___________________________________________________________________________

3.3 Behavioral Leadership Theory

◦ Behavioral leadership theory involves observing and evaluating a leader's actions and
behaviors when they are responding to a specific situation. This theory believes that
leaders are made, not born. Proponents of this theory suggest that anyone can become an
effective leader if they can learn and implement certain behaviors.
◦ The behavioral leadership theory focuses on how leaders behave and assumes that these
traits can be copied by other leaders. Sometimes called the style theory, it suggests that
leaders aren’t born successful, but can be created based on learnable behavior. Action
rather than qualities are the focal points of behavioral learning theory.

TYPES OF BEHAVIORAL LEADERSHIP

1. People-Oriented Leadership
These leaders are primarily driven by their interpersonal connections. They build relationships that
inspire them and increase their efficiency.
2. Task-Oriented Leadership
Task-oriented leaders perform well in structured environments and often display authoritative
behavior. Their behavior is influenced by setting goals and monitoring progress.
PEOPLE-ORIENTED LEADERSHIP STYLE
1. Recognition And Rewards
People-oriented leaders understand the importance of recognizing and rewarding employee
achievements. Such actions allow employees to feel their leader appreciates their hard work and
is more likely to cause them to continue performing at a high level. Rewards from people-oriented
leaders may be anything from a formal award to increased compensation.
2. Facilitate positive relationships between employees
These leaders recognize employees are more productive and satisfied with their positions when
they have positive relationships with their co-workers. Because of this increased productivity and
job satisfaction.
3. Coaching
Coaching allows employees to improve their skills and abilities without fear of consequences.
People-oriented leaders often coach their employees in ways that will improve their productivity
and improve relations with other employees.
4. Open communication
People-oriented leaders often focus on delivering honest and up-front message to their
employees, allowing for an open dialogue about concerns, questions and ideas. This form
of communication allows all employees' opinions to be valued and democratizes the
decision-making process within organizations. Additionally, this open dialogue allows for an
increased diversity of thought, which is associated with more positive long-term outcomes
of decision-making.
Benefits of using people-oriented principles:
 High Job Satisfaction
Organizations that implement people-oriented principles are more likely to maintain and
improve employee job satisfaction. The reason for this is that such policies allow for an
increased focus on individual work-life balance, positive employee relations, and improved
worker conditions. Employees that are more satisfied with their positions are more likely to
be productive throughout each working day.
 Low Turnover
Another effect of high job satisfaction is a low employee turnover rate. People-oriented
principles allow employees to remain working for organizations for a longer amount of time
because their positions meet their personal needs and expectations. Low turnover
decreases training costs for organizations and creates more experienced teams.
 Ability to take Risk
As people-oriented principles promote the independent thought of employees, they also
allow employees to feel more comfortable taking risks.
 Mutual Respect
The principles of people-oriented teams allow for all members to have respect for each
other, increasing the likelihood of meaningful relationships and friendships within working
teams. Friendly and respectful teams are more comfortable making tough decisions and
working together to achieve common goals. Additionally, mutual respect allows for
employees to feel comfortable proving advice or counsel to their managers during times of
need.

TIPS FOR IMPLEMENTING PEOPLE-ORIENTED PRINCIPLES

 Promote from the inside

One of the best ways to recognize employee achievements and respect their potential is to
reward them through internal promotions. These promotions often increase the
compensation of employees and allow their specialized skills to be put to good use. Also,
employees that see the potential for internal promotion are more likely to commit
themselves to their positions in order to increase their ability to be promoted themselves.
 Low Turnover
Another effect of high job satisfaction is a low employee turnover rate. People-oriented
principles allow employees to remain working for organizations for a longer amount of time
because their positions meet their personal needs and expectations. Low turnover
decreases training costs for organizations and creates more experienced teams.
 Ability to take risk
As people-oriented principles promote the independent thought of employees, they also
allow employees to feel more comfortable taking risks. The ability to take risks has many
potential benefits, as some risks result in breakthroughs that might increase productivity or
increase the revenue of the organization in another way. When employees understand their
managers trust them to take risks in their career, these professionals often feel more
supported and inclined to reciprocate that trust with their managers.
 Mutual Respect
The principles of people-oriented teams allow for all members to have respect for each
other, increasing the likelihood of meaningful relationships and friendships within working
teams. Friendly and respectful teams are more comfortable making tough decisions and
working together to achieve common goals. Additionally, mutual respect allows for
 employees to feel comfortable proving advice or counsel to their managers during times of
need.

Tips for implementing people-oriented principles

Promote from the inside

One of the best ways to recognize employee achievements and respect their potential is to
reward them through internal promotions. These promotions often increase the
compensation of employees and allow their specialized skills to be put to good use. Also,
employees that see the potential for internal promotion are more likely to commit
themselves to their positions in order to increase their ability to be promoted themselves

Allow for autonomy and creativity

Employees value the ability to be trusted by their employers to make sound decisions.
Allowing for increased autonomy and creativity can help engender a more productive
workforce and cause employees to have more respect for their leaders. By allowing this
increase in autonomy, many workers are likely to take responsibility for their own workload
and contribute more to their teams.

Identify Strengths
Every individual employee has specialized strengths, allowing them to be more effective
and productive when completing certain tasks. Leaders interested in implementing people-
oriented principles identify these unique strengths and place employees in positions where
they can use those strengths. Such actions can help increase job satisfaction and overall
productivity.

Seven key strengths of task-oriented leadership

 Clarify objectives: Task-oriented leaders provide direct instruction. For example, if you are
working with a team, you need to specify simple instructions, deadlines, and targets to employees
to make it easy for them to achieve the potential you want.
 Framework tasks precisely. If you are working on a project, you need to outline the
mission first. List the essential jobs and then accurately explain the processes. Design the
methods and strategies with them to brainstorm the ideas in a well-mannered course of action.
 Issue exact deadlines. Setting deadlines is essential for the group to have a sense of
achievement. Set reminders for your employees and ask them to work actively over the project,
which has strict deadlines.
 Offer guidance. Provide clear advice and direction to avoid mistakes, roadblocks, and
hassles. Give opportunities to ask questions. Provide information, resources, research, and other
points of clarification. By offering guidance, you will address obstacles and move another step
towards progress.
 Excellent representatives They know very well which team is suitable for which task;
therefore, they are great at proper delegations. They drive productivity levels higher by identifying
the strengths of their employees.
 Apply a reward system: After their teams have achieved key results and objectives, apply
systems to continually reward and motivate. For example, set a reward, bonus, time off or other
factors specific to individual’s diverse sets of motivation at the end of the month to increase
productivity and make a disciplined work environment.
 Attain favorable outcomes: This leadership style achieves the best results by directing
team strengths and setting strategies. They understand their responsibilities well and work
effectively.

ADVANTAGES OF BEHAVIORAL THEORY

 • It helps determine the leadership styles of managers and team leaders
• It helps managers determine how their leadership style affects their relationship with the
team and promotes commitment towards business goals
• It guides managers to find the right balance between different leadership styles and helps
them decide how to behave in different situations

DISADVANTAGES OF BEHAVIORAL THEORY

• Behavioral theories are learned processes that take time and may not always be successful
• Personal biases may influence a manager’s decision because they’re expected to make
independent decisions and respond to different situations differently

Conclusion
◦ The Behavioral Theory of management provides a map on how to practice effective
leadership in organizations. The best leaders are those who can adjust their leadership
styles and use the right approach in every situation.

3.4 Participative Leadership Theory

◦ Participative leadership refers to leaders who employ a democratic approach to team
engagement. Participative leaders give employees a chance to express their creativity by
coming up with suggestions to tackle a situation. This is in stark contrast to authoritative
leadership, where all decisions depend on the leader. Under participative leadership, the
leader empowers their followers and makes them a part of the decision – making process .
As a result, employees feel valued and devote themselves wholeheartedly to the
organization. Participative leaders can motivate their employees and extract better
performances from them. This leadership style helps achieve the company’s objectives
efficiently and effectively.

PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS

1. CURIOSITY Participative leaders are curious, always looking for fresh and innovative ideas
from their employees to improve the business. They realize that inputs from others can
enable them to see the larger picture from various perspectives.
2.EXCELLENT COMMUNICATION SKILLS Seeking inputs and suggestions from workers
requires leaders with excellent communication skills. Communication is a significant factor in
an organization’s success. Both upward and downward flows of communication are important.
If feedback from the employees or leader is not taken seriously, the team could face chaos
3. ABILITY TO EMPOWER WORKERS Participative leaders try to empower employees with
decision-making responsibilities and active participation in the company. They want others
to lead as well. Therefore, participative leaders provide knowledge and training to their
employees to prepare them as leaders of tomorrow.
4. BROAD-MINDEDNESS Participative leadership calls for open-mindedness. Such leaders
are always open to inputs, suggestions and advice from their colleagues and subordinates.
They acknowledge that feedback from the workforce brings better results.
5. GOOD LISTENING SKILLS Participative leaders are great listeners. They love receiving
inputs from their employees. Therefore, they encourage employees to speak up. This way,
employees also feel connected and devoted to the company. A participative leader realizes
that high morale among the employees delivers better overall results. They also make sure
to appreciate their employees for their work.
 THE BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP
• Participative leadership encourages collaboration. Employees in some organizations can
feel stifled or unheard if their attempts to contribute - based on their opinions or experience
- are ignored. In participative leadership, there is a forum for these ideas to be heard.
• Participative leadership opens up an organization. In an age where more scrutiny is
placed on how businesses operate, this is especially important. Involving employees in
decisions means more transparency.
• Participative leadership facilitates a free flow of ideas. Each employee has something to
contribute. While all contributions may not be valuable or actionable, creating an
environment in which they can be discussed invites others to contribute their ideas: things
can then be refined, evaluated, and built upon.
• Participative leadership decreases competition. If employees know that ideas will be
evaluated by a group and possibly incorporated into company practice, there is less
concern about original ownership of an idea.
• Participative leadership improves morale. If people know they will be heard, they are more
likely to contribute, and to feel like their contribution is valued. This is a fundamental
requisite for a happy, motivated workforce.
• Participative leadership improves retention. All of the factors above combine to create a
workplace where people feel valued, feel less pressure to stand out, and feel a part of their
organization. People are less tempted to leave a workplace with such qualities.

PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP STYLE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

◦ The advantages of participative leadership are many. The participative leadership style
examples discussed above show that these leaders can push their employees in the right
direction to attain organizational goals. This allows for a scope of collective decision-
making, which enhances the skills and capabilities of the entire team. However,
the participation leadership theory has a few disadvantages too. This style can be time-
consuming, it may not work with unskilled employees, and improper communication could
cause conflict.
Conclusion
◦ A leader who uses this style effectively will be able to involve their entire team in the
running of the organization. By crowdsourcing opinions and contributions, decision making
becomes a collective endeavor that taps into the skills, ideas, and expertise of every
member. Though there are risks to the deployment of participative leadership, these can be
nipped in the bud by an effective leader. Awareness of the potential weaknesses of a
leadership style are just as important as an understanding of its strengths.

References:
◦ https://harappa.education/harappa-diaries/participative-leadership/?
fbclid=IwAR2dU1bsF8MCFKpdq5KtxQyu4UtBDLyvuYaACoDgFANOJbhnAcEssXBxUmE
◦ https://www.wgu.edu/blog/leadership-theories-styles2004.html#:~:text=A%20great
%20example%20of%20the,be%20adjusted%20with%20the%20workflow.
◦ https://harappa.education/harappa-diaries/behavioral-theory-of-leadership/
◦ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/8-behaviours-sound-leader-ludovic-maillard