Organizational Behavior

Dr. Karim Kobeissi

Islamic University of Lebanon 2014

Chapter 12: Leadership in

Organizational Settings

L e a d e r s h i p D e fi n e d
Leadership is the process by
which a person exerts influence
over other people and inspires,
motivates, and directs their
activities
to
help
achieve
organizational goals.
The person who carries
leadership is a leader.

out

Because leading is one of the

four
management
functions,
ideally all managers should be
leaders.

Emerging View of Leadership: Shared Leadership

The view that leadership is broadly

distributed rather than assigned to one
person.
Employees are leaders when they support
change in the company or team.
Shared leadership calls for:
Formal leaders willing to delegate power
Collaborative culture employees support each other
Employee ability to influence through persuasion

Emerging View of Leadership: Shared

Leadership (con)
The
emerging
view
of
leadership is that effective
leaders subordinate their own
egos and nurture leadership
in others.
Sir Richard Branson is often
cited as a role model for the
new leadership. I've got
people all over the world and
it's up to me to let them test
and prove themselves, says
Branson.

Perspectives of Leadership
Competency
Perspective
Implicit
Leadership
Perspective

Leadership
Perspectives

Transformational
Perspective

Behavioral
Perspective

Contingency
Perspective

Competency Perspective
Competencies

personal
characteristics that lead to superior
performance in a leadership role (e.g.
skills, knowledge, values).
Early research very few
predicted effective leadership.

traits

Emerging view several competencies

now identified as key influences on
leadership potential and of effective
leaders.

Eight Leadership
Competencies
Personality

Self-concept

Drive

Integrity

Sociability, preciseness
(and other traits)
Positive self-evaluation
High self-esteem and self-efficacy
Internal locus of control
Inner motivation to pursue goals
Inquisitiveness, action-oriented
Truthfulness
Consistency in words and actions

Eight Leadership
Competencies (cont)
Leadership
Motivation

High need for socialized power to

achieve organizational goals

Knowledge of
the Business

Understands external environment

Aids intuitive decision making

Cognitive/practica Above average cognitive ability

Able to solve real-world problems
l Intelligence
Emotional
Intelligence

Perceiving, assimilating, understanding,

and regulating emotions

Competency Perspective
Limitations
1. Researchers werent able to identify a set of

competencies that would always differentiate

a leader from a non leaderthat is, a set of
consistent and unique traits that would apply
universally to all effective leaders, no matter
what organization they led.
2. Competencies refer to leadership potential,

not performance.

Leader Behavior Perspective

The leader behavior perspective assumes that a key factor in
leadership success is an individuals basic leadership style, which
could be categorized as either people oriented behavior or task
oriented behavior.

People-oriented behaviors
Showing mutual trust and respect
Concern for employee needs
Looks out for employee well-being

Leader Behavior
Perspective (con)

Task-oriented behaviors
Assign specific tasks

Ensure employees follow rules

Set stretch goals (a stretch goal is an
objective

that

incremental

or

cannot
small

be

achieved

by

improvementsbut

require extending oneself to the limit to be

actualized) to achieve performance capacity.

Roman Suchta is a task-oriented manager

Leader Behavior Perspective

Limitations

Like

the

competency

perspective

of

leadership, the behavior theories alone

cannot

explain

leader

effectiveness:

Some leaders are effective even when

they do not perform people oriented or
tasks

oriented

behavior,

and

some

leaders are ineffective even when they

do perform both kinds of behaviors.
But best style seems to depend on the situation

Contingency Perspective
According

to

the

whether or not

contingency

perspective,

a manger is an effective

leader is the result of the interplay between:

1. What

the

manager

is

like

(Managers

Competencies),
2. What he or she does (Managers Behavior),

and
3. The

situation

place.

in

which

leadership

takes

Fiedlers Contingency Model

Fiedler assumed a persons leadership style was
fixed regardless of the situation. With this in
mind,

Fiedler

identified

three

situational

characteristics that are important determinants

of how favorable a situation is for leading:
1) Leader-Member Relations
2) Task Structure
3) Position Power

Fiedlers Contingency Model (con)

1) Leader-Member Relations
The first situational characteristic that Fiedler described as the
degree of confidence, trust, and respect employees had for their
leader; rated as either good or poor.
2) Task Structure
The second situational characteristic that Fiedler described as the
degree to which job assignments were formalized and
structured; rated as either high or low.
3) Position Power
The third situational characteristic that Fiedler described as the
degree of influence a leader had over activities such as hiring,
firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases; rated as
either strong or weak.

Fiedlers Contingency Model (con)

By taking all possible combinations of good and
poor leader-member relations, high and low
task structure, and strong and weak position
power,

Fiedler

identified

eight

leadership

situations, which vary in their favorability for

leading.

Fiedlers Contingency Model (con)

Once Fiedler had described the leader variables
and the situational variables, he could define
the

specific

contingencies

for

leadership

effectiveness. He concluded that task-oriented

leaders performed better in very favorable and
in very unfavorable situations (IV, V, VI,VII). On
the other hand, relationship-oriented leaders
performed

better

in

situations (I, II,III, VIII).

moderately

favorable

Fiedlers Contingency Model (con)

According to Fiedler, leader style (behavior) is an
enduring

characteristic

that

managers

cannot

change !!! This suggest that, in order to be

effective,
leadership

managers
situations

need

to

be

that

fit

their

placed

in

style

or

situations need to be changed to suit the manager.

Situations can be changed, for example, by giving
a manager more position power or taking steps to
increase task structure such as by clarifying goals.

Other Contingency Leadership Theories: : PathGoal Leadership

The principle of path-goal theory is that effective

leaders

motivates

subordinates

to

achieve

organizational goals by: (1) clearly identifying

the outcomes that subordinates are trying to
obtain from their jobs and the organization, (2)
rewarding subordinates with these outcomes for
high performance and the attainment of work
goals, and (3) clarifying for subordinates the
paths leading to the attainment of work goals.

Other Contingency Leadership Theories: : PathGoal Leadership

Path - goal theory identified four kinds of behaviors that
leaders can engage in to motivate subordinates:
1.A directive behavior lets subordinates know whats
expected of them, schedules work to be done, and gives
specific guidance on how to accomplish tasks.
2.A participative behavior consults with group members
and uses their suggestions before making a decision.
3.A supportive behavior shows concern for the needs of
followers and is friendly.
4.An achievement-oriented behavior sets challenging
goals and expects followers to perform at their highest
level.

Other Contingency Leadership Theories: : PathGoal Leadership

In contrast to Fiedlers view that a leader couldnt change
his or her behavior, the path- goal theory assumed that
leaders are flexible and can display any or of these four
leadership

styles

depending

on

the

nature

of

the

subordinates and the type of work they do:

When tasks are ambiguous and followers arent

sure what to do, directive behavior leads to
greater satisfaction.
When subordinates are performing stressful
tasks, supportive behavior results in high
employee performance and satisfaction.

Other Contingency Leadership Theories: : PathGoal Leadership

When subordinates support of a decision is

required,

participative

behavior

can

be

particularly effective.
When highly capable subordinates are bored from

having

too

few

challenges,

achievement-

oriented behavior can be particularly effective,

but it might backfire if used with subordinates who
are already pushed to their limits.

Path-Goal Leadership Model

Employee
Employee
Contingencies
Contingencies
Leader
Leader
Behaviors
Behaviors

Leader
Leader
Effectiveness
Effectiveness

Directive
Directive
Supportive
Supportive

Employee
Employee
motivation
motivation
Employee
Employee
satisfaction
satisfaction
Acceptance
Acceptance of
of
leader
leader

Participative
Participative
AchievementAchievementoriented
oriented
Environmental
Environmental
Contingencies
Contingencies

Other Contingency Leader Theories: Situational

Leadership Model

Effective leaders vary style with follower

readiness
Leader

styles

telling,

participating, and delegating

selling,

Other Contingency Leader Theories:

Leadership Substitutes

The leader substitutes model is a contingency model

because it suggests that in some situations leadership
is unnecessary.
The leader substitutes model suggest that under certain
conditions managers do not have to play a leadership
role- that members of an organization sometimes can
perform highly without a manager exerting influence
over them.
- e.g.: Training and experience replace task-oriented
leadership.
Research evidence: substitutes help,
completely substitute for real leadership.

but

dont

Transformational Leadership Perspective

An

exciting

new

kind

of

leadership is sweeping the

globe.

Transformational

leadership

occurs when

managers

change

transform)
subordinates
important ways:

(or
their

in

three

1.

Transformational Leadership
Perspective (con)
Transformational managers make 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 goals.

2. Transformational managers make their subordinates aware of the

subordinates own needs for personal growth, development and
accomplishment.

3. Transformational managers motivate their subordinates to work for

the good of the organization as a whole, not just for their personal
gain or benefit.

Transformational vs. Transactional Leaders

Transformational

leadership

is

often

contrasted

with

transactional leadership. Transactional leadership involves

managers using their reward and intimidating power to
encourage high performance. When managers reward high
performers,

punish

low

performers,

and

motivates

subordinates by reinforcing desired behaviors and punishing

undesired ones, they are engage in transactional leadership.
Managers who effectively influence their subordinates
to achieve goals yet do not seem to be making the
kind

of

dramatic

transformational

changes
leadership

transactional leadership.

that
are

are

part

engaging

of
in

Evaluating Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is important
Higher employee satisfaction, performance, org
citizenship, creativity

Transformational leadership limitations

Some models have circular logic
- Transformational leaders defined by their success
rather than behavior (Result: those models have no
predictive value)

Universal theory
- Need a contingency-oriented theory
- Recognize differences across cultures

Implicit Leadership Perspective

Follower perceptions of characteristics of
effective leaders
1. Leadership prototypes
Preconceived image of effective leader, used
to evaluate leader effectiveness

2. Romance of leadership effect

Amplify effect of leaders on organizational
results
Fundamental attribution error
Need for situational control

Cultural Issues in
Leadership
Societal cultural values and practices affect
leaders:
Shape leaders values/norms
Influence decisions and actions
Shape follower prototype of effective leaders

Some leadership styles are universal, others

differ across cultures
Charismatic visionary seems to be universal
Participative leadership works better in some
cultures than others

Gender Issues in Leadership

Male and female leaders have similar
task- and people-oriented leadership.
Participative leadership style is used
more often by female leaders.
Evaluating female leaders
Still receive negative evaluations as leader
due to prototypes and gender stereotypes
But evidence that they are good at emerging
leadership styles (coaching, teamwork)