L1: Intro Flashcards
what is leadership?
the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives
aka getting ppl to help you reach a goal
key elements
- influence process
- agreements about goals
- facilitation of efforts
- both current & future challenges
- both direct & indirect influence
why does leadership matter?
- to coordinate group movement
- for conflict resolution, deciding on punishment
- managing intergroup relations
aka making sure everyone walks in the same direction, behaves well witin and outside the group
how do you define leadership success?
- measured in various ways depending on the researcher’s perspective
- in terms of outcomes: objective & subjective: org performance (profits, productivity, market share, liking, trust etc)
- in terms of group processes: enhances teamwork, cooperation, decision making, conflict resolution
define direct leadership
leader clearly infuences folloer through direct interaction like meetings, emails, speeches, and personal engagement
define indirect leadership
leader influences ppl who dont interact w them directly, often at different levels of the org. influence passed down through managers, structure, programs, and culture
what are some examples of indirect leadership?
Cascading Effect: CEO → Middle managers → Lower managers → Employees.
Programs & Structure: Policies, recruitment, reward systems, etc.
Organizational Culture: Leaders shape shared values and beliefs.
define social hierarchy
an implicit or explicit rank order of individual or groups w respect to a valued social dimension (like money, skills/knowledge)
what is implicit vs explicit social hierarchies?
explicit: hierarchies that are delineated by rules & consensually agreed upon
implicit: subjectively understood & taken for granted
what are the functions of social hierarchy
- establishing order and facilitating coordination
- motivating indivduals
how do hierarchies develop
- explicitly through formal systems of social roles, or implicitly through organic dev in a group -> both of these called hierarchical differentiation
- ppl who rank higher in the hierarchy obtain more of a valued sociai dimension than ppl who rank lower
what is a formal hierarchy
- signs include job titles, reporting structures, org charts
- consists of small top management team, a layer of middle management, and many lower level employees
- assumption: ind at higher ranks possess a greater combination of skills, ability, and motivation (more control over resources aka power, and more deference from subordinates aka status)
- ppl move within that hierachy, but the hierarchy itself outlasts these changes
- hierarchies are stable cause changing the structure would be costly
what is an informal hierarchy?
- hierarchy develops organically & informally in groups (aka spontaneously and rapidly based on judgments of others’ competence)
- high agreements between group members about the group members rank order
- the basis for informal hierarchical differentiation varies widely
- as soon as a dimension/criterium is judged more important, the hierarchy changes
what is the basis for hierarchy?
- social status
- social power
define social status
the extent to which an individual or group is respected or admired by others
- rank ordering is based on amount of respect accorded by others
- primarily subjective but often high consensus
- respect is attributed based on judgments of expertise & competence and lies in the eye of the beholder
- if attribution of respect changes,so does the status hierarchy
define social power
assymetric control over valued resources in social relations
- ind may have power cause they possess / have access to a positively valued resource adn/or the capacity to distribute a neg valued resources (eg an undesirable taks)
- rank ordering based on access to resources
- power is more objective than status
whats the difference between social power & social status
status lies in eye of the beholder aka property of the co-actor/observer, power is objectively measured based on access to resoures aka property of the actor
how can social power lead to social status?
if respect is conferred on them for having assymetric control over valued resources
how can social status lead to social power?
- when ind who are respected are more likely to be entrusted w valued resources
- whatever resources a high status ind posesses often take on greater value through their simple associated w a highly respected individual
whats the difference between leadership emergence & leadership effectiveness
emergence: how does one become a leader? (personality, experience, circumstance, right time, right place, luck)
effectiveness: when is a leader effective (leaders ability to achieve desired outcomes and thus consequences for followers and other org stakeholders)
what are some decisions to make when studying leadership?
- objective vs subjective
- narrow vs broad focus
- different levels of analysis (ind vs team vs organisation)
- focus on leader vs follower
should leadership be seen as a specialized role or shared influence process?
one view: all groups have role specialization, and the leadership role has responsibilities and functions that cannot be shared too widely w/o jeopardizing the effectiveness of the group. other members are followers, even tho they might assist leader. u can be leader in one group but follower in another. being a leader is a specialized role! ppl w this view study leadership as a specific person role
other view: influence process that occurs naturally within a social system and is diffused among the members. various leadership functions may be carried out by different ppl. leadership may be exhibited both by formal & informal leaders. decisions coe from interactive process involving many ppl. ppl w this view study leadership as a social process.
what kind of influence counts as leadershi?
- some theorists: only influence that results in enthusiastic, ethical, and commited followers is leadership
- others: any kind of influence (even manipulation or coercion) is still leadersihp, cause otucomes vary based on the situation
bottom line: influence is influence, whether iss positive/negative/ethical/maniuplative - it still shapes peoples behaviour
what should the purpose of the influence attempt aka the intentions be for the influence to be considered leadership?
- ethical view: leadership only happens when the leaders goal benefits both the org and followers
- broader view: influence is leadership even if its selfish, manipulative, or harmful cause leadership outcoems can have unintended positive effects
what is rational vs emotional influence when it comes to leadership?
historically leadership was seen as rational - leaders reason w followers
newer theories: emotional influence just as important! great leaders inspire, motivate, stir emotions
