Tuesday 21 March 2017

INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY
OF LEADERSHIP
“The best way to judge the intelligence of the leader is by looking at the men around him.”
                                                                                                               R.H. Grant 


The Trait Perspective
This perspective maintains that people possess particular characteristics that make them “great” leaders. According to this belief, a distinction is drawn between leaders and others based on a general set of common characteristics. Researchers in leadership such as stogdill, Mann, Kirkpatrick and Locke make the following designations:

       i.            Intelligence: intelligence or mental capacity is a positive correlate of leadership. It appears that the ability to articulate, observe and analyze creates the best leader.
    ii.            
         Self-confidence: self-confidence is to be sure of his abilities and skills and includes a sense of self-respect and self-discipline. He also believes that he is capable of making a difference.
  iii.           
         Determination: determination refers to the desire to undertake work and includes characteristics such as insistence, perseverance and motivation.
  iv.           
        Integrity: this means honesty, truthfulness and reliability. Thus, individuals who adhere to a firm set of principles and accept responsibility for their actions are described as having integrity.
    v.            
        Sociability: this is the tendency of the leader to form positive social relationships with friendly, generous, versatile and diplomatic individuals who sympathize with the needs of others and show an interest in their situation.

Path-Goal theory
This theory focuses on how leaders motivate their subordinates to achieve goals. Major exponents of it include Evans (1970), house (1974) and Mitchell (1974). As we have already mentioned, the path-Goal theory was developed to describe the way that leaders encourage and support their followers in achieving the goals they have been set. It can be argued that this approach, however, is a conditional theory of leadership given that effectiveness depends on the harmonization of a leader’s behavior and the specificities of the subordinates and the task. Furthermore, the fundamental path-goal principles of the theory are derived from the theory of expectation, which suggests that employees will be motivated provided they feel confident and are rewarded. According to this view, the leader can help his subordinates by his choice of leadership behavior. House and Mitchell (1974) describe four styles of leadership:
       I.            
              Directive leadership
This is similar to the concept of “initialization and structure” advocated in the Ohio state university studies. As such, it entails telling subordinates what needs to be done and giving appropriate guidance along the way. This includes giving them schedules of specific work to be done at specific times. Rewards may also be increased as needed and role ambiguity decreased (by telling them what they should be doing).
     II.           
          Supportive leadership
This is similar to the “accounting for conduct” concept defined in the Ohio state university studies. Considering the needs of the follower, showing concern for their welfare and creating a friendly working environment are key components of this style. This also includes increasing the subordinate’s self-esteem and making the job more interesting.
  III.            
          Participative leadership
Leaders adopting this style consult with subordinates and take their ideas into account when making decisions and taking particular actions.
  IV.            
                      Achievement-oriented leadership
This style of leadership involves setting challenging goals in relation to both work and self-improvement (and often together). High standards are demonstrated and expected. The leader shows faith in the capabilities of subordinates to succeed and steadily progress.
This perspective highlights the importance of knowing how to judge subordinate specificities and characteristics. Subordinates whose needs entail a strong desire to feel like a member prefer supportive leadership; whereas for subordinates who possess dogmatic faith, are authoritarian and need to work under indeterminate conditions, directive leader is better suited to them.

Leader-Member Exchange Theory
The leadership theories that have so far been discussed tend to emphasize leadership behavior from the perspective of the leader (i.e. trait and behavioral theories) or through the subordinate and situation (i.e. situational leadership, contingency leadership and path-goal leadership). Notably, the leader-member exchange theory (LMX) makes the relationship between the leader and his subordinates the focal point in the process of leadership. Amongst the leading exponents of this theory are Dansereau and green (1976). In the earlier works of this theory, the two-way relationship between the leader and the work-unit was perceived as being comprised of two very  separate components, wherein the leader’s special relationships was considered the “inner circle” of followers and those other relationships with employees on the official side was considered the “external group” of followers. It was argued that the first group of followers became members of the inner circle based on their ability to adapt to the leader and desire to enhance their own responsibilities. On the other hand, those who kept formal and official relationships with their leader remained as members of the external group of followers, whereby members of the inner circle exercised greater influence and received better opportunities and rewards above those of the external group who only received the benefits of their posts.
Later studies in the development of this theory shifted the emphasis to the various forms of leader-member exchange in the organization’s performance. In so doing, academics found that forms of high-quality interaction achieved positive results (i.e. low labor turnover, high levels of organizational commitment and greater employee progress). In general, these academics pointed out that the result of positive exchange is that subordinates feel better, exert extra effort and help the organization to develop.
Today ongoing studies on the subject of LMX focus on the “leadership industry”, which stresses that leaders should attempt to develop high-quality interactions with all their subordinates and subsequently the leadership industry will also develop over time. This includes three phases: the separation phase, the introduction phase, and the mutual relationship phase. In the process of adopting new responsibilities and roles, subordinates undergo all three of these phases to develop mature mutual relations with their leaders that are marked by greater mutual trust, respect and commitment by the leader and the member. The third phase, exchange based on self interest is transformed into mutual commitment to the mission and objectives of the work unit.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership – one of the most advanced and comprehensive leadership theories – is interested in the process of hoe specific leaders are able to inspire subordinates to accomplish major tasks. This theory asserts that leaders need to be able to understand and accommodate subordinates’ needs and wants. A transformational leader focuses on “transforming” others to help each other, be encouraging, harmonious and look out for the organization as a whole. In addition, the role of a transformational leader is to articulate a clear future vision for the organization and to engage in such a way that leaders and subordinates raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation that provide them purpose within their work lives. Transformational leadership first originated and appeared in the works of scholars such as burns (1978), bass (1985), bennis and nonus (1985), and tichy and devanna (1986). It is possible to evaluate transformational leadership using the “multidimensional leadership model”, which measures seven dimensions of leadership behavior. The factors entailed in transformational leadership are:

       I.            Idealized influence

The first factor is marked by “Charisma or idealized influence” and describes leaders whose modes of behavior are perceived and felt by the followers to be ideal and who then imitate them and are happy with them. These leaders often demonstrate exceptionally high standards of moral conduct that ensure that the right thing is done. Leaders are in this way greatly respected by subordinates who also tend to have a lot of trust in them; in turn, leaders provide subordinates with a vision and a sense of mission. In essence, this charisma serves to distinguish special individuals who make others want to follow the visions they inspire. The leadership of nelson Mandela (the first non-white president of South Africa) can be considered charismatic, given that he was known as being a leader with high moral standards and possessing a vision that led to a significant change in the way that people wanted to be governed in South Africa. His gift of being able to inspire others and respond to the people enabled Mandela to transform and entire nation.

     II.            Inspirational motivation

The second factor draws on “inspirational motivation” and describes leaders who challenge followers with high expectations, communicate optimism about future goals, and provide meaning for the task at hand. In doing so, leaders inspire followers to be motivated towards committing to a shared vision within the organization and making them feel like a part of it. In the application of this vision, leaders draw on communication skills and emotions to focus the efforts of group members on achieving beyond their own expectations. This type of leadership reinforces team spirit, an example of which can be seen in the case of a retail manager who motivates his sales assistants to excel in their work by using encouraging words and expressions that clearly convey the key role that they are playing in the future development of the company.

  III.            Intellectual stimulation

The third factor is called “intellectual stimulation” and is the degree to which the leader intellectually drives followers to be creative and innovative, challenges assumption, takes risks and solicits their beliefs and values. This type of leadership stimulates creativity in followers to attempt to develop new methods and methods and patterns of behavior, as well as innovative ways of tackling organizational matters. It also encourages followers to think for themselves and resolve their own issues, such as in the example of a company manager who promotes the individual efforts of workers to develop unique ways to solve problems that hinder performance.

  IV.            Individualized attention

The fourth factor of transformational leadership is called “individualized attention” and represents leaders who attend to each follower’s needs, act as a mentor or coach to the follower and listen to the follower’s concerns and needs. These leaders might compensate followers as a means of helping them through personal problems, for instance, with reference to a manager who spends his time attentively and considerably engaging with every single employee, this type of leader might provide emotional support to some employees, while others prefer to be given comprehensive directions.
Transactional leadership differs from transformational leadership, in that the transactional leader is not concerned with the individual needs of follower nor does he focus on developing each person. As such, transactional leaders are more interested in a series of “transactions”.  This person in is interested in looking out for oneself, having exchange benefits with subordinates and clarifying a sense of duty with rewards and punishments to reach goals (Kuhnert, 1994);  in the process of this gain, followers act according to the interests of the leader (Lewis, 1987).

    V.            Conditional incentives

The fifth factor pertaining to “conditional reward” also constitutes the first factor of transactional leadership. Conditional reward refers to the process of exchange between leaders and followers in which followers exchange effort for specific rewards. However, with this type of leadership the leader tries to obtain the followers’ agreement concerning specific duties. Thereafter, incentives are granted to whoever is successful in completing these specific duties. An example of this type of exchange is in the case of a father or mother who negotiates a time for his/her child to spend watching television after agreeing to take a piano lesson. Another example alludes to what usually occurs within the academic domain whereby the dean negotiates with a lecture from one of the schools on the number of research papers he requires in order to receive a promotion.

  VI.            Management by exception

The model for “Management by Exception” figures in the sixth factor of transformational leadership and is leadership by what is referred to as “correctional criticism”, and determining and reviewing negative practice. Management by exception practices are established where it has been determined that only those events that deviate from a standard are significant. It takes on two forms: active and passive. The leader who adopts active management by exception monitors subordinates to detect any faults or breaking of rules, on which occasion the necessary steps for correcting them are taken. An example of active management by exception can be illustrated by the methods employed by sales supervisors on a daily basis to monitor how employees handle and interact with clients. This way, problems that might have otherwise resulted in the delay of sales met by the employee can rapidly be rectified and sales can resume to what they were. On the other hand, the leader who is passive in management by exception intervenes only in those situations in which actual results differ significantly from planned results, or once problems arise. This type of management is sound in the case of the supervisor who grants a promotion to one of his employees. Both active and passive types of management tend to apply negative approaches to reinforcement more than they apply positive approaches (such as “conditional incentives” as explained above).

VII.            The Principle Of Non-Interference
The seventh principle of leadership describes the far-right side of the chain of transactional-transformational leadership in the sense that this alludes to the absence of leadership. As the French saying goes, the leader who adopts the principle of “non-interference” adopts the attitude “let things go”. This leader evades responsibility and is slow in making decision, nor does he provide feedback or exert effort to help his followers to satisfy their needs or to progress. An example of leadership built on the principle of “non-interference” is that of a boss of a small factory who does not hold meetings with the factory supervisors, nor does he have a long-term plan for the company, while remaining in very little contact with employees of the organization.

Team Leadership

The theory of term of leadership provides a framework was initially carried out in a study of organizational factors that contribute to the output or general effectiveness of this group. The fundamental function of the leader according to this theory is to help the group achieve its goals while monitoring and identifying the issues of the group and taking the necessary steps to deal with them. Amongst the most prominent exponents of this theory are Elaine et al. (1993).
The study has been divided into strategic decisions in such a way as to discern the varying resolutions taken by group leaders for the purpose of obtaining group effectiveness. The model shows three resolutions: what kind of intervention did he choose to use (supervision or taking action)? At what level should the intervention be directed (internally or externally)? What leadership function is to be implemented in order to achieve the group’s work?
Effective team leadership is determined according to several criteria:

a    A clearly defined objective:

Group objectives must be clear so as to determine whether the performance larger is achievable, as quite often, groups fail at the expense of vague and ambiguous tasks. Similarly, these goals must be stimulating and sallow for participation and even convince group members of their value and importance.
b.     Results built on structure:

Teams need to identify the most preferable structure for the achievement of objectives. Teams or work groups engage with different aspects of work. Thus, where senior management groups interact with power and authority when dealing with the ideas and plans of important administrations, customer services teams deal with customers. These groups can be divided into three board types:
Problem-solving teams, creative teams, and tactical teams.

c    Competent team members:

Team members should be appropriate and diversified so that tasks can be assigned to them and they should be equipped with adequate information, education and training that makes them competent team members.

          Unified commitment:

Distinct teams tend to develop a sense of single unity or single identity. The team spirit generated by this can be extended to the involvement of members in all relevant aspects of the process.
e    A friendly atmosphere:
It appears that trust fosters the necessary honesty, openness, cohesion and respect that it takes to build a friendly atmosphere. This allows members to five attention to problems, be open with each other, confide in each other, feel free within the working place and look out for one another.
f       Standards of excellence:
It is necessary for the organization or the team itself to practice standards of excellence to the extent that members feel obliged to exert the maximum effort possible and so that standards are clear and specific.
g    External support and appreciation:
The team that receives external support is capable of achieving excellence through the granting of necessary resources to carry out its functions, while appreciating while appreciating its achievements through collective performance incentives for the team as opposed to individual performance.
h     Leadership with principles:
The leaders of effective teams work as coaches in order to facilitate group work and dependence on one another. Thus, they help the team to enhance unified commitment and motivation and to reduce coordination problems. It is possible for the leader to also assist in providing knowledge and expertise in the development of joint efforts and experiences.