LEADERSHIP

Leadership is the art of inspiring subordinates to perform their

duties willingly, competently and enthusiastically. A leader is one who by
example and talent, plays a directing role and wields commanding
influence over others.

By proper definition, leadership is the use of non-coercive

influence to shape the groups or organization's goals, motivate behavior
toward the achievement of those goals, and help define group and
organization culture.

EXAMPLE:

One of the most interesting observations of life is that all animals

that live in groups have leaders. All kind of creature not just humans have
leaders. Lions, elephants, baboons, insects, dogs, fish and birds have
leaders. Their leader makes most of the decisions and gets his choice of
food and physical place. When the group is threatened, the leader plans
the defense. Or if an attack is to be made on another group, the leader
organizes it.

All human groups also have a leader. Such diverse organizations as

street gangs, college classes, parent-teacher associations, political parties
and prison in-mates who emerges as the final authority to what to do.
Often the leader has no title but who the person is, nevertheless is clear.

In the recent literature of leadership (that is over the last 80 years

or so) there have been four main ‘generations’ of theory:

• Trait theories.
• Behavioral theories.
• Contingency theories.
• Contemporary theories.

TRAIT THEORIES:

The first organized approach to studying leadership was to analyze

the personal, psychological and physical traits of strong leaders. The
underlying assumption of the trait approach was that there existed some
basic trait or set of traits that differentiated leaders from non-leaders. If

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those traits could be defined, potential leaders could be identified. But
despite the best of the efforts of researchers, it proved to be impossible to
identify a set of traits that would always differentiate a leader from a non-
leader. As soon as we study the lives of people who have been labelled as
great or effective leaders, it becomes clear that they have very different
qualities. We only have to think of political figures like Nelson Mandela,
Mao Zedong and Pervez Musharraf to confirm this.

However, later attempts to identify traits consistently associated

with leadership were more successful. Six traits associated with effective
leadership included drive, the desire to lead, honesty and integrity,
self-confidence, intelligence and job-relevant knowledge.

BEHAVIORAL THEORIES:

As the early researchers ran out of steam in their search for traits, they
turned to what leaders did - how they behaved (especially towards
followers). They moved from leaders to leadership - and this became the
dominant way of approaching leadership within organizations in the
1950s and early 1960s. Different patterns of behavior were grouped
together and labeled as styles.

UNIVERSITY OF LOWA:

The University of Lowa Studies explored three leadership styles.

The autocratic style described a leader who typically tended to centralize
authority, dictate work methods, make unilateral decisions, and limit
employee participation.

The democratic style described a leader who tended to involve

employees in decision making, delegate authority, and encourage
participation in deciding work methods and goals, and use feedback as an
opportunity for coaching employees.

Finally, the laissez-faire style leader generally gave the group

complete freedom to make decisions and complete work in whatever way
it saw fit.

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THE OHIO STATE STUDIES:

The extensive questionnaire surveys conducted during the Ohio

State studies suggested that there are two basic leader behaviors or styles.
The first was called initiating-structure behavior. When using this
behavior, the leader clearly defines the leader-subordinate role so that
everyone knows what is expected, establishes formal lines of
communication, and determines how tasks will be performed.

The second leadership identified is consideration behavior. In this

instance, the leader shows concern for sub-ordinates and attempts to
establish a friendly and supportive climate.

THE MICHIGAN STUDIES:

The Michigan studies also identified two basic forms of leader

behavior. The first was called job-centered leader behavior. When using
this behavior, the leader pays close attention to subordinates' work,
explains work procedures, and is keenly interested in performance.

The second behavior identified in this research was employee-

centered leader behavior. In this case, the leader is interested in
developing a cohesive work group and ensuring that employees are
satisfied with their jobs. Thus, the leader's primary concern is the welfare
of subordinates.

THE MANAGERIAL GRID:

Perhaps the most famous behavior approach is Managerial Grid

used the behavioral dimension based on two forms of leader behavior:
concern for people and concern for production, and evaluated a
leader's use of these behaviors, ranking them on a scale from 1(low) to
9(high).

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The impoverished style (1,1)
In this style, managers have low concern for both people and
production. Managers use this style to avoid getting into trouble. The
main concern for the manager is not to be held responsible for any
mistakes, which results in less innovative decisions.

The Country Club Style (1,9)

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 would increase
performance. The resulting atmosphere is usually friendly, but not
necessarily that productive.

The Produce or Perish Style (9,1)

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 back. Managers
using this style also pressure their employees through rules and
punishments to achieve the company goals.

The Middle-of-the-road Style (5,5)

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 acceptable
performance.

The Team Style (9,9)

In this style, high concern is paid both to people and production.
Managers choosing to use this style encourage teamwork and

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commitment among employees. This method relies heavily on making
employees feel as a constructive part of the company.

CONTIGENCY THEORIES:
Researchers began to turn to the contexts in which leadership is
exercised - and the idea that what is needed changes from situation to
situation. This placed a premium on people who were able to develop an
ability to work in different ways, and could change their style to suit the
situation.

THE FIEDLER MODEL:

Fred E. Fiedler argued that effectiveness depends on two interacting
factors: leadership style and the degree to which the situation gives the
leader control and influence. Three things are important here:

• The relationship between the leaders and followers: If leaders

are liked and respected they are more likely to have the support of
others.

• The structure of the task: If the task is clearly spelled out as to

goals, methods and standards of performance then it are more
likely that leaders will be able to exert influence.

• Position power: If an organization or group confers powers on the

leader for the purpose of getting the job done, then this may well
increase the influence of the leader.

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY:

It is a contingency theory that focuses on followers' readiness.

Readiness refers to the extent to which people have the ability and
willingness to accomplish a specific task. There are four stages of
readiness: able and willing, able and unwilling, unable and willing and
unable and unwilling.

THE PATH-GOAL THEORY:

The path-goal theory suggests that the primary functions of a

leader are to make valued or desired rewards available the workplace and

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to clarify for the subordinate the kinds of behavior that will lead to goal
accomplishment and valued rewards-that is, the leader should clarify the
paths to goal attainment. It identifies four kinds of leader behavior.

First is directive leader behavior - letting subordinates know what

is expected of them, giving guidance and direction, and scheduling work.

Second is supportive leader behavior - being friendly and

approachable, showing concern for subordinate welfare, and treating
members as equals.

Third is participative leader behavior - consulting subordinates,

soliciting suggestions, and allowing participation in decision making.

Fourth is achievement-oriented behavior - setting challenging

goals, expecting subordinates to perform at high levels, encouraging
subordinates and showing confidence in subordinates' abilities.

CONTEMPORARY THEORIES:

Because of its importance to organizational effectiveness,

leadership continues to be focus of a great deal of research and theory
building. So there are also three contemporary approaches to leadership.

TRANSACTIONAL-TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP:

Leaders who had been discussed so far were transactional

leaders-who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of
established goals by clarifying role and task requirements. Another type is
transformational leaders-who provide individualized consideration,
intellectual stimulation and posses' charisma. They are strongly correlated
with lower turnover rates, higher productivity and higher employee
satisfaction.

CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP:

A charismatic leader is an enthusiastic and self-confident leader

whose personality and actions influence people to behave in certain ways.

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TEAM LEADERSHIP:

Leadership is increasingly taking place within a team context. The

role of team leader is different from the traditional leadership role. The
challenge for most managers is learning how to become an effective team
leader. There are four basic team leadership roles: team leaders are
liaisons with external constituencies, troubleshooters, conflict managers
and coaches.