chapter 10 the nature of leadership.pdf

An essential part of the process of management is co-ordinatingthe activities of people and guiding their efforts towards the goalsand objectives of the organisation. This involves the process ofleadership and the choice of an appropriate form of behaviour andaction. Leadership is a central feature of organisationalperformance. The manager needs to understand the nature ofleadership influence, factors that determine relationships withother people and the effectiveness of the leadership relationship.

Learning outcomes

After completing this chapter you should be able to:

■ explain the meaning and importance of leadership in work organisations;

■ contrast main approaches to, and studies of, leadership;

■ examine leadership as an aspect of behaviour, and different styles ofleadership;

■ explore contingency theories of leadership;

■ evaluate the nature and main components of transformational leadershipand inspirational leadership;

■ explain the leadership relationship and the exercise of leadership powerand influence;

■ review the variables which determine effective leadership anddevelopment.

THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP

Critical reflection

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‘Leadership is all about determination, personality and innate ability at theright time for a particular competitive situation. Many effective businessleaders have no formal academic qualifications and each has their ownindividual leadership style.’

Does this suggest that successful leaders are more likely born to be so rather than trained? What benefit do you expect to achieve from an academic study of leadership?

CHAPTER 10 THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP

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THE MEANING OF LEADERSHIP

There are many ways of looking at leadership and many interpretations of its meaning.Leadership might be interpreted in simple terms, such as ‘getting others to follow’ or ‘gettingpeople to do things willingly’, or interpreted more specifically, for example as ‘the use ofauthority in decision-making’. It may be exercised as an attribute of position or because ofpersonal knowledge or wisdom. Leadership might be based on a function of personality or it can be seen as a behavioural category. It may also be viewed in terms of the role of theleaders and their ability to achieve effective performance from others. Leadership can also bediscussed in terms of a form of persuasion or power relationship.

From a comprehensive review of leadership theory and research, Bass concludes that:‘There are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who haveattempted to define the concept.’1 According to Crainer there are over 400 definitions of leadership and ‘it is a veritable minefield of misunderstanding and difference through whichtheorists and practitioners must tread warily’.2 It is difficult, therefore, to generalise aboutleadership, but essentially it is a relationship through which one person influences thebehaviour or actions of other people. This means that the process of leadership cannot beseparated from the activities of groups and effective teambuilding.

Changing nature of the work organisation

The changing nature of work organisations involves moving away from an emphasis on getting results by the close control of the workforce and towards an environment of coaching, support and empowerment. This places an ever growing importance on leader-ship. The leader–follower relationship is reciprocal and effective leadership is a two-way process that influences both individual and organisational performance. Leadership is relatedto motivation and interpersonal behaviour.3 A major report from the Advanced Institute ofManagement Research refers to the dual role of leadership.

Leaders both motivate employees and design effective organisations. There are two broad conceptions ofwhat leaders do – they motivate their followers and they design organisational contexts to enable theirfollowers to function effectively.4

Teamwork and inspiration

Leadership today is increasingly associated not with command and control but with the concept of teamwork, getting along with other people, inspiration and creating a vision withwhich others can identify. According to Levine, leaders need to focus on moving people and organisations forward by increasing the competency of staff and the co-operation ofteams in order to improve the organisation. A leader’s job is constantly to challenge thebureaucracy that smothers individual enthusiasm and the desire to contribute to an organ-isation. Leaders in the new millennium will create an environment that encourages the development of skills, learning and openness so that those on their team can participate inthe deployment of financial and human resources.5 A CBI report makes the point that‘Effective leaders, who can inspire their people to realise their personal and collective poten-tial, are often the deciding factor between a company being good at what it does and achieving greatness.’6

LEADERSHIP OR MANAGEMENT?

What is the relationship between leadership and management? Although the two terms areoften used interchangeably, management is more usually viewed as getting things donethrough other people in order to achieve stated organisational objectives (see Chapter 11).

PART 3 GROUPS, TEAMS AND LEADERSHIP

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Management is regarded as relating to people working within a structured organisation andwith prescribed roles. To people outside the organisation the manager might not necessarilybe seen in a leadership role. The emphasis of leadership is on interpersonal behaviour in a broader context. It is often associated with the willing and enthusiastic behaviour of followers. Leadership does not necessarily take place within the hierarchical structure ofthe organisation. It occurs at different levels and can be manifested in different ways.Many people operate as leaders without their role ever being clearly established or defined.For example, Belbin suggests that

there is a clear implication that leadership is not part of the job but a quality that can be brought to a job . . . The work that leadership encompasses in the context clearly is not assigned but comes aboutspontaneously.7

Attitudes and relations with others

There are other differences between leadership and management. Zaleznik explores differencein attitudes towards goals, conceptions of work, relations with others, self-perception anddevelopment.

■ Managers tend to adopt impersonal or passive attitudes towards goals. Leaders adopt a more personal and active attitude towards goals.

■ In order to get people to accept solutions, the manager needs continually to co-ordinateand balance in order to compromise conflicting values. The leader creates excitement inwork and develops choices that give substance to images that excite people.

■ In their relationships with other people, managers maintain a low level of emotionalinvolvement. Leaders have empathy with other people and give attention to what eventsand actions mean.

■ Managers see themselves more as conservators and regulators of the existing order ofaffairs with which they identify and from which they gain rewards. Leaders work in, butdo not belong to, the organisation. Their sense of identity does not depend upon mem-bership or work roles and they search out opportunities for change.8

The 7-S organisational framework

The differences between leadership and management have been applied by Watson to the 7-S organisational framework, discussed in Chapter 20. Watson suggests that whereas managers tend towards reliance on strategy, structure and systems, leaders have an inherentinclination for utilisation of the ‘soft’ Ss of style, staff, skills and superordinate (or shared)goals. Watson also suggests, although cautiously, that 7-S management could be seen as theprovince of leaders. Managers will not ordinarily be capable of achieving sufficient masteryof all seven factors to attain a consistently high level of organisational performance.9

Leading versus managing

Summarising the views of scholars who have attempted to differentiate between leading andmanaging, Kent draws attention to the following characteristics:

■ managers do things right; leaders do the right things;■ managing is an authority relationship; leading is an influence relationship; and■ managing creates stability; leading creates change.

Kent suggests that although the ideas are provocative and stimulating they provide a basisfor a deeper understanding of the dynamics behind the two processes.10

A close relationship

Despite a continuing debate on differences between management and leadership, there is a close relationship between them and it is not easy to separate them as distinct activities.

Critical reflection

‘In universities, many lecturers inspire students and are viewed as leaders but notusually as managers. In sport, we frequently hear talk about great leaders who are notmanagers of the team. There appears to be a clear and accepted distinction betweenleadership and management.’

Why do you think this distinction does not appear to apply in the same way withinbusiness organisations? How do you distinguish between leadership and management?


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Today, there appears an increasing tendency to emphasise the interrelationship betweenmanagement and leadership and to see them more as synonymous.

I have never been fond of distinguishing between leadership and management: they overlap and youneed both qualities.11

Increasingly, management and leadership are being seen as inextricably linked. It is one thing for a leader to propound a grand vision, but this is redundant unless the vision is managed so it becomesreal achievement.12

Many methods of management training can also be used as a means of measuring leader-ship style. For example, the Leadership Grid® (discussed in Chapter 12) was until recentlyknown as the Managerial Grid®.

The debate between Leadership and Management is well rehearsed, and usually producesshades of two perspectives, presented here as extremes: A hierarchical relationship withLeadership at the top; Leadership and Management equal in status, but at opposite ends of a continuum. Frankly, there is little evidence to support one view over the other. But there is overwhelming evidence that people like the idea of being a ‘leader’. Indeed this may be the reason why the debate still rages, as it fulfils a need for differentiation.

Ray Moorcroft13

APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP

Due to its complex and variable nature there are many alternative ways of analysing leader-ship. It is helpful, therefore, to have some framework in which to consider differentapproaches to study of the subject.

One way is to examine managerial leadership in terms of:

■ the qualities or traits approach;■ the functional or group approach, including action-centred leadership;■ leadership as a behavioural category;■ styles of leadership;■ contingency theories;■ transitional or transformational leadership; and■ inspirational or visionary leadership. (See Figure 10.1.)

THE QUALITIES OR TRAITS APPROACH

The first approach assumes that leaders are born and not made. Leadership consists of certain inherited characteristics, or personality traits, which distinguish leaders from theirfollowers: the so-called Great Person theory of leadership. The qualities approach focusesattention on the man or woman in the job and not on the job itself. It suggests that attentionis given to the selection of leaders rather than to training for leadership.

Figure 10.1 A framework for the study of managerial leadership


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Drucker (writing originally in 1955) makes the point that:

Leadership is of utmost importance. Indeed there is no substitute for it. But leadership cannot be createdor promoted. It cannot be taught or learned.14

There have been many research studies into the common traits of leadership. For example,Bass reports on numerous studies of traits of leadership from 1904 to 1970 including thoserelating to personal characteristics such as chronological age, physical appearance (includinga positive correlation between height and weight), speech, capacity, achievement, participa-tion, responsibility and status. A conclusion, perhaps not surprisingly, suggests that althoughpersonality is a factor in differentiating leadership it is not a matter of the mere possessionof some combination of traits. Leaders acquire status through a working relationship withmembers of a group.15

Attempts at identifying common personality, or physical and mental, characteristics ofdifferent ‘good’ or ‘successful’ leaders have met with little success.16 Investigations haveidentified lists of traits that tend to be overlapping, contradictory or with little correlation formost features. It is noticeable that ‘individuality’ or ‘originality’ usually features in the list.This itself suggests that there is little in common between specific personality traits of different leaders. It is perhaps possible therefore to identify general characteristics of leader-ship ability, such as self-confidence, initiative, intelligence and belief in one’s actions, butresearch into this area has revealed little more than this.

Limitations of the traits approach

There are three further limitations with this approach.

■ First, there is bound to be some subjective judgement in determining who is regarded asa ‘good’ or ‘successful’ leader. (This can make for an interesting class discussion.)

■ Second, the lists of possible traits tend to be very long and there is not always agreementon the most important.

■ Third, it ignores the situational factors.

Even if it were possible to identify an agreed list of more specific qualities, this would provide little explanation of the nature of leadership. It would do little to help in the develop-ment and training of future leaders. Although there is still limited interest in the qualities, or traits, approach, attention has been directed more to other approaches to leadership. Thequalities or traits approach gives rise to the questions of whether leaders are born or made andwhether leadership is an art or a science. The important point, however, is that these are notmutually exclusive alternatives. Even if there are certain inborn qualities that make for agood leader, these natural talents need encouragement and development. Even if leadershipis something of an art, it still requires the application of special skills and techniques.

THE FUNCTIONAL (OR GROUP) APPROACH

This approach to leadership focuses attention not on the personality of the leader, nor onthe man or woman in the job, per se, but on the functions of leadership. Leadership isalways present in any group engaged in a task. The functional approach views leadership interms of how the leader’s behaviour affects, and is affected by, the group of followers. Thisapproach concentrates on the nature of the group, the followers or subordinates. It focuseson the content of leadership. Greater attention can be given to the successful training of leaders and to the means of improving the leaders’ performance by concentrating on thefunctions which will lead to effective performance by the work group.

The functional approach believes that the skills of leadership can be learned, developedand perfected. In contrast to the view of Drucker (referred to above), Kotter makes the pointthat successful companies do not wait for leaders to come along. ‘They actively seek out

Figure 10.2 Interaction of needs within the group

Source: Adair, J. Action-Centred Leadership, Gower Press (1979), p. 10. Reproduced with permission from John Adair.


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people with leadership potential and expose them to career experiences designed to developthat potential. Indeed, with careful selection, nurturing and encouragement, dozens of people can play important leadership roles in a business organisation.’17 A similar point ismade by Whitehead:

There has been a dramatic change in how management thinkers regard leadership today. Leaders arenot born, they say, but made. And the good news is everyone can do it. You don’t have to be promotedto a management position. You can be a leader whatever job you do. You don’t have to be the boss tobe a leader.18

ACTION-CENTRED LEADERSHIP

A general theory on the functional approach is associated with the work of John Adair andhis ideas on action-centred leadership which focuses on what leaders actually do.19 Theeffectiveness of the leader is dependent upon meeting three areas of need within the workgroup: the need to achieve the common task, the need for team maintenance, and the individual needs of group members. Adair symbolises these needs by three overlapping circles (see Figure 10.2).

Task needs involve:■ achieving the objectives of the work group;■ defining group tasks;■ planning the work;■ allocation of resources;■ organisation of duties and responsibilities;■ controlling quality and checking performance;■ reviewing progress.

Team maintenance needs involve:■ maintaining morale and building team spirit;■ the cohesiveness of the group as a working unit;


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■ setting standards and maintaining discipline;■ systems of communication within the group;■ training the group;■ appointment of sub-leaders.

Individual needs involve:■ meeting the needs of the individual members of the group;■ attending to personal problems;■ giving praise and status;■ reconciling conflicts between group needs and needs of the individual;■ training the individual.

The action by the leader in any one area of need will affect one or both of the other areasof need. The ideal position is where complete integration of the three areas of need isachieved. Adair draws attention to the value of the three overlapping circles in emphasisingthe essential unity of leadership: a single action can be multi-functional in that it touches all three areas. The three-circle approach used by Adair also serves to illustrate the close relationship between leadership and management. The list of leadership functions can beconnected with Henri Fayol’s classic list of common management activities20 (discussed inChapter 11). Building the team and satisfying individual needs would include leadership.Achieving the common task clearly involves the process of management.

LEADERSHIP AS A BEHAVIOURAL CATEGORY

This approach draws attention to the kinds of behaviour of people in leadership situations.One of the most extensive research studies on behavioural categories of leadership was theOhio State Leadership Studies undertaken by the Bureau of Business Research at Ohio StateUniversity. The focus was on the effects of leadership styles on group performance. Resultsindicated two major dimensions of leadership behaviour, labelled ‘consideration’ and ‘initi-ating structure’.21

■ Consideration reflects the extent to which the leader establishes trust, mutual respect andrapport with the group and shows concern, warmth, support and consideration for sub-ordinates. This dimension is associated with two-way communication, participation andthe human relations approach to leadership.

■ Initiating structure reflects the extent to which the leader defines and structures groupinteractions towards attainment of formal goals and organises group activities. Thisdimension is associated with efforts to achieve organisational goals.

Consideration and initiating structure can be seen as the same as maintenance function(building and maintaining the group as a working unit and relationships among groupmembers) and task function (accomplishment of specific tasks of the groups and achieve-ment of goals) that were discussed in Chapter 9. Consideration and initiating structure werefound to be uncorrelated and independent dimensions. Leadership behaviour could, there-fore, be shown on two separate axes. A high-consideration, high-structure style appears to begenerally more effective in terms of subordinate satisfaction and group performance, but theevidence is not conclusive and much seems to depend upon situational factors. However,later findings suggest that the best leadership style entails high levels of both people-centredand task-centred dimensions.22

Employee or production-centred supervisors

Another major research study was carried out at the University of Michigan Institute forSocial Research at the same time as the Ohio State studies. Effective supervisors (measuredalong dimensions of group morale, productivity and cost reduction) appeared to displayfour common characteristics:

Figure 10.3 Two major dimensions of managerial leadership


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■ delegation of authority and avoidance of close supervision;■ an interest and concern in their subordinates as individuals;■ participative problem-solving; and■ high standards of performance.

Likert, who has summarised the findings of the University of Michigan studies, used theterms employee-centred and production-centred supervisors.23 These terms are similar to thedimensions of consideration and structure. The first three of these supervisory characteristicsare examples of consideration. The fourth characteristic exemplifies structure. Like consider-ation and structure, employee-centred and production-centred supervision need to be balanced. Likert concluded that employee-centred supervisors who get best results tend torecognise that one of their main responsibilities is production. Both the Ohio State and theUniversity of Michigan studies appear to support the idea that there is no single behaviouralcategory of leadership that is superior. There are many types of leadership behaviour andtheir effectiveness depends upon the variables in any given situation.

Major dimensions of managerial leadership

Despite the many types of actual leadership behaviour, we have seen that there appears tobe general agreement on two major dimensions of managerial leadership. This can beextended to include the works of McGregor and of Blake and McCanse, discussed as part ofmanagerial behaviour in Chapter 12 (see Figure 10.3).

STYLES OF LEADERSHIP

Attention to leadership as a behavioural category has drawn attention to the importance ofleadership style. In the work situation it has become increasingly clear that managers can nolonger rely solely on the use of their position in the hierarchical structure as a means of exercising the functions of leadership. In order to get the best results from subordinates themanager must also have regard for the need to encourage high morale, a spirit of involve-ment and co-operation, and a willingness to work. This gives rise to consideration of the styleof leadership and provides another heading under which to analyse leadership behaviour.

Leadership style is the way in which the functions of leadership are carried out, theway in which the manager typically behaves towards members of the group.

The attention given to leadership style is based on the assumption that subordinates aremore likely to work effectively for managers who adopt a certain style of leadership than formanagers who adopt alternative styles. Attention to the manager’s style of leadership has


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come about because of a greater understanding of the needs and expectations of people atwork. It has also been influenced by such factors as:

■ increasing business competitiveness and recognition of efficient use of human resources;■ changes in the value-system of society;■ broader standards of education and training;■ advances in scientific and technical knowledge;■ changes in the nature of work organisation;■ pressure for a greater social responsibility towards employees, for example through

schemes of participation in decision-making and work/life balance; and■ government legislation, for example in the areas of employment protection, and the

influence of the European Union.

All of these factors have combined to create resistance against purely autocratic styles of leadership.

Broad framework of leadership style

There are many dimensions to leadership and many possible ways of describing leadershipstyle, such as dictatorial, unitary, bureaucratic, benevolent, charismatic, consultative, parti-cipative and abdicatorial. With so many potential descriptions of leadership styles it is usefulto have a broad framework in which to focus attention and study. The style of managerialleadership towards subordinate staff and the focus of power can therefore be consideredwithin a simplified three-fold heading.

■ The authoritarian (autocratic) style is where the focus of power is with the manager and all interactions within the group move towards the manager. The manager alone exercises decision-making and authority for determining policy, procedures for achievinggoals, work tasks and relationships, control of rewards or punishments.

■ The democratic style is where the focus of power is more with the group as a whole andthere is greater interaction within the group. The leadership functions are shared withmembers of the group and the manager is more part of a team. The group members havea greater say in decision-making, determination of policy, implementation of systems andprocedures.

■ A laissez-faire (genuine) style is where the manager observes that members of the groupare working well on their own. The manager consciously makes a decision to pass thefocus of power to members, to allow them freedom of action ‘to do as they think best’,and not to interfere; but is readily available if help is needed. There is often confusionover this style of leadership behaviour. The word ‘genuine’ is emphasised because this isto be contrasted with the manager who could not care, who deliberately keeps away fromthe trouble spots and does not want to get involved. The manager just lets members ofthe group get on with the work in hand. Members are left to face decisions that rightlybelong with the manager. This is more a non-style of leadership or it could perhaps belabelled as abdication.

CONTINUUM OF LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR

One of the best-known works on leadership style is that by Tannenbaum and Schmidt (seeFigure 10.4).24 Originally written in 1958 and updated in 1973, their work suggests a continuum of possible leadership behaviour available to a manager and along which vari-ous styles of leadership may be placed. The continuum presents a range of action related tothe degree of authority used by the manager and to the area of freedom available to non-managers in arriving at decisions. The Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum can be relatedto McGregor’s supposition of Theory X and Theory Y (discussed in Chapter 12). Boss-centredleadership is towards Theory X and subordinate-centred leadership is towards Theory Y.

Figure 10.4 Continuum of manager–non-manager behaviour

Source: Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review. From Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt, W. H. ‘How to Choose a Leadership Pattern’, Harvard BusinessReview, May/June 1973, p. 167. Copyright © 1973 by Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; all rights reserved.


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Four main styles of leadership

Moving along the continuum, the manager may be characterised according to the degree ofcontrol that is maintained. Neither extreme of the continuum is absolute as there is alwayssome limitation on authority and on freedom. This approach can be seen as identifying fourmain styles of leadership by the manager: tells, sells, consults, joins.

■ Tells. The manager identifies a problem, makes a decision and announces this to sub-ordinates, expecting them to implement it without an opportunity for participation.

■ Sells. The manager still makes a decision but recognises the possibility of some resistancefrom those faced with the decision and attempts to persuade subordinates to accept it.

■ Consults. The manager identifies the problem but does not make a decision until theproblem is presented to the group, and the manager has listened to the advice and solu-tions suggested by subordinates.

■ Joins. The manager defines the problem and the limits within which the decision must bemade and then passes to the group, with the manager as a member, the right to makedecisions.

Three main forces

Tannenbaum and Schmidt suggest that there are three factors, or forces, of particular import-ance in deciding what types of leadership are practicable and desirable. These are: forces inthe manager, forces in the subordinate and forces in the situation.

Critical reflection

‘The Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum is probably the single most important andrelevant study of leadership. Successful managers clearly need to be both consistent inpersonality and behaviour, yet adaptable to the three forces that continually influencetheir leadership style and decision-making along the various points of the continuum.’

To what extent can you argue against this assertion? What do you think is the singlemost important study of leadership?


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Forces in the manager. The manager’s behaviour will be influenced by their personality,background, knowledge and experiences. These internal forces will include:

■ value-systems■ confidence in subordinates■ leadership inclinations■ feelings of security in an uncertain situation.

Forces in the subordinate. Subordinates are influenced by many personality variables andtheir individual set of expectations about their relationship with the manager. Characteristicsof the subordinate are:

■ the strength of the need for independence■ readiness to assume responsibility for decision-making■ the degree of tolerance for ambiguity■ interest in the problem and feelings as to its importance■ understanding and identification with the goals of the organisation■ necessary knowledge and experience to deal with the problem■ the extent of learning to expect to share in decision-making.

The greater the positive response to these characteristics, the greater freedom of action canbe allowed by the manager.

Forces in the situation. The manager’s behaviour will be influenced by the general situationand environmental pressures. Characteristics in the situation include:

■ type of organisation■ group effectiveness■ nature of the problem■ pressure of time.

Tannenbaum and Schmidt conclude that successful leaders are keenly aware of thoseforces which are most relevant to their behaviour at a particular time. They are able to behaveappropriately in terms of their understanding of themselves, the individuals and the group,the organisation, and environmental influences. Successful managers are both perceptiveand flexible. Forces lying outside the organisation are also included. Tannenbaum andSchmidt suggest a new continuum of patterns of leadership behaviour in which the total areaof freedom shared between managers and non-managers is redefined constantly by interac-tions between them and the forces in the environment.

CONTINGENCY THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP

The continuum of leadership behaviour draws attention to forces in the situation as one of the main forces influencing the nature of managerial behaviour. The situational approachemphasises the situation as the dominant feature in considering the characteristics of effective leadership. There are, however, limitations to the situational approach. There are


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people who possess the appropriate knowledge and skills and appear to be the most suitable leaders in a given situation, but who do not emerge as effective leaders. Another limitation is that it does not explain fully the interpersonal behaviour or the different stylesof leadership and their effect on members of the group. Finally, in the work organisation, itis not usually practicable to allow the situation continually to determine who should act asthe leader.

Despite the limitations of the situational approach, situational factors are important in considering the characteristics of leadership. More recent studies focus on the interactionsbetween the variables involved in a leadership situation and patterns of leadershipbehaviour, and provide another general approach to the study of leadership – contingencytheory. Contingency theories are based on the belief that there is no single style of leader-ship appropriate to all situations. Major contingency models of leadership include:

■ Favourability of leadership situation – Fiedler■ Quality and acceptance of leader’s decision – Vroom and Yetton and Vroom and Jago■ Path–goal theory – House, and House and Dessler■ Readiness level of followers – Hersey and Blanchard.

FIEDLER’S CONTINGENCY MODEL

One of the first leader–situation models was developed by Fiedler in his contingency theoryof leadership effectiveness.25 Fiedler’s contingency model was based on studies of a widerange of group situations and concentrated on the relationship between leadership andorganisational performance. In order to measure the attitudes of the leader, Fiedler developeda ‘least preferred co-worker’ (LPC) scale. This measures the rating given by leaders about theperson with whom they could work least well. The questionnaire contains up to 20 items.Examples of items in the LPC scale are pleasant/unpleasant, friendly/unfriendly, helpful/frustrating, distant/close, co-operative/unco-operative, boring/interesting, self-assured/hesitant,open/guarded.

Each item is given a single ranking of between one and eight points, with eight pointsindicating the most favourable rating. For example:

Pleasant : : : : : : : : Unpleasant

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The LPC score is the sum of the numerical ratings on all the items for the ‘least preferred co-worker’. The original interpretation of the LPC scale was that the leader with a high LPCscore derived most satisfaction from interpersonal relationships and, when relationshipswith subordinates need to be improved, is motivated to act in a supportive, consideratemanner. The leader with a low LPC score derived most satisfaction from performance of the task and achieving objectives. Establishing good relationships with subordinates is a secondary motivation. It was thought that high LPC scores would be associated with effectiveperformance by the group. However, the interpretation of LPC has changed a number oftimes and there is still uncertainty about its actual meaning.

Favourability of leadership situation

Fiedler suggests that leadership behaviour is dependent upon the favourability of the leader-ship situation. There are three major variables which determine the favourability of the situation and which affect the leader’s role and influence:

■ Leader–member relations – the degree to which the leader is trusted and liked by groupmembers, and their willingness to follow the leader’s guidance.

Figure 10.5 Correlations between leader’s LPC scores and group effectiveness

Source: Adapted from Fielder, F. E. A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, McGraw-Hill (1967), p. 146. Reproduced with permission from Fred E. Fielder.


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■ The task structure – the degree to which the task is clearly defined for the group and theextent to which it can be carried out by detailed instructions or standard procedures.

■ Position power – the power of the leader by virtue of position in the organisation, andthe degree to which the leader can exercise authority to influence (for example) rewardsand punishments, or promotions and demotions.

From these three variables, Fiedler constructed eight combinations of group–task situ-ations through which to relate leadership style (see Figure 10.5).

When the situation is

■ very favourable (good leader–member relations, structured task, strong position power),or

■ very unfavourable (poor leader–member relations, unstructured task, weak positionpower),

■ then a task-oriented leader (low LPC score) with a directive, controlling style will bemore effective.

When the situation is

■ moderately favourable and the variables are mixed, then the leader with an interpersonalrelationship orientation (high LPC score) and a participative approach will be moreeffective.

Fiedler is suggesting, therefore, that leadership style will vary as the favourability of theleadership situation varies.


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Organisational variables

Fiedler’s work has been subject to much debate and criticism but it does provide a furtherdimension to the study of leadership.26 It brings into consideration the organisational vari-ables that affect leadership effectiveness and suggests that in given situations a task-oriented,or structured, style of leadership is most appropriate. The ‘best’ styles of leadership will bedependent upon the variable factors in the leadership situation.

Fiedler argues that leadership effectiveness may be improved by changing the leadershipsituation. Position power, task structure and leader–member relations can be changed tomake the situation more compatible with the characteristics of the leader. Leaders with a lowLPC score could be placed in a leadership situation that is very favourable or veryunfavourable. Leaders with a high LPC score could be placed in a leadership situation thatis of moderate favourability.

VROOM AND YETTON CONTINGENCY MODEL

Another contingency model of leadership is provided by Vroom and Yetton.27 They base theiranalysis on two main aspects of a leader’s decision: its quality and its acceptance.

■ Decision quality, or rationality, is the effect that the decision has on group performance.■ Decision acceptance refers to the motivation and commitment of group members in

implementing the decision.

A third consideration is

■ the amount of time required to make the decision.

The Vroom and Yetton model suggests five main management decision styles:

■ AutocraticA.I: Leader solves the problem or makes the decision alone using information available

at the time.A.II: Leader obtains information from subordinates but then decides on solution alone.

■ ConsultativeC.I: The problem is shared with relevant subordinates, individually. The leader then

makes the decision that may or may not reflect the influence of subordinates.C.II: The problem is shared with subordinates as a group. The leader then makes the

decision that may or may not reflect the influence of subordinates.

■ GroupG.II: The problem is shared with subordinates as a group. The leader acts as chairperson

rather than an advocate. Together the leader and subordinates generate and evalu-ate alternatives and attempt to reach group consensus on a solution.

Decision rules

Vroom and Yetton suggest seven decision rules to help the manager discover the most appropriate leadership style in a given situation. The first three rules protect the quality ofdecisions.

1 Is there a quality requirement such that one solution is likely to be more rational thananother?

2 Is there sufficient information to make a high-quality decision?3 Is the problem structured?

The last four rules protect the acceptance of decisions.


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4 Is acceptance of the decision by subordinates critical to effective implementation?5 If you were to make the decision yourself, is it reasonably certain that it would be accepted

by subordinates?6 Do subordinates share the organisational goals to be obtained in solving the problem?7 Is conflict among subordinates likely in preferred solutions?

These rules indicate decision styles that the manager should avoid in a given situation andindicate the use of others. Decision tree charts can be produced to help in the application ofthe rules and to relate the situation to the appropriate leadership style.

THE VROOM AND JAGO REVISED DECISION MODEL

In a revised version of the original model, Vroom and Jago retain the five main decision-makingstyles but incorporate a larger number – 12 – of contingency variables.28 The new modelspecifies that any of the five decision styles may be effective in given situations. The contingencyvariables relate to:

■ quality requirement;■ commitment requirement;■ leader information;■ problem structure;■ commitment probability;■ goal congruence;■ subordinate conflict;■ subordinate information;■ time constraint;■ geographical dispersion;■ motivation time; and■ motivation development.

Unlike the Vroom and Yetton model that requires a definite yes/no answer, ten of thesesituational variables are answered on a five-point scale. For example, to the question ‘Howimportant is subordinate commitment to the decision?’, the manager selects one of the following responses: no importance; low importance; average importance; high importance;critical importance.

Use of decision trees

Vroom and Jago developed four decision trees relating to a generic type of managerial problem:

■ an individual-level problem with time constraints;■ an individual-level problem in which the manager wishes to develop an employee’s

decision-making ability;■ a group-level problem in which the manager wishes to develop employees’ decision-making

abilities; and■ a time-driven group problem.

The manager selects one of the trees and moves along the branches by answering the ques-tions at each decision point. This leads to one of the five described decision-making styles.

PATH–GOAL THEORY

A third contingency model of leadership is the path–goal theory, the main work on whichhas been undertaken by House,29 and by House and Dessler.30 The model is based on the beliefthat the individual’s motivation is dependent upon expectations that increased effort to

Figure 10.6 Representation of the path–goal theory of leadership


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achieve an improved level of performance will be successful, and expectations that improvedperformance will be instrumental in obtaining positive rewards and avoiding negative out-comes. This is the ‘expectancy’ theory of motivation, which was discussed in Chapter 7.

Main types of leadership behaviour

The path–goal theory of leadership suggests that the performance of subordinates is affectedby the extent to which the manager satisfies their expectations. Path–goal theory holds thatsubordinates will see leadership behaviour as a motivating influence to the extent that itmeans:

■ satisfaction of their needs is dependent upon effective performance; and■ the necessary direction, guidance, training and support, which would otherwise be lacking,

is provided.

House identifies four main types of leadership behaviour:

■ Directive leadership involves letting subordinates know exactly what is expected of themand giving specific directions. Subordinates are expected to follow rules and regulations.This type of behaviour is similar to ‘initiating structure’ in the Ohio State LeadershipStudies.

■ Supportive leadership involves a friendly and approachable manner and displaying concern for the needs and welfare of subordinates. This type of behaviour is similar to‘consideration’ in the Ohio State Leadership Studies.

■ Participative leadership involves consulting with subordinates and the evaluation oftheir opinions and suggestions before the manager makes the decision.

■ Achievement-oriented leadership involves setting challenging goals for subordinates,seeking improvement in their performance and showing confidence in subordinates’ ability to perform well.

Path–goal theory suggests that the different types of behaviour can be practised by thesame person at different times in varying situations. By using one of the four styles of lead-ership behaviour the manager attempts to influence subordinates’ perceptions and motiva-tion, and smooth the path to their goals (see Figure 10.6).

Two main situational factors

Leadership behaviour is determined by two main situational factors: the personal character-istics of subordinates and the nature of the task.


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■ The personal characteristics of subordinates determine how they will react to the manager’s behaviour and the extent to which they see such behaviour as an immediate orpotential source of need satisfaction.

■ The nature of the task relates to the extent that it is routine and structured or non-routineand unstructured.

For example, when a task is highly structured, the goals readily apparent and subordinatesare confident, then attempts to further explain the job or to give directions are likely to beviewed as unacceptable behaviour. However, when a task is highly unstructured, the natureof the goals is not clear and subordinates lack experience, then a more directive style of leadership behaviour is likely to be welcomed by subordinates. Effective leadershipbehaviour is based, therefore, on both the willingness of the manager to help subordinatesand the needs of subordinates for help. Leadership behaviour will be motivational to theextent that it provides necessary direction, guidance and support, helps clarify path–goalrelationships and removes any obstacles which hinder attainment of goals.

READINESS OF THE FOLLOWERS OR GROUP

A major variable in the style of leadership adopted by the manager is the nature of subordin-ate staff. This view is developed by Hersey and Blanchard who present a form of situationalleadership based on the ‘readiness’ level of the people the leader is attempting to influence.Readiness is the extent to which followers have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task. It is not a personal characteristic of the individual but how ready the individualis to perform a particular task.31

Readiness (R) is divided into a continuum of four levels: R1 (low), R2 and R3 (moderate)and R4 (high).

■ R1 – low follower readiness – refers to followers who are both unable and unwilling andwho lack commitment and motivation; or who are unable and insecure.

■ R2 – low to moderate follower readiness – refers to followers who are unable but willingand who lack ability but are motivated to make an effort; or who are unable but confident.

■ R3 – moderate to high follower readiness – refers to followers who are able but unwill-ing, and who have the ability to perform but are unwilling to apply their ability; or whoare able but insecure.

■ R4 – high follower readiness – refers to followers who are both able and willing and whohave the ability and commitment to perform; or who are able and confident.

Task behaviour and relationship behaviour

For each of the four levels of maturity, the appropriate style of leadership is a combinationof task behaviour and relationship behaviour.

■ Task behaviour is the extent to which the leader provides directions for the actions of followers, sets goals for them and defines their roles and how to undertake them.

■ Relationship behaviour is the extent to which the leader engages in two-way communi-cation with followers, listens to them and provides support and encouragement.

From the combination of task behaviour and relationship behaviour derive four leadershipstyles (S): telling (S1), selling (S2), participating (S3) and delegating (S4). The appropriateleadership style corresponds with the readiness of the followers (see Figure 10.7).

■ S1 – telling – emphasises high amounts of guidance (task behaviour) but limited support-ive (relationship) behaviour. This style is most appropriate for low follower readiness (R1).

■ S2 – selling – emphasises high amounts of both directive (task) and relationshipbehaviours. This style is most appropriate for low to moderate follower readiness (R2).

Figure 10.7 Situational Leadership® model

Source: The Situational Leadership®. Copyright © 2006. Reprinted with permission from the Center for Leadership Studies, Escondido, CA92025. (www.situational.com). All rights reserved.


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■ S3 – participating – emphasises a high amount of two-way communication and sup-portive (relationship) behaviour but low amounts of guidance (task behaviour). This styleis most appropriate for moderate to high follower readiness (R3).

■ S4 – delegating – emphasises little direction or support with low levels of both task andrelationship behaviours. This style is most appropriate for high follower readiness (R4).

Development of subordinates

Hersey and Blanchard suggest that the key to using situational leadership is that any leaderbehaviour may be more or less effective according to the readiness of the person the leaderis attempting to influence. The model draws attention to the importance of developing the ability, confidence and commitment of subordinates. The manager should help sub-ordinates to develop in readiness to the extent that they are able and willing to go. Thisdevelopment should take place by adjusting leadership behaviour through the four styles of telling, selling, participating and delegating.


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TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Increasing business competitiveness and the need for the most effective use of humanresources has resulted in writers on management focusing attention on how leaders revitaliseor transform organisations. Based on the work of writers such as Burns this has given rise to adistinction between two fundamental forms of leadership: transactional or transformational.32

■ Transactional leadership is based on legitimate authority within the bureaucratic structure of the organisation. The emphasis is on the clarification of goals and objectives,work task and outcomes, and organisational rewards and punishments. Transactionalleadership appeals to the self-interest of followers. It is based on a relationship of mutualdependence and an exchange process of ‘I will give you this, if you do that.’

■ Transformational leadership, by contrast, is a process of engendering higher levels ofmotivation and commitment among followers. The emphasis is on generating a vision forthe organisation and the leader’s ability to appeal to higher ideals and values of followers,and creating a feeling of justice, loyalty and trust. In the organisational sense, trans-formational leadership is about transforming the performance or fortunes of a business.

Components of transformational leadership

According to Bass, the transformational leader motivates followers to do more than origin-ally expected and the extent of transformation is measured in terms of the leader’s effects on followers. Applying the ideas of Burns to organisational management, Bass proposed atheory of transformational leadership that argues that the leader transforms and motivatesfollowers by:

1 generating greater awareness of the importance of the purpose of the organisation andtask outcomes;

2 inducing them to transcend their own self-interests for the sake of the organisation orteam; and

3 activating their higher-level needs.33

Transformational leadership is comprised of four basic components:

■ idealised influence – the charisma of the leader, and the respect and admiration of thefollowers;

■ inspirational motivation – the behaviour of the leader which provides meaning andchallenge to the work of the followers;

■ intellectual stimulation – leaders who solicit new and novel approaches for the perfor-mance of work and creative problem solutions from followers; and

■ individualised consideration – leaders who listen and give special concern to the growthand developmental needs of the followers.34

Yukl provides a set of guidelines for transformational leadership:

■ Articulate a clear and appealing vision of what the organisation could accomplish orbecome to help people understand the purpose, objectives and priorities of the organisa-tion, and to help guide the actions and decisions of members.

■ Explain how the vision can be attained and establish a clear link between the vision anda credible conventional yet straightforward strategy for attaining it.

■ Act confident and optimistic about likely success, demonstrate self-confidence and conviction, and emphasise positive aspects of the vision rather than the obstacles anddangers.

■ Express confidence in followers and their ability to carry out the strategy for accomplish-ing the vision, especially when the task is difficult or dangerous, or when members lackconfidence in themselves.


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■ Use dramatic, symbolic actions to emphasise key values and demonstrate leadershipbehaviour through dramatic, highly visible actions including risking personal loss, self-sacrifice or acting unconventionally.

■ Lead by example by recognising actions speak louder than words, through exemplarybehaviour in day-to-day interactions with subordinates and by demonstrating consistencyin daily behaviour.35

INSPIRATIONAL OR VISIONARY LEADERSHIP

Many writers see transformational leadership as the same thing as charismatic, visionary orinspirational leadership. Kreitner et al. refer to charismatic leadership as transformingemployees to pursue organisational goals over self-interests:

Charismatic leaders transform followers by creating changes in their goals, values, needs, beliefs, andaspirations. They accomplish this transformation by appealing to followers’ self-concepts – namely, theirvalues and personal identity.36

Writers such as Burns and Bass identified leaders by their actions and the impact thoseactions have on other people.

Successful transformational leaders are usually identified in terms of providing a strongvision and sense of mission, arousing strong emotions in followers and a sense ofidentification with the leader. As mentioned at the start of this chapter, leadership today isincreasingly associated with the concept of creating a vision with which others can identify,getting along with other people and the concept of inspiration. This might be considered as part of transformational leadership or arguably it has given rise to a new approach to leadership – that of inspirational or visionary leadership. Inspirational leadership is notconcerned so much with the theory of leadership but more with the skills of motivating andinspiring people.

The importance of vision

Effective transformational leaders are those who inspire people and create a vision for theorganisation and its future direction. According to Whitehead:

The big word now associated with leadership is vision. The ability to see the bigger picture. To take thelong-term view. What the ultimate objectives of the organisation are and how people can work togetherto achieve them . . . Perhaps the most important attribute is that a good leader inspires people by creating a climate where it is OK for people to make mistakes and learn from them, rather than whathappened in the past which was to blame and punish them. Leading from this position, they gain ahigher level of commitment from their people than mere compliance.37

Kahan sees visionary leadership as transformative. It involves greatness, penetrating theordinary, and requires total involvement. Among the qualities visionary leaders cultivate areimagination, engagement, tangible results and penetrating self-reflection. They engage soci-ety with its competitive, divergent viewpoints. Visionary leadership is ultimately aboutincreasing performance but also with the rewards of tangible results to your membershipand deep personal satisfaction.38

Leadership is not about the leader, it is about how he or she builds the confidence of everyoneelse. Leaders are responsible for both the big structures that serve as the cornerstone of con-fidence, and for the human touches that shape a positive emotional climate to inspire and motivate people . . . Leaders deliver confidence by espousing high standards in their messages,exemplifying these standards in the conduct they model and establishing formal mechanisms toprovide a structure for acting on those standards.39

Critical reflection

‘Charisma and the ability truly to inspire and move loyal followers in the desired directionis one of the most controversial and elusive leadership qualities.’

Do you believe charismatic leadership brings about improved individual andorganisational performance? Can you relate personal experience(s) of charismaticleadership that has truly inspired? Do you possess charisma?


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Personal qualities or charisma

Leadership may be based on the personal qualities, or charisma, of the leader and the mannerin which influence is exercised. The concept of charismatic or inspirational leadership is notnew and has been applied in the organisational context by writers such as Max Weber(1864–1920).40 The importance of charisma for effective leadership today is emphasised byConger, who also believes that many of the traits that make a successful leader can be taught,including charisma.

Now the big question is whether you are born with charisma or whether you can develop it. I believeyou can develop elements of it. For example, you can take courses to improve your speaking skills. Youcan learn to stage events that send powerful messages. You can learn to think more critically about thestatus quo and its shortcomings. You can do more on a daily basis to motivate your team. What yousimply cannot learn is how to be passionate about what you do. You have to discover that for yourself,and passion is a big part of what drives a charismatic leader. It is also what motivates and inspires thosewho work for the charismatic leader.41

Is charisma enough?

However, the extent to which charismatic or inspirational leadership helps bring aboutimprovement in organisational performance is open to much debate. Conger also drawsattention to the danger that the leader’s vision, dynamism and inspirational nature arehighly attractive to followers, which leads to a natural dependence. Staff see this extraordinaryfigure as a model to be emulated and the leader’s abilities become the yardstick by whichthey measure their own performance. This is a potential source of leadership derailment.Dependence makes the followers more susceptible to deception.42

Dearlove draws attention to the increasing focus on leaders as real people managing in a consensus-seeking manner. ‘While traditional views of leadership tend eventually to con-centrate on vision and charisma, the message now seems to be that charisma is no longerenough to carry leaders through.’43 Bloomfield also refers to the cult of the individual, supposedly charismatic leader and the danger that this leads businesses into deep water farmore often than the application of rational leadership. Too often the charismatic leader,aided and abetted by the language of current management fashion, attempts to ‘inspire’, todelight with their vision and to produce a mission statement of where the business might be– at the expense of real substance.44

Adair argues that to be a truly inspirational leader one must understand the spirit within.All people have the potential for greatness. The inspirational leader connects with the led,appreciates the capabilities of others and through trust will unlock the powers in others.Adair refers to ‘the inspired moment’ – a recognition and seizure of a brief window of oppor-tunity that can act as a powerful catalyst that inspires both the leader and the led.45

Need for visionary leadership

Many writers are calling for leaders at all levels with vision and who can inspire with pas-sion and emotion, as well as deliver bottom-line results. For example, during the American


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presidential election of 2008 there was considerable debate over the comparative appealbetween the experience of Hillary Clinton and the charisma of Barack Obama.

In her discussion of the creation of the democratic enterprise (organisations that canflourish economically and can also be places of excitement and stimulation, fulfilment andtranquillity), Gratton maintains that it is the creation of a shared purpose and the role of theleadership team that are most vital. The role of the leader as visionary is fundamental to creating the broad philosophical context of democracy and as the architect of shared purpose.46

Referring to the work of Goffee and Jones, Witzel suggests: ‘Leadership is one of the mostvital and yet elusive ingredients in modern business. Leaders provide vision, direction, inspi-ration, give the business a sense of purpose and at the same time act as a moral compass.’47

Goffee and Jones point out that the need for visionary leadership is becoming increasinglyimportant. Traditional business hierarchies gave managers and workers a sense of their ownposition and what was expected of them. Now, as these hierarchies break down, it is leadersthemselves who must fill the void, helping subordinates to understand their place and pur-pose. Personal leadership is beginning to replace organisational structure.48

What sets great leaders apart is their ability to engage those around them in a shared vision ofthe future. By making the right decisions, they demonstrate their commitment to turning thatvision into reality; and by doing so successfully, they instil in others the confidence to trust intheir leadership.

Sir Bryan Nicholson49

The inspirational gap

According to a survey by the Chartered Management Institute, the power to inspire is ratedhighest among desirable leadership qualities. A detailed survey of almost 1,500 practisingmanagers in a broad cross-section of organisations found that the key characteristic thatleaders should ideally possess, inspiration, was identified by 55 per cent of managers.However, most leaders appeared to lack this characteristic, with only 11 per cent of respond-ents saying they experienced this in reality.50

The survey from the Chartered Management Institute highlighted a significant ‘inspirationalgap’ in leadership across UK organisations. The Department of Trade and Industry undertooka research project to explore how to start closing this critical leadership inspiration gap.51 ‘Itis now accepted that for the UK to maintain its competitiveness there is a growing need forcompanies to adopt strategies that will enable a greater level of innovation and the provisionof higher value and services.’ The report is based on a study of 568 followers at differentmanagement levels working in a wide variety of organisations. It confirms that today’s work-force is more diverse, informed and sophisticated than ever before. Ultimately people arestill looking for something different and better in organisational leadership.

Key conclusions of the report include:

■ For the past 30 years there have been increasing amounts of data to suggest that leader-ship has a lot more to do with inspiration and vision than with straightforward technicalcompetence. Leadership is now recognised as a transferable skill, and it can be developedby continued learning and development throughout a person’s career.

■ Managers demand visionary leaders who win not only results but also the trust andrespect of their teams. It is the relationship between people that results in action.

■ In order to keep followers motivated and committed in an era of unrelenting change,leaders must be able to create organisation cultures that foster not only performance butalso a sense of pride and fun.

A summary of leadership and management is set out in the concept map in Figure 10.8.

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Figure 10.9 The ‘leadership for innovation’ conceptual framework

Source: From Munshi, N. et al. Leading for Innovation: The Impact of Leadership on Innovation, Advanced Institute of ManagementResearch (AIM) (2005), Figure 5, p. 18. Reproduced with thanks to AIM fellows and scholars: A. Munshi, A. Oke, P. Puranam, M. Stafylarakis, S. Towells, K. Moeslein and A. Neely.


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LEADERSHIP AND INNOVATION

A 2005 report by the Advanced Institute of Management Research in co-operation with theChartered Management Institute draws attention to the impact of leadership on innov-ation.52 The report refers to the dual role of leaders, first as motivators, inspiring people totranscend the ordinary, and second as architects, designing an organisational environmentthat enables employees to be innovative. ‘The impact of leadership on innovation goes wellbeyond the motivating effect of the inspirational or charismatic leader. Leaders also affectinnovation through organisational design and must create appropriate organisational environments to suit the different innovation processes.’ The primary challenges for organisa-tional leaders in promoting innovation are to:

■ recognise and develop appropriate leadership for the different stages of the innovationprocess; and

■ create organisational contexts that support complete innovation processes of differentdegrees of novelty.

Conceptual framework

The report distinguishes between leaders who primarily motivate through transformationalactions – a ‘motivational’ perspective – and those who take a more transactional approachand emphasise the co-ordination of organisational tasks – a ‘structuralist’ perspective. Inorder to address the question of how leadership affects innovation within organisations, thereport proposes a conceptual framework that reflects the complex interaction among leader-ship, the organisational context and innovation (Figure 10.9).


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There is, however, a need for being mindful that leadership:

■ can manifest itself at all levels in the organisation, not just the top;■ need not be concentrated in the person of a single leader but may act through distributed

leadership systems; and■ sets the organisational context for followers’ activities both through motivation and the

administrative co-ordination of systems that support innovation.

THE LEADERSHIP RELATIONSHIP

Whatever the perceived approach to leadership, the most important point is the nature ofthe leadership relationship and the manner in which the leader influences the behaviour andactions of other people. Leadership is a dynamic form of behaviour and there are a numberof variables that affect the leadership relationship. For example, Bass reviews leadershipinfluence in terms of persuasion, a power relation, an instrument of goal achievement, an emerging effect of interaction and the initiation of structure.53 Four major variables areidentified by McGregor as:

■ the characteristics of the leader;■ the attitude, needs and other personal characteristics of the followers;■ the nature of the organisation, such as its purpose, its structure, and the tasks to be

performed; and■ the social, economic and political environment.

McGregor concludes that ‘leadership is not a property of the individual, but a complex relationship among these variables’.54

According to Kouzes and Posner, ‘credibility is the foundation of leadership’. From exten-sive research in over 30 countries and response to the question of what people ‘look for andadmire in a leader, in a person whose direction they would willingly follow’, people haveconsistently replied that they want

leaders who exemplify four qualities: they want them to be honest, forward-looking, inspiring and competent. In our research our respondents strongly agree that they want leaders with integrity andtrustworthiness, with vision and a sense of direction, with enthusiasm and passion, and with expertiseand a track record for getting things done.55

Fullan refers to the importance of relationship building as a basic component of thechange process and effective leadership: ‘Leaders must be consummate relationship builderswith diverse people and groups – especially with people different from themselves. Effectiveleaders constantly foster purposeful interaction and problem solving, and are wary of easyconsensus.’56

Power and leadership influence

Within an organisation, leadership influence will be dependent upon the type of power thatthe leader can exercise over the followers. The exercise of power is a social process whichhelps to explain how different people can influence the behaviour/actions of others. Fivemain sources of power upon which the influence of the leader is based have been identifiedby French and Raven as reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, referent power andexpert power.57 We shall consider these in terms of the manager (as a leader) and subordin-ate relationship.

■ Reward power is based on the subordinate’s perception that the leader has the ability and resources to obtain rewards for those who comply with directives; for example, pay,


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promotion, praise, recognition, increased responsibilities, allocation and arrangement ofwork, granting of privileges.

■ Coercive power is based on fear and the subordinate’s perception that the leader has theability to punish or to bring about undesirable outcomes for those who do not complywith directives; for example, withholding pay rises, promotion or privileges; allocation ofundesirable duties or responsibilities; withdrawal of friendship or support; formal repri-mands or possibly dismissal. This is in effect the opposite of reward power.

■ Legitimate power is based on the subordinate’s perception that the leader has a right toexercise influence because of the leader’s role or position in the organisation. Legitimatepower is based on authority, for example that of managers and supervisors within thehierarchical structure of an organisation. Legitimate power is therefore ‘position’ powerbecause it is based on the role of the leader in the organisation, and not on the nature ofthe personal relationship with others.

■ Referent power is based on the subordinate’s identification with the leader. The leaderexercises influence because of perceived attractiveness, personal characteristics, reputationor what is called ‘charisma’. For example, a particular manager may not be in a positionto reward or punish certain subordinates, but may still exercise power over the subordin-ates because the manager commands their respect or esteem.

■ Expert power is based on the subordinate’s perception of the leader as someone who iscompetent and who has some special knowledge or expertise in a given area. Expertpower is based on credibility and clear evidence of knowledge or expertise; for example,the expert knowledge of ‘functional’ specialists such as the human resources manager, man-agement accountant or systems analyst. The expert power is usually limited to narrow,well-defined areas or specialisms.

Subordinates’ perception of influence

It is important to note that these sources of power are based on the subordinates’ perceptionof the influence of the leader, whether it is real or not. For example, if a leader has the abilityto control rewards and punishments but subordinates do not believe this, then in effect theleader has no reward or coercive power. Similarly, if subordinates in a line department believea manager in a (different) staff department has executive authority over them then even if,de facto, that manager has no such authority there is still a perceived legitimate power.

French and Raven point out that the five sources of power are interrelated and the use ofone type of power (for example, coercive) may affect the ability to use another type of power(for example, referent). Furthermore, the same person may exercise different types of power,in particular circumstances and at different times.

Other sources of power

Finlay suggests that in addition to the five sources of power identified by French and Ravencan be added:

■ personal power, supported and trusted by their colleagues and subordinates; and■ connection power, which results from personal and professional access to key people and

information.58

Yukl suggests that a further relevant source of power is control over information.59

You have to look at leadership through the eyes of the followers and you have to live the message. What I have learned is that people become motivated when you guide them to the source of their own power and when you make heroes out of employees who personify whatyou want to see in the organisation.

Anita Roddick60

Critical reflection

‘Despite the vast amount of writing on the subject by both academics and practisingmanagers, it is extremely difficult to give a precise and agreed meaning of leadership.Nor is there agreement on one best model or style of leadership, or how leadershippotential can best be developed.’

Do you find this confusing and a hindrance to your studies? What do you believe are theessential and distinctive characteristics that make for an effective leader?


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Power, responsibility and wisdom

Lloyd suggests that the way we think about leadership is a contributory factor to the leader-ship crisis. Leadership has traditionally been associated with those who have power andthere is a need to re-examine the core relationship between power and responsibility. Ratherthan gaining and keeping power for ourselves, more emphasis should be given to unifyingconsideration of the two concepts together with greater attention to the subject of wisdom.

The new agenda moves us from that narrow focus to a much broader concept of leadership that is moreconcerned with how power is used, i.e. in whose interest power is used. This explicitly recognises thatthe use of power is deeply values driven . . . We need to give much greater attention to the valuesagenda by exploring wisdom, then seeing that emphasis reflected as wise leadership.61

LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS

Goleman reports that the most effective executives use a collection of distinct leadershipstyles, each in the right measure, at just the right time. Although the authoritative style ofleadership can be occasionally overbearing, it was found to be most effective and can motivateand inspire commitment to the goals of the organisation. The affiliative style has potentialto create harmony within teams and can be used in conjunction with the authoritative style.The democratic approach was seen as positive, and encourages input from staff and helpsbuild consensus through participation. The coaching style, although the least frequentlyused, can help staff identify their strengths and encourage long-term development goals. Thestudy concludes that the most effective leaders rely on more than one leadership style, andwere able to master a mixture of authoritative, democratic, affiliative and coaching styles.Leaders with the best results use most of the styles in a given week – seamlessly and in dif-ferent measure – depending on the business situation.62

Goleman also reminds us that whatever a leader is wanting to achieve it is all done withpeople and from his recent research identifies six leadership styles. Each style springs fromdifferent components of emotional intelligence, and help build commitment and improvethe emotional climate. (Emotional intelligence was discussed in Chapter 4.) They are:

1 Visionary – provides long-term vision2 Coaching – develops people long-term3 Affiliative – creates harmony in work4 Democratic – commitment through consultation5 Pace-setter – pushes to accomplish tasks6 Commanding – demands compliance.

Goleman cautions that the last two styles are easily misused. The more of all these stylesdeployed the better; research suggests that mastery of four or more fosters improved perfor-mance and a better working environment.63


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Variables affecting leadership effectiveness

Clearly, there is no one ‘best’ form of leadership that will result in the maintenance of moraleamong group members and high work performance. Three main aspects to be considered indetermining the most appropriate style of leadership are the manager, the group and thework environment. However, there are many variables that underlie the effectiveness of leadership in work organisations. More specifically, these include the following:

■ the characteristics of the manager, personality, attitudes, abilities, value-system, and thepersonal credibility of the manager;

■ the type of power of the manager and the basis of the leadership relationship;■ the characteristics of the followers: diversity, their needs and expectations, attitudes,

knowledge, confidence and experience, and their motivation and commitment;■ the relationship between the manager and the group, and among members of the group;■ the type and nature of the organisation, organisation culture, and different stages in inno-

vation and development;■ the nature of the tasks to be achieved, the extent to which structured or routine;■ the technology, systems of communication and methods of work organisation;■ organisation structure and systems of management;■ the type of problem and the nature of the manager’s decisions;■ the nature and influence of the external environment;■ the social structure and informal organisation, and the psychological contract;■ the influence of national culture.

The shadow of leadership

Leadership is clearly a major feature of effective teamwork. Good leaders surround them-selves with talented and capable members of staff, and then in their behaviour and actionsserve as a role model. McCabe suggests that leaders who want to transform their performanceand the effectiveness of the team should look at how their own shadow could be getting inthe way. Leaders focus on what they see as important and they are typically quite unconsciousof the unintended but massive impact they are having on their colleagues, teams and clients.All leaders cast a shadow and whatever a particular leadership style, the shadow will affectothers and can compromise people’s engagement at work and business effectiveness. Leadersneed to be fully aware of the shadow they cast and the impact they have on others.

To be successful, leaders today have to find ways to engage people’s ideas, energy and inspiration andthis means they will have to build much stronger relationships – and what will prevent such relationshipsfrom occurring is their shadow.64

Authority without arrogance

The turbulent and uncertain economic situation of recent times has resulted in many com-mentators drawing attention to the expectations for clear, decisive and authoritative leader-ship. For example, Masson refers to the leadership attribute of self-assurance, being authenticand comfortable with whom you are. What leaders need is an acute self-awareness and toavoid arrogance.

That self-assurance needs to come with an honest assessment of oneself. The whole idea of perfectionin leadership is outdated and unhelpful, and leaders who don’t open themselves to feedback, and don’treflect on their own behavior, come across as arrogant. Part of being ‘authentic’ is being open to vul-nerability and admitting to one’s mistakes.65

Reeves and Knell suggest that being a successful leader is less about who you are or whatyou do than about what you know. This includes four pieces of knowledge: where the organ-isation is heading; what is going on; who they are; and how to build a strong team. Leaders


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in the most successful organisations are authoritative but their secret is that they use theirauthority without arrogance. Successful leaders

■ build a ‘culture of discipline’ and are about getting things done, controlling costs andmarshalling resources;

■ keep in touch with how people are feeling. They don’t waste time worrying if everyone ishappy but understand the emotional temperament of the organisation and emotionalresponses from people;

■ know where they are strong but also know their weaknesses and display a fierce humility;■ are motivated by what they build, such as great teams and talent people, rather than what

they get;■ have a clear sense of where the organisation is going, but very often this is the result of

collective decision-making in a talent team.66

CROSS-CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF LEADERSHIP

In Chapter 1 we referred to cross-cultural dimensions of organisational behaviour, identify-ing some potentially important differences in attitudes and behaviour between different cultural groups. In particular, it was suggested that people’s perceptions of authority, independence and uncertain situations could vary according to cultural background andexperience. One might reasonably surmise therefore that the topic of leadership will be subject to cultural variation. There has been a consistent view expressed within the leader-ship literature that another major variable influencing choice of leadership style may benational culture. McGregor concluded for example that the social, economic and politicalenvironment affected the leadership relationship, together with the attitudes and needs of‘followers’.67

Tannenbaum and Schmidt identify leaders’ own value-systems as factors that influence theirchosen style. They also highlight subordinates’ – or non-managers’ – needs for independenceand tolerance of ambiguity as relevant variables in the choice of style.68 These factors varyaccording to the cultural context in which the leadership relationship takes place. Oneshould be wary of stereotyping the behaviour of leaders or subordinates, and many mythsappear to have grown around notions of ‘orderly’ German, ‘undisciplined’ Italian and even‘obstructive’ British workers. However, there are reasons to suggest that there may indeed benational cultural differences that are relevant to an understanding of leadership.

Culture as a contingent factor in leadership?

The contribution of contingency approaches to understanding leadership suggest that con-trasting types and styles of leadership may be more or less appropriate in different situations.Tayeb draws attention to cross-cultural leadership and points out that in a global businesslandscape, national culture affects leadership styles and behaviours. It is clear that people living in different parts of the world have different expectations from those in a leadershipposition. The way in which employees perceive their leaders, as employee-oriented or task-oriented, appears to vary from culture to culture.69

Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness (GLOBE)

Project GLOBE, the full name of which is the Global Leadership and OrganisationalBehaviour Effectiveness research programme, is a very large-scale research project whichsought to identify those leader behaviours and attributes which would be accepted andtherefore effective in all societies and, contrastingly, those which would only be acceptedand effective in some cultural contexts. This study was conducted by an international teamof researchers led by Robert House and encompassed 62 countries across the world, includingsome which had not always featured in cross-cultural study – for example newly capitalist


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states in Eastern Europe. The GLOBE study commenced in 1991 and has led to a series ofpublications in the early 21st century.70

The GLOBE study conceived leadership as essentially reciprocal, in that leadership mustbe endorsed by followers, which endorsement, the authors claim, will be subject to culturalvariation. At the same time, leaders will themselves have been immersed in a particular culture and consequently influenced by the norms and values surrounding leadership withinthat culture.

The results, according to the GLOBE researchers, are some significant variations in leader-ship style, attributes and behaviour. In the GLOBE study, charismatic and team-orientedleaders were shown to be globally endorsed – and hence universally effective. Leaders who dis-played high levels of trust, integrity and vision were supported by subordinates in all societies.

It was also found that there were so-called universal impediments to success; for exampleself-protective leaders characterised by malevolence and ‘face-saving’ were viewed negativelyby subordinates in all cultures.

There were, finally, some aspects of leadership which varied between societies. In common with Hofstede (see Chapter 1) the GLOBE study identifies clusters of societies withimportant points of commonality. To take one example, in a situation which might imply a directive style of leadership, subordinates in the ‘Anglo’ cluster of societies (in effect the main English-speaking countries) would prefer some degree of informality on the part ofthe leader and as much of a participative style as the situation allowed.

The GLOBE study recognises that strategic organisational contingencies such as the sectoran organisation operates in will affect leadership style and behaviour; however, the GLOBEresearchers concluded that such factors would be moderated by the national cultural context.Leader effectiveness will be influenced by the interaction between leaders and subordinates,which is dependent on the nature of power relations within the particular culture, andorganisational contingencies applying in all societies.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Education and training in management needs to emphasise not only interpersonal skills butalso a flexibility of approach, diagnostic ability and the realisation that the most effectiveform of leadership behaviour is a product of the total leadership situation. According toInvestors in People, leadership development is not just a corporate issue:

The ability to create and communicate a clear vision, and motivate people to deliver it, is as importantto the small entrepreneur as to the leader of 1000 people. All organisations should be identifying themanagers they will need in a few years’ time and developing them. All top managers should be plan-ning their succession and supporting the people who will step into their shoes when it’s time to moveon.71

A leadership culture

Melville-Ross refers to the importance of developing leadership skills in everyone, not justthose at the top. Even people in the most junior positions can play a leadership role. It isabout the dissemination of ideas, taking the initiative and encouraging others to see it thatway. For this to happen, you need an open leadership culture that runs right through theorganisation. People are encouraged to take personal responsibility and are not afraid tospeak up with ideas or take risks. However, Melville-Ross acknowledges that there is still a long way to go before this type of behaviour becomes the norm in UK industry.

A lot of organisations do still have this hierarchical approach where the boss knows best and there willbe hell to pay if you don’t do it their way. It is still deeply ingrained. It is even more of a problem inthe public sector where it is difficult to create very imaginative, flexible, quick-on-their feet leadersbecause there are so many accountabilities – and that encourages public sector people to behave in amore buttoned up way.72

Figure 10.10 The leadership ‘jigsaw’

Source: Cutler, A. ‘A Good Fit Is Essential’, Professional Manager, vol. 15, no. 3, May 2005, p. 38. Reproduced with permission from Chartered Management Instituteand Alan Cutler.


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The leadership jigsaw

Cutler has designed a ‘jigsaw’ of best practice. There are six interlinking pieces: vision, example, relationships, motivation, empowerment and communications as a guide to themeasurement and development of leadership skills. Cutler believes that leadership is not such a difficult role if condensed to these essential elements and has devised a set ofquestions to help aspiring leaders to find out if they have all the necessary pieces of the jigsaw (see Figure 10.10).73

Seven principles for developing leaders

Referring to his action-centred leadership model (discussed earlier in this chapter), Adairidentifies seven key principles of leadership development that can be applied successfully indifferent kinds of organisations in both the public and private sectors.

1 Development of a strategy for leadership development for each of the three levels ofleadership – operational, strategic and team.


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2 Selection of those with high potential for becoming effective leaders.3 Training for leadership that implies instruction with a specific end in view. Identify your

business training needs in the leadership context and assign them priorities.4 Career development through giving a person the right job at the right time. People grow

as leaders through the actual practice of leading.5 Line managers as leadership developers by developing the individual’s potential and

sharing their knowledge of leadership.6 Corporate culture that is valued at all levels and should encourage a climate of self-

development in leadership.7 The chief executive who should be leading from the front and who owns the problem of

growing leaders.

The seven principles are complementary and are likely to have a synergetic effect ifapplied as a whole. Although a simple framework, Adair maintains the seven principles formthe first coherent and effective approach for growing leaders.74

We are not born as leaders, but we are born with the potential to become a leader. This poten-tial has to be worked on and we have to go through a learning experience to equip us to becomeleaders. Sometimes the potential is realised and sometimes it is not. Opportunities play a part inthis; the best organisations seem to grow their own leaders. The best, the very good and theexcellent do give priority to developing leaders.

John Adair75

NO ONE BEST FORM OF LEADERSHIP

We have seen that there are many alternative forms and styles of managerial leadership.Within an organisation different individuals may fulfil the functions of leadership and thereare many different styles of leadership. A potential danger with the contingency approach isthat the manager may appear to lack consistency in leadership style. However, although sub-ordinates may reasonably expect some degree of consistency from the manager in approach-ing the same type of problem with the same style, this is not to say that different types ofproblems should be approached in the same manner. Subordinates would ordinarily expecta different style of managerial leadership according to the contingencies of the situation.

The right leader for the right situation

A good manager will clearly recognise that different styles of leadership are called for in dif-ferent situations. As an obvious and (hopefully) extreme example, emergency situations suchas a major fire in a building demand an assertive, directive style of action. As Rajan also pointsout: ‘Of course, different leadership styles are needed to cope with different situations: forexample, the autocratic style makes sense when an organisation is in deep trouble and needsto achieve a rapid turn-around. That style would be counter-productive when the organisationis in a growth situation.’76 And Stern maintains that although in more carefree times businessgurus exalted leaders who admitted to frailty, this is not so any more. The task of sustaininggrowth in a sluggish market calls for driven, leather-skinned bosses. Instead of touchy-feelymanagement the quality of ‘mental toughness’ is needed to help elite performers to prevail.77

Different types of leadership may also be most appropriate at different stages in the development of a business organisation. Leadership can also vary between public and privatesectors and depend upon the size of the organisation. A primary challenge for organisationalleaders in promoting innovation is:

Recognise and develop appropriate leadership for the different stages of the innovation process. Howleaders are selected, supported, evaluated, motivated and developed is likely to differ depending upon


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the stage of the innovation process they are responsible for. For instance, transformational leadershipskills may be more useful in early-stage innovation activity, such as R & D and product development,but transactional leadership skills are also essential to the smooth functioning of commercialisation.78

LEADERS OF THE FUTURE

Gratton points out that while we are part of organisations shaped by technology that createdthe patents, ideas and innovations that brought success, the past will not bring sustainablecompetitive advantage for the future. To do this we have to build the potential of people inour organisations, the knowledge they bring and their commitment and enthusiasm.Building human potential demands a new agenda, a new set of challenges for leaders and a redefined set of managerial capabilities. This new agenda creates a set of expectations of the leaders. Gratton sets out four expectations as the message for leaders.

■ Expectation 1: dream collectively – create a time and a process for you and your col-leagues to dream about the future; create enthusiasm and excitement and a vision for thefuture; view the present as a pathway to the future; allow people to work independentlybut within the frame of the general direction; and work to identify and co-ordinate themajor themes for action.

■ Expectation 2: balance the short term with the longer term – think in the past, the present and the future; be aware of the human scale of change and create plans of actionthat reflect human time scales and a capacity in human potential; build a vision for thefuture that engages people and allows them to understand their future role.

■ Expectation 3: build an organisation that values people – treat people with respect andhave their ideas taken seriously and allow them to believe they can make a difference; be aware of the need to create communication channels with employees; demonstrate a commitment to people; treat people with politeness, respect and dignity and create a strong role model for others to follow.

■ Expectation 4: understand the reality of the organisation – create a deep, shared under-standing of the current state of the business, and examine the metaphor of the organisation;put the building of a highly committed workforce at the centre of strategy; build a modelof your organisation around high levels of trust, commitment and inspiration; develop an understanding of process fairness and justice, and understand employees’ perceptionsof integrity, consistency and pride.79

New skills and competencies

Bennis hails the arrival of new leadership and suggests that ‘the leaders of the future will haveto cast off the heavy burden of command and control, hierarchically based leadership’.Leaders will have to learn an entirely new set of skills and four competencies will determinethe success of new leadership.

1 The new leader understands and practises the power of appreciation – as a generalisationmost organisations are woefully neglectful of bestowing acknowledgement or appreciation,yet it is one of the most powerful motivators, especially for knowledge workers.

2 The new leader keeps reminding people of what is important – organisations drift intoentropy and bureaucratisation of imagination when they forget what’s important.Reminding people of what is important can give meaning and value to work, and collectivefocused energy.

3 The new leader generates and sustains trust – the terms of the new social contract ofwork have changed and no one can depend on lifelong loyalty or commitment to anyorganisation. Trust has powerful connotations and the ingredients are a combination ofcompetencies, constancy, caring, fairness, candour and, most of all, authenticity.

Critical reflection

‘There is much commentary on the need for less hierarchical structures and for a changed culture of leadership based on skills and competencies throughout the organisation as a whole.’

But how realistic is this? What does such a changed culture actually entail and how canleadership potential best be developed? And what do you see as the future ofleadership?


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4 The new leader and the led are intimate allies – new leadership is all about great leadersbeing made by great groups and by organisations that create the social architecture ofrespect and dignity, and great leadership brings that about. Without each other, the leaderand the led are culturally impoverished.

The post-bureaucratic organization requires a new kind of alliance between leaders and the led.Today’s organizations are evolving into federations, networks, clusters, cross-functional teams,temporary systems, ad hoc task forces, lattices, modules, matrices – almost anything but pyramidswith their obsolete top–down leadership. The new leader will encourage healthy dissent andvalue those followers courageous enough to say no. It will go to the leader who exults in culturaldifferences and knows that diversity is the best hope for long-term survival and success. Thisdoes not mark the end of leadership. Rather the need for a new, far more subtle and indirectform of influence for leaders to be effective.80

In his discussion on the future of management, Hamel argues the point that in any con-stitutional democracy success does not depend upon brilliant leadership. If democracies aremore resilient than large companies it is not because they are better led. In a democracy, thepace of change depends only tangentially on the vision and moral courage of those in power.‘The real challenge, then, isn’t to hire or grow great leaders, but to build companies that canthrive with less-than-perfect leaders.’81

SYNOPSIS

■ There are many ways of looking at leadership andmany interpretations of its meaning, but essentially itis a relationship through which one person influencesthe behaviour or actions of other people. The leader–follower relationship is reciprocal and effective leader-ship is a two-way process. Leadership is related tomotivation, the process of communication, the activ-ities of groups and the process of empowerment. Thechanging nature of business organisations has placedincreasing importance on leadership.

■ There is arguably a close relationship between leader-ship and management, especially in work organisa-tions, and a tendency to see them as synonymous.However, there is much to suggest that there are differences between the two and it does not followthat every leader is a manager. Leadership occurs atmany different levels and in many different ways. It

may be viewed in more general terms, with emphasison interpersonal behaviour in a broader context.

■ Due to its complex nature there are many alterna-tive ways of analysing leadership. Leadership may beexamined in terms of the qualities or traits approach;the functional or group approach; as a behaviouralcategory; styles of leadership; through the situationalapproach and contingency models; the distinctionbetween transactional or transformational leadership;and inspirational or visionary leadership.

■ Contingency theories draw attention to the inter-actions between the variables involved in a leadershipsituation and patterns of leadership behaviour. The mostappropriate form of leadership is dependent upon thevariables in a particular leadership situation. Differentcontingency theories have concentrated on different

Managing the mood is crucialStefan Stern

MANAGEMENT IN THE NEWS

‘Moaning is not a management task,’ Rupert Stadler,chief executive of the German carmaker Audi, told thisnewspaper this month. ‘We can all join in the moaning,or we can make a virtue out of the plight. I am ratherdoing the latter.’ Mr Stadler is choosing to accentuatethe positive. After all, who wants to be led by apessimist? Jeffrey Immelt, chief executive of

General Electric, keeps his darker thoughts to himself while maintaining a public breeziness. As hetold the Harvard Business School conference lastOctober: ‘You can’t sit there in front of over 300,000 people and say: “I don’t know what to do!”You have to say: “We’re gonna nail this one, andhere’s why!”’

1 Explain clearly what you understand by the meaning of leadership. How would you distinguish leadershipfrom management?

2 Distinguish between different approaches to the study of leadership and discuss critically what you see asthe relevance today of each of these approaches.

3 Using the Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum, identify, with reasons, your preferred style of leadership.Give an example of a situation in which you might need to adopt an alternative style of leadership.

4 What do you understand by leader–situation models of leadership? Assess the practical value to the managerof: (i) Fiedler’s contingency model of leadership effectiveness; and (ii) Hersey and Blanchard’s readiness ofthe followers or group situational model.

5 Discuss the main sources of power and leadership influence. Give a practical example of each of these mainsources of power and influence within your own organisation.

6 Explain clearly the nature and main features of transformational leadership. Give your own examples ofpeople you would regard as transformational leaders. Discuss critically the relevance of personality andcharisma for effective leadership.

7 If you were a consultant on leadership, what areas of needs would you include in designing a leadershipdevelopment programme for managers in a large work organisation? Justify your ideas.

8 Discuss the main situational variables that are likely to influence the most appropriate form of managerialleadership behaviour. Detail three work situations in which a different style of leadership is likely to be mosteffective.

REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS


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situational variables. These include favourability ofthe leadership situation, decision acceptance and decision quality, path–goal theory, and the ‘readiness’of followers.

■ The attention given to transformational leadershipand the importance of charisma has given rise to anincreasing focus on the concept of leaders creating avision with which others can identify and inspiringfollowers to improve organisational performance.There is, however, doubt about the extent to whichleaders possess these personal qualities. Leadership is a dynamic form of behaviour and the leader’sinfluence is dependent upon the type of power

exercised over other people. Another major influenceon leadership behaviour may be national culture.

■ Attention needs to be given to the criteria for leadership effectiveness and to leadership development.Leaders of the future will face new expectations andwill need to learn new sets of skills. There are manyvariables that underlie the effectiveness of leadership,including dimensions of national culture. There is noone best form or style of leadership. The most suc-cessful form of leadership behaviour is a product ofthe total leadership situation. Leaders of the futurewill need to work within less hierarchical based systems of command and control.

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FT

Management in the news – continued

Leaders have to be resilient. At the moment the badnews is coming not in single spies, but in battalions.Tough trading conditions test character as much asbusiness acumen. Your physical and emotionalresponse to these challenges is just as important asthe decisions you actually take, because employeesare more sensitive to mood than leaders often realise.And moods are contagious. Research carried out atNew York University and the University of Michiganfound that in 70 different teams, people workingtogether in meetings ended up sharing moods –whether good or bad – within two hours. And badmoods spread faster than good ones. In their 2001Harvard Business Review article ‘Primal Leadership’,Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKieargued that one of the key duties of leadership is tomanage your emotions with care. ‘Moods that start at the top tend to move the fastest because everyonewatches the boss,’ they wrote. ‘They take theiremotional cues from him. Even when the boss isn’thighly visible his attitude affects the mood of his directreports, and a domino effect ripples throughout thecompany.’

Leaders risk reverting to earlier, less skilful versionsof themselves under pressure. They can slip into adefault mode of frantic busyness, which to colleaguesmay look a lot like panic. They can find themselvesinstinctively adopting a crude command and controlmanagement style, even though they know this mightnot be the best way to deal with an intelligent,questioning (but anxious) workforce. Instead leadersshould be trying to create a greater sense of safety.There are four things they can do to achieve this.

■ First, they must take prompt and considered actionin the face of any crisis.

■ Second, leaders need to communicate honestlyand consistently.

■ Third, leaders have to make an emotionalconnection with the workforce. This is not a time tobe remote or aloof. That will only add to the senseof uncertainty.

■ Lastly, leaders need to inspire. A ‘call to arms’ canwork if it follows on from the sort of confidence-boosting measures described above. But it will fallflat if the leader has failed to make a strongconnection with his colleagues, and they are toofearful to be able to buy into it.

So yes, the way leaders behave matters.Temperament and character can help stop a badsituation from getting worse. But markets are tough,and recovery seems a long way off. Mr Stadler isgoing to need all his optimism.

Source: Stern, S. ‘Managing the Mood Is Crucial’, Financial Times,23 March 2009. Copyright © 2009 The Financial Times Limited,reproduced with permission.

Discussion questions1 What does this article tell us about the qualities or

traits needed to be a good leader?

2 Analyse the article using Hersey and Blanchard’ssituational leadership model. Which of the four‘situations’ is described? What skills would youadd to those suggested in the article to enablemanagers to lead effectively in thesecircumstances?

a Think of:

(i) one of the ‘best’ leaders, and(ii) one of the ‘worst’ leaders that you have experienced, preferably in a work situation.

b Identify and list those specific qualities, or lack of them, which were characteristic of each leader. Wherepossible, draw up your list under three broad headings of:

(i) personal attributes – for example, appearance, mannerisms, intelligence;(ii) social relationships – for example, approachability, understanding, interests;(iii) task performance – for example, knowledge, empowerment, discipline.

c Give a brief description of an actual situation that illustrates the behaviour/actions of each leader and theresults of such behaviour/action. Keep your answer balanced. Try to be as objective as possible and avoidpersonal bias.

d Draw up your own list, with brief supporting descriptions, of the main characteristics you would expect to beexhibited by a successful leader. Be prepared to justify your lists and descriptions in class discussion.

ASSIGNMENT 1


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Your leadership style

For each of the following ten pairs of statements, divide five points between the two according to your beliefs,perceptions of yourself, or according to which of the two statements characterises you better. The five pointsmay be divided between the A and B statements in any way you wish with the constraint that only wholepositive integers may be used (i.e. you may not split the points equally between the two). Weigh your choicesbetween the two according to the one that better characterises you or your beliefs.

1 A As leader I have a primary mission of maintaining stability. ––––––––––B As leader I have a primary mission of change. ––––––––––

2 A As leader I must cause events. ––––––––––B As leader I must facilitate events. ––––––––––

3 A I am concerned that my followers are rewarded equitably for their work. ––––––––––B I am concerned about what my followers want in life. ––––––––––

4 A My preference is to think long-range: What might be. ––––––––––B My preference is to think short-range: What is realistic. ––––––––––

5 A As leader I spend considerable energy in managing separate but related goals. ––––––––––B As leader I spend considerable energy in arousing hopes, expectations,

and aspiration among my followers. ––––––––––

6 A While not in a formal classroom sense, I believe that a significant part of my leadership is that of a teacher. ––––––––––

B I believe that a significant part of my leadership is that of a facilitator. ––––––––––

7 A As leader I must engage with followers at an equal level of morality. ––––––––––B As leader I must represent a higher morality. ––––––––––

8 A I enjoy stimulating followers to want to do more. ––––––––––B I enjoy rewarding followers for a job well done. ––––––––––

9 A Leadership should be practical. ––––––––––B Leadership should be inspirational. ––––––––––

10 A What power I have to influence others comes primarily from my ability to get people to identify with me and my ideas. ––––––––––

B What power I have to influence others comes primarily from my status and position. ––––––––––

Details of scoring and interpretation will be provided by your tutor.

Source: From Schermerhorn, J. R., Jr, et al. Managing Organizational Behaviour, fourth edition, John Wiley & Sons (1991), p. 484.Reproduced with permission from John Wiley & Sons Inc.

ASSIGNMENT 2

ObjectivesCompleting this exercise should help you to enhance the following skills:

■ Evaluate your leadership skills;■ Review attributes associated with leadership;■ Advance your self-knowledge of teamwork and leadership.

ExerciseEvaluate your skills – Self-knowledge is crucial for evaluating achievements and potential. Below is a list of attributes associated with leadership. Read through these statements and evaluate the leadership skillsdemonstrated by your team and those that you display. Score yourself from one to ten for each attribute or putticks or crosses in the boxes. Use this information to consider areas where you or your team could develop.

PERSONAL AWARENESS AND SKILLS EXERCISE


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1 Demonstrating initiative, delivering operational excellence, implementing decisions and delivering results

I reinforce people’s determination to do the right thing. �

I have a strong work ethic. �

I do things right the first time. �

I stay focused on priorities and recognise when to delegate tasks. �

I stretch myself to meet the values of others and myself simultaneously. �

I demonstrate values by tangible and visible actions. �

I choose service over self-interest. �

I act with integrity. �

2 Drawing groups together, enjoying team management and placing importance on the development of others

I reward and recognise team members daily. �

I use analogy to simplify conceptual ideas. �

I connect and integrate values into the working operation of the organisation. �

I clarify future direction in terms that make sense. �

I reduce strategic plans to simple ideas which can be easily communicated. �

I communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders. �

I target communication to the needs of the audience in pace, level and method of delivery. �

I break complex targets down into digestible pieces. �

3 Offering support, demonstrating active listening and encouraging others to achieve objectives

I demonstrate trust in others to perform effectively. �

I recognise that leadership is a process of upward as well as downward influence. �

I inspire excitement with my communication style. �

I encourage hard-hitting debate and dialogue. �

I display stature and presence to gain commitment and loyalty. �

I put aside personal ambition for the sake of the whole. �

I take time to connect with each team member. �

I set clear goals and success criteria, allowing people to use their initiative. �

4 Demonstrating decisiveness, offering inspiration and eliciting respect by touching hearts, not just minds

I take pride in winning as a team, not just individually. �

I foster the development of a common vision. �

I appear consistently enthusiastic and inspirational about the vision. �

I build the capacity of the next generation of leaders by investing in the team. �

I hold myself accountable, without blaming others. �

I hold myself accountable with the clear understanding that ethical standards must never be compromised. �

I manage the ambiguity of leadership and power. �

I find a sense of continuity through others. �

Source: The Path to Leadership: Developing a Sustainable Model within Organisations, CBI (in association with Harvey Nash), September 2005. Reproduced with permission from CBI and Caspian Publishing Ltd.

Discussion■ How difficult was it for you to complete this exercise?■ Are there specific attributes in which you believe you are particularly strong or weak?■ What benefits have you gained from this exercise and what new have you learned about yourself?

Personal awareness and skills exercise – continued


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Being Apple: Steve Jobs

CASE STUDY

Steve Jobs is currently CEO of Apple and one of the world’s best-known business leaders. The manybiographies of Jobs on the internet82 agree on the basicdetails. He was born in 1955 in California. In 1976, he and Steve Wozniak founded the Apple ComputerCompany. The next year saw the launch of thecompany’s second computer – the Apple II – whosesuccess established Apple as one of the main brands inthe fledgling personal computer (PC) industry. Applewent public in 1980 and by 1983 Jobs was looking for an experienced corporate manager to oversee thecompany’s continuing expansion; he hired John Sculleyfrom Pepsi Cola. In 1984, Apple launched theMacintosh,83 whose innovative design was surely one of the key steps forward in the development of today’suser-friendly PCs.

In 1985, Jobs fell out with the Apple board and withSculley and resigned from the company. He went on tofound the computer company NeXT, whose workstationproducts were seen as innovative and influential, butwhich were too expensive for mass market success. Bythe early 1990s, NeXT was concentrating on softwarerather than hardware, and Apple was experiencingsignificant financial problems as the PC market startedto mature. In 1996, Apple bought NeXT and installedJobs as interim CEO in 1997. Jobs was back and setabout some radical surgery to improve Apple’sprofitability. The technology that arrived with the NeXTpurchase allowed a new operating system to bedeveloped and Jobs was closely associated with thedevelopment and launch of the brightly-coloured andinspirational iMac in 1998.

The ‘i’ prefix was adopted by Apple for a series of further innovations as its renaissance under Jobscontinued, including the launch in 2001 of thespectacularly successful iPod music player and theiTunes service to support it. This success has providedthe company with a whole new set of strategic optionsin music and entertainment. Then came the the iPhonein 2007 and the Macbook Air, produced from an A4envelope at its launch in 2008.84 Steve Jobs, however, is not someone to concentrate his efforts on just a singleindustry. In 1986, he bought a computer graphicsoperation from Lucasfilm and renamed it Pixar, whichbecame one of the leading players in computeranimation. In partnership with Disney it produced astream of immensely successful animation movies fromToy Story (1995) to the surprising, multi-award-winningbox-office hit Wall-e (2008) whose character Eve owes

more than a little to Apple design principles. In 2006,Disney and Pixar merged, leaving Jobs as a significantshareholder in Disney and a member of the Disneyboard.

Cool entrepreneurshipAt one level, Steve Jobs can be seen as one of the groupof successful young men who made the informationrevolution happen over the last three decades. Thesenew entrepreneurs didn’t fit the traditional model of the buttoned-down businessman – they weren’t alwaysacademically successful (like Michael Dell, Jobsdropped out of college), they dressed casually andthought unconventionally. While they may differ greatlyin leadership style and manner, they share a dedicated,driven, even obsessive approach to work coupled to a strong vision of the change they want to create. Therehas always, however, been something distinctive aboutthe Apple way of doing things, resulting in the fierceloyalty that often inspires Apple users. As onecommentator put it:

Lodged in the DNA of Silicon Valley, there is a rebel geneknown as Apple Computer. Most of the other ingredientsare the generally uniform, inoffensive elements you wouldexpect to find in the soul of an engineer . . . The Applegene comes from an altogether different place. Its essenceis one part design flair, two parts marketing hype. Itcarries elements of risk-taking and inventiveness. It isclosely intertwined with the technical drive that pervadesSilicon Valley and is the source of occasional startlingoriginality, yet the technology is always subservient to


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Where would they be without him? Apple’s way of doing business hasbeen strongly influenced by its charismatic founder Steve Jobs.

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something else. If Apple’s genetic make-up stands apart, it owes much to Steve Jobs.85

Evidence that Apple is centred on the personality ofits leader is plentiful. Jobs supplies the inspiration andvision and is the company’s face. When there is a keynew product to launch, it is usually the CEO whoreveals it to the world, having been personally involvedin whatever it took to bring the product into being. As a recent report observed, his keynote speeches atApple conferences are ‘more like rock concerts thancorporate events’,86 with Jobs centre stage.

What is it about Steve Jobs’ leadership thatcommands such attention? He values pure creativityvery highly, but in the thousands of words writtenabout him on the internet, adjectives such as ‘tolerant’or ‘easygoing’ do not feature very often. The words‘passionate, charming, inspirational, abrasive’87 aremuch more representative, with many expressing muchstronger views. Jobs seems to be someone who setshimself very high standards and then demands thesame of everyone around him. This can lead todisappointment, frustration, anger and – on occasion –harsh treatment of those who are seen as having let himand the company down. Jobs provided an insight intothis mentality in an interview in 1995 with theSmithsonian Institution:88

I always considered part of my job was to keep the qualitylevel of people in the organizations I work with very high.That’s what I consider one of the few things I actually cancontribute individually . . . to instil in the organizationthe goal of only having ‘A’ players. . . . the differencebetween the worst taxi cab driver and the best taxi cabdriver to get you crosstown Manhattan might be two toone. The best one will get you there in fifteen minutes, the worst one will get you there in a half an hour. . . . Inthe field that I’m in the difference between the best personand the worst person is about a hundred to one or more.The difference between a good software person and agreat software person is fifty to one. . . . Therefore, I havefound, not just in software, but in everything I’ve done itreally pays to go after the best people in the world. It’spainful when you have some people who are not the bestpeople in the world and you have to get rid of them; but Ifound that my job has sometimes exactly been that: to getrid of some people who didn’t measure up and I’ve alwaystried to do it in a humane way. But nonetheless it has tobe done and it is never fun.

Although Jobs became and remained wealthy overmost of his career, his motivation seems not to centreon money. His annual salary as Apple’s CEO is famouslyset at $1. What drives him is innovation: he is the manwho wants ‘to put a ding in the universe’.89 This meansnot purely technical innovation, but the ability toimagine products that are revolutionary in their impacton everyday life. Design and marketing have been

integral to the Apple appeal, resulting in some trulytransformative (and very successful) products like theMacintosh and the iPod, but also many that did notreally connect commercially. This demanding agendahas had its costs, both for the company and for Jobspersonally. Business strategy commentators sometimesobserve that the real money is to be made by changingthe way a business works, not by pure innovation.

Technical innovation will earn you lots of adoring fans(think Apple). Business-model innovation will earn youlots of money (think Dell) . . . If your cool new thingdoesn’t generate enough money to cover costs and make a profit, it isn’t innovation. It’s art.90

If wealth is the scorecard, then Steve Jobs, who is at 178on the 2009 Forbes list of the world’s richest people,doesn’t come close to Bill Gates at number one orMichael Dell at 25.91 The overall impression though isthat this is not the point for Jobs; changing the world is more important than building the biggest pile ofmoney.

The succession problemThe comparison with Bill Gates leads to another issuethat often crops up for organisations that are dominatedby a strong and charismatic leader: that of succession. Arecent business news article92 pointed out that Microsofthad recently gone to some lengths to plan for Bill Gates’gradual retirement from the company. Gates’ role hadbeen split into two, with a successor lined up within thecompany for each part. The pre-announced two-yeartransition was intended to reassure the markets aboutthe future for a post-Gates Microsoft. At Apple, thingsweren’t so clear. In August 2004, Jobs underwentsurgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer. He survivedand was back at work after just one month; and amidstmuch speculation he took a further six months ofmedical leave in 2009. His brush with mortality causedmany to wonder about Apple’s prospects without him,although Jobs himself seems sanguine;

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most importanttool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choicesin life.93

Nevertheless, this remains an important question forthe company. A quote from venture capitalist MichaelMoritz sums up Jobs’ importance to Apple:

Steve is an utterly remarkable man – one of the mostinteresting, original and creative businessmen of the last50 years. His achievements at both Apple and Pixar overthe last ten years put paid to the doubters who say that noindividual can change the course of a company orindustry – let alone two companies or industries.94

Apple has never done things in a conventional wayand it may be that asking about succession planning is


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Your tasks1 How and to what extent does Steve Jobs’ career illuminate the difference between management and

leadership?

2 How can Steve Jobs’ leadership style be analysed? To what extent does the evidence so far conform to the Burns model of transformational leadership?

3 Jobs’ career has been in two industries that are characterised by rapid market change, fast technologicaldevelopment and considerable turbulence. Critically examine the extent to which these situational factorsbear upon the leadership style that Jobs has shown over the years.

missing the point about the way the organisation is run.As a leader, Steve Jobs’ charismatic and demandingpresence has pervaded Apple and made it what it is

today. The question must now be faced: is it impossibleto replace the magic of Steve Jobs, or is he ‘awesome,but not the entire company’?95


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Notes and references

1 Bass, B. M. Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research andManagerial Applications, third edition, The Free Press(1990), p. 11.

2 Crainer, S. ‘Have the Corporate Superheroes Had TheirDay?’, Professional Manager, March 1995, pp. 8–12.

3 See, for example, Adair, J. Leadership and Motivation, KoganPage (2006).

4 ‘Leadership for Innovation’, Advanced Institute ofManagement Research, 2005.

5 Levine, S. R. ‘The Value-Based Edu-Leader’, in Chowdhury,S. (ed.) Management 21C, Financial Times Prentice Hall(2000), p. 90.

6 CBI ‘The Path to Leadership: Developing a SustainableModel within Organisations’, Caspian Publishing (2005), p. 4.

7 Belbin, R. M. Changing the Way We Work, Butterworth-Heinemann (1997), p. 98.

8 Zaleznik, A. ‘Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?’,Harvard Business Review, May–June 1977, pp. 67–78.

9 Watson, C. M. ‘Leadership, Management and the SevenKeys’, Business Horizons, March–April 1983, pp. 8–13.

10 Kent, T. W. ‘Leading and Managing: It Takes Two to Tango’,Management Decision, vol. 43, no. 7/8, 2005, pp. 1010–1017.

11 Fullan, M. Leading in a Culture of Change, Jossey-Bass(2001), p. 2.

12 Dearlove, D. ‘Reinventing Leadership’, in Crainer, S. andDearlove, D. (eds) Financial Times Handbook ofManagement, second edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall(2001), p. 538.

13 Moorcroft, R. ‘To Lead or to Manage? That Is theQuestion’, Manager, The British Journal of AdministrativeManagement, November 2005, p. 4.

14 Drucker, P. F. The Practice of Management, HeinemannProfessional (1989), p. 156.

15 Bass, B. M. Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research andManagerial Applications, third edition, The Free Press(1990).

16 See, for example, Bryman, A. ‘Leadership in Organisations’,in Clegg, S. Hardy, C. and Nord, W. (eds) ManagingOrgansations: Current Issues, Sage (1999), pp. 26–62.

17 Kotter, J. P. ‘What Leaders Really Do’, Harvard BusinessReview, May–June 1990, p. 103.

18 Whitehead, M. ‘Everyone’s a Leader Now’, SupplyManagement, 25 April 2002, pp. 22–4.

19 Adair, J. Action-Centred Leadership, Gower Press (1979). Seealso Adair, J. The Skills of Leadership, Gower Press (1984).

20 Adair, J. Leadership and Motivation, Kogan Page (2006).21 Fleishman, E. A. ‘Leadership Climate, Human Relations

Training and Supervisory Behavior’, in Fleishman, E. A.and Bass, A. R. Studies in Personnel and Industrial Psychology,third edition, Dorsey (1974).

22 Bryman, A. ‘Leadership in Organisations’, in Clegg, S.Hardy, C. and Nord, W. (eds) Managing Organisations:Current Issues, Sage (1999), pp. 26–62.

23 Likert, R. New Patterns of Management, McGraw-Hill(1961).

24 Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt, W. H. ‘How to Choose a Leadership Pattern’, Harvard Business Review, May–June 1973, pp. 162–75, 178–80.

25 Fiedler, F. E. A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, McGraw-Hill (1967).

26 See, for example, Yukl, G. Leadership in Organizations, fifthedition, Prentice Hall (2002).

27 Vroom, V. H. and Yetton, P. W. Leadership and Decision-Making, University of Pittsburgh Press (1973).

28 Vroom, V. H. and Jago, A. G. The New Leadership: ManagingParticipation in Organizations, Prentice-Hall (1988).

29 House, R. J. ‘A Path–Goal Theory of LeadershipEffectiveness’, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 16,September 1971, pp. 321–38.

30 House, R. J. and Dessler, G. ‘The Path–Goal Theory ofLeadership’, in Hunt, J. G. and Larson, L. L. (eds)Contingency Approaches to Leadership, Southern IllinoisUniversity Press (1974).

31 Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K. H. Management ofOrganizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources, sixthedition, Prentice-Hall (1993).

32 Burns, J. M. Leadership, Harper & Row (1978).33 Bass, B. M. Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations,

Free Press (1985).


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34 Bass, B. M. and Avolio, B. J. Improving OrganizationalPerformance Through Transformational Leadership, SagePublications (1994).

35 Yukl, G. Leadership in Organizations, sixth edition, PearsonPrentice Hall (2006).

36 Kreitner, R., Kinicki, A. and Buelens, M. OrganizationalBehaviour, First European edition, McGraw-Hill (1999), p. 487.

37 Whitehead, M. ‘Everyone’s a Leader Now’, SupplyManagement, 25, April 2002, pp. 22–4.

38 Kahan, S. ‘Visionary Leadership’, The Great WashingtonSociety of Association Executives, www.leader-values.com(accessed 28 January 2006).

39 Kanter, R. M. Confidence: Leadership and the Psychology ofTurnarounds, Random House (2004), pp. 325–6.

40 Weber, M. The Theory of Social and Economic Organization,Oxford University Press (1947).

41 Conger, J. ‘Charisma and How to Grow It’, ManagementToday, December 1999, pp. 78–81.

42 Conger, J. ‘The Danger of Delusion’, Financial Times, 29 November 2002.

43 Dearlove, D. ‘Reinventing Leadership’, in Crainer, S. andDearlove, D. (eds) Financial Times Handbook ofManagement, second edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2001), p. 538.

44 Bloomfield, S. ‘Charismatic Leaders are Passé’, ProfessionalManager, vol. 12, no. 1, January 2003, p. 37.

45 Adair, J. The Inspirational Leader: How to Motivate, Encourageand Achieve Success, Kogan Page (2003).

46 Gratton, L. The Democratic Enterprise, Financial TimesPrentice Hall (2004).

47 Witzel, M. ‘Book Review: A Rewarding Read if You Want toLead’, www.ft.com (accessed 31 January 2006).

48 Goffee, R. and Jones, G. Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?,Harvard Business School Press (2006).

49 Nicholson, (Sir) B. ‘In My Opinion’, Management Today,January 2006, p. 10.

50 Horne, M. and Jones, D. S. Leadership: The Challenge forAll?, Chartered Management Institute (2001).

51 ‘Inspired Leadership: Insights into People Who InspireExceptional Performance’, Department of Trade andIndustry, August 2004.

52 Munshi, N. et al. ‘Leading for Innovation: The Impact ofLeadership on Innovation’, Advanced Institute ofManagement Research, September 2005.

53 Bass, B. M. Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research andManagerial Applications, third edition, The Free Press(1990), p. 11.

54 McGregor, D. The Human Side of Enterprise, Penguin(1987), p. 182.

55 Kouzes, J. M. and Posner, B. Z. ‘The Janusian Leader’, inChowdhury, S. (ed.) Management 21C, Financial TimesPrentice Hall (2000), p. 18.

56 Fullan, M. Leading in a Culture of Change, Jossey-Bass(2001), p. 5.

57 French, J. R. P. and Raven, B. ‘The Bases of Social Power’,in Cartwright, D. and Zander, A. F. (eds) Group Dynamics:Research and Theory, third edition, Harper and Row (1968).

58 Finlay, P. Strategic Management: An Introduction to Businessand Corporate Strategy, Financial Times Prentice Hall(2000), p. 103.

59 Yukl, G. Leadership in Organizations, sixth edition, PearsonPrentice Hall (2006).

60 Roddick, A. Body and Soul, Ebury Press (1991), p. 214.

61 Lloyd, B. ‘Balancing Power with Responsibility andWisdom’, Professional Manager, vol. 17, no. 3, May 2008, p. 37.

62 Goleman, D. ‘Leadership That Gets Results’, HarvardBusiness Review, vol. 78, no. 2, March–April 2000, pp. 78–90.

63 Goleman, D. reported in ‘Leaders in London: Fifth AnnualInternational Leadership Summit’, Manager: The BritishJournal of Administrative Management, Winter 2009, pp. 17–21.

64 McCabe, B. ‘The Disabling Shadow of Leadership’,Manager, British Journal of Administrative Management,April/May 2005, pp. 16–17.

65 Masson, L. ‘Leading through Turbulent Times’, CharteredSecretary, June 2008, p. 16.

66 Reeves, R., and Knell, J. ‘Your Mini MBA’, ManagementToday, March 2009, pp. 60–4.

67 McGregor, D, The Human Side of Enterprise, Penguin (1987).

68 Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt, W. H. ‘How to Choose aLeadership Pattern’, Harvard Business Review, May–June 1973, pp. 162–75, 178–80.

69 Tayeb, M. ‘Cross-Cultural Leadership’, in CBI, The Path toLeadership: Developing a Sustainable Model withinOrganisations, Caspian Publishing (2005), pp. 14–20.

70 House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. J. andGupta, V. (eds) Culture, Leadership and Organisations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Sage (2004).

71 Investors in People UK The Leadership and ManagementModel (2003), p. 3.

72 Melville-Ross, T. ‘A Leadership Culture Has to Run RightThrough an Organisation’, Professional Manager, vol. 16,no. 1, January 2007, pp. 18–21.

73 Cutler, A. ‘A Good Fit Is Essential’, Professional Manager,vol. 14, no. 3, May 2005, p. 38.

74 Adair, J. How to Grow Leaders, Kogan Page (2005).75 ‘A Conversation with John Adair’, Manager: The British

Journal of Administrative Management, April/May 2007, p. 20.

76 Rajan, A. ‘Meaning of Leadership in 2002’, ProfessionalManager, March 2002, p. 33.

77 Stern, S. ‘If You Think You’re Hard Enough’, ManagementToday, March 2003, pp. 46–51.

78 ‘Leadership for Innovation’, Advanced Institute ofManagement Research, March 2005.

79 Gratton, L. Living Strategy: Putting People at the Heart ofCorporate Purpose, Financial Times Prentice Hall (2000).

80 Bennis, W. ‘The New Leadership’, in Crainer, S. andDearlove, D. (eds) Financial Times Handbook ofManagement, second edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall(2001), pp. 546–50.

81 Hamel, G. with Breen, B. The Future of Management,Harvard Business School Press (2007), p. 169.

82 See, for example, the selection athttp://www.answers.com/topic/steve-jobs.

83 Those around in that year may recall the iconic Orwellian‘1984’ television advert which cost $1.5m, was directed byRidley Scott, aired only once in the USA during the 1984Superbowl, and made advertising history with its impliedcritique of IBM. If you missed it, then you can view it onYouTube, or at www.apple-history.com.

84 Recordings of the unveilings can be viewed on YouTube,www.youtube.com.

85 Waters, R. ‘Apple Bites Back’, Financial Times, 10 June 2005.


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86 Naughton, J. and Mathiason, N. ‘Will Jobs’ Departure CutApple to the Core?’, Observer Business and Media, 30 July2006.

87 Waters, R. ‘Apple Bites Back’, Financial Times, 10 June 2005.88 ‘Oral and Video Histories: Steve Jobs’,

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/comphist/sj1.html,interview dated 20 April 1995.

89 http://www.quotationsbook.com/quotes/215/view andmany others.

90 Hawn, C. ‘If He’s So Smart . . . Steve Jobs, Apple and the Limits to Innovation’, Fast Company Magazine, January 2004, at http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/78/jobs.html.

91 See http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/11/worlds-richest-people-billionaires-2009-billionaires_land.html.

92 Naughton, J. and Mathiason, N. ‘Will Jobs’ Departure CutApple to the Core?’, Observer Business and Media, 30 July2006.

93 Shiels, M. ‘Steve Jobs a National Treasure’, BBC newswebsite, 15 January 2009 (accessed 23 July 2009).

94 Quoted in Waters, R. ‘Apple Bites Back’, Financial Times, 10 June 2005.

95 Shiels, M. ‘Steve Jobs a National Treasure’, BBC newswebsite, 15 January 2009 (accessed 23 July 2009).

Now that you have finished reading this chapter, visit MyManagementLab atwww.pearsoned.co.uk/mymanagementlab to find more learning resourcesto help you make the most of your studies and get a better grade.INSTANT ACCESS TO INTERACTIVE LEARNING


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ACADEMIC VIEWPOINT

Below you will find the title and abstract of a recent article in an academic journal which explores a topic relevantto the chapters in Part 3.

Baruch, Y. and Jenkins, S. ‘Swearing at Work and Permissive Leadership Culture’, Leadership andOrganizational Development Journal, vol. 28, no. 6, 2006, pp. 492–507.

AbstractPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of expletives and swearing in the work-place. It proposes to challenge leadership style and to suggest ideas for management best practice.

Design/methodology/approach: Case studies and qualitative analysis were applied, methods thatfit well for this sensitive topic.

Findings: This paper identifies the relevance, and even the importance, of using non-conventionaland sometimes uncivil language in the workplace.

Research limitations/implications: Sample size and representativeness present limitations.

Practical implications: There is a need for leaders to apply, under certain circumstances, a permissive leadership culture. This paper advises leaders on how it may lead to positive consequences.

Originality/value: The paper is an original contribution to an area where research is scarce. A certain originality element stems from the fact that, focusing on swearing language, the paperfound it necessary to use swear words (avoiding usage of the explicit form); bearing in mind thepurpose of the paper, the paper hopes that this will not cause offence to the readership of the journal.

CommentaryAcademic discussion of topics such ascommunication in relation to group dynamics,workplace culture and leadership style tend to focuson formal behaviours. However, the reality of manywork environments (and indeed the fictionaliseddepiction of the workplace in film and on television) isoften characterised by informality and ‘colourful’language including swearing. There is often anassumption that swearing and bad language arenegative behaviours. This interesting paper challengesthat assumption, and suggests that there are differenttypes of swearing, some of which may be positive ineffect. It also reveals some interesting characteristicsof language use in terms of gender and culture; and itconcludes with some important observations aboutthe role of managers with regard to ‘industriallanguage’.

N.B. The article itself contains a small number (12) ofannotated expletives to illustrate points.

The article might prompt you to consider thefollowing questions.

■ What does the information in the article tell usabout the importance of the ‘informal’ aspects ofgroup and team behaviour?

■ How can the study of workplace language,including swearing, enhance our understanding ofthe nature of managerial leadership?

■ What light do studies of this sort shed on problemsexperienced by team members and team leaderswho are not part of a dominant organisationalculture?

■ How far do you think the idea of a workplace‘language policy’, initiated by managers, is feasible?

If a single word can be used to sum up theachievements of Tim Smit, that word might be‘regeneration’. To turn one derelict, neglected corner ofsouth-west England into a successful tourist businessattracting millions of visitors is a remarkableachievement; but to do it twice is simply astonishing.Yet this is precisely what Smit has done; and in theEden Project we can see the nature of this achievementthrough a blend of visionary and innovative leadershipcombined with a strong sense of the value of teamwork.

Before EdenCornwall is one of several parts of the UK whichsuffered economic decline during the later 20th century.Its industrial heritage has all but disappeared in thewake of globalisation and the shifting nature of theindustrial world landscape. The last tin mine closed in1998, and the ruined mine towers are witness to whatwas once the largest tin-mining industry in the world.The production of china clay remains one of Cornwall’soldest current industries, but that too is in decline andjob losses in this sector continue to be announced. The fishing business is contracting, and traditionalagricultural and horticultural production, mainlyvegetables and flower bulbs, is being challenged bysimilar, year-round levels of production in developingcountries. Cornwall as a county has, for some years,been in receipt of European Union Objective Onefunding destined to assist with economic regenerationin Europe’s poorest regions. This level of relativepoverty is probably something which many of thetourists who visit Cornwall’s beautiful landscapes,historic properties and wild coastland do not generallysee; and indeed tourism has become one of the largestsingle income-generating business sectors in the area.Whilst there are some strong indications that theCornish economy might be revitalised by the arrival ofnew, knowledge-based industries which are supportedby technological developments, tourism remains at the heart of the county’s economy.1

In 1990, in a project which would contributesubstantially to Cornwall’s reputation as a touristdestination, John Willis, Tim Smit and John Nelsonbegan to restore the long-derelict gardens surroundingthe stately home and seat of the Tremayne family atHeligan, near Mevagissey. The story of this garden, its dereliction after the start of the Great War of 1914,its rediscovery following a storm in 1990 and its

restoration, in part as a memorial to the gardeners whowould have died in the war, is one of enormouspoignancy and beauty.2 For Smit, an archaeology andanthropology graduate who had also developed a loveof gardens, it was a project which enabled him to usemany of his professional skills, and the garden itself hasbecome one of England’s most loved,3 and a majorattraction for Cornwall.

However, while Heligan is horticultural archaeologyand the gardens today are, in essence, a living museumof 19th-century estate gardening, the Eden Project was a very different type of restoration, and one which drewupon Smit’s additional skills as a rock music producerand showman. What Smit was restoring in his secondmajor project was land; and the vision and purposebehind the Eden Project looks to the future rather thanthe past.

Ten things to do with a disused clay pit . . .Photographs of what was to become the Eden Projectprior to the arrival of Tim and his team reveal the extentof the transformation. In the mid 1990s the worked-outBodelva china clay pit near St Austell looked very muchlike what many believed it to be: a derelict, pollutedand worthless piece of land stripped of fertile soil –essentially a 34-acre puddle. The statistics behind itstransformation into one of the most spectacular touristattractions in the country are mind-boggling. The firsttask, in 1998 when the project began, was to landscapethe site, and shift 1.8 million tons of earth to reduce the pit side gradients, a task which took twelve dumpertrucks and eight bulldozers six months. During the first

The Eden ProjectPART 3CASE STUDY

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two months of work, it rained almost continuouslywhich resulted in 43 million gallons of water draininginto the clay-lined pit.4 This was both a problem and an opportunity; the problem was to design a drainagesystem which would prevent the whole site turning intoa soggy bog during the average English summer; but theopportunity was to demonstrate one of the foundingprinciples of sustainability, and use the run-off water toservice the site. The system designed to meet thispurpose collects, on average, 22 litres a second, andalmost half the water needed to run the project(including plant watering, a 22-metre waterfall in the tropical biome and the numerous toilets!) is ‘grey’water, in other words that which can be harvested fromthe site itself. Over 85,000 tonnes of soil, made fromwaste products and other organic material, were needed to turn the clay-lined puddle into the fertileground in which over a million plants of 5,000 andmore species could grow, to create a series of globalgardens.

The two original ‘biomes’, spectacular greenhouseswhich re-create a humid tropical environment andwarm temperate climate respectively, are perhaps whatmost visitors remember about the project, althoughmore than half the site is actually open-air. The HumidTropics biome was confirmed, in 2004, by the GuinnessBook of Records as the largest conservatory in the worldat 240 metres by 100 metres by 55 metres high,enclosing 15,590 square metres. It houses ‘the biggestjungle in captivity’ and contains plants native to thetropical areas of the world including Malaysia, WestAfrica and South America as well as islands like theSeychelles. The Warm Temperate biome covers 6,540square metres, and replicates a mediterranean climatehousing plants which represent those which growbetween 30° and 40° north and south of the equator. A recent addition to the buildings on site is ‘The Core’,the Project’s education centre, the roof of which isconstructed on the same mathematical principle (theFibonacci sequence of interwoven spirals) whichappears in nature in many plant formations, and whichappears to be the way in which some plants pack themaximum number of seeds, spines or leaves into thesmallest possible area.5

If you build it, they will comeThe Annual Report of 2005 stated that, to that date, the Eden Project (which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Eden Trust, a registered charity) had cost £120mto build. The money has been raised from a variety ofsources including grant funding such as that from theUK government’s millennium project fund; and furtherfunding is being sought from the National Lottery tofinance additional building. Together with commercialloans, the grant money is used for capital investment on the site and educational or conservation projects in

other parts of the world. Running costs in 2007/8 were£20m, and revenue comes from both the commercialactivities of the Project and gifts or donations.6 Themoney is used to run the operation, maintain the assetbase and service the commercial loans; so although as a charity it does not make a profit, it does have to run atcommercially successful levels. Visitors are the majorsource of revenue. In its first year of operation itattracted twice the number of visitors estimated in thebusiness plan, and over 7 million in its first five years of operation. Visitor numbers appear to be stabilising atabout 1.2 million a year. But what exactly do peoplecome to see?

Tim Smit’s vision for Eden is far from being that ofjust another garden. He is, as we have noted, not ahorticulturalist, but an archaeologist, anthropologistand former rock show organiser. The purpose of Eden isessentially to educate people about the environmentand the relationship of humanity with the plant world,but to do so in such a way as to set a conservation andsustainability example which is, above all things,spectacular fun. The 2007–8 Annual Review explainsthis purpose thus:

The Eden Project exists to explore our dependence on the natural world; rebuilding connections ofunderstanding that have faded from many people’s lives.We use the living collection of plants as a canvas onwhich to tell stories that illustrate our dependence onplants and resources, that we are part of nature not apart from it, and that by working with the grain ofnature we can develop more resilient individuals,communities and societies to face the challenges of the 21st Century.7

The Project identifies three essential elements in itsapproach to this task;

■ educational programmes; this includes the design ofthe site, and all the events which happen there, manyof which are connected with schools and colleges orseek to convey important social messages.8 Currentprogrammes include ‘Gardens for Life’ which co-ordinates school gardening and educationalactivities involving 25,000 children at 400participating schools in the UK, Kenya and India;and the ‘Mud Between Your Toes’ experience whichaims to reconnect children with nature and theenvironment.

■ operational practice; Eden believes the way it runsthe site should be an inspiration and example toboth commercial corporations and public bodies;this is part of its aim to develop the notion of SocialEnterprise, ‘Where the twin needs of good citizenshipand the rigour of sound commerce meet’.9 A goodillustration of this is its ‘waste neutral’ initiative.

■ Eden as convenor and agent for change; this aspectinvolves using the Eden venue to host major events


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that facilitate dialogue and debate about significantenvironmental matters. For example, in May 2007 ithosted a conference of business and communityleaders as part of the Prince of Wales BusinessSummit on Climate Change; and it has developedthe Post-Mining Alliance which focuses on theproblems of managing the environmental legacy offormer mining areas like Bodelva itself.

The educational purpose which underlies the Projectshows that this is, indeed, far more than just anothergarden.

Eden’s education programmes present the need forenvironmental care to the widest possible public audiencethrough celebrating what nature gives us – the focus isunashamedly on love and awe rather than guilt and fear,weaving expertise in horticulture, arts, media, science,technology, education and commerce in order to raiseawareness and inspire people to action.10

The achievement of this objective requires both focusedand decisive leadership, but also powerful teamwork.

Taking a leadThe television series Gardeners of Eden11 which presented a year in the life of the Eden Project givessome insight into both the nature of Tim Smit’sleadership style and the range of activities undertakenby the different teams required to run the Project. It alsoshows some of the very human problems associatedwith such an enterprise, including conflicts of interestbetween the Project’s main purpose and some of theprofessional teams whose tasks are to contribute to thatobjective.

Smit generally dresses casually and has the slightlyscruffy air of someone who is not accustomed to spendmuch of his working day in an office or behind a desk.In a Guardian article prior to a major lecture at the RSA,the interviewer noted some of Smit’s key qualities.

Smit’s secret, if there is one, seems to be that he can bringpeople of very different disciplines and skills together, getthem to brainstorm and collaborate, and come up withthe extraordinary. The Eden Project, he says, hasattracted locals by the score, but also high-flying artists,businessmen, architects, scientists, engineers,educationalists, horticulturalists and ecologists from allover Britain. ‘It feels like a renaissance organisation,’ saysone woman who left a senior management job to workthere as a director and has been amazed both at whatgets done and the way it works. ‘It’s attracted a criticalmass of people, and there’s this passionate belief, rightthrough the project, that it belongs to everyone who worksthere, that it’s a team thing. I guess it demonstrates thatyou can have an organisation that is highly effectivefinancially, environmentally and socially. It’s a kind ofexperiment to show that you can work in different ways.’

A local woman who has been with Eden since the start is more succinct. ‘It’s the most equal place I’ve known,’she says.

‘This is a stage for change,’ says Smit, who admits thatEden can seem like a sect to outsiders. ‘Many people havemade life choices to come here. Most could earn five timesas much elsewhere. But I’m aware that if you want toeffect real change, and we do, that you must not own it.You have got to make sure that it’s owned by more thanone person.’12

Smit is described as optimistic and positive, with a mission to make people think differently. He isconcerned to challenge dogma from all sides, and ishappy to question the views of committedenvironmentalists like José Bové as well as those oftraditionalists. Although educational, he is convincedthat the Eden Project need not be stuffy or seek topreach; above all fun, excitement and spectacle areintegral to the educational process. This lays him opento the accusation that it is no more than a ‘green themepark’; and indeed his desire to make the project a centrefor spectacle and display brings him into conflict withthe horticulturalists on the site. In the year of filming, itwas clear that the two managers of the biomes deeplyresented the disturbance and damage done to theirplants by teams of electricians hired to lay lightingcables in and around the buildings to support some ofthe spectacles and events which are planned. A thirdcurator-in-waiting is frustrated that the project to buildthe dry tropics biome which is planned to house hisextensive cactus and succulent collection has been putback by several years, leapfrogged by the project tobuild the ‘Core’ education centre.

Smit is also very ‘hands-on’ in the sense that he is both integral to many of the special events (forinstance the Rainforest Conference organised inSeptember 2005) but is equally prepared to help sellingtickets and guiding visitors on the peak season ‘trickydays’, peak visitor days on which staff who do notnormally work with visitors are encouraged to followhis example and pitch in to help keep the operationmoving.13

Working in ParadiseBy 2008, the Project had grown to be a major localemployer with 450 staff on the payroll, and 150 ormore additional regular volunteer workers who aredrafted in to help with (mostly) peak seasonal activitiessuch as horticulture and visitor operations. Theworkforce is focused into a number of ‘Eden Teams’, themain one being the Destination Team. This teamincludes the Green Team of horticultural curators andother experts who manage the biomes and the planting,but in addition the people who run events andexhibitions as well as the retail and catering operations.This team is very much the ‘front of house’, as the

Your tasksIn the television programme, Smit explains part of his management philosophy thus:

It is essential for me to like everybody I work with, which is not a very professional thing if you were doing an MBA;you employ people on their merits and their CVs. Bugger that for a game of darts! If I’m going to get out of bed inthe morning to do something like this, I want to walk through that door really looking forward to seeing everybodythat’s there. And you know what? I have the tremendous privilege of that being so.

■ Using frameworks and concepts from the chapters on work groups and teams, critically review this approachto the creation of work teams and organisations. What are the strengths and the risks of taking such a viewabout the people who work for you?

■ Analyse Tim Smit’s leadership style in the light of appropriate theories. Does it help or hinder his leadershipthat, as chief executive of a project about plants, he is ‘not a horticulturalist’?

■ To what extent do you think that the non-profit-making nature of this organisation enhances the sense ofcollaboration and teamwork between various groups of the workforce?

■ Tim Smit now lectures all sorts of both commercial and non-commercial organisational leaders aboutmanagement. Analyse the extent to which his approach might be transferable to both profit-makingorganisations and public sector ones, whose stakeholder groups are very different from those at Eden.


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gardeners work in the public eye during the day.However, as the programme shows, they also workoutside opening hours, often at night, to carry outcertain potentially hazardous activities, such as loppingunstable branches from trees in the rainforest. It is alsoclear from the series that there can be significantdifferences of opinion and interest between the GreenTeam and Smit. This came to the fore when Smitplanned the first major winter event, the ‘Time of Gifts’festival. This was partly an attempt to increase wintervisitor numbers to the site, but required specialconstruction (of an ice rink) and lighting in order toaccommodate a variety of story-telling activities in thebiomes, as well as ‘light-and-magic’ processions andshows. The whole event clearly opened something of a rift between members of the ‘green’ team and Smitsince many felt that their values were being compromisedand the whole Project was becoming a sort ofDisneyland. One curator told the BBC crew that theevents not only did physical damage, but also damagedthe morale of staff. Not only were curators upset, butthe catering and housekeeping staff were also veryconcerned by the heavy demands (not least of whichwas having to learn to skate!) which would be made,and Smit is seen running a fairly fraught staff meetingwith Destination personnel in an attempt to encouragethem and gain extra commitment. When the event wassuccessful, the staff were thrown a celebratory party, butnevertheless some of the Green Team were absent inprotest. Smit explains his view about this conflict ofinterests:

I’m not into horticulture; my role isn’t horticulture. Myjob is to fizz people into getting excited about horticulture,which is a very, very different activity. And actually, the

certainties that horticulturalists want are exactly the sortof thing I want to shake up.14

While the Destination Team is clearly the face of theEden Project, other teams include: the FoundationTeam who work with supporters of the Project and alsolook outwards to develop education and other scientificand technological projects; the Marketing Team and theCommunications Team who run an in-housepublishing company as well as more traditionalcommunications activities including the website;15 theDevelopment Team which is involved with majorprojects such as building and includes people frompartner organisations such as architects andconstruction companies; the Finance Team, who ensurethe project is economically viable and fully accountableto its various stakeholders; the Creative Team whichdevelops and produces events, including the regularconcerts, many of which feature major pop and rockartists; and the Organisational Development Teamwho ‘look after our people’ and are essentially concernedto link the processes and operations and build the Edenculture. Eden also includes the public as their VisitingTeam, in other words the paying customers whoseinteraction with the project is vital to its continuation.

Between them Tim Smit and the Eden Project teamshave been tremendously successful in both business andeducational terms. Not only has a vision been realisedin terms of the physical development of the site, but thebenefits include an estimated increased incrementalvalue to the Cornish economy of £1.2m in 2007–8.16 Ithas created over 400 jobs, and the majority of staff wererecruited locally. But above all, it has provided millionsof people with a memorable and exciting experiencewhich almost all would recommend to others.

PART 3 CASE STUDY THE EDEN PROJECT

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Notes and references

1 Smale, W. ‘How Cornwall’s Economy Is Fighting Back’, BBC News website, 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk (accessed 4 August 2009).2 Smit, T. The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Orion Books (2000) (first published 1997).3 Visit the Lost Gardens of Heligan website at www.heligan.com to get a feel for this glorious garden.4 The Eden Project Guide 2004/5.5 For instance pine cones, sunflower heads, pineapples and many cacti show this pattern.6 Eden Project Annual Review 2007–8 available for download from the Eden Project website, www.edenproject.com

(accessed 4 August 2009).7 Eden Project Annual Review 2007–8, p. 1.8 Eden, for instance, ran an ‘Africa Calling’ concert during the 2005 ‘Live8’ day which featured a host of bands and internationally

known artists from many parts of Africa.9 Eden Project Annual Report to 27 March 2005, p. 7.

10 Eden Project Annual Review 2007–8, p. 3.11 BBC DVD 2005 The Eden Project: The Gardeners of Eden, published by the BBC, covers part of the years 2004/5.12 Vidal, J. ‘Shaping the Future’, The Guardian, 6 October 2004, available from the Guardian website at

http://society.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,5031884-111982,00.html (accessed 4 August 2009).13 BBC DVD 2005 The Eden Project: The Gardeners of Eden.14 Ibid.15 Including a webcam: see http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/content/webcams/eden_webcam.shtml.16 Eden Project Annual Review 2007–8, p. 6.

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