Leadership Flashcards
(28 cards)
What are the 4 Leadership Theories
- Trait Approach
- Functional Approach
- Behviroual and Style Theories
- Contemporary Theories
What is the Trait Approach and its three groups
Leaders are born not made. Traits are what makes a good leader based on;
Intelligence - knowledge, fluency, judment
Personality - alert, integrity, adaptable
Ability - tact, popularity, coopertivness
Con’s to Traits Approach
- Questionable if a person can be all these things at once
- Leadership is a role not a personality
- Possession of most or few of these does not mean that a person is a better or worse manager
What is the Functional Approach Theory
Leaders are people that complete these three areas regardless of traits or title;
- Task needs - planning, responsibilites
- Individual needs - coaching, motivating, developing
- Team maintenance needs - communication, team building, discipline
Con’s of Functional Approach
- Simplifies leadership as a complex concept
- No set of ‘correct’ functions for every single organisation, different places need different qualities in leaders
What are the Behvioural and Style Theories
Effective leadership is based on observable behaviours, and that these behaviours can be learned. Based on;
- Autocratic
- Democratic
- Laissez-faire
What are the Contemporary Theories
- Charasmatic
- Connective
- Servant
- Transactional
- Transformational
Pro’s and Con’s to Charastmatic Theory
Leaders are leaders because they’re charasmatic
Pro’s
- Role model
- Loyal followers
- Arouse motivation
Con’s
- Doesn’t mean they have good morals (eg cult)
- Not make or break quality
- Doesn’t equal competence
What is the Connective Contemparorary Theory
- About intra-orgnaisation and inter-organsational relationships
- Believes leaders create connections between people, ideas, and values to achieve shared goals.
- Can be a separate theory
- Purpose is to create interconnections to co-ordinate services better
What are the Pro’s and Con’s to the Connective Theory (within Contemporary Theories)
Pro’s
- Particularly effective in flattened hierarchy’s
- Encourages collaboration and inclusivity
- This leadership style promotes ethical leadership, mutal respsect and emotional intelligence
Con’s
- Large emotional load on the leader
- Not all leaders are extremely emotionally intelligent
- Proffesional relations may be blurred by large focus on positive relations
What is the Servant Theory (within Contemporary Theories)
- Leaders exist to serve their team and end up being leaders due to behaviour that supports this. It emphasizes empathy, ethical behaviour, listening, community-building, and personal development of others.
Pro’s and Con’s to the Servant Theory (within Contemporary theories)
Pro’s
- Good at building trust and loyalty
- Ethical and values driven
- People first approach
Con’s
- if peoples needs considered above the organisation then the amount of work done may suffer
- Strain on leader as requires large amounts of emotional burden
- Leaders in a traditional comman setting may be seen as weak and indecisive
What is Transactional Theory (within Contemporary theories)
- Assumes you don’t need to be a leader to manage
- A system of rewards and punishments to manage teams. It assumes that people are motivated primarily by external rewards, and that clear instructions, structure, and control are essential for achieving objectives
- Commonly used in military, emergency services, and large organisations where compliance, procedures, and consistency are key.
- Leader can monitor and correct subordinates.
What are the Pro’s and Con’s of the Transactional Theory
Pro’s
- Good for maintaining equilibrium, fulfilling roles for policies and procedures.
- Clear boundaries and structure
- Predictable and consistent
Con’s
- Lacks vision and creativity
- Lacks flexibility
- Can decrease staff morale (cogs in a machine)
What is the Transformational Theory (within Contemporary theories)
- Inspiring and motivating people to exceed expectations.
-Leaders focus on vision, values, change, and personal growth, aiming to create long-term improvements and empower their teams - Leaders lead by example
Pro’s and Con’s to Tranformational Theory
Pro’s
- Inspires and motivates staff
- Promotes adaptibility and problem-solving
- Encourages personal growth and development
Con’s
- Can overlook detail and routine tasks with such big-picture thinking
- Difficult to implement if leader does not have recourses, finanaces and systems behind the, to implement their changes
Variables Effecting Leadership
- Characteristics of the leader
- Attitude, needs and other personal characteristics of the followers
- Purpose and structure of the organisation
- Tasks to be performed
- Social, economic and political environment
What is the Autocratic Style (within the Behavioural Theories)
- Making decisions independently, with little or no input from others
- The leader holds all authority and control, sets rules, gives orders, and expects compliance
Pros and Con’s to Autocratic leadership style
Pro’s
- Rapid desicion making eg hectice scenes
- Works well for straightforward tasks
- Useful for inexperiences staff
Con’s
- Can alientate the team
- Members have little to no input, helpful info might be lossed
- Not suitbale in a lot of contexts as rigid and dehumanising
What is the Democratic Leadership style (within Behavioural theories)
You make the final decisions but they include team members in the decision making process
Pros and Con’s to Democratic leadership style
Pro’s
- More approachable, inclusive style
- Increased team involvment
- More open to idea dnd suggsetions
Con’s
- Slower decision making
- Large quantitiy of opinions can cloud personal judgment then no decisino is made
What is the Laissez Faire style of leadership (within Behavoural Theory)
- Hands-off style where the leader provides minimal direction and gives team members a high degree of autonomy to make decisions and manage their own work
- The leader may still set goals and provide resources but is generally uninvolved in day-to-day activities
Pro’s and Con’s to the Laissez Faire leadership style
Pro’s
- May lead to job satisfaction and increased productivity
- Can work well with experienced and skilled team
- Encourages independance and autonomy
Con’s
- Can give inconsistent outcome with less experienced team members
- Staff may take advantage and be less productive with little input and direction from the leader
- Leaders can appear disinterested in their team if done wrong
How to excersise good Followship
Role - be competence, owning and completing tasks well
Awareness - of place and role within team, offer to undertake tasks, make suggestions not orders
Communication - raise concerns to lead without conflict
