16.3 APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP
There have been many attempts over the last decades to understand what leadership is and how leaders can be distinguished from followers. The trait approach to leadership was one of the earliest attempts to shed light on the nebulous concept of leadership. It suggests that mysterious and somewhat leaders have particular personality traits that distinguish them from the rest of the population, which has given it the nickname great person theory Barker 2001). The traits that have been identified (as summarised by Clegg self-confidence, a drive for achievement, ho integrity et al 2005) include and the ability to motivate people towards a common goal as well as intelligence, creativity and the ability to adapt. While certain traits have been identified as being present in good leaders (House et al 2004) owever, there is no evidence to suggest that leaders are born. In fact, it is far more likely that leaders gain their skill and knowledge over time. Moreover, trait theory holds little predictive value, since leaders can be only understood in the context in which they operate. A leader may be excellent in one organisation and fail in another.
The trait approach to leadership was followed by the situational approach, in which leadership is regarded as emerging from the situation. In a formal group an appointed leader achieves his or her legitimacy from the position he or she holds, while emergent leaders achieve their authority from the group members (Brown 1965, Turner 1991, Gross 1993)
The behavioural approaches attempt to identify behaviours associated with leadership. Fiedler (1967) studied patterns of behaviours that result in effective performance and identified two basic orientations that leaders engage in group to influence their subordinates: relationship-oriented and task-oriented leaders build trust, show respect and generally Relationship-oriented behaviours. care about their employees. These leaders are concerned with developing good relations with their subordinates and in return tend to be liked and respected. concerned with Task-oriented leaders, on the other hand, are primarily performing at their best so that the job gets done. Both leadership employees variables, thus supervisors can be high or low on behaviours are independent both orientations.
Fiedler's (1967) theory of leadership, also known as the contingency theory incorporates the situation and the group as key variables in effective leadership effectiveness is seen as contingent upon the situation, and it is the The leader's situation that determines whether a leader is successful. In Fiedler's contingency model, the following variables are considered as the key determinants of leadership effectiveness:
The relations structure determines how much workers like and trust their leader.
The task structure determines the extent to which employee tasks are made clear, and how positive the situation is for effective leadership
The position power structure legitimate, reward, and coercive power) determines the leader's ability to influence. When the leaders position power is strong, his or her leadership effectiveness becomes more influential.
Fiedler's model purports to identify situations in which different managers have leadership style is the opportunity to perform at their best. The preferred relatively stable (Adamson 1997), and managers are likely to be effective when:
They are placed in situations that suit their leadership style, or
The situation is adapted to fit the manager's leadership style.
Fiedler's contingency model further proposes the following steps of an effective influencing approach:
1. There must be clearly defined job outcomes.
2. Rewards for high-performance and goal attainment must correlate with employees' values.
3. obstacles to effective performance must be removed.
4. Confidence in employees' ability must be shown
Transformational leadership focuses on the basic difference between leading for stability and leading for change. In particular, effective leaders are able to changes (Burns 1978). Transactional leader recognise and guide organisational on the other hand, are known for their use of reward and coercive powers to encourage a high performance from employees.
the The collective or substitute leadership approach assumes situations where need for leadership is superfluous (Sims 1987). Collective leadership arises from accepting the following:
the characteristics of the employees with their skills, experience, motivation
the characteristics of the context in which work is interesting, challenging and satisfying
employee empowerment or self-managed work teams
that there is not always the need to directly exert influence over others
Empowerment can be of benefit to managers, since empowered employees feel This then increases employees they are an integral part of the motivation levels, which reflects back on the manager by releasing him or her from controlling to concentrate on other activities. This notion of empowering and engaging staff conforms to Alimo-Metcalfe et al's (2007) research of how staff perceive the quality of leadership displayed by their t leaders. These are categorised as having three dimensions: engaging with others, visionary (Alimo-Metalfe et al200, Alimo Metcalfe capabilities leadership and leadership and Bradley 2008). Table 16.1 sets out to show the how or by what' method these dimensions could be addressed as well as offering a view of the effect, the researchers suggest, these approaches would have on your staff team
Interestingly, the importance of engagement and the need for a supportive organisational culture highlighted above are supported by Boyatsis et al (2008) Their research also, though, leads them to advocate the importance of optimism, honesty and emotional intelligence which they add, can be learnt. However, the current thinking from this team of wishing to become researchers is endorsing and even encouraging for managers resonant leaders (Boyatsis et al 2008); the opposite of this style is dissonance. would be classed as negative places to work environments Obviously, dissonant pessimism and emotions such as fear, anxiety, anger, and Boyatsis et al suggest style applied to this would be would abound. The management individualism and a lack of trust. In micromanagement leadership is practised we could expect command and control, possibly contrast, in environments where resonant powerful collective energy that reverberates among people and supports higher creativity, a sense of purpose and better results (Boyatsis et al). productivity Boyatsis et al (2008) suggest
Resonant leaders need to know what inhibits effective individual and team performance and how to address these issues. In other words leadership requires emotional and social intelligence and a deep understanding of social systems and the people in them must work together to achieve complex and challenging goals.
Leading teams therefore, is complex, challenging and engaging; to be participation from team members
The participative management approach used in organisations today democratic societies. The concept of values embraced by the world's developed management model after democracy became a basis for the human relations Elton Mayo's research at the Western Electric Company between 1924 and 1934 (also known as the Hawthorne studies) became generally known and accepted The human relations model that was developed on the basis of this research commitment focuses on the following three areas of group functioning: consensus building cohesion and morale, where the key values are participation, should be evident in the decision-making Participative and conflict resolution. following areas:
the decision-making processes
decisions about who should participate to what extent and when
effectively managed meetings.
Supervisors constantly face decisions regarding their own and their subordinates work, and in deciding when it is appropriate and to what degree to involve decision-making operations. The boundaries of the structure and the degree of employees in the day-to-day process are determined by the overall organisational authority a manager holds. In terms of competitive advantage, participa Firstly, the front-line to organisations. offers two broad be employees possess detailed knowledge concerning their work, and thus have the