Leadership

Leadership: The process of motivating, influencing, and directing others in the

organization to work productively in pursuit of organization goals.
- leaders as focusing on vision, mission, and goals, whereas managers
focus on efficiency and effectiveness.
Effective leadership means the ability of a leader to get high
performance from his or her subordinates or entire company or division
( ceo or top level managers)
The powerinfluence approach, attempts to explain leadership
effectiveness in terms of the amount of power possessed by a leader,
the type of power possessed, and how that power is used to influence
others within the organization.
- research on the use of different forms of power suggests that
effective leaders rely as much on the personal power that flows from
expertise, a network of allies, and individual attributes as they do on
power flowing from their formal posi- tion
trait or competency perspective, has tried to identify the traits and
competencies of effective leaders. Traits can be acquired thru learning.
- born, not made
- have traits like tireless energy, penetrating intuition, uncanny
foresight, and irresist- ible persuasive powers
Strategic thinking refers to the cognitive ability to analyze a complex
situation, abstract from it, and draw conclusions about the best
strategy for the firm to follow.
- requires combination of intelligence and reasoning skills.
achievement motivation The unconscious concern for achieving
excellence in accomplishments through ones individual efforts.
- take risks to achieve goals , set challenging goals
power motivation: The unconscious drive to acquire status and
power and to have an impact on others.
- power to influence others since it gives them satifaction
Integrity: being able to be trusted
Charisma: The ability of some people to charm or influence others.
- magnetic personalites, draw others towards them
have exceptionally high self-confidence, strength of conviction, and
assertiveness or social dominance
Emotional intelligence: The ability to monitor ones own and others
feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this
information to guide ones thinking and actions.
key components of emotional intelligence are these:
Self-awarenessthe ability to understand ones own moods,
emotions, and drives, as well as their effect on others.
Self-regulationthe ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses or
moods and to think before acting.

Motivationa passion for work that goes beyond money or status,

and a propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence.
Empathyunderstanding the feelings and viewpoints of subordinates,
and taking those into account when making decisions.
Social skillsfriendliness with a purpose.
Limitations & Implications
Not all traits are equally important
Not all great leaders demonstrate all traits
Importance of traits is context dependent
leaders can enhance their emotional intelligence through training.
They can learn to become more self-regulating and self-aware, to put
themselves in the shoes of others and develop empathy

Behaviour perspective, asserts that certain behaviours are related

to leadership effectiveness.
people-oriented behaviour: A leadership style that includes showing
mutual trust and respect for subordinates, demonstrating genuine
concern for their needs, and having a desire to look out for their
welfare
task-oriented behaviour is to assign employees to specific tasks, clarify
their work duties and procedures, ensure that they follow company
rules, and push them to reach their performance capacity. Taskoriented leaders establish stretch goals and challenge employees to
push beyond those high standards.
The contingency perspective argues that the appropriate
behaviours for a leader to adopt depend on context, and that what
works in some situations will not in others.
- Fiedlers basic assumption was that it was difficult if not impossible for people to change their leadership style. Fiedler accepted
the two basic leadership styles we have just discussed (taskoriented and people-oriented)
- own way of measuring it
- believed that the effectiveness of a leader should be measured
by how the team, group, or organization under the leader
performed
3 main factors:
leadermember relations: How well followers respect, trust, and like
their leaders.
task structure: The degree to which the jobs of subordinates are highly
structured with clear work responsibilities, well- defined tasks, explicit
goals, and specific procedures.

position power: The power that derives from formal hierarchical power
over subordinates, including the legitimate power to hire, fire, reward,
and punish subordinates.
Favourable situations: leadermember relations were good, task
structure was clearly defined and understood, and position power was
high. Opp is true for unfavourable
- good for task orientated leaders, everything is cleary defined as
well as in unfavble situations cause they can impose structure
than people orientated ppl.
Weaknesses of theory
Simplistic
Classification into two broad types (people-oriented/taskoriented)seems an unwarranted generalization
Some leaders can exhibit both people-oriented & task-oriented
characters
Assumes leaders cant change their style
pathgoal theory is a contingency theory. It states that the best
leadership style depends on the situation
2 mains factors: Clarifying the path means leaders work with
subordinates to help them identify and learn behaviours that will lead
to goal attainment. In other words, they mentor and coach
subordinates. Clearing the path means leaders try to take care of
problems and remove obstacles that make it difficult for subordinates
to attain their goals.
directive leadership, which occurs when leaders tell subor- dinates
exactly what they are supposed to do, giving them goals, specific
tasks, guidelines for performing those tasks, task orientated
supportive leadership, which can be defined as a leadership style in
which the leader is approachable and friendly, shows concern for the
welfare of subordinates, and treats them as equals. Ppl orientated
participative leadership, in which a leader con- sults with his or her
subordinates, asking for their opinions before making a decision.
achievement- oriented leadership, occurs when a leader sets high
goals for subordinates, has high expectations for their performance,
and displays confidence in subordinates, encouraging and helping
them to take on greater responsibilities.
Pathgoal theory argues that a leader can change his or her leadership style, and that two important contingencies dictate the best
choice of leadership style: (1) the personal characteristics of
subordinates and (2) the nature of the work environment .The personal
characteristics of subordinates include factors such as the abilities,
skills, needs, and motivations of employees. The nature of the work
environment refers to the task structure (is the task well- defined and

standardized or complex and varied?), the dynamics of the work group

or team (is the team cohesive or fragmented?), and the formal power
in the organization (is it strong or weak
- supportive leadership increases confidence
Limitations of theory
Assumption that leader can adopt only one style at a time
Doesnt explain what is required for effective leadership
Narrow definition of leadership effectiveness
Other potentially important factors like creating vision of leadership
process are ignored
Provides only partial definition
Leadership substitutes: Contingencies that may act as substitutes
for a leadership style.
- substitutes for task and ppl orientated, self leadership reduces their
needs, self managing teams can replace them, coworkers can also
replace them, appropriate award systems also replace them.
Transformational perspective suggests that effective leaders
transform organizations through their vision, communication, and
ability to build commitment to that vision among employees.
transformational leader A leader who is an agent of strategic and
organizational change. In culture and architecture.
- Envision to change org , communicate it with employees, Modeling
desired behaviors, Empowering employees, Meaningful changes in
strategy and organization, Leading with integrity and Creating an
enduring organization
Transactional leader: A leader who helps an organization achieve its
current objectives
Critics say: Transformational lead- ership seems most appropriate when
organizations are in trouble and need to improve their performance
and adapt to a changing environment. For an organization based in a
stable environment that is performing well, transactional leadership
may be just fine. In- deed, a transformational leader who tries to
change a well-oiled machine might do more harm than good
Women in leadership: They also believe that women are more
relationship-oriented, cooperative, nurturing, and emotional in their
leadership roles. Men more TO and women more PO