LEADERSHIP

And its Theories

Submitted to: Dr.Parveen Maan

Defining leadership
Leadership can be defined as ‘the ability to
influence a group towards the achievement of a
vision or a set of goals’.
Leadership is ‘the interpersonal influence,
execised in a situation and directed through the
communication process, towards the attainment of
a specified goal or goals.’
TRADITIONAL THEORIES OF
LEADERSHIP
1. TRAIT APPROACH
2. BEHAVIOURAL THEORIES
3. CONTINGENCY THEORY
 Trait theory
This theory focuses on the individual characteristics of
successful leaders.
5,000 leadership studies conducted, can be concluded
through some of these mentioned
Willingness points:
to accept behavioural
consequences
Strong desire for accompishment

Creativity and intelligence for High tolerance for uncertainty

problem solving

Self-assumed personality
Ability to structure social
interactions
 Quantity of each of these
traits is not clear

Leadership effectiveness is
not restricted to only The list is too long, no finality
personality traits

LIMITATION
S
Assumption that leader is
Little consesus on the meaning of born and not trained, is NOT
words used to label traits acceptable

People who fail as leaders, or who

never achieve the positions of
leadership, might possess same
traits
 Behavioural theories
Ohio State Studies

Initiating structure Consideration

 Refers to leader
behaviour, that organises
the group tasks, and
assigns them to employees
 Related to employee
performance,
 Also associated with
negative consequences as
absentism and grievances
 Refers to leader
behaviour, that can be
characterised by
friendliness, respect,
supportivenss, openess,
trust
 Positively related to low
absentism and grievance,
 Neutrally related to
performance
 University of Michigan
Studies
Employee-centred leadership Production-centred leadership
 Emphasizes on interpersonal  Sets rigid standards, organised
relations tasks down to the last detail
 Accepts individual differences  Emphasizes the technical or task

among members aspects of their jobs

 Main concern is to accomplish
 Encourages employee
participation each group’s tasks
 Prescribed methods to be followed
 Ensures high performance by
inspiring respect and trust
LIMITATIONS
•Could not identify a consistent relationship between leadership
behaviour and group performance
•Genral statements could not be made, variations over range of
circumstances
 Contingency theories
Fiedler Model
Effective groups depend upon a proper
match, between a leader’s style of
interacting with subordinates, to the degree
of control that the situation provides
There are three steps in this model,
1. Identifying the leadership style
2. Defining the situation
3. Match leaders and situation
1. Identifying the Leadership style
Believed that a key factor in leadership success is the
individual’s basic leadership style
Created a questionnaire for this purpose namely, Least
Preffered Coworker(LPC) questionnaire
LPC- used to measure whether the person is task
oriented or relationship oriented
Consists of 16 sets of contrasting adjectives(pleasant-
unpleasant, efficient-inefficient, open-guarded,
supportive-hostile)
Low LPC= task oriented; High LPC= relationship
oriented
2. Defining the Situation
 Leader- member relations:
The amount of confidence, trust, and respect
members have in the leader
 Task structure:
The way that these assignments are procedurised
 Position power:
The degree of influence the leader has over power
variables
3. Matching leaders and situations
After determining the leadership style, and defining
the situation, the leaders are choosen accordingly
Two ways to ensure leader effectivenss:
1. Change the leader to fit the situation
2. Change the situation to fit the leader
 Path goal theory
A leader’s behaviour is acceptable to subordinates, if
they view it as a source of either immediate or future
satisfaction
Leader’s help clarify the ‘path’ to the workers
Leaders can display multiple leadership styles
 four types of leaders:
1. Directive: focuses on the work to be done
2. Supportive: focuses on well being of worker
3. Participative: consults with employees in decision
making
4. Achievement: sets challenging goals
Essence of Leadership
Leadership- ability of one individual to influence
others
The leader possesses a set of qualities or
characteristics to influence others
Behaviour is changed through non-coercive means
Leadership is a group phenomenon, involving
interaction between two or more people
 THANK YOU

Submitted by: Shruti Suman

Course: MBA(RFM) semester 1