LEADERSHIP

Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct, guide and influence the behaviour
and work of others towards accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. Leadership
is the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence and zeal.
Leadership is the potential to influence behaviour of others. It is also defined as the capacity
to influence a group towards the realization of a goal. Leaders are required to develop future
visions, and to motivate the organizational members to want to achieve the visions.
According to Keith Davis, “Leadership is the ability to persuade others to seek defined
objectives enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group together and motivates
it towards goals.”

Leadership is the ability to lead or someone who is the head of a group of people. There are
different strategies for obtaining and executing the most effective leadership along with
different styles of management. Effective leadership does not necessarily mean the leader is
good and the results benefit society, as evidenced by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. Good
societies, however, are rarely extant without effective leadership.

Understanding leadership has been the source of much research and theorizing. Sociologists
such as Max Weber have been in the forefront of such work. It has been suggested that there
are several kinds of leadership, with different qualities such as charisma, entrepreneurial
spirit, and the ability to communicate and work well together with others. Understanding how
to lead also involves understanding the role and needs of the followers.

Thus, a leader who can motivate their followers to a common goal, that benefits all,
encourage them to work together cooperatively, and take care of their needs is the one who is
most likely to be successful in the long run.

Characteristics of Leadership
1. It is an inter-personal process in which a manager is into influencing and guiding
workers towards attainment of goals.
2. It denotes a few qualities to be present in a person which includes intelligence,
maturity and personality.
3. It is a group process. It involves two or more people interacting with each other.
4. A leader is involved in shaping and moulding the behaviour of the group towards
accomplishment of organizational goals.
5. Leadership is situation bound. There is no best style of leadership. It all depends upon
tackling with the situations.

Importance of Leadership
Leadership is an important function of management which helps to maximize efficiency and
to achieve organizational goals. The following points justify the importance of leadership in a
concern.
1. Initiates action - Leader is a person who starts the work by communicating the
policies and plans to the subordinates from where the work actually starts.

2. Motivation - A leader proves to be playing an incentive role in the concern’s working.

He motivates the employees with economic and non-economic rewards and thereby
gets the work from the subordinates.

3. Providing guidance - A leader has to not only supervise but also play a guiding role
for the subordinates. Guidance here means instructing the subordinates the way they
have to perform their work effectively and efficiently.

4. Creating confidence - Confidence is an important factor which can be achieved

through expressing the work efforts to the subordinates, explaining them clearly their
role and giving them guidelines to achieve the goals effectively. It is also important to
hear the employees with regards to their complaints and problems.

5. Building morale - Morale denotes willing co-operation of the employees towards their
work and getting them into confidence and winning their trust. A leader can be a
morale booster by achieving full co-operation so that they perform with best of their
abilities as they work to achieve goals.

6. Builds work environment - Management is getting things done from people. An

efficient work environment helps in sound and stable growth. Therefore, human
relations should be kept into mind by a leader. He should have personal contacts with
employees and should listen to their problems and solve them. He should treat
employees on humanitarian terms.

7. Co-ordination - Co-ordination can be achieved through reconciling personal interests

with organizational goals. This synchronization can be achieved through proper and
effective co-ordination which should be primary motive of a leader.

Roles of a Leader
Following are the main roles of a leader in an organization:
1. Required at all levels- Leadership is a function which is important at all levels of
management. In the top level, it is important for getting co-operation in formulation of
plans and policies. In the middle and lower level, it is required for interpretation and
execution of plans and programmes framed by the top management. Leadership can
be exercised through guidance and counselling of the subordinates at the time of
execution of plans.
2. Representative of the organization- A leader is said to be the representative of the
enterprise. He has to represent the concern at seminars, conferences, general
meetings, etc. His role is to communicate the rationale of the enterprise to outside
public. He is also representative of the own department which he leads.
 3. Integrates and reconciles the personal goals with organizational goals- A leader
through leadership traits helps in reconciling/ integrating the personal goals of the
employees with the organizational goals. He is trying to co-ordinate the efforts of
people towards a common purpose and thereby achieves objectives. This can be done
only if he can influence and get willing co-operation and urge to accomplish the
objectives.
4. He solicits support- A leader is a manager and besides that he is a person who
entertains and invites support and co-operation of subordinates. This he can do by his
personality, intelligence, maturity and experience which can provide him positive
result. In this regard, a leader has to invite suggestions and if possible implement them
into plans and programmes of enterprise. This way, he can solicit full support of
employees which results in willingness to work and thereby effectiveness in running
of a concern.
5. As a friend, philosopher and guide- A leader must possess the three dimensional
traits in him. He can be a friend by sharing the feelings, opinions and desires with the
employees. He can be a philosopher by utilizing his intelligence and experience and
thereby guiding the employees as and when time requires. He can be a guide by
supervising and communicating the employees the plans and policies of top
management and secure their co-operation to achieve the goals of a concern. At times
he can also play the role of a counsellor by counselling and a problem-solving
approach. He can listen to the problems of the employees and try to solve them.
Qualities of a Leader
A leader has got multidimensional traits in him which makes him appealing and effective in
behaviour. The following are the requisites to be present in a good leader:
1. Physical appearance- A leader must have a pleasing appearance. Physique and
health are very important for a good leader.
2. Vision and foresight- A leader cannot maintain influence unless he exhibits that he is
forward looking. He has to visualize situations and thereby has to frame logical
programmes.
3. Intelligence- A leader should be intelligent enough to examine problems and difficult
situations. He should be analytical who weighs pros and cons and then summarizes
the situation. Therefore, a positive bent of mind and mature outlook is very important.
4. Communicative skills- A leader must be able to communicate the policies and
procedures clearly, precisely and effectively. This can be helpful in persuasion and
stimulation.
5. Objective- A leader has to be having a fair outlook which is free from bias and which
does not reflects his willingness towards a particular individual. He should develop
his own opinion and should base his judgement on facts and logic.
6. Knowledge of work- A leader should be very precisely knowing the nature of work
of his subordinates because it is then he can win the trust and confidence of his
subordinates.
 7. Sense of responsibility- Responsibility and accountability towards an individual’s
work is very important to bring a sense of influence. A leader must have a sense of
responsibility towards organizational goals because only then he can get maximum of
capabilities exploited in a real sense. For this, he has to motivate himself and arouse
and urge to give best of his abilities. Only then he can motivate the subordinates to the
best.
8. Self-confidence and will-power- Confidence in himself is important to earn the
confidence of the subordinates. He should be trustworthy and should handle the
situations with full will power.
9. Humanist-This trait to be present in a leader is essential because he deals with human
beings and is in personal contact with them. He has to handle the personal problems
of his subordinates with great care and attention. Therefore, treating the human beings
on humanitarian grounds is essential for building a congenial environment.
10. Empathy- It is an old adage “Stepping into the shoes of others”. This is very
important because fair judgement and objectivity comes only then. A leader should
understand the problems and complaints of employees and should also have a
complete view of the needs and aspirations of the employees. This helps in improving
human relations and personal contacts with the employees.
From the above qualities present in a leader, one can understand the scope of leadership and
it’s importance for scope of business. A leader cannot have all traits at one time. But a few of
them helps in achieving effective results.

Scope of leadership

Leadership can refer to simply governing oneself, or to government of the whole earth. In
between, there are leaders who operate primarily within:

 Youth
 Families
 Bands
 Tribes
 Nations
 Empires

Intertwined with such categories, and overlapping them, one finds (for example) religious
leaders (potentially with their own internal hierarchies), work-place leaders (executives,
officers, senior/upper managers, middle managers, staff-managers, line-managers, team-
leaders, supervisors), and leaders of voluntary associations.
 LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT - RELATIONSHIP &
DIFFERENCES
Leadership is a quality of influencing people, so that the objectives are attained willingly and
enthusiastically. It is not exactly same as management, as leadership is one of the major
element of management.

Management is a discipline of managing things in the best possible manner. It is the art or
skill of getting the work done through and with others. It can be found in all the fields, like
education, hospitality, sports, offices, etc.

One of the major difference between leadership and management, is management is for
formal and organized group of people only, whereas leadership is for both formal and
informal groups.
Leadership and management are the terms that are often considered synonymous. It is
essential to understand that leadership is an essential part of effective management. As a
crucial component of management, remarkable leadership behaviour stresses upon building
an environment in which each and every employee develops and excels. Leadership is
defined as the potential to influence and drive the group efforts towards the accomplishment
of goals. This influence may originate from formal sources, such as that provided by
acquisition of managerial position in an organization.
A manager must have traits of a leader, i.e., he must possess leadership qualities. Leaders
develop and begin strategies that build and sustain competitive advantage. Organizations
require robust leadership and robust management for optimal organizational efficiency.
Definition of Leadership

The skill of leading a group of people and inspiring them towards a direction is known as
Leadership. It is an interpersonal process which involves influencing a person or a group, so
as to ensure achievement of objectives, willingly and enthusiastically. It is not a lesson to be
taught, but a quality which is possessed by only a few number of people. The person who
owns this quality is known as a leader. A leader is someone who has a large number of
people following him, as their inspiration. Some examples of leaders, who are born in India
are Mahatma Gandhi, etc.

Leadership is an activity of guiding and directing people to work together in achieving the
objectives. It requires a good vision of thinking across the boundaries. In an enterprise, you
can see a number of leaders who are responsible for the work of their team members. For the
achievement of a single objective, the employees of the organisation are divided into teams
and each team is assigned a task which they have to complete within the specified time. Each
team comprises of a leader who is appointed on the basis of merit cum seniority.

In the business environment, leadership is not only limited to persons, but an organisation can
also attain leadership in the market by defeating its competitors. Leadership can be in terms
of product, market share, brand, cost, etc.
Definition of Management

The word management is a combination of four terms, i.e. man + age + men + t (technique).
In this way, management refers to a technique used by a man for dealing and managing
persons (men) of different age group, to work together for achieving a common objective.

Although management is not confined to men only, it incorporates a complete balance of 5M

i.e. Men, Money, Material, Machine, and Methods. The person who is in charge of the
activities of management in an organisation is known as Manager.

Now, let’s discuss what management is? And from where it starts? The answer is
management starts from your home. All of us have seen our mother taking care of our needs
whether they are small or big, maintaining the budget of the household, takes decisions
regarding investment or finance, makes plans for our future, keeps a check on our activity,
organizes the schedule, guides and motivates us for achieving our career objective etc. that’s
all management. These are the functions of Management, i.e. Planning, Controlling,
Organizing, Leading & Motivating and Decision Making.

Differences between Leadership and Management

Leadership differs from management in a sense that:
1. While managers lay down the structure and delegates authority and responsibility,
leaders provides direction by developing the organizational vision and communicating
it to the employees and inspiring them to achieve it.
2. While management includes focus on planning, organizing, staffing, directing and
controlling; leadership is mainly a part of directing function of management. Leaders
focus on listening, building relationships, teamwork, inspiring, motivating and
persuading the followers.
3. While a leader gets his authority from his followers, a manager gets his authority by
virtue of his position in the organization.
4. While managers follow the organization’s policies and procedure, the leaders follow
their own instinct.
5. Management is more of science as the managers are exact, planned, standard, logical
and more of mind. Leadership, on the other hand, is an art. In an organization, if the
managers are required, then leaders are a must/essential.
6. While management deals with the technical dimension in an organization or the job
content; leadership deals with the people aspect in an organization.
7. While management measures/evaluates people by their name, past records, present
performance; leadership sees and evaluates individuals as having potential for things
that can’t be measured, i.e., it deals with future and the performance of people if their
potential is fully extracted.
 8. If management is reactive, leadership is proactive.
9. Management is based more on written communication, while leadership is based more
on verbal communication.
The organizations which are over managed and under-led do not perform upto the
benchmark. Leadership accompanied by management sets a new direction and makes
efficient use of resources to achieve it. Both leadership and management are essential for
individual as well as organizational success.
Key Differences between Leadership and Management

The major differences between leadership and management are as under:

1. Leadership is a virtue of leading people through encouraging them. Management is a

process of managing the activities of the organisation.

2. Leadership requires trust of followers on his leader. Unlike Management, which needs
control of manager over its subordinates.

3. Leadership is a skill of influencing others while Management is the quality of the ruling.

4. Leadership demands foresightedness of leader, but Management has a short-range vision.

5. In leadership, principles and guidelines are established, whereas, in the case of

management, policies and procedures are implemented.

6. Leadership is Proactive. Conversely, management is reactive in nature.

7. Leadership brings change. On the other hand, Management brings stability.

Leader versus Manager

“Leadership and managership are two synonymous terms” is an incorrect statement.
Leadership doesn’t require any managerial position to act as a leader. On the other hand, a
manager can be a true manager only if he has got the traits of leader in him. By virtue of his
position, manager has to provide leadership to his group. A manager has to perform all five
functions to achieve goals, i.e., Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, and Controlling.
Leadership is a part of these functions. Leadership as a general term is not related to
managership. A person can be a leader by virtue of qualities in him. For example: leader of a
club, class, welfare association, social organization, etc. Therefore, it is true to say that, “All
managers are leaders, but all leaders are not managers.”
A leader is one who influences the behaviour and work of others in group efforts towards
achievement of specified goals in a given situation. On the other hand, manager can be a true
manager only if he has got traits of leader in him. Manager at all levels are expected to be the
leaders of work groups so that subordinates willingly carry instructions and accept their
guidance. A person can be a leader by virtue of all qualities in him.
Leaders and Managers can be compared on the following basis:
 Basis Manager Leader

A person becomes a manager by A person becomes a leader on basis of

Origin
virtue of his position. his personal qualities.

Manager has got formal rights in an

Formal Rights Rights are not available to a leader.
organization because of his status.

The subordinates are the followers of The group of employees whom the
Followers
managers. leaders leads are his followers.

A manager performs all five functions Leader influences people to work

Functions
of management. willingly for group objectives.

A leader is required to create cordial

A manager is very essential to a
Necessity relation between person working in
concern.
and for organization.

Stability It is more stable. Leadership is temporary.

Mutual Relationship All managers are leaders. All leaders are not managers.

Manager is accountable for self and

Leaders have no well-defined
Accountability subordinates behaviour and
accountability.
performance.

A manager’s concern is organizational A leader’s concern is group goals and

Concern
goals. member’s satisfaction.

People follow manager by virtue of

Followers People follow them on voluntary basis.
job description.

A manager can continue in office till A leader can maintain his position
Role continuation he performs his duties satisfactorily in only through day to day wishes of
congruence with organizational goals. followers.

A leader has command over different

Manager has command over
sanctions and related task records.
Sanctions allocation and distribution of
These sanctions are essentially of
sanctions.
informal nature.
Conclusion

Leadership and Management are inseparable in nature, if there is management, there is

leadership. In fact, the qualities of a manager require leadership skills to inspire his
subordinate. In an organisation, you can see both management and leadership. There is a
manager in a department and a number of leaders who work with their teams in assisting the
organisation in the accomplishment of their goals. Many times, managers play the role of a
leader too, at the demand of the organisation. So, they both go side by side as a complement
to each other. An organisation needs both for its growth and survival. Management is all
about the arrangement and maintenance of the 5M, while leadership is about persuading
people in a positive direction for digging out talent in them.

AUTHORITY VS LEADERSHIP
The authority exercised is a kind of legitimate power and people follow figures exercising it,
because their positions demand so irrespective of the person holding the position. Leaders in
organizations and elsewhere may have formal authorities but they mostly rely on the informal
authority that they exercise on people to influence them. Leaders are trusted for their
judgment and respected for their expertise, integrity etc. and hence followed and not because
they hold a certain position. For e.g. M.K. Gandhi for most part did not hold any official
position to lead the Indian freedom struggle.

It is also important to understand that a formal authority and power emerging from it, might
not always be able to influence people in the desired manner as; in times of crisis and
difficulties people view it as coercion. On the other hand leadership tends to create followers
out of free will and choice without forcing them to accept anything thrown their way.
Authority rarely provides a scope for feedback, constructive criticism or opinions of the
people on whom it is exercised however leaders provide ample platform to their followers to
voice their thoughts and feedback.

When dealing with adults, the sole use of authority to direct and discipline them hardly
works, leadership provides a better approach of sharing and involving thus building rapports
with followers and creating long term relationships. Authority can hardly make people
change their attitudes and behaviours with lasting effects and results however a leader
inspires followers through self-modelled ways and hence leadership displays greater
effectiveness in addressing attitudes and behaviours of people.

Exercising authority sometimes limits the approaches to arrive at solutions for issues and
problems while leadership encourages people to look beyond the obvious and think
innovatively and sometimes emerge with radical solutions.

Apart from it, the biggest difference between the two as cited by Stephen R Covey is the
moral authority held by leaders over the followers which is absent in the case of power from
authority.

Within the organizational setup when leaders also have moral authority on their subordinates
by establishing a synchrony in their words and actions; the rest of the structure and processes
of the organization also get aligned to it, thus creating a robust and transparent culture.

Authoritative way of working also encourages individuals to work in silos while in the
organizations of today; the leaders need to have a complete picture and coordinate with other
functions and departments as and when required. It is indeed difficult for mangers and leaders
to move out of their circle of authority and coordinate and interact with external people.
However the need of the hour and the more effective approach to leadership and management
is when leaders come out of their comfort zone and move from exercising authority on a
small group to leading the entire organization.
Individuals, who do not rely on authority but lead people, are the ones who enjoy the
privilege of their ideologies and thoughts practiced by later generations long after they are
gone. Even with individuals who held positions of responsibilities, the ones who actually led
their people are the ones remembered and followed.

LEADERSHIP THEORIES
For decades, leadership theories have been the source of numerous studies. In reality as well
as in practice, many have tried to define what allows authentic leaders to stand apart from the
mass! Hence, there are many theories on leadership as there are philosophers, researchers and
professors who have studied and ultimately published their leadership theory. A great article
to read before diving into the theories is the ‘The Philosophical Foundations of Leadership’.
Theories are commonly categorized by which aspect is believed to define the leader the most.
The most widespread ones are: Great Man Theory, Trait Theory, Behavioural Theories,
Contingency Theories, Transactional Theories and Transformational Theories.
Over time, a number of theories of leadership have been proposed. Here are some of the main
ideas.
 Great Man Theory
 Trait Theory
 Behavioural Theories
o Role Theory
o The Managerial Grid
 Participative Leadership
o Lewin's leadership styles
o Likert's leadership styles
 Situational Leadership
o Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership
o Vroom and Yetton's Normative Model
o House's Path-Goal Theory of Leadership
 Contingency Theories
o Fiedler's Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) Theory
o Cognitive Resource Theory
o Strategic Contingencies Theory
 Transactional Leadership
o Leader Member Exchange (LMX) Theory

 Transformational Leadership

o Bass' Transformational Leadership Theory

o Burns' Transformational Leadership Theory
o Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Participation Inventory

Great Man Theory (1840s)

The Great Man theory evolved around the mid-19th century. Even though no one was able to
identify with any scientific certainty, which human characteristic or combination of, were
responsible for identifying great leaders. Everyone recognized that just as the name suggests;
only a man could have the characteristic(s) of a great leader.

The Great Man theory assumes that the traits of leadership are intrinsic. That simply means
that great leaders are born, they are not made. This theory sees great leaders as those who are
destined by birth to become a leader. Furthermore, the belief was that great leaders will rise
when confronted with the appropriate situation. The theory was popularized by Thomas
Carlyle, a writer and teacher. Just like him, the Great Man theory was inspired by the study of
influential heroes. In his book "On Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History", he
compared a wide array of heroes.

In 1860, Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher disputed the great man theory by affirming
that these heroes are simply the product of their times and their actions the results of social
conditions.

Trait Theory (1930's – 1940's)

The trait leadership theory believes that people are either born or are made with certain
qualities that will make them excel in leadership roles. That is, certain qualities such as
intelligence, sense of responsibility, creativity and other values puts anyone in the shoes of a
good leader. This theory of leadership focussed on analysing mental, physical and social
characteristic in order to gain more understanding of what is the characteristic or the
combination of characteristics that are common among leaders.

There were many shortfalls with the trait leadership theory. However, from a psychology of
personalities approach, Gordon Allport's studies are among the first ones and have brought,
for the study of leadership, the behavioural approach. Many studies have analysed the traits
among existing leaders in the hope of uncovering those responsible for one’s leadership
abilities! In vain, the only characteristics that were identified among these individuals were
those that were slightly taller and slightly more intelligent! In the 1930s the field of
Psychometrics was in its early years. Personality traits measurement weren't reliable across
studies. Study samples were of low level managers. Explanations weren't offered as to the
relation between each characteristic and its impact on leadership. The context of the leader
wasn't considered.

Behavioural Theories (1940's 1950's)

In reaction to the trait leadership theory, the behavioural theories are offering a new
perspective, one that focuses on the behaviours of the leaders as opposed to their mental,
physical or social characteristics. Thus, with the evolutions in psychometrics, notably the
factor analysis, researchers were able to measure the cause and effects relationship of specific
human behaviours from leaders. From this point forward anyone with the right conditioning
could have access to the once before elite club of naturally gifted leaders. In other words,
leaders are made not born. The behavioural theories first divided leaders in two categories.
Those that were concerned with the tasks and those concerned with the people.

Associated Theories
 1. Role Theory

We all have internal representations about the role of leaders, based on what we read, discuss
and so on. We subtly send these expectations to our leaders, acting as role senders, for
example through the balance of decisions we take upon ourselves and the decisions we leave
to the leader. Leaders are influenced by these signals, particularly if they are sensitive to the
people around them, and will generally conform to these, playing the leadership role that is
put upon them by others. Within organizations, there is much formal and informal
information about what the leader's role should be, including 'leadership values', culture,
training sessions, modelling by senior managers, and so on. These and more (including
contextual factors) act to shape expectations and behaviours around leadership.

Role conflict can also occur when people have differing expectations of their leaders. It also
happens when leaders have different ideas about what they should be doing vs. the
expectations that are put upon them. Role expectations of a leader can vary from very specific
to a broad idea within which the leader can define their own style. When role expectations are
low or mixed, then this may also lead to role conflict.

Assumptions

 People define roles for themselves and others based on social learning and reading.
 People form expectations about the roles that they and others will play.
 People subtly encourage others to act within the role expectations they have for them.
 People will act within the roles they adopt.

2. The Managerial Grid Model / Leadership Grid

Leaders may be concerned for their people and they also must also have some concern for the
work to be done. The question is, how much attention to they pay to one or the other? This is
a model defined by Blake and Mouton in the early 1960s.

Country Club
High Team management
management
Concern for
Medium Middle of the road mgt.
People

Impoverished
Low Authority compliance
management

Low Medium High

Concern for Production (Task)

Impoverished management: Minimum effort to get the work done. A basically lazy approach
that avoids as much work as possible.
Authority compliance: Strong focus on task, but with little concern for people. Focus on
efficiency, including the elimination of people wherever possible.

Country Club management: Care and concern for the people, with a comfortable and friendly
environment and collegial style. But a low focus on task may give questionable results.

Middle of the road management: A weak balance of focus on both people and the work.
Doing enough to get things done, but not pushing the boundaries of what may be possible.

Team management: Firing on all cylinders – people are committed to task and leader is
committed to people (as well as task).

This is a well-known grid that uses the Task vs. Person preference that appears in many other
studies, such as the Michigan Leadership Studies and the Ohio State Leadership Studies.
Many other task people models and variants have appeared since then. They are both clearly
important dimensions, but as other models point out, they are not all there is to leadership and
management. The Managerial Grid was the original name. It later changed to the Leadership
Grid.

Contingency Theories (1960's)

The Contingency Leadership theory argues that there is no single way of leading and that
every leadership style should be based on certain situations, which signifies that there are
certain people who perform at the maximum level in certain places; but at minimal
performance when taken out of their element.

To a certain extent, contingency leadership theories are an extension of the trait theory, in the
sense that human traits are related to the situation in which the leaders exercise their
leadership. It is generally accepted within the contingency theories that leaders are more
likely to express their leadership when they feel that their followers will be responsive.

Contingency theory is similar to situational theory in that there is an assumption of no simple

one right way. The main difference is that situational theory tends to focus more on the
behaviours that the leader should adopt, given situational factors (often about follower
behaviour), whereas contingency theory takes a broader view that includes contingent factors
about leader capability and other variables within the situation.

Associated Theories

1. Fiedler's contingency theory

The Fiedler Contingency Model was created in the mid-1960s by Fred Fiedler, a scientist
who studied the personality and characteristics of leaders. The model states that there is no
one best style of leadership. Instead, a leader's effectiveness is based on the situation. This is
the result of two factors – "leadership style" and "situational favourableness" (later called
"situational control").

Leadership Style
Identifying leadership style is the first step in using the model. Fiedler believed that
leadership style is fixed, and it can be measured using a scale he developed called Least-
Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Scale (see Figure 1).

The scale asks you to think about the person who you've least enjoyed working with. This can
be a person who you've worked with in your job, or in education or training.

You then rate how you feel about this person for each factor, and add up your scores. If your
total score is high, you're likely to be a relationship-orientated leader. If your total score is
low, you're more likely to be task-orientated leader.

The model says that task-oriented leaders usually view their LPCs more negatively, resulting
in a lower score. Fiedler called these low LPC-leaders. He said that low LPCs are very
effective at completing tasks. They're quick to organize a group to get tasks and projects
done. Relationship-building is a low priority.

However, relationship-oriented leaders usually view their LPCs more positively, giving them
a higher score. These are high-LPC leaders. High LPCs focus more on personal connections,
and they're good at avoiding and managing conflict. They're better able to make complex
decisions.
 Figure 1: Least-Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Scale

Unfriendly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Friendly

Unpleasant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pleasant

Rejecting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Accepting

Tense 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Relaxed

Cold 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Warm

Boring 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Interesting

Backbiting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Loyal

Uncooperative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cooperative

Hostile 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Supportive

Guarded 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Open

Insincere 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sincere

Unkind 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kind

Inconsiderate 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Considerate

Untrustworthy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Trustworthy

Gloomy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cheerful

Quarrelsome 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Harmonious

Situational Favourableness

Next, you determine the "situational favourableness" of your particular situation. This
depends on three distinct factors:

 Leader-Member Relations – This is the level of trust and confidence that your team has in
you. A leader who is more trusted and has more influence with the group is in a more
favourable situation than a leader who is not trusted.
 Task Structure – This refers to the type of task you're doing: clear and structured, or vague
and unstructured. Unstructured tasks, or tasks where the team and leader have little
knowledge of how to achieve them, are viewed unfavourably.
  Leader's Position Power – This is the amount of power you have to direct the group, and
provide reward or punishment. The more power you have, the more favourable your
situation. Fiedler identifies power as being either strong or weak.

Applying the Fiedler Contingency Model

Step 1: Identify your leadership style

Think about the person who you've least enjoyed working with, either now or in the past.

Step 2: Identify your situation

Answer the questions:

 Are leader-member relations good or poor?

 Is the task you're doing structured, or is it more unstructured, or do you have little
experience of solving similar problems?
 Do you have strong or weak power over your team?

Step 3: Determine the most effective leadership style

Figure 2 shows a breakdown of all of the factors we've covered: Leader-Member Relations,
Task Structure, and Leader's Position Power. The final column identifies the type of leader
that Fiedler believed would be most effective in each situation.

Figure 2: Breakdown of Most Effective Leader Style

Task Leader's Position Most Effective

Leader-Member Relations
Structure Power Leader

Good Structured Strong Low LPC

Good Structured Weak Low LPC

Good Unstructured Strong Low LPC

Good Unstructured Weak High LPC

Poor Structured Strong High LPC

Poor Structured Weak High LPC

Poor Unstructured Strong High LPC

Poor Unstructured Weak Low LPC

For instance, imagine that you've just started working at a new company, replacing a much-
loved leader who recently retired. You're leading a team who views you with distrust (so your
Leader-Member Relations are poor). The task you're all doing together is well defined
(structured), and your position of power is high because you're the boss, and you're able to
offer reward or punishment to the group. The most effective leader in this situation would be
high LPC – that is, a leader who can focus on building relationships first.

Or, imagine that you're leading a team who likes and respects you (so your Leader-Member
relations are good). The project you're working on together is highly creative (unstructured)
and your position of power is high since, again, you're in a management position of strength.
In this situation, a task-focused leadership style would be most effective.

Criticisms of the Model

There are some criticisms of the Fiedler Contingency Model. One of the biggest is lack of
flexibility. Fiedler believed that because our natural leadership style is fixed, the most
effective way to handle situations is to change the leader. He didn't allow for flexibility in
leaders. For instance, if a low-LPC leader is in charge of a group with good relations and
doing unstructured tasks, and she has a weak position (the fourth situation), then, according
to the model, the best solution is to replace her with a high-LPC leader – instead of asking her
to use a different leadership style.

There is also an issue with the Least-Preferred Co-Worker Scale – if you fall near the middle
of the scoring range, then it could be unclear which style of leader you are. It's also perfectly
possible that your least preferred co-worker is a genuinely confused, unpleasant or evil
person (they do exist) - if you are unfortunate enough to have encountered such a person just
once in your career, then you might always be categorized as a low-LPC leader, however
people-oriented you actually are.

Key Points

The Fiedler Contingency Model asks you to think about your natural leadership style, and the
situations in which it will be most effective. The model says that leaders are either task-
focused, or relationship-focused. Once you understand your style, it says that you can match
it to situations in which that style is most effective. However, the model has some
disadvantages. It doesn't allow for leadership flexibility, and the LPC score might give an
inaccurate picture of your leadership style. As with all models and theories, use your best
judgment when applying the Fiedler Contingency Model to your own situation.
 2. Cognitive Resource Theory (CRT)

Cognitive Resource Theory predicts that:

1. A leader's cognitive ability contributes to the performance of the team only when the
leader's approach is directive.

When leaders are better at planning and decision making, in order for their plans and
decisions to be implemented, they need to tell people what to do, rather than hope they agree
with them. When they are not better than people in the team, then a nondirective approach is
more appropriate, for example where they facilitate an open discussion where the ideas of
team can be aired and the best approach identified and implemented.

2. Stress affects the relationship between intelligence and decision quality.

When there is low stress, then intelligence is fully functional and makes an optimal
contribution. However, during high stress, a natural intelligence not only makes no
difference, but it may also have a negative effect. One reason for this may be that an
intelligent person seeks rational solutions, which may not be available (and may be one of the
causes of stress). In such situations, a leader who is inexperienced in 'gut feel' decisions is
forced to rely on this unfamiliar approach. Another possibility is that the leader retreats
within him/herself, to think hard about the problem, leaving the group to their own devices.

3. Experience is positively related to decision quality under high stress.

When there is a high stress situation and intelligence is impaired, experience of the same or
similar situations enables the leader to react in appropriate ways without having to think
carefully about the situation. Experience of decision making under stress also will contribute
to a better decision than trying to muddle through with brainpower alone.

4. For simple tasks, leader intelligence and experience is irrelevant.

When subordinates are given tasks which do not need direction or support, then it does not
matter how good the leader is at making decisions, because they are easy to make, even for
subordinates, and hence do not need any further support.

CRT arose out of dissatisfaction with Trait Theory. Fiedler also linked CRT with his Least
Preferred Co-worker (LPC) Theory, suggesting that high LPC scores are the main drivers of
directive behaviour. A particularly significant aspect of CRT is the principle that intelligence
is the main factor in low stress situations, whilst experience counts for more during high
stress moments.
 3. Strategic Contingencies Theory

With Strategic Contingencies Theory, a leader depends on his problem-solving skills and a
projective personality that is centre stage. The leader his so because she or he is in demand
and others cannot solve the problems the leader faces. This gives the leader bargaining
power. In that the leader cannot be replaced easily, he or she is not easily displaced,
especially by popular will. Social processes depend upon the leader. Strike out the leader and
the system is in danger of collapsing. The ability of one to maintain leadership in a system
through problem solving relies on the interconnectedness of system units (department,
divisions, etc.), social interaction, communication speed and system infrastructure integrity.

Pro's

 Strategic Contingencies Theory focuses on tasks that need to be done in the form of
problems to be solved, thus de-emphasizing personality. If a person does not have
charisma but is able to solve problem, then s/he can be an effective leader.
 That problem solving assumes a central role in a leader's ability conforms to a
common-sense view of the world; there is little need to provide elaborate explanation
as to why it can work.
 The theory helps to objectify leadership techniques, as opposed to relying on
personalities.
 In situation where persons are rational agents, such as in scientific and formal
academic settings, the Strategic Contingencies Theory would have more force and
effect. That is, it identifies what is common to the group -- the orientation towards
problem solving -- and addresses it directly.
 The theory is simple and uses only the variables affecting power in contingency
control by an organizational subunit.

Con's

 Power is not defined within any context. In a generic sense, power is the ability to
make others do your will, but there are many exhibitions and manners of it:
psychological, mesmeric, physical, intellectual, charisma, etc.
 As a problem besetting all theories, the context of the situation needs to be discussed
as well as the dynamics of the system. What is the structure of the system or group to
be led?
 A uniform testing instrument does not exist to assess the predictability of the model.
 Cognitive Resource Theory contravenes Strategic Contingencies Theory. The issue is
what effect stress has on a leader's ability to lead using intelligence and rationality.
 There is lacking set of parameters governing the introduction of variables in power
used by organizational units.
Transactional leadership Theories (1970's)

Transactional theories, also known as exchange theories of leadership, are characterized by a

transaction made between the leader and the followers. In fact, the theory values a positive
and mutually beneficial relationship. For the transactional theories to be effective and as a
result have motivational value, the leader must find a means to align to adequately reward (or
punish) his follower, for performing leader assigned task. In other words, transactional
leaders are most efficient when they develop a mutual reinforcing environment, for which the
individual and the organizational goals are in sync.

The transactional theorists state that humans in general are seeking to maximize pleasurable
experiences and to diminish unpleasurable experiences. Thus, we are more likely to associate
ourselves with individuals that add to our strengths.

Associated Theories

1. Leader Member Exchange (LMX) Theory

Leader Member Exchange Theory, also called LMX or Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory,
describes how leaders in groups maintain their position through a series of tacit exchange
agreements with their members.

In-group and outgroup

In particular, leaders often have a special relationship with an inner circle of trusted
lieutenants, assistants and advisors, to whom they give high levels of responsibility, decision
influence, and access to resources. This in-group pay for their position. They work harder, are
more committed to task objectives, and share more administrative duties. They are also
expected to be fully committed and loyal to their leader. The outgroup, on the other hand, are
given low levels of choice or influence. This also puts constraints upon the leader. They have
to nurture the relationship with their inner circle whilst balancing giving them power with
ensuring they do not have enough to strike out on their own.

The LMX process

These relationships, if they are going to happen, start very soon after a person joins the group
and follow three stages.

1. Role taking

The member joins the team and the leader assesses their abilities and talents. Based on this,
the leader may offer them opportunities to demonstrate their capabilities. Another key factor
in this stage is the discovery by both parties of how the other likes to be respected.

2. Role making
In the second phase, the leader and member take part in an unstructured and informal
negotiation whereby a role is created for the member and the often-tacit promise of benefit
and power in return for dedication and loyalty takes place. Trust building is very important in
this stage, and any felt betrayal, especially by the leader, can result in the member being
relegated to the outgroup. This negotiation includes relationship factors as well as pure work-
related ones, and a member who is similar to the leader in various ways is more likely to
succeed. This perhaps explains why mixed gender relationships regularly are less successful
than same gender ones (it also affects the seeking of respect in the first stage). The same
effect also applies to cultural and racial differences.

3. Routinization

In this phase, a pattern of ongoing social exchange between the leader and the member
becomes established.

Success factors

Successful members are thus similar in many ways to the leader (which perhaps explains why
many senior teams are all white, male, middleclass and middle aged). They work hard at
building and sustaining trust and respect. To help this, they are empathetic, patient,
reasonable, sensitive, and are good at seeing the viewpoint of other people (especially the
leader). Aggression, sarcasm and an egocentric view are keys to the outgroup washroom.

The overall quality of the LMX relationship varies with several factors. Curiously, it is better
when the challenge of the job is extremely high or extremely low. The size of the group,
financial resource availability and the overall workload are also important.

Onwards and upwards

The principle works upwards as well. The leader also gains power by being a member of their
manager's inner circle, which then can then share on downwards. People at the bottom of an
organization with unusual power may get it from an unbroken chain of circles up to the
hierarchy.

Transformational Leadership Theories (1970s)

The Transformational Leadership theory states that this process is by which a person interacts
with others and is able to create a solid relationship that results in a high percentage of trust,
that will later result in an increase of motivation, both intrinsic and extrinsic, in both leaders
and followers.

The essence of transformational theories is that leaders transform their followers through
their inspirational nature and charismatic personalities. Rules and regulations are flexible,
guided by group norms. These attributes provide a sense of belonging for the followers as
they can easily identify with the leader and its purpose.

Associated Theories

1. Bass Transformational Leadership Theory

Bass defined transformational leadership in terms of how the leader affects followers, who
are intended to trust, admire and respect the transformational leader. He identified three ways
in which leaders transform followers:

 Increasing their awareness of task importance and value.

 Getting them to focus first on team or organizational goals, rather than their own
interests.
 Activating their higher order needs.

Charisma is seen as necessary, but not sufficient, for example in the way that charismatic
movie stars may not make good leaders. Two key charismatic effects that transformational
leaders achieve is to evoke strong emotions and to cause identification of the followers with
the leader. This may be through stirring appeals. It may also may occur through quieter
methods such as coaching and mentoring. Bass has recently noted that authentic
transformational leadership is grounded in moral foundations that are based on four
components:

 Idealized influence
 Inspirational motivation
 Intellectual stimulation
 Individualized consideration

...and three moral aspects:

 The moral character of the leader.

 The ethical values embedded in the leader’s vision, articulation, and program (which
followers either embrace or reject).

 The morality of the processes of social ethical choice and action that leaders and
followers engage in and collectively pursue.

This is in contrast with pseudo transformational leadership, where, for example, ingroup/
Outgroup 'us and them' games are used to bond followers to the leader.

In contrast to Burns, who sees transformational leadership as being inextricably linked with
higher order values; Bass originally saw it as amoral, and attributed transformational skills to
people such as Hitler and Jim Jones, although later changed his view after discussion with
Burns.
2. Burns Transformational Leadership Theory

Burns defined transformational leadership as a process where leaders and followers engage in
a mutual process of 'raising one another to higher levels of morality and motivation.'
Transformational leaders raise the bar by appealing to higher ideals and values of followers.
In doing so, they may model the values themselves and use charismatic methods to attract
people to the values and to the leader.
Burns' view is that transformational leadership is more effective than transactional leadership,
where the appeal is to more selfish concerns. An appeal to social values thus encourages
people to collaborate, rather than working as individuals (and potentially competitively with
one another). He also views transformational leadership as an ongoing process rather than the
discrete exchanges of the transactional approach.

Using social and spiritual values as a motivational lever is very powerful as they are both
hard to deny and also give people an uplifting sense of being connected to a higher purpose,
thus playing to the need for a sense of meaning and identity. Ideals are higher in Maslow's
Hierarchy, which does imply that lower concerns such as health and security must be
reasonably safe before people will pay serious attention to the higher possibilities.

3. Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Participation Inventory

A survey was developed and published by James Kouzes and Barry Posner in their book, The
Leadership Challenge (Jossey Bass Publishers, 2002), that asked persons what characteristics
of a leader they admire and would cause them to follow. From this came the Leadership
Participation Inventory. In somewhat of a jocular sense, it follows the Boy Scout's list of
traits befitting a model scout and is a list, major components of which many people could
present without much thought. Kouzes and Posner discuss five characteristics they deem
essential for successful leadership: Role model, inspiration, facing adversity, getting others to
act, and generating enthusiasm to act.

A good leader turns observers into doers.

1. Role Model: A leader needs to be an exemplar, initiating action and presenting her or
himself as a paradigm case of what a person should be and how actions should be
performed.

2. Inspiration: The others need to feel that they should follow; they need to be inspired
but with a goal. They need to see that there is a desired endpoint to their actions.
Leaders may intellectualize a situation but they have to be able to stand firm in the
face of adversity.

3. Facing Adversity: She or he cannot be deterred or wither. Courage is a hallmark of

good leadership. That is a main feature that others see in a good leader. Often a leader
will have to be creative, and it is this creation that sets a person off from the humdrum
of those who follow.

4. Empowerment: Getting others to act! Conveying a sense of empowerment to the

others
 5. Generates Enthusiasm: A vital component of leadership not only getting others to act,
but they need to act with passion.

Pro's

 The inventory is intuitively obvious.

 Specific factors are listed in a checklist form that organizers can use to assess a
group's affinity to a leader. While they are subjective, they are better than nothing and
can help in a focus on organizational problems.
 The inventory can be used to build programs to develop leaders.
 The model can be adapted, where not all factors are necessary to develop a leader.

Con's

 There is no quantification of terms and each trait is so subjective that there is not
universal agreement on which each means. The context-free aspect of the inventory
items creates problems in one's ability to use them as assessment instruments.
 Because of the subjectivity of the terms, it is difficult to test the Leadership
Participation Inventory model uniformly in diverse situations.
 There are different names for the model, thus, this presents a challenge in assessing its
uniform perception. At least two names exist: "Leadership Participation Inventory"
and "Leadership Practices Inventory"
 Does the theory account for the difference between leadership and management?
Management focuses more on instrumentalism and leadership is a relationship.

LEADERSHIP PROCESS AND STYLES

(ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND DESIGN)

In current business marketplace, leadership style has great role in organization's economic
wealth and progress. Leadership is indispensable in an organization because leader' trait may
affect the success of organization. The major intent of every organization is to cultivate. The
relationship between the management and employees has a great impact to that effect.
Concept of leadership is defined as a process in which a leader tries to influence his or her
followers to establish and achieve a goal or goals. Leadership is the capacity to lead others
and command. It is a process of an act or instance of guiding; direction, guidance, lead,
management. Leadership is appreciated in business culture, especially when it helps to attain
goals that are helpful to the organization. It is elaborated in managerial studies that leadership
is a social influence process. Leadership cannot exist without a leader and one or more
followers. Leadership prompts controlled action on the part of followers. The voluntary
nature of compliance separates leadership from other types of influence based on formal
authority. Ultimately, leadership results in followers' behaviour that is determined and goal-
directed in some sort of organized setting.

Huge theoretical literature is available to explain the style of leadership and its impact on
organization. According to Kouzes (2002), "Leadership is not a place, it's not a position, and
it's not a secret code that can't be deciphered by ordinary people. Leadership is an observable
set of skills and abilities. Of course, some people are better at it than others". In the academic
literature, leadership has been recognized as significant topic in the field of organizational
behaviour. Leadership is one with the most dynamic effects during individual and
organizational interaction. It is said that ability of management to perform "collaborated
effort" depends on leadership capability. According to Lee and Chuang (2009), the brilliant
leader not only inspires subordinate’s potential to enhance efficiency but also meets their
requirements in the process of achieving organizational goals. Stogdill (1957), described
leadership as the individual behaviour to guide a group to achieve the common target.
Another theorist, Fry (2003), explicates leadership as use of leading strategy to offer inspiring
motive and to enhance the staff’s potential for growth and development.

Leadership includes the ultimate source of power but has that positive ability in persuading
other individuals and to be innovative in decision making. Bennis and Nanus stated that,
many organizations are over managed and under led. The difference is crucial, managed are
people who do things right, but leaders are people who do the right things always. Leadership
mainly deals with influence. A manager may or may not be an effectual leader. A leader's
ability to influence others may be based on a variety of factors other than his or her formal
authority or position. Historically, there are three major leadership theories which included
the trait approach (1930s and 1940s), the behaviour al approach (1940s and 1950s), and the
contingency or situational approach (1960s and 1970s).
Dunham and Pierce's Leadership Process Model

Someone who has never been charged with managing people might describe leadership as
'telling people what to do'. While it is obviously much more than that, it can be a hard thing to
define when you are put on the spot. What exactly is leadership? Answering that question
might be more difficult than you would think.

The Dunham and Pierce

Leadership Process Model
doesn't necessarily seek to
define leadership, but it does
the job indirectly. This
model addresses all of the
key elements that play a role
in leadership, and helps the
manager to understand how each part affects the other parts of the equation. Leadership will
never be simple, but using this model is a good way to 'get your head around' the various
moving parts and hopefully bring it into better focus in your mind.

According to Dunham and Pierce, there are four factors that play a role in the leadership
process. Those four are the Leader, the Followers, the Context, and the Outcomes.

Naturally, the Leader is the person in charge of a project or team, regardless of what their title
may be. That person may be referred to as an owner, a manager, a V.P., or any other title that
confers power and responsibility. The important thing is that they are the person who a group
of others answer to, and it is their performance that we are worried about with this model.

The Followers are then, obviously, the people who are being led. Generally, these will be
employees of the company in question. Most commonly, the Followers for a specific
manager fall within a group or division of the company. The performance that the Leader is
able to coax out of the Followers will largely be responsible for the outcomes that are
achieved.

The Context is an interested element to this model, and one that is skipped over in some other
various leadership models and discussions. Context refers to the circumstances under which
the Leader is managing his or her team. Whether it is a project that will run for a
predetermined length of time, or simply employees working on a day to day basis, the context
of leadership plays an important part in what style of management is going to be most
successful.

Lastly, the Outcomes portion of the puzzle refers to the results of any project or task that has
been worked on by the Followers under direction of the Leader. For example, if a well-
defined project has been worked on for two months, the success or failure of that project will
be considered an Outcome. Above all else, leaders tend to be judged on their Outcomes
because they usually have the most direct influence over the bottom line. If you are a
manager within an organization, it is probably your Outcomes that you spend most of your
time concerned with.
If this model has
one overreaching
theme that you
should take
away, it is that all
of the aspects of
leadership are
interconnected in
one way or
another. It is
obvious that your
actions as the
Leader will affect
your followers,
but it is more complicated than that. Conversely, the actions of your Followers are likely to
affect you as a Leader and your management style. If you are able to learn from your team
and how their actions dictate the Context and the Outcomes, everyone will have a better
chance at success. The leadership model, then, is not so much a linear one as it is a circular
one.

So, what does this have to do with management from a practical sense? It should serve as
notice that everything done within the context of a leadership situation is important, and it all
comes around in the end in one form or another. Things that are done to help the team and
empower the individuals on a team can serve to improve future outcomes, while any
negativity is likely to manifest in unwanted ways. Taking a holistic approach to management
can be powerful when it comes to guiding a team toward long term success.

Some of the Highlights: This model has plenty to teach leaders and managers in a variety of
settings, but some of the most important lessons can be found below.

 Grow relationships within the team. Since this model of leadership is circular in nature, it
only makes sense that growing relationships well help everyone perform better. When the
relationships are strong from the top down, communication will benefit and the team
should work more efficiently as a whole.

 Let people do what they do best. This is key for any leader, no matter what context they
are working in. When people are able to spend time working on projects that they feel
comfortable with and that match up with their skill sets, they tend to be happier (and
perform better). When leaders fail to consider the skills of their people, it should be no
surprise the results lag.

 Offer feedback. This point goes along with the point regarding relationships among the
team. Feedback is valuable because it helps to steer the members of the team in the right
direction, in a positive way. Opening the lines of feedback helps the Followers learn what
is expected from them, and also gives them an opportunity to provide feedback to the
Leader - which can be invaluable.

 Act Ethically and Honestly. The circular nature of leadership dictates that it is vitally
important to act with a high degree of honesty on a regular basis. When deceit creeps into
the system, it is likely to spread and have a negative effect throughout the organization.

Leadership is complicated and sometimes messy, but the Dunham Pierce Leadership Process
Model does a good job of highlighting the key points and identifying how they all affect one
another. For the leader who is trying to keep a variety of different interests happy throughout
the term of a project, this model can help to sort things out and keep them moving in the right
direction.

Key Points
 The Dunham and Pierce Leadership Process Model addresses all of the key elements that
play a role in leadership, and helps the manager to understand how each part affects the
other parts of the equation.
 This model states that there are four factors that play a role in the leadership process: The
Leader, the Followers, the Context, and the Outcomes.

 The meaning of Leader and Followers is self-evident. Context refers to the circumstances
under which the Leader is managing his or her team and Outcomes refers to the results of
any project or task that has been worked on by the Followers under direction of the
Leader.

 The model suggests that everything done within the context of a leadership situation is
important and if you are able to learn from your team and how their actions dictate the
Context and the Outcomes, everyone will have a better chance at success.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Leadership skills are an essential component in positioning executives to make thoughtful
decisions about their organization's mission and goals, and properly allocate resources to
achieve those directives. Valuable leadership skills include the ability to delegate, inspire and
communicate effectively. Other leadership traits include honesty, confidence, commitment
and creativity. In information technology (IT), executives are often required to be a jack-of-
all-trades. In addition to being able to plan strategically, their leadership skills must also be
directed towards risk management, disaster recovery, compliance and other aspects of data
governance.

The ability to lead effectively is based on a number of key skills. These skills are highly
sought after by employers as they involve dealing with people in such a way as to motivate,
enthuse and build respect. Leadership roles are all around us, not just in a work environment.
They can be applied to any situation where you are required to take the lead, professionally,
socially and at home in family settings. Ideally, leaders become leaders because they have
credibility, and because people want to follow them.
Many people also wonder if leadership can really be taught. People with vested interests
(academics and those offering leadership training or literature of some sort) are convinced
that it can. Many successful leaders, however, have never had any formal training. For them
leadership is a state of mind, and it is their personalities and traits that make them successful
leaders.

One of the most important aspects of leadership is that not every leader is the same. Different
leadership styles are appropriate for different people and different circumstances, and the best
leaders learn to use them all. You can of course learn about effective leadership skills and
practices, but being able to implement them yourself may require an altogether different set
of skills and attitudes.

Skills Good Leaders Need

Perhaps the most important skill a leader needs is to be able to think strategically. Leadership
is all about having a vision of where you want to be and working to achieve that
vision. Alongside strategic thinking, go organising and action planning, both essential for
delivery of your vision and strategy, and risk management to help you avoid things going
wrong, and manage when they do. Leaders also need to be able to make good decisions in
support of their strategy delivery. Along the way to achieving their vision a leader will come
upon many problems.

Effective problem solving is therefore another key leadership skill. With a positive attitude,
problems can become opportunities and learning experiences, and a leader can gain much
information from a problem addressed. Leaders also need to be much organised on a
personal level, and able to manage themselves and their time, so that they can spend time
doing what they need to do, and not on other tasks. As well as organising their time and their
teams, leaders need to spend a bit of time on themselves, and particularly on their self-
motivation. A leader who lacks self-motivation will struggle to motivate others, as people are
quick to detect a lack of sincerity.

Developing People Skills

Another area which is crucial for leaders is skills in leading people. After all, without
followers, there are no leaders. Leaders need skills in working with others on a one-to-one
and group basis, and a range of tools in their armoury to deal with a wide range of situations.

One of the first skills that new leaders need to master is how to delegate. This is a
difficult skill for many people but, done well, delegation can give team members
responsibility and a taste of leadership themselves, and help them to remain motivated.

Leaders also need to know how to give others their views on personal performance in a way
that will be constructive rather than destructive, and also hear others’ opinions of them.
Leaders then need tools to help them understand the way that others behave, and create
positive interactions. Finally, leaders have to be able to work well in group situation.
However, leaders spend much of their time in one particular group situation, meetings, so
they need to have particular skill in chairing and managing meetings.

Effective Personal Qualities

There are a number of personal qualities which leaders tend to display. However, for all that
this description implies that these qualities are intrinsic, they can be developed and improved
over time.

These qualities include charisma, that quality of ‘brightness’ which makes people want to
follow a leader, assertiveness, which enables that person to make their point without
aggression, but firmly, and empathy, understanding of how others feel.

One way to understand leadership qualities is in terms of Emotional Intelligence, an umbrella

term that describes how well we relate to others and to our own feelings.

Excellent Communication

Leaders also need finely-honed communication skills. These skills are general interpersonal
skills, not specific to leadership, but successful leaders tend to show high levels of skill when
communicating. Good leaders tend to be extremely good listeners, able to listen actively and
elicit information by good questioning. They know how to build rapport quickly and
effectively, to develop good, strong relationships with others, whether peers or subordinates.
They are usually very good at public speaking, equally skilled at getting their point across in
a formal presentation or Board meeting, or in an informal meeting or casual corridor
conversation.

They have strong negotiation skills, in the broadest sense, in terms of reaching win-win
situations and making sure that they know their ‘bottom line’. They have also honed their
ability to communicate in difficult situations, usually by practice over time. Whether one is
an office manager or a project leader, all good leaders require a number of soft skills to help
them positively interact with employees or team members. Employers seek these skills in the
candidates they hire for leadership roles.

Here are the top 10 skills that make a strong leader in the workplace.

Top 10 Leadership Soft Skills

1. Communication

As a leader, you need to be able to clearly and succinctly explain to your employees
everything from organizational goals to specific tasks. Leaders must master all forms of
communication, including one-on-one, departmental, and full-staff conversations, as well as
communication via the phone, email, and social media.

A large part of communication involves listening. Therefore, leaders should establish a steady
flow of communication between themselves and their staff or team members, either through
an open-door policy or regular conversations with workers. Leaders should make themselves
regularly available to discuss issues and concerns with employees.
2. Motivation

Leaders need to inspire their workers to go the extra mile for their organization; just paying a
fair salary to employees is typically not enough inspiration (although it is important too).
There are a number of ways to motivate your workers: you may build employee self-esteem
through recognition and rewards, or by giving employees new responsibilities to increase
their investment in the company. You must learn what motivators work best for your
employees or team members to encourage productivity and passion.

3. Delegating

Leaders who try to take on too many tasks by themselves will struggle to get anything done.
These leaders often fear that delegating tasks is a sign of weakness, when in fact it is a sign of
a strong leader. Therefore, you need to identify the skills of each of your employees, and
assign duties to each employee based on his or her skill set. By delegating tasks to staff
members, you can focus on other important tasks.

4. Positivity

A positive attitude can go a long way in an office. You should be able to laugh at yourself
when something doesn't go quite as planned; this helps create a happy and healthy work
environment, even during busy, stressful periods. Simple acts like asking employees about
their vacation plans will develop a positive atmosphere in the office, and raise morale among
staff members. If employees feel that they work in a positive environment, they will be more
likely to want to be at work, and will therefore be more willing to put in the long hours when
needed.

5. Trustworthiness

Employees need to be able to feel comfortable coming to their manager or leader with
questions and concerns. It is important for you to demonstrate your integrity — employees
will only trust leaders they respect. By being open and honest, you will encourage the same
sort of honesty in your employees.

6. Creativity

As a leader, you have to make a number of decisions that do not have a clear answer; you
therefore need to be able to think outside of the box. Learning to try non-traditional solutions,
or approaching problems in non-traditional ways, will help you to solve an otherwise
unsolvable problem. Most employees will also be impressed and inspired by a leader who
doesn't always choose the safe, conventional path.

7. Feedback

Leaders should constantly look for opportunities to deliver useful information to team
members about their performance. However, there is a fine line between offering employees’
advice and assistance, and micromanaging. By teaching employees how to improve their
work and make their own decisions, you will feel more confident delegating tasks to your
staff.

8. Responsibility

A leader is responsible for both the successes and failures of his or her team. Therefore, you
need to be willing to accept blame when something does not go correctly. If your employees
see their leader pointing fingers and blaming others, they will lose respect for you. Accept
mistakes and failures, and then devise clear solutions for improvement.

9. Commitment

It is important for leaders to follow through with what they agree to do. You should be
willing to put in the extra hours to complete an assignment; employees will see this
commitment and follow your example. Similarly, when you promise your staff a reward, such
as an office party, you should always follow through. A leader cannot expect employees to
commit to their job and their tasks if he or she cannot do the same.

10. Flexibility

Mishaps and last-minute changes always occur at work. Leaders need to be flexible,
accepting whatever changes come their way. Employees will appreciate your ability to accept
changes in stride and creatively problem-solve.
Similarly, leaders must be open to suggestions and feedback. If your staff is dissatisfied with
an aspect of the office environment, listen to their concern and be open to making necessary
changes. Employees will appreciate a leader's ability to accept appropriate feedback.

The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Approach: Highlighting Your Leadership Skills

1. Lead by example. ...
2. Talk less, listen more. ...
3. Don't play favourites. ...
4. Do your fair share. ...
5. Be yourself. ...
6. Take responsibility. ...
7. Develop your leadership chops.
1. Lead by example. Any attempt to rule with an iron fist will go down like a lead balloon –
after all, your co-workers don’t report to you. The best way to motivate your colleagues is
to set the example of how you expect others to approach the project. If you’re enthusiastic,
they’ll be enthusiastic. If you snipe and make snide remarks, so will they. Even if you’re
inwardly grumbling about the extra pressure and workload, avoid complaining around
your teammates.
2. Talk less, listen more. When you first step up in front of the team, your instinct might be to
do all the speaking in order to assert your role as pack leader. But one of the most vital
managerial skills is encouraging dialogue. To get people talking, you need to listen; really
listening means\ being receptive to other ideas and opinions. This will demonstrate your
respect for each team member, and they’ll respect you in turn.

3. Don’t play favourites. Avoid assigning friends plum assignments and not-so-close
colleagues the grunt work. Now is the time to bring out those leadership and collaboration
skills to encourage everyone to do their best work and meet deadlines. Remind the team of
short and long-term project objectives, and celebrate when each one is met.

4. Do your fair share. Even though you’re the project leader, you still have to do some of the
heavy lifting. Others will notice if you aren’t pitching in or continually push off
unexpected and last-minute problems to someone else. You’ll exert the most influence
when others see you working as hard – if not harder – than they are.

5. Be yourself. Although “be yourself” may sound like trite advice, the most respected
leaders are personable and genuine. Stepping into a role that requires managerial skills
doesn’t mean that you need to adopt a false persona. Your colleagues would likely see
right through that, anyway.

6. Take responsibility. When projects go well, good leaders point to their teams’ hard work
and share the praise. And when there are failures, they take ownership, regardless of how
mistakes were made. If and when something goes wrong, avoid pointing fingers. Instead,
work with your team to address the issue and identify ways to prevent it from happening in
the future.
7. Develop your leadership chops. Some people are born leaders, but most of us have to learn
it the hard way. The best way to hone your managerial skills is to be a manager via on-the-
job training. Other approaches are to emulate the qualities of authority figures you admire
and read books and articles on the subject.

Being entrusted with a team project is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate your

managerial skills. Even though your official title hasn’t changed, there are many ways you
can show your boss and colleagues that you’ve got what it takes to be a leader and earn their
respect.

Key Characteristics of a Leader:

 Honesty - Display sincerity, integrity, and candour in all your actions. Deceptive
behaviour will not inspire trust.
 Competent - Your actions should be based on reason and moral principles. Do not
make decisions based on childlike emotional desires or feelings.
 Forward-looking - Set goals and have a vision of the future. The vision must be
owned throughout the organization.
 Effective leaders envision what they want and how to get it. They habitually pick
priorities stemming from their basic values.
 Inspiring - Display confidence in all that you do. By showing endurance in mental,
physical, and spiritual stamina, you will inspire others to reach for new heights. Take
charge when necessary.
 Intelligent - Read, study, and seek challenging assignments.
 A Good Coach - Coach and mentor people to achieve the best results they are capable
of. Motivate and guide development within the organization one person at a time.
 Fair-minded - Show fair treatment to all people. Prejudice is the enemy of justice.
Display empathy by being sensitive to the feelings, values, interests, and well-being
of others.
 Broad-minded - Seek out diversity.
 Courageous - Have the perseverance to accomplish a goal, regardless of the
seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
 Display a confident calmness when under stress.
 Straightforward - Use sound judgment to make good decisions at the right time.
 Imaginative - Make timely and appropriate changes in your thinking, plans, and
methods. Show creativity by thinking of new and better goals, ideas, and solutions to
problems. Be innovative!

As you can see nothing revealed here is shocking, but skills we are all aware of, yet we take
little time to practice. Again, developing good leadership skills does take practice and a great
deal of time. If it were easy there would be far more leaders and far less managers.

A number of the characteristics of a leader fall into a greater category that many of the
leading executives of today refer to as Emotional Intelligence. Achieving this level of
leadership will inspire those around you and lead your teams to great heights. So, what do
you do with this ‘new’ information? It’s time to refocus on your core as a leader and to spend
your time wisely on what you value and the values of your organization. It is easy to get
caught up in the daily fires that pop up but this can be the downfall of aspiring leaders. To
achieve a true leadership style, you must be able to maintain these traits through good times
and bad and to continually focus on the behaviours regardless of the situation.

LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR

There are a number of common behaviours recognised in an effective Team Leader at the
helm of a productive team. In particular, an effective Team Leader displays an ability to:

 Communicate effectively
 Recognise the developmental requirements of team members
 Set goals and motivate the team to achieve them
 Provide enthusiastic and creative encouragement
 Model acceptable behaviour

Communicate Effectively

An effective Team Leader provides a high level of communication to the team members
about:

 The goals that have been achieved

 Any goals that still need to be achieved
 How to achieve these goals
 Where team members can go for support

When communicating with their team members, good Team Leaders use a consultative
approach. This entails actively listening to team member concerns and opinions before
deciding upon an appropriate strategy. An effective consultative approach also means that
Team Leaders should provide feedback to their team members on a regular basis.

Recognise the Developmental Requirements of Team Members

An effective Team Leader will identify the developmental needs of the team members and
will install a process to ensure that each individual's needs are developed. This has direct
benefits to both the individual and the team, as it increases morale within the team and helps
to ensure that the best is attained from each team member. Delegation may be an effective
way of providing team members with development opportunities.

Set Goals and Motivate the Team to Achieve Them

An effective Team Leader will set clear, identifiable and achievable goals and will be able to
plan and monitor a team's progress against these goals. The steps to achieving these goals
will need to be mapped out and discussed with each team member.

Provide Enthusiastic and Creative Encouragement

Leadership Styles:

The way in which a team leader utilises their skills to lead their team can be described as their
leadership style. A leadership style is the way in which a team leader provides direction to their
people, implements a plan to achieve a goal or desired outcome and motivates their team to
consistently achieve at a high level. There are many views on leadership styles and names
attributed to the different types of styles, however, it is generally recognised that there are three
distinct styles that leaders use.

The authoritarian (or autocratic) leader dictates what is to be achieved and how it will be
achieved. This style is often used when a Team Leader begins working with a new team or in a
situation where an outcome needs to be achieved in a short period of time.

The participative (or democratic) leader works in consultation with their team when making
decisions. This style encourages team motivation and utilises the skills of individual team
members to achieve goals.

The delegative (or free reign) leader allows the team to make decisions with little input or
direction. This style suits highly skilled and mature teams.

Team leaders will usually employ a combination of leadership styles depending on the situation
and their team. The skill level and the maturity of the team, in terms of their ability to work
together effectively can impact on the style a Team Leader chooses to apply to a particular
situation.

Effective Team Leaders encourage creative and innovative approaches to problem solving.

Model Acceptable Behaviour

An effective Team Leader provides the team with an appropriate role model. The Team
Leader will demonstrate both acceptable behaviour and the relevant skills required by the
team to undertake their roles within the enterprise.

Role modelling is an important element in the development of individual team members as it

enables the team to observe an example on which they can base their own performance and
behaviour.

LEADERSHIP AND TEMPERAMENT

Temperament is an individual's characteristic level of emotional excitability or intensity and

is typically recognized within the first few weeks after birth. It is often assumed to be an early
indication of personality, though personality combines temperament with experiences to
shape life-long traits.

In psychology, temperament refers to those aspects of an individual's personality, such that

are often regarded as biologically based and sometimes innate rather than learned. A great
many classificatory schemes for temperament have been developed; none, though, has
achieved general consensus in academia.

Leadership can be taught, and it can be useful to identify each individual’s natural
temperament, understand the strengths and weaknesses of that temperament, and help the
leader perfect what is good and improve what is bad. There are dozens of ways to
characterize personality, including the Myers-Briggs (introvert-extrovert, thinking-feeling,
sensing-intuiting, and judging-perceiving), Types A and B, Animals (Bear-Monkey-Dolphin-
Owl) and others.

One of the most famous is the Temperaments (Choleric-Sanguine-Melancholy-Phlegmatic).

Each model has strengths and weaknesses, and Temperaments model is commonly used. The
derivation of this system is historical, based on Galen’s four humours which were thought to
comprise the body. Historically, the concept of temperament ("temperamentums" in Latin
means "mixtures") was a part of the theory of the four humours, with their corresponding four
temperaments.

Everyone had a mix (Latin temperare – to mix) of each humour, but one was predominant.
The humour which predominated gave them their personality type. Greek physicians
Hippocrates (460-370 BC) and Galen (AD 129-199) thought that imbalance of these humours
caused disease. This theory was taught to physicians throughout the western world and
elsewhere for over 1500 years.

 Choleric (Gk choler – “yellow bile”) – bilious of temperament or complexion, easily

moved to anger

 Phlegmatic (Gk phlegmatikos – “of the phlegm”) – apathetic, sluggish, self-

possessed, composed

 Sanguine (Medieval sanguin – “colour of blood”) – warm, passionate, cheerful

 Melancholic (Gk melancholia – “black bile”) – sadness

Even though some of these personality types seem bad and others good, each has advantages
and disadvantages. The theory of the humours fell out of favour in medicine 200 years ago,
but some of the ideas are still useful.

Choleric

1. Strengths – well organized, gets jobs done, strong willed and driven, independent and
takes a stand
2. Weaknesses – can run over people, insensitive, hot tempered, can be proud or angry
3. Opportunities – potential to inspire and direct others to accomplish great things
4. Threats – potential to alienate others and overlook the best things because those best
things are often not measurable.
Sanguine

1. Strengths – lively, friendly, outgoing and people-loving. Tender and compassionate.

2. Weaknesses – weak-willed, with go along to get along, impractical and disorganized.
3. Opportunities – potential to minister to others with sensitivity and caring, meeting the
deepest needs.
4. Threats – potential to compromise on important doctrines and decisions just to get
along. Can be egotistical.

Melancholy

1. Strengths – analytical, self-sacrificing, gifted and perfectionistic.

2. Weaknesses – self-centred, pessimistic, fearful and dark, moody.
3. Opportunities – potential to solve complex and important problems, both for people
and for his organization as he puts them before himself.
4. Threats – potential to be paralyzed by fear or depression.

Phlegmatic

1. Strengths – happy, easy going, dependable, practical and efficient

2. Weaknesses – doesn’t want to get involved in hard things, lazy, stubborn and resistant
to leadership
3. Opportunities – potential to hold groups together by being a peacemaker, to lighten up
the cholerics and melancholics of the world, and to stay the course in a storm.
4. Threats – potential to be unleadable and uninterested in helping anyone but himself.
Everyone has a combination of each of these characteristics, but everyone
tends to exhibit one (or even two) type(s) more strongly than the others.

To use Biblical examples, Abraham tended towards choleric. He had to be, because moving a
large party of humans and animals from a safe home to an unknown environment hundreds of
miles away takes drive, guts, and a high degree of competence. Gathering an army of
servants, pursuing a larger enemy at night and destroying it is not for the light hearted either.
Most sanguines, melancholics and phlegmatics probably could never have done it. His “get it
done” style of leadership was well suited for his tasks.

Jacob had a fair amount of choleric, because outmanoeuvring Laban, confronting Esau and
wrestling with an angel were not for the faint of heart. However, he had a broad streak of
melancholy as well. Jacob’s dark side was manifest in his preferential treatment of his wife
Rachel and her sons Joseph and Benjamin. After Joseph’s disappearance (Genesis 37:34-35)
and when later faced with possibility of losing Benjamin (Genesis 43:14), Jacob’s bias and
his mournful side are apparent.

Joseph was more of a phlegmatic. He did not so much initiate new things as perform
faithfully the things he was given to do. Being sold to Potiphar, being accused of adultery,
being left in prison and interpreting Pharaoh’s dream were not moves that he planned and
made on the chessboard of his life, but rather things that happened to him. To Joseph’s credit,
he was wise and industrious enough to faithfully serve God throughout all of these. Joseph
was faithful and was certainly stubborn but was not lazy. He did not avoid leadership but did
not scheme for it either.

Most people are a combination of these types, but one or two predominate. Further, people
become more of one and less of another depending upon their situation. One cannot remain
long in leadership in the US military without having a stiff dose of choleric. Personalities can
change, and so even if you are not choleric when you start, you will be more so when you
finish. When faced with problems that can kill you, only people who can “get it done”
survive.

People in academia or in theatre tend towards melancholic, perhaps in part because of the
introspection required to be a good professor or actor. Those in sales and politics seem to do
well if they are more sanguine. And every organization needs a few phlegmatics.

Like every personality tool, this one has limitations. No one can be put into a box by any
label, and to do so is to misunderstand them and harm their organization. Nonetheless, they
are all worth considering as we strive to develop leaders. The Temperaments model can assist
us as we strive to guide our organizations, nation and world through the 21st century.

One framework to consider in assessing the various leadership temperaments in the

workplace is the instrument created by Bob Hill and Lisa Yankowitz
(Ntrinsx.com). Ntrinsx is a dynamic tool designed for understanding and leveraging
differences into an organizational competitive advantage. For example, it helps to establish a
positive self-awareness of one’s communication style, which lends itself as to how to best
deliver feedback — a critical component of every leader’s guidance and development of a
team. A lack of understanding how to best craft one’s message can lead to dissension in the
ranks. Gaining perspective of one’s team members’ behavior builds team rapport and creates
a safe environment where teammates can feel free to be their authentic selves; their whole
selves.

How It Works

Naturally, temperament is not fixed, and, therefore, can show up differently depending on the
situation and the context. Ntrinsx uses four colors (i.e. Gold, Green, Orange; Blue) for
simplification purposes, and we are typically a blend of all four, although the first one or two
colors are most prominent in our daily activities, communication, and thought.

Every acclaimed play, script, film contains a representative of each of the Four
Temperaments (as further shown below). This is to create the connection between the
audience and the story. The connection exists because we as humans can identify most with
those who behaviorally resemble ourselves.
This is the pathos, or EMOTION. Their THOUGHTS is the logos; and what we think of
their character is the ethos – which is what the audience casts upon the individual. Together,
they represent Artistotle’s three modes of persuasion. And it is this diverse cast of characters
which stimulates interest enough for hordes of audiences to follow the trailers into the movie
theaters. Conversely, when top, influential leaders leave organizations, so do a number of
talented employees who resonated with that person’s leadership.

In an organization, great leaders are versatile, adaptable, and culturally competent. Great
leaders understand that the global market, through the touch of a keystroke, is no longer
overseas, but at their doorstep and in their offices – either virtually or physically. It is best
for leaders to form a team which can identify its abilities and consider those abilities as
strengths in a toolbox from which to draw when faced with workplace challenges and diverse
clients. Having the four temperaments present would contribute towards Cultural
Competence, the key to organizational success.

Interrelatedness is a direct result of understanding and trust. This is why it is imperative for
leaders to raise their Emotional Intelligence and gain perspective. Higher self-awareness can
be achieved by gaining a better understanding as to how they show up to others, and by
learning who the other “cast of characters” who work with them are.

The strongest, and most successful, organizations have leaders which represent all four
temperaments. This fosters an environment for healthy conflict, a diverse perspective, and a
robust strategy…a recipe for organizational success.

See below representations of the Four Temperaments; and decide which character(s)
resonate(s) most with how you see yourself.

American Presidents • Star Wars • Harry Potter • The Avengers • Lord of the Rings • Wizard
of Oz

Gold (Process-oriented):

Characters: George Washington, C-3P0/R2-D2, Ronald Weasley,

Captain America, Samwise Gamgee, Dorothy

Traits: Dependable, Guardian, Loyal, Procedures, Reliable, Duty,

Thorough, Loves Details, Orderly, Organized, Trustworthy,
Security, Rule-oriented

Green (Process-oriented):

Characters: Thomas Jefferson, Yoda, Hermoine Granger, Hulk,

Gandalf, Scarecrow

Traits: Philosophical, Abstract, Independent, Logical, Critical,

Strategic, Complex, Thinker, Big Picture, Inquisitive, Private,
Knowledgeable, Rational

Orange (Relationship-oriented):
 Characters: Theodore Roosevelt, Han Solo, Fred & George
Weasley, Iron Man, Aragorn, Lion

Traits: Action, Fun, Funny, Decisive, Practical, Spontaneous,

Flexible, Good in a crisis, Direct, Needs Variety, Adventurous,
Impulsive, Resists Authority, Quick

Blue (Relationship-oriented):

Characters: Abraham Lincoln, Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter,

Thor, Frodo, Tin Man

Traits: Nurturing, Passionate, Harmonious, Collaborative,

Cooperative, Idealistic, Empathetic, Sociable, Inspires, Motivates,
Sees Possibilities, Feeler, Sensitive, Optimistic

Intrinsically, we are drawn towards a sense of balance. George Washington (Gold) was the
structured, military general who stayed true to the American principles established and
refused to be king. Thomas Jefferson (Green) was the creator of the system for the American
institution of higher education. Theodore Roosevelt (Orange) was the hunter, outdoorsman
who said, “Walk softly, and carry a big stick.” And, Abraham Lincoln (Blue) was the
compassionate diplomat who kept this nation indivisible and honored the civil rights of all
citizens. Each of the temperaments of these leaders shaped the USA to be strong. Powerful
leaders engage large populations when people sense passion and consistency of
character. That combination creates a strong, undeniable brand.

Temperament Types & Leadership Styles

Effective leadership is the key to improving an organization's performance. A business leader

operates in accordance with her personal temperament, which is a combination of mental,
physical and emotional traits. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator tool is one type of
personality assessment scale that represents the extreme poles of an individual's potential
temperament within four assessment areas. Greater self-awareness into your predisposition to
behave a certain way can help you to identify your natural leadership style.

Extroversion vs. Introversion

The dichotomy between the extroverted and introverted temperament relates to what
energizes you. An extrovert's energy naturally rises when interacting with others. The
leadership style of the extrovert might be hands-on, with lots of contact with staff.
Conversely, the introvert is energized by internal concepts, thoughts and ideas. While this
does not mean the introvert is a hermit, the business leader whose temperament leans toward
introversion might spend more time assessing business data than the extrovert.

Sensing vs. Intuition

Sensing and intuition relate to how a person processes information. A sensing person seeks
out and reads facts. The intuitive person interprets patterns and delves into the meaning
behind data. When approaching problem-solving, a sensing leader might collect and assess
data and information in a practical and straight-forward way. The intuition-led leader might
look at the same data and see possibilities that might not be apparent on the surface.

Thinking vs. Feeling

The decision-making process is an important part of a leader's role. The thinking-feeling

dichotomy relates to how a person makes decisions. Logical analysis is the cornerstone of the
thinking leader. This type of leader might rely more on quantitative data in making decisions.
Feelers are guided more by a concern for the impact on others. At the forefront of the feeler's
mind is how his decision will affect other employees.

Judging vs. Perceiving

The judging and perceiving personality styles relate to how a person prefers to interact with
the outside world. The judging temperament is characteristic of an orderly leader. The
perceiving temperament is characteristic of a more flexible leadership style. Judgers are
generally comfortable with tasks related to time management and organizing. In contrast, the
perceiver tends to be more spontaneous and flexible with managing time.

LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION

Motivation is a goal-oriented characteristic that helps a person achieve his objectives. It
pushes an individual to work hard at achieving his or her goals. An executive must have the
right leadership traits to influence motivation. However, there is no specific blueprint for
motivation.

As a leader, one should keep an open perspective on human nature. Knowing different needs
of subordinates will certainly make the decision-making process easier.

Both an employee as well as manager must possess leadership and motivational traits. An
effective leader must have a thorough knowledge of motivational factors for others. He must
understand the basic needs of employees, peers and his superiors. Leadership is used as a
means of motivating others.

Given below are important guidelines that outline the basic view of motivation:

 Harmonize and match the subordinate needs with the organizational needs. As a
leader, the executive must ensure that the business has the same morals and ethics that
he seeks in his employees. He should make sure that his subordinates are encouraged
and trained in a manner that meets the needs of the business.
 Appreciation and rewards are key motivators that influence a person to achieve a
desired goal. Rewarding good/ exceptional behaviour with a small token of
appreciation, certificate or letter can be a great motivator. If a certificate is awarded to
 a person, it should mention the particular act or the quality for which the individual is
being rewarded.
 Being a role model is also a key motivator that influences people in reaching their
goals. A leader should set a good example to ensure his people to grow and achieve
their goals effectively.
 Encouraging individuals to get involved in planning and important issues resolution
procedure not only motivates them, but also teaches the intricacies of these key
decision-making factors. Moreover, it will help everyone to get better understanding
of their role in the organization. The communication will be unambiguous and will
certainly attract acknowledgement and appreciation from the leader.
 Developing moral and team spirit certainly has a key impact on the well-being of an
organization. The metal or emotional state of a person constitutes his or her moral
fabric. A leader’s actions and decisions affect the morale of his subordinates. Hence,
he should always be aware of his decisions and activities. Team spirit is the soul of
the organization. The leader should always make sure his subordinates enjoy
performing their duties as a team and make themselves a part of the organization’s
plans.
 A leader should step into the shoes of the subordinates and view things from
subordinate’s angle. He should empathize with them during difficult times.
Empathizing with their personal problems makes them stronger-mentally and
emotionally.
 A meaningful and challenging job accomplished inculcates a sense of achievement
among employees. The executive must make their employees feel they are performing
an important work that is necessary for the organization’s well-being and success.
This motivational aspect drives them to fulfil goals.

Remember, “To become an efficient leader, you must be self-motivated”. You must know
your identity, your needs and you must have a strong urge to do anything to achieve your
goals. Once you are self-motivated, only then you can motivate others to achieve their goals
and to harmonize their personal goals with the common goals of the organization.

MODELLING EXCELLENCE

Within every organisation or field one can identify people who are masters at what they do.
Often, however, because they are so good at what they do they are not able to easily
articulate the knowledge that they have. Nor can they say exactly how they achieve the
results that they do.

One way for your company to become the best in its class is to identify points of excellence
within the company, then make the knowledge and skills explicit so that these can be
transferred to others. The process by which this is done is called modelling.

We specialise in identifying and modelling those individuals who have mastered critical
elements of your business. We do this by working closely with the people who excel, and
identify how they do what it is they do well. We pay close attention to the knowledge they
need, the beliefs they hold, how they organise themselves, and even how they think about
what they do.

These models are then translated into powerful learning programmes, which allow transfer
of critical skills to others in the organisation.

What is Modelling?

 Discovering patterns in experience and behaviour

 Describing those patterns in a way that we can understand how they relate to the
outcomes they are connected to
 Discovering ways of using those patterns
 Creating formats for making those patterns available to other people

The roots of NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming - lie in modelling excellence, and
discovering the difference that makes a difference. And one of the key NLP presuppositions
is -

"We all have the same neurology, so if one person can do something, it is possible to model it
and teach it to others"

Modelling involves identifying people - or teams and organisations - that are excellent, and
eliciting what precisely they do (i.e. their behaviours) and, probably even more importantly
how they do it, when they are being excellent. We know that excellent behaviour comes from
a level of unconscious competence, what are often referred to as habits – i.e. when we are
being excellent we are not thinking about what we are doing, we simply do it!

NLP provides us with the analytical tools to ascertain (the WHAT, WHY, and HOW):

 WHAT? - behaviour and physiology

 HOW? - internal thinking strategies
 WHY? - beliefs and values

I.e. the foundations for the behaviours and capabilities that the individuals have developed,
and which we see in all their glory. Furthermore, if we can identify several excellent people,
there might be some common features that would represent the difference that really makes a
difference.

Modelling excellent behaviour is in itself fascinating, but:

 What if we could transfer the behaviours to others?

 What if we can make the skills of modelling an integral part of an organisation? It
would then have a generic approach to development embedded within it.

How do you Model Excellence?

To model the skills of our model subject we need to see them in action and observe what they
do and discover how they do it and why they do it. So what questions would be useful to ask
to discover the what, why and how? Robert Dilt’s Neurological Levels provides a useful
framework for eliciting the model and asking the questions - Where and When? What? How?
Why? Who? Who else? The following questions can provide the basis to the conversations
with the model subjects as they carry out their activities.

Environment: Where and When?

 Where and when do they engage in the activity?

 How do they organise and manage their environment throughout the activity?
 What was the typical environment in which they worked and how was that a
reflection of who they are as people?

Behaviour: What?

 What do they do and say when they are doing the activity?
 What are they saying to themselves? What internal pictures do they see? What do they
hear? What do they feel as they do the activity?
 What do they do and what do they say that was characteristic of the kind of person
they are?
 What effect do their behaviour have on the people with whom they came into contact
and with whom they worked?

Capabilities: How?

 How do they do what they do, i.e. with what skills and qualities?
 What were their strategies for getting results they got, whatever they were?
 What were the qualities that they demonstrated not only in the context of the
teaching/training they gave but also in any other context?

Beliefs & Values: Why?

 Why do they use those particular capabilities and skills to accomplish those activities?
 What values are important to them when they are involved in those activities?
 What beliefs guide them when they are doing them?
 What was important to them in life and in work?
 What was important to them in the interactions they had with the students they were
training?

Identity: Who?

 Who are they (what kind of person are they) when they are engaged in those beliefs,
capabilities and behaviours?
 What labels did they give themselves?
 What representation did they have of themselves?
Purpose: Who else?

 Who else are they serving with this activity?

 What was the purpose of what they did?
 What is the vision they are pursuing or representing?
 What bigger systems did they consider themselves to be connected to?
 What added value did they seek to bring to these bigger systems?
 What legacy did they want to leave with what they did?

SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY
The term “self-fulfilling prophecy” (SFP) was coined in 1948 by Robert Merton to describe
“a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false
conception come true”. The term has since entered social science and even everyday English,
a rare feat for a sociological neologism.

The concept has been subsequently rediscovered or renamed as the “Oedipus effect” (Popper
1957), “bootstrapped induction” (Barnes 1983), or “Barnesian performativity” (MacKenzie
2006). SFP has been discerned in a congeries of processes (e.g. Henschel 1978): within an
individual, as with placebo response; in relations between individuals, such as teacher and
student; in relations between collective actors, like states; underlying institutions, such as
banks and financial markets; and, most provocatively, between social theory and social
reality. SFP is a particular type of dynamic process. Prophecy means the prediction of what
will happen in the future. It is the ability to say what is going to happen in the future

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become

true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to positive feedback between belief and
behavior. Although examples of such prophecies can be found in literature as far back as
ancient Greece and ancient India, it is 20th-century sociologist Robert K. Merton who is
credited with coining the expression "self-fulfilling prophecy" and formalizing its structure
and consequences. In his 1948 article Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, Merton defines it in the
following terms:

The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a
new behavior which makes the original false conception come true. This specious validity of
the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual
course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning.

In other words, a positive or negative prophecy, strongly held belief, or delusion—declared as

truth when it is actually false—may sufficiently influence people so that their reactions
ultimately fulfill the once-false prophecy.

Self-fulfilling prophecy are effects in behavioral confirmation effect, in which behavior,

influenced by expectations, causes those expectations to come true. It is complementary to
the self-defeating prophecy.
Self-fulfilling prophecies appear in classical Sanskrit literature. In the story of Krishna in the
Indian epic Mahabharata, the ruler of the Mathura kingdom, Kamsa, afraid of a prophecy that
predicted his death at the hands of his sister Devaki's son, had her cast into prison where he
planned to kill all of her children at birth. After killing the first six children, and Devaki's
apparent miscarriage of the seventh, Krishna (the eighth son) was born. As his life was in
danger he was smuggled out to be raised by his foster parents Yashoda and Nanda in the
village of Gokula. Years later, Kansa learned about the child's escape and kept sending
various demons to put an end to him. The demons were defeated at the hands of Krishna and
his brother Balarama. Krishna as a young man returned to Mathura to overthrow his uncle,
and Kansa was eventually killed by his nephew Krishna. It was due to Kansa's attempts to
prevent the prophecy that led to it coming true, thus fulfilling the prophecy.

New Thought

The law of attraction is a typical example of self-fulfilling prophecy. It is the name given to
the belief that "like attracts like" and that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, one
can bring about positive or negative results. According to this law, all things are created first
by imagination, which leads to thoughts, then to words and actions. The thoughts, words and
actions held in mind affect someone's intentions which makes the expected result happen.
Although there are some cases where positive or negative attitudes can produce
corresponding results (principally the placebo and nocebo effects), there is no scientific basis
to the law of attraction.

Self-fulfilment is defined as the ability to make yourself happy and complete through your
own efforts. It is the fulfillment of one's aspirations, hopes, etc. through one's own efforts

An example of self-fulfilment is when you achieve your dream of going to college and are
very proud of yourself and happy with what you have done.
A self-fulfilling prophecy is when a person unknowingly causes a prediction to come true,
due to the simple fact that he or she expects it to come true. In other words, an expectation
about a subject, such as a person or event, can affect our behaviour towards that subject,
which causes the expectation to be realized. This is known as a self-fulfilling prophecy. A
sociologist named Robert K. Merton created this term in 1948 to describe a false definition of
the situation evoking a new behaviour, which makes the originally false conception come
true.
Behavioural confirmation is a type of self-fulfilling prophecy whereby people's social
expectations lead them to behave in ways that cause others to confirm their expectations.
A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy is a prediction that causes itself to come true due to the simple fact
that the prediction was made. This happens because our beliefs influence our actions.
For example, if a woman thinks that her husband will leave her for another woman, she will
act in ways that will directly or indirectly cause her belief to come true. She might get jealous
easily and make a fuss about him being friends with other women. She might pick fights
whenever she suspects that he is cheating on her, or she might go through his personal things
to look for evidence of cheating. Eventually, her actions will put a strain on their marriage,
and her husband just might leave her, causing her prediction to come true.
Any positive or negative expectation about circumstances, events, or people that may affect a
person's behavior toward them in a manner that causes those expectations to be fulfilled.

An employer who, for example, expects the employees to be disloyal and shirkers, will likely
treat them in a way that will elicit the very response he or she expects.

Any positive or negative expectation about circumstances, events, or people that may affect a
person's behavior toward them in a manner that causes those expectations to be fulfilled.

An employer who, for example, expects the employees to be disloyal and shirkers, will likely
treat them in a way that will elicit the very response he or she expects.

By putting the idea that he will become President of the United States in his head, it became a
self-fulfilling prophecy for Barack Obama.

Using Self-Fulfilling Prophecies to Your Advantage

How the self-fulfilling prophecy works?

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a belief that comes

true because we are acting as if it is already true.
New Agers call this The Law of Attraction (see,
for example, Rhonda Byrne’s 2006 self-help
book The Secret), but there’s really nothing
mystical about it. Our expectation that we will
see a particular outcome changes our behaviour,
which shapes the way others see us. In turn,
others provide the feedback we’ve set ourselves
up to get, which serves to reinforce the original
belief.

Let’s say, for example, that I’m going to a party where I don’t know many people. If I believe
I don’t make a good first impression, or I worry that nobody will talk to me, I will probably
enter the party acting awkward, anxious, and standoffish. In turn, people are likely to interact
with me with less enthusiasm, or they may ignore or shun me. Which only reinforces my
belief that I’m not good with people I don’t know.

If, by contrast, I enter the party believing that I’m good with people I don’t know and
expecting to make new friends, I’m likely to be outgoing, engaging, and less apt to take a
cold shoulder personally. As a result, people will likely respond amiably to my friendliness
and I may indeed make new friends.

So that old “fake it ‘til you make it” advice is pretty darn good advice.

Though many writers are solitary creatures, we are just as susceptible to self-fulfilling
prophecies as anyone else. Our behaviours towards others impact others’ behaviours toward
us.
Let’s take the querying process, for example. Let’s assume you’ve completed a project and
had it vetted by trustworthy beta readers, and now it’s as polished as you know how to make
it. Let’s also assume that you know how to write a decent, professional query letter.

If you believe your project is strong and feel confident about it, you will probably write a
strong, confident letter. More importantly, you will be motivated to find reputable agents who
will be interested in your project and tenacious about sending out your queries. If, by
contrast, you are uncertain about your project and its merits, you may have trouble writing an
upbeat, engaging letter. Each rejection will punch holes in your resoluteness, and you’ll
spend far more time worrying about what’s wrong with your story (or your query) than you
will actually striving to get your project out there.

That faith in your project and yourself will also serve you well when it comes to marketing
your book. (And these days much of the marketing does fall to the writer, not the publisher.)
If you don’t believe anyone will want to buy your book, why would you bother doing the
work to market it? If, on the other hand, you believe you have something others will really
enjoy or find useful, you will be enthusiastic about reaching out to possible readers. And
enthusiasm is contagious.

Caveat: Confidence is useful; arrogance, not so much. Some writers get presumptuous and
self-aggrandizing and approach agents and editors by using unrealistic, overblown statements
like “This is guaranteed to be a best0seller!” or “You are now reading a letter from the next
JK Rowling!” These things neither inform the agent/editor about your project, nor endear you
to him or her. Humility and a willingness to learn usually go a lot farther. Fortunately,
confidence and humility can go together.

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a thought or expectation that manifests in a person’s life

because it has been thought. For example, when a teacher assumes that a certain student is not
intelligent, the teacher might give that student less positive attention and more negative
attention, resulting in poorer performance by the student. The teacher, in turn, will have the
original assumption about the child validated. Or a student interviewing for college might
believe she will do poorly during the admission interview. Her anxiety over doing poorly
might then cause her to do poorly at the interview, validating her negative self-assessment.

How Self-Fulfilling Prophecies Work

A self-fulfilling prophecy can be directed at oneself, another person, a group, or even

inanimate objects. Our thoughts can dramatically alter our behaviour. Our behaviour, in turn,
can affect the likelihood of getting things we want, the frequency with which we engage in
self-destructive activities, and our ability to make good decisions. Similarly, our behaviour
can affect others, particularly people over whom we have authority or with whom we spend
significant amounts of time.

Related Concepts
Several concepts in psychology are related to self-fulfilling prophecies:

 Stereotype threat occurs when a person is warned about a stereotype about his group
and then behaves like the stereotype.

 Observer bias occurs when an observer’s opinions alter the behaviour of a group—
either by directly affecting the group’s behaviour or simply by affecting what the
observer chooses to notice about the group.