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Chapter 13 The Leadership Process

Leadership springs from relationships

Chapter 13 Study Questions

What is leadership?

What is followership?

What do we know about leader-follower relationships?

What do we mean by leadership as a collective process?

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What is leadership?

Leadership

An influence process generated in and from combined acts of leading (influencing) and following (deferring) as social agents work together to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it.

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Leadership is commonly thought of as individuals (i.e., managers, leaders) influencing others (i.e., subordinates, followers) in a top-down manner. But this does not tell the full story. Leadership is not a one-way process. Rather, it is a social phenomenon created in combined acts of leading and following. In fact, following is as important, if not more important, than leading: Without followers, there are no leaders.

What is leadership?

Formal leadership

Exerted by persons appointed (or elected) to positions of formal authority in organizations.

Informal leadership

Exerted by persons who become influential because they have special skills that meet the resource needs of others.

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There is a rich body of research regarding what leadership is, who has the capacity for leadership and how it is manifest.

Formal leadership positions exist by virtue of their formal authority. However, leadership involves more than having authority conferred by a position. It can be manifested not only by an individual but by a team. It can be manifested within many levels of the organization.

Leadership has a generally accepted component of the ability to influence others and to inspire effort.

What is leadership?

Motivation to Lead

The extent to which individual choose to assume leadership training, roles and responsibilities.

Implicit Leadership Theories

Our beliefs or understanding about the attributes associated with leaders and leadership.

Romance of Leadership

Refers to the tendency to attribute organizational outcomes (both good and bad) to the acts and doing of leaders.

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This process has strong implications for those who are high in motivation to lead. While they may want to lead if others do not grant them a leadership identity, their efforts will not succeed. It also explains why “natural leaders” who may not be high in motivation to lead may end up doing so anyway: Leadership may be “bestowed” upon them by others who grant them leadership identities.

What is followership?

Followership

The capacity or willingness to follow a leader.

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Followership is the capacity or willingness to follow a leader. It represents a process through which individuals choose how they will engage with leaders to co-produce leadership and its outcomes. These co-productions can take many forms. For example, it may be heavily leader-dominated, with passive followers who comply or go along. Or it may be a partnership, in which leaders and followers work collaboratively to produce leadership outcomes.

Supportive leadership is predicted to increase the satisfaction of subordinates who work on highly repetitive tasks or on tasks considered to be unpleasant, stressful, or frustrating. In this situation the leader’s supportive behavior helps compensate for adverse conditions.

What is followership?

Follower Role Orientation

Defined as the beliefs followers hold about the way they should engage and interact with leaders to meet the needs of the work unit.

Power Distance Orientations

The extent to which one accepts that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally.

Constructive Follower Orientations

Reflects the belief that followers should act in ways that are helpful, useful and productive to leadership outcomes.

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Follower Role Orientation The study of follower beliefs continued in research on follower role orientation. Follower role orientation represents the beliefs followers hold about the way they should engage and interact with leaders to meet the needs of the work unit. It reflects how followers define their role, how broadly they perceive the tasks associated with it, and how approach a follower role to be effective.

Findings show that followers with hierarchical, power distance orientations believe leaders are in a better position than followers to make decisions and determine direction. These individuals have lower self-efficacy, meaning they have less confidence in their ability to execute on their own, and demonstrate higher obedience to leaders. They depend on leaders for structure and direction, which they follow without question. These followers report working in contexts of greater hierarchy of authority and lower job autonomy. This may be because these contexts are attractive to them, or it may be because those with more constructive follower orientations are less likely to remain in these environments.

Individuals with constructive follower orientations approach their role from the standpoint of partnering with leaders to achieve goals. These individuals are higher in proactive personality and self-efficacy. They believe followers are important contributors to the leadership process and that a strong follower role (e.g., voice) is necessary for accomplishing the organizational mission. Constructive followers tend to work in environments that support and reinforce their followership beliefs, i.e., lower hierarchy of authority, greater autonomy, and higher supervisor support. These environments are important because constructive followers need support for their proactive and challenging styles. They need to trust leaders, and know that they will not be seen as overstepping their bounds.

Figure 13.3 Followership in context

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In your experience…

In your current or former job, did your manager behave the same way with each of the people he/she managed?

A=Yes, B=No

If no, what was different about the relationships between the manager and each employee?

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Like attracts like

What do we know about leader-follower relationships?

Leadership categorization theory

Implicit leadership theories - preconceived notions about the attributes (e.g., traits and behaviors) associated with leaders.

They reflect the structure and content of “cognitive categories” used to distinguish leaders from nonleaders.

Attributes or leadership prototypes are mental images of the characteristics that make a “good” leader, that a “real” leader would possess.

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Implicit leadership theories reflect the structure and content of “cognitive categories” used to distinguish leaders from nonleaders.

What do we know about leader-follower relationships?

Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory

The study of manager-subordinate relationship quality.

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The underlying premise of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory is that leaders (i.e., managers) have differentiated relationships with followers (i.e., subordinates). With some subordinates managers have high quality LMX relationships, characterized by trust, respect, liking, and loyalty. With other subordinates managers have low quality LMX relationships, characterized by lack of trust, respect, liking and loyalty. Whereas the former (high LMX relationships) are more like partnerships between managers and subordinates in co-producing leadership, the latter (low LMX relationships) are more like traditional supervision, with managers supervising and monitoring and subordinates complying (or maybe resisting).

What do we know about leader-follower relationships?

Social Exchange Theory

Describes how relationships initiate and develop through processes of exchange and reciprocity.

Norm of reciprocity

Says that when one party does something for another, that party is not indebted to the other until the obligation is repaid.

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Social exchange theory helps us understand the social dynamics behind relationship building. According to social exchange theory, relationships develop through exchanges—actions contingent upon rewarding reactions. We engage in exchanges every day when we say something or do something for another, and those actions are either rewarded or not rewarded. Relationships develop when exchanges are mutually rewarding and reinforcing. When exchanges are one-sided or not satisfactory, relationships will not develop effectively (e.g., relationships deteriorate or extinguish).

At the core of social exchange is the norm of reciprocity—the idea that when one party does something for another an obligation is generated, and that party is now indebted to the other until the obligation is repaid. We see this all the time when someone does us a favor and then, depending on how close we are to them, we feel indebted to pay them back. If the relationship is close (e.g., family) we don’t worry about paying back right away because we know it will be repaid in some way in the future. If the exchange is with someone we don’t know as well (e.g., a classmate we just met), we are more anxious to repay so that the other knows we are “good” for it.

What do we know about leader-follower relationships?

Equivalence

Whether the amount given back is roughly the same as what was received.

Immediacy

How quickly the repayment is made.

Interest

The motive behind the exchange.

Idiosyncrasy Credits

Refer to our ability to violate norms with others based on whether we have enough “credits” to cover the violation.

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The norm of reciprocity can be seen as involving three components. Equivalence represents the extent to which the amount of what is given back is roughly the same as what was received (e.g., the exact same or something different). Immediacy refers to the time span of reciprocity—how quickly the repayment is made (e.g., immediately or an indeterminate length of time). Interest represents the motive the person has in making the exchange. Interest can range from pure self-interest, to mutual-interest, to other-interest (pure concern for the other person).

What do we mean by leadership as a collective process?

Collective leadership

Represents view of leadership not as a property of individuals and their behaviors but as a social phenomenon constructed in interaction.

Distributed Leadership

Sees leadership as a group phenomenon that is distributed among individuals.

Co-Leadership

Occurs when leadership is divided so that on one person has unilateral power to lead.

Shared Leadership

Dynamic, interactive influence process among team members working to achieve goals.

Relational interactions are the foundation of leadership, and relational approaches have allowed us to understand that leadership is more aptly described as a collective, rather than an individual, process. Collective leadership considers leadership not as a property of individuals and their behaviors but as a social phenomenon constructed in interaction. It advocates a shift in focus from traits and characteristics of “leaders” to a focus on the shared activities and interactive processes of “leadership.”