LEADERSHIP

Definition:
"Leaders are individuals who establish direction for a working
group of individuals who gain commitment form these group of
members to this direction and who then motivate these members to
achieve the direction's outcomes.”
- Conger, J.A. ‘Learning to Lead’ San Francisco: Jossey-Bass (1992,
p18)

“Leadership is the ability of a superior to

influence the behavior of a subordinate or group and persuade them to
follow a particular course of action.” — Chester Bernard

“Leadership is the incremental influence that a person has beyond

his or her formal authority” – Vecchio

“Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an

individual or a group in efforts toward goal achievement in a given
situation.” – Hersey, P., Blanchard, K., Dewey, E.J., Management of
Organizational Behavior

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Researchers usually define leadership according to their individual
perspectives and the aspects of the phenomenon of most interest to them.
After a comprehensive review of the leadership literature, Stogdill
(1974, p259) concluded that “there are almost as many definitions of
leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the
concept.”

The stream of new definitions has continued unabated since Stogdill

made his observation. Leadership has been defined in terms of traits,
behaviours, influences, interaction patterns, role relationships, and
occupation of a position.

The following are examples of definitions of leadership from some of

the well-known writers and researchers in the field of leadership:

• Leadership is a “particular type of power relationship characterized by

a group member’s perception that another group member has the right to
prescribe behaviour patterns for the former regarding his activity as a
group member” (Janda, 1960, p. 358).

• Leadership is “interpersonal influence, exercised in a situation, and

directed, through the communication process, toward the attainment of a
specified goal or goals” (Tannenbaum, Weschler, & Massarik, 1961, p.
24).

• Leadership is “an interaction between persons in which one presents

information of a sort and in such a manner that the other becomes
convinced that his outcomes … will be improved if he behaves in the
manner suggested or desired” (Jacobs, 1970, p. 232).

• Leadership is “the initiation and maintenance of structure in

expectation and interaction” (Stogdill, 1974, p. 411).

• Leadership is “the relationship in which one person, the leader,

influences others to work together willingly on related tasks to attain that
which the leader desires” (Terry. 1977, 410).
• Leadership is “the influential increment over and above mechanical
compliance with the routine directives of the organization” (Katz &
Kahn, 1978, p. 528).

• According to Bray, Campbell and Grant, leadership is the

“effectiveness in getting ideas accepted and in guiding a group or an
individual to accomplish a task” (Morris, 1979, p. 5).

• Koontz and O’Donnell define leadership as “the art or process of

influencing people so that they will strive willingly towards the
achievement of group goals” (Koontz et. al., 1984, p. 661).

TRAIT THEORY
The trait model of leadership is based on the characteristics of many leaders - both
successful and unsuccessful - and is used to predict leadership effectiveness. The
resulting lists of traits are then compared to those of potential leaders to assess
their likelihood of success or failure.

Scholars taking the trait approach attempted to identify physiological (appearance,

height, and weight), demographic (age, education and socioeconomic background),
personality, self-confidence, and aggressiveness), intellective (intelligence,
decisiveness, judgment, and knowledge), task-related (achievement drive,
initiative, and persistence), and social characteristics (sociability and
cooperativeness) with leader emergence and leader effectiveness.

Successful leaders definitely have interests, abilities, and personality traits

that are different from those of the less effective leaders. Through many
researches conducted in the last three decades of the 20th century, a set of core
traits of successful leaders have been identified. These traits are not responsible
solely to identify whether a person will be a successful leader or not, but they are
essentially seen as preconditions that endow people with leadership potential.

Among the core traits identified are:

  Achievement drive: High level of effort, high levels of ambition, energy and
initiative
 Leadership motivation: an intense desire to lead others to reach shared goals
 Honesty and integrity: trustworthy, reliable, and open
 Self-confidence: Belief in one’s self, ideas, and ability
 Cognitive ability: Capable of exercising good judgment, strong analytical
abilities, and conceptually skilled
 Knowledge of business: Knowledge of industry and other technical matters
 Emotional Maturity: well adjusted, does not suffer from severe
psychological disorders.
 Others: charisma, creativity and flexibility

Strengths/Advantages of Trait Theory

 It is naturally pleasing theory.

 It is valid as lot of research has validated the foundation and basis of the
theory.
 It serves as a yardstick against which the leadership traits of an individual
can be assessed.
 It gives a detailed knowledge and understanding of the leader element in the
leadership process.

Limitations of The Trait Theory

 There is bound to be some subjective judgment in determining who is

regarded as a ‘good’ or ‘successful’ leader
 The list of possible traits tends to be very long. More than 100 different
traits of successful leaders in various leadership positions have been
identified. These descriptions are simply generalities.
 There is also a disagreement over which traits are the most important for an
effective leader
 The model attempts to relate physical traits such as, height and weight, to
effective leadership. Most of these factors relate to situational factors. For
example, a minimum weight and height might be necessary to perform the
tasks efficiently in a military leadership position. In business organizations,
these are not the requirements to be an effective leader.
 The theory is very complex

Implications of Trait Theory

The trait theory gives constructive information about leadership. It can be applied
by people at all levels in all types of organizations. Managers can utilize the
information from the theory to evaluate their position in the organization and to
assess how their position can be made stronger in the organization. They can get an
in-depth understanding of their identity and the way they will affect others in the
organization. This theory makes the manager aware of their strengths and
weaknesses and thus they get an understanding of how they can develop their
leadership qualities.

Conclusion

The traits approach gives rise to questions: whether leaders are born or made; and
whether leadership is an art or science. However, these are not mutually exclusive
alternatives. Leadership may be something of an art; it still requires the application
of special skills and techniques. Even if there are certain inborn qualities that make
one a good leader, these natural talents need encouragement and development. A
person is not born with self-confidence. Self-confidence is developed, honesty and
integrity are a matter of personal choice, motivation to lead comes from within the
individual, and the knowledge of business can be acquired. While cognitive ability
has its origin partly in genes, it still needs to be developed. None of these
ingredients are acquired overnight.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL LEADERS

Physical characteristics

Activity

Energy

Social background

Mobility

Intelligence and ability

Judgement, decisiveness

Knowledge
Fluency of speech

Personality

Alertness

Originality, creativity

Personal integrity, ethical conduct

Self-confidence

Work-related characteristics

Achievement drive, desire to excel

Drive for responsibility

Responsibility in pursuit of goals

Task orientation

Social characteristics

Ability to enlist

cooperation

Cooperativeness

Popularity, prestige

Sociability,

interpersonal skills

Social participation

Tact, diplomacy
BEHAVIOURAL THEORY
According to the behavioural approach to leadership, anyone who adopts the
appropriate behaviour can be a good leader. Researchers on leadership behaviour
who followed the behaviour approach to leadership, attempted to uncover the
behaviours in which leaders engage, rather than what traits a leader possesses.

Kurt Lewin and his associates conducted studies at Iowa State University that
concentrated on leadership styles (Lewin, Lippett & White, 1939). They identified
the following two basic leadership styles in their studies:

− Autocratic leadership style

The autocratic leader makes the decisions, tells employees what to do and closely
supervises workers (Lewin, et al 1939); (Likert, 1967).

 It describes a leader who typically tends to centralized authority

 Dictate work methods
 Make unilateral decisions
 Limit subordinate decision.

− Democratic leadership style

The democratic leader encourages participation in decisions, works with

employees to determine what to do and does not closely supervise employees.
(Lewin, et al. 1939); (Likert, 1967).

 Describes a leader who tends to involve subordinates in decision making

 Delegate authority
 Encourage participation in deciding work methods and goals
 Use feedback as an opportunity for coaching.

− Laissez-faire leadership style

 Describes a leader, who, generally gives complete freedom to the group to

make decisions and complete the work in whatever way it sees fit.
According to Likert (1967), the first studies on leadership behaviour conducted at
Iowa State University by Kurt Lewin and his associates included groups of
children, each with its own designated adult leader who was instructed to act in
either an autocratic or democratic style. These experiments produced some
interesting findings. The groups with autocratic leaders performed very well as
long as the leader was present to supervise them. However, group members were
displeased with the autocratic style of leadership and feelings of hostility
frequently arose. The performance of groups who were assigned democratic
leaders was almost as good and these groups were characterized by positive
feelings rather than hostility. In addition, under the democratic style of leadership,
group members performed well even when the leader was absent. The
participative techniques and decision-making by majority rule as used by the
democratic leader served to train and involve the group members, so that they
performed well with or without the leader being present (Likert, 1967). These
characteristics of democratic leadership may partly explain why the empowerment
of employees is a popular trend in many organizations.

This early work implied that leaders were either autocratic or democratic in their
approach. However, work done by Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1969) indicated that
leadership behaviour could exist on a continuum reflecting different degrees of
employee participation. One leader might be autocratic (boss-centred), another
democratic (subordinate) centred and a third, a combination of the two styles.
Continuum of Leadership Behaviour
The leadership continuum was originally written in 1958 by Tannenbaum and
Schmidt and was later updated in the year 1973. Their work suggests a continuum
of possible leadership behavior available to a manager and along which many
leadership styles may be placed. The continuum presents a range of action related
to the degree of authority used by the manager and to the area of freedom available
to non-managers in arriving at decisions. A broad range of leadership styles have
been depicted on the continuum between two extremes of autocratic and free rein
(See figure 1). The left side shows a style where control is maintained by a
manager and the right side shows the release of control. However, neither extreme
is absolute and authority and freedom are never without their limitations.

The Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum can be related to McGregor’s

supposition of Theory X and Theory Y. Boss-centered leadership is towards theory
X and subordinate-centered leadership is towards theory Y.

Figure 1: Continuum Leadership Behaviuor.

A manager is characterized according to degree of control that is maintained by
him. According to this approach, four main styles of leadership have been
identified:

Tells: The manager identifies a problem, chooses a decision, and announces this
to subordinates. The subordinates are not a party to the decision making process
and the manager expects them to implement his decisions as soon as possible.

Sells: The decision is chosen by the manager only but he understands that there
will be some amount of resistance from those faced with the decision and therefore
makes efforts to persuade them to accept it.

Consults: Though the problem is identified by the manager, he does not take a
final decision. The problem is presented to the subordinates and the solutions are
suggested by the subordinates.

Joins: The manager defines the limits within which the decision can be taken by
the subordinates and then makes the final decision along with the subordinates.

According to Tannenbaum and Schmidt, if one has to make a choice of the

leadership style which is practicable and desirable, then his answer will depend
upon the following three factors:

Forces in the Manager: The behavior of the leader is influenced by his

personality, background, knowledge, and experience. These forces include:

Value systems

Confidence in subordinates

Leadership inclinations

Feelings of security in an uncertain situation

 Forces in the subordinate: The personality of the subordinates and their
expectations from the leader influences their behavior. The factors include:

Readiness to assume responsibility in decision-making

Degree of tolerance for ambiguity

Interest in the problem and feelings as to its importance

Strength of the needs for independence

Knowledge and experience to deal with the problem

Understanding and identification with the goals of the organization

If these factors are on a positive side, then more freedom can be allowed to the
subordinate by the leader.

Forces in the situation: The environmental and general situations also affect the
leader’s behavior. These include factors like:

Type of organization

Group effectiveness

Nature of the problem

Time pressure

When the authors updated their work in1973, they suggested a new continuum of
patterns of leadership behavior. In this, the total area of freedom shared between
managers and non-managers is redefined constantly by interactions between them
and the environmental forces. This pattern was, however, more complex in
comparison to the previous one.

Conclusion

According to Tannenbaum and Schmidt, successful leaders know which behavior

is the most appropriate at a particular time. They shape their behavior after a
careful analysis of self, their subordinates, organization, and environmental factors.
Leadership Grid Theory
Blake and Mouton developed a two-dimensional leadership theory
called "The Leadership Grid" that builds on the work of the Ohio
State and the Michigan studies (Blake & Mouton, 1985).
Researchers rated leaders on a scale of one to nine, according to the
following two criteria: concern for people and concern for results.
The scores for these criteria were plotted on a grid with an axis for
each criteria. The two-dimensional leadership model and five major
leadership styles

Managerial grid is used to evaluate the management

style/leadership . The authors are Robert Blake and Jane Mouton.
The grid consists of two dimensions: Concern for Production
(Results) and Concern for People.
The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid is based on two behavioral
dimensions:

Concern for People: this is the degree to which a leader

considers team members' needs, interests and areas of personal
development when deciding how best to accomplish a task.
Concern for Results: this is the degree to which a leader
emphasizes concrete objectives, organizational efficiency and high
productivity when deciding how best to accomplish a task.
Five Types Are Given Below-

 Impoverished Management – Low Results/Low People

The Impoverished or "indifferent" manager is mostly ineffective.
With a low regard for creating systems that get the job done, and
with little interest in creating a satisfying or motivating team
environment, his results are inevitably disorganization,
dissatisfaction and disharmony.
  Produce-or-Perish Management – High Results/Low
People
Also known as "authoritarian" or "authority-compliance" managers,
people in this category believe that their team members are simply a
means to an end. The team's needs are always secondary to its
productivity.
This type of manager is autocratic, has strict work rules, policies and
procedures, and can view punishment as an effective way of
motivating team members. This approach can drive impressive
production results at first, but low team morale and motivation will
ultimately affect people's performance, and this type of leader will
struggle to retain high performers.
She probably adheres to the Theory X approach to motivation,
which assumes that employees are naturally unmotivated and
dislike working. A manager who believes people are self-motivated
and happy to work is said to follow Theory Y. You can learn more
about these theories in our article, Theory X and Theory Y

 Middle-of-the-Road Management – Medium

Results/Medium People
A Middle-of-the-Road or "status quo" manager tries to balance
results and people, but this strategy is not as effective as it may
sound. Through continual compromise, he fails to inspire high
performance and also fails to meet people's needs fully. The result is
that his team will likely deliver only mediocre performance.

 Country Club Management – High People/Low Results

The Country Club or "accommodating" style of manager is most
concerned about her team members' needs and feelings. She
assumes that, as long as they are happy and secure, they will work
hard.
What tends to be the result is a work environment that is very
relaxed and fun, but where productivity suffers because there is a
lack of direction and control.

 Team Management – High Production/High People

According to the Blake Mouton model, Team management is the
most effective leadership style. It reflects a leader who is passionate
about his work and who does the best he can for the people he
works with.
Team or "sound" managers commit to their organization's goals and
mission, motivate the people who report to them, and work hard to
get people to stretch themselves to deliver great results. But, at the
same time, they're inspiring figures who look after their teams.
Someone led by a Team manager feels respected and empowered,
and is committed to achieving her goals.
Team managers prioritize both the organization's production needs
and their people's needs. They do this by making sure that their
team members understand the organization's purpose, and by
involving them in determining production needs.
When people are committed to, and have a stake in, the organization's
success, their needs and production needs coincide. This creates an
environment based on trust and respect, which leads to high satisfaction,
motivation and excellent results. Team managers likely adopt the Theory Y
approach to motivation, as we mentioned above.