Leadership – Weekly Analysis
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Wk1.docxLeader as a Visionary
LESSON TOPICS
· History of Leadership
· Leadership Traits and Behaviors
· Situational Leadership
· Effective Task Leadership and the Leadership Process
KEY TERMS
· Behavior Theory
· Contingency Model
· Environmental Factors
· Functional Model
· “Great Man” Theory
· Leadership Process Model
· Least-preferred Coworker Model (Fiedler’s Contingency Model)
· Path-Goal Model
· Relationship Theory
· Situational Leadership Model
· Trait Theory
INTRODUCTION
In this lesson, we will survey the history of leadership and how various leadership theories have evolved over time into what is now perceived as one of today’s most prominent determinants of strategic organizational success and, additionally, a pertinent area for managerial development and growth. The demands for leadership today, along with the prevalence of continued research efforts in the field, clearly demonstrate the need for exploration of leader traits and behaviors. We will also consider how theories regarding certain situations, tasks, and follower behaviors have shaped the current state, and direction, of leadership research and practice.
History of Leadership
Have you ever faced a challenging situation? Have you ever guided others in accomplishing a common goal despite tough circumstances? The earliest research on leadership grew from studying excellent leaders who seemed to emerge amidst difficult situations, surmounting challenges, to unite followers to reach a common goal.
THEORIES
GREAT MAN THEORY
The “great man” theory asserted that born leaders possessed inherent qualities attributing to their success. Many trait theorists followed that line of reasoning and sought to identify common traits and skills leaders share. Those identified traits and skills have also evolved over time.
RELATIONSHIP THEORIES
Not only were researchers interested in the qualities great leaders were born with, they were also interested in their behaviors relative to the specific situations they faced. Leadership theorists eventually realized that follower behaviors and motivations were just as relevant as leader behaviors and skills. Therefore, they adopted a more proactive stance by suggesting that leaders could develop skills, traits, and styles and select the best style, or styles, based on situational factors. Additionally, relationship theories recognize that the motivation of both leaders and followers stems from the synergy between them. Awareness and nurturing of the follower-leader relationship result in truly effective leadership, cultivated by a team mentality of “we,” as opposed to “I.” Together, followers and leaders accomplish goals. As you reflect upon the evolution of leadership theories, do you think that leaders are born, made, or, perhaps, a combination of both? Do you think successful leadership requires an individual or a team?
Some believe Winston Churchill was born a leader, with inherent traits such as excellent communication skills, while others believe he became a great leader through a combination of his own experiences and personal development. For more about the great visionary leader, Winston Churchill, read this article .
Great Man Theory
Great leaders naturally emerge in difficult situations because they were born with inherent qualities conducive to successful leadership. For example, some say that leaders were born to be great men regardless of their circumstances or development. These “great men” emerged from difficult situations, such as generals rising to lead soldiers in battle, to lead followers because they were simply born to do so.
Consider a CEO faced with serious financial challenges in her first year leading a technology company in a highly competitive industry. For our CEO, the great man theorists actually would not have even acknowledged her as a leader because, as the name of the theory suggests, great “men” led - not women. Great men led because they were born to lead. Leadership was a birthright for them.
Trait Theory
A variety of trait theorists claimed that leaders possessed inherent traits and/or skills that would serve them well in a leadership capacity. The earliest trait theorists believed that leaders were born with these traits or abilities. In an effort to identify individuals who would make outstanding leaders, theorists identified individuals who exemplified the traits. For example, if an individual was assertive, decisive, confident, and/or persistent, they had excellent leadership potential.
In the case of our CEO, trait theorists would have predicted her success as an effective leader based on her confidence and competence to lead this company through its toughest times. There is no doubt that, as our CEO works through financial issues in the company; she will also need to make some difficult decisions for the company. Therefore, she will need to be decisive, assert her opinions, and communicate actions effectively to her team.
Behavioral Theory
In contrast to the great man theory, behavior theory focuses on the actions of great leaders through their concerns for both people and production. Behavioral theories assert that leaders can be developed or trained to influence others. According to Cutler (2014), leaders utilized one of three behavioral leadership styles throughout the decision-making process. Leaders also had a natural preference to use one style over the others, regardless of the situation they faced.
MOST COMMON LEADERSHIP STYLES
AUTOCRATIC
Leaders make decisions with little or no input from their followers.
DEMOCRATIC
Leaders seek out input and recommendations from team members, particularly when the situation calls for agreement by all involved.
LAISSEZ-FAIRE
Leaders consciously make a decision to let capable and intelligent team members make decisions on their own.
in the case of our CEO, she is often seen calling high-level functional managers in for team meetings to gather their feedback. She asks the managers about the challenges they have experienced in the past within their departments. Our CEO also asks what they would recommend she do in order to turn the company around and make the best of a bad situation. Because she highly values the opinions of these functional managers as experts and she wants a general consensus when she asks them for their recommendations, our CEO is utilizing a democratic leadership style.
Situational Theory
Flexible leaders should adapt their leadership style based upon the current situation, which is also referred to as the contingency model. Fred Fiedler’s least-preferred coworker model assumed that task-oriented and relationship-oriented leaders would perform better in certain situations (Fiedler, 1967).
Later in 1977, the Hersey and Blanchard model suggested that leaders take actions according to follower maturity level. For example, if followers were not mature, in terms of ability and confidence, to complete an assigned task, the leader should adopt a “telling” leadership style by giving firm directions and clarifications for tasks (Hersey & Blanchard, 1977). As followers mature, leaders would eventually adopt a “delegating” style which involves setting goals and then “getting out of the way” so that the followers can complete tasks on their own.
Due to the fact that our CEO perceives her followers as very mature, she would utilize the Hersey and Blanchard participating leadership style. As previously mentioned she frequently meets with mid-level managers and participates in the process of them completing objectives. She cares about fostering the relationships with those managers (high relationship) but she knows they possess the competencies needed to complete tasks on their own (low task). Her best course of action is to focus on shared ideas and to continue to boost the confidence of her followers. This combination of her follower's needs (high relationship, low task) works very well with her participating style of leadership. If her followers’ needs change over time or based upon the situation, she can also fit her style to meet those new needs.
Functional Theory
Leaders achieve goals by focusing on functional actions that meet the needs of the team, individual, and task simultaneously, in the case of John Adair’s action-centered model (Adair, 1973). Adair’s model is best represented visually by three overlapping and connected circles that represent each of those needs because they are all connected with each other.
For example, a good leader would not be concerned only about the task at hand. They would be concerned about the people (individuals). Also, they would realize that the individuals that comprise the team have needs in respect to the team as well. Each individual has an important role to play. They should perceive the success of accomplishing goals as a team effort. It’s crucial the leader recognize and foster the team spirit and cohesiveness. The team is only as strong as its individuals and those individuals must be personally motivated to succeed and achieve the goals of the team.
Kouzes and Posner’s functional model, the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, focused on optimal actions such as inspiring through a shared vision and enabling others to act to achieve shared goals (Kouzes & Posner, 2010).
THE FIVE PRACTICES:
· Model the way
· Inspire a shared vision
· Challenge the process
· Enable others to act
· Encourage the heart
It has been stated that “ongoing studies consistently confirm that The Five Practices and our assessment tools are positively related to both the effectiveness of leaders and the level of commitment, engagement and satisfaction of those that follow” (The Leadership Challenge, 2017).
In the case of our CEO, using the action-centered model works best for her because she wants to focus on the needs of her individual team members, the team as a whole, and the task. In addition to the team meetings she holds, she also meets with team members one-on-one to discuss any hurdles she can remove for them. This enables them to take action and have individual needs heard and met. The CEO also carefully considers the work, or tasks, that need to be completed to achieve goals. This work will be accomplished by individuals, according to their role on the team, but the success will also be attributed to the group as a whole.
Our CEO could also incorporate the practices outlined in the functional leadership model. One example of “modeling the way” could be how she cares about and communicates with her team members effectively. She is showing them how to interact with their subordinates, and with her, by engaging in those behaviors herself with her own subordinates, the functional managers. Have you heard that you should “treat people the way you want to be treated”? Do you? Well, our CEO does.
Relationship Theory
Both leaders and followers are motivated and energized to accomplish common goals through their relationships and interactions with each other. There are two common relationship theories used by leaders.
RELATIONSHIP THEORIES USED
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY
The transformational leadership theory asserts that the compelling vision of charismatic leaders inspires their followers to action.
LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE THEORY
The leader-member exchange theory encourages leaders to reflect upon perceptions of, and opportunities offered to, team members based on relationships and trust.
Our CEO could utilize both theories. It’s clear she cares about relationships with her employees based upon her other actions and behaviors we have already discussed. She values high-quality exchanges, both individually and in groups, so she can gain feedback and perspective from her team members. Our CEO wants to hear from them about their individual needs as well so she can provide them developmentally or perhaps even leadership, opportunities if possible. Also, when team members share issues with her through these exchanges, she receives that information well and she keeps her promises, which creates trust.
In addition to valuing leader-member exchanges, this CEO also shares her vision for the company with every opportunity she can. She communicates her passion for her people and her passion for the success of the company. Our CEO is charismatic and is also an excellent speaker, communicator, and collaborator.
Do you feel like you were born to be a leader? When you think of a leader you admire, do you think you have a lot of the same traits and qualities as that person? Are they intelligent, enthusiastic, driven, confident, creative, sensitive, or trustworthy?
Many researchers have taken a keen interest in identifying those traits that are most valuable to leaders as they motivate others to accomplish their visions. Researchers have taken this initiative with the intention of managerial and selection implications. Specifically, if traits can be identified in specific candidates for a job, managers or leaders can utilize that information to hire or select the best possible candidates for those leadership opportunities.
Leadership Traits and Behaviors
Can you think of a leader who seemed to focus too much on relationships or people and not enough about the goal or work at hand? What about a leader who focused entirely on task efficiency and production without a desire to create a culture of trust and respect? Do you think you could be an effective leader, regardless of the situation, if you focus on both people and process?
Watch this video and read this article to learn about the traits and behaviors successful business leader Warren Buffett exhibits.
THEORIES AND EXAMPLES
TRAIT THEORY
Although the initiative started in the military, the implications of the research are widespread across industries and business. As research progressed, trait theory evolved into one of not just selection but also of development. In other words, if the leader was not born with the optimal qualities and skills, then he or she could enhance or acquire the desirable attributes. This thought leads us to the following question: if you do not think you were born a leader, do you still think you can become one?
BEHAVIOR THEORY
Fast-forward further in time and you’ll see we also started asking ourselves not just who leaders were (what qualities they possessed) but also what leaders did. What actions did they take? How did their behaviors result in success and why?
One example of the behavior theory approach was the managerial grid constructed by Blake and Mouton (1964), which conveyed varying management styles according to a leader’s concern (or lack thereof) for both people and production. It became apparent that, optimally, one should utilize a team management style with concern for both the development and needs of individual people. Those considerations should be made in addition to the evaluating the production or work that was necessary to accomplish the organization’s strategic goals.
Leadership Traits and Skills
Here are some of the leadership traits and skills identified by Stogdill (Stogdill, 1974). Do you have some of these qualities? When you think of leaders you admire, do they have these qualities too?
LEADERSHIP TRAITS
· LEADERSHIP TRAITS LEADERSHIP SKILLS
· Adaptable to situations
· Alert to social environment
· Ambitious and achievement-orientated
· Assertive
· Cooperative
· Decisive
· Dependable
· Dominant (desire to influence others)
· Energetic (high activity level)
· Persistent
· Self-confident
· Tolerant of stress
· Willing to assume responsibility
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
· Intelligent
· Conceptually skilled
· Creative
· Diplomatic and tactful
· Fluent in speaking
· Knowledgeable about group task
· Organized (administrative ability)
· Persuasive
· Socially skilled
Leadership Qualities
Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991) further asserted that traits, or qualities, were determinants of leader success. Their research found that traits do matter but are only a precondition and additional actions on the part of the leader/ manager are necessarily in order for him or her to succeed.
VALUABLE LEADERSHIP QUALITIES
· Drive: achievement, ambition, energy, tenacity, initiative
· Leadership Motivation (personalized vs. socialized)
· Honesty and Integrity
· Self-confidence (including emotional stability)
· Cognitive Ability
· Knowledge of the Business
· Other Traits (weaker support): charisma, creativity/originality, flexibility (Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1991)
Behavioral Approaches: The Managerial Grid
The Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid model (1964) asserts that leaders should take action out of concern for both people (relationships) and results (tasks). The table is visualized below but the preferred style for leaders would be the team management style, which deems that leaders should have both high concerns for people and high concern for results.
IMPOVERISHED MANAGEMENT
These managers lack concern for both people and production. This lack of concern, direction, and ownership of the tasks creates an environment that is not conducive to success.
COUNTRY CLUB MANAGEMENT
These managers have a high concern for people. They want them to feel comfortable, safe, and happy. However, they value that happiness over the need for results and so production can suffer.
PRODUCE OR PERISH MANAGEMENT (OR TASK MANAGEMENT)
Managers of this style are very results-oriented and focus on the production of the team members. However, they don’t really have a concern for the team members as people. This kind of high-pressure environment is not conducive to production because the people actually become very stressed. When people feel like a “means to an end,” they will lack motivation.
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD MANAGEMENT
The middle of the road management style is not ideal because expectations are average for results and concern for people is not really low or high. The managers are more or less indifferent to the needs of people and will accept mediocre results.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
According to Blake and Mouton, the team management style is ideal. They want managers to have a high concern for production and results in addition to genuinely caring about the people that play such an important part in goal-attainment. This environment of trust, collaboration, and clearly communicated goals results in the best possible results from the team.
Situational Leadership
As you learned, one of the desirable leadership traits that Stogdill (1974) identified was the ability to adapt to situations. When you think of leaders today, in our fast-paced technologically advancing society, do they seem to pivot and adapt to evolving market needs and shifting demands? As circumstances often change quickly and frequently, it is crucial that leaders are able to adapt their style or approach in order to best fit the current environment. Different times call for different measures.
LEADERSHIP MODELS
CONTINGENCY AND PATH-GOAL MODEL
Fiedler’s early research on the least preferred coworker otherwise referred to as the contingency model suggested that leaders’ styles were rather fixed. Additionally, he believed that the ideal leader should be selected based on both the current situation and that leader’s set style. However, later findings such as House’s path-goal model , asserted that leader styles can, in fact, be mutable (House & Mitchell, 1974). Leaders can and should carefully select the leadership style to use flourish within the workplace environment as well as meet varying follower needs. For example, when tasks are unclear or unstructured and followers have a high ability with an internal locus of control, it’s best that leaders are supportive and nurture the team along its path toward meeting the goal.
SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODEL
Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership model also asserted that leaders should select the most effective leadership style based upon the situation in terms of readiness of the team to accomplish the specific task at hand (Hersey & Blanchard, 1977). Group members’ willingness, or confidence, in addition to their abilities, in terms of experience or skill level, will call for leaders to emphasize varying levels of task behaviors or relationship behaviors. This particular model recognizes that there is no “best” leadership style for all followers. In fact, each follower’s needs may vary and leaders can utilize the style that works best for that individual follower. Additionally, the need for leaders to focus on relationships tends to be correlated with the total readiness of followers to accomplish a task.
SCENARIO
Consider the following scenario: As a leader, you encounter a team who is highly skilled and experienced in completing projects because they have led similar projects before. Would it be conducive for you to focus on every single detail of how they are going to accomplish the task in terms of their responsibilities and duties? No! If you have a willing and able team, your role as a leader will be more like a coach to provide encouragement and support. The team will operate efficiently almost autonomously while keeping you informed of progress made toward the goal.
Path-Goal Model
This is an excellent visualization of House and Mitchell’s path-goal model of leadership. While considering situational factors such as task and employee characteristics, leaders can select the best leadership style to motivate followers to achieve their goals. As a leader, you can effectively remove any obstacles in your followers’ path so that they can reach their goal.
Hersey and Blanchard Model
According to the Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard (1977) situational leadership model, as a leader, you can cater your leadership style according to the needs of each individual. For example, if you have an extremely confident, capable, self-sufficient group of followers who require very little support or direction from you, they would benefit best by your adoption of a delegating style. The delegating style enables highly mature followers to complete tasks with minimal supervision and allows them to involve the leader as they see fit.
Can you think of a situation where you were given a task to complete but you lacked the confidence to complete it on your own? Perhaps, it was something new to you and you felt like you lacked the skills or capabilities you needed to do a great job. What do you want from your leader in that situation? I’m sure you needed their guidance and direction. You could have benefited from them explaining the tasks further in addition to nurturing their relationship with you, ensuring you they would be there as you need them. This situation best describes the ideal environment for a leader to utilize a telling style in order for his or her followers to be successful.
This visual representation demonstrates the four types of Hersey and Blanchard situational leadership styles and how they relate to followers’ task and relationship needs. The graph also demonstrates that follower maturity exists on a continuum of readiness.
Effective Task Leadership and the Leadership Process
As you think about a leader you want to emulate, reflect upon whether you have the traits and behaviors to be like that successful leader. Also, contemplate the varying situations leaders are faced with as we have already discussed. How would a successful visionary leader best synthesize these various factors and adapt to accomplish goals and motivate teams?
THE LEADERSHIP PROCESS
LEADERSHIP PROCESS MODEL
An effective process would serve us well! When we think of these factors together, we arrive at the leadership process model , which focuses on the elements of the leader, followers, context (or environment), and outcomes (or goals). Think of this process model as a recipe for success: you need the perfect combination of the optimal, high-quality, ingredients working in harmony to have truly effective leadership.
This is similar to Adair’s action-centered model previously discussed outlining the needs and interconnectedness of the task, team, and individual. The difference is that the leadership process model considers factors of followers as a whole, the leader as an individual, the outcomes (similar to tasks), and the context or environment. The leadership process model, developed by Pierce and Dunham and (1990), emphasizes the factors that enable leaders to be successful, including the need for the leader, followers, context, and outcomes to synergize as one.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
As we draw our focus towards the context element of that process, think about the environmental factors that can impact a leader’s ability to thrive and be successful. It’s important to recognize that both factors internal to the organization and external to the organization create an environment for leader-managers. Leaders will not always get to “pick” their environment. However, to the extent that it is possible, leaders can and should shape those environmental factors into a context in which they can effectively motivate and inspire followers with their visions. Instilling trust and effectively communicating the mission, along with the supporting the common values of the organization, can create a unique collaborative culture optimal for organizational success.
Can you think of some of the environmental factors, either good or bad, that are shaping the actions of leaders today? How would you convey your vision and accomplish your goals in such an environment?
Effective Task Leadership and the Leadership Process
Within the leadership process model, the factor of context is considered to be important in a leader’s ability to succeed. It’s important to realize these factors may be either internal (within your organization) or external (outside your organization). These factors may or may not be within your control. However, it’s important to consider them as you can greatly improve your leadership abilities by addressing any of the contextual factors that are within your realm of control. If you can improve the situational context, you should certainly do so. If you’re not certain, it will be valuable to network with others in the organization. Ask about their successes with improving upon some of the factors you’re evaluating. That information can inform your effort and future decision-making.
According to Wu (2013), there are a few environmental factors that can impact leader-manager success.
Can you think of a time when a leader was not impacted by his or her followers? What if you were leading a team of followers who were determined not to work with you? What if you worked for a company that didn’t give you the resources you needed to accomplish your goals? What if the outcomes or tasks were completely unclear and seemed disjointed from the company’s overall strategic objectives? It’s easy to see how all of these elements play a part in a leader’s ability to be truly successful and effective.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT IMPACT SUCCESS
· INTERNAL FACTORS
· Industry or nature of the business
· Organizational traditions
· Maturity of team members
· Organizational structure (authority and hierarchy)
· Leader traits
· EXTERNAL FACTORS
· Political factors
· Economic circumstances
· Cultural systems (external to the organization)
Leader Development
All of the leadership styles you have been learning about will aid you tremendously in being the best possible leader you can be. Your development and efforts play a huge role in your success as a leader. You’re also considering environmental factors, or context, and how that can impact your leadership performance too. These environmental factors may be internal or external to your organization.
Additionally, you must always consider your followers and the outcomes they are going to achieve. If your followers need development of skills or abilities, as a leader, you should provide the opportunities for them. If they need your guidance and direction, you must provide it to them. Follower needs, along with follower performance, will greatly impact you achieving the outcomes or goals, that you want to accomplish. Those goals should align with your organization’s strategic objectives and they should be clearly communicated to your followers. Focusing on the goals and the mission the team has set out to accomplish will prove invaluable to your leadership efforts.
The efforts to develop leader-managers are widespread worldwide across industries and businesses, including government, military, business, healthcare, and education sectors. According to TrainingMag.com (2016), in order to meet the demand for high-performing leaders and work teams, organizations spent approximately $70.65 billion on programs to train and develop their employees. Check out this list for a few of the top companies offering such training to employees and why.
Conclusion
In this lesson, we explored the history of leadership and how the earliest trait theories, suggesting leaders are born, have evolved into prescriptive models of how leaders can proactively adapt varying leadership styles and behaviors to meet the needs of their followers, given distinct environmental factors, to accomplish goals. The increasing prominence of leadership education and training demonstrates a clear need for organizations to be led by innovative thought-leaders who do much more than just “get the job done.” You and your classmates, the leader-managers of today, and of the future, must inspire and motivate people as well as achieve and soar!
