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.
