CHAPTER TWO

2. LEADERSHIP THEORIES AND STYLES

2.1 LEADERSHIP STYLES

Leadership style is the behavior exhibited by a leader during supervision and working with
subordinates. A manager’s personal leadership style-that is, the specific ways in which a
manager chooses to influence other people- shapes the way that manager approaches planning,
organizing, and controlling. Evidences suggest that leadership styles vary not only among
individuals but also among countries or cultures. There are different leadership styles.

We can classify leadership style as negative and positive. Positive leadership styles give
emphasis to praise and recognition, monetary rewards, increase in security, and addition of
responsibility to make the work done by other people. Negative leadership style on the other
hand emphasizes penalties, loss of job, suspension, and public reprimands/critics.

Based on the extent of sharing decision making authority with subordinates there are four
leadership styles. These are autocratic, democratic, laissez fair and situational. They are
commonly known and/or practiced.

A. Autocratic/directive leadership style

An autocratic leader centralizes power and decision making authority in himself and exercise
complete control over subordinates. Such leader usually shows high concern for the task and
low concern for the people /human aspect/.

The following are the common characteristics of autocratic leaders:

- The leader make the decisions and closely supervises employees;

- Highly conscious of his /her position;
- They are sensitive about their authority; One-way communication;
- They are willing to delegate a very little decision making authority;
- The leader believes that pay is just a reward for working and the only reward that
will motivate employees.

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 - Orders are issued to be carried out with no questions allowed and no explanations.

Problems of autocratic style: force breeds counter-force: restriction of output,

antagonism, unionism. It impairs group moral and initiative, brings high rate of
grievance, absenteeism, turnover and dissatisfaction.

Strength of autocratic style: it is useful in certain situations. Some situation may call
urgent action in such situation autocratic leadership may be appropriate. In emergency
situations autocratic leadership style may be effective if the leader is wise.

B. Democratic or participative leadership style

Democratic eldership style is characterized by participation of the group and utilization of its
opinions. A manager with this style usually shares decision making authority with the group
and encourages participation and supports the task efforts of subordinates.

Democratic leadership style has the following characteristics:

- Share decision making authority with subordinates;

- A leader appreciate suggestions from subordinates;
- The leader shows high concern for both task and people;
- Leaders are not sensitive about their authority;
- New ideas/change proposed by a group is respected;
- Develops a feeling of responsibility within the group;
- Motivates subordinates;
- Generally increases the quality of work and productivity;
- If forced to make a decision alone the leader explains his/her reason to the
group/subordinates.
C. Laissez faire/free-rein/ abdicative leadership style

A laissez faire leader develops a frame work for subordinates in which they can act and leave
decision making authority to the subordinates and remain for consultation.

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 Free-rein leadership style has the following features:

- The leader gives full decision making authority to the group and shows little interest
in the work process or its results;
- Leader exercise little control over the group/ subordinates;
- Individuals may have little interest in their work;
- Morale and team work are generally low.

Free rein leadership style can apply in organizations with highly skilled and well-
trained professional.

D. Situational leadership style

It is now being recognized that effectiveness of one or the other leadership style depends on
the situation. Leaders can utilize the combination of the above three styles depending on the
situation.

The manager need not restrict his choice from among a limited class of style or approaches.
The style a manger chooses may depend upon the following situations;

 Forces in the manager such as his value system, his confidence in subordinates.
 Forces in subordinates, example, subordinates expectation s.
 Forces in the situation, example, type of organization, the nature of the problems, the
pressure of time, etc.

For example, an autocratic leader may behave democratically when the success of a
change, program, policy, or decision is critically dependent on employee acceptance and
cooperation. A democratic leader may find it wiser to behave autocratically when a
decision is associated with a high degree of risk and uncertainty, or when he is facing a
crisis or an emergency situation, etc. nevertheless, leadership behavior should be viewed
along a continuum from work centered to people concerned.

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2.2 LEADERSHIP THEORIES

2.2.1 GREAT MAN THEORY

Great man theory assumes that the capacity for leadership is inherent-that great leaders are born
not made. These theory often portray great leaders are heroic, mythic and destined to rise to
leadership when needed. This theory believes that, leaders are exceptional people, born with
innate qualities, destined to lead.

The term “great man” was used because leadership was thought of primarily as male quality. The
gender issues were not on the table when the great man theory was proposed. Moreover, most
leaders and researchers were also male, and concerns about andocentric bias were a long way
from being realized.

2.2.2 TRAIT THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

In the early 1900’s, an organized approach were studying leadership began. The early studies
were based on the assumption that leaders are born, not made. This concept was later called the
“Great man” theory of leadership.

In the 1920’s and 1930’s leadership researchers focused on trying to identify the traits that
differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Researchers wanted to identify a set of characteristics, or
traits that distinguished leaders from followers or effective from ineffective leaders. Trait theory
claims that people are born with inherited traits. Some traits are particularly suited to leadership.
People who make good leaders have the right (sufficient) combination of traits.

Leadership trait theory assumes that there are distinctive physical and psychological
characteristics accounting for leadership effectiveness. This approach also assumed that a finite
number of individual traits-intellectual, emotional, physical, and other traits- of effective leaders
could be found. This leadership theory focused on ‘what’ an effective leader is, not on ‘how’ to
effectively lead.

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The table below lists the main leadership traits and skills identified by Stogdill in 1974.

Traits Skill

- Clever (intelligent)
- Adaptable to situations - Persistent
- Conceptually skilled
- Alert to social environment - Decisive
- Creative
- Ambitious and achievement-orientated - Cooperative
- Diplomatic and tactful
- Assertive - Dependable
- Dominant (desire to influence others) - Fluent in speaking

- Energetic (high activity level) - Self-confident - Knowledgeable about group task

- Tolerant of stress - Organised (administrative ability)

- Willing to assume responsibility - Persuasive

- Socially skilled

Set of traits and characteristics were identified to assist in selecting the right people to become
leaders. The list of traits was to be used as a prerequisite for promotion of candidates to
leadership positions. Only candidates possessing all the identified traits were to be given
leadership positions. The trait approach to understanding leadership supports the use of tests and
interviews in the selection of managers and/or leaders. The interviewers typically attempt to
match the traits and characteristics of the applicant to the position. For example, most
interviewers attempt to evaluate how well the applicant works with people.

Decades of research (beginning in the 1930s) and hundreds of studies indicate that certain
personal characteristics do appear to be associated with effective leadership (see below for a list
of these).

o Intelligence: it assumed that leaders generally are lightly more intelligent than the
average of their followers. The leader’s above-average cognitive ability to process

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 enormous amount of information, help leaders to understand complex issues and solve
problems. Intellectual breadth able the leader to understand a wide range of areas, rather
than having a narrow (and narrow-minded) area of expertise.
o Inner motivation and achievement drives: leaders have a strong drive to accomplish
goals. When they achieve one thing, they seek out another.
o Supervisory ability: getting the job done through others.
o Emotional stability and composure: calm, confident and predictable, particularly when
under stress.
o Integrity and honesty: helps leaders behave ethically and earn their subordinates trust
and confidence.
o Social traits: such as cooperativeness skill
o Admitting error; owning up to mistakes, rather than putting energy into covering up.
o Good interpersonal skills: able to communicate and persuade others without resort to
negative or coercive tactics.

Shortcoming or Criticisms of Trait Theory: even though traits identified by some studies
differentiated effective leaders from ineffective leaders, research finding are still contradictory
for a number of reasons. These are:

Not all leaders possess all of the traits identified.

List of potentially important traits is endless. Every year new traits are added to physical,
personal and intelligence characteristics.
No consistent patterns have been found that distinguish effective leaders from the
ineffective one.
Difficult to measure traits. How much of a trait a person should have is also confusing
question.
All traits are not equally important for all situations. The importance of certaintrait
depending on the situation.

In general, traits alone are not the key to understanding leadership effectiveness, however. Some
effective leaders do not possess all of these traits, and some leaders who do possess them are not
effective in their leadership roles. This lack of a consistent relationship between traits and leaders
effectiveness led researchers to shift their attention away from traits and to search for new

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explanations for effective leadership. Rather than focusing on what leaders are like (the traits
they possess), researchers began looking at what effective leaders actually do-in other words, at
the behaviors that allow effective leaders to influence their subordinates to achieve group and
organizational goals.

2.2.3 BEHAVIORAL LEADERSHIP THEORIES

By the late 1940’s most leadership research had changed from trait theory and focused on what
the leader did. They attempt to identify the differences in the behavior of effective leaders vs.
ineffective leaders.

Behavioral leadership style assumes that there are distinctive styles that effective leaders use
consistently, that is, that good leadership is rooted in behavior. Behavioral theory is a big leap
from trait theory, in that it assumed that leadership capability can be learned, rather than being
inherent.

I. TWO DIMENSIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLES

A) Initiating Structure And Consideration Styles

In 1945, Ohio State University began a study to determine effective leadership styles. And can
identify two distinctive leadership dimensions.

 Initiating structure: the extent to which the leader takes charge to organize and define
the relationship in the group, tend to defined patterns and channels of communication,
and spells out ways of getting the job done.

 Consideration: the extent to which the leader communicates to develop friendship,

mutual trust, respect, warmth.

B) Job centered and employee centered styles

At approximately the same time the Ohio State University began, the University of Michigan’s
survey research centered began leadership studies. Their research identified the same two
dimensions, or styles, of leadership behavior. However, they called the two styles by different
names.

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 Job centered: this is the same as initiating structure. Job centered style refers the extent
the leader focusing on completing task and uses close supervision so that subordinates
perform their task using specified procedure. So they focused on plan and defining work,
assigning task responsibilities, clear work standard, urge for task accomplishment,
technical aspect of the job.

Employee centered: focus on people doing the work and believe in delegating decision
making and aiding employee in satisfying their need by creating a supportive work
environment. Employee centered is the same as consideration.

Different combination of the two dimensions of leadership results in four leadership styles. The
following managerial grid shows the relationship between two dimensions. Note that the
managerial grid refers to job centered refers as concern for production and the managerial grid
consideration refers as concern for people.

High
High consideration High structure
C
o And And
ns Low structure High consideration
id
er
at
Low consideration High structure
io
n And And
Low structure low consideration

Low
Initiating structure
Low High

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 II. BASIC LEADERSHIP STYLES

In the 1930’s, before behavioral theory became popular, studies at the University of Iowa
concentrated on the manner or style (behavior) of leaders. The studies identified three basic
leadership styles:

Autocratic: the leader makes the decisions and closely supervises employees.

Democratic: the leader allows participation in decisions and does not closely supervise
employees.

Laissez-faire: the leader takes a leave-the employees-alone approach.

III. THE LEADERSHIP /MANAGERIAL GRID

The leadership grid is based on the two leadership dimensions called concern for production and
concern for people. The Managerial Grid developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton focuses
on task (production) and employee (people) orientations of managers, as well as combinations of
concerns between the two extremes. They published it in 1964 and updated it in 1978 and 1985
and it becomes leadership grid in 1991.

The leadership grid is Blake and Muoton’s model identifying the ideal leadership style as having
a high concern for both production and people.

The horizontal axis of the grid (see the figure below) represents the concern for production, and
the vertical axis represents the concern for people. Each axis is a point scale of 1 to 9. The 1
indicates low concern, while the 9 indicates high concern.

Through grid training, which is still being used today, managers fill in an instrument that
indicates what they would do in certain situations. The results are scored to indicate where
they are on the leadership grid, one of the 81 combinations of concern for production and people.
They go through training designed to help them become ideal 9,9 managers, having a high
concern for both production and people.

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Although the grid has 81 possible combinations of concern for production and people, the model
identifies five major styles:

The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid

(Blake & Mouton, 1964)

a) (1,1) the impoverished manager: this leader has low concern for both production and people.
The leader does the minimum required to remain employed in the position.

b) (9,1)The sweatshop managers/authority obedience: this leader has a high concern for
production and a low concern for people. The leader uses position power to coerce
employees to do the work. People are treated like machines.

c) (1,9)The country club manager: this leader has a high concern for people and a low concern
production. The leader strives to maintain good relations and a friendly atmosphere.

d) (5,5)The organized-person manager: this leader has balanced, medium concern for both
production and people. The leader strives to maintain satisfactory middle-of-the-road
performance and moral.

e) (9,9)The team manager: this leader has a high concern for both people and production. This
leader strives for maximum performance and employee satisfaction. Participation,
commitment, and conflict management are emphasized.

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2.2.4 CONTINGENCY/SITUATIONAL THEORY

According to situational theories, assume that the appropriate leadership style varies from
situation to situation. Contingency theories do not deny the importance of the leader’s
characteristics or the leader’s behavior. Both must be taken into account in the context of the
situation.

In this section we discuss some of the most popular contingency leadership theories.

A. Fiedler's Contingency Model

Fred E. Fiedler was among the first leadership researchers to acknowledge that effective
leadership is contingent on, or depends on, the characteristics of the leader and of the situation.
Fiedler’s contingency model helps explain why a manager may be an effective leader in one
situation and ineffective in another; it is also suggests which kinds of managers are likely to be
most effective in which situations.

In 1951, Fiedler began to develop the first situational leadership theory. He called the theory
“Contingency theory of Leader Effectiveness.” Fiedler believed that one’s leadership style a
reflection of one’s personality (trait theory-oriented) and is basically constant. Managers cannot
change their style, nor can they adopt different styles in different kinds of situation. According to
Fiedler performance of groups is dependent on the interaction between leadership style and
situational favorableness. If there is no match, Fiedler recommends that the leader change the
situation, rather than the leadership style.

 Determining Leadership Style: Fiedler hypothesized that personal characteristics can

influence leader effectiveness. He used the term leader style to a manager’s characteristic
approach to leadership and identified two basic leader styles: relationship-oriented and
task-oriented. All managers can be described as having one style or the other.
To determine whether one’s leadership style is task-oriented or relationship-oriented, the
leader fills in the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scales. This is followed by
determining the favorableness of the leader’s situation.
 Determining Situational Favorableness: situational favorableness refers to the degree
to which a situation enables the leader to exert influence over the followers. Fiedler

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 identified three situational characteristics that are important determinants of how
favorable a situation is for leading. The three variables, in order of importance are:
1. Leader-member relations: is the relationship good or poor? Do the followers trust,
respect, accept, and have confidence in the leader? Is it a friendly, tension-free
situation? Leaders with good relation have more influence. The better the relations,
the more favorable the situation.
2. Task structure: is the task structured or unstructured? Do employees perform
routine, unambiguous, standard tasks that are easily understood? Leaders in a
structured situation have more influence. The more structured the jobs are the more
favorable the situation.
3. Position power: is position power strong or weak? Does the leader have the power to
assign work, reward and punish, hire and fire, and give praises and promotions? The
leader with position power has more influence. The more power, the more favorable
the situation.
 Determining the appropriate leadership style: to determine whether task or
relationship leadership is appropriate, the user answers the three questions pertaining to
situational favorableness, using the Fiedler’s contingency theory model.
Question 1: are leader-member relations good or poor?
Question 2: is the task structured or unstructured?
Question 3: is position power strong or weak? By answering these three questions
consecutively we can determine the situation and appropriate leadership style. See the
Fiedler’s model below.

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 Leader-member relations Good Poor

Task structureTask High Low High Low

Position power Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak

Kinds of relationship I II III IV V VI VII VIII

Situations
Very favorable
Situation Very
unfavorable
situation

 Relationship-oriented leaders are most effective in moderately favorable situations for leading (II, III, IV, V, VI,
and VII)
 Task-oriented leaders are most effective in very favorable situations (I) and/or very unfavorable satiations (VIII)
for leading.
Figure 2.2 Fiedler’s contingency theory of leadership

B. LEADERSHIP CONTINUUM

Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schemdit stated that leadership behavior is on a continuum
from autocrat (or boss-centered) to democrat (or employee centered) leadership. Their model
focuses on who makes the decisions. They identify seven major styles based on the use of boss-
centered versus employee centered. As one moves away from the autocratic extreme, the amount
of subordinates participation and involvement in decision making increases.

Before selecting one of the seven leadership styles, the user must consider the following three
factors, or variables:

- The manager: what is the leader’s preferred style, based on experience,

expectation, values, background, knowledge, feeling of security, and confidence in
the subordinates?

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 - The subordinates: what is the subordinates’ preferred style for the leader, based on
experience, expectation, and son on? Generally, the more willing and able the
subordinates are to participate, the more freedom to participate should be given.
- The situation: what are the environmental considerations, such as the
organization’s size, structure, climate, goals, and technology? Upper-level
managers also influence leadership styles.

Figure 2.2 show their model, which lists the seven styles.

Autocratic style Participative style

Leader Leader sells Leader Leader Leader Leader Leader

makes decision presents ideas presents presents defines limits permits
decision and and invites tentative problem, gets and asks subordinates
announces it questions decision suggestions, group to to function
subject to and makes make decision within limits
change decision defined by
leaders.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Figure 2.3.leadership continuum

As you read about situational variables, you will realize that they are descriptive; the model does
not state which style to use in a situation.

Autocratic/Telling Style: the leader makes the decisions and announces them, expecting
subordinates to carry out without question. In an emergency, a telling style may be most
appropriate and would normally be considered justified by the group (as long as the general
climate of that group is supportive and mature).
Selling or Persuasive Style: the leader takes the decisions for the group without discussion
and consultation but he believes that people will be better motivated if they are persuaded
that the decisions are good ones. So the leader does a lot of explanations to overcome any
possible resistance and to persuade that the decisions are good.

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 The selling style would tend to fit situations in which the group leader alone possesses all the
information on which the decision must be based and which at the same time calls for a very
high level of commitment and enthusiasm on the part of group members if the task is to be
carried through successfully.
The leader presents his/her decision and invites subordinates to ask questions about the
decision. Here also the leader makes the decision without discussion and consultation with
subordinates.
The leader presents tentative decision subject to change. The leader confers with the group
members after taking decisions and asks their feelings and their suggestion. If the
subordinates’ advices are appropriate and can enhance the decision, the leader may change
his tentative decision.
Consultative style: leader presents problem, gets suggestions, and makes decision. The
leader confers with the group members before taking decision and, in fact, considers their
advice and their feelings when framing decision. The leader may not always accept the
subordinates’ advice but they (subordinates) are likely to feel that they can have some
influence. Under this leadership style the decision and the full responsibility for it remain
with the leader.
The consulting style is likely to be most appropriate when there is time in which to reach a
considered decision and when the information on which the decision needs to be based lies
among the members of the group.
The leader defines the decision limits and asks groups to make decision within the limit.
Democratic/Joining Style: leader permits subordinates to function within limits defined by
leader. The leader will allow the decision to emerge out of the process of group discussion,
instead of imposing it on the group as its boss. The leader’s role is that of conference leader,
or chair, rather than that of decision taker.

C. SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODEL

One of the most popular contingency theories is the situational leadership model, developed by
Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. The model suggests that effective leaders vary their style with
the maturity/readiness of followers. This model posits that the developmental levels of a leader’s
subordinates play the greatest role in determine which leadership style is appropriate.

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Employee readiness or maturity refers to the employee’s or work team’s ability and willingness
to accomplish a specific task and take responsibility for directing his/her/its own behavior.
People tend to have varying degrees of maturity, depending on the specific task, function, or
objective that a leader is attempting to accomplish through their efforts. Ability refers to the
extent that the follower’s has the skills and knowledge to perform the task without the leader’s
guidance. Willingness refers to the follower’s self-motivation and commitments to perform the
assigned task.

For the most part, this model (situational leadership model) takes the two dimensional leadership
styles and the four quadrants, and develops four leadership styles based on amount of directive
and supportive behavior provided, which they call telling, selling, participating, and delegating.
Hersey and Blanchard went beyond the behavioral theory by developing a model that tells the
leader which style to use in a given situation.

Telling: telling has high task behavior and low support behavior. The leader provides
clear instructions and specific directions. This style is appropriate when followers’
readiness/maturity level is low.
Selling: it has high task and high supportive behavior. Selling style is appropriate if the
employees’ readiness/maturity level is from moderate to low.
Participating: it has high supportive behavior and low task behavior. It is best matched
with a moderate to high employee readiness/maturity level.
Delegating: it has low task and supportive behavior. This style is best match with high
employee readiness level.

2.2.5. TRANSFORMATIONAL, TRANSACTIONAL AND SERVANT PERSPECTIVE

OF LEADERSHIP

2.2.5.1. Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is a contemporary view of leadership. Transformational

leadership is a leadership perspective that explains how leaders change teams or organizations
by creating, communicating, and modeling a vision for the organization or work unit, and
inspiring employees to strive for that vision. Transformational leader can make subordinates
aware of the importance of their jobs and performance to the organization and aware of their

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needs for personal growth and that motivates subordinates to work for the good of the
organization.

The focus of transformational leadership is on top-level managers, primarily chief executive

officers of large organizations. Transformational leadership is about change, innovation, and
entrepreneurship. Transformational leaders are agents of change. They develop a vision for the
organization or work unit, inspire and collectively bond employees to that vision, give them a
“can do” attitude that makes the vision achievable.

Some of the characteristics, or traits, of transformational leaders are the following:

- They see themselves as change agents;

- They are encourageous individuals who take risks;
- They believe in people and motivate them;
- They are value-driven;
- They have the ability to deal with complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty; and
- They are visionaries. These traits are evident during leader-member exchange.

Transformational leaders perform, or take the organization through, three acts, on an ongoing
basis. These are shown in the graph below.

Figure 2.4: elements/acts of transformational leadership

Creating A
Vision
Recognizing
the need for
change Transformational
Leadership

Institutionalizing Change:

- Communicating the vision

- Modeling the vision
- Building commitment to the
vision

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Act1: Recognizing the Need for Revitalization

The transformational leader recognizes the need to change the organization in order to keep up
with the rapid changes in the environment and to keep ahead of the global competition, which is
becoming more competitive all the time. So transformational leaders are change agents.

Act 2: Creating a New Vision

The transformational leader visualizes the changed organization and motivates people to make
it become a reality. They are visionary leaders. Visions are the most important part of the
transformational leader.

Transformational leaders shape a strategic vision of a realistic and attractive future that bonds
employees together and focuses their energy toward a super-ordinate organizational goal.
Strategic vision reflects a future for the company or work unit that is ultimately accepted and
valued by organizational members. A vision might originate with the leader, but it is just as
likely to emerge from employee, clients, suppliers, or other constituents. It typically begins as an
abstract idea that becomes progressively clearer through critical events and discussions with staff
about strategic and operational plans. Visions are typically described in a way that distinguishes
them from the current situation, yet makes the goal both appealing and achievable.

Act 3: Institutionalizing the Change

The transformational leader guides people as they make the vision become a reality. To realize
the vision the transformational leader will do the following:

a) Communicating the Vision: transformational leader communicate meaning and elevate

the importance of the visionary goal to employees. Transformational leaders makes
subordinates aware of how important their jobs are for the organization and how
necessary it is for them to perform those jobs as best they can so that the organization can
attain its vision and goals.

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 b) Modeling the Vision: transformational leaders not only talk about the vision; they enact
it. They “walk the talk” by stepping outside the executive suite and going things that
symbolize the vision.
To succeed as a leader, you need to act consistently with your statements. If you don’t
walk the talk, you lose your credibility. The greater the consistency between the leader’s
words and actions, the more employees will believe and follow the leader. Walking the
talk also builds employee trust because trust is partly determined by the consistency of
the person’s actions.
c) Building Commitment to the Vision: transforming a vision into a reality requires
employee commitment. Transformational leaders motivate their subordinates to work for
the good of the organization as a whole. Their words, symbols, and stories build a
contagious enthusiasm that energizes people to adopt the vision as their own. Leaders
demonstrate a “can do” attitude by enacting their vision and staying on course. Their
persistence and consistency reflect an image of honesty, trust, and integrity.
Transformational leaders build commitment by involving employees in the process of
shaping the organizations vision.
Transformational leaders also aware their subordinate by telling them growth of the
organization is growth of employees. Transformational leaders make their subordinates
aware of their own need for personal growth, development and accomplishment.
Employees make aware of their own need through numerous workshops and training
sessions, empowerment of employees throughout the company, the development of fast-
track career programs, and increase reliance on self-managed work teams.

2.2.5.2 Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership has been contrasted with transformational leadership. The transactional
leadership is based on the principle of “you do this work for me and I will give this reward to
you.” Transactional leadership focuses more on middle and first-line managers who help the
transformational leader take their unit through the three acts.

Transactional leader motivates subordinates by rewarding them for high performance and
reprimand or punish low performers. Such mangers use reward and coercive powers to

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encourage high performance. They link job performance with valued rewards. Transactional
leadership can improve organizational efficiency.

2.2.5.3 Servant Leadership

Servant leadership emphasizes the leader’s duty to serve his/her follower. Leadership thus arises
out of a desire to serve rather than a desire to lead. It begins with the natural feeling that one
wants to serve first.

Robert Greenleaf, founder of the Center for Servant Leadership describes it as follows:

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to
serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. He or she is sharply different from
the person who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or
to acquire material possessions. For such it will be a later choice to serve – after leadership is
established. The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are
shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.

The difference manifest itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other
people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do
those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more
autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least
privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, will they not be further deprived?”

Characteristics of Servant Leaders are as follows:

“Servant-Leadership is a practical philosophy which supports people who choose to serve first,
and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions. Servant-leaders may
or may not hold formal leadership positions. Servant-leadership encourages collaboration, trust,
foresight, listening, and the ethical use of power and empowerment.”

The emphasis on serving a higher purpose has made this model popular within the religious
institutions.

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