UNIT 2 - leadership theories and styles

Leadership theories & styles

• Leadership style is the relative consistent pattern of behavior
that characterizes a leader.
• Leaders' styles encompass how they relate to others within and
outside the organization, how they view themselves and their
position, and - to a very large extent - whether or not they are
successful as leaders.
• If a task needs to be accomplished, how does a particular
leader set out to get it done?
• If an emergency arises, how does a leader handle it?
• If the organization needs the support of the community, how
does a leader go about mobilizing it?
• All of these depend on leadership style.
 Leadership theories & styles
• The leader's style or manner of dealing with
the organization's members and
communicating with them contributes to or
detracts from the group's overall functioning.
• Leadership styles are also broadly classified
based on three points of view: Motivation,
Authority and supervision.
 On the basis of motivation
• Leadership style can be positive or negative
style.
• In positive style a leader motivates his
followers to work hard by offering them
rewards, for example, higher bonus.
• In negative styles, a leader forces his followers
to work hard and punishes them for lower
productivity.
 on the basis of Authority
• Bureaucratic Leadership style
• (Max Weber, 1905) is very structured and follows the
procedures as they have been established.
• This type of leadership has no space to explore new ways
to solve problems and is usually slow paced to ensure
adherence to the ladders stated by the company.
• Leaders ensure that all the steps have been followed prior
to sending it to the next level of authority. It is also known
as manages “by the book”. Everything done according to
procedure or policy if not covered by the book, referred to
the next level above.
 on the basis of Authority
• Charismatic Leadership style
• This type of leader has to be committed to the organization for the
long run.
• If the success of the division or project is attributed to the leader and
not the team, charismatic leaders may become a risk for the company
by deciding to resign for advanced opportunities.
• It takes the company time and hard work to gain the employees'
confidence back with other type of leadership after they have
committed themselves to the magnetism of a charismatic leader.
Assumptions
• Charm and grace are all that is needed to create followers.
• Self-belief is a fundamental need of leaders.
• People follow others that they personally admire
 on the basis of Authority
• Autocratic Leadership style
• “Look, I’m the boss around here. I’ll make the decisions and I’ll tell
you what I want you to do.
• You’d better do your job because I’ll be watching your every move.”
• Autocratic leadership is the classical approach to leadership style.
• Autocratic leadership Style is also known as ‘’I’’ approach. This type
of leadership is practiced by the managers concentrating on power
and authority within themselves. Leader expects high degree of
compliance by subordinates.
• A Leader having this style does not consult staff, nor allowed to
give any input.
 on the basis of Authority
• Democratic Leadership style
• This style of leadership is also known as participative
leadership.
• As the name itself indicates, in this style, the entire
group is involved in goal setting and achieving it.
• A democratic leader follows the majority opinion as
expressed by his group.
• Subordinates have considerable freedom of action.
• The leader shows greater concern for his people’s
interest, is friendly and helpful to them.
 on the basis of Authority
• Laissez-faire/Free-Rein Leadership style
• In this type of leadership, the leaders exercise absolutely
no control.
• He only provides information, materials and facilities to his
subordinates.
• This type of leadership is employee centered and the
subordinates are free to establish their own goals and
chart out the course of action.
• This type of leadership can be disaster if the leader does
not know well the competence and integrity of his people
and their ability to handle this kind of freedom.
 on the basis of Authority
• Situational leadership style
• The situational leadership style states that for a
manager to be democrat, autocratic or laissez-
faire, situations force him/her.
• The manager behaves as per the situations
he/she is facing.
• If one leadership style is appropriate to a given
situation, that particular style may not be
appropriate to another (different) situation.
 The Leadership Grid

Country club Team leaders

Impoverished Authoritarian
 Authoritarian Leader (high task, low relationship)

• People who get this rating are very much task oriented
and are hard on their workers (autocratic).
• There is little or no allowance for cooperation or
collaboration.
• Heavily task oriented people display these
characteristics.
• They are very strong on schedules; they expect people to
do what they are told without question or debate; when
something goes wrong they tend to focus on who is to
blame rather than concentrate on exactly what is wrong
and how to prevent it.
 Team Leader (high task, high relationship)

• This type of person leads by positive example and

endeavors to foster a team environment in which all
team members can reach their highest potential,
both as team members and as person.
• They encourage the team to reach team goals as
effectively as possible, while also working tirelessly
to strengthen the bonds among the various
members.
• They normally form and lead some of the most
productive teams.
 Country Club Leader (low task, high relationship)

• This person uses predominantly reward power

to maintain discipline and to encourage the
team to accomplish its goals.
• Conversely, they are almost incapable of
employing the more punitive coercive and
legitimate powers.
• This inability results from fear that using such
powers could jeopardize relationships with the
other team members.
 Impoverished Leader (low task, low relationship)

• A leader who uses a "delegate and disappear"

management style, since they are not committed to
either task accomplishment or maintenance of
relationships
• They essentially allow their team to do whatever it
wishes and prefer to detach themselves from the
team process by allowing the team to suffer from a
series of power struggles.
• According to current definition of leadership, this
type of manager does not qualify as a leader.
Leadership Theories

Leadership Theories
 Great man theory
• One of the early notions of leadership, which is still popular in
certain circle, is that leadership is an inborn quality.
• The great man theory of leadership asserts that leaders in
general and great leaders in particular are born and not made.
• According to the theory, leadership calls for certain qualities
like charm, persuasiveness, commanding personality, high
degree of intuition, judgment, courage, intelligence,
aggressiveness and action orientation are of such nature that
they cannot be taught or learnt in a formal sense.
• In other words, they are inborn or sometimes inherited in
family from generation to generation.
 Trait theory
• The trait approach to understanding leadership assumes that certain
physical, social, and personal characteristics are inherent in leaders.
• Sets of traits and characteristics were identified to assist in selecting the
right people to become leaders.
• Physical traits include being young to middle-aged, energetic, tall, and
handsome.
• Social background traits include being educated at the "right” schools and
being socially prominent or upwardly mobile.
• Social characteristics include being charismatic, charming, tactful, popular,
cooperative, and diplomatic.
• Personality traits include being self-confident, adaptable, assertive, and
emotionally stable.
• Task-related characteristics include being driven to excel, accepting of
responsibility, having initiative, and being results-oriented.
 Behavioral theory
• Behavioral theory contains some very different
assumptions from trait theory. Trait theory
assumes that a leader is born with specific traits
that make him or her good leader.
• Behavioral theory, on the other hand, assumes
that you can learn to become a good leader
because you are not drawing on personality traits.
• Leaders can be made, rather than are born .Your
actions—what you do—define your leadership
ability
 Contingency theory
• The leader's ability to lead is contingent upon
various situational factors, including the leader's
preferred style, the capabilities and behaviors of
followers and also various other situational
factors.
• Contingency theories are a class of behavioral
theory that contends there is no one best way of
leading and that a leadership style that is effective
in some situations may not be successful in
others.
 Transformational, Transactional and Servant Leadership

• Transformational, Transactional and Servant

Leadership
 Transformational Leadership
• Transformational leadership is a theory of
leadership where a leader works with teams
• to identify needed change, creating a vision
to guide the change through inspiration, and
executing the change in tandem with
committed members of a group.
• It is an integral part of the Full Range
Leadership Model.
 Transformational Leadership
• Transformational leadership serves to enhance the
motivation, morale, and job performance of
followers through a variety of mechanisms; these
include
• connecting the follower's sense of identity and self
to a project and to the collective identity of the
organization;
• being a role model for followers in order to inspire
them and to raise their interest in the project;
 Four elements of Transformational
Leadership
• Individualized Consideration– the degree to
which the leader attends to each follower's
needs, acts as a mentor or coach to the
follower and listens to the follower's concerns
and needs.
 Four elements of Transformational
Leadership
• Intellectual Stimulation – It is when the leader
encourages their followers to think for themselves.
• These leaders are creative, innovative, and are very
open to new ideas.
• They tend to be tolerant of their followers’ mistakes,
and even encourage them as they believe they
promote growth and improvement within the
organization.
• These leaders create learning opportunities for their
followers and abandon obsolete practices.
 Four elements of Transformational
Leadership
• Inspirational Motivation– the degree to which the
leader articulates a vision that is appealing and
inspiring to followers.
• Leaders with inspirational motivation challenge
followers with high standards, communicate
optimism about future goals, and provide meaning
for the task at hand.
• Followers need to have a strong sense of purpose if
they are to be motivated to act. Purpose and meaning
provide the energy that drives a group forward.
 Four elements of Transformational
Leadership
• Idealized Influence – It is when the leader acts as a
strong role model for their organization and leads
by example.
• These types of leaders consider the needs of their
followers and prioritize their needs.
• Provides a role model for high ethical behavior,
instills pride, gains respect and trust.
• Followers of these leaders typically try to emulate
their leader as they tend to identify with them
easily.
 Transactional Leadership
• It is defined as the influence of a leader toward his
subordinates using reward and punishment as a
form of motivational medium.
• The style is based on the concept that a leader has
to give something to his followers in exchange for
performing certain tasks.
• In this style, a leader may offer something valuable
like increased salary, incentives, and promotion to
his subordinate, who in turn is expected to fulfill his
or her duties well.
Difference between Transactional and
Transformational Leaders
Transactional leadership Transformational Leadership
Leadership is responsive  Leadership is proactive
Works within the  Work to change the organizational
organizational culture culture by implementing new ideas
Transactional leaders make  Transformational leaders motivate and
employees achieve empower employees to achieve
organizational objectives company’s objectives by appealing to
through rewards and higher ideals and moral values
punishment.
Motivates followers by  Motivates followers by encouraging
appealing to their own self- them to transcend their own interests
interest for those of the group or unit
 Servant Leadership
• Servant-leadership incorporates the ideals of
empowerment, total quality, team building,
participatory management, and the service ethic
into a leadership philosophy.
• Servant-leaders must be value and character-driven
people who are performance and process oriented.
• The people who become leaders out of a desire to
serve more effectively are called servant leaders.
 Servant Leadership
• Assumptions
• The leader has responsibility for the followers.
• Leaders have a responsibility towards society
and those who are disadvantaged.
 Leadership Skills and Competencies

• Competency is a skill that an individual has,

which equips them to perform a specific task.
• These are the skills needed to drive the
organization onto the cutting edge of new
technologies.
• Leadership Competencies form the basic
structure that separates leaders from bosses.
These skills create the walls and interiors of
the pyramid.
 Leadership Skills and Competencies
• Leadership Abilities
• Displays attributes that make people glad to follow.
• Provides a feeling of trust.
• Rallies the troops and builds morale when the going gets tough.
• Visioning Process
• Applies effort to increase productiveness in areas needing the most
improvement.
• Creates and set goals (visions).
• Senses the environment by using personal sway to influence
subordinates and peers.
• Gain commitment by influencing team to set objectives and buy in on
the process.
• Reinforces change by embracing it (prevents relapse into prior state).
 Leadership Skills and Competencies
• Create and Lead Teams
• Develops high-performance teams by establishing
a spirit of cooperation and cohesion for achieving
goals.
• Quickly takes teams out of the storming and
norming phases and into the performing phase.
• Assess Situations Quickly and Accurately
• Takes charge when the situation demands it.
• Makes the right things happen on time.
 Leadership Skills and Competencies
• Foster Conflict Resolutions (win-win)
• Effectively handles disagreements and conflicts.
• Settles disputes by focusing on solving the
problems, without offending egos.
• Provides support and expertise to other leaders
with respect to managing people.
• Evaluates the feasibility of alternative dispute
resolution mechanisms.
 Leadership Skills and Competencies
• Project Management
• Tracks critical steps in projects to ensure they are
completed on time.
• Identifies and reacts to the outside forces that might
influence or alter the organization's goals.
• Establishes a course-of-action to accomplish a
specific goal.
• Identifies, evaluates, and implements measurement
systems for current and future projects.
 Leadership Skills and Competencies
• Implement Employee Involvement Strategies
• Develops ownership by bringing employees in on the
decision making and planning process.
• Provides the means to enable employee success,
while maintaining the well-being of the organization.
• Develops processes to engage employees in
achieving the objectives of the organization.
• Empower employees by giving them the authority to
get things accomplished in the most efficient and
timely manner.
 Leadership Skills and Competencies
• Coach and Train Peers and Subordinates
• Recognizes that learning happens at every opportunity (treats
mistakes as a learning event).
• Develops future leaders by being involved in the company
mentoring program.
• Provides performance feedback, coaching, and career
development to teams and individuals to maximize their
probability of success.
• Ensure leadership at every level by coaching employees to
ensure the right things happen.
• Ensures performance feedback is an integral part of the day-to-
day activities.