LEADERSHIP

What is Leadership?
• Leadership is a social process in which one individual influences
the behaviour of others without the use of threat or violence.
( Buchannan and Huczynski ).

• Leadership is the process of making sense of what people are

doing together so that people will understand and be
committed.( Drath & Palus) (1994)
What is Leadership?

• Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. (Warren

G. Bennis)

• Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead

and those who choose to follow (Kouzes & Posner, 2002)
What is Leadership?
• Leadership is that process in which one person sets the purpose
or direction for one or more other persons and gets them to
move along together with him or her and with each other in that
direction with competence and full commitment.

• Leadership is the art of influencing others to their maximum

performance to accomplish any task, objective or project..
(Cohen, W.A. ‘The Art of a Leader’ Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall (1990, p. 9)
What is Leadership?

• Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a complex moral

relationship between people, based on trust, obligation,
commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good.
LEADERSHIP STYLES
Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction,
implementing plans, and motivating people.
What are the three major styles of
leadership?

• Authoritarian or autocratic
• Participative or democratic
• Delegative or Free Reign
Authoritarian or Autocratic
• used when leaders tell their employees
what they want done and how they want it
accomplished, without getting the advice
of their followers

• appropriate conditions to use it:

• when one has all the information to solve
the problem
• one is short on time
• ones’ employees are well motivated
 Participative or Democratic
• involves the leader including one or more
employees in the decision making process
(determining what to do and how to do it)
• the leader maintains the final decision making
authority
• normally used when one has part of the
information, and ones employees have other parts
• Note that a leader is not expected to know
everything -- this is why one employs
knowledgeable and skillful employees.
• mutual benefit -- it allows them to become part of
the team and allows one to make better decisions.
 Delegative or Free Reign
• the leader allows the employees to
make the decisions
• the leader is still responsible for the
decisions that are made
• used when employees are able to
analyze the situation and determine
what needs to be done and how to do
it
• This is not a style to use so that one
can blame others when things go
wrong, rather this is a style to be used
when one fully trusts the people
around him.
INTERVIEW 2 leaders
1. What makes you a leader? (characteristics you have that are leader-material) What is your
leadership style?
2. What were your responsibilities at your current (or last) position?
3. What were your biggest accomplishments in this position?
4. What major challenges and problems did you face? How did you handle them?
5. What motivates you?
6. What do people most often criticize about you?
7. How do you encourage team members to express concerns and ideas? / In what specific
ways do you motivate your team?
8. What inspiring words can you give to those who aspire to lead in the future?
9. What legacy would you like to be remembered for as a leader?
Conclusion
• Using an authoritarian style on a new employee who is just learning the job.
The leader is competent and a good coach. The employee is motivated to
learn a new skill. The situation is a new environment for the employee.
• Using a participative style with a team of workers who know their job. The
leader knows the problem, but does not have all the information. The
employees know their jobs and want to become part of the team.
• Using a delegative style with a worker who knows more about the job than
one. One cannot do everything! The employee needs to take ownership of
her job. Also, the situation might call for one to be at other places, doing
other things
Forces that influence the style to be used
• How much time is available?
• Are relationships based on respect and trust or on disrespect?
• Who has the information - one, ones employees, or both?
• How well ones employees are trained and how well one knows the
task?
• Internal conflicts
• Stress levels
• Type of task
LEADERSHIP THEORIES
Great Man Theory
Assumptions
• Leaders are born and not made.
• Great leaders will arise when there is a great need.
Description
• Early research on leadership was based on the study of people who were already
great leaders. These people were often from the aristocracy, as few from lower
classes had the opportunity to lead
• The idea of the Great Man also strayed into the mythic domain, with notions that
in times of need, a Great Man would arise, almost by magic.
Trait Theory
Assumptions
• People are born with inherited traits.
• Some traits are particularly suited to leadership.
• People who make good leaders have the right (or sufficient) combination of traits.
Description
• Early research on leadership was based on people having inherited characteristics
or traits. They discover these traits, often by studying successful leaders, but with
the underlying assumption that if other people could also be found with these
traits, then they, too, could also become great leaders.
Trait Theory
Traits Skills
•Adaptable to situations •Clever (intelligent)
•Alert to social environment •Conceptually skilled
•Ambitious and achievement-orientated •Creative
•Assertive •Diplomatic and tactful
•Cooperative •Fluent in speaking
•Decisive •Knowledgeable about group task
•Dependable •Organized (administrative ability)
•Dominant (desire to influence others) •Persuasive
•Energetic (high activity level) •Socially skilled
•Persistent  
•Self-confident
•Tolerant of stress traits and skills as critical to leaders (Stogdill,
•Willing to assume responsibility 1974)
Trait Theory
• McCall and Lombardo (1983) researched both success and failure identified
four primary traits by which leaders could succeed:

• Emotional stability and composure: Calm, confident and predictable, particularly

when under stress.
• Admitting error: Owning up to mistakes, rather than putting energy into
covering up.
• Good interpersonal skills: Able to communicate and persuade others without
resort to negative or coercive tactics.
• Intellectual breadth: Able to understand a wide range of areas, rather than
having a narrow (and narrow-minded) area of expertise.
Behavioral Theory
Assumptions
• Leaders can be made, rather than are born.
• Successful leadership is based in definable, learnable behavior.
Description
• Behavioral theories of leadership do not seek inborn traits or capabilities. Rather,
they look at what leaders actually do.
• If success can be defined in terms of describable actions, then it should be
relatively easy for other people to act in the same way. This is easier to teach and
learn than to adopt the more temporary 'traits' or 'capabilities'.