Leadership Behavior and Supervisory Effectiveness

Danez, Devine Grace B. Del Mundo, Enrico U. Dimapilis, Francisco D. Valdon, Lylanie B. Vergara, Maryann L.

INTRODUCTION Recent emphasis on school reform has stressed the need for more effective leadership is one of the most fascinating topics in educational management and, at the same time notoriously slippery concept that has produced literally hundreds of definitions in the literature, two things were agreed upon: Leadership is a function of group, not individuals a being leaders but leadership occurs only in the processes of two or more people interacting. In the interaction process, one person is able to induce others to think and behave in certain desired ways. That brings up the second key point, which is influence. Leadership involves intentionally exercising influence on the behavior of other people.

Leadership refers to the supervisory ability to influence an individual or group toward the achievement of goals and desire. The ways in which supervisors use leadership to influence vary and to develop a specific set of guidance tactics that involves behaving in a certain way of using particular approach to decision making.

MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY AND SUPERVISORY ASUMMPTIONS How do supervisors come to establish styles of supervision? Styles are partly the result of management philosophy that have been accumulated and learned over the years. Assumptions affect how teachers behave in classrooms. Rensis Linkers study of supervisors of highly effective work groups strongly suggest that workers generally respond positively to the supervisors high evaluation and confidence in them and work harder to justify the supervisors high expectations Douglas Mc Gregors Comparison of two ideal type of Philosophies Theory X and Theory Y

THEORY X AND SCHOOL McGregors language may seem descriptive of non school environment, but his ideas have wide application to schools. Management Propositions -Theory X Management is responsible for organizing the elements of productive enterprise money, materials, equipments, people- in the interest of economic educational needs. With respect to people, this is a process of directing their efforts, motivating them , controlling their actions and modifying their behavior to fit the needs of the organization

Without this active intervention by management, people would be passiveeven resistant to organizational needs, they must therefore be persuaded, rewarded, punished and controlled. Managements task was thus simply getting things done through other people.

Supervisory Assumptions Theory X

Average people are by nature indolent- they work as little as possible. They lack ambition, dislike responsibility and prefer to be led. They are inherently self centered and indifferent to organizational needs. They are by nature resistant to change. They are gullible, not very bright, readily deceived.

THEORY Y AND SCHOOLS

An alternative management philosophy based on more adequate assumption of human nature is needed for schools to meet their professional growth commitment to teachers and to improve the intellectual, social, emotional welfare of their young clients. This optimistic philosophy is called Theory Y after McGregor.
Philosophy and Assumptions Theory Y Management is responsible for organizing the elements of productive enterprise (money), materials, equipment, people in the interest of economic educational ends.

People are not by nature passive or resistant to organizational needs. The motivation and potential for development , the capacity for assuming responsibility, the readiness to direct behaviors toward organizational goals are all present in a group. The essential task of management is to arrange organizational conditions and methods of operations so that people can achieve their own goals best by directing their own efforts towards organizational objectives.

INFANCY MANAGEMENT AND ASSUMPTION A more pessimistic analysis of negative assumptions in any management practices is offered by Argyris. He notes that the ordinary worker ( in the schools case teachers and students) is often to considered to have little substantial ability for self direction and self discipline. Individuals largely prefer to be told rather than to think for themselves, and when they do have ideas they are generally nave or unrealistic. Mistakes in implementing Theory Y (A commonly misunderstanding is that Pattern B behavior, the behavior most closely associated with theory Y, should be used at all times in all cases and that it elicits a uniformly positive reaction from subordinates.)

DETERMINANTS OF SUPERVISORY PATTERN Forces in the supervisors when supervisors face a problem, their approach or style is largely affected by each of the following internalized forces: Value System Confident in subordinates Leadership inclinations Feelings of security in an uncertain situation.

Forces in the supervisory environment Focuses the organization style of the school, normative culture, role expectations, belief pattern, and its authority and power systems, serve as boundaries that often delimit choice of supervisory action.

Forces in others School supervisors may permit respective client to exercise more freedom and control over their own destiny and that, the school depends largely on the following conditions: Whether the subordinate have relatively high needs for independence. (as we all know, people differ greatly in the amount of direction that they desire) Whether the subordinates have a readiness to assume responsibility for decision making. (some see additional responsibility as a tribute to their ability; others see it as passing the buck) Whether they have a relatively high tolerance for ambiguity (some employees prefer to have clear-cut directives given to them; others prefer a wider area of freedom) Whether they are interested in the problem and feel that it is important. Whether they understand and identify with goals of the organization. Whether they have the necessary knowledge and experience to deal with the problem. Whether they have learned to expect to share in decision making.

THREE DIMENSIONS OF LEADERSHIP

A lot has been said and written about what it means for a company (or organization) to be a leader. Certainly the area of sustainability and all the sub-categories under that umbrella offer a myriad of opportunities for organizations, companies, and individuals to carve out a niche as a leader in a specialty or sub-specialty.

Leadership by Action The first way that organizations must establish their leadership is through their own actions -- and this is the bare minimum. This can be hard for larger organizations that may have entrenched methods of doing things, because it requires that one's actions continually evolve, but that the underlying basis for those actions -- the values that define the organization -- remain rock solid and consistent.

Leadership by Influence Leaders know that they need to look beyond their own actions and values, beyond those things over which they control, to those things over which they can exert influence, such as their supply chains.

Leadership by Expertise The last way that people expect companies to demonstrate leadership is through their expertise.

The Managerial Grid

A more descriptive attempt to conceptualize the task and people dimension of supervisory behavior has resulted in a formulation referred to as the managerial grid. The grid focuses on five ideal type theories of supervisory behavior, each based on the two dimensions that we have behavior, each based on the two dimensions that we identified and discussed as a crucial variables found in organization: (1) task and (2) people.

The five resulting leadership styles are as follows: 1.Impoverished Management (1, 1): Managers with this approach are low on both the dimensions and exercise minimum effort to get the work done from subordinates. The leader has low concern for employee satisfaction and work deadlines and as a result disharmony and disorganization prevail within the organization. The leaders are termed ineffective wherein their action is merely aimed at preserving job and seniority. 2.Task management (9, 1): Also called dictatorial or perish style. Here leaders are more concerned about production and have less concern for people. The style is based on theory X of McGregor. The employees needs are not taken care of and they are simply a means to an end. The leader believes that efficiency can result only through proper organization of work systems and through elimination of people wherever possible. Such a style can definitely increase the output of organization in short run but due to the strict policies and procedures, high labour turnover is inevitable. 3.Middle-of-the-Road (5, 5): This is basically a compromising style wherein the leader tries to maintain a balance between goals of company and the needs of people. The leader does not push the boundaries of achievement resulting in average performance for organization. Here neither employee nor production needs are fully met.

4. Country Club (1, 9): This is a collegial style characterized by low task and high people orientation where the leader gives thoughtful attention to the needs of people thus providing them with a friendly and comfortable environment. The leader feels that such a treatment with employees will lead to self-motivation and will find people working hard on their own. However, a low focus on tasks can hamper production and lead to questionable results. 5. Team Management (9, 9): Characterized by high people and task focus, the style is based on the theory Y of McGregor and has been termed as most effective style according to Blake and Mouton. The leader feels that empowerment, commitment, trust, and respect are the key elements in creating a team atmosphere which will automatically result in high employee satisfaction and production.

The Reddins 3-D Theory of Leadership

Reddins three dimensions are: Task Orientation the extent to which a manager directs his (or her) subordinates efforts towards goal attainment; characterized by planning, organizing and controlling. Relationships Orientation the extent to which a manager has personal job relationships; characterized by mutual trust, respect for subordinates ideas and consideration for their feelings

Effectiveness the extent to which a manager achieves the output requirements of his or her position. It is important to notice that Reddins research led him to the view that degrees of relationships orientation and degrees of task orientation were independent of effectiveness that either could be correlated with success dependent upon the situation. As Reddin said: Some managers have learned that to be effective they must sometimes create an atmosphere which will induce self-motivation among their subordinates and sometimes act in ways that appear either hard or soft. At other times, they must quietly efface themselves for a while and appear to do nothing. It would seem more accurate to say, then, that any basic style (of management) may be used more or less effectively, depending upon the situation.

UNDERSTANDING SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP VARIABLES

The situational determinants of leadership style effectiveness are difficult to identify and catalog. Nevertheless, some useful generalization can be made about situational variables and their relationship to leadership style. With a little practice, ones ability to match appropriate style to situation can be improved considerably.
Understanding Situational Leadership - Leaders who maximize effectiveness begin with the understanding of leadership style. The contingency style of leadership derives its credibility from a behavioral approach. Hersey and Blanchard define leadership style as the regular behavior patterns by leaders that create perceived influence (145). They realize that the variables of any situation in leadership are never the same

The chart below provides a quick overview of the Situational Leadership Model.

CONTINGENCY LEADERSHIP THEORY (FIEDLER) A new theory of leadership effectiveness has emerged from some fifteen years of research conducted at the University of Illinois through its Group Effectiveness Laboratory and, from work done at the University of Washington since 1970. This theory, developed by Fred Fiedler and his associates, stemmed from a research tradition primarily associated with that of small-group psychology. The theory suggested that both task-oriented and relationship-oriented leaders are able to perform effectively in a group given conditions appropriate to and supportive of their leadership style.

THREE MAJOR SITUTIONAL VARIABLES SEEM TO DETERMINE WHETHER A GIVEN SITUATION IS FAVORABLE OR UNFAVORABLE TO THE LEADER 1. Leader-member relations, which in our case refer to the extent teachers accept, admire, like and are willing to follow individual supervisors because of the kind of people they are the relationship they have developed with the teachers. 2. Task structure, which in our case refers to the extent work of the unit or person being supervised is structured, how clearly the objectives are defined, how limited the processes available for achieving these objectives are. 3. Position power, which in our case refers to the amount of formal authority and status the supervisors has.

FIEDLER CONTINGENCY MODEL

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Fiedler contingency model is a leadership theory of industrial and organizational psychology developed by Fred Fiedler (born 1922), one of the leading scientists who helped his field move from the research of traits and personal characteristics of leaders to leadership styles and behaviors. Two factors The first management style, Taylorists, assumed there was one best style of leadership. Fiedlers contingency model postulates that the leaders effectiveness is based on situational contingency which is a result of interaction of two factors: leadership style and situational favorableness (later called situational control). More than 400 studies have since investigated this relationship.

Least preferred co-worker (LPC)

The leadership style of the leader, thus, fixed and measured by what he calls the least preferred co-worker (LPC) scale, an instrument for measuring an individuals leadership orientation. The LPC scale asks a leader to think of all the people with whom they have ever worked and then describe the person with whom they have worked least well, using a series of bipolar scales of 1 to 8, such as the following:
Unfriendly 12345678 Friendly

Uncooperative

12345678

Cooperative

Hostile

12345678

Supportive

....

12345678

....

Guarded

12345678

Open

Situational favorableness According to Fiedler, there is no ideal leader. Both low-LPC (task-oriented) and high-LPC (relationship-oriented) leaders can be effective if their leadership orientation fits the situation. The contingency theory allows for predicting the characteristics of the appropriate situations for effectiveness. Three situational components determine the favorableness of situational control: 1.Leader-Member Relations, referring to the degree of mutual trust, respect and confidence between the leader and the subordinates. 2.Task Structure, referring to the extent to which group tasks are clear and structured. 3.Leader Position Power, referring to the power inherent in the leader's position itself.

THE ZONE OF INDIFERRENCE

Not all teachers have a uniform desire to participate in the decision-making processes of the school, nor for the matter, do all teachers wish to be involved in the same things. When the context of decision making is of little or no concern to a teacher (that is, when it is in his or her zone of indifference) a more taskoriented approach from leader would be appropriate. A broad range of styles exists between the two extremes of task-orientation and relationship orientation. It is difficult to conceptualize leadership on the task and realtion continuum only.

JOB DEMANDS AND LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS Additional set of concerns for supervisors interested in selecting leadership strategies in a manner consistent with contingency theory are unique characteristics that define the job or task at hand. Job demands vary as objectives tasks change or as attention shifts from one set of problems or objectives to another. Reddin suggest that as a general guide, if the problem and objectives currently in focus result in the following job demands and conditions, then the related style will probably be the most effective.

Task - oriented

Relations oriented style

Use of authority by the leader

Area of freedom for teachers

Leaders makes a decision and announces it.

Leaders sells decisions .

Leaders present ideas and invites questions.

Leaders presents tentative decision subject to change.

Leaders presents problem gets ideas from teachers and makes decision

Leaders defines limits asks teachers to make decision.

Leaders permits teachers to make decisions within or as defined by agreedupon goals and objectives.

Figure of The Zone Of Indifference. Adapted from Robert Tannembaum and Warreb Schmidt, How to Choose a Leadership Pattern,

Teachers need to interact with each other in order to complete their tasks. Teachers are interdependent; the success of one depends upon the help of others and vise versa. Successful completion of tasks requires that the supervisors must interact with teachers as a group. Several solutions are possible,and evaluated is improved by interaction among group members. Teachers can set their own pace as the group pursues its task.

The supervisor knows more about the task or problems at hand that the teachers do. Numerous unplanned and anticipated events are likely to occur, which require attention from the supervisor. Teachers need to be given direction frequently in order for them to complete their task. The teachers performance is readily measurable, and corrective actions by the supervisors are visible and easily evaluated.

Teachers have high expertise or unusual technical skills Teachers identification and commitment are necessary for success. The job is arranged in a way that teachers can largely decide how tasks will be accomplished. It is difficult to evaluate performance outcomes precisely. Teachers need to be creative and inventive in their work The teachers job is program in a routine fashion and requires the following of established procedures, curriculum formats and teaching strategies.

The teachers job is easy to perform and to regulate. Automatic feedback is provided so that the teacher can readily note her or his progress. Intellectual privacy and thinking are much more important than the teacher being actively involved in something. Teachers need to interact with each other in order to complete their task. Teachers are interdependent; the success of one depends upon the help of others, and vice versa.

Successful completion of tasks requires that the supervisors must interact with teachers as a group. Teachers can set their own pace as the group pursues its task. The supervisor knows more about the task or problems at hand that the teachers do. Numerous unplanned and anticipated events are likely to occur, which require attention from the supervisor. The teachers need to be given direction frequently in order for them to complete their task. The teachers performance is readily measurable, and corrective actions by the supervisors are visible and easily evaluated.

Thank You & God Speed!