The Supervisor as

Leader
Leading
 The management function of influencing people to
act or not act in a certain way.
 Leadership traits that are often suggested as useful
include:
 a sense of responsibility,
 self-confidence,
 high energy level,
 empathy,
 internal locus of control, and
 a sense of humor.
Internal Locus of Control:

 The belief that one is the primary cause of

what happens to oneself.
Leadership Styles:

 Leadership styles are define by

 The amount authority retained by the supervisor
 A task-oriented or people-oriented approach, or
both
 Leader attitudes based on assumptions they have
about employees.
 Supervisors can be
 authoritarian,
 democratic, or
 laissez-faire.
 They often use more than one style of
leading depending on employee and
situational factors.
 Situational factors include leader-member
relations, task structure, and the position
power of the leader.
 An important part of the leadership role is
giving orders or directions to employees.
 A supervisor should make sure that
employees understand directions and the
reason for them.
 Leadership behavior is affected by how the
supervisor thinks of himself/herself.

 People who believe they are capable tend to act

capably.
 Successful supervisors need to work effectively and
maintain good relations with their employees, boss,
and peers.
 With employees, supervisors should set a good example,
be ethical, and develop trust.
 Supervisors should give their boss loyalty, cooperation,
information, and results and be aware of and respond to
the boss’s style.
 With peers, supervisors should keep competition fair and
as friendly as possible and offer support or criticism in a
constructive way.
 Paul B. Malone III,
 “a manager focuses just on getting a task done, a
leader focuses on getting it done in a way that
gives employees a feeling of accomplishment and
willingness to follow the leader again.”
 Manage--
 1. To direct or control the use of.
 2. a. To exert control over. b. To make
submissive to one’s authority, discipline, or
persuasion.”)
 In some cases a distinction is emphasized
with leadership described as a more dynamic
activity toward meeting the needs and goals
of the organization..
 Organizations seek to hire or promote
employees who will be successful and an
asset to the organization.
 Is it possible to predict success or leadership
ability from personality type, or are there
traits that are associated with a supervisor’s
success?
Significant Traits Associated
with Leadership
 a. Sense of responsibility.
 Supervisors must be willing to take seriously the
responsibility that goes with the job.

 b. Self confidence.
 Supervisors who believe in their ability to get the
job done will convey confidence to employees.
 c. High energy level.
 Many organizations expect supervisors to willingly
put in long hours in order to handle the variety of
duties that come with the job.
 d. Empathy.
 Supervisors need to be sensitive and higher
management. Supervisors who have difficulty
understanding what makes people tick are at a
disadvantage.
 e. Internal locus of control.
 People with an internal locus of control are
thought to be leaders because they try harder to
take charge of events.
 f. Sense of humor.
 People with a good sense of humor are more fun
to work with or for.
Characteristics of a
Successful Supervisor (Ch. 1)
 The characteristics of a successful supervisor
include:
 positive attitude
 loyal
 fair
 good communicator
 able to delegate
 wants the job
Additional Characteristics of a
Successful Supervisor
 Additional criteria for a successful supervisor
include:
 technical skills
 human relations skills
 conceptual skills
 decision making skills
The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People by Stephen
Covey
 Habit 1
 Be proactive. This refers to the taking of
responsibility to make things happen.
 Habit 2
 Begin with the end in mind. Start with a clear
picture of where you are going and what the
destination will look like.
The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People by Stephen
Covey
 Habit 3
 Put first things first. The principle is based upon
two factors--importance and urgency.
 Habit 4
 Think win/win. The principle means that
agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial.
The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People by Stephen
Covey
 Habit 5
 Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
One key to effective interpersonal
communications is to listen with the intent to
understand.
 Habit 6
 Synergize. The whole is greater than the sum of
the parts.
The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People by Stephen
Covey
 Habit 7
 Sharpen the saw. Enhance personal abilities.
Leadership Styles

 Authoritarian
 Democratic
 Laissez-faire
 Theory X
 Theory Y
Authoritarian Leadership:
 A leadership style in which the leader retains a great
deal of authority.
 This style of leadership is characterized by the supervisor
giving orders and employees following the orders.
 An example would be a military commander who expects
unquestioned obedience.
 Decisions are made quickly.
 Works best in an emergency or crisis or where employees
lack maturity.
 Employees may become dependent on decisions from
supervisors and will not do anything of their own.
Democractic Leadership
 A leadership style in which the leader allows
subordinates to participate in decision making and
problem solving.
 This style of leadership is characterized by the supervisor
actively seeking input from the employees.
 An example would be work groups or teams for problem
solving
 Employees feel they have a say in the ways things are done
and may feel more satisfied with their jobs.
 Decisions take longer.
 A supervisor who leaves most decisions to the group may be
viewed by some employees as weak.
Laissez-faire Leadership
 A leadership style in which the leader is uninvolved
and lets subordinates direct themselves.
 This style of leadership is characterized by the
noninvolvment of the supervisor.
 An example would be research and development settings.
 Works best in an atmosphere where creativity and innovation
is required.
 Many employees see this method as no leadership at all.
Theory X
 A set of attitudes based on the view that people
dislike work and must be coerced to perform.
 Theory X assumes that people dislike work and try to avoid
it and must be coerced to perform.
 Employees would prefer to be directed.
 Employees have to be watched and occasionally
disciplined to keep them performing.
 A Theory X supervisor would most likely be autocratic.
Theory Y
 A set of attitudes based on the view that work is a
natural activity and that people will work hard and
creatively to achieve objectives they are committed
to.
 Employees can be trusted and discipline is not necessary
to get them to perform adequately.
 Theory Y supervisors are more likely to adopt the
democratic style.
Theory Z
 A set of attitudes that emphasize employee
participation in all aspects of decision making.
 Assumes employees work as hard as they can.
 An extension of Theory Y with the addition of organizational
structure and the response of management to the
employees.
 Employees are trusted, and their input or ideas are actively
sought.
 This approach to supervision would be more consistently
democratic.
Authoritarian style of
leadership
 Organizations or departments that require
 a regimented method of performance,
 quick response, or
 employees need a lot of direction.
 The military, and military-type organizations such as
correction facilities, would be an example.
 Fire fighting would be another.
 This style would also be appropriate in organizations where
employees require a lot of direction, such as a fast-food
restaurant where there is high turnover of personnel.
Democratic style of
leadership
 Organizations and departments that require
 input from employees for problem solving or
 product and process improvement.
 This style works in organizations where there is a highly
skilled work force, especially if work requires teamwork
to complete work effectively.
 An example may be companies that supply the auto
industry with parts and materials.
 These companies are being driven by competitive forces
to improve quality and reduce prices through continuous
improvement.
Laissez-faire style of
leadership
 Organizations or departments that require
 innovative employees and
 where creativity is important.
 Examples include
 research and development departments,
 software companies,
 and design departments.
 Beauty salons might be another type of company where
this style of leadership works best.
Contingency Theory
 Supervisors are not likely to use or represent a
single type.
 Contingency models of leadership attempt to
describe the situations under which a specific type
of supervisor will be most successful.
 Contingency models of leadership maintain that the
best style of leadership depends on the
circumstances.
Contingency Models

 There are two models:

 Fiedler’s model and
 The Hersey-Blanchard model.
Fiedler’s Model

 Supervisors will be relationship oriented

(people oriented) or task oriented depending
on:
 leader-member relations, or the extent to which the
leader has group members’ support and loyalty.
 task structure, or whether there is specified procedures
to follow in carrying out the task.
 position power, or the leader’s formal authority granted
by the organization.
 Fiedler recommends that a leader determine
whether his or her preferred leadership style
fits the situation, and, if not, the leader should
try to change the characteristics of the
situation.
The Hersey-Blanchard Life
Cycle Theory
 Similar to Fiedler’s theory except they believe
that the leadership style should reflect the
maturity of the followers as measured by
such traits as ability to work independently .
 Leaders should adjust the degree of task and
relationship behavior in response to the growing
maturity of their followers.
 As followers mature, leaders should move through
a combination of behaviors:
 (1) High task and low relationship behavior
 (2) High task and high relationship behavior
 (3) Low task and high relationship behavior
 (4) Low task and low relationship behavior
 Situational characteristics include:
 The supervisor’s characteristics
 The level of competency of employees
 the working environment
Supervisor Characteristics

 The manager’s values.

 What is most important to the supervisor?
 Company profits
 Personal growth and development
 Development of employees
 Level of confidence in employees
 The more confidence in the employees, the more the
supervisor will involve the employees.
 Personal leadership strengths
 Effective leaders capitalize on their strengths.
 Tolerance for ambiguity
 When employees are involved, the supervisor
cannot always be sure of the outcomes.
 Will the supervisor be comfortable will this
uncertainty?
Employee Characteristics

 Need for independence.

 Employees who want a lot of direction will
welcome autocratic leadership.
 Readiness to assume responsibility.
 Employees eager to assume responsibility
appreciate democratic or laissez-faire styles of
leadership.
 Tolerance for ambiguity.
 Employees tolerant of ambiguity will accept the
leadership style that gives them more input.
 Interest in the problem to be solved.
 Employees interested in a problem and think it is
important will want to be involved.
 Understanding of and identification with
goals.
 Employees who understand and identify with the
organization’s or department’s goals will want to
be involved in meeting these goals.
 Knowledge and experience.
 Employees with the knowledge necessary to solve
a problem are more apt to want to help come up
with a solution.
 Expectations.
 Some employees expect to participate in making
decisions and solving problems.
Diversity

 Growing diversity in the work place means

that supervisors may have a more difficult
time determining where the employees are in
regard to these characteristics.

 There is the additional danger that

supervisors have preconceived ideas about
how employees think and behave.
Situation characteristics

 Type of organization.
 The organization lends itself to a type of
leadership.
 For example, if supervisors are expected to manage
large numbers of employees, a democratic leadership
style may be time consuming and relatively challenging
to use.
 When there is a large number of employees to manage
or they are dispersed over a large area, laissez-faire
style leadership may be the result whether it is intended
or not.
 Effectiveness of the group.
 Regardless of the characteristics of individual
employees, some groups are more successful in
handling decisions than others.
 When employees have little experience making
decisions, authoritarian style leadership may be easier
to use.
 The problem or task.
 Problems range from simple to complex.
 Tasks range from structured to relatively
unstructured.
 Although it appears that each of these variables
suggests a specific type of leadership, such as a
structured task is best handled with more control by the
supervisor, in reality each problem or task is also related
to the other characteristics of the situation.
 Time available.
 An autocratic leader is in a position to make
decisions quickly.
 Group decision making usually requires more time
for discussion and sharing ideas.
Giving Directions

 Supervisors practice leadership by giving

employees directions.
 Supervisors should make sure employees
understand the directions.
 Directions should be stated in specific, clear terms.
 Employees should understand the reason for the
directions.
 When employees do not seem to be following
directions,
 perhaps they didn’t understand the directions
 they may not realize that the supervisor is giving
them an order.
Self-concept

 The image a person has of himself/herself.

 influences how the supervisor behaves.
 Someone who believes he or she has the power will act
powerful.
 Someone who thinks himself or herself as intelligent is
apt to make careful decisions.
 When supervisors do something well, they should give
themselves credit for their success.
SWOT Method

 Strengths
 Weaknesses
 Opportunities
 Threats
Developing and Maintaining
Good Relations
 A supervisor needs support from many
people in the organization to be successful.
 They need the support of their employees.
 They also need the support of their boss and co-
workers.
 Ways to get along with almost everyone
include
 projecting a positive attitude,
 taking an interest in other people, and
 helping out.
 A supervisor who is liked and respected by
employees will inspire them to work harder
and better.
 Supervisors should be role models for employees
by following the rules of the company.
 They should also be fair in the treatment of
employees and ethical.
 Employees work most cooperatively with a
supervisor they trust.
 Building trust takes time and effort,
 yet it can be lost with a single act that is
unreasonable.
 Trust is built by fair and predictable behavior.
 No matter how good you are at planning, organizing,
and leading, your ability to get along with your boss
can determine the course of your career within the
organization.
 That may not always seem fair, but the fact is that
your boss is the one who most often decides
whether you will be promoted, get a raise, or even
have a job next week.
 A boss who likes to work with you is more likely to
take a favorable view of your performance.
 A supervisor can assume that his or her boss
expects the following:
 Loyalty
 positive attitude about the company and his/her boss
 Cooperation
 works with others in the organization to achieve organizational
goals.
 Communication
 kept informed about the department’s performance.
 Results
 ensures department meets or exceeds its objectives
 If you get along with your peers, they will help you
look good and get your job done.
 If your peers resent you, the poor relations can
cause an endless stream of problems.
 Quite often your peers are competing with you for
raises, bonuses, or promotions.
 Regardless, the more you cooperate, the better you
all will look.