Effective leadership, participation and empowerment
Extensive research has been undertaken on leadership behaviour since the 1950s. This has
divided into three areas: task-oriented, relation-oriented and participative leadership. The
thousands of studies undertaken over this 50-year period, mostly through questionnaires, has
given rise to a number of taxonomies which Yukl proposes might be refined into the three jointly
inter-reacting categories of task-, relations- and change-oriented behaviours. On looking at the
fields of study covering participative leadership, delegation and empowerment, the author again
examines the research and looks closely at the Vroom-Yetton model of participative leadership
developed in the 1970s. This helps managers identify decision procedures in different situations.
Throughout the book, Yukl evaluates this research and provides examples, tables, models and
case studies. From this, a series of guidelines are formulated, to which the practising manager
can refer for practical advice.
Yukl observes that much of the research over the last 50 years has involved dyadic (one
individual to another specific individual) relationships between a leader and a follower. Within
this context, he goes on to look at a number of follower-based theories including: leader-member
exchange (LMX), leader attributions about subordinates, follower attributes and implicit theories,
follower contributions to effective leadership, and social learning theory (self-management). All
of this emphasises the importance of the follower role to a leader. Within the 10 guidelines the
author proposes for becoming an effective follower, he suggests specific phrases which might be
used in a given situation; for example, in a situation where a follower might disagree with a
proposed action by a leader: “You know I respect what you are trying to accomplish, and I hope
you won’t mind if I express some honest concerns about this proposal”.
Yukl states at three points within the text that “influence is the essence of leadership”. This is
covered in Chapter 6, which concerns power and influence. Here different types of power are
studied, though the focus is on the French and Raven taxonomy of five types of power: reward,
coercive, legitimate, expert and referent. Guidelines are proposed for using legitimate authority,
reward authority and coercive power. Yukl even describes the tone of voice a leader might use,
which (along with his suggested phrases) could be perceived by the reader as prescriptive.
Power, influence, contingency theories, traits and skills
How power is won or lost, and how much power a leader should have, are also discussed, as
are the traits and skills approach to leadership in Chapter 7. Possibly the most researched area
of leadership is the traits approach, and here the findings of the most relevant aspects of
personality for effective leadership are summarised and integrated, including the “big five”
personality traits (surgency, conscientiousness, agreeableness, adjustment and intelligence).
Personality traits are considered especially relevant to successful leadership, and those
highlighted as the most pertinent include energy levels and stress tolerance, self-confidence,
internal control orientation, emotional maturity and integrity.
The study of a number of theories is also applied in Chapter 8, which considers how leader traits
or behaviours are related to indicators of leadership effectiveness in different situations. Five
principal contingency theories are summarised and reviewed. The research findings and
methodologies are examined, and models, tables and guidelines for their application enhance
the chapter. There is much use of psychology and sociology in many of the research studies.