Unit 5

What is leadership?
Leading people

Influencing people

Commanding people

Guiding people
 Leadership - what is it?
• Influencing people so that they will strive willingly
towards the achievement of group goals.
• Leadership is the ability to develop a vision that
motivates others to move with a passion toward a
common goal.
• Leadership is all about influencing a group of
people.
 Leader

• Leaders are ordinary people who accept or are

placed under extraordinary circumstances that
bring forth their latent potential, producing a
character that inspires the confidence and
trust of others.
 Attributes of a Leader
• Guiding vision: Effective leaders know what
they want to do, and have the strength of
character to pursue their objectives in the face
of opposition and in spite of failures. The
effective leader establishes achievable goals.
 Attributes of a Leader
• Passion: Effective leaders believe passionately
in their goals. They have a positive outlook on
who they are, and they love what they do.
Their passion for life is a guiding star for others
to follow, because they radiate promise!
 Attributes of a Leader
• Integrity: Because they know who they are,
effective leaders are also aware of their
weaknesses. They only make promises they can
follow through on.
• Honesty: Leaders convey an aura of honesty in
both their professional and their personal lives.
• Trust: Effective leaders earn the trust of their
followers and act on behalf of their followers.
 Attributes of a Leader
• Curiosity: Leaders are learners. They wonder about
every aspect of their charge. They find out what they
need to know in order to pursue their goals.
• Risk: Effective leaders take calculated risks when
necessary to achieve their objectives. If a mistake is
made, the effective leader will learn from the mistake
and use it as an opportunity to explore other avenues.
 Attributes of a Leader
• Dedication: The effective leader is dedicated to
his or her charge, and will work assiduously on
behalf of those following. The leader gives
himself or herself entirely to the task when it is
necessary.
 Attributes of a Leader
• Charisma: This may be the one attribute that is the
most difficult to cultivate. It conveys maturity, respect
for your followers, compassion, a fine sense of humor,
and a love of humanity. The result is that leaders have
the capability to motivate people to excel.
• Listening: Leaders Listen! This is the most important
attribute of all, listen to your followers.
 Being a Leader
• If you want to get ahead, be a leader, you must
assume:
– That everything that happens to you results in a
situation that is in your control
– That the attitude you convey is what you are
judged on
– That what you think and do in your private life is
what you will reap in your public or corporate life
– You are what you think and believe
– If you never meet a challenge you will never find
out what you are worth
 Recipe for being a Leader
• Take control of your life
• Assume responsibility for who you are
• Convey a positive and dynamic attitude in everything
you do
• Accept blame: learn from your own mistakes as well
as those of others. Take blame for everything that
happens in your unit
• Give credit wherever it is due
• Be compassionate when you review your team
members' progress or lack thereof
 Recipe for Being a Leader
• Think great thoughts. Small thinking is why
companies go broke
• Turn disasters into opportunities. Turn every obstacle
into a personal triumph
• Determine your "real" goals then strive to achieve
them
• When you want to tell someone something
important, do it personally
• Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty doing what
you ask others to do.
 Recipe for Being a Leader
• Listen effectively
• Encourage teamwork and participation
• Empower team members
• Communicate effectively
• Emphasize long-term productivity
• Make sound and timely decisions
• Treat each person as an individual
• Know yourself and your team
• Protect your team
• Have vision, courage and commitment
 Types of Leaders
• Leader by the position achieved
• Leader by personality, charisma
• Leader by moral example
• Leader by power held
• Intellectual leader
• Leader because of ability to accomplish things
 Leadership Styles
• Autocratic (Authoritarian)
• Bureaucratic
• Democratic
• Coercive
• Transactional
• Transformational
• Laissez-Faire
 Autocratic (Authoritarian)
• Manager retains power (classical approach)

• Manager is decision-making authority

• Manager does not consult employees for input

• Subordinates expected to obey orders without

explanations
• Motivation provided through structured rewards
and punishments
When to use Autocratic
• New, untrained employees
• Employees are motivated
• Employees do not respond to any other
leadership style
• High-volume production needs
• Limited time for decision making
 Bureaucratic
• Manager manages “by the book¨

• Everything must be done according to

procedure or policy

• If it isn’t covered by the book, the manager

refers to the next level above him or her
 When to use Bureaucratic

• Performing routine tasks

• Need for standards/procedures

• Use of dangerous or delicate equipment

• Safety or security training being conducted

• Tasks that require handling cash

 Democratic
• Often referred to as participative style
• Keeps employees informed
• Shares decision making and problem solving
responsibilities
• “Coach” who has the final say, but…
• Gathers information from staff members before
making decisions
 Democratic Continued
• Help employees evaluate their own
performance
• Allows employees to establish goals
• Encourages employees to grow on the job and
be promoted
• Recognizes and encourages achievement
• Can produce high quality and high quantity work
for long periods of time
 When to use
Democratic
• To keep employees informed
• To encourage employees to share in decision-making
and problem-solving
• To provide opportunities for employees to develop a
high sense of personal growth and job satisfaction
• Complex problems that require a lots of input
• To encourage team building and participation.
 Coercive
• Power from a person’s authority to punish
• Most obvious types of power a leader has.
• Good leaders use coercive power only as a last
resort:
– In today’s sophisticated and complex
workplace, excessive use of coercive power
unleashes unpredictable and destabilizing
forces which can ultimately undermine the
leader using it.
 When to use Coercive
• To meet very short term goals

• When left with no other choice

• In times of crisis
 Transactional
• Motivate followers by appealing to their own self-
interest
• Motivate by the exchange process.
– EX: business owners exchange status and wages
for the work effort of the employee.
• Focuses on the accomplishment of tasks & good
worker relationships in exchange for desirable
rewards.
• Encourage leader to adapt their style and behavior
to meet expectations of followers
 When to use
Transactional
• Leader wants to be in control
• When there are approaching deadlines
that must be met
• Relationship is short term
 Transformational
• Charismatic and visionary
• Inspire followers to transcend their self-interest for
the organization
• Appeal to followers' ideals and values
• Inspire followers to think about problems in new
or different ways
• Common strategies used to influence followers
include vision and framing
 Transformational cont.
• Instils feelings of confidence, admiration and
commitment
• Stimulates followers intellectually, arousing
them to develop new ways to think about
problems.
• Uses contingent rewards to positively reinforce
desirable performances
• Flexible and innovative.
 Transformationa
l
• When leaders want members to be an active
part of the organization and have ownership to
it
• When leaders are building a sense of purpose
• When the organization has a long term plan
• When people need to be motivated
 Laissez-Faire
• Also known as the “hands-off¨ style
• Little or no direction
• Gives followers as much freedom as possible
• All authority or power is given to the followers
• Followers must determine goals, make decisions,
and resolve problems on their own.
 When to use
Laissez-Faire
• Employees are highly skilled, experienced, and
educated
• Employees have pride in their work and the drive
to do it successfully on their own
• Outside experts, such as staff specialists or
consultants are being used
• Employees are trustworthy and experienced
 Managers vs. Leaders
Managers Leaders
• Focus on things • Focus on people
• Do things right • Do the right things
• Plan • Inspire
• Organize • Influence
• Direct • Motivate
• Control • Build
• Follows the rules • Shape entities
Distinguishing Leadership from Management
Management Leadership
1. Engages in day-to-day caretaker activities: 1. Formulates long-term objectives for
Maintains and allocates resources reforming the system: Plans strategy and
2. Exhibits supervisory behaviour: Acts to tactics
make others maintain standard job 2. Exhibits leading behaviour: Acts to bring
behaviour about change in others congruent with long-
3. Administers subsystems within term objectives
organizations 3. Innovates for the entire organization
4. Asks how and when to engage in standard 4. Asks what and why to change standard
practice practice
5. Acts within established culture of the 5. Creates vision and meaning for the
organization organization
6. Uses transactional influence: Induces 6. Uses transformational influence: Induces
compliance in manifest behaviour using change in values, attitudes, and behaviour
using personal examples and expertise
rewards, sanctions, and formal authority
7. Uses empowering strategies to make
7. Relies on control strategies to get things
followers internalize values
done by subordinates
8. Status quo challenger and change creator
8. Status quo supporter and stabilizer
Common Activities

• Planning
• Organizing
• Directing
• Controlling
 Planning
Manager Leader
• Planning • Devises strategy
• Budgeting • Sets direction
• Sets targets • Creates vision
• Establishes detailed steps
• Allocates resources
 Organizing
Manager
Leader
• Creates structure
• Gets people on board
• Job descriptions
for strategy
• Staffing
• Communication
• Hierarchy
• Networks
• Delegates
• Training
 Directing Work

Manager Leader
• Solves problems • Empowers
• Negotiates people
• Cheerleader
• Brings to consensus
 Controlling
Manager Leader
• Implements control systems
• Motivate
• Performance measures • Inspire
• Identifies variances • Gives sense of
• Fixes variances accomplishment
 Leadership Traits
• Intelligence • Personality
– More intelligent – Verbal facility
than non-leaders – Honesty
– Scholarship – Initiative
– Knowledge – Aggressive
– Being able to get – Self-confident
things done – Ambitious
• Physical – Originality
– Doesn’t see to be – Sociability
correlated – Adaptability
Power & authority
 What is Power?

• The ability to control and/or influence people

and resources.
• The capacity to produce effects on others
 Concepts of Power
• Social power
– use of power to influence people who have
control over who becomes, or remains, a decision
maker
– Linked to political power (often trying to gain
some advantages for themselves)
– Linked to cultural power (have social power bc are
cultural icons)
– E.g. charismatic politicians, sportspeople,
entertainers, academics.
 Concepts of Power
• Cultural power
– Use such power to gain an advantage –
economic or legal – for the group
– E.g. used by religious bodies, ethnic
minority groups, lobby groups that have as
their basis sex or sexuality.
 Concepts of Power
• Economic power
– Held by a person or entity that has the money,
means of production or capital to influence law
and decision-makers
– Low level (eg ‘breadwinner’ of family) or at high
levels (majority shareholder in company)
– Use such power to gain political or legal
 Concepts of Power
• Political power
– Held by the person or group that is able to control
the running and policy development of a decision-
making or controlling body.
– Such power is used by favouring a person/orgsn in
a decisions-making process
– E.g union leaders, school prefects, committee
chairpersons, politicians
 Concepts of Power
• Legal power
– Where the person/group has the ability and
authority to create sanctions or inhibit the rights
of others – ie where a group or person can enforce
its rights or create or apply the law.
– Other groups without genuine law making power
but with pol and eco power – e.g. power of media
and financial institutions to alter the law
– E.g. parliament and courts
 Sources of Power
• Position in the organization (formal authority)

• Reward

• Coerce or punish

• Expertise

• Referent power (charisma)

• Control over information or access to resources

(gatekeeper)
 What is Authority?
• The legitimate or acceptable use of power
 Concepts of Authority
• Customary authority
– Authority to wield power as a result of history or
tradition
– Historically, men over women, non-indigenous
over indigenous
– Often recognised at common law
– E.g. by parents over children, employers over
employees, the state over the individual (eg
police, gvt officers, defence etc)
 Concepts of Authority
• Statutory authority
– Held by persons and orgnsn that are provided with
power by plt, eg customs agencies and tax office
 Concepts of Authority
• Common law authority
– Authority provided to persons and groups by the
courts
– Eg employers once had common law authority to
completely control the lives of employees
 Concepts of Authority
• Delegated authority
– Authority given to subordinate, or lesser, people
or orgnsns to make decisions or principles on their
own behalf.
– Used to increase administrative efficiency of an
orgsn.
– Eg junior staff in business orgsns to manage a
budget without having to bother managing
director. Local council given delegated authority
to make law
Theories of leadership
 Trait Theories
• Traits are characteristics of the person:
– Physical characteristics
– Abilities
– Personality traits
• Traits consistently associated with leadership:
– Ambition and energy
– The desire to lead
– Honesty and integrity
– Self-confidence
– Intelligence
– Job-relevant knowledge
 Emotional Intelligence and Leadership

• EI is the best predictor of who will emerge as a

leader.
• IQ and technical skills are “threshold capabilities.”
– They’re necessary but not sufficient
requirements for leadership.
• Leaders need self-awareness, self-management,
self-motivation, empathy, and social skills to
become a star performer.
– These are the components of EI.
 Leadership Attributes: A Cross-Cultural View

Leader Attributes Leader Attributes Leader Attributes Over Which

Universally Liked Universally Disliked There is Most Disagreement

Trustworthy Noncooperative Subdued

Dynamic Irritable Intragroup conflict avoider
Motive arouser Egocentric Cunning
Decisive Ruthless Sensitive
Intelligent Dictatorial Provocateur
Dependable Loner/self-centred Self-effacing
Plans ahead Willful
Excellence oriented
Team builder
Encouraging
Behavioural Theories of Leadership
• Propose that specific behaviours differentiate
leaders from nonleaders
– Initiating structure
• E.g., task orientation, work orientation,
production orientation
– Consideration
• Employee needs and concerns
– Examples
• Ohio Studies, Michigan Studies, Managerial
Grid
 Research Findings for Behavioural Theories

• When subordinates experience a lot of pressure because of

deadlines or unclear tasks, leaders who are people oriented
will increase employee satisfaction and performance.
• When the task is interesting or satisfying, there is less need
for leaders to be people oriented.
• When it’s clear how to perform the task and what the goals
are, leaders who are people oriented will increase employee
satisfaction, while those who are task oriented will increase
dissatisfaction.
• When people don’t know what to do, or individuals don’t
have the knowledge or skills to do the job, it’s more important
for leaders to be production oriented than people oriented.
 Contingency or Situational Leadership
Theories
• Stress the importance of considering the
context when examining leadership.
– Fiedler Contingency Model
– Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory
– Path-Goal Theory
– Substitutes for Leadership
 Fiedler Contingency Model

• Effective group performance depends upon the

proper match between the leader’s style and the
degree to which the situation gives control to the
leader.
• Least preferred co-worker (LPC) questionnaire
determined whether individuals were primarily
interested in:
– good personal relations with co-workers, and
thus relationship oriented, or
– productivity, and thus task oriented.
 Fiedler Contingency Model
• Fiedler’s contingency situations:
– Leader-member relations
• Degree of confidence, trust, and respect
members have for leader.
– Task structure
• Degree to which jobs are structured.
– Position power
• Degree to which leader has control over
“power”: hiring, firing, discipline,
promotions, salary.
• Fiedler assumed that an individual’s leadership
style is fixed.
Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory

• Follower: unable and unwilling

– Leader: needs to give clear and specific directions.

• Follower: unable but willing

– Leader: needs to display high task orientation and
high relationship orientation.
Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory

• Follower: able but unwilling

– Leader: needs to use a supportive and
participative style.

• Follower: both able and willing

– Leader: a laissez-faire approach will work.
 Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

• A theory that says it’s the leader’s job to assist

followers in reaching their goals and to
provide the necessary direction and/or
support to ensure that their individual goals
are compatible with the overall goals.
 Path-Goal Guidelines to Be An Effective
Leader
• Determine the outcomes subordinates want.
– e.g., good pay, job security, interesting work, and
autonomy to do one’s job, etc.
• Reward individuals with their desired outcomes
when they perform well.
• Be clear with expectations.
– Let individuals know what they need to do to
receive rewards (the path to the goal).
– Remove barriers that prevent high performance.
– Express confidence that individuals have the
ability to perform well.
 Path-Goal Leadership Styles

• Directive
– Informs subordinates of expectations, gives
guidance, shows how to do tasks.

• Supportive
– Friendly and approachable, shows concern for
status, well-being, and needs of subordinates.
 Path-Goal Leadership Styles
• Participative
– Consults with subordinates, solicits suggestions, takes
suggestions into consideration.
• Achievement-oriented
– Sets challenging goals, expects subordinates to
perform at highest level, continuously seeks
improvement in performance, has confidence in
highest motivations of employees.
 Path-Goal Theory
CONTINGENCY FACTORS

Environmental

• Task Structure
•
•
Formal Authority System
Work Group
Leader Behaviour Outcomes
•
Directive
•
Achievement-oriented • Performance
•
•
Participative • Satisfaction
Supportive
Subordinate
•
•
Locus of control
•
Experience
Perceived ability
 Substitutes and Neutralizers for Leadership
Characteristics of Individual Effect on Leadership
Experience/training Substitutes for task-oriented leadership

Professionalism Substitutes for relationship-oriented and task-oriented leadership

Indifference to rewards Neutralizes relationship-oriented and task-oriented leadership

Characteristics of Job
Highly structured task Substitutes for task-oriented leadership

Provides its own feedback Substitutes for task-oriented leadership

Intrinsically satisfying Substitutes for relationship-oriented leadership

Characteristics of organization
Explicit formalized goals Substitutes for task-oriented leadership

Rigid rules and procedures Substitutes for task-oriented leadership

Cohesive work groups Substitutes for relationship-oriented and task-oriented leadership

 Can You Be a Better Follower?
• Ineffective followers may be more of a handicap to
an organization than ineffective leaders.
• What qualities do effective followers have?
– They manage themselves well.
– They are committed to a purpose outside
themselves.
– They build their competence and focus their
efforts for maximum impact.
– They are courageous, honest, and credible.
Transactional vs. Transformational Leadership

• Transactional leaders
– Leaders who guide or motivate their followers in
the direction of established goals by clarifying role
and task requirements.
• Transformational leaders
– Leaders who inspire followers to go beyond their
own self-interests for the good of the organization,
and have a profound and extraordinary effect on
their followers.
 Characteristics of Transactional Leaders
• Contingent reward
– Contracts exchange of rewards for effort, promises
rewards for good performance, recognizes
accomplishments.
• Management by exception (active)
– Watches and searches for deviations from rules
and standards, takes corrective action.
• Management by exception (passive)
– Intervenes only if standards are not met.
• Laissez-Faire leader
– Abdicates responsibilities, avoids making
decisions.
Characteristics of Transformational Leaders
• Charisma
– Provides vision and sense of mission, instills
pride, gains respect and trust.
• Inspiration
– Communicates high expectations, uses symbols
to focus efforts, expresses important purposes
in simple ways.
• Intellectual stimulation
– Promotes intelligence, rationality, and careful
problem-solving.
• Individualized consideration
– Gives personal attention, treats each employee
individually, coaches, advises.
 Charismatic Leadership

• Leadership that critically examines the status

quo with a view to developing and articulating
future strategic goals or vision for the
organization, and then leading organizational
members to achieve these goals through
empowerment strategies.
 Dispersed Leadership
• Mentoring
• Providing Team Leadership
 Mentoring
• Many leaders create mentoring relationships.
• A mentor is often a senior employee who sponsors and
supports a less-experienced employee (a protégé).
• The mentoring role includes:
– Coaching
– Counselling
– Sponsorship
 Providing Team Leadership
• Leading teams requires new skills.
– e.g., patience to share information, trust others,
give up authority, and knowing when to intervene.
• Leading teams requires new roles.
– Liaisons with external constituencies
– Troubleshooters
– Conflict managers
– Coaches
 Team Leaders
• Team leaders need to focus on two priorities:
– Managing the team’s external boundary
– Facilitating the team process
 The Moral Foundation of Leadership
• Truth telling
– Telling the truth as you see it, because it allows for a
mutual, fair exchange to occur.
• Promise keeping
– Leaders need to be careful of the commitments they
make, and then careful of keeping those promises.
• Fairness
– This ensures that followers get their fair share for
their contributions to the organization.
• Respect for the individual
– Telling the truth, keeping promises, and being fair all
show respect for the individual. Respect means
treating people with dignity.