Recapitulation of Leadership

Theories and Competencies

SESSION 3
Why do we study leadership theories?
• When someone hasn’t studied leadership theory and he
“learns by doing,” he may be successful, but chances are that
he won’t know why he was successful.

• They use a “style”, and it’s effective in one situation, so they

then assumes that’s the best leadership approach overall. Try it
in another situation – different people, different organization,
different goal, and it may fail miserably.

• If the leader had studied theory, he would have a much better

chance of:
• understanding why he failed and/or
• choosing the best approach to begin with.
 Evolution of leadership
Great Man Theory (1840s) The theory assumes that great leaders are born... they are not made. Great leaders are destined
by birth to become a leader.
Trait Theory (1930's - 1940's) The theory believes that people are either born or are made with certain qualities that will make
them excel in leadership roles.
Behavioural Theories (1940's These theories focuses on the behaviours of the leaders as opposed to their mental, physical or
- 1950's) social characteristics. The behavioural theories first divided leaders in two categories. Those that
were concerned with the tasks and those concerned with the people.

Contingency Theories
(1960's)
Transactional leadership
Theories (1970's)
These theories argue that there is no single way of leading and that every leadership style should
be based on certain situations
Also known as exchange theories of leadership, are characterized by a transaction made between
the leader and the followers. The theory values a positive and mutually beneficial relationship.
The transactional theorists state that humans in general are seeking to maximize pleasurable
experiences and to diminish un-pleasurable experiences. Thus, we are more likely to associate
ourselves with individuals that add to our strengths.

Transformational Leadership The essence of transformational theories is that leaders transform their followers through their
Theories (1970s) inspirational nature and charismatic personalities.
 MANAGERIAL GRID

1,1 – Impoverished Style

1,9 – Country Club Style

9,1 – Produce or perish

Style (Task)

9,9 – Team Management

Style

5,5 – Middle-of-the-road
Style
Note : basic assumption is that leadership – success or failure – is
situational.
According to the Contingency Theory by Fiedler, the effectiveness of a
leader depends on :
1. Leader
2. Followers
3. Situational Factors

It is a Leader-Match theory (Fiedler & Chemers, 1974) – Tries to match

leaders to appropriate situations

Fiedler explain group performance based on two factors:

1. Leadership Style
2. Situational Favorableness
USING THE MODEL : Step 1
• The first step in using the model is to determine your
natural leadership style. To do this, Fiedler developed a scale called
the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC).
• High LPC = Relationship-oriented leader.
• Low LPC = Task-oriented leader.

• Task-oriented leaders tend to be good at organizing teams and

projects and getting things done.
• Relationship-oriented leaders tend to be good at building good
relationships and managing conflict to get things done.
USING THE MODEL : Step 2
• The next step is to understand the favorableness of the situation you
face. This is determined by how much control over the situation you
have as a leader (situational control).
• Determining situational favorableness is done by examining the
following three factors:
• a. Leader-Member Relations
• b. Task Structure
• c. Position Power
Leadership Style Suitability to the situation
Example 1: PizzaHut Restaurant Manager
In this example, we’re going to imagine that you have been
newly appointed the manager of a PizzaHut restaurant. In this
scenario we might expect the following situational factors:
• Trust will be low. This is because you are new to the job so your
team won’t trust you. Secondly, staff turnover is high so it’s going
to be difficult to build strong relationships.
• Task structure is high. This is because there are extremely clear
operating procedures to follow covering everything from how to
make each pizza, to how to welcome customers to the
restaurant.
• Position power is high. You have the ability to hire and fire and
reward and punish as is required.
• According to Fiedler’s Contingency Theory of Leadership, a
relationship-oriented leader is best suited to this type of role.
Example 2: Software Development Manager
• In this example, we’re going to imagine that you’ve just been
promoted to be the manager of a software development team
you’ve been working in for two years. In this scenario, the
situational factors might look something like this:
• Trust will be high. You’ve already worked with the team for two
years, know each of the team members well, and they trust you.
• Task structure is high. Even though software development is
complex, task structure is high as the team knows what they
have to do each week.
• Position power is low. Although you’ve been promoted to
manage the team’s day to day work, you are not responsible for
line managing any of them. Thus, you don’t hold much formal
authority over any of them.
• According to Fiedler’s Contingency Theory of Leadership,a task-
oriented leader is best suited to this type of role.
Leadership
Competencies
Why do some leaders fail?
Leaders become selfish

When they can’t lead themselves

When they don’t communicate

When they refuse to adapt

When they indulge in too

much politics (office)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht-K_zn5qMU Boss vs Leader
Thank
You