Leadership: Theory and Practice

BMAN31921
Lecture 1

Robin Martin
(robin.martin@manchester.ac.uk
 Definition

“the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and

enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and
success of the organizations of which they are members”

(Gerstner & Day, 1997)

 Approaches to Leadership
Time Approach Core theme
1930s/1940s Trait Leaders are born, they have certain
and 1980 - stable characteristics – who will make a
good leader?

Late 1940s to Style Leadership is about behaviour – what do

early 1960s good leaders do?
and 1990 -

Late 1960s to Contingency Leadership is affected by context – under

early 1980s a given condition what kind of leader or
leadership style will be effective?

1990 - Relationship The relationship between leader and

follower is central to understanding good
leadership
 Trait Approaches

Time Approach Core theme

1930s/1940s Trait Leaders are born, they have certain stable
and 1980 - characteristics – who will make a good
leader?

• Often referred to as the ‘great man/woman/person approach’

• Leader-focused; description of the leader
• Focus on typical characteristics of leaders vs. non-leaders
ˉ Leaders possess special qualities that set them apart from others
ˉ Research tended to focus on men
• Often incorporate idea that great leaders are born, not developed
ˉ Useful for selection rather than development
 Historical Overview
Stogdill McClelland Stogdill Yukl
(1948) (1965) (1974) (2006)

Intelligence Need for Traits Stress Tolerance

Alertness achievement Adaptable, alert, Energy Level
Responsibility Need for affiliation ambitious, assertive, Self-Confidence
Initiative Need for power: cooperative, decisive, Internal Locus of
Persistence socialised dependable, dominant, Control
Self-Confidence personalised energetic, persistent, self- Emotional
Sociability confident, tolerant of Stability and
stress, responsibility Maturity
Personal Integrity
Skills Power Motivation
Clever, conceptually Achievement
skilled, creative, diplomatic Orientation
and tactful, fluent in Need for
speaking, knowledgeable, Affiliation
organized, persuasive,
socially skilled
 Intelligence and Leadership
Intelligence: “a very general mental capability that, among
other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems,
think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and
learn from experience.”
(Gottfredson, 1997)

The importance of intelligence: The evidence

(meta-analysis of 96 studies; Judge, Colbert & Ilies, 2004)

• intelligence and leader emergence: r = .25, (65 studies)

• intelligence and leader effectiveness: r = .20, (75 studies)
• observer-rated intelligence and leader emergence: r = .60,
(9 studies)
 Intelligence and Leadership

Conclusions
• Intelligence seems important, but less so than
commonly assumed
• Part of the Implicit Theories of Leadership (self-
fulfilling prophecy)
• Apparent intelligence may be more important than
actual intelligence
 Big Five Model of Personality

Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

» OCEAN
(Costa & McCrea, 1992)
Openness Conscien- Extraversion Agreeable- Neuroticism
tiousness ness
Broad-minded Ambitious Active Trusting Inadequate
Curious Preserving Person- Helpful Emotional
Creative Self- oriented Softhearted Insecure
Untraditional disciplined Fun loving Good-natured Nervous
Imaginative Reliable Affectionate Straight- Worrying
Punctual Sociable forward
Hard working Optimistic
 Personality and Leadership
Trait Leader Leader
Emergence Effectiveness
r r
Openness .24 .24
Conscientiousness .33 .16
Extraversion .33 .24
Agreeableness .05 .21
Neuroticism -.24 -.22

Based on 222 correlations from 73 Samples with total N=43.000

(Judge et al., 2002, Journal of Applied Psychology)
 Personality
– The dark side

• ‘‘Not all psychopaths are in prison. Some are in the

Boardroom.’’ (Hare, 2002)

• Grandiosity, Need for Power, Egocentricity, Deceptiveness,

Lack of Empathy, Irresponsibility, Impulsivity, and a
Tendency to violate social norms

• Babiak, Neumann, and Hare (2010) – 4% of high level

managers are psychopaths.
• Ability to charm, manipulate and mirror others
 Evaluation of Trait Approaches

• Some consistency in traits that are important for effective

leaders, e.g., intelligence
• Much variation within studies and reviews
• Views of leadership: stereotypically masculine and US
based?
• Lack of theoretical reasoning as to how traits lead to
leadership effectiveness.
• Typically relies on self-reported measures (open to
faking and self-deception).
 Style Approaches

Time Approach Core theme

Late 1940s to Style Leadership is about behaviour – what do
early 1960s and good leaders do?
1990 -

• What do leaders do that make them effective?

• Several theories about leadership behaviour and how different
types of leaders can be distinguished
 Ohio and Michigan Studies

• Ohio (Fleishman, 1969)

• Michigan (Katz et al., 1950s)

• Consideration (employee-orientation). The extent to which

the leader demonstrates trust in subordinates, respect their ideas
and shows consideration for their feelings.

• Initiating structure (production-orientation). The extent

to which the leader defines and structures their own role and
subordinates’ roles. Workers viewed as a means for getting work
accomplished.
 Effects of Leadership
Behaviour
Leadership Consideration/ Initiating Structure/
Behaviour People Orientation Task Orientation
r/p r/p

Leader effectiveness .39 * .28 *

Followers’ motivation .40 * .26 *
Satisfaction with leader .68 * .27 *
Job satisfaction .40 * .19 *
Group/Org. performance .23 * .23 *

Overall average .49 * .29 *

Based on 400 correlations from 200 studies with 300 samples

(Judge, et al.,2004, JAP)

 Transformational Leadership

One of most studied theory of leadership

Differentiates Transformational vs. Transactional

Leadership: distinct but not mutually exclusive processes.
Effective leaders use a combination of both types of
leadership
- Transformational: Appeal to followers’ values and
emotions to inspire and motivate them to go beyond
self-interests and prioritise organisational objectives
- Transactional: Appeals to self-interest and
exchanging benefits
(Bass, 1985)
 Transformational Leaders

• Being a role • Encouraging • Creating a positive • Listening to

model, showing new ideas and vision, showing followers’
respect and trust innovative enthusiasm & concerns, acting
approaches optimism, creating as a mentor &
meaning coach
 How does TL influence
followers?

Numerous mechanisms have been suggest linking TL

with positive outcomes:
• Emotional Regulation e.g. mood (e.g. Chuang,
Judge, & Liaw, 2012)
• Self-determination/intrinsic motivation (e.g.
Conchie, 2013)
• Trust in leader (Braun, Peus, Weisweiler, & Frey,
2013)

• Social Learning Perspective – through modelling

of behaviours in protege-mentor relationship.
 TL Outcomes

Higher levels of TL linked with positive outcomes:

• Follower satisfaction, motivation and performance
• Leader Performance and effectiveness
• Group and Organisational effectiveness

• Based on Meta-Analysis (Judge and Piccolo, 2004)

 Evaluation of Style
Approaches

• More optimistic – just because you’re not born with

particular traits doesn’t mean you can never lead

• Easier to link to leadership development (e.g.

training of behaviour)

• Still fairly simplistic; is the same style right for all

situations and all followers?
 Contingency Approaches

Time Approach Core theme

Late 1960s to Contingency Leadership is affected by context – under a
early 1980s given condition what kind of leader or
leadership style will be effective?

• Idea is that the type of leader/leadership behaviour that is best

will depend on contingencies
• Organisational context
• Task context
• Follower context
• Focus on leader effectiveness and context
• Multiple theories proposed
 Contingency Theories

Leader

Task &
Followers
Context

Leader effectiveness is determined by both the personal

characteristics of leaders and followers and by various characteristics
of the situation in which leadership process takes place
 Situational Leadership
Theory
Hersey and Blanchard (1977, 1988)
• Leaders are effective when they select the right style for the
‘readiness’ of their followers – should adjust style

Able High/moderate readiness High readiness

= participative style = delegating style

Low readiness = Low/moderate readiness

telling style = selling style
Unable

Unconfident Confident
 Situational Leadership
Significance
Theory provides a useful and understandable framework
for situational leadership but poor research support (Chen
& Silverthorne, 2005; Thompson & Vecchio, 2009)

The model suggests that there is no one best leadership

style for all situations

Manager’s leadership style must be adaptable and

flexible to meet the changing needs of employees and
situation
• Know your style
• Match your style to follower maturity and task
situation
 House’s Path-Goal Theory
Evans (1970), House and colleagues (1971, 1974, 1974)

Theory is about how leaders motivate subordinates to

accomplish designated goals

Effective leaders clarify the path (remove obstacles) to

help followers achieve their work goals

Underlying assumption of path-goal theory is derived from

expectancy theory:

• Motivation = Value * Expectancy * Instrumentality

(V.I.E)
 House’s Path-Goal Theory

Leader defines goals (Value)

Leader clarifies path (Expectancy)
Leader removes obstacles (Instrumentality)
Leader provides support (Instrumentality)

Obstacle(s)

Followers Path Path Goal(s)

 Leader Behaviours
Directive
Supportive
Participative
Achievement Oriented

Follower Characteristics

Task Characteristics

Followers Motivation Goal(s)

 Evaluation of Contingency
Approaches
• Some theories are criticised for being primarily intuitive
• Empirical support is weak to mixed
• There are so many contingencies!
• But…..
• Consideration of match between context and leader style is
an advance
• Suggests that there is no one best leadership style for all
situations
• Manager’s leadership style must be adaptive to meet
changing needs of employees and situation.
 Relationship-based
Approach to Leadership

Approach Core theme

LMX The relationship between leader and follower is central
to understanding good leadership

• Rather than focusing purely on leader or follower,

LMX examines the relationship between the two.
• Premise: the essence of leadership is the relationship
that develops through social-exchanges (Graen &
Uhl-Bien, 1995)
 Wider Issues with Leadership
Research
Majority of the theories focus exclusively on the Leader

Assume influence is purely top-down

BUT what about the follower…

 Relational Approach - LMX

Leader-member Exchange Theory (LMX) currently one of

most researched areas

Rather than focusing purely on leader or follower, LMX

examines the relationship between the two.

Premise is that the essence of leadership is the relationship

that develops through social-exchanges

This affects the quality of the relationship (low to

high)
Relationship Dimensions
 Leader-Follower
Relationship
Through sets of social exchanges, leader develops
different types of relationship with their subordinates,
which vary from low to high quality LMX.

Low quality – follower asked to only comply with role

requirements to receive ‘standard’ benefits, low trust and
support

High quality – with trusted followers who function as

assistants, lieutenants or advisors – based on mutual
influence, trust, loyalty, affect and support
 High Quality LMX
Relationships
In these exchanges leaders may offer….
• Mentoring (Scandura & Schriesheim, 1994)
• Sponsorship of subordinates in social networks
(Sparrowe & Liden, 2005)
• Empowerment (Chen, Kirkman, Kanfer, Allen, & Rosen, 2007;
Liden, Wayne, & Sparrowe, 2000)

In exchange for….
• Higher levels of subordinate organizational citizenship
behaviours (OCB; e.g. Blau, Moideenkutty & Ingham, 2010)
• Task performance (e.g., Cogliser, Schriesheim, Scandura, &
Gardner, 2009).
 LMX Outcomes:
Work Reactions
Meta-analysis, LMX with:

Job Ssatisfaction (88 samples) r = .49

Leader Satisfaction (32 samples) r = .68
Organisational Commitment (58 samples) r = .47
Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (27 samples) r = .39
Turnover Intentions (38 studies) r = -.39
Actual Turnover (9 studies) r = -.17

(Dulebohn et al., 2012)

 Effects of LMX

Meta-analyses (e.g., Martin et al., 2016) show LMX

predicts followers’
– Task performance
– Citizenship behaviour
– Lower counterproductive performance
 LMX Differentiation:
In-group/Out-group

Leaders do not treat all

followers equally
Ingroup (or individual) are
favoured by leader (more
attention, greater share of
resources)
Outgroup (or individual) are
less favoured – less
satisfied, more likely to
resign, lower performance
(Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995)
 Summary
Theory Which leaders are best
Trait Those with particular traits like
intelligence, assertiveness
Style Those who behave democratically, and
who balance relationship- and task-
orientation. Those who inspire a vision in
their followers

Contingency Those who adjust style to the situation and

their followers

LMX Those who build high quality relations with

their followers