Nyaku House, Mezz Fl. Argwings Kodhek Road, Hurlingham, P.O.

Box 135 GPO 00100 Nairobi, Kenya

Phone +254202731497, Fax + 254202723258
Email editor@africanexecutive.com www.africanexecutive.com

Issue 273 July 14 – 20, 2010

LEADERSHIP SKILLS
By Mr. S. Gumbe
Department of Business Studies, Faculty of Commerce
University of Zimbabwe
Abstract
An essential part of management is the coordination of the activities of people and guiding their
efforts towards the goals and objectives of the organisation. This involves the process of
leadership and the choice of an appropriate form of action and behaviour. Leadership is a
central feature of organisational performance. The manager must understand the nature of
leadership influence, factors which determine relationships with other people and the
effectiveness of the leadership. The 21st Century leaders must create an atmosphere in which
people believe in strategy, management decisions and their work. Once people believe in
management decisions, there is an excitement within the organisation. Today, leadership is
increasingly associated not with command and control but with the concept of inspiration of
getting along with other people and creating a mission with which others can identify.

INTRODUCTION

According to Parker (1993), leadership means – getting others to follow or getting people to do
things willingly. It may be exercised as an attitude of position or because of personal knowledge
or wisdom. Leadership may be based on a function of personality or it can be seen as a
behavioural category. It may also be viewed in terms of the role of the leaders and their ability to
achieve effective performance from others. It entails changing an organisation and making active
choices among possible alternatives and this depends on the development of others and
mobilizing them to get the job done. Leadership is at its best when the mission is strategic and
results tangible. It is a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or
reactions of the other people. This means that the process of leadership cannot be separated from
the activities of groups and with effective team-building. Levine (2001) states that leaders need
to focus on moving people and organisations forward by increasing the competency of staff and

1
the cooperation of teams in order to improve the organisation. A leader’s job is to constantly
challenge the bureaucracy that smothers individual enthusiasm and desire to contribute to an
organisation. Leaders in the new millennium create an environment that encourages the
development of skills, learning and openness so that those in their teams can participate in the
development of the financial and human resources.
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Lussier and Achua (2007) identify the following as skills that are possessed by leaders:

• Empowerment- The ability to unlock motivation in employees so that they pursue

the organisation’s objectives. Leaders achieve this through sharing power with
subordinates through allowing them to participate in decision making.

• Intuition – The ability to anticipate changes that may occur in the environment
through continuous scanning of both the internal and external variables (SWOT and
PESTE). This enables leaders to make decisions that continuously align the
organisation to the environment, thus ensuring long term survival of the organisation.
Through making relevant decisions leaders build trust in their followers.

• Self understanding – The leaders’ ability to recognize their strengths and

weaknesses. Lussier and Achua (2007) emphasise that apart from leaders recognizing
their strengths/weaknesses, they should also be able to find ways of compensating for
the weaknesses through delegating to their followers (subordinates) who have the
abilities. Therefore leaders, through delegating, empower their followers and at the
same time create an environment of trust within their organisations.

• Visionary – The leader’s ability to imagine a better and different future and develop
ways of achieving it. As in empowerment, leaders actively involve followers in
developing methods and working towards achieving of that vision. Robbins and
Coulter (1996), argue that it is through this follower involvement that leaders achieve
a shared vision.

• Value congruence – The leaders’ capacity to know and understand the organisation’s
guiding beliefs, their subordinates’ (followers) values and finding a way of
reconciling the two. In this regard Helriguel and Slowm (2009) posit that leaders
build trust and commitment from their subordinates/followers.
However Lussier and Achua (2001) pose the question; “are leaders born or made?” They answer
this question by explaining three (3) leadership approaches.
First and foremost, they explore the Traits theory. The authors posit that this approach is
premised on the assumption that leaders are born and not made. Traits theory argues that leaders
possess certain characteristics which distinguish them from non-leaders. The traits used in the
studies “…analysed physical and psychological traits, or qualities, such as high energy levels,
appearance, aggressiveness, self reliance, persuasiveness, and dominance ….” (Lussier and
Achua: 17:18, 2007).
The studies imply that leaders’ characteristics are:

2
 • Physical – leaders are either young to middle aged have striking appearances, tall
or young.

• Social background- leaders emerge from educated, socially and upward mobile
families

• Personality - they are aggressive and emotionally stable. One can even conclude
that they must be people with self confidence

• Social characteristics - that they are people who are charming, popular, tactful and
co-operative.

• Task focused – that they are people who have a high drive to excel in tasks and
have initiative and possess high levels of interpersonal skills.
Lussier and Achua (2007) acknowledge that studies carried out proved that leaders are
neither born nor identified by trait. However they acknowledge common characteristics
found in almost all effective leaders.
Characteristics of effective Leaders
The authors identify the following as characteristics in effective leaders: Dominance –
Dominance here does not imply being overly bossy or being a bully but rather being in
control.High levels of energy which drives them to work hard to achieve set goals and
tolerate high levels of stress. Leaders are also said to be honest and ethical (people of
integrity), believe in themselves (strong internal locus of control), adjust to different
situations (flexible) and are able to understand their followers as individuals
(empathetic/sensitive to others). Hellriegel, Jackson and Slocum (2002) agree with Lussier
and Achua (2007) and only add ownership- the ability to accept responsibility for one’s
actions and the consequences arising there from to the common characteristics of leaders.
Leadership styles
Traits theories having failed to provide sufficient explanation on leadership, Robbins and
Coulter (1996) argue that researchers shifted focus to understanding the impact of leadership
style on subordinates. Leadership style here, refers to how leaders interact with their
subordinates, thus the birth of “Behavioural Theories”. Three studies were carried out in an
attempt to find the most effective behaviour (style) that a leader should use on his
subordinate. The first studies in this area were carried out by Kurt Lewin and associates at
the University of Iowa. The studies focused on three leadership styles- Autocratic,
Democratic and Laissez-faire.
Autocratic leadership entails centralising authority and dictating how work is to be done.
Autocratic leaders limit subordinates’ participation and make unilateral decisions. On the
other hand, a democratic leader allows subordinates to participate in decision making and
work methods. The leader delegates authority and makes use of feedback to coach
subordinates. Laissez-faire leadership gives subordinates freedom to make decisions and
carry out a task in a way they see fit.

3
 The studies involved adults trained in the use of the styles leading groups of young boys from
local clubs. Observations from the studies concluded that laissez-faire was an ineffective
style. The autocratic and democratic styles produced results from subordinates, however
quality of results and levels of satisfaction among subordinates were higher in groups that
were led by democratic leaders (Robbins and Coulter, 1996).
Mullins(1999) and Robbins and Coulter (1996) explain that the Ohio State University and the
University of Michigan studies follow the Iowa studies. However, these were more
comprehensive and used two dimensions different from the latter. The Ohio State University
used the initiating structure and the consideration dimensions. Initiating structure is the
extent to which a leader structures and defines his role and that of subordinates.
Consideration is the extent to which a leader has trust, respect for subordinate’s ideas and
regard for his feelings. The studies concluded that leaders that applied the high initiating
structure and high consideration styles were effective while those that employed other styles
were ineffective.
The University of Michigan studies used the employee-oriented and the production-
oriented dimensions. Employee-orientation style emphasizes interpersonal relations that
take interest in subordinates’ needs and accepting subordinates’ differences. Production-
orientation refers to a leadership style that emphasizes technical or task aspects of a job. The
style focuses on task-accomplishment and views employees as a means to that end (Robbins
and Coulter: (1996). The conclusions arrived at in the studies, tended to favour the employee-
orientation style.
Blake and Mouton as cited in Robbins and Coulter (1996) further develop the Ohio State
University and the Michigan State University models of a managerial grid. Simply put, the
Grid has five (5) management styles, based on concern for people and for production. The
Grid proposes five management styles, a major departure from the earlier models. The Blake
and Mouton Grid proposes the following leadership styles:
Managerial Grid: The Grid Model
1.9 9.9

Concern
for
people 5.5

1.1 9.1
Concern for production

Source: by Blake and Mouton 1996

4
 • Style 1.1 Impoverished style. This leadership style has a low concern for
subordinates/followers and the task. Leaders operating on this style virtually abdicate
from their responsibility. The style is also referred to as laissez-faire, implying that
subordinates/ followers do as they wish.

• Style 1.9 Country-club-management style. In this model, leaders focus on

subordinates’ welfare at the expense of organisational objectives.

• Style 9.1 Task-leadership. It focuses on task accomplishment at the expense of

followers’ welfare. This style is effective in the short run, but very ineffective in the
long run. Staff will leave the organisation due to frustration.

• Style 9.9 Task attainment. It puts into consideration follower’s/ employees’ morale.
Apart from giving rise to efficiency and effectiveness, this style also creates a team
environment.

• Style 5.5 The middle of the road style. It misses both the Ohio and Michigan Model
but aims at task efficiency and satisfactory subordinates’ morale.
Importance of leadership
Leadership is related to motivation, interpersonal behaviour and the process of communication.
For example, thirty years ago, it was very much about what you knew regarding the
technicalities of things. Managers now, are leaders of their groups (i.e. their departments).
Although they may well need some specialist knowledge, the human relations part of the
management job is more important than ever. Since people have more flexibility and more
choice in their careers (which are themselves more fluid) keeping people motivated is very
important. Leadership is also important in attempting to reduce employee dissatisfaction.
Good leadership involves the effective process of delegation and empowerment. The leadership
relationship is not limited to leader-behaviour resulting in subordinate behaviour. Leadership is a
dynamic process. The leader – follower relationship is reciprocal and effective leadership is a
two-way process which influences individual and organisational performance. Good
management of leadership helps to develop teamwork and the integration of individual and
group goals. It aids intrinsic motivation by emphasizing the importance of the work that people
do. The changing nature of work organisations, including flatter structures and recognition of the
efficient use of human resources, coupled with advances in social democracy, have combined to
place growing importance on leadership.
Management is moving away from an emphasis on getting results by the close control of the
work-force towards an environment of coaching, support and empowerment. Hooper and Potter
(2006) discuss the importance of leadership in times of change and uncertainty, and that good
leaders are sensitive to the impact of the change process on people. Never is leadership more
sought after than in times of change and uncertainty. Effective change leadership is the key to
shifting peoples’ perceptions from seeing change as a threat to seeing it as an exciting challenge.
Leaders must be able to operate under complex uncertain circumstances.
Conclusion

5
Effective leaders do not use one leadership style in isolation of other styles. Leaders adjust their
styles to the operative situation. Although not mentioned explicitly, national culture is certainly
an important situational variable in determining which leadership style is the most effective.
National culture of subordinates can affect leadership style. A leader cannot choose his/her style
at will. What is feasible depends on the cultural conditioning of a leader’s subordinates. For
example, a manipulative, autocratic or directive style is compatible with high power distance.
Power distance rankings should also be good indicators of employee willingness to accept
participative leadership. Participation is likely to be most effective in lower power distance
culture. An achievement – oriented style that is focused on setting challenging goals and expects
employees to perform at their highest levels, is likely to be most effective in cultures where
uncertainty avoidance is low.
REFERENCES
• ADAIR J. 1986 EFFECTIVE TEAM-BUILDING. GOWER.

• ANSFF H. 1965 CORPORATE STRATEGY. MCGRAW HILL NEW YORK.

• BELLIN R.M. 1981, MANAGEMENT TEAMS – WHY THEY SUCCED OR FAIL. BUTTERNORTH
HEINEMANN.

• BRIGHT W.M. 1989. ALTERNATIVE STRATERGIES FOR DIVERSIFICATION RESEARCH

MANAGEMENT 12 NO. PG.92-102

• COLE G.A. 1988 ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR, IRVIN MCGRAW HILL.

• CTUTTERBUCK D. 1994 THE POWER OF EMPOWERMENT, BCA/KOGAN PAGE.

• DRUCKER P. 1974 MANAGEMENT: TASKS, RESPONSIVILITES. PRACTICE. HARPER & ROW

• HAX A.C 1991 THE STRATEGIC CONCEPT AND PROCESS: A PRAGMATIC APPROACH. PRENTICE
HALL.

• HELLRIEGEL, D., JACKSON, S.E., SLOCUM, J.W. (2002) MANAGEMENT: A COMPETENCY-

BASED APPROACH. SOUTH-WESTERN.

• LUSSIER, R.N., ACHUA, C.F. (2007) EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP. THOMSON SOUTH WESTERN.

• MULLINS, J. (1999) MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR. PRENTICE HALL

INTERNATIONAL.

• ROBBINS, S.P. AND COULTER, M. (1996) MANAGEMENT. PRENTICE HALL INTERNATIONAL.

© 2010 The African Executive

www.africanexecutive.org