Leadership Lecture Notes PDF

CHAPTER 11 LEADERSHIP 1. Leadership as a management function As a management function leadership can be defined as an influence process that produces acceptance or commitment on the part of organisational members to willingly...

CHAPTER 11 LEADERSHIP 1. Leadership as a management function As a management function leadership can be defined as an influence process that produces acceptance or commitment on the part of organisational members to willingly participate in courses of action that contribute to the effectiveness of the organisation. Leadership versus management Leadership Management Leaders cope with change by: Managers cope with complexity by: setting directives planning and budgeting align people organising and staffing motivate people controlling and problem solving inspire people 2. Components of leadership Leadership comprises of the following components: Authority: The right to give commands and to demand action. Responsibility: The obligation to attain organisational goals by performing certain activities. Accountability: The evaluation of how well individuals meet their responsibilities. Delegation: Process whereby a manager assigns responsibility and authority to a subordinate/s to achieve organisational goals. Power: to influence behaviour, to change the course of events, to persuade, induce or coerce others. Sources of leadership power i. Formal sources of power Coercive power: is the power to enforce compliance through fear, whether psychological, emotional or physical Reward power: is based on the manager’s ability to influence employees with something of value to them. It concerns the power to give or withhold rewards e.g. salaries Legitimate power: is the power an organisation grants to a position ii. Personal sources of power Referent power: refers to a manager’s personal power or charisma. Employees obey managers with referent power simply because they like them, respect them and identify with them. Expert power: is the power a manager accrues because of his or her expertise, knowledge and professional ability, particularly over those who need the knowledge or information. 1  3. Leadership theories 3.1 Trait theory of leadership Early theories: premise was that some people are born leaders, with characteristics that distinguish them from non-leaders. The results of these research efforts were mostly unconvincing because traits vary from one leader to another and some traits develop only after a leader assumes a leadership position. During the first half of the twentieth century, the emerging field of psychology provided trait researchers with new tools, such as aptitude and psychological tests which enabled them to investigate the distinguishing characteristics of strong leaders in dimensions such personality, physical traits, abilities, social characteristics and work-related characteristics. A recurring finding of many of these studies was that the relevancy of vital traits is often dependant on the specific situation, for example, the type of organisation or the industry where the leader worked. Trustworthy leaders possess the following traits: integrity; competence; consistency; loyalty and openness (refer to page 338 of your prescribed textbook). 3.2 Behavioural theories of leadership These are behavioural leadership research studies with regard to the task and people orientation of leaders: 3.2.1 University of Iowa’s leadership styles theory Autocratic leadership: makes decisions and limits subordinate participation Democratic leadership: involves followers in decision making, encourages their participation and provides feedback 3.2.2 Ohio State University studies Initiating structure: degree to which a leader provides precise definitions of role responsibility, plays an active part in scheduling and organising work, and in restructuring the work context Consideration: degree of camaraderie, mutual trust, liking and respect in the relationship between leader and followers. 3.2.3 University of Michigan studies Production centred: emphasise the technical and production aspects Employee centred: emphasise human relations aspects 2 3.2.4 Leadership grid of Blake and Mouton Concern for people: leader maintains good relations with followers Concern for results: leader’s main concern is to accomplish the task 3.3 Contingency theories of leadership These theories consider situational factors influencing a leader’s effectiveness. 3.3.1 Least preferred co-worker of Fred Fiedler(LPCW) The situation determines the relationship between leader effectiveness and a trait measure called “least preferred co-worker score” Three situational criteria: leader-member relations, position power of the leader, task structure 3.3.2 Path-goal theory of Robert House The model explains how the behaviour of a leader influences the satisfaction and performance of employees Conceptual framework to identify potentially relevant situational variables that influence leadership styles Four leadership styles: directive, supportive, participative, achievement oriented 3.3.3 Situational model of Hersey and Blanchard Managers should treat different employees differently, and treat the same employee differently when the situation changes Important concepts are readiness, ability and willingness 3 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE CONTINGENCY THEORIES 4. The differences and overlaps between TRANSFORMATIONAL leadership and CHARISMATIC leadership and between TRANSACTIONAL and transformational leadership. Charismatic leaders have traits such as self-confidence, the ability to articulate their visions, unconventional behaviour and environmental sensitivity. They typically have excellent communication skills, are enthusiastic, optimistic and energetic. Charismatic leaders often appear in situations where the followers’ task has an ideological component, such as in in politics, religion or unusual business organisations. Their followers often develop a strong sense of trust and connection with the leader. They tend to unconditionally accept the leader and develop self-confidence to attain the leader’s vision, which in turn may enhance their organisational citizen behaviour. Followers also unquestionably obey and trust their leader. Too much emphasis on the individual role of a charismatic leader may result in followers’ reluctance to disagree with the leader given his or her personal influence on them. Also, some charismatic leaders may use their charisma in a negative way (the personalised charismatic leader) to attain their own agendas and for self-glorification. 4  Transformational leaders are also charismatic and they have the ability to express a compelling vision of the future, usually in an organisational context. They have the ability to create a strong vision, they also have strong communication skills and self-confidence. In addition, transformational leaders have strong moral principles, the ability to inspire trust, high risk-, energy- and action orientation, self-promoting personality. Followers of transformational leaders are motivated to do more than is expected of them. Transformational leaders appeal to their followers’ values and their sense of a higher purpose by identifying and communicating organisational (or societal) problems and by articulating a compelling vision of how the organisation (or society) can improve. Not all transformational leaders are moral, ethical and authentic. The pseudo transformational leader is more likely to use his or her influence on followers in an unethical way to manipulate followers. Such leaders possess transformational qualities, but is lacking in moral and ethical behaviour. Transactional leadership occurs when the leader rewards or disciplines the follower, depending on the acceptability of the follower’s behaviour or performance. This type of leadership depends on establishing agreements, providing reinforcement, and giving positive contingent rewards (or the more negative active or passive forms of management- by-exception). Perceptions of trust, justice and fairness play a vital role in this leader−follower relationship. Transactional versus transformational leadership Effective leaders use both transactional and transformational leadership styles. Transformational and transactional leadership are interdependent and complementary and not opposites from one another. Without the more positive forms of transactional leadership, such as setting goals and expectations and monitoring performance to detect variances, leaders would be limited in their ability to succeed in performance outcomes. In other words, transactional leadership adds to transformational leadership. However, successful transactional leaders without transformational leadership will not achieve the same level of performance outcomes. Leaders who are able to balance transactional and transformational leadership over time in various situations and meeting a variety of challenges tend to be the most effective. 5. The values-based leadership theories Authentic leadership Authentic leaders possess ‘a keen insight into their own self and are aware of their strengths, weaknesses, values and principles. They are consistent in the application of these principles, despite any external pressures that may encourage them to act in another way, thus being true to themselves. The consistency of application attracts followers. They are confident, hopeful, resilient and of high moral character. Critical behaviours of an authentic leader: (1) Self-awareness, which refer to a thorough understanding of one’s internal values, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. (2) Self-regulation, comprise the following leader behaviours: a) Internalised moral regulation as behaviour and actions are guided by integrity and according to the leader’s values and beliefs 5  b) Balanced processing as the leader avoids personal bias and considers diverse perspectives in decision making c) Relational transparency demonstrated in conversations and behaving with integrity when interacting with others d) Authentic behaviour by aligning values with intentions and actions. Authentic leadership occurs when self-awareness and self-regulation behaviours by both leaders and followers are present, fostered and nurtured, thus stimulating positive growth and self-development on the part of leader and follower. Ethical leadership Ethical leaders -- similar to authentic and transformational leaders -- are altruistically (unselfishly) motivated, and they demonstrate a genuine caring and concern for people. They are considered to be individuals of high integrity; they make ethical decisions and serve as role models for others. Similarities and differences between ethical leadership and related theories are that the concern of ethical leaders for their followers to behave ethically distinguish them from authentic and transformational leaders. Ethical leaders communicate and emphasise the establishment of ethical standards and accountability for, and adherence to, those principles. Ethical leadership differs from other values-based theories as it emphasises the classic leader-subordinate relationship. The focus is solely on intra-organisational contextual factors. Ethical leadership is a predictor of outcomes such as the perceived effectiveness of leaders; the job satisfaction and dedication of followers and their willingness to report problems to management.79 Responsible leadership Responsible leadership refers to a values-based and ethical principles-driven relationship between leaders and stakeholders, connected through a shared sense of meaning and purpose through which they raise one another to higher levels of motivation and commitment for achieving sustainable values creation and social change. Responsible leaders connect effectiveness with corporate responsibility and a concern for stakeholders. They tend to see business organisations as a force for good and aim to achieve mutually-shared objectives by promoting active citizenship internally and external to the organisation. Responsible leadership provides a convincing perspective on how to connect leadership to stakeholder theory because leader-stakeholder relationships are at the core of this theory. Servant leadership Servant leaders put service before self-interests by choosing to use their talent for the benefit of individuals and the organisation. They focus mainly on the growth and well- being of people and the communities to which they belong. Servant leaders share power, put the needs of others first and help people to develop and perform to the best of their ability. Greenleaf’s explanation of the difference between servant leaders and other leaders lies in the care taken by the servant leader to ensure that other people’s highest priority needs are addressed. 6 The similarity between responsible leadership and servant leadership is that both approaches recognise that leadership is about the constituencies of the leader, such as stakeholders and followers. However, responsible leaders focus on organisational and societal considerations and not only on helping others grow, which is the focus of servant leaders. The prime motivation of responsible leaders is to respond to others -- not to serve them. Followers are stakeholders in the view of responsible leaders. Furthermore, responsible leaders are not necessarily driven by spirituality or an inner calling like servant leaders, although they are intrinsically motivated. 6. Leadership in an environment characterised by change ▪ AGILE LEADERS use uncertainty to find opportunity. They are inclined to be obsessive learners and talented innovators who have the ability (and agility) to operate in any system of thinking and to see issues from the perspectives of others. It is this ability to think in a number of different ways that gives such leaders their agility. ▪ PEER-TO-PEER LEADERSHIP is a new way to provide leadership in organisations by using technology and the interconnectedness of a network where everyone is a sender and a receiver, and a leader and a follower to attain the goals of the organisation. The work of a manager in an equipotent organisation is to set overall goals, provide direction and ensure that the network functions well, but not to tell the node community what to do. In the node community, leadership roles shift rapidly to fit the needs of a given situation. Information flows freely and those who need it can find it and act on it immediately. Feedback becomes an organic part of the workflow and corrections take place immediately. 7. Political behaviour in organisations Many effective actions in organisations have at the very least a political element. Critical organisational issues often require individuals (often managers) to mobilise the support from individuals or groups in control of organisational resources to attain the desired outcomes. Jeffrey Pfeffer, an expert on the subject of the use of power and politics in organisations, argued that effective managers know that in order to succeed, they need two competencies or skills: substantive business acumen (to know what to do), and organisational or political skills (to get it done). 7