Leadership - Early & Contemporary Approaches to Leadership

Dr. G C Mohanta, BE, MSc(Engg), MBA, PhD(Mgt)

Professor

Leaders

Leaders are individuals who exert influence to help meet group goals:

Formal

Informal

Leader effectiveness is the extent to which a leader actually does help

What is Leadership? The ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to

contribute to the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members.

Robert House (2004)

The ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals.

Robbins & Judge (2008)

Early Approaches to Leadership

Trait Approach

Behavioral Approach

Job-Centered and Employee-Centered Approach

Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) Approach

Path-Goal Approach

Vroom’s Decision Tree Approach

Leader-Member Exchange Approach

Hersey and Blanchard Model

Fiedler’s Contingency Approach

Trait ApproachThe trait approach seeks to identify

personal characteristics that effective leaders possess.

Some Traits/Characteristics of Effective Leader

Intelligence

Task-relevant knowledge

Dominance

Self-confidence

Drive

Motivation

Energy/activity levels

Tolerance for stress

Integrity and honesty

Emotional maturity

Cognitive ability

Knowledge of the business

Charisma

Behavioral Approach

The behavior approach focuses on the behaviors that effective leaders engage in.Consideration behavior

Initiating Structure behavior

Leader Reward Behavior

Leader Punishing Behavior

Consideration & Initiating-structure Behavior

Consideration behavior – involves being concerned with subordinates’ feelings & respecting subordinates’ ideas

Initiating-structure behavior –involves clearly defining the leader-subordinate roles so that subordinates know what is expected of them

Job-Centered and Employee-Centered Approach

Leaders exhibiting job-centered behaviors: Pay close attention to the work of subordinates

Explain all work procedures

Are interested mainly in performance and effective completion of the task

Leaders exhibiting employee-centered behaviors: Pay close attention to the human aspects of the group

Attempt to build effective work groups with high performance goals

Employee-centered leader behavior is more likely to result in effective group performance than job-centered leader behavior.

Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) Approach

Developed by Fred Fiedler, attempts to explain and reconcile both the leader’s personality and the complexities of the situation.

Contends that a leader’s effectiveness depends on the situation and, as a result, some leaders may be effective in one situation or organization but not in another.

Elements of LPC Approach

Task Motivation Versus Relationship Motivation Fiedler and his associates maintain that leadership

effectiveness depends on the match between the leader’s personality and the situation.

Fiedler also identified three factors that determine the favorableness of the situation: Leader-member relations

Task structure

Leader position power

Path-Goal ApproachOriginated with expectancy theory of

motivation

Paths = Employee expectancies

Goals = Employee performance

States that effective leaders ensure that employees who perform their jobs well receive more valued rewards than those who perform poorly

Path-Goal Approach

Path-Goal Leadership ModelEmployee

Contingencies

Environmental

Contingencies

Leader

Behaviors

• Directive

• Supportive

• Participative

• Achievement-oriented

Leader

Effectiveness• Employee

motivation

• Employee satisfaction

• Acceptance of leader

Path-Goal Leadership Styles

Directive Provide psychological structure to jobs

Task-oriented behaviors

Supportive Provide psychological support

People-oriented behaviors

Participative Encourage/facilitate employee involvement

Achievement-oriented Encourage peak performance through goal setting

and positive self-fulfilling prophecy

Vroom’s Decision Tree ApproachThe key component of this approach is

determining how much to involve subordinates in making decisions.

The approach requires that managers use one of two different decision trees: Time-driven model (tree) – intended for use in

making an effective decision as quickly as possible

Development-driven model (tree) –used for developing the decision-making skills of others

Vroom’s Decision Tree (continued)Situational Factors

After choosing a tree, the leader assesses the situation in terms of several factors to determine whether the given factor is “high” or “low.”

Factors include: Decision significance

The importance & likelihood of commitment by followers

The leader and group’s expertise

Group support

Team competence

Vroom’s Decision Tree (continued)

Decision Styles and Subordinate ParticipationFive decision styles are:

Decide Delegate Consult (individually) Consult (group) Facilitate The model is a tool mangers can apply in

deciding how much subordinates should participate in the decision-making process.

Leader-Member Exchange Approach

This model stresses that leaders develop unique working relationships with each of their subordinates. They establish a special relationship with a small

number of trusted subordinates referred to as the in-group; subordinates who are not part of this group are called the out-group.

In-group usually receives special duties requiring responsibility and autonomy; members may also receive special privileges.

In-group members have a higher level of performance and satisfaction than out-group members.

Hersey and Blanchard Model

The Hersey and Blanchard Model identifies different combinations of leadership presumed to work best with different levels of organizational maturing on the part of subordinates.

As the maturity of the followers improves, the leader’s leadership style can shift from a “telling” style to a “selling” style and, finally, to a “delegating” style.

Fiedler’s Contingency Approach

Leadership effectiveness determined by

The characteristic of individuals

The situations in which they find themselves

Distinct leadership styles

Relationship-oriented

Task-oriented

Relationship-oriented & Task-oriented

Relationship-oriented

Wants to be liked by and to get along well with subordinates

Getting job done is second priority

Task-oriented

Wants high performance and accomplishment of all tasks

Getting job done is first priority

Contemporary Approaches to Leadership

Transformational Leadership Approach

Transactional leadership Approach

Charismatic Leadership Approach

Level-5 Leadership Approach

Transformational Leadership Approach

A leadership perspective that explains how leaders change teams or organizations by creating, communicating, and modeling a vision for the organization or work unit, and inspiring employees to strive for that vision

Inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the organization

Transformational Leadership Elements

1. Create a strategic visionDepiction of company’s attractive future

motivates and bonds employees

Leader champions the vision

2. Communicate the visionFrame message around a grand purpose

Create a shared mental model of the future

Use symbols, metaphors

Transformational Leadership Elements (contd.)

3. Model the vision

Walk the talk

Symbolize/demonstrate the vision through behavior

Builds employee trust in the leader

4. Build commitment to the vision

Increased through communicating and modeling the vision

Increased through employee involvement in shaping the shared vision

Transactional Leadership Approach

Transactional leaders

Leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements

Managing & achieving current objectives more efficiently

link job performance to rewards

ensure employees have necessary resources

Charismatic Leadership Approach

A person who is dominant, self-confident, convinced of the moral righteousness of his beliefs, and able to arouse a sense of excitement and adventure in followers.

Four characteristics of charismatic leaders

Have a vision

Are willing to take personal risks to achieve the vision

Are sensitive to follower needs

Exhibit behaviors that are out of the ordinary

How Charismatic Leaders Influence Followers

A four-step process:1. Leader articulates an attractive vision

Vision Statement: A formal, long-term strategy to attain goals

Links past, present, and future

2. Leader communicates high performance expectations and confidence in follower ability

3. Leader conveys a new set of values by setting an example

4. Leader engages in emotion-inducing and often unconventional behavior to demonstrate convictions about the vision

Level-5 Leadership Approach

Level-5 Leader are very effective leaders who possess four typical leadership traits: Individual competencyTeam skillsManagerial competenceAbility to stimulate others to high

performance

Plus a combination of strong professional will (determination) and humility that builds enduring greatness.