Leadership

Leadership

Management versus leadership

Theory X, Y and Z managers

The nature of leadership

— Thinking about ‘leaders’ and “leadership

— Theories of leadership

— Defining leadership

Perspectives on leadership

Leadership styles

Leadership styles and decision making

Leadership in an international context

9

¢ Upon completion of this module, you should be

able to comprehend:

— Key difference between management & leadership

— Various theories about leadership

— Leadership styles and decision making

— The notion that there are attributes of leadership

shared across all cultures, even though these are

perceived differently in different cultures

¢ Leadership 1s not about making people work; it’s

about letting people work

— It is the ability to inspire confidence and support among people on whose competence and

commitment performance depends

— It is the ability to use interpersonal relationships to motivate and guide people towards the

accomplishment of goals

e Effective leaders display behaviours and

characteristics that are both learned and inherited

® LeadershIp is a trait few had and few could

develop; but if you did not naturally have it:

— seniority in a hierarchical structure (and especially in

a uniform) protected you; so

— you told people what to do and how to do it; and

— you operated in a strict chain of command and

control; which meant that,

— you needed to be the hero with all the answers;

consequently,

— you guarded your knowledge and information; and

— you watched your back for knives

Desired Outcome Predictability and Order Change

¢ McGregor (1960) theorised managers’ behaviours

into Theory X and Y

¢ Hence, the traits Theory X managers displayed

were those of direction and control associated with the exercise of authority, while

e The traits Theory Y managers displayed were

facilitation and integration

The Z theory focuses on the attitudes and

responsibilities of subordinates (Ouchi 1981)

¢ Reflects basic concept found in Japan that all employees

share a collective responsibility for their company’s fate

e Individuals are encouraged to develop their potential

within the company: are expected to function (with training)

in different positions

¢ The theory has had an enormous impact on views of

management in the US

e There have been attempts to define and identify

ingredients and essence of effective leadership,

but

— itis difficult to reduce leadership to a particular set of attributes or confine it to a particular set of roles,

procedures and activities

e It might be easier to generate a list of leaders

than to identify their common traits and

characteristics

¢ Leadership is not easy to define although it is

easy to recognise

¢ According to Stogdill (1974) great leaders

throughout history have:

e 4 main approaches to a definition of leadership:

— a Set of individual traits

— atype of personal behaviour

— a quality that is defined by the situation

— individual characteristics that are recognised as charismatic and transformational (promoting

innovation)

¢ This approach oversimplifies leadership because

it focuses on the leader and ignores subordinates

and the leader’s relationship with them

e This approach attempts to identify personal

behaviours associated with effective leadership

¢ Rather than looking at what effective leaders

were, researchers looked at what they did

— how they delegated tasks,

— how they communicated,

— how they motivated their employees

¢ Research showed that behaviours appropriate

in one situation were not necessarily

appropriate in others

¢ This is based on the assumption that the

conditions that determine leader effectiveness

vary with the situation

— the tasks to be accomplished, the skills of

subordinates, the environment, etc

— A leader who is effective in one situation may be less

effective in another

e This approach attempted to specify the

situational factors that determined how effective

a particular leadership style would be

¢ Do you help others to achieve a shared goal

without relying on position ?

e Charismatic, or transformational leaders are

leaders who, through their personal vision and

energy, inspire followers and have a major impact on their organisations

e This approach identifies such individuals and

takes into account the ideological and

motivational elements of their leadership roles

e “The process of influencing others toward

organisational goal achievement”

¢ “Leadership [is] the ability to influence a group

toward the achievement of goals”

¢ “Leaders [are] those who are able to influence

others and who possess managerial authority”

What are in common of the above’?

e 2 qualities all leaders share are forcefulness (power) and the ability to influence others

e A leader’s power may come from:

— legitimate or authority: Holding a higher position gives them legitimate authority

— Rewards: Leaders have the power to offer rewards as encouragement and incentives for performance

— Coercion or punishment: Leaders have the power to punish people for poor performance

— Expertise: Leaders are experts in their field People recognise this and are willing to listen

— Referent power or charisma: Leaders have the ability to attract and influence people to follow them

— Information: Leaders hold or have access to vital information and contacts, and this gives them power

e Leaders have three basic characteristics

— ambition and drive (the need for power and achievement)

— competence and expertise

— amoral compass (ethics, values and integrity)

¢ [Leaders are people who:

— promote the growth of others: They coach, counsel and develop pride in those who rely on them, and they

delegate and rely on others

— are honest and have integrity: They have lives

integrated around a set of principles

— habitually think in terms of ‘abundance’: They are able

to see ‘the full picture’ and have vision

¢ Leadership is basically a process of identifying

several key factors:

— where you need to go 1n any situation

— the vision of what you are trying to achieve

— the strategy for getting there, and then

— promoting the involvement of the relevant parties

¢ Teaching is the most important thing a leader can give (Horst H Schulze, president of the Ritz—

Carlton Hotel Company)

— Effective leaders set a vision and create a future by his or her own example, and makes the employees part of these

— A leader should also teach by setting standards and

promoting consensus

¢ Inspired delegation is a critical feature of effective

leadership (Richard Branson of the Virgin Group)

— Effective leaders have the ability to let go of the reins when group members do not need to be tightly controlled

— Jt is vital to meet the staff and to know what is going on at all levels of the organisation

¢ Genuine leaders (as opposed to individuals simply

exercising power) have vision, discipline, wisdom,

courage, humility:

— they recognise the importance of giving credit to others in the

team;

— they are able to make decisions;

— they recognise the importance of others and develop friendships;

— they are able to inspire others to follow

e Should all managers be leaders and should all

leaders be managers?

¢ Do good leaders also make good managers?

¢e What is the distinction between leaders and

managers?

e Managers are appointed

— They have legitimate power that allows them to reward and punish

— Their ability to influence is founded upon the formal

authority inherent in the position

¢ In contrast, leaders may either be appointed or emerge from within a group

— Leaders can influence others to perform beyond the

actions dictated by a formal authority

® Possessine a yision and being able to rspire other

people to action are two marks of a leader which a

manager may not have

¢ But, today’s manager must be a leader as well as a

manager (remember Theory Z?)

— A leader is someone who influences the behaviour and

attitudes of people

— A leader motivates employees, communicates with them and guides them

— A manager will plan, organise resources to meet goals,

and is responsible for relating to those around him or her

and providing leadership, direction and motivation to

encourage employees to perform

— That is, a good manager will also be a good leader

Direct and control

Seek power and reinforce their authority by not

delegating it to others Direct - downward conmunication Highly interventionist in processes and decisions

Laissez-faire (free reign)

Loose control and direction of day-to-day

operations

Non interventionist

Controlled communication and feedback channels

Democratic

(participative)

Encourages involvement Shared power and responsibility

Control and direction shared

Tangible and mutual ownership of goals and rewards

Charismatic Authority and power through peer and group

recognition Sells decisions by the power of his/ her personality

Intangible rewards and persuasion to gain comnutment

e Leadership style is determined by the situation

and decision making structures

— (1) Autocratic | - Problem is solved using

information already available

— (2) Autocratic 2 - Additional information 1s obtained

from group before leader makes decision

— (3) Consultative | - Leader discusses problem with

subordinates individually, before making a decision

— (4) Consultative 2 - Problem is discussed with the

eroup before deciding

— (5) Group 2 - Group decides upon problem, with leader simply acting as chair

1 Al Autocrat:

— You solve the problem or make the decision yourself,

using information available to you at that time

2 A2 Consultative Autocrat Ì:

— You obtain the necessary information from your

subordinates, then decide on the solution to the problem yourself

— You do not necessarily tell your subordinates what the problem is while getting the information from them

— The role played by your subordinates in making the decision 1s clearly one of providing the necessary information to you, rather than generating or evaluating alternative solutions

3 Cl Consultative Autocrat 2:

— You share the problem with relevant subordinates individually, getting their ideas and suggestions

without bringing them together as a group

— Then you make the decision that may or may not reflect your subordinates’ influence

— Your role is much like that of a chairman

— You do not try to influence the group to adopt

your" solution and you are willing to adopt and implement any solution that has the support of the entire group

Styles and Decision-making

— | HighSupportive & High Directive &

Source: Hersey and Blanchard

Which one

is the best leader?

1 To be able to establish a constructive relationship

with employees

— but keep relevant distance

2 to take the lead

— but not to appear arrogant - keep in the back

3 to show confidence in the employees

— keep in touch with what they are doing

4 to be tolerant to alternative ways of working, solving problems etc

— to know how one thinks things shall and should be done

5 to develop and reflect the goals of the department

— at the same time being honest to the overall goals of the company

6 to plan the use of time

— but still be flexible

7 to honestly express your opinions