Leadership

Definition

A leader is defined as a person who establishes vision, sets

goals, motivates people and obtains their commitment to
achieve the goals and realize the vision
 Manager Leader
Managers tend to play a relatively Leaders take a personal and active
passive role in accomplishing goals interest in achieving goals whereas
managers
Managers need power to be entrusted Leaders have power within
to them to deal with people while themselves
leaders

Managers may become anxious and Leaders can act confidently when
tense to work alone they work independently
Managers may limit their interaction Leaders interact with people
with people frequently
Managers are concerned with coping Leaders are concerned with coping
with complexity with change
Managers concentrate on developing Leaders focus on developing a vision
plans
Managers derive power from their Leaders derive power from the group
position without a formal appointment
All managers are not leaders All leaders are not managers
 Leadership skills

• Technical Skills: A person’s knowledge and ability to

cooperate with other members of the organization and work
effectively in teams

• Human Skills: An individual’s ability to cooperate with other

members of the organization and work effectively in teams

• Conceptual Skills: The ability of an individual to analyze

complex situations and to rationally process and interpret
available information
Leadership Skills
 Leadership Styles
• Autocratic Leadership: Leaders who adopt this style retain all the authority and
decision making power

• Consultative Leadership: It encourages employees to participate in decision-

making

• Laissez Faire Leadership: The leader completely delegates the responsibilities and
decision making power to the subordinates

• Bureaucratic Leadership: Leaders set certain rigid rules and regulations and
procedures

• Manipulative Leadership: Leaders believe that employees should be manipulated

tog et them to behave in the way the leader wants them to behave

• Expert Leadership: A person with a high level of knowledge and abilities leads the
group

• Authentic Leadership: Leaders who know who they are, know what they believe in
and value and act on those values and beliefs openly and candidly
 Likert’s systems of Management
• Exploitative-authoritative style: All decisions are made by
managers and there is little employee participation

• Benevolent-authoritative style: Subordinates are allowed to

participate to some extent in decision-making, but retain
control over policy matters

• Consultative style: Mangers seek advice from subordinates but

they retain the right to take final decision

• Participative style: Managers encourage participation of

employees at all levels in decision-making
 Determinants of Leadership

• Quality of Subordinates: The team should consist of

independent and self-motivated subordinates

• Nature of the situation: An individual who has the background

and knowledge relevant to a given situation will come forward
by himself/herself to lead the group when the situation arises
 Types of Leaders
• Transactional Leaders: They are leaders who guide or motivate
their followers in the direction of established goals by
clarifying role and task requirements

• Transformational Leaders: They are leaders who inspire

followers to transcend their own self-interests and who are
capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on
followers

• Charismatic Leaders: They are leaders whose followers make

attributions of heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities
when they observe certain behaviors
 Leadership Theories
• Trait Theories: Personal qualities and characteristics differentiate leaders from non-
leaders
 Great person theory
 Emotional Intelligence theory

• Behavioral Theories: Behavioral characteristics differentiate leaders from non-

leaders
 The Ohio state studies
 The University of Michigan studies
 The Managerial Grid
 The Scandinavian studies

• Contingency Theories: Leaders have to change their style depending on the

situation they face to differentiate from non-leaders
 Fiedler’s contingency model
 Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory
 Leader-Member exchange theory
 Leadership-participation model
 Path-goal theory
 Trait Theories
• Great Person Theory: Leadership traits can be acquired with training and
experience and they many not be inborn

• Emotional Intelligence Theory: The important characteristics of successful

leaders are:
 Empathy
 Graciousness
 Optimism
 Ability to read non-verbal cues in a social situation.
 Ambition
 High levels of energy
 Desire to lead
 Honesty
 Integrity,
 Self confidence
 Intelligence
 Job relevant knowledge
 Behavioral Theories
• Ohio State Studies: The dimensions of leadership are:
 Initiating structure: It refers to an individual’s ability to define
his/her own as well as the subordinates’ tasks and get these tasks
accomplished on time
 Consideration: It refers to the extent to which a leader cares for
his/her subordinates, respects their ideas and feelings and
establishes work relations which are characterized by mutual trust
and respect

• University of Michigan studies: The dimensions of leadership

are:
 Employee oriented: It emphasizes the importance of
interpersonal relations
 Production oriented: Leaders are more concerned with tasks and
goals
 Behavioral Theories(Continued)
• Managerial Grid: The two dimensional matrix model consists
of nine rows (Concern for production) and columns (Concern
for people). The intersection points are:
 1,9: Country Club Management
 1,1: Impoverished Management
 9,1: Authority-Compliance
 5,5: Middle of the road management
 9,9: Team management

• Scandinavian studies: It resulted into a new dimension namely

development oriented leaders who experiment with new ideas
and practices and embrace change
Leadership Grid
 Contingency Theories
• Fiedler’s contingency model: Leadership requirements depend
on the situation facing the leader and the choice of the most
appropriate style of leadership depends on whether the overall
situation is favorable or unfavorable to the leader. The
parameters are:
 Leader-member relationships: Extent to which a leader is
accepted by his subordinates

 Degree of task structure: Degree to which the task on hand

can be performed efficiently by following a particular method

 The leader’s position: It refers to the power or formal

authority that the leader is bestowed within the organization
Fiedler Model Findings
 Contingency Theories(Continued)
• Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory: The maturity level of
the subordinate plays a major role in influencing the leadership
style of the superior. The styles are:
 Telling
 Selling
 Participating
 Delegating

• Leader-Member Exchange Theory: Leaders establish special

relationship with a small group of subordinates, usually early in
their interaction because of time constraints. The groups are:
 The in-group: Small group of subordinates who are selected on
the basis of similar characteristics and competence
 The out-group: The rest (subordinates) who get less of leader’s
time and attention
LMX theory
 Contingency Theories(Continued)
• Leadership-participation model: It provides a sequential set of
rules that can be followed for ascertaining the type and amount of
participation required in decision-making in different situations.
The problem attributes are:
 Decision-quality dimensions: Cost considerations, information
availability and nature of the problem structure

 Employee acceptance dimensions: Need for commitment, their

prior approval, congruence of their goals with that of the
organization and conflict among the employees

 Other factors: Level of subordinate information, time constraints,

geographical distance between subordinates, leader’s motivation to
conserve time and leader’s motivation to develop subordinates
 Contingency Theories(Continued)
• Path-goal theory: It is the leader’s job to assist followers in
attaining their goals and to provide necessary direction and/or
support to ensure that their goals are compatible with overall
objectives of the group or organization. The types of
leadership suggested are:
 Directive Leadership: The leader tells the subordinates what is
expected from them
 Supportive Leadership: The leader attempts to address the
needs and problems of his subordinates
 Participative Leadership: The leader discusses problems with
subordinates and seeks suggestions before making a decision
 Achievement oriented Leadership: The leader attempts to
provide challenging tasks and higher responsibilities to the
subordinates