Leadership Lecture 11. Leadership definitions Leadership can be defined as a process or property; As a process, it is the influence to shape the group’s.

Leadership

Lecture 11

Leadership definitions

Leadership can be defined as a process or property; As a process, it is the influence to shape the group’s

or organizational goals, motivate behaviour toward the achievement of those goals and help define group or organization culture.

As a property, it is a set of characteristics attributed to the individuals who are perceived as leaders.

Leadership and management

Give example for leaders in organization; Are there differences between leaders and

managers?

Power and leadership

Power is the ability to affect the behaviour of others. There are five kinds of power in any organization:

- Legitimate power. It is the power granted through the organizational hierarchy. It is the same as authority. All managers have legitimate power over subordinates;

- Reward power. It is the power to give rewards such as salary increases, promotions, praise, recognition and interesting job assignments.

Forms of power

Coercive power. It is the power to force compliance by means of psychological, emotional or physical threat; It may take the form of verbal reprimand, written reprimands, disciplinary layoffs, demotion and termination.

Referent power. The personal power that is given to someone based on identification, imitation.

Forms of power

Expert power. It is the personal power given to someone based on the information or expertise they possess. The more important the information is and the fewer people who have access to it, the greater is the expert power possessed by the individual.

Using power

The legitimate request. It involves the manager requesting that the subordinates comply as they recognize that the organization has given the right to manager to make the request.

Instrumental compliance. It is based on reward power and it is based on reinforcement theory of motivation.

Coercion- by using coercive power. When the manager suggests that subordinate will be punished, coercion is being practiced.

Theories of leadership

Theory of the traits of a leader.Gizeli is the author of the theory. He examines traits of

managers, who are successful in their work. These traits include:

- Abilities to inspect, to direct the work of others, to organize and integrate their actions;

- Need of professional advancement and achievements, intelligence, need of self-actualization, self-confidence and ability to take decisions.

Conclusions from Gizeli’s theory

The successful leaders have higher needs of achievements, are ready to work on their own and are confident in the job they are doing;

The leaders are communicative, able to estimate others in the right way.

Behavioral approach to leadership

It focuses on what leaders do, not on what traits they have. The behavioral approach is presented by:

- The Michigan studies. There are two forms of leader behavior:

Job-centered leader behavior. It means that leader is paying close attention to subordinates’ work, explain work procedures and is interested in their performance.

Employee-centered leader behaviour. In this case, leader is interested in developing working group and ensuring that employees are satisfied with their job.

The Ohio state studies

There are two basic leader styles:- Initiating structure behaviour. The leader

clearly defines the leader-subordinate role so everyone knows what is expected, establishes formal lines of communication and determines how tasks will be performed.

- Consideration behaviour. The leader shows concern for subordinates and attempts to establish supportive climate.

Conclusions of the Ohio state studies

Leaders who exhibit high levels of both behaviors would tend to be more effective than other leaders;

Employees of supervisors who ranked high on initiating structures were higher performers but with lower level of satisfaction;

Managerial Grid

It is a model of leadership based on two forms of leader behavior:- Concern for people;- Concern for the production.There are 5 leader styles:1. Task management or authoritarian management having high

concern for the production and low for people;2. Liberal management style with high concern for people and low

concern for the production;3. Management of the orphanage. It is typical for low concern on both

dimensions.4. Management of the middle road. It is characterized by average

concern for people and production.5. Democratic management.

Situational approaches to leadership

The appropriate leader behavior varies from one situation to another;

The goal is to identify key situational factors and to specify how they interact to determine leader behavior.

Fiedler’s contingency theory

Fiedler identifies two styles of leadership- task-oriented and relationship-oriented.

The style of leader behavior is a reflection of the leader’s personality.

Fiedler is using the Least preferred colleague. To use this measure, the manager is asked to describe the person with whom he or she is able to work at least well. The higher numbers are associated with a relationship orientation, whereas low points mean that the leader is task oriented.

Fiedler’s model

Favorableness of the situation. It means that appropriate leader behaviour varies from one situation to another. The key situation factor is the favorableness of the situation. This factor is determined by three things:

- leader-member relations;- Task structure;- Position power.

Task structure

It is the degree to which the group task is well defined. In routine task, the group has standardized procedures and precedents to rely on.

If the task is unstructured, then leader plays an important role.

Position power

It is the power in leader’s position. Position power is strong if the leader can assign work, reward and punish employees.

Flexibility of leader style

Leader style is fixed and can not be changed. When the leader’s style and situation do not match, the situation should be changed to fit the leader style.

The Path-Goal theory

Authors of the theory are Evans and House. The theory is based on the expectancy

theory. The functions of the leader are to make

valued or desired rewards available and to clarify to subordinates what kind of behavior will lead to goal accomplishment.

Path-goal theory

There are 4 types of behaviours:- Directive leader lets the subordinates know what is

expected from them, giving guidance and direction;- Supportive leader.- Participative leader, who is consulting subordinates

and allowing participating in the decision making.- Achievement oriented leader. He is setting goals,

expecting high performance from subordinates, encouraging them.

Situational factors

Leader style depends on situational factors:- Personal characteristics of subordinates;- Environmental characteristics of the work

place;