Write an individual short essay on the contribution that critical analysis of leadership theories makes to your understanding of organizational leadership, and how this knowledge will make a difference to your development as a future leader.

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Home >Human Resource Management homework help >Write an individual short essay on the contribution that critical analysis of leadership theories makes to your understanding of organizational leadership, and how this knowledge will make a difference to your development as a future leader.

Organisations and Leadership

Organisational Behaviour

Developed by Dr. Ruth Barton

Dr. Margaret Heffernan, OAM

This lecture is the core topic

for Assignment 1.

Aims of the lecture

What is leadership?

Define leadership

Approaches to leadership

Mainstream and emerging theories

Leadership styles and behaviours

Competencies of leadership

What is Leadership?

• ‘A social process in which one individual influences the behaviour of others without the use or threat of violence’ (Buchanan & Huczynsci, 1985 in Thompson & McHugh, 2009)

• ‘The acid test of leadership must be its ability to improve organisational leadership’ (Fiedler, 1967, in Thompson and McHugh, 2009)

Leadership

• Leadership is broadly distributed, rather than assigned to one person, such that people in the tram and organisation lead each other.

• (McShane et al. 2013: 382)

Shared leadership

Approaches to Leadership

LEADERSHIP

Individualism

Essence of leadership

Dualistic views of

power and influence

Untheorised / exaggerated

agency

Fairhurst (2007)

Competency (Trait) Perspective of Leadership

Competency

Drive

Emotional intelligence

Cognitive ability

Knowledge of the

business

Self- concept

Integrity

Personality

Skills, knowledge,

aptitudes

and other

personal

characteristics

that lead

to superior

performance

Traits and Characteristics eg Stodgill (1974), Handy (1980)

Limitations:

 Assumes that all effective leaders have the same

personal characteristics that are equallyimportant in all

situations.

 Alternative combinations of competencies may be

equally successful

 Views leadership as something within a person

 Indicates leadership potential, not leadership

performance

Leadership Styles and Behaviours

• McGregor (1960)

• Theory X

• Theory Y

Types and Roles

Lewin, Lippitt and White (1939)

Autocratic

Democratic

Laissez –faire

Benne and Sheats (1948)

Task maintenance act

Group maintenance act

Types and Styles Blake and Mouton’s (1978) Leadership Grid

Authentic leadership

Develop own style

Receive feed-back

Being yourself

Reflect

Emotional intelligence

Effective leaders need to act

consistently with their values, personality, and

self-concept

Source: McShane et al 2013: 384-385

Contingency (Situational) Perspective of Leadership

Path-goal theory

Servant leadership

Situational leadership

Fiedler’s Contingency

model

Leadership substitutes

The most

appropriate

leadership style

depends

on the

situation.

Leaders

must be

insightful and

flexible,

and adapt

behaviours and

styles

to the

immediate situation.

Contingent Leadership Fiedler’s (1974) Contingency Model

Favourable Unfavourable

Charismatic Leadership Applied to a certain quality of an individual

considered extraordinary

treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman,

specifically exceptional powers or qualities.

qualities are not accessible to the ordinary person

regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary , and the

individual concerned is treated as a “leader”’

(Weber,1968: 241)

Transformational Leadership

Visioning the new

corporate future

Communicating the

vision

Implementing the

vision

Popular in 1980s and 1990s

(Dunphy and Stace,

1990)

Elements

Create a strategic

vision

Communicate the vision

Model the vision

Build commitment towards the

vision

Source: McShane et al. 2013: 393

Paternal Leadership Style

Paternalism Dependence on the leader

Personal relationships

Moral leadership

Harmony building

Conflict diffusion

Social distance

Didactic leadership

Subtle, dialogue

Paternal Leadership Tactics

Paternalism Centralisation

Non-specific intentions

Secrecy

Protect authority

Selective favours

Non-emotional ties

Differential treatment

Reputation building

Narcissistic Leader

Narcissism

They must be more than they are

Their value as people is dependent upon the

image they project

People are objects to be manipulated to get the

validation narcissists need

Post Heroic Leadership

Associated with transformational leadership but

with a greater emphasis on developing

subordinates

(Bradford and Cohen, 1984)

Distributed or collective leadership

Heifetz and Laurie (1997)

Followership

• Followership is the role of the group

member in supporting (or not) the

leadership role

• Leadership prototypicality

(Hogg, 2001)

• Social identity and leadership

(Haslam , 2001)

Implicit Leadership Perspective

 People evaluate a leader’s effectiveness in terms of

how well that person fits preconceived beliefs about

the features and behaviours of effective leaders

(leadership prototypes)

 People tend to inflate the influence of leaders on

organisational events

 Followers perceptions about the characteristics and

influence of people they call leaders

Source: McShane et al. 2013: 395- 396 21

The Three Levels of Leadership

Public

Private

Personal

Leadership is very much a relational product of the societies

in which organisations operate.

 Cultural variables will affect how leaders from different

cultural backgrounds manage in foreign cultures and with

culturally diverse groups.

References

• Fulop, L and Linstead, S (2009) ‘Leadership and Leading’ [Ch. 10], in

Linstead, S, Fulop, L and Lilley, S 9eds) Management and

Organization: A critical text, 2nd ed, Palgrave, Houndmills.

• McShane, S Olekalns, M and Travaglione, T (2013) Organisational

Behaviour: Emerging knowledge. Global insights. McGraw Hill,

Sydney

• Rollinson, D (2005) Organisational Behaviour and Analysis: An

integrated approach, Prentice Hall, Harlow .

• Scouller, J. (2011). The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop

Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill, Management Books

• Cirencester: Thompson, P and McHugh, D (2009) Work

Organisations: A critical approach, Palgrave, Houndmills.