CE 135 – ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT

Course Description:

This course deals with the study of the field of Engineering Management, the science of handling
technical undertakings the engineering way so that decision making shall be made more rational and
logical. It is concerned with planning and organizing technical activities, staffing the engineering
organization, communicating, motivating, leading, controlling, managing production and service operations,
managing the marketing functions and managing finance functions.

WEEK 12. LEADING

Topics for Week 12:

1. What is leading
2. How leaders influence others
3. The nature of leadership
4. Behavioral approaches to leadership styles

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
- Define what leading and leadership are
- Outline how leaders influence others
- Recognize the nature of leadership and its approaches

Topic 1. What is Leading?

Leading is one of the management functions which “involves influencing others to engage in the work
behaviors necessary to reach organizational goals.” The definition indicates that a person or group of
persons tasked with managing a group must assume of the role performed by leaders.

Leading refers to the function while leadership refers to the process.

Topic 2. How Leaders Influence Others?

Engineer managers are expected to maintain effective work forces. To be able to dos so, they are
required to perform leadership roles. Leaders are said to be able to influence others because of the power
they possess. Power refers to the ability of a leader to exert force on another.

Bases of Power

The power possessed by leaders may be classified according to various bases. They are as follows:

1. Legitimate power
2. Reward power
3. Coercive power
4. Referent power
5. Expert power

1. Legitimate Power

A power who occupies a higher position has legitimate power over persons in lower positions within the
organization. A supervisor, for instance, can issue orders to the workers in his unit. Compliance can be
expected.

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 2. Reward Power

When a person has the ability to give rewards to anybody who follows orders or requests, he is said to
have reward power. Rewards may be classified into two forms: material and psychic.

Material rewards refer to money or other tangible benefits like cars, house and lot, etc. Psychic rewards
consist of recognition, praises, etc.

3. Coercive Power

When a person compels another to comply with orders through threats or punishment, he is said to
possess coercive power. Punishment may take the form of demotion, dismissal, withholding of promotion,
etc.

4. Referent Power

When a person can get compliance from another because the latter would want to be identified with the
former, that person is said to have referent power.

5. Expert Power

Experts provide specialized information regarding their specific lines of expertise. This influence, called
expert power, is possessed by people with great skills in technology.

The expert power exercised by environmental scientists was enough to force governments throughout
the world to pass legislations favorable to environmental protection.

Topic 3. The Nature of Leadership

Leadership may be referred to as “the process of influencing and supporting others to work
enthusiastically toward achieving objectives.” Leadership is expected of any manager in charge of any unit
or division.

Traits of Effective Leaders

There are certain leadership traits identified by researchers and which may be useful in developing
effective leaders. These traits are as follows:

1. A high level of personal drive

2. The desire to lead
3. Personal integrity
4. Self-confidence
5. Analytical ability or judgment
6. Knowledge of the company, industry or technology
7. Charisma
8. Creativity
9. Flexibility

1. Personal Drive

Persons with drive are those identified as willing to accept responsibility, possess vigor, initiative,
persistence and health.

Drive is very important leadership trait because of the possibility of failure in every attempt to achieve
certain goals.

2. The Desire to Lead

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 There are some persons who have all the qualifications for leadership yet they could not become
leaders because they lack one special requirement: the desire to lead.

Even if they are forced to act as leaders, they will not be effective because their efforts will be half-
hearted. Leaders with a desire to lead will always have a reservoir of extra efforts which can be used
whenever needed.

3. Personal Integrity

A person who is well-regarded by others as one who has integrity possesses one trait of a leader. One
who does not have personal integrity will have hard time convincing his subordinates about the necessity of
completing various tasks.

If this is case, the leader will then resort to “exercising his authority and getting things done entirely by
the use or threat of use of the coercive powers vested in him by virtue of the rank and position he occupies
in the hierarchy.”

According to V.K. Saraf, integrity means and includes “honesty, honor, incorruptibility, rectitude,
righteousness, uprightness and similar virtues.”

4. Self – Confidence

The activities of leaders require moves that will produce the needed outputs. The steps of
conceptualizing, organizing and implementing will be completed if sustained efforts are made.

Mckinsey and company found in a study they conducted that leaders of mid-size, high growth
companies were “almost inevitably consummate salesmen who radiate enormous contagious self-
confidence.

5. Analytical Ability

Leaders are, oftentimes, faced with difficulties that prevent the completion of assigned tasks. A leader
with sufficient skill to determine the root cause of the problem may be able to help the subordinate to
improve his production.

The ability to analyze is one desirable trait that a leader can use to tide him over many challenging
aspects of leadership.

6. Knowledge of the Company, Industry or Technology

A leader who is well-informed about his company, the industry where the company belongs and
technology utilized by the industry will be in a better position to provide directions to his unit.

7. Charisma

When a person has sufficient personal magnetism that leads people to follow his directives, this person
is said to have charisma.

When used properly, charisma will help the leader in achieving his goals. With some adjustments,
subordinates may be expected to do their tasks willingly.

8. Creativity

Ronnie Millevo defines creativity as “the ability to combine existing data, experience and preconditions
from various sources in such a way that the results will be subjectively regarded as new, valuable and
innovative and as a direct solution to an identified problem situation.

As leaders are tasked to provide solutions to problems besetting their particular units or divisions,
creativity will be a very useful trait. Problems are oftentimes, complex and challenging and if they are, the
leader will need all the creative abilities he has.

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 9. Flexibility

People differ in the way they do their work. One will adapt a different method from another person’s
method. A leader, who allows this situation as long as the required outputs are produced, is said to be
flexible.

There is wisdom in being flexible. It allows the other means of achieving goals when the prescribed
manner is not appropriate.

Leadership Skills

Leader need to have various skills to be effective. They are:

1. Technical skills
2. Human skills
3. Conceptual skills

1. Technical Skills

These are skills are leader must possess to enable him to understand and make decisions about
work processes, activities and technology. Technical skill is the specialized knowledge needed to
perform a job. The engineer manager of a construction firm must have sufficient technical skills to
undertake construction works.

2. Human Skills

These skills refer to the ability of a leader to deal with people, both inside and outside the
organization. Good leaders must know how to get along with people, motivate them and inspire them.

3. Conceptual Skills

These skills refer to the “the ability to think in abstract terms, to see how parts fit together to form the
whole.”

Topic 4. Behavioral Approaches to Leadership Styles

Those in positions of leadership exhibit a pattern of behavior that is unique and different from other
patterns. This total pattern of behavior is called leadership style.

There are several approaches used in classifying leadership styles. They are as follows:

1. According to the ways leaders approach people to motivate them.

2. According to the way the leader uses power.
3. According to the leader’s orientation towards task and people.

➢ Ways Leaders Approach People

There are two ways; a leader may approach people to motivate them. They are: (1) positive leadership
and (2) negative leadership

When the leader’s approach emphasizes rewards, the style used is positive leadership. When
punishment is emphasized by the leader, the style is said to be negative leadership.

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 Leaders, sometimes, alternately use positive and negative leadership depending on the characteristics
of individual subordinates.

➢ Ways Leaders Uses Power

Leadership styles also vary according to how power is used. They are as follows: (1) autocratic, (2)
participative and (3) free-rein.

1. Autocratic Leaders

Leaders who make decisions themselves, without consulting subordinates are called autocratic leaders.
Motivation takes the form of threats, punishment and intimidation of all kinds.

The autocratic style is effective in emergencies and when absolute followership is needed. The
disadvantage of autocratic leadership is that the leader “receives little, if any information and ideas from his
people as inputs to his decision-making.”

2. Participative Leaders

When a leader openly invites his subordinates to participate or share in decisions, policy-making and
operation methods, he is said to be a participative leader.

The advantage of participative leadership is that it generates a lot of good ideas. Another advantage is
the increased support for decisions and the reduction of the chance that they will be unexpectedly
undermined.

The disadvantage of participative leadership is that it is time-consuming and frustrating to people who
prefer to see a quick decision reached.

3. Free – Rein Leaders

Leader who set objectives and allow employees or subordinates relative freedom to do whatever it takes
to accomplish these objectives are called free-rain leaders. They are also referred to as laissez-faire
leaders. This leadership style is most applicable to curtained organizations manned by professionals like
doctors and engineers.

If free-rein leadership fits the situation, there is full managerial delegation resulting to optimum utilization
of time and resources. This happens because many people are motivated to full effort only if given this kind
of free-rein.

The weakness of free-rein leadership is that there is very little managerial control and a high degree of
risk. If the leader does not know well the competence and integrity of his people and their ability to handle
this kind of freedom, the result could be disastrous.

➢ Leaders Orientation Toward Tasks and People

Leader may be classified according to how they view tasks and people. Consequently, a leader may
either be: (1) employee oriented or (2) task oriented.

1. Employee Orientation

A leader is said to be employee oriented when he considers employees as human beings of “intrinsic
importance and with individual and personal need” to satisfy.

2. Task Orientation

A leader is said to be task-oriented if the places stress on production and the technical aspects of the
job and the employees are viewed as the means of getting the work done.

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REFERENCES:

Engineering Management by Roberto G. Medina

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do

more and become more, you are a leader.”
– John Quincy Adams

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