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LEADERSHIP THEORY: An Historical Perspective
by Judy Barth 4/2007
Based in part on “Leadership From the Ground Up”
by Deborah J. Young
Leadership: a process to influence or change the behavior of others in order to accomplish organizational, individual, or personal goals.
Goals for today: Can you learn to be a leader? Review theories and approaches Define leadership vs. management
ACTIVITY
What’s your opinion?
Can you teach leadership?
While leadership cannot be taught, it can and must be learned (Cronin and Wren, 1995).
Learning leadership requires more than formal instruction or teaching.
But, managerial skills must be learned before you can be an effective leader.
Environment or genetics?
Some people are born leaders. But there aren't enough of them to go around.
We need to find individuals with innate intelligence, an eagerness to learn, and a desire to work with others, and give them the tools and encouragement they need to become effective leaders.
The ideal leadership training:
Includes experiences that help you describe your current strengths and level of effectiveness, as well as areas that need improvement (assessment).
The ideal leadership training:
Includes different experiences that teach different things at different points in one’s life. To expand your repertoire of leadership skills, seek new types of experiences.
The ideal leadership training
Provides opportunities to improve your ability to learn.
The ideal leadership training
Provides support and gives individuals a chance to shine at what they are good at doing.
The ideal leadership training
Your gender, race and nationality are important contextual factors that shape your developmental experiences.
From Center for Creative Leadership
Hard-wired leadership
“Everyone, regardless of organizational status, has the capacity--the mental wiring--to lead effectively.”
From R. Pearman, 1998
Who do you see as a leader?
Leadership is "a process of giving purpose to collective effort and causing willing effort to be expended to achieve that purpose“. From Elliott Jacques, 1978.
Who do you consider a leader?
ACTIVITY
Think of someone you consider to be a leader. Why do you consider them to be a leader? What do they do, how do they act, what is it about them that makes them a leader in your mind?
Share with the person next to you.
Leadership – Theories
Leaders have existed since the beginning of mankind.
The study of leadership began in the late’40s and early ’50s.
“Great person” theory describes people who . . .
have reshaped the world, led great political or moral crusades, or transformed companies.
teach us important lessons -- about courage, high ideals and determination.
Charismatic leaders
Leaders who exert powerful effects on their followers and to whom several special traits are attributed.
Charismatics sway people and shape the future by their sheer presence and personality.
The Beginning of Leadership Theory: Trait theory
Leaders possess special traits that set them apart from others.
These traits are responsible for their assuming positions of authority.
Leadership based on trait approaches:
The individual is more important than the situation.
Seek to identify the distinguishing human characteristics of successful leaders.
Single trait studies By 1950 there were over
100 studies of this kind. Intelligence, birth order,
socio-economic status, etc.
However, only 5 per cent of the traits identified were common throughout.
Traits associated with leadership:
Intelligence Honesty and integrity Initiative: drive and ambition Self-confidence The desire to lead and influence others Deep technical knowledge related to their
field
Trait Theory Example:First born or oldest
Viewed as dominant-aggressive, a quality that reflects strength.
Independent, goal setters, high achievers, perfectionists, responsible, organized, rule keepers, determined, and detailed people.
Overrepresented among college students, graduate students, college faculty, and other learned groups.
First-born children are directly associated with leadership.
If you’re not the first born …
Middle child is flexible, diplomatic, peacemaker, generous, social, and competitive.
Youngest child is risk taker, outgoing, an idea person, creative, humorous, empathetic, and questioning of authority
Women as leaders
Studies show equal effectiveness of male and female leaders in the aggregate, when generalized across a variety of studies in a variety of settings.
Leadership behaviors exhibited by male and female leaders may differ and may be evaluated differently depending on the extent to which the particular role is defined in masculine terms.
Women as leaders
Women in male-dominated areas or fields tend to be seen as less effective than their male counterparts.
Likewise women may be evaluated negatively when they violate gender role expectations by failing to exhibit consideration or affective leadership behaviors.
No single trait or combination of traits fully explained leaders' abilities.
Individuals' ratings of traits associated with successful leadership vary in self-serving patterns.
When rating the traits associated with leadership, individuals tend to rate positive traits that they believe themselves to possess as more highly typical of leadership than traits they do not believe themselves to possess (Dunning, Perie, & Story, 1991).
Behavioral Theories of Leadership: Learned and Taught Two dimensional “Initiating structure” and “Consideration”
• Channels of communication, methods, procedures, organizational structure AND friendship, mutual trust, warm relationships
Production orientation vs. Employee orientation (Katz & Kahn)• Employee Orientation = Increased group productivity
& employee satisfaction Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid
• Concern for People vs. Concern for Task
Next: Situational Leadership(Contingency Theory)
Multi-dimensional Situational factors
• characteristics of the group, the environment, and the leader - all effect leadership behaviors and effectiveness
The person who becomes the leader of a specific group is determined largely by situational factors.
Different situations require different types of leadership.
Examples of Situational/Contingency Theories of Leadership:
Least-preferred co-worker (Fiedler) Situational Leadership (Hershey &
Blanchard) Leader Participation Model (Vroom &
Yetton)
Is Situational Leadership the Answer?
Situational leadership revealed the complexity of leadership but still proved to be insufficient because the theories could not predict which leadership skills would be more effective in certain situations.
The next wave:Transformational Leadership
Transcends self interest for the sake of the organization or team
Appealing to higher order needs leads to exceptional results
Transactional leadership
Leaders who engage in “transactions” with employees, such as using rewards to encourage good performance and punishment for inadequate performance.
Transactional leaders rely heavily on power from their organizational position and status.
Research shows that most men describe themselves this way.
Transformational leadership
“Transformational” leaders are focused on “transforming” their employees’ priorities to reflect the interest of the group. This involves the use of collaboration and open communication.
Transformational leaders influence people and events.
Most women identify themselves this way.
Transformational vs. transactional style
Compared to transactional leadership, transformational leadership was associated with decreases in quantitative performance but increases in qualitative performance, leadership satisfaction, and group cohesiveness. Hoyt and Blascovich (2003)
TQM is an example of the attempted use of transformational leadership.
More Examples:(A return to roles and behaviors)
Visionary Leadership• Bennis, Nanus
The Leadership Challenge - Kouzes and Posner• Challenging the process
• Inspiring a shared vision
• Enabling others to Act
• Modeling the way
• Encouraging the heart
Current thought: The Servant Leader
Listening Empathy Healing Awareness Persuasion
Conceptualization Foresight Stewardship Commitment to the
Growth of People Building Community
ACTIVITY
Deelie Bobbers
Leadership vs. Management
Addresses ‘why’ Inspiration/Vision Service Focus Strategy Innovation Fulfillment Versatility Alignment
Addresses ‘how’ Clarification Profit focus Operations Improvement Performance Consistency Accountability
Leadership:
Creates an environment for FULFILLMENT. Encourages people to grow and reach their
potential. Helps people make connections between what
they can contribute and a larger purpose. Inspires people to see the opportunity and
possibilities that can come with change.
Management:
Creates an environment for PERFORMANCE.
Establishes processes and systems that make work easier.
Provides directions to assure that results are achieved.
Allocates resources in a cost-effective way.
Words DescribingLeadership vs. Management Visionary Transformational Facilitation Servant Collaborator Direction Guidance Expectations Decision Maker Motivation
Transactional Supportive Structure Process Control Servant Coaching Direction Guidance Feedback Decision Maker Implementer
What is the key difference between leaders and managers?
My Opinion…
Vision
People Orientation
What makes an effective leader?
A vision Leaders facilitate the development of a
shared vision Leaders value the human resources of
their organizations
Vision
Vision is defined as "the force which molds meaning for the people of an organization" (Manasse, 1986).
A compelling vision is one that takes people to a new place.
Leaders must be able to translate that vision into reality" (Bennis, 1990).
Shared vision
"Vision comes alive only when it is shared" (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989).
Whether the vision of an organization is developed collaboratively or initiated by the leader and agreed to by the followers, it becomes the common ground, the shared vision that compels all involved.
Valuing human resources
Leaders provide an environment that promotes individual contributions to the organization's work.
Leaders form teams, support team efforts, develop the skills groups and individuals need, and provide the necessary resources, both human and material, to fulfill the shared vision.
Leadership/Management Questions
Good managers make good leaders.
(1)Agree
(2)Disagree
Good leaders are good managers.
(1)Agree
(2)Disagree
Providing directions to assure that results are achieved is a responsibility of:
(1)Management
(2)Leadership
Being supportive is associated with:
(1) Leadership
(2) Management
(3) Both
Coaching, decision making, and motivation are associated with:
(1)Leadership
(2)Management
(3)Both
Leaders are born.
(1) Agree
(2) Disagree
The situation determines the leader.
(1) Agree
(2) Disagree
Leadership can be learned.
(1) True
(2) False
Leadership can be taught.
(1) Agree
(2) Disagree
Leadership/Management Questions
Good managers make good leaders.
(1)Agree
(2)Disagree
Good leaders are good managers.
(1)Agree
(2)Disagree
Providing directions to assure that results are achieved is a responsibility of:
(1)Management
(2)Leadership
Being supportive is associated with:
(1) Leadership
(2) Management
(3) Both
Coaching, decision making, and motivation are associated with:
(1)Leadership
(2)Management
(3)Both
Leaders are born.
(1) Agree
(2) Disagree
The situation determines the leader.
(1) Agree
(2) Disagree
Leadership can be learned.
(1) True
(2) False
Leadership can be taught.
(1) Agree
(2) Disagree
A Story I Went on a Search…
I went on a search to become a leader. I searched high and low. I spoke with authority; people listened. But at last there was one who was wiser than I and they followed him. I sought to inspire confidence but the crowd responded, “Why should we trust you?” I postured and assumed the look of leadership with a countenance that glowed with confidence and pride. But the crowd passed by and never noticed my air of elegance. I ran ahead of the others, pointing new ways to new heights. I demonstrated that I knew the route to greatness. And then I looked back and I was alone. “What shall I do?” I queried. “I’ve tried hard and used all that I know.” And then I listened to the voices around me. And I heard what the group was trying to accomplish.
A Story I rolled up my sleeves and joined in the work. As we worked I
asked, “Are we all together in what we want to do, and how we’ll get the job done?” And we thought together and we struggled towards our goal. I found myself encouraging the faint hearted. I sought the ideas of those too shy to speak out. I taught those who knew little at all. I praised those who worked hard. When our task was completed, one of the group members turned to me and said, “This would not have been done but for your leadership.” At first I said, “I did not lead; I just worked with the rest.” And then I understood—leadership isn’t a goal. I lead best when I forget about myself as a leader and focus on my group, their needs and their goals.
To lead is to serve, to give, to achieve together.
Thank you
