Topic 3: What Do Leaders Do?

Effective Leadership Measurements

- Subordinate satisfaction
- Successful performance by subordinates
- Successful performance by unit
- Academic research and categorization of leadership behaviors
- Defining types of leader behaviors

Relations Behavior
- Consideration for subordinates
- Focus on interpersonal relationships
- Listen, support, defend, consult with, accept suggestions
- Egalitarian in appearance
- Outcomes: mutual trust, job satisfaction, organization identification

Tasks Behavior
- Focus on initiating structure
- Goal accomplishment is highest priority
- Assign tasks, maintain standards, direct, establish deadlines, coordinate activities,
criticize and correct poor performance
- Outcomes: efficiency, reliability, performance completion, productivity

Change-oriented Behavior
- Mantra: “If it is not broken, fix it now.”; “Change or die.”
- Understand, interpret, and adjust to the changing environment
- Implement changes in strategies, products, or processes
- Effective leaders pioneer change management

Leadership Behavior: Relations, Task, or Change?

- Assign work to individuals
- Recognize accomplishments
- Study competition to get new ideas
- Monitor external threats and opportunities
- Empower people
- Set specific goals for job performance
- Explain rules and policies
- Provide coaching and mentoring
- Envision new directions for the unit or organization
- Develop new strategies
- Provide confidence and encouragement to individuals
- Direct and coordinate work activities
- Use rituals and ceremonies to build team identity
- Firing under performers
Participative Leadership Behavior
- Empowering others
- Delegate decision-making to subordinates
- Related to both relations and task behavior

Transformational Leadership Behavior

- Charismatic: people follow you because they like you
- Visionary and inspirational
- Focus on relationship and change behaviors
- Often used by religious leaders
- Pros and cons?

Effective Leadership Behavior: Planning

- What to do, how to do it, who will do it, and when it will be done
- Goals: efficiency, coordination, effective use of resources
- Process of information, analyze information, decide
- Write plans, prepare budgets, establish goals, develop schedules
- Planning behaviors
o Identify action steps
o Prioritize action steps
o Establish start and finish times
o Estimate costs
o Assign accountability
o Develop ways to monitor progress

Effective Leadership Behavior: Clarifying Roles and Objectives

- Define job responsibilities
- Set performance goals
- Assign specific tasks
- Avoid role ambiguity and role conflict
- Clarify behaviors
o Clearly explain assignment
o Explain reason for assignment
o Provide necessary instruction
o Explain priorities and limits (time, money)
o Set goals and deadlines

Effective Leadership Behavior: Monitoring Operations and Performance

- Varied behaviors: observation, reading reports, reviewing data, inspect samples,
hold progress meetings
- Monitor behaviors
o Identify and measure performance indicators
 o Monitor key processes
o Measure progress against plans and budgets
o Seek third party sources of information
o Conduct progress meetings
o Observe operations (management by walking around)
o Ask questions
o Encourage feedback of problems
o Praise, criticize, modify

Effective Leadership Behavior: Supporting

- Supportive techniques
o Mentoring, coaching, providing training opportunities
- Benefits to subordinates
o Job satisfaction, low absenteeism, low turnover, acceptance and trust of
leader, willingness for extra work, self confidence, less stress
- Supporting behaviors
o Demonstrate acceptance and concern
o Provide sympathy and support
o Build self confidence and self esteem
o Be willing to help with personal problems (to a limit)

Effective Leadership Behavior: Developing Subordinate Skills

- Developing techniques
o Monitor, coach, provide developmental opportunities
- Benefits to subordinates
o Job adjustment, skill advancement, career advancement, self confidence
- Developing behaviors
o Show concern
o Identify ways to improve performance
o Be patient and helpful when coaching
o Provide career advice
o Help person prepare for job change
o Encourage person to be trained
o Promote person’s reputation

Effective Leadership Behavior: Recognizing

- What to recognize, when to give recognition, who to recognize, what form to use
- Recognizing behaviors
o Recognize variety of achievements (big and small)
o Identify “what people do right”
o Identify improvements in performance
o Recognize even when success is limited or lacking
o Recognize both high and low level jobs
 o Spread recognition around (not few best performers)
o Make recognition specific
o Make recognition timely
o Make recognition sincere (do not overuse any one form)

Summary:

Effective leaders have high concern for task objectives and interpersonal relationships.

Effective leaders use specific types of behavior applicable to their unique situations.

Task behaviors are planning, clarifying, and monitoring.

Relations behaviors are supporting, developing, and recognizing.

Discussions:

1. Case: Consolidated Products

2. Case: Air Force Supply Squadron