Leadership Leadership Mrs. McMahon and Mr. Mrs. McMahon and Mr. Thornberg Thornberg Fall 2006/Spring 2007 Fall 2006/Spring 2007
Dec 28, 2015
LeadershipLeadership
Mrs. McMahon and Mr. ThornbergMrs. McMahon and Mr. Thornberg
Fall 2006/Spring 2007Fall 2006/Spring 2007
Current Leadership TheoriesCurrent Leadership Theories
• Great Man Theory• Trait Theory• Behavioral Theories• Participative
Leadership
• Situational Leadership
• Contingency Theories
• Transactional Leadership
• Transformational Leadership
Great ManTheoryGreat ManTheory
• Assumptions:
• Leaders are born not made. Great Leaders will arise if there is a need
Great Man TheoryGreat Man Theory
• Description:
• Study of people who were already great leaders
• Aristocratic
• Leadership and breeding
• Mythic domain in times of need great men will arise – Churchill, Eisenhower, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha
Great Man TheoryGreat Man Theory
• Discussion:
• Gender issues not on table
• Most researchers male
Trait TheoryTrait Theory
• Assumptions:
• People are born with inherited traits
• Some traits are particularly suited to leadership
• People who make good leaders have the right combination of traits
Trait TheoryTrait Theory
• Description:• Early research based on focus of the
day >inherited traits• Attention focused on finding those
traits, often by studying successful leaders
• If people could be found with these traits they, too, could become great leaders
Stogdill(1974) identified the Stogdill(1974) identified the following traits and skillsfollowing traits and skills
• Traits:• Adaptable to
situations• Alert to the social
environment• Ambitious and
achievement oriented
• Assertive• Cooperative
• Dominant• Energetic• Persistent• Self confident• Tolerant of stress• Willing to assume
responsibility
Traits – Stogdill (1974)Traits – Stogdill (1974)
• Skills:• Clever• Conceptually skilled• Creative• Diplomatic and
Tactful• Fluent in speaking• Knowledgeable
about group task
• Organized (administrative ability)
• Persuasive• Socially Skilled
Traits (con’t)Traits (con’t)
• McCall and Lombardo (1983) identified four primary traits by which leaders could succeed or ‘derail”
• Emotional Stability
• Admitting Error
• Good Interpersonal Skills
• Intellectual Breadth
Traits (con’t)Traits (con’t)
• Discussion:
• Many different studies and they agree only in the general saintly qualities
• Inherited traits were sidelined for a long time in favor of situational factors
• Twin studies have now shown us that far more is inherited – perhaps a leadership gene exists
Behavioral TheoryBehavioral Theory
• Assumptions:
• Leaders can be made rather than born
• Successful leadership is based in definable, learnable behavior
Behavior TheoryBehavior Theory
• Description:
• Behavior Theories do not seek inborn traits or capabilities, rather they look at what leaders actually do
• Leadership becomes teachable
Behavior Theory (con’t)Behavior Theory (con’t)
• Discussion:
• Opens the floodgates to leadership development rather than psychometric assessment
• With a large enough study, you can correlate statistically significant behaviors with success. You can also identify behaviors which lead to failure
Behavior Theory subset - Role Behavior Theory subset - Role TheoryTheory
• Assumptions:
• People define roles for themselves
• People form expectations about the roles
• People encourage others to act within the role expectations
Behavior subset - Role TheoryBehavior subset - Role Theory
• Description:
• We all have schemas about the role of leaders
• We send signals to leaders which influence leaders
• Role conflict can occurr when people have differing expectations of their leaders
Behavior Theory subset – Behavior Theory subset – Managerial GridManagerial Grid
• Description:• Defined by Blake and Merton in the early
1960s• Impoverished Management – lazy• Authority-Compliance – focus on task• Country Club Management – concern for
people low focus on task• Team Management – People commited to
task and leader committed to people
Management GridManagement Grid
Concern for People
Country Club Management
Team Management
Middle of the Road Management
Impoverished Management
Authority Compliance
Concern for Production
TASK
Behavior subset – Management Behavior subset – Management GridGrid
• Discussion:
• This is a well known grid that uses Task vs. Person preference that appear in the Michigan Leadership Studies and Ohio State Leadership Studies
Participative Leadership Participative Leadership
• Assumptions:
• Involve in decision making improves understanding of issues
• People are more committed to actions
• People are less competitive
• Social Commitment greater
• Several people deciding make better decisions than one
Participative (con’t)Participative (con’t)
Autocratic Leader
Leader
Proposes
Decision, listens to feed back, then decides
Team
Proposes decision,
Leader has final
decision
Joint
Decision
With
Team as
equals
Full
Delegation
Of the
Decision to
Team
Participative (con’t)Participative (con’t)
• Discussion:
• This can also be known as consultation, empowerment, joint decision making, democratic leadership, Management by objective, and power-sharing.
• Participative leadership can be a sham if leaders ignore opinions given to them
Participative subset – Lewin’s Participative subset – Lewin’s Leadership StylesLeadership Styles
• Description:• Kurt Lewin did leadership decision
experiments in 1939 and identified 3 different styles of leadership– Autocratic –The leader takes the decisions
without consulting others. This caused the most discontent
– Democratic – Most appreciated people are involved but can be problematic when there is a wide range of opinions
Lewin (con’t)Lewin (con’t)
• Laissez-Faire – Minimize leaders part. Works best when people are capable and motivated
Lewin (con’t)Lewin (con’t)
• Discussion:
• Lewin discovered the most effective style was Democratic. Excessive autocratic styles lead to revolution, Whilst under laissez-faire, people were not coherent in their work and did not put in the energy that they did when they were actively led
Situational LeadershipSituational Leadership
• Assumptions:
• The best action of the leader depends on a range of situational factors
Situational Leadership (con’t)Situational Leadership (con’t)
• Style:• The leader’s perception of the follower
and the situation will affect what they do rather than the truth of the situation
• Leaders here work on such factors as external relationships, acquisition of resources, managing demands on the group and managing the structures and culture of the group
Situational Leadership (con’t)Situational Leadership (con’t)
• Discussion:
• Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1958) identified 3 factors that lead to the leaders action– 1. forces in the situation– 2. forces in the follower– 3. forces in the leader
Contingency TheoryContingency Theory
• Assumptions:
• Leaders ability to lead is contingent upon various situational factors, including the leaders preferred style the capabilities and behaviors of the followers and also various situational factors
Contingency Theory (con’t)Contingency Theory (con’t)
• Description:
• Contingency theories are a class of behavior theory that contend there is no best way of leading and that leadership style that is effective in one situation may not be successful in others
Contingency Theory (con’t)Contingency Theory (con’t)
• Discussion:
• Situational Theory tends to focus more on the behaviors a leader should adopt, whereas contingency theory takes a broader view that includes the contingent factors about leader capability and other variables in the situation.