Theories of leadership

Theories of

Leadership

Presented by: Johny A. Prudencio

What is Leadersh

ip?Leadership is a major way in which people change the minds of others and move organizations forward to accomplish identified goals.

Why are some

leaders successful

, while others fail?

Theories of Leadership• Great Man Theory

• Trait Theory• Behavioral Theories• Participative Leadership• Situational Leadership• Contingency Theories• Transactional Theory• Transformational Theory

Great Man

Theory• Leaders are born and not made• Great leaders will arise when there is a great need• This idea also strayed into the mythic domain (ex.

Jesus, Moses, Mohammed and the Buddah, etc.)• Originally proposed by Thomas Carlyle• Patriarchal minded

Trait Theory• People are either born or not born with

the qualities that predispose them to success in leadership roles

• People are born with inherited traits• Some traits are particularly suited to leadership• People who make good leaders have the right (or

sufficient) combination of traits

Stogdill (1974) identified the following traits and skills as critical to leaders.

Traits Skills

Adaptable to situations Alert to social environment Ambitious and achievement-orientated Assertive Cooperative Decisive Dependable Dominant (desire to influence others) Energetic (high activity level) Persistent Self-confident Tolerant of stress Willing to assume responsibility

Clever (intelligent) Conceptually skilled Creative Diplomatic and tactful Fluent in speaking Knowledgeable about group task Organised (administrative ability) Persuasive Socially skilled

Leaders could succeed or ‘derail’(McCall and Lombardo.1983)

• Emotional stability and composure: Calm, confident and predictable, particularly when under stress.

• Admitting error: Owning up to mistakes, rather than putting energy into covering up.

• Good interpersonal skills: Able to communicate and persuade others without resort to negative or coercive tactics.

• Intellectual breadth: Able to understand a wide range of areas, rather than having a narrow (and narrow-minded) area of expertise.

Behavioral Theory• Leaders can be made, rather than are born

• Successful leadership is based in definable, learnable behavior

• Leadership’ capability can be learned, rather than being inherent

• Role Theory• The Managerial Grid

Role Theory

• People around are expecting a role from their leaders

• Leaders must do their role as well as his/her subordinates

• Role conflict can also occur when people have differing expectations of their leaders. It also happens when leaders have different ideas about what they should be doing vs. the expectations that are put upon them.

The Managerial Grid (Blake and Mouton in the early 1960s)

Concern for People

High Country Club management

Team management

Medium Middle of the road

management

Low Impoverished management

Authority-compliance

Low Medium High

Concern for Production (Task)

Participative

Leadership• Several people deciding together make better

decisions than one person alone• A Participative Leader, rather than taking autocratic

decisions, seeks to involve other people in the process

< Not participative Highly participative >

Autocratic decision by

leader

Leader proposes decision, listens

to feedback, then decides

Team proposes decision, leader

has final decision

J oint decision with team as

equals

Full delegation of decision to team

Situational Leadership• The best action of the leader depends on a range of situational factors

• Factors that affect situational decisions include motivation and capability of followers and relationship between the followers

• 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

Yukl (1989) seeks to combine other approaches and identifies six variables:

• Subordinate effort: the motivation and actual effort expended.• Subordinate ability and role clarity: followers knowing what

to do and how to do it.• Organization of the work: the structure of the work and

utilization of resources.• Cooperation and cohesiveness: of the group in working

together.• Resources and support: the availability of tools, materials,

people, etc.• External coordination: the need to collaborate with other

groups.

Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1958) identified three forces that led to the leader's action:

• The forces in the situation• The forces in then follower and • The forces in the leader

Contingency Theories• Jay Galbraith (1973) states that:

* there is no one best way to organize* any way of organizing is not equally effective

• the optimal course of action is contingent (dependent) upon the internal and external situation

• Situational theory

Some important contingencies for companies byJoan Woodward (1958)

1. Technology2. Suppliers and distributors3. Consumer interest groups4. Customers and competitors5. Government6. Unions

‘Contingency in a nutshell’ (Gareth Morgan Images of Organization)

• Organizations are open systems that need careful management to satisfy and balance internal needs and to adapt to environmental circumstances

• There is no one best way of organizing. The appropriate form depends on the kind of task or environment one is dealing with.

• Management must be concerned, above all else, with achieving alignments and good fits

Three empirically derived dimensions (Fred Fiedler)

• The leader-member relationship• The degree of task structure• The leader's position power

Transactional Theory• People are motivated by reward and punishment.

• Transactional leadership is based in contingency, in that reward or punishment is contingent upon performance.

• Transactional leader often uses management by exception

• The prime purpose of a subordinate is to do what their manager tells them to do.

Transformational Theory

• People will follow a person who inspires them.• A person with vision and passion can achieve great

things.• The way to get things done is by injecting

enthusiasm and energy.• Transformational Leaders are often charismatic, but

are not as narcissistic as pure Charismatic Leaders, who succeed through a belief in themselves rather than a belief in others.

Style

• Developing the vision• Selling the vision• Finding the way forwards• Leading the charge

Working for a Transformational Leader can be a wonderful and uplifting experience. They put

passion and energy into everything. They care about you and want you to succeed.

References• http://managementhelp.org/blogs/leadership/

2010/04/21/leadership-theories/#sthash.NjIQHESS.dpuf

• http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/leadership-theories.htm#sthash.u0XEfM25.dpuf

• http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/theories/leadership_theories.htm

• http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/encyclop/contingency.html