Leadership Theories and Styles in Organizations
Leadership
The influence that particular individuals exert on the goal achievement of others in an organizational context. Effective leadership enhances productivity, innovation, satisfaction, and commitment of the workforce.
Strategic Leadership
Leadership that involves the ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think strategically, and work with others to initiate changes that will create a viable future for the organization. Strategic leaders can provide an organization with a sustainable competitive advantage by helping their organizations compete in turbulent and unpredictable environments and by exploiting growth opportunities. They are open and honest in their interactions with the organization’s stakeholders and focus on the future. Some members are in a better position to be leaders than others (manager, executive, supervisor, and department head).
Informal leaders do not have formal authority; they must rely on being well-liked or being perceived as highly skilled to exert influence.
Trait Theory of Leadership
Leadership depends on the personal qualities or traits of the leader. Mostly focused on traits associated with demographics (e.g., gender, age, and education), task competence (e.g., intelligence), and interpersonal attributes (e.g., extraversion).
- Intelligence, energy and drive, self-confidence, dominance, motivation to lead, emotional stability, honesty and integrity, need for achievement, sociability.
- Extraversion and conscientiousness are the most consistent predictors of leadership effectiveness.
- Intelligence and leadership have a less significant relationship than previously thought.
- Effectiveness is stronger for affective and relational measures of effectiveness (e.g., satisfaction with the leader) than for performance-related measures.
In many cases, it is difficult to determine whether traits make the leader or whether the opportunity for leadership produces the traits. A frequent failure is not taking the situation into account. Leader behaviors have a greater impact on leadership effectiveness than leader traits, and unlike traits, behaviors can be learned and developed.
(The trait approach asks what leaders bring to a group setting.
The behavior approach asks what leaders do in group settings.)
Consideration: The extent to which a leader is approachable and shows personal concern and respect for employees.
Initiating Structure: The degree to which a leader concentrates on group goal attainment, clearly defines and organizes his/her role, and assigns employees to particular tasks. Consideration and initiating structure are not incompatible; both contribute positively.
Consideration is more strongly related to follower satisfaction (leader satisfaction and job satisfaction), motivation, and leader effectiveness.
Initiating structure is slightly more strongly related to leader job performance and group performance.
- High deadline pressure, unclear task, external threat: Initiating structure increases satisfaction and performance (e.g., army).
- When a task is intrinsically satisfying, the need for consideration and structure decreases (e.g., elementary school teacher).
- When goals and methods are clear, consideration promotes satisfaction, but structure promotes dissatisfaction.
- When goals and methods are vague, consideration is less important, but initiating structure is important.
Leader reward behavior: The leader’s use of compliments, tangible benefits, and deserved special treatment.
Leadership punishment behavior: The leader’s use of reprimands or unfavorable task assignments and the active withholding of rewards. It is difficult to use effectively.
Contingent leader reward and punishment behavior is positively related to employees’ perceptions, attitudes, and behavior, including positive perceptions of justice and lower role ambiguity.
Situational Theories of Leadership
Contingency Theory
Fred Fiedler’s theory states that the association between leadership orientation and group effectiveness is contingent on how favorable the situation is for exerting influence.
Fiedler argued that the LPC score reveals a personality trait that reflects the leader’s motivational structure.
- High LPC leaders are motivated to maintain interpersonal relations.
- Low LPC leaders are motivated to accomplish the task.
- Despite the apparent similarity, the LPC score is not a measure of consideration or initiating structure. These are observed behaviors, while the LPC score is evidently an attitude of the leader toward work relationships.
A situation is considered to be most favorable when the relationship between the leader and the group members is good (leader-member relations), the task at hand is highly structured (task structure), and when the leader has been granted formal authority by the organization to tell others what to do (position power).
- Leaders can get away with a task orientation when the situation is favorable, as employees are ready to be influenced.
- Conversely, when the situation is very unfavorable for leadership, task orientation is necessary to get anything accomplished.
- In conditions of medium favorability, the boss is faced with some combination of an unclear task or a poor relationship with employees. In this case, a relationship orientation will help to make the best of a situation that is stress-provoking but not impossibly bad.
Cognitive Resource Theory
A leadership theory that focuses on the conditions in which a leader’s cognitive resources (intelligence, expertise, and experience) contribute to effective leadership.
- Leader intelligence is predicted to be most important when the leader is directive, the group supports the leader, and the situation is low-stress.
- In high-stress situations, a leader’s cognitive resources are impaired, so his or her work experience will be most important.
House’s Path-Goal Theory
Robert House’s theory is concerned with the situations under which various leader behaviors (directive, supportive, participative, achievement-oriented) are most effective.
- The most important activities of leaders are those that clarify the paths to various goals of interest to employees.
- An effective leader forms a connection between employee goals and organizational goals.
- This theory works better in predicting employee job satisfaction and acceptance of the leader than in predicting performance.
Path-goal theory is concerned with the following four specific kinds of leader behavior: 1) Directive behavior (autocratic): Schedule work, maintain performance standards, and let employees know what is expected of them (identical to initiating structure). Disadvantages include less creativity and intrinsic motivation; people take less pride in work. 2) Supportive behavior: Friendly, approachable, and concerned with pleasant interpersonal relationships (identical to consideration). 3) Participative behavior (democratic): Consult with employees about work-related matters and consider their opinions. 4) Achievement-oriented behavior: Encourage employees to exert high effort and strive for a high level of goal accomplishment and express confidence that employees can reach these goals (employees who are high-need achievers).
The effectiveness of each set of behaviors depends on the situation that the leader encounters (employee characteristics and environmental factors).
- When tasks are clear and routine, directive and participative leadership is unnecessary; considerate behavior is beneficial.
- When tasks are challenging but ambiguous, employees appreciate directive and participative leadership.
- For frustrating, dissatisfying jobs, supportive behavior is beneficial.
Participative (Democratic) Leadership: Involving Employees In Decisions
- Participating is not a fixed or absolute property but a relative concept.
- It should not be confused with abdication of leadership.
Advantages: – Motivation (autonomy, variety) – Quality (use of knowledge, empowerment) – Acceptance
Disadvantages: – Time and energy (soliciting ideas, meetings) – Loss of power (of leader) – Lack of receptivity or knowledge (employees might not be receptive to participation)
Vroom and Jago’s Situational Model of Participation
Attempts to specify in a practical manner when leaders should use participation and to what extent they should use it.
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory
A theory of leadership that focuses on the quality of the relationship that develops between a leader and an employee. High LMX involves a high degree of mutual influence and obligation, as well as trust, loyalty, open communication, and respect between a leader and an employee. Employees perform tasks beyond their job descriptions.
Social Exchange Theory
Individuals who are treated favorably by others feel obliged to reciprocate by responding positively and returning that favorable treatment in some manner. Employees who are in a high-quality relationship with their supervisor will reciprocate with extra effort and higher commitment and performance.
Transactional and Transformational Leadership Theory
Transactional leadership: Leadership that is based on a straightforward exchange relationship between the leader and the followers. The leader clarifies expectations and establishes the rewards for meeting them (involves contingent reward behavior).
Transformational leadership: Leadership that provides followers with a new vision that instills true commitment. These leaders are good at the transactional aspects of clarifying paths to goals and rewarding good performance. They are charismatic, inspire intrinsic motivation, and ask for ideas, input, and suggestions. Disadvantages can include blind allegiance (no one questions the leader) and excessive risk-taking.
Four key dimensions of transformational leader behavior: 1) Intellectual stimulation (stimulated to think about problems, issues, and strategies in new ways; new vision). 2) Individualized consideration (treating employees as distinct individuals). 3) Inspirational motivation (communication of visions that are inspiring to followers; future-based vision; use of symbolic actions and persuasion). 4) Charisma (most important aspect of transformational leadership; ability to command strong loyalty and devotion from followers and thus have the potential for strong influence among them; emotional aspect; related to follower satisfaction and leadership effectiveness).
Differences between transactional and transformational leadership: – Transformational leadership is more related to follower satisfaction with the leader and leader effectiveness. – Transactional leadership is more related to follower job satisfaction and leader job performance.
The best leaders are both transformational and transactional.
Global Leadership
A set of leadership capabilities required to function effectively in different cultures and the ability to cross language, social, economic, and political borders. It is the ability to influence people who are not like the leader and come from different cultural backgrounds. Global leaders need to have a global mindset, tolerate high levels of ambiguity, and exhibit cultural adaptability and flexibility.
Four global leader characteristics: 1) Unbridled inquisitiveness (relish the opportunity to see and experience new things). 2) Personal character (two components: emotional connection to people from different cultures and uncompromising integrity). 3) Duality (able to manage uncertainty and balance global and local tensions). 4) Savvy (need to have business and organizational savvy. Global business savvy means that global leaders understand the conditions they face in different countries and are able to recognize new market opportunities for their organization’s goods and services. Organizational savvy means that global leaders are well-informed of their organization’s capabilities and international ventures).
The most powerful strategy for developing global leaders is work experience, transfers, and international assignments.
New and Emerging Theories of Leadership
Empowering Leadership
Implementing conditions that enable power to be shared with employees. This allows workers to add meaning, competence, self-determination, impact, and control over their work.
Ethical Leadership
Demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships. Ethical leaders: – Communicate a clear and consistent positive ethics message from the top. – Create and embrace opportunities for everyone in the organization to communicate positive ethics, values, and practices.
Authentic Leadership
A positive form of leadership that involves being true to oneself. Conduct and behavior is guided by their internal values.
Involves four distinct but related behaviors: 1) Self-awareness: An accurate understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses and an awareness of one’s impact on others. 2) Relational transparency: The presenting of one’s true or authentic self to others. 3) Balanced Processing: The objective analysis of all relevant information before making a decision. 4) Internalized moral perspective: They have internal moral standards and values that guide their behavior and decisions.
Servant Leadership
A form of leadership that involves going beyond one’s own self-interests and having a genuine concern to serve others and a motivation to lead.
Six characteristics: 1) Empowering and developing people: Providing others with a sense of personal power and encouraging their personal development. 2) Humility: Actively seeking the contributions of others and placing their interests first. 3) Authenticity: Expressing one’s true self in ways that are consistent with one’s inner feelings and thoughts, and accurately representing internal states, intentions, and commitments. 4) Interpersonal acceptance: The ability to understand and experience the feelings of others and to create an atmosphere of trust in which others will feel accepted. 5) Providing direction: Ensuring that people know what is expected of them and considering followers’ abilities, needs, and input when providing direction. 6) Stewardship: Focusing on service rather than control and self-interest, and encouraging others to act in the common interest.
Gender and Leadership
Women are more participative, democratic, have better social skills, and are more transformational and transactional (higher leadership effectiveness). Women tend to avoid a more autocratic style.
Glass ceiling: An invisible barrier that prevents women from advancing to senior leadership positions in organizations (demands of family life, underinvestment in social capital). More agentic traits are required: dedicated, charismatic, intelligent, determined (not giving up easily), aggressive. Fewer communal traits: caring, sensitive, honest, understanding, compassionate.
Laissez-faire Leaders
Provide limited instructions, have limited contact with team members, often do not provide feedback or goals, and let people do their job. This is useful for letting experts do their thing. Disadvantages include low productivity because of no guidance, low satisfaction, and low motivation.