Leadership Style

Question 1

Leadership style 1

Answer 1

Leadership effectiveness (Fiedler, 1967)

1. Examines the interaction between the style of leadership and the situation.
   > This identifies an important point that different leadership styles will be effective in different situations.
   > For example, in times of uncertainty, adaptive leaders are better while in times of certainty, traditional leaders can be better.
   > This is due to the goals of the organisation, and also because different organisations will give their leaders differing amounts of power and control and so different types of leader will fit better into different types of organisations.
2. Fiedler’s theory of leadership (Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership) is based on two factors:
   A. Leadership style
   > In this theory, leadership style is fixed and in order to measure leadership effectiveness, Fiedler developed the least preferred co-worker scale (LPC).
   > A questionnaire that helps the leader to understand their specific leadership style.
   > 16-item questionnaire
   > Ask leaders about the person with whom they work least well, using a series of scales of 1 to 8.
   > For example, the first item, 1 is unpleasant and 8 is pleasant.
   > Fiedler assumed that everyone’s LPC is probably equally unpleasant and so the LPC is not about the least preferred co-worker but rather is about the person taking the test.
   » Ratings tell little about an individual’s leadership style.
   » Prone to social desirability bias.
   » Difficult to construct unbiased tests.
   » Tests may reveal more about the assumptions of the test maker.
   » Relatively easy to administer and mark.
   » Produces quantitative data that is easily analysed.
   » Objective way to measure personality characteristics.
   > The analysis of the answers determines whether the individual:
   » Low LPC score and is task-oriented (they would give harsh ratings to their least preferred co-worker). Leaders tend to rate their least preferred co-workers in a more negative manner and get satisfaction out of successful task performance.
   » High LPC score and is relationship-oriented would give positive ratings to even their LPC. Leaders derive satisfaction from interpersonal relationships and tend to rate their least preferred co-workers in a more positive manner.
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   B. Situational favourableness or situational control
   > Describes the leader’s ability to control the group situation.
   » More specifically, the degree to which the leader can influence the behaviour of group members in order to face the current situation.
   > Factors that is going to determine:
   » Leader-member relationship
   »> Refers to the degree of mutual trust, respect and confidence between the leader and the subordinates.
   »> When the leader-member relations are good, the leader has a high degree of control of the situation which makes the situation more favourable for the leader.
   »> When leader-member relations in the group are poor, the leader has to shift focus away from the group task in order to regulate behaviour and conflict within the group.
   » Task structure
   »> Refers to the extent to which group tasks are clear and structured.
   »> When task structure is low, group tasks are ambiguous, with no clear situation or correct approach to complete the goal.
   »> Conversely, when task structure is high, the group goal is clear and straightforward and members have a clear idea about how to approach and reach the goal.
   » Position power
   »> Refers to the amount of power the leader has over the group, i.e., to which extent the leader can reward or punish the group’s members.
   »> The stronger the power, the higher the degree to which the leader can control the situation.
   »> When the position power is weak, leaders cannot control the resources, so they lack the same degree of situational control as leaders high in power.
3. Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership states that group effectiveness depends on an appropriate match between a leader’s style and the demands of the situation, i.e., effective leadership is contingent on matching the leader’s style to the right setting.

Question 2

Leadership style 2

Answer 2

The Situational Theory of Leadership (Hersey and Blanchard, 1988)

1. Proposed that there is no single effective leadership style.
   > Although leaders may have their preferred style, it is not appropriate for a leader to use the same style all the time.
2. An effective leadership style must be relevant to the task and the most successful leaders are those who can adapt their leadership style to the maturity level of the group they are leading to suit the situation.
3. Two key concepts:
   A. Leadership style of the leader
   > Leadership style can be described in terms of task behaviour and relationship behaviour.
   > This produces 4 types of leader behaviour:
   » Style 1 (S1) - Telling
   »> This is behaviour that is largely directive, the leader will define the role for the members of the group and will explain (or tell) the group members how, why, when and where to do the task.
   » Style 2 (S2) - Selling
   »> This behaviour type is still directive but will involve more two-way communication and will also include the use of relationship skills that will allow the group members to ‘buy into’ or feel a part of the process.
   » Style 3 (S3) - Participating
   »> The leader provides less direction and this style is characterised by shared decision making.
   »> A high use is made of relationship skills.
   » Style 4 (S4) - Delegating
   »> The leader is still involved with the decision making process but the responsibility has been delegated to the group.
   »> The leader is likely to take a monitoring rather than a directive role.
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   B. Individual’s or group’s maturity level
   > Maturity is the capacity to set high but attainable goals, willingness and ability to take responsibility, relevant education and/or experience of an individual/group for the task.
   > The right leadership style will depend on the person or group being led.
   > Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory identifies 4 levels of maturity:
   » M1
   »> The individual or group lacks the specific skills required for the job in hand and is unable and unwilling to do or to take responsibility for the task.
   » M2
   »> They are unable to take on responsibility for the task being done.
   »> However, they are willing to work at the task.
   »> They are enthusiastic but need more training and support.
   » M3
   »> They are experienced and able to do the task but lack the confidence or the willingness to take on responsibility.
   » M4
   »> They are experienced at the task, and comfortable wth their own ability to do it well.
   »> They are able and willing to not only do the task, but to take responsibility for the task.
   > Maturity levels are task-specific rather than person-specific.
   » A person might be generally skilled, confident and motivated in their job, but would still have maturity level M1 when asked to perform a task requiring skills they do not possess.

Question 3

Leadership style 3

Answer 3

Style of leader behaviour (Muczyk and Riemann, 1987)

1. Research conducted since the 1960s has tended to focus on the superiority of the democratic style of leadership.
2. However, Muczyk and Riemann argue that democratic leadership may not always be the most effective and that it may not work at all in some situations.
   > They argue that ‘leadership is a two-way street, so a democratic style will be effective only if followers are both willing and able to participate actively in the decision making process.
   > If they are not, the leader cannot be democratic without also being ‘directive’ and following up very closely to see that directives are being carried out properly.
   > This is because despite having shared decision making (participation), the implementation of the decision still needs to be directed to the people (directive).
3. They argue that the importance of direction to successful leadership has neither been fully recognised nor properly investigated and this is due to the common failure to distinguish between participating and direction.
   > They further argue that some researchers appear to understand direction as being the exact opposite of participation and that this has had the effect of making directive leadership appear anti-democratic.
4. Their article is an argument for direction as a separate dimension of leadership and one that is not necessarily inconsistent with participation.
   > Combining direction with participating produces four styles of leadership and may help us understand the question of which style of leadership is best in which situation.
5. One of the key problems in previous research is that researchers have tended to see decision making and the execution of this decision to be the same thing.
   > This is a crucial point as clearly the process of making a decision is quite separate from the process of ensuring that this decision is carried through.
   > Deciding that something should happen is not the same as ensuring that it does happen.
6. Although participating may well be the more effective style in decision making, direction (or directive leadership) may be crucial to ensure correct implementation of this decision.
   > Research has tended to focus on the superiority of the participative (or democratic) style of leadership during the decision making process.
   > It is important to realise that a leader may be participative during the decision making phase and directive during the later stages, meaning that they follow progress carefully to ensure that the decision is fully achieved.
7. This means that there are two leadership factors need to be considered:
   A. Participation
   > Low participating would be an autocratic leader and high participation would be a democratic or participative leader.
   > An autocratic leader would assume that their role is to make decisions and that these decisions will be carried out by others who are subordinate to them and have no role in the decision making process.
   > A democratic leader will ensure that subordinates are involved in the decision making process even though they may retain the right to make the final decision.
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   B. Direction
   > Low direction would be permissive with little or only general supervision and high would be directive, close supervision, constant follow-up.
   > A non-directive leader (permissive) will leave their subordinates free to decide how to reach the goal and will offer little if any direction.
   > A directive leader will specify how tasks are to be completed and will follow up progress throughout the implementation stage.

Question 4

Evaluation

Answer 4

1. Individual-situational debate
   > Fiedler examines the relationship between the individual (leader) and the situation directly and makes the point that different leadership styles will be effective in different situations.
   > Hersey and Blanchard take this further and state that the leader must be able to fit their leadership style to the situation and that the mark of an effective leader is the extent to which they are able to do this.
2. Application to everyday life
   > This has obvious applications to organisations, and organisations that recognise the importance of the ‘fit’ between the leader and the group or who can appoint leaders with the skills required to adapt their behaviour will be the most successful organisations.
   > Muczyk and Reimann highlighted the difference between making a decision and ensuring that the decision is implemented (followed through its completion) and this will allow organisations to recognise that as with leadership in general, there are many styles and these styles suit different situations and groups.
   » They note that decision-making will be ineffective if it is not implemented.
   » Ensuring that the right leader is in charge will ensure the successful completion of the task.
   > Overall, for leaders to be effective, they need to adapt to different situations and groups.