Leadership Content (For A2) Flashcards
(13 cards)
What is Leadership?
Leadership is a process in which one person influences an individual or a group to achieve shared and individual objectives & goals.
“The process of influencing others to understaand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, & the process of facilitating individual & Collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives (Gary Yukl 2006)
What is the trait theory of leadership Katz, Khan (1978)
- Belief that people are born / made with certain traits (genetically determined distinguishable quality of a person) qualities enabling them to excel in leadership roles
focused on analysing mental, physical and social characteristics to gain better understanding of common characteristic (or combinations of) amongst leaders (age, gender, height, weight & ethnicity)
believed that these characteristics make a “good leader”
Criticism’s of Trait Theory of leadership
Vague & limited value in trying to identify leaders
Can’t demit a definitive list of leadership traits
Not effective for leadership training & development
What are contingency / situational approaches to leadership?
Contingency - no best way to lead organize company. Action is dependent upon the situation, and the a leader will apply their leadership style to situation
Situational - there are certain situational variables that can determine a situation / A leaders favour may changed based on external situational variables
Three situational variables that can produce 8 possible combinations of situation, which can be most favourable to leader is when there are good leader member relations, task is highly structured, & leader has a powerful position (& vice versa)
(Fiedler, 1967)
Belief that leadership style is less dependent on
innate traits / observable behavioural
styles
more dependent on context of leading (
nature of work, the internal working
environment, external
economic & social environment
(Fiedler, 1964)
What is the Path-Goal theory of Leadership (House, 1996)
Contingency based leadership model, focuses on how leaders can enhance employee satisfcaction & performance by adjusting & adapting their leadership style according to a situation, and can apply said styles as needed.
Effective leaders motivate employees by helping them understand their needs & expectations can be fufilled through job performance
Theory emphasises that ability & commitment to providing employees with psycholgical, techincal support, info and additional resources to complete tasks is crucial to leader effectiveness
Leadership effectiveness is dependent on two contingencies:
Employee relevant contingencies (Employee compencies, knowledge, skills, experience & personality)
Environmental relevant contingencies ( Nature of teams, structure & nature of tasks)
What are (House, 1996) Four leadership styles?
House identified these styles as being applicable to different situations
Directive - Clarifies goals, what must be done to achieve them & outcomes of achieving goals, using rewards, discipline & punishment & are task oriented
Supportive - Shows concern for needs (especially psychological & aspirations of people at work. Provide a supportive & enjoyable working environment
Participative - Actively seeks & encourages input & involvement of staff in decision making & other work related issues
Achievement oriented - expects highest commitment to excellence both at a personal & organizational level. Believes that work should be challenging & that people will strive towards achieving these goals by assuming responsibility
What are Leadership behaviours
Specific task (Planning, clarifying roles and obj)
Consideration (Relationship building)
Person Oriented
What is the Michigan Continuum? Likert, R.K (1961)
A diagram showcasing the two leadership styles that led to greater productivity & enhanced job satisfaction amongst workers: Employee & product orientation.
Concluded that employee orientnation rather than prod orientation, with general supervision rather than close, led to better results. (Better output)
Employee oriented supervisors
paid more attention to work relations,
exercised less direct supervision
encouraged more employee decision making
Production oriented supervisors were
More directive
More concerned with task needs > People needs
Functional / action centred leadership (Adair, J. 1973)
Focuses on how leadership occurs, developed by studying successful leaders & identifying actions & behaviours demonstated
Belief that leadership can be taught, doesn’t depend on a persons traits, & is a transferrable skill. Demonstrates this through his model of leadership, with 3 factors that overlap
(task can only be performed by team, team can only achieve task through fully developed individuals, individuals will be motivated & challenged by task )
Functional model of leadership (Adair, J. 1973)
Task - Task needs, setting obj, planning task, allocation of responsibilities
Group - group needs, team building, motivation, communication, discipline
Individual Maintenance - Directed towards needs of individuals, coaching, counselling, motivation & development
To be effective - leader must achieve tasks, build & maintain team, & develop individuals - Achieving task builds team and satisfies individuals
What are the three types of leadership approaches?
Transactional - those who lead through social exchange, offering financial rewards for productivity & denying rewards for lack of productivity. Adhere to organizational policies, values & vision, strong on planning budgeting & meeting schedules.
Transformational - Inspire change and motivation and innovating, stimulate & inspire workers to achieve extraordinary outcomes, help followers grow and develop into leaders by responding to individual needs
Charismatic - Capable of having profound, extraordinary, motivating & emotional effects on followers (loyalty & devotion to leader, inspiring followers to execute leaders will without regard for personal interest) Leader acts as a role model for the followers, can create & unify people towards a grand vision of an idealised future.
What is the Leadership Style Continuum
Schmidt (1958)
(Diagram)
A continuum created to show the different ways that a leader can interact with their followers, showcasing two ends of the spectrum - Authoritarian (leader has all freedom to decide) democratic (team has nearly total freedom to decide)
Democratic - Leader shares decision making with group members, promoting their interest & practicing social equality
Authoritiarian - Individual has total decision making & absolute control . little or no input is solicited from team members / followers
What is the Situational leadership Model (Hersey et al, 1996)
Theory focusing on both Follower & Leader (person / group being led)
suggests the most effective & appropiate leadership style / behaviour for a leader to exhibit is dependent on the subordinate’s “maturity” level.
Eg. low maturity subordinate lacks skills required to do job, but a high maturity is able, willing & can take responsibility for the job
Concludes that level of subordinate maturity determins appropiate mix of task & relationship orientation/ behaviour for the leader
Eg. a low maturity suboridinate being led, will cause the leader to emphasise task oriented behaviour, direecting & closely monitoring progress.
As the subordinate rises in maturity, the leader should adopt a more relationship oriented behaviour.
the appropiate mix & task & relationship behaviour for the leader depends upon the skill, confidence & motivation of person/ people being led
