2. Leadership Concepts Are leaders born or made? Thomas Carlyle suggested the “great man” theory, that is, that leaders are born with innate qualities or traits that set them apart from other “mere men” Researchers since have found that there is not one set of traits that makes someone a leader Traits that are found in leaders are also found in followers Trait theories did not show leaders were successful in different situations using very different methods As the limitations of early explanations for leadership development became clear, researchers turned to other areas for investigation
3. Leadership Concepts Areas that researched turned to in order to explain what makes a good leader Behavioral Theories Situational Theories Contingency Theories
4. Behavioral Theories 1940 saw a shift in belief towards that which supported the idea that Leadership could be taught. Anyone could become a leader with the right information Not based on personality traits Based on what the leader did to make people follow them Two aspects of behavior became apparent in the research
5. Behavior Theory Two Aspects of Behavior Behavior focused on the structural elements of the job Establishing rules and guidelines for employees Behavior that considered the needs of the employees Standing up for employees Explaining decisions There were leadership characteristics that were not explained by behavioral theories How or why one behavioral aspect worked in one situation but not another
6. Situational Theories Seeks to explain leadership effectiveness in different situations Elements that are considered How the leaders and followers interact How the work is structured There are three main situational theories Blake-Mouton managerial grid, 1968 Path-goal theory, 1971 Hersey-Blanchard theory, 1977
7. Blake-Mouton Managerial grid Considers two aspects Concern for people Concern for production Uses 9 levels to measure each aspect Leaders on the lowest (1,1) level show no concern for people or production Leaders on the highest extreme show maximum concern for both people and production Leaders scoring (9,9) are the most effective leaders
8. Path-goal Theory Proposes that a leader can impact the behavior of a group by establishing goals and providing direction on reaching those goals Four leadership styles may be used to accomplish this Directive Supportive Participative Achievement
9. Path-goal Theory Directive Specifics what is to be done Supportive Leader provides encouragement for the group members Participative Leader involves the group in decision making process Achievement Leader establishes a difficult goal and encourages the group to accomplish it
10. Hersey-Blanchard Theory Describe leadership in terms of maturity level of the followers Two types of maturity Psychological maturity (motivation) Job task maturity (level of experience) This model provides four styles of leadership appropriate in different circumstances Telling Selling Participating Delegating
11. Hersey-Blanchard Theory Telling With an immature team member base the leader must be direct in providing guidance and defining roles Selling With some experience, leader is directing in a more general sense; Encouraging motivated followers with lack of experience Participating Followers may lack necessary motivation and require support and encouragement to act on their own Delegation Followers have the maturity to accomplish their tasks, leader identifies the goal and the followers are accountable to produce the results
12. Contingency Theories Begins with an assessment of leader’s style Uses the “least preferred co-worker” scale Indentify the co-worker (past or present) with whom you had the most difficulty working and rate this person on a scale of 1 to 8 on a series of measures such as level of cooperation and friendliness The result is know as the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) A high score indicates the leaders has a greater concern for people than tasks A low score indicates a greater concern for tasks LPC score could predict the situation in which the leader would have a better chance of success
13. Contingency Theory Describes situations in terms of three aspects Leader-member relations Relationship between the leaders and members of the group are the key factor in determining the level of influence the leader will have within the group Task Structure Jobs that are highly structured provide a leader with greater influence than those that require little structure Position Power Situations in which the leader has the discretion to assign tasks or to reward or punish members of the group provide the leader with a greater chance of success
15. Leadership Styles There are many different types of leadership styles that are appropriate and effective in different situations. We have all experienced different types of leadership styles What type of leader are you?
17. Authoritarian or Directive Effective in situations requiring immediate actions Effective in situations that are life threatening Can be the best style when productivity is the highest concern
18. Democratic Most effective in environments of highly skilled professional employees Good style for individuals who are self motivated and accomplish tasks on their own Most effective style when relationships in the work environment are of primary concern
19. Laissez-faire Allows group members to operate on their own Provides no direction or guidance Can lead to chaos if members lack confidence in their abilities May be an acceptable style for those who are highly motivated and can work independently In general it results in lower levels of productivity
20. Coaching Coaches work with the group members to develop skills and abilities so that they will be able to operate independently
21. Transactional Focus on getting the job done Offering a reward in exchange for accomplishing goals Manage by exception Seeking out areas where rules are not being followed and making corrections Taking action when a goal is not met
22. Transformation Focuses on the relationships in the group Building relationships to achieve organizational goals Set the ideal for the group and act as a role model Inspire Excellence within the group Stimulate new ideas and perspectives Transformative leaders are coaches who work with individuals to develop their skills and abilities and improve their performance
