LEADING- Mobilizing People

Leadership

LEADER is one who influences others to attain goals, the greater the number of followers the greater the influence, and the more successful the attainment of worthy goals, the more evident the leadership. Outstanding leaders combine good strategic substance and effective interpersonal processes to formulate and implement strategies that produce results and sustainable competitive advantage. They are strategists who seize opportunities others overlook. But they are also passionately concerned with detail- all the small, fundamental realities that can ,make or mar the grandest of plans. THE LEADERS JOB IS TO CREATE A VISION

Vision- mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization. It expresses the leaders ambitions for the organization. The best vision is both ideal and unique. If a vision conveys ideal, it communicates a standard of excellence and a clear choice of positive values. If the vision is also unique, it communicates and inspires pride in being different from other organizations.

SUPERVISORY LEADERSHIP Behavior that provides guidance, support and corrective feedback for the day-today activities of work unit members.

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP Gives purpose and meaning to organizations, it involves anticipating and envisioning a viable future for the organization, and working with others to initiate changes that create such a future.

POWER- central to effective leadership, the ability to influence other people, and to get things done on accomplish ones goals despite resistance from others.

SOURCES OF POWER

1. Legitimate Power- right or authority, to tell others what to do, employees are obligated to comply with legitimate orders. 2. Reward Power- influences others because he controls valued rewards, people comply with the leaders wishes in order to receive those rewards. 3. Coercive Power- has control over punishment. People comply to avoid those punishments. 4. Referent Power- has control characteristics that appear to others. People comply because of admiration, a desire from approval, personal liking, or a desire to be like the leader 5. Expert Power- has certain expertise or knowledge, people comply because they believe in, can learn from, or can otherwise gain from that expertise.

TRADITIONAL APPROACHES TO UNDERSTAND LEADERSHIP

1. TRAIT APPROACH A leadership perspective that focuses on individual leader and attempts to determine the personal characteristics that great leaders share.

Personal Characteristics that Great Leaders Share

a. Drive- set of characteristics that reflect high level of effort. High need of achievement constant striving for improvement, ambition, energy and initiative. b. Leadership Motivation- great leaders not only have drive, they want to lead, they have a high need of power, preferring to be in leadership rather than follower position. c. Integrity- correspondence between action and words. Honesty and credibility inspires trust in others. d. Self- Confidence- allows a leader to overcome obstacles, make decision despite uncertainty and still confidence in others. e. Knowledge of the Business- Effective leaders have a high knowledge about their industries, companies and technical matters.leaders must have the intelligence to interpret vast quantities of information.

2. BEHAVIORAL APPROACH

Attempts to identify what good leaders do, personal characteristics are considered less important than the actual behaviors leaders exhibit.

3 General Categories of Leadership Behavior a. Task Performance Behavior- leaders effort to ensure that the work unit or organization reaches its goals. This dimension is variously referred to as concern for production, directive leadership, initiating structure, or closeness of supervision. It includes a focus on work speed, quality and accuracy, quantity of output and following rules. b. Group Maintenance Behavior- leaders take action to ensure the satisfaction of group members, develop and maintain harmonious work relationships and preserve the social stability of the group. It is sometimes referred to as concern for people, supportive leadership or consideration. It includes a focus on peoples feelings and comfort depreciation of them and stress reduction. c. Participation in Decision-Making- leader behaviors that managers perform in involving their employees in making decision. 1. Autocratic Leadership- a form of leadership in which the leader makes decision on his or her own and then announces to the group 2. Democratic Leadership- a form of leadership in which the leader solicits input from subordinates.

PERFORMANCE AND MAINTENANCE BEHAVIORS

Generally, supervisors who were high on maintenance behavior had fewer grievances and less turnover in their work units than supervisors who were low on this dimension, the opposite held for task performance behaviors had more grievances and higher turnover rates.

LEADERSHIP GRID

The managerial grid model (1964) is a behavioral leadership model developed by Robert R. Blake and Jane Mouton. This model originally identified five different leadership styles based on the concern for people and the concern for production. The optimal leadership style in this model is based on Theory Y. The grid theory has continued to evolve and develop. The theory was updated with two additional leadership styles and with a new element, resilience. In 1999, the grid managerial seminar began using a new text, The Power to Change.

The model is represented as a grid with concern for production as the x-axis and concern for people as the y-axis; each axis ranges from 1 (Low) to 9 (High).

The resulting leadership styles are as follows:

1. The indifferent (previously called impoverished) style (1,1): evade and elude. In this style, managers have low concern for both people and production. Managers use this style to preserve job and job seniority, protecting themselves by avoiding getting into trouble. The main concern for the manager is not to be held responsible for any mistakes, which results in less innovative decisions.

2. The accommodating (previously, country club) style (1,9): yield and comply. This style has a high concern for people and a low concern for production. Managers using this style pay much attention to the security and comfort of the employees, in hopes that this will increase performance. The resulting atmosphere is usually friendly, but not necessarily very productive. 3. The dictatorial (previously, produce or perish) style (9,1): control and dominate. With a high concern for production, and a low concern for people, managers using this style find employee needs unimportant; they provide their employees with money and expect performance in return. Managers using this style also pressure their employees through rules and punishments to achieve the company goals. This dictatorial style is based on Theory X of Douglas McGregor, and is commonly applied by companies on the edge of real or perceived failure. This style is often used in cases of crisis management. 4. The status quo (previously, middle-of-the-road) style (5,5): balance and compromise. Managers using this style try to balance between company goals and workers' needs. By giving some concern to both people and production, managers who use this style hope to achieve suitable performance but doing so gives away a bit of each concern so that neither production nor people needs are met. 5. The sound (previously, team style) (9,9): contribute and commit. In this style, high concern is paid both to people and production. As suggested by the propositions of Theory Y, managers choosing to use this style encourage teamwork and commitment among employees. This method relies heavily on making employees feel themselves to be constructive parts of the company. 6. The opportunistic style: exploit and manipulate. Individuals using this style, which was added to the grid theory before 1999, do not have a fixed location on the grid. They adopt whichever behavior offers the greatest personal benefit. 7. The paternalistic style: prescribe and guide. This style was added to the grid theory before 1999. In The Power to Change, it was redefined to alternate between the (1,9) and (9,1) locations on the grid. Managers using this style praise and support, but discourage challenges to their thinking.

LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE THEORY

The leader-member exchange theory of leadership focuses on the two-way relationship between supervisors and subordinates. These are not the only 2. Also known as LMX, LMET or Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory, leader-member exchange focuses on increasing organizational success by creating positive relations between the leader and subordinate. In particular, leaders usually have special relationships with an inner circle of assistants and advisors, who often get high levels of responsibility and access to resources. This is often called the in-group, and their position can come with a price. These employees work harder, are more committed to task objectives, and share more administrative duties. They are also expected to be totally committed and loyal to their leader. Conversely, subordinates in the outgroup" are given low levels of choice or influence and put constraints on the leader. These relationships start very soon after a person joins a team and follows these three stages:

1. Role-taking: The member joins the team and the leader evaluates his or her abilities and talents. Based on this, the leader may offer opportunities to demonstrate capabilities. 2. Role-making: In the second phase, the leader and member take part in an unstructured and informal negotiation whereby a role is created for the member and the unspoken promise of benefit and power in return for dedication and loyalty takes place. Trust-building is very important in this stage, and any feelings of betrayal, especially by the leader, can result in the member being demoted to the out-group. This negotiation includes relationship factors as well as pure work-related ones, and a member who is similar to the leader in various ways is more likely to succeed. This perhaps explains why mixed gender relationships regularly are less successful than same gender ones. The same effect also applies to cultural and racial differences. 3. Routinization: In this phase, a pattern of ongoing social exchange between the leader and the member becomes established. Being a successful or in-group member usually includes being similar in many ways to the leader. The members work hard at building and sustaining trust and respect. The members are often empathetic, patient, reasonable, sensitive, and are good at seeing the viewpoint of other people, especially their leader. Aggression, sarcasm and a self-centered view are qualities seen in the out-group.

The quality of the LMX relationship varies. It is better when the challenge of the job is extremely high or extremely low. The size of the group, financial resource availability and the overall workload are also important. The theory can also work upwards as well. The leader can gain power by being a member of his or her manager's inner circle, which the leader can then share with subordinates. The main limitation of leader-member exchange research is that it is not particularly helpful in describing the specific leader behaviors that promote high quality relationships. At best it only implies generalities about the need for leaders to show trust, respect, openness, autonomy and discretion.

LAISSEZ- FAIRE- Style in which the leader essentially made no decisions, led to more negative attitudes and lower performance.

3. SITUATIONAL APPROACH

Situational Leadership Theory

The Situational Leadership Theory, is a leadership theory developed by Paul Hersey, professor and author of the book Situational Leader, and Ken Blanchard, leadership guru and author of The One Minute Manager, while working on the first edition of Management of Organizational Behavior (now in its 9th edition).[1] The theory was first introduced as "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership". During the mid 1970s, "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership" was renamed "Situational Leadership theory". In the late 1970s/early 1980s, the authors both developed their own models using the situational leadership theory; Hersey - Situational Leadership Model and Blanchard et al. Situational Leadership II Model. The fundamental underpinning of the situational leadership theory is there is no single "best" style of leadership. Effective leadership is task-relevant and that the most successful leaders are those that adapt their leadership style to the maturity ("the capacity to set high but attainable goals, willingness and ability to take responsibility for the task, and relevant education and/or experience of an individual or a group for the task) of the individual or group they are

attempting to lead/influence. That effective leadership varies, not only with the person or group that is being influenced, but it will also depend on the task, job or function that needs to be accomplished.

Leadership Styles Hersey and Blanchard characterized leadership style in terms of the amount of Task Behavior and Relationship Behavior that the leader provides to their followers. They categorized all leadership styles into four behavior types, which they named S1 to S4:

S1: Telling - is characterized by one-way communication in which the leader defines the roles of the individual or group and provides the what, how, why, when, and where to do the task

S2: Selling - while the leader is still providing the direction, he or she is now using twoway communication and providing the socioemotional support that will allow the individual or group being influenced to buy into the process.

S3: Participating - this is now shared decision making about aspects of how the task is accomplished and the leader is providing less task behaviors while maintaining high relationship behavior.

S4: Delegating - the leader is still involved in decisions; however, the process and responsibility has been passed to the individual or group. The leader stays involved to monitor progress.

Of these, no one style is considered optimal for all leaders to use all the time. Effective leaders need to be flexible, and must adapt themselves according to the situation.

Maturity Levels

The right leadership style will depend on the person or group being led - the follower. The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory identified four levels of Maturity M1 through M4:

M1 - They generally lack the specific skills required for the job in hand and are unable and unwilling to do or to take responsibility for this job or task.

M2 - They are still unable to take on responsibility for the task being done; however, they are willing to work at the task.

M3 - They are experienced and able to do the task but lack the confidence to take on responsibility.

M4 - They are experienced at the task, and comfortable with their own ability to do it well. They are able and willing to not only do the task, but to take responsibility for the task.

Maturity Levels are also task specific. A person might be generally skilled, confident and motivated in their job, but would still have a Maturity level M2 when asked to perform a task requiring skills they don't possess.

Developing people and self-motivation A good leader develops the competence and commitment of their people so theyre selfmotivated rather than dependent on others for direction and guidance. (Hersey 91) According to Hersey's "the situational book," the leaders high, realistic expectation causes high performance of followers; the leaders low expectations lead low performance of followers. According to Ken Blanchard, "Four combinations of competence and commitment make up what we call 'development level.'"

D1 - Low competence and high commitment D2 - Low competence and low commitment D3 - High competence and low/variable commitment D4 - High competence and high commitment

In order to make an effective cycle, a leader needs to motivate followers properly.

SITUATIONAL FACTORS FOR PROBLEM ANALYSIS

Decision Significance- The significance of the decision to the success of the project or organization. Importance of Commitment- the importance of team members commitment to the decision. Leaders Expertise- your knowledge or expertise in relation to this problem. Likelihood of Commitment- the likelihood that the team would commit itself to a decision that you might make on your own.

Group Support for Objectives- the degree to which the team supports the organizations objectives at stake in this problem Group Expertise- team members knowledge or expertise in relation to this problem. Team Competence- the ability of team members to work together in solving problem.

Vroom-Yetton-Jago Normative Decision Model

The Vroom-Yetton contingency model is a situational leadership theory of industrial and organizational psychology developed by Victor Vroom, in collaboration with Phillip Yetton (1973) and later with Arthur Jago (1988). The situational theory argues the best style of leadership is contingent to the situation. This model suggests the selection a leadership style for group decision making. Taking people off their primary tasks to participate in teams or other decision making activities may be good empowerment, but when unnecessary it can be costly. The VroomYetton-Jago model is a decision making tree that enables a leader to examine a situation and determine which style or level of involvement to engage. This model identifies five styles along a continuum ranging from autocratic to consultative to group-based. By asking oneself a series of questions about the nature of the problem, decision, and consequences, the leader can decide just how much involvement others should have in the decision. (Check out the online demonstration of the model at the bottom of the page).

This model is an excellent example of extracting and modeling knowledge. This kind of model can be developed by asking experts how they make a decision. Often it is done by asking what the final decision was, and then deconstructing it, or asking, what was the step just before your final decision; and the step just before that, etc. One can work backwards and reconstruct the decisional process, even if it was largely unconscious. Then the questions that elicit each stage of the process can be formulated. When used, the questioning is started at step one, then using the branching tree, the user arrives at the best decision based on answers to the critical questions. Vroom & Yetton, and later Vroom & Jago found the following questions helpful in the sequence below: 1. Quality Requirement (QR): How important is the technical quality of the decision? 2. Commitment Requirement (CR): How important is subordinate commitment to the decision? 3. Leader's Information (LI): Do you (the leader) have sufficient information to make a high quality decision on your own? 4. Problem Structure (ST): Is the problem well structured (e.g., defined, clear, organized, lend itself to solution, time limited, etc.)? 5. Commitment Probability (CP): If you were to make the decision by yourself, is it reasonably certain that your subordinates would be committed to the decision? 6. Goal Congruence (GC): Do subordinates share the organizational goals to be attained in solving the problem? 7. Subordinate conflict (CO): Is conflict among subordinates over preferred solutions likely? 8. Subordinate information (SI): Do subordinates have sufficient information to make a high quality decision?

In the diagram below, you identify the problem situation in which you are trying to decide the level of involvement. For each of the questions/criteria above, your answer will take you through the decision tree to an appropriate outcome. At the bottom of the page is the table describing each of the outcomes.

Figure. Vrooms Model of Leadership Style

Decision Making Style Autocratic l (Al)

Description Leader solves the problem along using information that is readily available to him/her Leader obtains additional information from group

Autocratic ll (All)

members, then makes decision alone. Group members may or may not be informed. Leader shares problem with group members

Consultative l (Cl)

individually, evaluation.

and Group

asks

for

information do not

and meet

members

collectively, and leader makes decision alone. Consultative ll (Cll) Leader shares problem with group members collectively, but makes decision alone Leader meets with group to discuss situation. Group ll (Gll) Leader focuses and directs discussion, but does not impose will. Group makes final decision.

PATH-GOAL THEORY

Is a leadership theory in the field of organizational studies developed by Robert House, an Ohio State University graduate, in 1971 and revised in 1996. The theory states that a leader's behavior is contingent to the satisfaction, motivation and performance of his subordinates. The revised version also argues that the leader engages in behaviors that complement subordinate's abilities and compensate for deficiencies. The path-goal model can be classified both as a contingency or as a transactional leadership theory.

KEY SITUATIONAL FACTORS OF PATH-GOAL THEORY 1. Personal Characteristics of follower 2. Environmental pressures and demands with which followers must cope to attain their work goals

The theory was inspired by the work of Martin G. Evans (1970),in which the leadership behaviors and the follower perceptions of the degree to which following a particular behavior (path) will lead to a particular outcome (goal).The path-goal theory was also influenced by the expectancy theory of motivation developed by Victor Vroom in 1964. According to the original theory, the managers job is viewed as guiding workers to choose the best paths to reach their goals, as well as the organizational goals. The theory argues that leaders will have to engage in different types of leadership behavior depending on the nature and the demands of a particular situation. It is the leaders job to assist followers in attaining goals and to provide the direction and support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the organizations goals. A leaders behavior is acceptable to subordinates when viewed as a source of satisfaction, and motivational when need satisfaction is contingent on performance, and the leader facilitates, coaches, and rewards effective performance.

FOUR PERTINENT LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS

1. Directive path-goal clarifying leader behavior refers to situations where the leader lets followers know what is expected of them and tells them how to perform their tasks. The theory argues that this behavior has the most positive effect when the subordinates' role and task demands are ambiguous and intrinsically satisfying. 2. Achievement-oriented leader behavior refers to situations where the leader sets challenging goals for followers, expects them to perform at their highest level, and shows confidence in their ability to meet this expectation. Occupations in which the achievement motive was most predominant were technical jobs, sales persons, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs. 3. Participative leader behavior involves leaders consulting with followers and asking for their suggestions before making a decision. This behavior is predominant when subordinates are highly personally involved in their work. 4. Supportive leader behavior is directed towards the satisfaction of subordinates needs and preferences. The leader shows concern for the followers psychological well being. This behavior is especially needed in situations in which tasks or relationships are psychologically or physically distressing.

Path-goal theory assumes that leaders are flexible and that they can change their style, as situations require. The theory proposes two contingency variables, such as environment and follower characteristics, that moderate the leader behavior-outcome relationship. Environment is outside the control of the follower-task structure, authority system, and work group. Environmental factors determine the type of leader behavior required if the follower outcomes are to be maximized. Follower characteristics are the locus of control, authoritarianism, and perceived ability. Personal characteristics of subordinates determine how the environment and leader are interpreted. Effective leaders clarify the path to help their followers achieve goals and make the journey easier by reducing roadblocks and pitfalls. Research demonstrates that employee performance and satisfaction are positively influenced when the leader compensates for the shortcomings in either the employee or the work setting.

3 FOLLOWER CHARACTERISTICS

1. Authoritarianism- the degree to which individuals respect, admire and offer to authority 2. Locus of control- extent to which individuals see the environment as responsible to their own behavior a. Internal Locus- people believe that what happens to them is their own doing b. External Locus- people believe that it is just luck or fate. 3. Ability- peoples believes about their own abilities to do their assigned jobs.

CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE ON LEADERSIP

1.

Charismatic Leadership Charisma packs an emotional wallop for followers above and beyond ordinary esteem, affection admiration and twist. Charismatic leaders are dominant and exceptionally self confident and have a strong conviction in the moral righteousness of their beliefs. They strive to create an aura of competence and success and communicate high expectations for and confidence in followers. They articulates ideological goals and makes sacrifices in pursuit of those goals Examples: Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy and Walt Disney

2.

Transformational Leadership Transformational Leaders get people to transcend their personal interests for the sake of the larger community. They generate excitement and revitalize organizations. They generate excitement in three ways:Charismatic;they give their followers individualized attention, keep lines of communication open and provide one-on-one mentoring to develop their people; and they arouse in their followers an awareness of problems and potential solutions. They articulate the organizations opportunities, threats , strengths and weaknesses.

Skills and Strategies 1. Have a vision- goal, agenda that grabs peoples attention. 2. They communicate their vision, through words, manner and symbolism. 3. They build twist, by being consistent, dependable and persistent. 4. Positive self regard, they do not feel self important, they recognize their personal strengths, compensate for their weaknesses, nurture and strive for success rather tan merely try to avoid failure.

Example: Henry Ford, Gen. George Patton and Jan Carlzon

3.

Transactional Leadership Leaders who manage through, transactions, using their legitimate reward and coercive powers to give commands and exchange rewards for services rendered.

4.

Post-Heroic Leadership A common view of leaders is that they are heroes, phenomenally, talented, they

step forward in difficult times and save the day. But in these complex times it is foolhardy to assume that a great top executive can solve all problems by himself.

KEY ROLES PERSONIFYING POST-HEROIC LEADERSHIP

1. Using vision to motivate and inspire 2. Empowering employees at all level 3. Accumulating and sharing internal knowledge 4. Challenging the status quo and enabling creativity