LEADERSHIP 1

 Introduction

 Functions Of Leaders

 Importance Of Leadership

 Qualities Of a Good Leader

 Leadership Styles
 Leadership
2
 Leadership is viewed as a characteristic of the individual .
 In recent times, leadership is identified as a social-influence process.
 It is said to be ‘the process of influencing group activities towards the accomplishment of
goals in a given situation.’

Definition

Leadership is the process of influencing others towards the accomplishment of goals. It

is the ability of a manager to induce subordinates to work with zeal and confidence.

---Koontz and O’Donnell.

 Leadership 3

 Existence of Followers : Leadership does not flourish in a vaccum.

The essence of leadership is followership.
 Interpersonal Influence : It is actually the knack of getting other
people to follow you and to do willingly the things you want them to do.
 Uneven Power Sharing : Leadership is a relationship between two
or more people in which influence and power are unevenly distributed.
 Common Goals: The basic objective of leadership is to rally men and
women towards common goals.
 Situational: The qualities, skills, and characteristics of a leader are
determined, by the demands of the situation in which he is to function as
a leader.
 4
Leadership
 The term ‘manager' and ‘leader’ are often used interchangeably. However

leadership is not same as managership.

 Leadership can exist in unorganised groups, but managership requires an

organised structure.

 A manager is more than a leader.

 All managers are leaders but all leaders are not managers.
 Leadership Vs. Managership
Narrow term
Exists
in unorganized groups. No
organised structure is needed.
Leadership is the activity of
influencing people to strive willingly
for group goals.
Leaders get authority by virtue of
their skills, abilities and the situational
demands. Followers must also consent
to being influenced.
5
 Wider term. A manager is more than a
leader.
 Requires an organized structure.
 Managership implies exercising
functions such as planning, organizing,
staffing, directing and controlling to
achieve group goals. Leadership is an
aspect of one of these functions.
 Managers get formal authority delegated
from above.
 Managers have subordinates
 6
Attributes of Leaders
According to K.E.Chung:
1. Leaders have followers: To be a leader, one must have followers. A manager on the other hand, may have
people to supervise, but these people may not follow manager’s lead.

2. Leaders have emotional appeal: Managers are expected to be rational decision-makers and problem solvers.
Leader are expected to be charismatic, exciting, and visionary. They are capable of altering the mood of
followers, raising their hopes and aspirations.

3. Leaders meet the needs of followers: Managers and leaders are responsible for meeting the needs of individuals
and their organisations, however, managers are expected to be more concerned with attaining goals, whereas
leaders are expected to be more sensitive to the needs of followers.
 Functions of Leaders 7
Leaders perform a variety of functions while trying to realise the organisational goals.
 Leader develops teamwork
 Leader is a representative of subordinates
 Leader is an appropriate counsellor
 Leader uses power properly
 Leader uses time well
 Leader strives for effectiveness
 Importance of leadership
Leadership helps an organisation in following ways: 8
 Inspires Employees: A leader creates a strong urge in employees for higher performance.
 Secures Cooperation: A dynamic leader infuses life into the group. He influences the
behaviour of employees in such a way that they readily work for organisational objectives.
 Creates confidence: Employees often suffer from emotional problems in organisations., A
leader renders wise counsel and tries to remove barriers(real and imaginary) and instils
confidence in employees.
 Provides good working climate: A leader provides a healthy work climate where individuals
can work toward objectives happily. He initiates necessary changes and unifies efforts of
employees.
 Qualities of a Good Leader
 The Great Man Theory  9
This theory holds that leaders are born not made.Successful leaders are said to possess certain
qualities that separates them from the ‘Crowd’.  The qualities that make them for good
leadership personality are:
 Intelligence
 Communication Skills
 Emotional Balance
 Technical Skills
 Inner Drive
 Energy
 Human Relations Skills
 Teaching Skills
10
Power
 “The power to make decisions which guide the actions of another. It is a relationship between two11
individuals—
one supervisor, the subordinate. The superior frames and transmits decisions with the expectation that they will be
accepted by the subordinate. The subordinate expects such decisions, and his conduct is determined by them.”
 Legitimate Power
 This power emanates from an official position held by someone, be it in an organization, bureaucracy or government etc. 

 The duration of this power is short lived as a person can use it only till the time, he/she holds that position, as well as the
scope of the power is small as it is strictly defined by the position held.

 Coercive Power

 This kind of power involves the usage of threat to make people do what one desires.

 In the organizational set up, it translates into threatening someone with transfer, firing, demotions etc.

 It basically forces people to submit to one’s demand for the fear of losing something.
Power
 Reward Power 12
 The type of power uses rewards, perks, new projects or training opportunities, better roles and monetary benefits to
influence people.

 Expert Power
 This is a personal kind of power which owes its genesis to the skills and expertise possessed by an individual, which is of
higher quality and not easily available. In such a situation, the person can exercise the power of knowledge to influence
people. Since, it is very person specific and skills can be enhanced with time; it has more credibility and respect.

 Referent Power
 This is a power wielded by celebrities and film stars as they have huge following amongst masses who like them, identify
with them and follow them. Hence, they exert lasting influence on a large number of people for a large number of
decisions; like from what car to buy to which candidate to choose for a higher office in the country.
Authority
 Authority is the formal right given to a manager to make decisions or to command.
13
 Refers to accepted power—that is, power that people agree to follow. 

 People listen to authority figures because they feel that these individuals are worthy of respect. 

 Types of Authority by Max Weber

 Traditional Authority:Traditional authority is granted to individuals regardless of their qualifications. They do not have to possess any
special skills to receive and wield their authority, as their claim to it is based solely on their bloodline or supposed divine designation. An
individual granted traditional authority can be intelligent or stupid, fair or arbitrary, and exciting or boring but receives the authority just the
same because of custom and tradition

 Charismatic Authority: It stems from an individual’s extraordinary personal qualities and from that individual’s hold over followers because
of these qualities. Such charismatic individuals may exercise authority over a whole society or only a specific group within a larger
society.Charismatic authority can reside in a person who came to a position of leadership because of traditional or rational-legal authority.

 Rational – Legal Authority: It derives from law and is based on a belief in the legitimacy of a society’s laws and rules and in the right of
leaders to act under these rules to make decisions and set policy. Whereas traditional authority resides in an individual because of
inheritance or divine designation, rational-legal authority resides in the office that an individual fills
 Types of Authority
14
 Types of Authority in an Organization

 Line authority: It is the power given to someone in a supervisory position to mandate actions by subordinates.
This authority is given so that an organization can attain its stated goals and objectives.Line authority flows down
the chain of command.

 Staff authority: It refers to the right to advice on improving the effectiveness for line employees in performing their
duties.

 Functional authority: It is the right that is delegated to an individual or a department to control specified processes,
practices, policies, or other matters about activities undertaken by persons in other departments.
 The behaviour exhibited by a leader during the supervision of
subordinates is known as leadership style.

Leadership
Styles
 Leadership Styles 16

 Directive, Autocratic or Authoritarian Style:

An autocratic leader is one who
 takes all decisions himself without 
consulting the subordinates. He centralises 
power and decision-making in himself. He 
oversees work from close quarters and 
exercises full control over subordinates.
Orders are issued and subordinates are
expected to execute these without back-talk.
 Leadership Styles 17

Autocratic Style Features:

 Centralised power and decision-making
 Close supervision and control
 Discipline through rewards/punishment
 One-way communication
 Total dependence of subordinates on superior.
 Autocratic Style
Advantages
 Decisions can be made quickly. Control can be
centralised for orderly operations.
 Well-developed leadership skills can be
applied directly to group activities.
 The leader can take direct control when there
is a major problem or crisis. Best suited for
crisis management.
 Suitable for managing inexperienced, insecure
and incompetent subordinates.
 Offers consistency in goals and procedures by
leader making decisions.
18
Disadvantages
 May result in low motivation. It is difficult to
develop motivation when the leader makes all the
decisions.
 There is very little scope for developing the
creative potential of people.
 Subordinates tend to develop defensiveness; they
constantly look for ways and means to avoid
responsibility.
 One-way communication may lead to
misunderstandings at various levels.
 Subordinates tend to depend on leader for
everything. Matters move slowly and it becomes
difficult to adapt to change.
 Leadership Styles 19

 Participative or Democratic Style:

The participative leader encourages his
subordinates to participate in the
decision-making process. He consults them
before taking decisions. The suggestions put
forward by subordinates are taken care of.
There is open, two-way communication. The leader does not dominate. The emphasis
is on cooperation and participation to achieve the maximum potential of the group.
 Leadership Styles 20

Participative or Democratic Style Features:

 Involves people in decision-making and goal-setting
 Attitudes, feelings, suggestions of members are considered while making
decisions
 Freedom of thinking and action available to a reasonable extent
 Two-way, open communication between members
 Opportunity to use one’s potential in the service of organisation.
 Participative or Democratic Style
Advantages
 Motivates people to do better.
 Knowledge and experience of group members
can be used in decision-making.
 Individual abilities are developed through
participation.
 Members feel more committed to group goals.
There is less resistance to managerial actions.
 Members develop healthy attitudes towards
the leader, the work, and the organisation.
 Two way communication keeps members
informed about what is going on and why.
21
Disadvantages
 Individuals may dominate the participation or make
disruptive contributions.
 Very time consuming approach from the leader’s point
of view – quick decisions cannot be taken.
 Participation may be used as an instrument to ‘pass the
buck‘ to subordinate.
 Decisions get diluted, when attempts are made to
please everyone.
 Participation may be viewed as a sign of inefficiency
on the part of the leader. Subordinates may view the
leader as incompetent to handle the job independently.
 Participation may be used to manipulate people to suit
personal ends.
 Autocratic Vs. Democratic
Autocratic
 Manager using this style may be labelled as
Theory X Leader.
 The leader is task-oriented and restrictive.
 Leader structures the work, strives to find out
better methods and keeps the employees busy
on the task.
 One-way communication.
 Threads of control in the hands of one
individual. Decision-making is centralised.
Quick decisions possible.
22
Democratic
 Manager exhibiting this style may be labelled as
Theory Y Leader.
 The leader is follower-oriented and permissive.
 The leader is considerate of his subordinates,
recognises their needs and respects their human
dignity.
 Two- way communication.
 Pushes controlling power to subordinates to a
reasonable extent. Decentralised decisions take
time.
 Leadership Styles 23

Laissez-Faire or Free Rein Leadership Style

In the democratic style, the leader encourages the
 group to think and develop the solution. The
 laissez-faire or free rein leader goes a step further 
 and turns an entire problem or project over to 
 subordinates. The subordinates are asked to set their 
 own goals and develop plans for achieving them.
 The leader does not direct at all .
 He acts as a passive observer and does not exercise power.
 There is very little control over the group members.
 Leadership Styles 24

Free Rein Leadership Style Features:

 Group members set goals and decide things on their own
 Leader is a passive observer of things
 Leader does not decide, does not control or exercise influence over the
group
 Leader abdicates responsibility
 Members operate in an unrestricted environment
 Communication is open and can take any direction.
 Free Rein Style 25

Advantages
 Working independently can be
motivational for some people
 May encourage suggestions, creativity
and innovations
 Group is flexible and can adapt quickly to
change
 Open and direct communication with
opportunity for self-expression
 May increase the ‘quality of life’ for some
group members.
Disadvantages
 Activities may suffer owing to lack of
coordination
 Group objectives may be ignored and
individual objectives may dominate
activities
 Lack of control may lead to disruptive
behaviour
 Individuals may go their own ways resulting
in confusion and chaos.
 26
Types Of Leaders

According to James Burns, there are

two types of leaders
 Transformational leaders
 Transactional leaders
Transactional Leadership 27

 In transactional leadership, the leader exercises influence during daily

leader-subordinate exchanges without any special emotional inputs or
considerations. 
 The leader offers rewards to subordinates who achieve the tasks assigned
to them( or for showing appropriate behaviour). 
 Focuses on achieving results in a practical way,clarifying things to
subordinates.Prepares plans, schedules and budgets.
 He is hard-working, tolerant and fair-minded. He generally takes pride in
making things run smoothly and efficiently.
 He has a sense of commitment to the organisation and conforms to
organisational norms and values.
Features of Transactional Leaders 28

 Task-centered
 Short-term planners
 Practical
 Passive(obedient, patient)
 Maintain stability
 Concrete(Existing)
 Tangible.
Transformational Leaders 29

 Transformational leaders are those who recognise, exploit, and satisfy

the need of followers while elevating them to high levels of motivation.
 Transformational leadership elevates the goals of subordinates and
inspires them to give their best to an organisation.
 Transformational leadership primarily consists of three dimensions:
Charisma, Individualised consideration and Intellectual stimulation.
Features of Transformational Leaders 30

 Independent
 Inspirational
 Initiators
 Active and achieving
 Change-oriented
 Forward thinking
 Charismatic.
Continuum of Leader Behaviour 31
 32
 A manager is characterized according to degree of control that is maintained by him. According to
this approach, four main styles of leadership have been identified:
 Tells: The manager identifies a problem, chooses a decision, and announces this to subordinates.
The subordinates are not a party to the decision making process and the manager expects them to
implement his decisions as soon as possible.
 Sells: The decision is chosen by the manager only but he understands that there will be some
amount of resistance from those faced with the decision and therefore makes efforts to persuade
them to accept it.
 Consults: Though the problem is identified by the manager, he does not take a final decision. The
problem is presented to the subordinates and the solutions are suggested by the subordinates.
 Joins: The manager defines the limits within which the decision can be taken by the subordinates
and then makes the final decision along with the subordinates.
Continuum of Leader Behaviour 34

 Forces in the manager: These forces include the value system of

leader(e.g. the strong feeling that subordinates should participate in
decisions that affect them), his confidence in his subordinates, his
leadership inclinations and his tolerance of ambiguity.
 Forces in the subordinates: These include the subordinates need for
independence; their level of tolerance for ambiguity; readiness to assume
responsibility for decision-making; their interest in and understanding of
problems; understanding and identifying organisational goals; and their
experience with leadership.
 Forces in the situation: These include the type of organisation, problems,
group effectiveness, and time constraints. 
Likert’s Four Systems of Management 35

 Rensis Likert has developed four models of management (known as systems of management)
after examining important factors that are closely related to the management process (such as
motivation, communication, goal-setting, controlling, decision-making, etc).
 His models are based on the human resource philosophy of management.
 Likert felt that personnel are the precious assets and, therefore, must be treated and managed
properly.
 Likert classified management philosophies into four convenient styles
1. Exploitative Autocratic
2. Benevolent Autocratic
3. Consultative
4. Democratic
 Likert’s Four Systems of Management 36

    System 1. Exploitative Authoritative:

•  Manager sets goals and decides the means of achieving them. 
System 2.   Benevolent Authoritative: 
•  Managers are autocratic in their approach but not exploitative. 
   System 3. Consultative: 
• Managers set goals and issue orders after discussing them with
subordinates.
   System 4. Democratic: 
• Managers maintain cordial and friendly relations with subordinates.
Likert’s Four Systems of Management 41

According to Likert, System 4 is an ideal one which ought

to be adopted by organisations so as to improve workers
satisfaction and performance.
Likert’s research also indicated that System 4 management
is far superior to other models. He, therefore, suggested leadership
training at all levels of management so that managers can learn the
basics of System 4 management.
 Theories of Leadership 42

Leadership theories are broadly classified into three types:

 Trait Theory : Trait theory views leadership as a combination of a
set of personality traits.
 Behavioural Theory : This theory attempts to identify the individual
behaviour of leaders associated with effective leadership.
 Situational Theory : This theory tries to identify certain situational
factors that determine how effective a particular leadership style will
be.
43
 Trait Theory 44
 According to Keith Davis the four traits that are shared by most successful
leaders are:
1. Intelligence
2. Social maturity and breadth
3. Inner motivation and achievement drive
4. Human relations attitude
Trait Theory 45

Criticism:
 Leaders cannot be markedly different from their followers. Extremes in personality are not
usually associated with leadership.
 It is difficult to define traits. When posed with the question of defining a trait, executives
often come out with a bewildering variety of explanations, making a mockery of the trait
theory.
 It is often difficult to measure traits. The measurement tools employed to quantify traits (in
ways that will make them useful to executives) are open to doubt. For example, some of the
psychological attributes (intelligence, initiative) cannot be observed but can only be inferred
from the behaviour.
 How much of a trait a person should have remains a puzzling question. It is not clear how
high score a person must achieve on a given trait to make it effective.
Trait Theory 46

Criticism:
 Effective leadership is not a function of traits alone. Executives often behave
in a way they think is appropriate for their job. There is a wealth of scientific
evidence pointing the significance of situational factors as determinants of
leadership behaviour. Trait theory fell into disfavour because it did not
consider the whole leadership environment.
 Finally, leadership skills vary according to the type of work a person performs
in the organisation. A leader may employ three different types of skills at
different levels in the organisation: technical, human and administrative
skills. It is ridiculous to assume that traits are uniformly distributed at all
managerial levels.
Behavioural Theories 47

 In contrast with trait theory, behavioural theory attempts to describe

leadership in terms of what leaders do, while trait theory seeks to
explain leadership on the basis of what leaders are.
 Leadership, according to this approach, is the result of effective role
behaviour.
 Leadership is shown by a person’s acts more than by his traits.
 This is an appropriate new research strategy adopted by Michigan
Researchers in the sense that the emphasis on the traits is replaced by
the emphasis on leader behaviour(which could be measured).
The Michigan Studies 48
The Michigan Studies 49

 After studying numerous industrial situations, the Michigan researchers identified two
leadership styles – employee-centered and production-centered -- influencing employee
performance and productivity.
 They prescribed employee-oriented style of leadership to increase productivity.
 They contended that supervisory controls and production-centered leadership style will be
frustrating to the employees and affect their morale leading to unsatisfactory performance
on the job.
 The Michigan studies were more compatible with the prevailing system in ‘post -Hawthrone
America’ and as such became very popular.
 Researchers were able to identify specific behaviours that influenced employee behaviour
and productivity and advised scrupulously that a people-orientation should come before a
work-orientation.
 These findings led to the widespread belief in the 1950s that the employee-oriented
leadership style was always superior.
The Ohio State University Studies 50

 After analysing actual leadership behaviour in a wide variety of situations

the Ohio State University studies identified two leadership behaviours.
 Initiating structure
 Consideration
 Consideration(C) refers to the ability of the leader to establish rapport,
mutual respect and two-way communication with employees. The leader is
friendly, approachable and listens to the problems of employees and allows
them to suggest.
 Initiating Structure(IS) refers to the extent to which the leaders structure
and define the activities of subordinates so that organisational goals are
accomplished.
The Ohio State 51
University Studies
The Ohio State University Studies 52

 During research the Ohio State scholars have developed the Leader Behaviour
Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) that contains 15 items regarding the consideration
and an equal number referring initiating structure to describe activities displayed by
the leader.
 Research staff also developed a Leader Opinion Questionnaire (LOQ) that reflects the
self-perceptions that the leaders have about their style of leadership.
 The researchers found that IS and C were independent and distinct dimensions. A high
score on one dimension does not necessarily a low score on the other.
 Leader behaviour was plotted for the first time, on two separate axes rather than on a
single continuum.
 Four quadrants were developed to show IS and C in varying combinations.
The Ohio State University Studies 53

 The two-dimensional model became a best seller overnight and made an epoch-
making contribution to leadership studies afterwards.
 It has caught the imagination of the managers throughout the world due to its simple
but powerful reasoning.
 The influence of the Ohio State studies has been extensive.
 The concepts of consideration and initiating structure have had a high intuitive appeal
to practicing managers so that many training programmes have made use of them.
 It is easy to understand the intricacies of the model and practice the leader behaviours.
 The logic behind the model appears quite reasonable and appealing.
 Nevertheless, it has been subjected to troubling criticisms from time-to-time.
The Ohio State University Studies 54

CRITICISMS:
 According to Fiedler, C and IS are not independent dimensions. It is
extremely difficult for a given person to be both production-oriented and
employee oriented. It is not possible to wear both the hats gracefully. These
two aspects can be handled properly by two individuals.
 On the other hand, Hills’ research suggested that a leader can be both task-
oriented and employee-oriented.
 In fact, C and IS are distinctly different behaviours and, therefore demand a
great amount of flexibility in behaviour by the leader. The transition from
one style to the other may not always be smooth and easy.
The Ohio State University Studies 55

CRITICISMS:
 The belief that a high IS and C mix leads to better performance is also
questioned. According to Korman, C and IS are not such significant leader
behaviours as previously assumed. There is no significant relationship
between leader behaviour and such measures like productivity.
 The Leader-Behaviour model suggested by the Ohio Scholars is an over
simplification of reality. The impact of environmental variables on specific
leader behaviours is completely ignored. Steven et al. concluded that ‘the
effect of both C and IS are situationally determined’.
Similarities of Michigan and Ohio State 56

Studies
 Bothhave accepted that leader behaviour is more complex than
the oversimplified dichotomy of task and maintenance-oriented
behaviour.
 Bothidentified and stressed on performance – production
emphasis at Ohio and goal emphasis or high standards of
production performance at Michigan.
 Bothfound that the pattern of effective leader behaviour
definitely varied with the situation.
The Managerial Grid 57

The concept is created and developed by US Industrial Psychologist R.R.Blake

and Jane S. Mouton.

1. Concern for production:

This is not limited to things only. Production may be assessed through the number of
creative ideas that applied research turns into useful products, procedures or processes:
quality and thoroughness of staff services, work load and efficiency and measurements as
well as units of output.
2. Concern for people:
It is not confined to narrow consideration of interpersonal warmth and friendliness. It
covers a variety of concerns, which can include concern for degree of personal
commitment to complete a job for which one is responsible; accountability based on trust
rather than force; self-esteem, desire for a sense of security in work; friendships with co-
workers leading to a healthy working climate.
The Managerial Grid 58
The Managerial Grid 59

 Impoverished: Exertion of minimum effort is required to get work done and

sustain organisation morale.
 Country club: Thoughtful attention to needs of people for satisfying
relationships leads to a comfortable, friendly organisation atmosphere and work
tempo.
 Middle road: Adequate organisation performance is possible through balancing
the necessity to get work with maintaining morale of people at satisfactory level.
 Task: Efficiency in organisations result from arranging conditions of work in
such a way that human elements interfere to a minimum degree.
 Team: Work accomplishment is from committed people and interdependence
trough a common stake in organisation that leads to relationships of trust and
respect.
The Managerial Grid 60

 Theoritically speaking, there are 81 possible positions in the grid,

reflecting as many leadership styles, but the focus usually centers
around five basic styles.
 The 9,1 leader is mainly concerned with production and has little
concern for people. This person wants to meet production schedules and
get the task done at all costs.
 The 1,9 style reflects a minimal concern for production coupled with a
maximum concern for people.
 The 1,1 leader has little concern for both people and production.
 The 5,5 style reflects a moderate concern for both.
The Managerial Grid 61

 The 9,9 style is viewed as the ideal leadership style: it exhibits a

maximum concern for both production and people.
 According to the managerial grid, the 9,9 style is the optimum
leadership approach, often called ‘super leader style’ and many
organisations have used training programmes to develop 9,9 managers
 Blake and Mouton assert that this is one of the best styles of exercising
most effective leadership; what changes with the situation is the tactics
of application.
Situational Theories 62

 Leadership is a complex social and interpersonal process; and to

understand it fully, we need to see the situation in which a leader
operates.
 An effective leader must be flexible enough to adapt to the differences
among subordinates and situations.
 Leadership effectiveness depends upon the fit between personality, task,
power, attitudes and perceptions.
 On the lines of this new and sophisticated conception, some elegant
theories have been developed and are discussed below:
Fiedler’s Contingency Model 64

• Leader-member relations
• Task structure
• Leader’s position power
Fiedler’s Contingency Model 65
Fiedler’s Contingency Model 66
Fiedler’s Contingency Model 67
69
Fiedler’s Contingency Model 70

Leadership style:
• The fundamental question remains as to what type of leadership style is to
be exercised by the leader in these situations
• To determine the style of leadership, Fiedler has introduced a scale called
LPC (Esteem for Least preferred Co-worker)
• LPC is a set of 16 adjective pairs and is quite often referred to as the
‘heart’ of his research programme.
• Leaders are asked to think of a person with whom he has worked least
well.
• They are then asked to describe this person on a series of bipolar adjective
scales.
Fiedler’s Contingency Model 73

Situational Factors determining Leader Effectiveness:

 Task oriented leaders perform best at the
   extremes (where the control and influence
   they can exercise is very low or very high).
 People-centered leaders perform best in
    situations that are moderate (where the
    leader’s influence and control is neither 
    very high nor very low).
House’s Path-Goal Theory 74

 Proposed by R.J.House.
 According to the R.J.House, leaders should motivate subordinates by clarifying the
path to personal rewards that result from attaining work goals.
 The path is clarified by eliminating confusion or conflicting ideas that the
subordinate may hold.
 The leader should also increase the number and kinds of rewards available to
subordinates.
 He should provide guidance and counsel to clarify the way in which these rewards
can be obtained.
 In other words, it is the manager’s task to provide the subordinate with a better fix
on the job, to help clarify realistic experiences and reduce barriers to the
accomplishment of valued goals.
House’s Path-Goal Theory 75
 House’s Path-Goal Theory 76

According to R.J. House Leader should 

1. Clear paths
2. Clarify goals
3. Provide support
4. Give rewards
5. Analyse the situation, task and
employee’s needs.
House’s Path-Goal Theory 77

Styles of Behaviour
1. Supportive: Leader is friendly and approachable to the employees; shows concern for
status, well-being and needs of the employees; and treats them as his equals. This is
similar to what Ohio State researchers labelled ‘consideration’.
2. Directive: Leader here focusses on planning, organising, and coordinating the activities of
subordinates. It is similar to the Ohio State researcher’s ‘initiating structure’.
3. Participative: Leader here consults the employees, solicits their suggestions, and
incorporates the good decisions.
4. Achievement-Oriented: Leader adopting this style sets challenging goals; expects the
employees to perform at their best, and continuously seeks increments in their
performance.
House’s Path-Goal Theory 78

The Situational Factors

The specific leadership style, according to House, that works unquestionably best
is determined by two types of situational variables:
1. Characteristics of subordinates
2. Work Environment.
Life Cycle or Situational Leadership 79

Theory
 The life cycle theory of Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard reflects a systematic
conceptualisation of situational factors as related to leadership behaviour.
 It is based on a curvilinear relationship between task and relationships and maturity of
followers.
 The focus is clearly on followers ignoring other situational factors such as supervision,
job demands, time element, organisation etc.,
Life Cycle or Situational Leadership 80

Theory
Situational leadership is based on the interplay among three variables:
1. Task behaviour: It is seen in terms of the amount of guidance and direction a leader
gives.
2. Relationship behaviour: It is determined by socio-emotional support provided by the
leader.
3. Maturity of followers: It is reflected by the readiness level exhibited by subordinates
in performing a given task.
Life Cycle or Situational Leadership 81

Theory
Maturity :
Maturity is the crux of the life cycle theory. It is the social benchmark for
choosing the appropriate style. Maturity is defined here in terms of achievement
motivation, i.e. the ability and willingness of people to take responsibility for
directing their own behaviour.
Willingness refers to the psychological maturity and has much to do with confidence
and commitment of the follower.
Maturity is a relative concept and hence, is a question of degree. Thus, an
individual or group is not mature or immature in a total sense. All persons exhibit
maturity in relation to a task, function, or objective a leader is attempting to
accomplish through their efforts.
Life Cycle or Situational Leadership Theory 82

Four Leadership Styles:

Hersey and Blanchard explains four styles of leadership that match different
maturity levels of subordinates.
 Telling(S1): Where followers are both unable and unwilling to do the job, they
require specific directions as to what, how, and when to do various tasks. It thus
emphasises directive behaviour and involves high task behaviour and low
relationship behaviour.
 Selling (S2): For members of moderate maturity who are unable but willing to do
the job, leader behaviour must be both supportive and directive. It is because the
followers are confident but lack of skills. This style involves high task behaviour
and high relationship behaviour.
Life Cycle or Situational Leadership Theory 83

 Participating(S3): Here employees are able but unwilling to do the job and they
require adequate motivational force. Leader opens the door to support the
followers. Leader is facilitating and communicating. It involves high relationship
and low task behaviour.
 Delegating(S4): Here the employees have both the job maturity and
psychological maturity. They hardly require guidance and direction becomes
redundant. Low relationship and low task behaviour is the appropriate style here.
Life Cycle or Situational Leadership 84

Theory

The life cycle theory of Paul Hersey and

Kenneth Blanchard
Life Cycle or Situational Leadership 85

Theory
Life Cycle or Situational Leadership Theory 86
Life Cycle or Situational 87

Leadership Theory
Life Cycle or Situational Leadership Theory 88

 The maturity continuum is divided into four levels:

Low (M1), Low to Moderate (M2), Moderate to High (M3), and High (M4).
 The terms Telling (S1), Selling (S2), Participating (S3), and Delegating (S4)
are leadership Style designations. The appropriate leadership style for all four
of the maturity designations correspond to the leadership style designations.
 Low maturity requires a telling style, and low to moderate maturity requires a
selling style and so on.
Life Cycle or Situational Leadership 89

Theory
Despite these limitations, situational theory has been appreciated
because it clarifies certain conceptual issues.
1. The maturity level of group has an important bearing for
leadership behaviour.
2. As the situation changes a leader may have to adopt a different
style to be effective.
Vroom-Yetton’s Normative Model of 90

Leadership
 Victor Vroom and Philip Yetton have developed a normative and intriguing model
of leadership focusing on the decision-making function of leader.
 The decision-making model indicates different kinds of situations in which
various degrees of participation by subordinates are appropriate.
 Vroom and Yetton contend that the effectiveness of leaders is largely reflected in
their track record of making right decisions.
 It is in the light of this decision-making, this model was developed.
 Since it is developed around the idea that different degrees of participation are
appropriate to different types of problems, it is widely known as ‘Decision –
Participation model’.
91
Vroom-Yetton’s Normative Model of 92

Leadership
Assumptions:
While developing the model, Vroom and Yetton have made certain assumptions; most
important of them are:
1. Decision – making style varies with the situation
2. Leadership style varies with the number of subordinates who are affected by the
decision
3. No single decision – making style is appropriate to all situations
4. The leader must select the best process that will influence the amount of
participation by subordinates in decision – making.
Vroom-Yetton’s Normative Model of 93

Leadership
Five Decision-Making Styles:
Vroom and Yetton have developed a leadership decision-making model which
indicates the types of situations in which various degrees of participation by
subordinates in decision-making seems feasible and appropriate.
They designate five decision-making styles that are appropriate for decisions
involving none or all of the subordinates. These styles include two types of
autocratic (A1 and A2), two styles of Consultative (C1 and C2), and a group style
(G2).
Vroom-Yetton’s Normative Model of Leadership 94

Choice of a leadership Style: The choice of leadership style depends on the

outcomes of three variables , they are
 Decision quality or rationality: It refers to the objective aspects of a decision
that has influence on the performance of subordinates.
 Decision acceptance: It refers to the degree of subordinate’s commitment to
the decision. Decision has to be accepted by subordinates who implement or
execute it.
 The amount of time required to make the decisions: Participation of the
subordinates in decisions takes more time, no doubt, but can increase group
acceptance and sometimes improve accuracy.
   Team Leadership 101

Characteristics of Well-Functioning teams

 Purpose
 Priorities
 Roles
 Decisions
 Conflict 
 Personal traits
 Norms
 Effectiveness
 Training
    Customer Service Leadership 102

 Reinforcement

 Analysis of records

 Standards

 Employee empowerment
Skills required for  a Leader in Mentoring or coaching  103

 Show Empathy                                   

 Be Curious

 Recognize strengths

 Be a partner

 Ask open ended questions

 Use “involved detachment” instead of feedback

 Develop a Measurable process

 Take ownership of results

 Hit the target with right communication 

   Coaching Vs. Mentoring
Coaching
 Task oriented
 Short Term
 Performance driven
 Does not require design
104
Mentoring 
 Relationship oriented
 Always long Term
 Development driven
 Require a design phase