Managing Employees

Master of Management
(MOM)

Week 1- Session 1
Dr. Amir R. Talaei
Leadership Models
Management Skills

Technical skills Conceptual skills

• The skills required to accomplish a • The ability to think in abstract terms in order to
specific kind of work being done in an see the “big picture.”
organization.

• Although managers may not actually • Conceptual skills help managers understand how
perform the technical tasks, they should the various parts of an organization can fit
be able to train employees and answer together.
technical questions.

Human skills

• The ability to deal effectively with individual employees,

other managers within the firm, and people outside the
firm.
How can OB help us?

Surviving Economic Pressure

Managing Workforce Diversity

Globalization

Customer Service

Employee Well-Being

General People Skills

 Leadership is accomplishing something through other people that wouldn’t have
happened if you weren’t there. And in today’s world, that’s less and less through
command and control, and more and more through changing people’s mindsets and
hence altering the way they behave. Today, leadership is being able to mobilize ideas
and values that energize other people.
(Noel Techy)
Traits Model of Leadership

• The traits model of leadership is based on

characteristics of many leaders-both
successful and unsuccessful-and is used to
predict leadership effectiveness.

• The resulting lists of traits are then

compared to those of potential managers to
assess their likelihood of success or failure
as leaders.
Caveats of the Trait Model

• The traits approach paints a somewhat fatalistic picture, suggesting that

some people, merely because of their traits, are destined not to be effective
leaders.

• There are no consistent patterns between specific traits or sets of traits and
leadership effectiveness. More than 100 different traits of successful leaders
in various managerial positions have been identified.

• For example, the traits pattern of successful leaders of salespeople includes

optimism, enthusiasm, and dominance. The traits pattern of successful
leaders of production workers usually includes being progressive,
introverted, and cooperative.

• These descriptions are simply generalities. Many successful leaders of

salespeople and production workers do not have all, or even some, of these
characteristics.

• There also is often disagreement over which traits are the most important to
be an effective leader.
Caveats of the Trait Model

• Traits theory of leadership often attempts to relate

physical traits-such as height, weight, appearance,
physique, energy, and health-to effective leadership.

 People in the military (and some other types of

organizations) must be a particular minimum
height and weight in order to perform certain
tasks well.

 Although these traits may help an individual rise

to a leadership position in such organizations,
neither height nor weight correlates highly with
effective leadership.
Key Traits

Research suggests that some traits are shared by most

(but not all) successful leaders:

 Intelligence

 Successful leaders tend to have somewhat higher

intelligence than their subordinates.
Key Traits

 Achievement drive

 Successful leaders are results oriented; when

they achieve one goal, they seek another.
Key Traits

 Self-Confidence

 Leaders should be aware of their capabilities

and use them confidently when depending on
the situation.
Key Traits

 Stress Tolerance

 Leaders should not be affected negatively by

day-to-day work stress. They should be able
to continue working efficiently regardless of
the stress imposed on them.
Key Traits

 Tolerance for Ambiguity

 Leaders should be comfortable with not

knowing all the answers right away. They
should be able to act and make decisions in
uncertain times.
Key Traits

 Vigour/Energy

 Leadership is a busy job! Successful

leaders tend to have a high level of
energy and vigour necessary for the
work they do.
Key Traits

 Integrity

 Successful leaders, over the long term, usually

have integrity.
Behavioural Models of Leadership

• The behavioural leadership theory focuses on how leaders behave, and

assumes that these traits can be copied by other leaders.

• Sometimes called the Style Theory, it suggests that leaders aren’t born
successful, but can be created based on learnable behaviour.

• Behavioural theories of leadership focus heavily on the actions of a

suggesting that the best predictor of leadership success is viewing how a
leader acts.
Contingency Theories of Leadership
Situational Leadership

Successful leadership depends on selecting the right leadership

style contingent on the followers’ readiness, or the extent to which
they are willing and able to accomplish a specific task.

Two dimensions of leader behaviour:

 Initiating Structure (Task Behaviour)

 Consideration (Relationship Behaviour)

The optimal combination of initiating structure and consideration depends on the readiness of
the employees in the work unit.
Situational Leadership

Initiating structure

• Reflects the extent to which the leader

defines and structures the roles of
employees in pursuit of goal attainment.
• Leaders who are high on initiating
structure play a more active role in
directing group activities, prioritize,
planning, scheduling, etc.

• They describe explicit standards of

performance, ask employees to follow
formalized procedures, and criticize poor
work when necessary.
Situational Leadership

Consideration

• Reflects the extent to which leaders create job

relationships characterized by mutual trust, respect
for employee ideas, and consideration of employee
feelings.

• They create a climate of good rapport and strong,

two-way communication and exhibit a deep
concern for the welfare of employees. They might
do personal favors for employees, take time to
listen to their problems, “go to bat” for them when
needed, and treat them as equals.
 Caveats of the Situational Leadership Model

• Like other contingency models, this one assumes that leaders can
accurately assess each situation and change their leadership styles to
match different situations.

• Some leaders can read situations and adapt their leadership style more
effectively than others. For those who can’t, what are the costs of
training them to be able to do so? Do these costs exceed the potential
benefits?

• Would treating employees differently based on the situation affect

employees’ perception of fairness?
Transactional Leader

Contingent Reward:
Contracts exchange of rewards for effort, promises
rewards for good performance, recognizes
accomplishments.

Management by Exception (active):

Watches and searches for deviations from rules and
standards, takes correct action.

Management by Exception (passive): Intervenes only if

standards are not met.

Laissez-Faire:
Abdicates responsibilities, and avoids making decisions.
Transactional vs. Transformational leadership

• Transactional leaders see their relationships with followers in

terms of trade, swaps or bargains.

• Transformational leaders inspire and motivate others to perform

“beyond contract.”
Transformational Leader

Idealized Influence:
Provides vision and sense of mission, instills pride and
gains respect.

Inspirational Motivation:
Communicates and expresses important purposes in
simple ways. Expresses optimism about future goals, and
provide meaning for the task at hand.

Intellectual Stimulation:
Encourages others to see what they are doing from new
perspectives. Promotes intelligence, rationality, and
careful problem solving.

Individualized Consideration:
Attends to each follower's needs. Gives personal
attention, treats each employee individually, coaches,
advises.
Source: B. M. Bass, “From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to
Share the Vision,” Organizational Dynamics ,
Winter 1990, p. 22 .
Transformational Leader

• Transformational leaders are more effective because

they themselves are more creative and also because
they encourage those who follow them to be creative,
too.

• In companies with transformational leaders, there is

greater decentralization of responsibility, managers
have more propensity to take risks, and
compensation plans are geared toward long-term
results, all of which facilitate corporate
entrepreneurship.

• Transformational leadership is associated with higher

work engagement, better job performance, work
effort, and acceptance of change.
Charismatic Leadership

• The first researcher to consider charismatic

leadership in terms of OB was Robert House.

• According to House’s charismatic leadership

theory, followers make attributions of heroic or
extraordinary leadership abilities when they
observe certain behaviours, and tend to give these
leaders power.
Charismatic Leadership
Key Characteristics of Charismatic Leaders
Vision
• Charismatic leaders have a vision, expressed as an idealized
goal, that proposes a future better than the current situation.

Challenge the status quo

• They challenge the status quo by radically rethinking the way
things are done and suggesting alternatives that are novel.

Creativity
• Charismatic leaders often think outside the box and aren’t
afraid to take risks.

Unconventional behaviour
• Engages in behaviours that are perceived as novel and
counter to norms.
Personal risk

• Willing to take on high personal risk, incur high costs,

and engage in self-sacrifice to achieve the vision.

Determination

• When they run into challenges, they are willing to push

through. They show your determination as a leader by
not giving up when they encounter road blocks. This
way they inspire other people.

Confidence

• They are the glass half full kind of people, and are
comfortable with who they are. They understand
themselves well and do not try to be anyone else
Communication

• Charismatic leaders have extraordinary skills in communication. They

are able to clarify the importance of the vision and the ideal future in
terms that are understandable to others.

• In addition to stressing the ideal future, charismatic leaders also bring

up the history and how the shared history ties to the future.

Positive body language

• Charismatic leaders know how to use their body language to
their advantage. They use a body language that demonstrates
their confidence, optimism, positivity, and power.
Sensitivity to followers’ needs

• Charismatic leaders are perceptive of others’ abilities and

responsive to their needs and feelings.

Compassion
• Successful charismatic leaders are compassionate.
Charisma alone may not be enough, because it can
disintegrate into mere hero worship.

Listening skills
• Charismatic leaders are extremely good listeners. When
they listen to you, they don’t fidget or look distracted. A
charismatic leader pays attention to what is being said,
and listens with interest. They are engaged in the
conversation.
Self-monitoring
• One of the attributes of charismatic leaders is that they
often tend to watch themselves. They are aware of their
powerful personality, and the fact that their followers are
watching them constantly. For this reason, they try to
portray a good image of themselves to their followers.
This can be achieved only with self-monitoring.

Self-improvement
• A charismatic leader understands that he has certain
qualities that make him different from others, and that
these are the qualities that get him attention and make
him charismatic. So he also knows how important it is
to continually improve himself.
Charismatic Leadership: Role of the Follower

• Even in laboratory studies, when people are psychologically

aroused, they are more likely to respond to charismatic
leaders. This may explain why charismatic leaders tend to
surface in politics, religion, wartime, or a business firm that is
in its infancy or facing a life-threatening crisis.

• People are especially receptive to charismatic leadership when

they sense a crisis, when they are under stress, or when they fear
for their lives.

• Charismatic leaders are able to reduce stress for their employees,

perhaps because they help make work seem more meaningful.

• Some people’s personalities are especially susceptible to

charismatic leadership. If a person lacks self-esteem and
questions his or her self-worth, that person is more likely to absorb
a leader’s direction rather than establish his or her own way of
leading or thinking.
The Dark Side of Charismatic Leadership

• When organizations are in need of great change, charismatic leaders

are often able to inspire their followers to meet the challenges of
change. However, a charismatic leader may become a liability to an
organization once the crisis is over and the need for dramatic change
subsides.

 The charismatic leader’s overwhelming self-confidence can be a

disadvantage. He or she is unable to listen to others, becomes
uncomfortable when challenged by aggressive employees, and
begins to hold an unjustifiable belief in his or her “rightness” on
issues.
The Dark Side of Charismatic Leadership

• Charismatic leadership, by its very nature, silences

criticism. Thus, employees follow the lead of their
visionary CEOs unquestioningly.

 Canada’s more balanced culture is less likely to turn

CEOs into heroes
 The Dark Side of Charismatic Leadership

• Virgin tried launching a portable MP3 player (the Virgin

Pulse). It was a total disaster—they were crushed by the
Apple iPod. It was a $20 million write-off.

• Branson ignored his top management’s advice and

insisted on holding onto the Virgin MegaStore retail
outlets for too long. When he finally agreed to sell them,
they lost the Virgin Group a “lot of money.”

• Branson tried to take on the Coca-Cola company with

Virgin Cola. Coca-Cola sent a SWAT team to the United
Kingdom to systematically destroy Virgin Cola. Coca-
Cola succeeded. Again, big losses for Virgin.
Servant Leadership

• Servant leadership defines leadership as

serving others. Servant leaders assist others
in their need fulfillment, personal development,
and growth.

• Servant leaders ask, “How can I help you?”

rather than expect employees to serve them.

• Servant leaders have been described as

selfless, egalitarian, humble, nurturing,
empathetic, and ethical coaches.

• The main objective of servant leadership is to

help other stakeholders to fulfill their needs
and potential, particularly “to become healthier,
wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely
themselves to become servants.”
 Servant Leadership

• Servant leaders have a natural desire or “calling” to serve

others. This natural desire is a deep commitment to the growth
of others for that purpose alone. It goes beyond the leader’s
role obligation to help others and is not merely an instrument to
achieve company objectives.

• Employee happiness is seen as an end in itself, and servant

leaders sometimes sacrifice their own well-being to help
employees succeed.

• They serve without drawing attention to themselves, without

evoking superior status, and without being judgmental about
others or defensive of criticisms received.
Servant Leadership

• Even though servant leadership has some overlap with other

leadership approaches such as transformational leadership,
its explicit focus on ethics, community development, and self-
sacrifice are distinct characteristics of this leadership style.

• Servant leadership has a positive impact on employee

commitment, employee citizenship behaviours toward the
community (such as participating in community volunteering),
and job performance, etc.
How to be a Servant Leader

Don’t ask what your employees can do for you

• Think of what you can do for them. Your job as a leader is to be of service to them. How
can you relieve their stress? Protect them from undue pressure? Pitch in to help them?
Think about creative ways of helping ease their lives.

Help employees reach their goals

• This involves getting to know them. Learn about who they are and what their values and
priorities are.

Be humble

• You are not supposed to have all the answers and dictate others. One way of achieving
this humbleness may be to do volunteer work.
How to be a Servant Leader

Be open with your employees

• Ask them questions. Give them information so that they understand what
is going on in the company.

Find ways of helping the external community

• Giving employees opportunities to be involved in community volunteer

projects or even thinking and strategizing about making a positive impact
on the greater community would help.

Sources: Based on information presented in Buchanan, L. (2007, May). In praise of selflessness: Why the best leaders are servants. Inc,
29(5), 33–35; Douglas, M. E. (2005, March). Service to others. Supervision, 66(3), 6–9; Ramsey, R. D. (2005, October). The new buzz
word. Supervision, 66(10), 3–5.
Authentic leadership

Authentic Leadership refers to individuals who:

(1) know and understand themselves

(2) know what they believe and value

(3) act on their values and beliefs through open and

honest communications with subordinates and others
Authentic leadership

• These leaders can be directive or participative. The

person’s leadership style is not what distinguishes
inauthentic leaders from authentic leaders.

• Authentic leaders build credibility and win the respect of

followers by encouraging and respecting diverse
viewpoints.

• They seek to foster collaborative and trusting relationships

with followers, customers, shareholders, and other
stakeholders.

For me, being an authentic leader begins with knowing yourself, your values, and what motivates you
and understanding what you enjoy doing. At a higher level, being an authentic leader means
understanding the gifts you’ve been given.
—Paula R. Autry, CEO, Sinai-Grace Hospital (Greater Detroit Area)
Authentic leadership

Authentic leadership focuses on understanding enough about yourself to be

able to make confident statements such as these:

• I know what I’m good at and what I’m not so good at. I will build on my
strengths and shore up my weaknesses.

• I will surround myself with people who are good, really good, at what I
neither have the time for or the ability to do myself. I will build a truly
diversified team who can get the job done, who can achieve the focus.

• When I mess up, I will fess up. I will forgive myself and move on. I will
do the same with other committed team players. I recognize that when
I trip up and fall, it’s because I am moving, and that without movement
there can be no progress.

• I will be myself at all times. I will not wear a mask.

Leadership Effectiveness
Leadership Effectiveness
Leadership Effectiveness: Why are so many leaders ineffective?

Peter Principle

• When people are promoted into one job

(e.g., as a supervisor or coach) based on
how well they did another (e.g.,
salesperson or player), that assumes that
the skills of one role are the same as the
other.
• The only time such people stop being
promoted is when they reach their level
of incompetence.
• Level of leadership incompetence is
reached all too often!
 Romance of Leadership

• The “romance of leadership” effect exists because people in most cultures want
to believe that leaders make a difference.

There are two basic reasons why people inflate their

perceptions of the leader’s influence over the
environment:

 First, leadership is a useful way for us to

simplify life events. It is easier to explain
organizational successes and failures in
terms of the leader’s ability than by analyzing
a complex array of other forces.

 Second, there is a strong tendency in Canada

and other Western cultures to believe that life
events are generated more from people than
from uncontrollable natural forces.