of when or where they lived or the precise role in history they fulfilled. • There is very little evidence to support this theory.

6. Leadership • Trait Theory • Attempt to discover the traits shared by all effective leaders • Traits are enduring attributes associated with an individual’s make-up or personality • Much of this research has focused on physical characteristics, such as height, attractiveness, athleticism. • Review of this research have found very little consistency in the findings - see Stogdill, 1948

7. Leadership • Trait Theory • Lord et al. (1986) • Meta-analysis of trait theory research identified 3 traits consistently associated with leadership • Dominant • Intelligent • Masculine • Main Problems with Trait Theory • Deals with perceptions of leadership effectiveness, not actual effectiveness • Does not take the situation into account

8. Leadership • Ohio State Studies • Focused on leadership behaviors -- what do leaders do? • A list of 1800 specific behaviors was compiled and factor analyses identified two kinds of leadership behavior: • Initiating structure: leader behaviors that define, organize, and structure the work situation • Consideration: leader behaviors that show a concern for the feeling, attitudes, and needs of followers.

9. Leadership • Michigan Studies • At about the same time, folks at U. of M. were doing similar research and found similar findings. • Task-oriented behaviors: focused on the work task • Relationship-oriented behaviors: focused on interpersonal relationships

10. Leadership • Strengths of Behavioral Approach • Went beyond perceptions of leadership and focused on behaviors exhibited by effective leaders • Advanced the measurement of leadership • Weakness of Behavioral Approach • The situation is not taken into account

11. Leadership • Fiedler’s Contingency Model (1967) • A leadership theory that maintains that effective leadership depends on a match between the leader’s style and the degree to which the work situation gives control and influence to the leader • Fiedler’s theory actually started with his observations of clinical psychologists and ended up in a very different place

12. Leadership • Fiedler’s Contingency Model • Leadership style measured with the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) Scale • High LPC - relationship oriented • Low LPC - task oriented • Originally, Fiedler believed High LPC leaders would be more effective than Low LPC leaders -- research did not support this hypothesis and so Fiedler thought, ‘Let’s take the situation into account….’

13. Leadership • Fiedler’s Contingency Model • Fiedler believed that situations could be classified in terms of favorableness (situational control) determined by 3 factors: • Leader-member relations: how well liked, trusted, and respected the leader was by his/her subordinates • Task structure: how ‘cut and dry’ the group’s tasks are and how well group performance can be evaluated • Position power: the authority of the leader to reward and punish his/her subordinates

14. Leadership

15. Leadership • Fiedler’s Contingency Model • Strengths of this approach • Some empirical support • Application of theory - Leadership Match Program • First leadership to take the situation into account (historical significance)

16. Leadership • Fiedler’s Contingency Model • Weaknesses of this approach • Although clear predictions are made, the rationale behind those predictions in not very clear • What the LPC scale is measuring is not well understood • Fiedler’s dichotomous use of scale has been questioned

17. Leadership • Path-Goal Theory (House, 1971) • A leader’s job is to help the work group achieve their desired goals. • Basic Premise: A leader must diagnose the situation and decide which leadership style will most motivate subordinates. • One implication of this theory is that a leader should be able to exhibit a number of different leadership styles.

18. Leadership • Leadership Styles in Path-Goal Theory • Directive behavior: providing instructions and structuring the performance of a task • Achievement-oriented behavior: setting challenging goals and monitoring progress • Supportive behavior: showing concern for workers • Participative behavior: soliciting information from workers

19. Leadership • Contingency Factors in Path-Goal Theory • Characteristics of subordinates • Ability • Personality • Aspects of the work environment • Task structure • Formal authority

20. Leadership • Strengths of Path-Goal Theory • Some empirical support • Takes the situation into account • Uses an expanded taxonomy of leadership style • Weakness of Path-Goal Theory • Overall, recommendations are vague. • A more specific procedure for diagnosing situations would be useful • Assumes that any leader can use all 4 leadership styles.

21. Leadership • Vroom-Yetton Normative Model of Leadership • A theory that matches characteristics of the situation with leader decision making strategies • Decision making strategies range from autocratic to participative (see Table12.1 in textbook). • In order to determine the correct strategy for a situation, a manager ask him/herself a series of questions and follows a decisions tree that recommends the best approach for different situations.

22. Leadership Vroom-Yetton Normative Model

23. Leadership • Vroom-Yetton Normative Model of Leadership • Two additional questions should be asked if you end up with more than one strategy suggested by the model: • Is time an important consideration? Does the decision have to be made quickly? If yes, a more autocratic approach would be preferred. • Is employee development an important consideration? If yes, a more participative approach would be preferred.

24. Leadership • Vroom-Yetton Normative Model of Leadership • The model often suggests a range of leadership styles. • Two additional questions should be asked if you end up with more than one strategy suggested by the model: • Is time an important consideration? Does the decision have to be made quickly? If yes, a more autocratic approach would be preferred. • Is employee development an important consideration? If yes, a more participative approach would be preferred.

25. Leadership • Vroom-Yetton Normative Model of Leadership • Some have criticized the model for only providing ‘yes’ or ‘no’ responses. Vroom & Yetton responded by creating a new model that utilized a 5-point rating scale and a computer interface. • Other criticisms • Individual differences in leadership style aren’t taken into account • Difficulty level of decision is not taken into account

26. Leadership • Vroom-Yetton Normative Model of Leadership • Empirical Research • Self -report research largely supports the model • Experimental research tends to support the model • A meta-analysis by Eagly and Johnson (1990) suggest there are gender differences in leadership style. Men tend to use more authoritative strategies whereas women tend to use more participative strategies.

27. Leadership • Vroom-Yetton Normative Model of Leadership • Strengths • Research tends to support the theory • The model has been successfully applied to management training programs and computerized work aids. • Weakness • Yes-No response • Normative • Decision-making is just one aspect of leadership

28. Leadership • Leader-Member Exchange Theory • A theory that effective leadership is determined by the quality of the interaction between the leader and particular group members. • One proposition of this theory is that leaders tend to separate their subordinates into two groups: • The in-group, or the cadre receive considerably more attention from the leader and larger share of the resources that the leader has to offer. • The out-group, or the hired hands receive less attention and fewer resources

29. Leadership • Leader-Member Exchange Theory • Research suggest that having a high quality relationship with a leader is associated with: • better job performance • greater organizational commitment • less absenteeism • and greater job satisfaction

30. Leadership • Leader-Member Exchange Theory • Strength • This theory acknowledges that leaders have different relationships with different subordinates. • Research tends to support the theory. • Simple application of the theory is to improve leaders relationships with the out-group. • Weakness • The theory does not specify which situations are optimal for different types of relationships.

31. Leadership • Situational Leadership • A theory that specifies that the most appropriate leadership style depends on the amount of emotional support and guidance followers require to do their jobs. • This theory suggest that the best leadership style is determined by considering the maturity of followers, their readiness to take responsibility for their own behavior. • Task behavior: the degree to which followers have the appropriate job knowledge • Relationship behavior: the degree to which followers need emotional support

32. Leadership • Situational Leadership • Telling - giving followers specific directions and closely supervising their work • Selling - Explaining and clarifying how work is to be done and attempting to motivate workers • Participating - Allowing followers to approach the task autonomously but providing emotional support for motivation • Delegating - Hands-off leadership

33. Leadership • Situational Leadership • Strengths • Considers how leader-follower relationship change over time • Has been successfully applied at many large organizations and is well received by managers • Weaknesses • Research provides limited support (Vechio, 1987)

34. Leadership • Charismatic Leadership • States that leaders possess some exceptional characteristics that cause followers to be loyal and inspired • Some behaviors typical of charismatic leaders are: • impression management to maintain follower confidence in the leader • articulation of an appealing vision that defines the task in terms of ideological al goals in order to build follower commitment • communication of high expectations • expression of confidence in followers

35. Leadership • Charismatic Leadership • Negative charasmatics • Start Grandiose projects to glorify themselves • Spend to much time strategizing and not enough time implementing the vision • Fail to develop competent successors

36. Leadership • Transformational leadership focuses on the leader’s ability to provide shared values and a vision for the future of the work group. • Identifying and articulating a vision • Providing an appropriate model • Fostering the acceptance of group goals • Maintaining high performance expectations • Providing individualized support • Providing intellectual stimulation

37. Leadership • Substitutes for Leadership • The substitutes for leadership theory proposes that various organizational, task, and employee characteristics can act as substitutes or neutralizers for traditional leadership behaviors. • Substitutes are situational or individual factors that replace the leaders actions. • Neutralizers are situations or factors that make the leaders actions irrelevant.