Running head: The New Psychology of Leadership 1

The New Psychology of Leadership

Mohammed A. Frakso
University of Fredericton
The New Psychology of Leadership 2

Introduction.

Leadership skills are being recognized as the key ingredient in management. A good manager is

by definition a leader, and being a leader is something we have to learn, principally from

experience and also from principles, theories, and Ideas.

In this paper I’m going to briefly summarize an article about the New Psychology of Leadership

that was published in Scientific American Mind Magazine, then I’ll discuss the contingency

theory in leadership and illustrate with some examples on its relevancy to my current leadership

role, and last but not least, I will make a reflection on what I learned from this article that will

make me expand my leadership style, then explain how to implement the new skills.
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The new psychology of leadership summary

Traditionally, a successful leader was considered to possess charisma, intelligence, and other

personality traits that would allow him to lead with authority and projection of their character.

A modern theory such as contingency theory, however, suggests that – rather than assuming

absolute authority – a successful leader must position himself among the group rather than above

it. Desirable leadership traits, therefore, depend on the very group being led. A successful leader

thus works to shape the identity of the group while concurrently projecting the very traits that

embody that identity.

Up until the end of Ward war two, Max Weber introduced the notion of “charismatic

Leadership”. Following this period, many began to favor the “contingency models” which

suggested that context and situation determine what type of leader will be successful based on

his particular strengths. In the 1970s, popular opinion tended to shift back and forth between

these two styles. More recent theory chooses to focus more on the synergetic relationship

between leaders and followers.

In the 1970s, Henri Tajfel and John C. Turner think up “social identity” they argued that strong

social identity allows group members to reach consensus, coordinate actions, and strive for

shared goals. Within this context, a leader is most effective when he can convince followers to

not only see themselves as a group but to see their leader as the ultimate embodiment of the

groups shared values and goals. Notably, he BBC prison experiment argues that Social identity

makes leadership possible, and effective leadership facilitates the development of social identity.
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On the other hand, Monarchs such as Louis XVI of France or even more recently some

presidents in the Arab spring uprisings such as Moammar Kadafi of Libya who ignored this

change in social identity simply lost their heads.

The BBC Prison experiment argue that Social identity makes leadership possible, and effective

leadership facilitates the development of social identity.

A study in 2000 by Turner and Haslam, debates that, those who can best represent the identity of

a group both within it and compared to external groups will be the most successful leaders. The

most desirable traits, appearance, actions will be those which best fit with the groups perceived

culture and can be further reinforced if they appear to be different of those personified by rival

leaders. Likewise, fitting in and fairness are just as important; acting superior, not listening, or

the existence of a large income gap between a leader and his followers can strongly undermine

influence and control.

Although what constitutes fairness can vary, fairness in leaders is generally held in high regard.

Leaders who make personal sacrifices for the good of the group and favor those who strengthen

group ideals are favored as well as those who resolve disputes among group members in such a

way that reinforces group norms or even favor in-group members at the expense of out-group

members.

The most effective leaders are able to continually shape a group social identity by introducing

policies that push their personal agenda and vision in such a way that coincides with what their

followers already believe. The use of symbols and rituals can help in these endeavors by

reinforcing group culture, strengthening social bonds and making the culture itself appear and

feel real and concrete. Effective leaders thus use shared identity as a foundation for their actions.
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In summary, whether one subscribes to the top-down, authoritarian style of leadership, or the

new psychology of a more democratic approach to shared identity and goals, influential and

creative leadership has the creation of a shared social identity at its core.

My leadership Role

In my current role as a distribution manager at the Calgary Airport Hertz center, I’m responsible

and accountable for the overall management of a key business location, the financial and daily

operational performance. Furthermore, I’m responsible for delivering revenue growth,

continuous improvement in service quality, staff development, and satisfaction. Accordingly I

lead in a spirit of the highest standards of business ethics and professionalism linked to delivery

of “Best in Class” customer service through employee empowered processes of continuous

improvement. I’m leading a team of about, 80 drivers, and 25 vehicle service attendants VSAs.

I’m successful in my position because I’m able to lead, grow and maintain a cohesive and high

performing team, who shares the simple vision of delivering clean safe cars in a timely manner.

My leadership style lean more toward Fiedler’s “Contingency Model”. I’m a task-oriented

leader, my drivers, and car cleaners have clear specific tasks, and they get along and work in

perfect harmony together, all I do is give direction when needed and solving disputes according

to principles that coincide with our vision of where the company needs to go. Although I do

understand that people value the ability to influence their work. I also believe that employees

come to work motivated and interested in their jobs, they want to learn new things, be

empowered, and have a common interest to achieve personal and organizational goals.

Teams are usually formed around a shared culture and leader usually comes to reinforce that

culture and lead their followers to a better future, while conceiving and empowering that same

culture. According to Roger Schwarz (2013), all teams have a team culture that affects how
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members deal with quality, timeliness, or other aspects of the team’s tasks. Team culture

includes core values and assumption so that changing a team’s mindset is changing its culture.

(P. 5) as a leader I’m doing a good job in creating a team oriented environment, cross training

employees, and providing necessary resources. All this actions strengthen the team culture. With

this in mind, I find it difficult sometimes to implement some radical changes, I feel at times that

I’m overprotective when it comes to affecting my team culture. To give an illustration, last year,

we had to change some work processes and reassigned certain tasks in a way to save time and

operate more efficiently. Consequently, the car cleaners have to start filling out some additional

forms concerning vehicles inspection and tire tread measurements. This process added an

additional 3 minute per vehicle. Although I did couple focus group meetings to discuss in more

details and find out ways to recoup the 3 minutes, I still got a lot of resistance from some team

members. This created a division in the team which results in In-group members who did accept

the change and moved forward with it and out-group members who resisted the change. Due to

the moderately favorable situation that has been created, I switched my leadership style to

relationship oriented, and I remained fair to those out-group members. As the time goes by, I

started noticing some improvement in the team moral. This was a good experience that helped

me improve my leadership style and it was also a good eye opener on some of the challenges I

might have to face as a leader.

The logistics and operations in a fast paced environment will make it very hard sometimes to

listen to each employee needs, yet I keep my team informed regarding the details of our

department at any turbulent time with responsibilities shifting regarding different aspects of our

jobs. Even though sometimes I feel I have very little time to absorb and then communicate the
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changes that take place in our daily operations and that affect all of us, I still convey these details

and changes with a smile and very positive attitude.

Adjustments to my leadership role

I just learned from reading this article that there are some different strategies to shape my

leadership style in a way to push my Ideas and vision without affecting the team culture.

According to Bernard Bass (2007) “leaders are most effective when they can induce followers to

see themselves as group members and to see the group’s interest as their own interest” I totally

agree with this statement, as a leader I should take more time to get to know my employees

interests and values, and the special needs of each one of them. This can be done through

individual and group meetings. In most of the group meetings that occurs once a month, I mostly

talk about operational plans, what was accomplished and how we can improve in our process. I

believe I’ll have to start some focus group meetings just to talk in a relaxed and open way about

anything that’s on my employees minds, whether it’s related to work or not. In doing this my

employees will be able to share their ideas and raise up their concerns, which will make them

feel valuable and included in decision making. As a leader, I believe in the importance of

teamwork and an effective leader is one who can rally his team towards a shared culture and a

common goal. In order to implement change or to drive your team towards a common goal, you

have sometimes to simplify things and be prototypical of the group. Let’s take for instance Hertz

Global Holdings vision. It states that Hertz Will be the global leader in mobility and equipment

solutions. Personally, I don’t believe a 65 years old part time driver or a 25 years old car wash

employee will buying into this. As a leader I simplified this corporate vision to my team in words

they will understand, therefore, at a distribution center level our shared vision, is to deliver

clean safe cars to our locations in a timely manner, and this still include a specific goal that line
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up with the organization vision. I consider getting comprehensive participation in goal setting

can help employees understand how their work contributes to the organization’s success.

In an article about Personality and Social Psychology Review, Michael A. Hogg (2001) argue

that “Leadership is about how some individuals or cliques have disproportionate power and

influence to set agenda, define identity, and mobilize people to achieve collective goals”. This

goes along with Henri Tajfel and John C. Turner “social identity” concept. In my current role, I

need to apply this same concept to lead my followers. I remember when I first started in my

position I was a little bit hesitant to emerge with the culture, hence they perceived me as the new

guy who was there to reinforce company policies and boss them around.

I consider that by celebrating their victories and being there in the trenches with them during

their defeats I will be able to be seen as part of their group And by modeling appropriate

responses in such times I can help shape group identity moving forward. Also by using shared

symbolism we are able to bring about more group cohesion. Recently we switched to safety vests

with our logo (Hertz) on them for all employees, while before everyone had different vests, some

even brought their own. Since we made the change people have been getting along more and

working in a more cooperative manner objectively speaking. Therefore, appearance does matter.

And as a manager, I need to make sure that I wear my safety vest just the same as all the other

employees so as not to seem above them.

Now that I’m expanding my knowledge about true leadership, I feel ready to change myself for

the best so I can be one of the gang. I’ll start dressing up in jean pants, sweaters, and Safety vest,

eat with drivers and car wash employees in the same lunch room instead of going to the

Administrative lunch room. And when it gets busy I’ll roll up my sleeves to give them the help

and support they need.

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Conclusion

Traditional models see leadership as a form of system in which leader agency is achieved at the

expense of follower agency and vice versa. Against this view, the discussed article argues that

leadership is a vehicle for social identity in which leaders and followers are partners. I find that

top-down authoritative styles do not work very well. Having tried it myself, I have noticed that

getting compliance is not an issue but most of the times the employees end up resenting you for

it and talking behind your back or losing trust on you as a leader. They are also least likely to

work when you are not around smacking them with the rod. Therefore, the social identity model

in which followers and leaders are interdependent is the best way to lead an organization with a

common shared vision to new levels of success.

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References
- Reicher, S. D., Haslam, S. A., & Platow, M. J. (2007). The New Phycology of
Leadership. Scientific American Mind, 18(4), 22-29

- Roger Schwarz (2013). Smart Leaders, Smarter Teams How You and Your Team Get
Unstuck to Get Results.

- Michael A. Hogg (2001, Vol. 5, No. 3, 184–200). Personality and social Psychology
review. Retrieved from
http://home.ubalt.edu/tmitch/642/E%20articles/judge%20bono%20erez%20locke%20Core%20self%20
eval%20and%20job%20sat%202005_files/hogg%20social%20id%20theory%20ldrship%20JPSP.pdf.