Leading Strategicially

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Perspectives in Leadership Theory and Research

It can be useful to classify leadership theories according to the type of variables that are

relevant for understanding leadership effectiveness. These variables include the following:

characteristics of leaders

characteristics of followers

characteristics of the situation

Most leadership theories emphasize one category more than the others as the primary

basis for explaining effective leadership. Over the past half-century, leader characteristics

have been given the greatest emphasis.

Leadership theories are often classified into the following five approaches:

trait approach—Emphasizes attributes of leaders such as personality, motives, values,

and skills.

behavior approach—Examines how managers cope with demands, constraints, and

role conflicts in their jobs.

power-influence approach—Examines influence processes between leaders and

other people. It takes a leader-centered perspective with an implicit assumption that

causality is unidirectional (leaders act and followers react).

situational approach—Emphasizes the importance of contextual factors that

influence leadership processes. Major situational variables include the characteristics

of followers, the nature of the work performed by the leader’s unit, the type of

organization, and the nature of the external environment.

integrative approach—Includes two or more types of leadership variables in the

same study.

Learning Topic

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Another way to classify leadership theories is in terms of the “levels of conceptualization,”

or the type of constructs used to describe leaders and their influence on others.

Leadership can be described as the following:

an intra-individual process

a dyadic process

a group process

an organizational process

The levels can be viewed as a hierarchy, as depicted in the figure below:

Leadership Levels of Conceptualization

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The important variables in play at different levels of conceptualization for leadership are

shown in the table below.

Variables at Different Levels of Conceptualization for Leadership

Intra-Individual theories Dyadic theories

Group-level theories

Organizational- level theories

How leader traits and values influence leadership behavior

How leader skills are related to leader behavior

How leaders make decisions

How leaders manage their time

How leaders are influenced by role expectations and constraints

How leaders react to feedback and learn

How a leader influences subordinate motivation and task commitment

How a leader facilitates the work of a subordinate

How a leader interprets information about a subordinate

How a leader develops a subordinate’s skills and confidence

How a leader influences subordinate loyalty and trust

How a leader uses influence

How different leader- member relations affect each other and team performance

How leadership is shared in the group or team

How leaders organize and coordinate the activities of team members

How leaders influence cooperation and resolve disagreements in the team or unit

How leaders influence collective efficacy and

How top executives influence members at other levels

How leaders are selected at each leve (and implications of the proce for the firm)

How leaders influence organization culture

How leaders influence th efficiency an the cost of internal operations

How leaders influence human relations an human capit in the organization

Source: Adapted from Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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Intra-Individual theories Dyadic theories

Group-level theories

Organizational- level theories

from experience

How leaders can use self- development techniques

tactics with a subordinate, peer, or boss

How a leader and a subordinate influence each other

How a leader develops a cooperative exchange relationship with a subordinate

optimism for the team or unit

How leaders influence collective learning and innovation in the team or unit

How leaders influence collective identification of members with the team or unit

How unit leaders obtain resources and support from the organization and other units

How leaders make decisions about competitive strategy and external initiatives

How conflic among leaders are resolved in a organization

How leaders influence innovation and major change in an organization

Source: Adapted from Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.