Managers as Leaders PDF

**Managers as Leaders 2^nd^-Dec-2024** **Leader** is someone who can influence others and who has managerial authority. **Leadership** is what leaders do. It's a process of leading a group and influencing that group to achieve its goal Are all managers' leaders? Because leading is one of the four...

**Managers as Leaders 2^nd^-Dec-2024** **Leader** is someone who can influence others and who has managerial authority. **Leadership** is what leaders do. It's a process of leading a group and influencing that group to achieve its goal Are all managers' leaders? Because leading is one of the four management functions, yes, ideally, all managers *should* be leaders **Early Leadership Theories** People have been interested in leadership since they started coming together in groups to accomplish goals. However, it wasn't until the early part of the twentieth century that researchers actually began to study leadership. These early leadership theories focused on the ***leader*** (leadership trait theories) and how **the *leader interacted*** with his or her group members (leadership behavior theories). **Leadership Trait Theories** Leadership trait theories have attempted to identify certain traits that all leaders have. Leadership research in the 1920s and 1930s focused on isolating leader traits that is, characteristics that would differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Some of the traits studied included: ***physical stature, appearance, social class, emotional stability, fluency of speech, and sociability.*** Despite the best efforts of researchers, it proved impossible to identify a set of traits that would *always* differentiate a leader (the person) from a non-leader. Maybe it was a bit optimistic to think that a set of consistent and unique traits would apply universally to all effective leaders. However, later attempts to identify traits consistently associated with *leadership* (the process of leading, not the person) were more successful. The seven traits shown to be associated with effective leadership. **Leadership Behavior Theories** **Researchers hoped that the behavioral theories approach would provide more definitive** **answers about the nature of leadership than did the trait theories. The four main leader** **behavior studies are;** - **UNIVERSITY OF IOWA STUDIES.** - **UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN STUDIES** - **UNIVERSITY OF OHIO STUDIES** - **MNANAGERIAL GRID** - **The University of Iowa studies** These studies explored three leadership styles to find which was the most effective. The **autocratic style** is a management style wherein one person controls all the decisions and takes very little inputs from other group members. Autocratic leaders make choices or decisions based on their own beliefs and do not involve others for their suggestion or advice. The **democratic style, this** style of leadership means making room for multiple people to participate in the decision-making process. Democratic leadership is also commonly referred to as participative leadership. The idea of democratic leadership clearly comes from the early concept of democracy, which in short, means government by the people. In a democracy, some people fill the role of leaders and some the role of followers, but everybody has equal say in the decision-making process.  The **laissez-faire style** refers to a type of leadership style that emphasizes delegation and minimal supervision. The term laissez-faire translates from French to "allow to do," underscoring this core philosophy. In a laissez-faire environment, team members enjoy a high level of autonomy and are often the primary decision-makers. From their studies democratic style of leadership was most effective, although later studies showed mixed results. Now leaders had a dilemma! Should they focus on achieving higher performance or on achieving higher member satisfaction? This recognition of the dual nature of a leader's behavior---that is, focus on the task and focus on the people---was also a key characteristic of the other behavioral studies. **THE OHIO STATE STUDIES.** The Ohio State studies identified two important dimensions of leader behavior. Beginning with a list of more than 1,000 behavioral dimensions, the researchers eventually narrowed it down to just two that accounted for most of the leadership behavior described by group members. The first was called **initiating structure**, which referred to the extent to which a leader defined his or her role and the roles of group members in attaining goals. It included behaviors that involved attempts to organize work, work relationships, and goals. The second was called **consideration**, which was defined as the extent to which a leader had work relationships characterized by mutual trust and respect for group members' ideas and feelings. A leader who was high in consideration helped group members with personal problems, was friendly and approachable, and treated all group members as equals. He or she showed concern for (was considerate of) his or her followers' comfort, well-being, status, and satisfaction. Research found that a leader who was high in both initiating structure and consideration (a **high--high leader**) sometimes achieved high group task performance and high group member satisfaction, but not always **UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN STUDIES.** Leadership studies conducted at the University of Michigan at about the same time as those being done at Ohio State also hoped to identify behavioral characteristics of leaders that were related to performance effectiveness. The Michigan group also came up with two dimensions of leadership behavior, which they labeled employee oriented and production oriented. Leaders who were ***employee oriented*** were described as emphasizing interpersonal relationships. The ***production-oriented* leaders**, in contrast, tended to emphasize the task aspects of the job. Unlike the other studies, the Michigan researchers concluded that leaders who were employee oriented were able to get high group productivity and high group member satisfaction. **Contemporary Views of Leadership** **Leader--member exchange theory (LMX)** **The theory s**ays that leaders create in-groups and outgroups and those in the in-group will have higher performance ratings, less turnover, and greater job satisfaction. LMX theory suggests that early on in the relationship between a leader and a given follower, a leader will implicitly categorize a follower as an "in" or as an "out." That relationship tends to remain fairly stable over time. Leaders also encourage LMX by rewarding those employees with whom they want a closer linkage and punishing those with whom they do not. For the LMX relationship to remain intact, however, both the leader and the follower must "invest" in the relationship. It's not exactly clear how a leader chooses who falls into each category, but evidence shows that in-group members have demographic, attitude, personality, and even gender similarities with the leader or they have a higher level of competence than out-group members. The leader does the choosing, but the follower's characteristics drive the decision. **Transformational and Transactional Leadership** Many early leadership theories viewed leaders as **transactional leaders**; that is, leaders that lead primarily by using social exchanges (or transactions). Transactional leaders guide or motivate followers to work toward established goals by exchanging rewards for their productivity. But another type of leader---a **transformational leader**---stimulates and inspires (transforms) followers to achieve extraordinary outcomes. They pay attention to the concerns and developmental needs of individual followers; they change followers' awareness of issues by helping those followers look at old problems in new ways; and they are able to excite, arouse, and inspire followers to exert extra effort to achieve group goals. Transactional and transformational leadership shouldn't be viewed as opposing approaches to getting things done. Transformational leadership develops from transactional leadership. Transformational leadership produces levels of employee effort and performance that go beyond what would occur with a transactional approach alone. Moreover, transformational leadership is more than charisma, because the transformational leader attempts to instill in followers the ability to question not only established views but those views held by the leader. **Charismatic leader** Charismatic leader is an enthusiastic, self-confident leader whose personality and actions influence people to behave in certain ways. Several authors have attempted to identify personal characteristics of the charismatic leader. The most comprehensive analysis identified five such characteristics: they have a vision, the ability to articulate that vision, a willingness to take risks to achieve that vision, a sensitivity to both environmental constraints and follower needs, and behaviors that are out of the ordinary. Although a small number of experts still think that charisma can't be learned, most believe that individuals can be trained to exhibit charismatic behaviors. For example, researchers have succeeded in teaching undergraduate students to "be" charismatic. How? They were taught to articulate a far-reaching goal, communicate high performance expectations, exhibit confidence in the ability of subordinates to meet those expectations, and empathize with the needs of their subordinates; they learned to project a powerful, confident, and dynamic presence; and they practiced using a captivating and engaging voice tone. The researchers also trained the student leaders to use charismatic nonverbal behaviors, including leaning toward the follower when communicating, maintaining direct eye contact, and having a relaxed posture and animated facial expressions. **Ethical Leadership** Ethical Leadership is when business leaders demonstrate appropriate conduct - in accordance with recognized principles and values - both inside and outside of the office.  Through their words and actions, ethical leadership is about demonstrating strong moral principles that will point out wrongdoings (even when it may not benefit their business) and showing what's right at the core of being an ethical leader. Ethical leaders set the example for the rest of the company and expect their actions and words to be respected and followed with the same convictions from their staff. **Why ethical leadership is so important?** The benefits of Ethical Leadership have been studied by clinical researchers and highlighted in many successful business stories. - **Improved brand image** Maintaining moral brand practices has become even more important today in a digital, fast world where one image can destroy a brand. By behaving and acting responsibly, Ethical Leadership can dramatically improve brand image to onlookers. - **Improved staff morale** Ethical Leadership is about leading, inspiring, motivating, and making the employees feel accountable for their work. When this happens, greater business success is achievable because employees are happier to be at work. - **Positive workplace culture** If ethical leaders can influence results, then they can equally influence workplace culture. Walking the walk and talking the talk is where ethical leaders can develop the workplace to inspire and motivate others to follow good ethical behavior. - **Customer loyalty** Customers are moving away from buying a "good product" - they want their purchases to be ethical as well. A business who can demonstrate good ethical choices and decisions will benefit.  - **Staff loyalty** Ethical Leadership is about building trust with your employees. If people feel less threatened, less objectionable to the direction of the business, an increase in staff loyalty is more than achievable. - **Improved recruitment** With more people [working remotely](https://www.thomas.co/hybrid-working), hiring the right people who possess both ethical and moral ideas is essential in order to reflect those of the business and the leadership so that the company can receive equal service. - **Attracting investment ** Potential investment is increased when a business stands for clear ethical and moral practices, as they inspire confidence among investors generally. They're creating a general good impression and a positive brand image in the market. **Ethical leadership principles** There is a framework that needs to be followed for it to mean anything. The acronym, FATHER is the framework which best explains the principles of ethical leadership. **Fairness** Fairness is a core ethical leadership attribute. Fairness is about how humans interact with each other and expect to be treated. We expect to be treated fairly and in return we treat others fairly. **Accountability** Being accountable for poor decisions and mistakes is a good thing; this is another important attribute of ethical leadership. Some of us make a mistake and like to move on quickly, others like to blame someone or even the gods. But taking accountability for a mistake shows you are a strong, well-rounded leader who people would like to follow. **Trust** You can't have a great team without trust, and it's vital when leaders are developing a high-performing team. **Honesty** We all appreciate it when people are honest, so when our leaders are it creates an environment where we can openly discuss important issues. This feeds directly into trust. If you can't be honest with someone then trust is eroded and you won't be able to hear the truth in that discussion either. **Equality** Discrimination shows that you are working with someone who is not well rounded, ethical or moral whatsoever. Working with ethical leaders means that the playing field is the same in their eyes, and in turn, fosters an attitude that looks at these issues with the same level of respect around the team. **Respect** The art of respectful disagreement has been lost. There are hundreds of YouTube videos designed to show us how we can do it -- that's how toxic some discussions in the world have become.  Respect at its core is whilst you may not agree with the other person, you show regard for their wishes, feelings and rights. A real understanding of humanity is about showing the ability to consider the ideas and thoughts of others and why there are differences in thoughts and different points of views. Ethical Leadership is a way of putting people into management and leadership positions who will "promote and be an example of appropriate, ethical conduct in their actions and relationships in the workplace." In the short-term, ethical leaders can boost morale, get staff excited about their work and go that extra mile to achieve for the team. It can have positive effects on building teamwork and creating a better organization overall by making people [feel happier being there](https://www.thomas.co/employee-wellbeing). In the long-term Ethical Leadership can prevent company scandals, ethical dilemmas, and ethical issues. This leads to better partnerships and customers , better revenues and profits and develop loyal employees at work. **Coercive power** Coercive power is the ability of a manager to force an employee to follow an order by threatening the employee with punishment if the employee does not comply with the order. The most important concept to understand about coercive power is that it uses the application of force. A supervisor who threatens to demote, terminate, or suspend an erring employee, for example, uses coercive power **Legitimate power** Legitimate power is power that person derives from his/her formal position or office held in the organization\'s hierarchy of authority. For example, the president of a corporation has certain powers because of the office they hold in the corporation. Like most power, legitimate power is based upon perception and reality. Defining legitimate power in an organization primarily relies on relative position---taking into account elements such as reporting lines, individuals under your supervision, and colleagues at the same level. It is crucial to understand the parameters, expectations, and limitations of your formal decision-making authority. **Illegitimate power** power taken by force or the threat of force, is called " coercion ". Coercion is power taken by force or the threat of force. **Expert power** in an organization refers to the influence an individual holds due to their specialized knowledge, skills, or expertise in a particular area. This type of power is one of the five bases of power identified by social psychologists John French and Bertram Raven. Expert power is often granted naturally by others because of the individual\'s ability to solve problems, provide valuable insights, or contribute to critical decisions. **Characteristics of Expert Power:** 1. **Knowledge-Based Influence**: Rooted in the individual\'s deep understanding of a subject or process. 2. **Recognition by Others**: Peers, subordinates, and superiors acknowledge the person\'s expertise and seek their input. 3. **Problem-Solving Ability**: The individual can address complex issues effectively, adding value to the organization. 4. **Non-Coercive Nature**: Unlike coercive power, expert power depends on respect and voluntary acknowledgment, not force. **Examples of Expert Power:** 1. **A senior IT specialist** whose technical expertise is vital during a cybersecurity breach. 2. **A seasoned financial analyst** who guides organizational budgeting and forecasting strategies. 3. **An experienced lecturer or researcher** who is respected for their subject-matter knowledge. **Advantages of Expert Power:** - Builds trust and respect within the team. - Encourages collaboration and learning. - Helps in decision-making and problem resolution. **Challenges of Expert Power:** - May diminish if the individual\'s knowledge becomes outdated. - Can lead to dependence on the expert for key decisions. - If not coupled with humility, it might create perceptions of arrogance. Leveraging expert power effectively requires continuous learning and fostering collaboration to ensure sustained influence.