Leadership in an Organizational Context

Chapter 16: 483 - 494 Organizational Behavior 261

Gabrielle Durepos

Reminders for Today• Attendance

• Midterm Exam Results– BSAD 261-11

• High 95%• Low 46%• Average 68.4%

– BSAD 261-12• High 94%• Low 36%• Average 68.1%

• Group project outline due Monday, Oct 31st

Outline

• Toward an understanding of leadership

• Leadership versus management

• Leadership theories– Trait perspective– Behavior perspective– Contingency perspective

• Conclusions

Toward an understanding of Leadership 1/2

• Why study leadership?– Leaders can influence actions and can enact change– Leaders make a difference to organizational outcomes = improve performance

• Leadership understood as:– Personality traits– Style of behavior – a way of being– A power relation– Individual exerts influence– Ability to define “goals”– A combination of the above variables

• Managerialist approaches tend to study leadership as:– A thing – that someone possesses– Focused on skills that someone has– Exercised through a type of behavior

Toward an understanding of Leadership 2/2

• Leadership as an influence relationship:

– Between two parties

– Substantive long term change is enacted• In the way people perceive events

• In the way people make sense of their daily lives and purpose

• In their collective future

• In the way individuals “buy into” mutual purposes

– Where certain individuals become “followers”

– Towards mutual purposes

Leadership versus Management:Are all managers leaders? Are all leaders managers?

• Leadership– Influence relationship– Leaders and followers both

influence each other– Long term substantive

change:• Questions how to do what

they do?

– Provide:• Vision; strategy;

inspiration

• Management– Authority relationship– Supervisors and

subordinates; supers dictate what gets done

– Status quo:• Let’s make sure we do

what we have to do according to time and quality specifications

– Implement:• Vision; strategy;

inspiration

Leadership Theories:Trait Perspective 1/2

• Early “trait perspective” theorists:– Individuals who possess a single “trait” or clusters of “traits” are

effective leaders– “Traits” include:

• Intelligence, self confident, determined, sociable

• Later “trait perspective” theorists:– Leadership is based on complex groupings of traits and social

interactions– There is no consistent set of “traits” that guarantees leadership &

success – BUT Leaders can be identified as possessing certain traits that

makes them stand out

Leadership Theories:Trait Perspective 2/2

• Weaknesses:

– Neglects the context of the leader• What about different cultural contexts• Is the notion of a “good leader” culturally

determined?

– Neglects the importance of “followership” • The notion that ‘leaders are only considered

leaders if they attract followers’ is neglected in this perspective

Leadership Theories:Behavior Perspective 1/3

• Behavior perspective seeks to answer the following:– What behaviors make leaders effective?– What do leaders do?– How do they behave towards subordinates?

• Early theorists and the behavior perspective:– Two dimensions of leadership behavior:

• Task oriented behavior

• Relationship oriented behavior

– These are at opposite ends of a spectrum…

Leadership Theories:Behavior Perspective 2/3

• Later theorists: Blake and Mouton’s “The Leadership Grid”– Two main activities of leaders involve:

• Concern for production• Concern for people

– The two categories are independent of each other

– In different combinations, they yield five major leadership styles• Task compliance leader:

– high concern for production, low concern for people

• Team leader:– high concern for production, high concern for people

– Is seen as the best style of leadership

• Country club leader:– low concern for production, high concern for people

• Impoverished leader:– low concern for production, low concern for people (laissez faire)

• Middle of the road leader:– Medium concern for production, medium concern for people

Leadership Theories:Behavior Perspective 3/3

• Weaknesses:

– This theory offers a prescription for good leadership• It offers a recipe for effective leadership… if you act in accordance to x,

y, and z… then you are a good leader

• Is this overly simplistic?

– Presents a “one-best way” approach• If you are a “team leader” (high production, high people); you are

understood as a great leader

– Is a “high production – high people” approach always the best way?

– What about the leader’s situation?

Leadership Theories:Contingency Perspective 1/2

• Most effective leadership style depends on:– The leader

– Follower characteristics

– The situation – environment

• Different behaviors or clusters of traits will be effective in different situations

• Leaders must be flexible and able to adapt their behaviors and styles to match the situation

• Weakness:– Does not answer why certain leaders with certain leadership styles will

be more effective in some situations than in others

Leadership Theories:Contingency Perspective 2/2

• Hersey and Blanchard and “Situational Leadership”– Managers should reflect on the maturity and development of their followers and adjust

the degree of:• task orientation

• relationship orientation

– Different stages of a follower development require different management styles of leadership:

• Directing style– Follower is new to the task and development is low– Leader should be high on task direction and low on supportive behavior

• Coaching style– as follower gains experience, leader adds support and encouragement, solicits input

• Supporting style– If follower development is high, the manager be highly directive and highly supportive

• Delegating style– Final stage of follower development– Requires low task direction and low support style

– Manager must appraise where followers are on the development continuum and adapt leadership style to match the development level of followers

Conclusions

• How do we assess effective leadership?– Certain sets of traits?– Certain behaviors?– Ability to enact change?– Ability to influence and instill vision?

• Are leaders born or made?

• Think about the various leadership theories that we have just gone over…– These are quite formulaic…– Will they explain effective leadership in EVERY situation?– What about a person who is seen as a leader but is not effective in a

particular situation? • Is Lieutenant – General Roméo Dallaire an effective leader (Rwanda, 1993-1994)?

Hand Back Midterms

• Exams are not to leave this room

• Midterm Exam Results

– BSAD 261-11• High 95%• Low 46%• Average 68.4%

– BSAD 261-12• High 94%• Low 36%• Average 68.1%