 Though no one can go back and make a

brand new start, anyone can start from now

and make a brand new ending.
(Sir Winston Churchill, British politician and
statesman known for his leadership of the
United Kingdom during the Second World
War)
 Introductory lecture
Northouse (2007) 4th edition
p. 1-13
 Way to improve how people present
themselves to others
 Corporations want people with leadership
ability because they believe these people
provide special assets to their organisations
 Leadership is ...?

 Stogdill (1974, p.7) pointed out in a review of

leadership research that there are almost as
many different definitions of „leadership‟ as
there are people who have tried to define it!
 As many as 65 different classification systems have been
developed in the past 60 years to define the dimensions of
leadership.
- Some definitions view leadership as the „focus of group
processes‟
- some conceptualize leadership from a „personality
perspective‟
- Some define it as an „act or behaviour‟
- Some define it in terms of the „power relationship‟ that exists
between leaders and followers
- Others view it as a „transformational process‟
- Finally, some view it from a „skills perspective‟
 The fundamental components of leadership are:
1. It is a process: it is not a trait or characteristic, but a
transactional event (leaders affect followers AND are affected
by followers). Both leaders and followers are part of the
process so it is important to address issues that confront
both parties.
2. It involves influence: how the leader affects the followers; this
is the „sine qua non‟ (essential condition) of leadership.
WITHOUT INFLUENCE THERE IS NO LEADERSHIP
3. It occurs in a group context: involves influencing a group of
individuals who have a common purpose
4. It involves goal attainment; leadership has to do with
accomplishing an end
 Leadership is a process whereby an
individual influences a group of individuals
to achieve a common goal
Or
 Leadership is a process by which a person
influences others to accomplish a common
objective

(Note: within this definition, leadership training programs

that teach people to lead themselves are not considered a
part of leadership.)
 Describing leadership as a trait versus
describing it as a process
 Appointed (or assigned) leadership versus
emergent leadership
 How the following concepts are different
from leadership
i) Power
ii) Coercion
iii) Management
 Trait perspective: leadership is a special natural or inborn
characteristics that resides „in people‟.
 These personal qualities differentiate them from non-leaders.
 Such qualities include unique physical factors, personality features
and ability characteristics (Bryman, 1992)
 Hence, the statements “He/She is born to be a leader” or “He/She is
a natural leader‟.
 This perspective suggests that leadership is restricted only to those
select people who have special inborn qualities.
 Process perspective: leadership is a phenomenon that resides „in the
context‟.
 As a process it can be observed in leader behaviours (Jago, 1982)
 Leadership is something that can be learned.
 Assigned leadership: based on occupying a formal position in an
organisation. E.g team leaders, the head of department, directors,
administrator.
 Assigned leaders do not always become the REAL leaders in a
particular setting if group members do not respond positively to
them.
 Emergent leadership: not assigned by position. It is acquired
through the support and acceptance of one‟s behaviour by other
people in the organisation.
 Simply, when other people in the organisation perceive an individual
as the most influential member of the group, regardless of his/her
title.
 Positive communication behaviours such as being verbally
involved, being informed, seeking others opinions, initiating
new ideas and being firm but not rigid. (Fisher, 1974)
 Personality: individuals who are more dominant, more
intelligent and more confident about their own performance
were more likely to be identified as leaders by other members
of their task group (Smith and Foti, 1998)
 Gender biased perceptions: Watson and Hoffman (2004)
found that there continue to be barriers to women‟s
emergence as leaders in some settings.
 Social identity theory: leadership emergence is the degree to
which a person fits with the identity of the group as a whole.
WHEN A PERSON IS ENGAGED IN LEADERSHIP
(influencing other group members to achieve
an objective), THAT PERSON IS A LEADER,
WHETHER HE/SHE WAS ASSIGNED TO BE THE
LEADER OR EMERGED AS THE LEADER.

Related to this point is the concept of

„power‟.
 Power is part of the „influence‟ process. It is the ability to
influence i.e. affect other people‟s values and beliefs,
attitudes and behaviours.
 Give examples of people in our lives who have the power to
effect change in us?
 French and Raven (1959) identified five bases of power:
Power bases
 Position power: 1. legitimate 2. reward 3. coercive (these
come from a person‟s office or rank in the organisation)
 Personal power: 4. expert 5. referent (these are based on
personal characteristics such as being likeable and
knowledgeable)
1. Legitimate power: based on the subordinate‟s perception that the
leader has a right to exercise influence because of the leader‟s
role or position in the organisation. It is based on authority. E.g a
judge who administers sentences in the courtoom.
2. Reward power: based on the subordinate‟s perception that the
leader has the ability and resources to obtain rewards for those
who comply with directives. E.g pay, promotion, praise,
recognition etc
3. Coercive power: based on fear and the subordinate‟s perception
that the leader has the ability to punish or to bring about
undesirable outcomes for those who do not comply with
directives. E.g. withholding pay rises, promotion or privileges,
allocation of undesirable duties or responsibilities, formal
reprimands or possibly dismissal.
1. Referent power: The leader exercise influence because of
perceived attractiveness, personal characteristics,
reputation or what is called charisma. E.g a particular
manager may not be in a position to reward or punish
certain subordinates but may still exercise power over the
subordinates because the manager, as a good role model,
commands their respect or esteem.
2. Expert power: based on the subordinate‟s perception of the
leader as someone who is competent and who has some
special knowledge or expertise in a given area. Expert
power is based on credibility and clear evidence of
knowledge or expertise. E,g the expert knowledge of
„functional‟ specialists such as the personnel manager,
management accountant or systems analyst. Or a tour
guide who is knowledgeable about a foreign country.
 Coercion is a specific kind of position power,
which involves the use of force to effect
change.
 Involves the use of threats, punishments and
negative reward schedules (punishment and
extinction).
 Can you think of a classic example of a leader
who used coercion to force his/her followers
to exercise extreme behaviours?
 Coercive people are NOT used as models of
ideal leaders!
 Coercive leaders are only interested in their
own goals and not those of their
subordinates. This contradicts our definition
of leadership:
„Leadership is a process whereby an
individual influences a group of individuals to
achieve a common goal‟.
 What are the similarities and differences
between leadership and management?
Management Leadership
 Involves influence  Involves influence
 Entails working with  Entails working with
people people
 Concerned with  Concerned with
effective goal effective goal
accomplishment accomplishment
Management Leadership
 Primary function is  Primary function is
to provide order to produce change
and consistency and movement
 Seeks order and  Seeks adaptive and
stability constructive change
However, Kotter contended that BOTH competent management and skilled
leadership are essential and should be nourished if an organisation wants to
be effective.
Strong management without leadership stifling and rigid outcomes
Strong leadership without management meaningless or misdirected change
for the sake of producing change
Bennis and Nanus (1985)
 Their frequently quoted sentence: “managers are people who
do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing”
Rost (1991)
 Leadership is a multidirectional influence relationship and
management is a unidirectional authority relationship
Zaleznick (1977)
 Leaders and managers are two different types of people.
Managers are reactive and prefer to work with people to solve
problems, and do so with low emotional involvement
Leaders are emotionally active and involved. They seek to
shape ideas instead of merely responding to them. Leaders
change the way people think about what is possible!
 The answer is „yes‟!
When managers are involved in influencing a group to
meet its goals, they are involved in leadership
When leaders are involved in planning organising,
staffing and controlling (the four primary functions of
management as first identified by Fayol (1916)) they
are involved in management.
 As discussed before, both processes involve
influencing a group of individuals towards goal
attainment.

Note: In the case studies we will discuss during the

course of the semester, we will treat the roles of
managers and leaders similarly.
 Are you a manager or a leader?