The focus throughout is on leadership in large organisations, which means that many of the research areas studied include the leadership roles undertaken by those in managerial positions in all levels of an organisation and not just those at the top of the organisation. The nature and roles of managerial work are covered in Chapter 2.
Effective leadership, participation and empowerment
Extensive research has been undertaken on leadership behavior 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 behaviors. On looking at the fields of study covering participate leadership, delegation and empowerment, the author again examines the research and looks closely at the Vroom-Yetton model of participate 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 practicing 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 emphasizes 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.