BTEC Business Studies

Leadership Skills

There are several skills required by a leader.

Diagnosing. This is an intellectual skill required by leaders. They need the ability to understand the
current situation and how that situation may change in the future.

The problem the manager faces can be called a Performance Gap, that is the gap between the
situation now facing the group and what changes will be needed in order for it to meet its targets
and fulfil expectations. The leader will need to help or direct the group to close the Performance
Gap.

Adapting. Team Leaders need to change their behaviour, and perhaps that of their team, in order to
close the performance gap.

Communicating. This is a process skill: it is no good diagnosing a problem an adapting resources to

solve it if the solution is not communicated effectively to the rest of the team.

What is it about these quotes that inform us about quality Leadership?

It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do

not care who gets the credit.

President Harry S Truman

Behind an able person there are always other
able people

Chinese Proverb
I praise loudly, I blame softly.

Catherine the Great.

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Another way of summarising what Leadership is about is the diagram below.

Think of 3 people that are good leaders and three people that are poor leaders. And say in a few
words reasons for your decision.

Good Leaders Poor Leaders

Research has indicated that leaders and managers adopt different styles when they work with their
employees. Different styles are more suitable in some situations than others. For example a style
which involves asking everyone for their opinions would not be helpful in a situation where decisions
have to be made quickly.

However it would be an appropriate style where getting lots of opinions and experiences will help to
make a better quality decision. Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, as a means of examining

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Management Styles, developed a “Leadership Grid”. They considered concern for production (ie
getting the job done) against concern for people (ie concern for team processes.)

The results are plotted on a grid as below

1/1 Is an impoverished management style with

very little concern for the task or for the
employees.

1/9 is a task management style where there is

no regard for people, this is what you might find
where people are working on piece rates or
commission only; if the people fail to achieve
targets they will soon find disciplinary action
being taken against them.

5/5 is a middle of the road management style,

this is a balanced view.

9/9 is the ideal “team manager” where both the

task and the people are considered as very
important.

Formal and Informal Groups

A formal group has been set up for a specific purpose and is officially recognised by the organisation
and within the organisation’s structure. The formal group will be successful where there is a balance
of skills and experience as well as a clear focus on the team’s goals.

Informal groups gather together because of some common interest. These groups are not
recognised by the organisation but may support or even undermine the efforts of the company. An
example of an informal group is the people who meet together in the smoker’s shelter at break-
time. Alternatively it might be to solve a problem that is irritating them or holding them back and the
people in a particular department come together informally.

Team Building.

Many organisations become so convinced in the value

of teams that make a lot of effort (and spend a lot of
money) on Team Building exercises.

This may involve taking a group of people away from

their normal environment and involving them in
exercises where they need to work together as a team
to solve problems and achieve goals.

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Team building can be developed as a process of
Continuous Improvement within the department or the
wider organisation; there are usually formal team
meetings to facilitate this.

Another approach is to take part in some kind of

outward bound experience where activities such as
abseiling and obstacle courses will develop team spirit.
The group are forced to develop team spirit; a
disadvantage with this however is that team members
with disabilities might feel discriminated against if they
don’t take part or might feel themselves to be a burden to the team if they do take part.

Conflict within groups and teams.

It has been estimated that managers can

spend up to 20% of their time sorting out
conflicts either between workers or
between the needs of the worker and
the needs of the organisation.
Arguments, and the associated ill feeling,
needs to be rapidly resolved if the
situation is not to escalate.

Ways of solving conflict with in teams (and in general) include appealing to shared goals, hierarchical
referral or organisational redesign.

How would each of these methods of solving conflict work?

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Leadership and Managing People.

What makes a good leader or manager? For many it is someone who can inspire and get the most
from their staff.

There are many qualities that are needed to be a good leader or manager.

• Be able to think creatively to provide a vision for the company and solve problems
• Be calm under pressure and make clear decisions
• Possess excellent two-way communication skills
• Have the desire to achieve great things
• Be well informed and knowledgeable about matters relating to the business
• Possess an air of authority

Do you have to be born with the correct qualities or can you be taught to be a good leader? It is
most likely that well-known leaders or managers (Winston Churchill, Richard Branson or Alex
Ferguson?) are successful due to a combination of personal characteristics and good training.

Managers deal with their employees in different ways. Some are strict with their staff and like to be
in complete control, whilst others are more relaxed and allow workers the freedom to run their own
working lives (just like the different approaches you may see in teachers!). Whatever approach is
predominately used it will be vital to the success of the business. “An organisation is only as good as
the person running it”.

There are several types of Leadership that are common in organisations.

An Autocratic Management style.

The Autocratic leader makes and implements all the decisions; there is no room for discussion with
subordinates.

This can demotivate employees who feel that there is no scope for individual initiative. They may
feel that their higher order needs are not being met, this
relates to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The autocratic
manager may be perceived as a bully with a theory X
mentality.

Some employees may like having an autocratic manager

because they see work as simply a means to earning money
and might, therefore, be quite happy to be doing a routine
task and having very clear lines of direction and not want
the responsibility that comes with making decisions.

For many people, however, an autocratic leader leaves

them frustrated as there is no opportunity to discuss decisions, goal, procedures or routines – what
the ‘autocratic leader decides is what the sub-ordinates must do.

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Communication is “top down” with little or no feedback from the bottom up. Tasks are set out and
explained by the leader, or set out in manuals, rules and instructions determined by the leader.
Decision making does tend to be very swift, but the disadvantage is that the autocratic leader may
make a reactive, knee-jerk response which is, with the benefit of hindsight, not the best decision to
have taken.

How would you feel about working for an Autocratic Manager?

A Consultative Management Style.

This kind of management style gives the workers plenty of

opportunity to discuss the routines, decisions etc of the
organisation. Most employees like to be consulted and it makes
them feel more important to know that managers are listening to
them. This approach fits in with Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s ideas of
empowerment.

Some employees, however, perceive this type of management style as weak, they see the
consultation process as “dithering” and the manager lacking the willpower or ability to make
independent and prompt decisions.

How would you feel about working for a Consultative Manager?

Democratic Leadership.

The creation of objectives, policies and decisions are created by

and jointly agreed by teams.

The leader supports decision making.

There is a multi-channel flow of communication.

Objectives are agreed upon during discussion.

The leader and team jointly praise successful behaviours which meet team requirements.

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This could demotivate workers who see the decision making process as being a waste of time, these
employees may be well be happier with a Theory X type of manager.

In practice however most employees enjoy some type of responsibility and respond favourably to
being given responsibility for decision making. Many workers who want to build careers and to
develop themselves will respond favourably to this Theory Y type of approach as it allows them to
satisfy the Higher Order needs that Maslow identified.

In what sort of organisations or situations would a Democratic management style work well?

The Laissez-Faire Management Style.

With this kind of management style there is a lot of trust

from the manager that the workers are capable of self
direction and self motivation; this is sometimes
considered to be a “soft touch” type of management as
the manager just doesn’t get involved much of the time.

When teams have had plenty of training and consist of

groups of people with the required team work,
professionalism and work skills then
this approach can work very well as it is
highly motivating and enables very high level
of self- actualisation, and if this is a well
structured Theory Y approach it can be very
enriching.

For other workers, however, this approach can be

very demotivating as there are no clear
objectives and targets to work towards and where
autonomous teams have not been trained to work
independently.

Failure to achieve direction and targets can be just as bad as Autocratic management in some
situations.

In what sort of situations would Laissez-Fair management work well?

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Paternalistic Leadership Style.

Paternalistic managers give more attention to the social needs and views of their workers. Managers
are interested in how happy workers feel and in many ways they act as a father figure (pater means
father in Latin). They consult employees over issues and listen to their feedback or opinions. The
manager will however make the actual decisions (in the best interests of the workers) as they
believe the staff still need direction and in this way it is still somewhat of an autocratic approach.
The style is closely linked with Mayo’s Human Relation view of motivation and also the social needs
of Maslow.

The Cadbury Family has traditionally adopted this approach to their workers and created the village
of Bourneville in Birmingham specifically for their workers. Explain how they improved the well-
being of their workers (you may need to research this from the internet).

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The Chartered Management Institute recently set out 6 main types of managers that they found
commonly exists in the work place. It also set out strategies that employees could use to cope with
these different management styles, draw lines to match the style with the strategy.

Quotes from the manager Strategy for coping with this style of manager.
Dictatorial “I am in charge because I am the best
person for the job. I go around telling everyone Don’t be afraid to give them your opinions and
what to do and how to do it; I am motivated by involve them by socialising with them.
the need to win every argument. I get my way
through rewards and punishment.

Bureaucratic “I have got to the position I am in

by following the rules. This is the best way of Ask for formal meetings to discuss any issues and
managing. I take my responsibilities seriously to get permission for projects where possible.
and don’t take risks.

Charismatic “I motivate staff by inspiring them

to achieve the organisation’s goals rather than Show them that you decisions and submit any
their own. I lead by personal example and inspire requests in writing have complied with the rules
loyalty. I am driven by the need to act for the when carrying out any
company’s greater good.”

Consultative “I am very concerned about

establishing and keeping close personal and Ask their permission before doing anything and
emotional relationships with others, I consult show that you are carrying out orders with
people frequently. I prefer to share the burden enthusiasm.
of decision making with others because I am a
bit scared by responsibility.”

Laissez-Faire “I deliberately leave staff to get on

with things, having seen that they work well on Be enthusiastic about their dreams and show
their own. I assume that people are working that you too put the company first.
because they want to and are self-motivated”.

Abdictatorial (not taking responsibility) “I don’t

care enough to get involved with employees. I Show that you can be trusted to get on with it
leave them to it because I don’t like to face and send regular progress memos. Don’t bother
responsibility myself. My employees must make them with trivial matters.
decisions and confront and handle problems
themselves.”