Summary Note Chap 13: Understanding Leadership Theories and Styles | Môn Organizational Behavior - Trường Đại học Quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

lOMoAR cPSD| 58504431 Chapter 13: Leadership
First of all, the difference between management and leadership has to be explained. Management, according to John Kotter, means coping with complexity. Leadership,
however, means coping with change. Robert House has different view on this. He thinks that management’s job is to execute strategies set by leaders, as well as to control,
take care of HR and be busy with everyday problems.
The book defines leadership as ability to motivate, encourage a group to achieve set goals, vision or strategy. The role of the leader may be assigned (formal) or deduced by
a person from the position he/she occupies in the organization. Managers are not equal to leaders. Nevertheless, management needs both: effective management and effective leadership.
There are a few theories on leadership: Trait theories on leadership
Theories based on the concept of distinguishing leaders from non-leaders on the basis of person’s individual qualities and characteristics. These theories claim that leaders are born, not made.
Researches have had difficulties with determining the number and naming the traits that make a person a good leader. Then, the development of Big Five personality model
made it easier for researches. It has become noticeable that many traits attributed to leaders fall into one or many categories of the Big Five. So, accordingly: •
Extraversion is claimed to be the most important trait of leader emergence, not necessarily of leader’s effectiveness. Social people are the better leaders than
unsocial. Moreover, leaders that are too assertive are less effective. •
Conscientiousness and openness to experience also show strong, positive correlation to leadership.
Agreeableness and emotional stability are not highly related to leadership. •
Another trait, not included in the above Big Five model, is EI (emotional intelligence). What is decisive in case of EI’s importance to leadership is EI’s core value:
empathy. Effective leaders are empathic leaders (leaders that can read other’s feelings, reactions, are good listeners). Nevertheless, there is more research on other
traits, other than EI, and their corrections to leadership.
Summing up, person’s traits help to predict his/her leadership behaviors. Nevertheless, one has to careful with linking traits with effective leadership, because traits are better
predictor of leaders’ emergence rather than effectiveness.
Behavioral theories
Theories based on assumptions that certain behaviors distinguish leaders from non-leaders. The limitation of this theory can be proved by theory’s main assumption that
people can be trained to be leaders, what is obviously not complete truth. So theories proposed that leadership can be taught. Ohio State Studies
Ohio State Studies developed 2 dimensions of leadership behavior: •
Initiating structure - task-oriented behaviors that facilitate goal accomplishment. Extent, to which a leader defines leader and group member roles, initiates actions,
organizes group activities and defines how tasks are to be accomplished by the group. •
Consideration – people-oriented behaviors. Extent to which a leader exhibits concern for the welfare of the members of the group. This factor is oriented towards
interpersonal relationships, mutual trust and friendship
Leaders high in consideration make their followers more job-satisfied, motivated and more respectful.
Leaders high in initiating structure make their followers perform better in groups.
University of Michigan Studies
Also developed 2 dimensions of leadership behavior •
Employee- oriented leaders: focus on interpersonal relations, have personal interest in employees’ needs and recognise differences between group members.
Associated with higher group productivity, greater job satisfaction. •
Production oriented leaders: focus on task-related and technical issues. Associated with lower group productivity and job satisfaction.
Blake and Mounton developed a managerial grid (leadership grid), a 9-by-9 matrix representing two variables; concern for people and concern for production. It represents
both University of Michigan studies on employee and production oriented leaders and Ohio State studies on initiating structure and consideration. The managerial grid is a
good tool for conceptualizing leadership. Leader that score 9,9 on the grid are the most effective ones.
Trait theories and behavioral theories should be combined for maximum effectiveness. However they both lack some situational factors.
Contingency theory
This theory states that the leader's ability to lead is contingent upon various situational factors, including the leader's preferred style, the capabilities and behaviors of followers
and also various other situational factors. lOMoAR cPSD| 58504431 Fiedler Model
The model postulates that the leader’s effectiveness is based on ‘situational contingency’, that is a result of interaction of two factors, known as 'leadership style' and
'situational favourableness’ (situational control). For the purpose of the research Fiedler developed the least preferred co-worker (LPC) questionnaire to measure whether an
individual is task or relationship oriented. On the scale 1-8, with 16 sets of adjectives employees rate their co-workers. On this basis, the leadership style of the respondent is
developed. Fiedler claims that in reality there are combined leadership styles (both task and relationship oriented to different degrees). After fulfilling LPC questionnaire and
thus estimating leadership style, a fit between the leadership style and situation has to be found. Fiedler defined 3 situational factors: •
Leader-member relations (either poor or good) – the better score, the better for leader •
Task structure (either high or low) – the higher structured job, the better for leader •
Position power (strong or weak) – the stronger position power, the better for leader
Together, there are 8 categories the leader can fall into. To change the state of art (in case of ineffectiveness), the leader or the situation can be changed. •
The model has been positively evaluated. But there are some complications with LPC questionnaire and practical application of the model. •
The recent update of Fiedler model is cognitive resource theory. The theory focuses on the influence of the leader's intelligence and experience on his or her reaction
to stress, and states that the intelligence and experience can actually reduce stress. But it is the degree of stress that verifies if the intelligence and experience will
positively (low stress) or negatively (high stress) influence leadership behavior.
Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory
This theory states that depending on employees’ competences and commitment to task as well as on acceptance/rejection of the leader, leadership style should vary from
one person to another. It focuses on leader’s followers. In this theory effectiveness of leader depends on followers’ behavior. Hersey and Blanchard recognise 4 leader
behaviors that depend on followers’ readiness: •
Unable and willing – leader need to show high task-orientation and high relationship orientation •
Unable and unwilling - leader needs to give unambiguous directions •
Able and willing – leader doesn’t do much •
Able and unwilling – leader need to use motivating, supportive leadership style
The evaluation of the theory was rather under critique. There are inconsistencies in the model and issues with research techniques.
Path-goal theory
A theory which states that a leader's function is to clear the path towards the goal of the group, by meeting the needs of subordinates. The theory is based on Expectancy
Theory of Motivation and on Ohio State Studies (on structure initiating and consideration). The author of the theory, R.House, recognized 4 leadership behaviors: •
Directive leader - leader lets followers know what is expected of them and tells them how to perform their tasks •
Participative leader - involves leaders consulting with followers and asking for their suggestions before making a decision •
Supportive leader - leader is friendly and approachable, shows concern for the followers’ psychological well being •
Achievement-oriented leader - leader sets challenging goals for followers, expects them to perform at their highest level •
The model assumes 2 categories of situational variables. A category of variables that can be and cannot be controlled by an employee. The first category of variables
that can be controlled are personal characteristics (locus of control, experience and perceived ability), the second category are environmental contingency factors
that cannot be controlled (task structure, formal authority system and work group).
Critique of contingency theories – they do not take into account followers. Leadership does not when it is considered only from the perspective of a leader, because leadership
is a relation between a leader and followers. In reality, leaders act differently towards different people.
Leader-member exchange (LMX) Theory
Focuses on the two-way relationship between supervisors and subordinates. Leaders often develop relationships with each member of the group that they lead, and Leader-
Member Exchange Theory explains how those relationships with various members can develop in unique ways. In the group, there are in-groups – trusted followers to who
leader pays more attention an out-groups – followers who get less attention, time, and rewards. The relationship between a leader and out-groups are more formally set than
those between a leader and ingroups. It is the leader who classifies certain followers to in-groups or out-groups at the beginning of a group’s functioning. This classification
is usually driven by absence/presence of common characteristics. This relationship is rather stable.
It is claimed that people in leader’s in-group and the leader share more common features than in case of people in leader’s out-groups.
The evaluation of this theory was rather positive. It is true that leaders do make distinctions between followers. In-groups have better performance, higher satisfaction, more
support for leader and higher citizenship behavior.
Decision Theory: Vroom and Yetton’s Leader-Participation Model
Relates leadership behavior and participation to decision making. Provides a set of rules to determine the form and amount of participative decision- making in different
situations. There are now 12 contingency variables in the latest revision of this model. This model is often too complicated for managers/leaders to actually put into place in organizations. Leaderships in Europe: lOMoAR cPSD| 58504431 Three clusters identified:
Cluster 1: The Anglo culture (UK & Ireland). Focus on results. Leaders empower and motivate people
Cluster 2: Scandinavian, focus on relationships. Similar values to cluster 1, but differ in the general quality of life, instead of competitive individualism in cluster 1.
Cluster 3: Mediterranean cluster: leaders are expected to be more powerful.
Europe leadership can also be clustered as East and West. Western Europe is also clustered in north and south with differences in leadership style and perception .
Global consequences - differences in leadership around the world:
Brazil: managers in Brazil need to team-oriented, participative and caring. Leaders in Brazil are people-oriented, are high on consideration level.
France: leaders over there need to be high in structure; initiating, task-oriented, better directive style of leadership rather than participative or supportive.
Egypt: similar to Brazil with the difference in power distance. There is a clear status and power distinction between leader and followers.
China: High-performance orientation combined with high level of consideration. There are also status differences expectations. The best option: moderately participative style.
Appendix: Contemporary Issues in Leadership
Framing is a way of communicating to create/modify/change meaning. Framing influences leadership behavior because it makes leaders capable of influencing how people
comprehend, perceive and make meaning of different situations, people, events.
Charismatic leadership
There are four characteristics of charismatic leaders, as described by R.House: vision and articulation, personal risk, sensitivity to followers’ needs and unconventional
behavior. Followers of charismatic leaders by observing leader’s behavior notice the leader’s abilities which distinguish him/her from other people, which are extraordinary
and make the leader exceptional. • Born vs. made?
Many leaders are both with charisma, however, those were not charisma-gifted can be trained how to expose charismatic behaviors. There is even a 3 phase program of how
to become a charismatic individual. First step is to develop charismatic thinking-attitude and acting. Secondly, individual creates relation with followers. Thirdly, individual
‘produces’ potential in followers by influencing their emotions. •
Charismatic leaders and their influence on followers
Charismatic leaders do influence their followers, using 4-step process. First, a leader communicates attractive/interesting vision. Next, the first step is followed by vision
statement, what is a formal expression of a company’s vision or mission. Then, the leader shows the modelled behavior, values, which are supposed to be examples for
followers. Lastly, the charismatic leader influences followers’ emotions, usually by unconventional behavior; displaying courage and assurance of vision’s success and rightness.
The most important element of a vision is its inspirational aspect and focus on the future. Moreover, the vision should adapt to reality and relevant events as well it should
be challenging and realistic to achieve. •
Charismatic leadership versus situational factors. There are several relations: •
Charismatic leaders influence high performance and high satisfaction among their followers. •
Organisations that have charismatic leaders make more profit •
Charismatic leaders affect people differently – people are more willing to follow a leader in a case of stress, disaster, emergence, crisis. Also people with low self-
esteem are more likely to take leader’s direction.
However, despite those positive relations, there is reasonable assumption that charismatic leaders’ effectiveness depends on situation. The situational factors that enhance
charismatic leaders’ effectiveness are the ideological components of followers’ tasks or high level of stress/uncertainty. In these situations, charismatic leaders are successful.
The factors that limit charismatic leaders’ usefulness relate to the organizational context – lower level managers with charismatic qualities do not have a field of activity to demonstrate them. •
Charismatic leadership: problems and disadvantages:
Charismatic leaders use their charisma for abusive actions: e.g. to increase their salaries, re-position their companies due to their image, blur the line between their interest
and organization’s interest and use company’s resources for their personal benefit. They may be egodriven and then cause problems for organizations. There is a name for
those leaders who are ambitious, driven, loyal and use these features to act in their organization’s interest, well-being rather than in their own interest. They are level-5
leaders. They have the 5 following qualities: individual capability, team spirit and skills, managerial competence, ability to motivate others and a mixture of humility and professional will.
Transformational leadership
Transformational vs. transactional leaders.
Transactional leaders use conventional reward and punishment to gain compliance from their followers. They clarify employees’ roles, tasks requirements. They use
management by exception: which seeks to minimize the opportunity for exceptions by enforcing defensive management processes (looking for deviations and intervention
when standards are not met). Transactional leaders’ aspects: contingent rewards, management by exception and laissez-faire. lOMoAR cPSD| 58504431
Transformational leaders are those who inspire and get things done by injecting enthusiasm and energy. They have profound and outstanding effect on their followers. They
provide a vision, communicate high expectation and promote intelligence, careful problemsolving and have belief in followers. They give followers personal attention and
individual care. They are the inspiration; they are coaches, advisors, and listeners. Transformational leadership can be learnt.
Transformational leaders’ aspects: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration.
Assumptions about transformational leadership:
o Transformational leaders are more creative and encourage/promote creativity and innovativeness among their followers o Followers of transformational
leaders are more ambitious in achieving goals and take personal interest in pursuing organizational goals
o Vision is very important in mechanism of transformational leadership. It explains the effectiveness of transformational leadership
o Transformational leaders make followers more committed to the organization; its strategy and make followers have more belief, trust in their leaders.
Transformational leadership can ‘boost’ impressive evidence for its effectiveness. Transformational leadership style generates more productive and satisfied followers-workers.
But, there are also studies proving that contingent reward leadership is sometimes more effective than transformational leadership.
There are debates about transformational leadership and charismatic leadership. Some researches use them interchangeably, some think that charisma is just one of a trait
that transformational leaders have and that transformational leadership is broader than charismatic one. Nevertheless, studies show that leaders, who score high on charisma,
score also high on transformational leadership.
Authentic leadership: ethics and trust as fundamentals of leadership
Authentic leaders are those who know who they are, act openly and accordingly to their beliefs and values, are honest with themselves and with the followers, are considered
as ethical. Their main advantage and virtue is trust. Authentic leaders build trust on their transparency – they value information sharing and communicate messages reflecting
their values, beliefs, norms, ideals. Authentic leadership, unlike other leadership styles, focus on the moral side of leadership.
The topic of ethics in leadership is getting more and more attention. There are several reasons for that. First, there is a general trend towards ethical shift in management.
Moreover, bibliographies of famous leaders revealed their unethical behaviors.
Moreover, the relations between leaders and their ethical behavior are crucial. Unethical leaders abuse their power, position to achieve self-serving goals. Ethical leaders,
however use their power and charisma for the benefit of society or a group.
The notion of socialised charismatic leadership has recently emerged as a leadership style that is non-exploitative and motivates followers to maximize the gains of the
organization without regard for the leader's personal needs. Those leaders demonstrate other- centred attitude rather than self-centred. Trust
Trust is a relationship of reliance, it is the expectation that another party will not behave opportunistically. The notion implies willingness to take risk and familiarity. There
are however other trust dimensions to be mentioned: integrity (the most important), competence, consistency, loyalty and openness. Trust is crucial in leadership. It is the
fundamental on which leader builds his/her image and identity. There are 3 types of trust: 1)
Deterrence-based trust – trust is based on fear or reprisal in the trust is abused (most fragile type, most new relationships are based on it, punishment as a result of
trust violation). Example: new manager-employee relationship. 2)
Knowledge-based trust – trust based on the predictability of behaviors, this predictability is built on past relations, experiences. It relies on information. In this trust
type, predictability builds trust, if you are able to predict person’s behavior, then you trust him/her more. Most relations in organisations are based on this trust type. Example: manager-employee relationship 3)
Identification-based trust – trust based on emotional connection between the parties, on mutual understanding, on knowing what the other party wants, expects,
appreciates. Exists loyalty between parties and minimum level of control is imposed. Example: marriage.
There are also principles of trust: • Mistrust drives out trust • Trust begets trust • Trust can be regained •
Mistrusting groups self-destruct • Mistrust lowers productivity
Contemporary Leaders Mentoring
A mentor is a person from the higher-level management who takes the position of sponsor and supervisor for the less-experienced employee (protégé). Mentoring is based
on career and psychological function. Some firms have official mentoring programs, some have informal mentoring. Mentoring is beneficial for mentor, protégé and the whole
organization. The main benefits for mentor include the access to what lower-level employees think, feel and thanks to that it also gives possibility to sense potential problems.
There is a tendency to select protégé basing on his/her similarities with the mentor. Nevertheless, although mentoring approach serves many functions, most of its outcomes
emphasize psychological benefits rather than material. lOMoAR cPSD| 58504431 Self-leadership
Its main assumption proposes that individuals, by controlling their actions, can develop leadership behaviors and qualities. The importance of self-leadership goes along with
the importance of team creation. Teams need self-directed people. Online leadership
There has only been little research on this leadership type. It’s important to remember that words, sent digitally, can also (de)motivate. Good online leaders need to carefully
select words, “read between the lines”, and learn how to make messages transmit trust, status, warmth, motivation. They also need to think about the actions that need to
follow the message on the employee’s side. The main challenge of online leaders is to build and maintain trust.
Challenges to the leadership construct
There are 2 assumptions that challenge the importance of leadership (leadership not being necessary): 1.
Attribution theory of leadership -> this theory states that leadership is one of the attributions that people make about others, to explain social events. People simply
associate leaders certain with characteristics and when they meet individual representing these characteristics, they take him/her for leader. In organizations, people explain
organizational situations by attribution theory, e.g. high profit is explained by having a good leader. By appearing as a good leader, others can view you as one, even if you lack actual accomplishments. 2.
Substitutes for and neutralizers of leadership -> some people think that there are substitutes for leadership and neutralisers of leaders’ influence on others. The
substitutes make leaders’ activities unnecessary, while neutralisers negate leaders’ effectiveness and influence. This theory is however under controversy, as there are many
problems with applying the theory of substitutes and neutralisers and the difference between these two notions are sometimes blurred.
Finding and creating effective leaders: •
Selecting leaders – analysis of situation a company faces, helps to find what kind of leader is needed. Tests as well as interviews may help to identify a leader.
Moreover, companies should plan/prepare for leadership changes. •
Training leaders – there are a few things managers can do to enhance the training outcomes. Leaders high in self-monitoring benefit from training more. Leaders can
be even more effective is they are taught how to implement skills, build trust, mentor, recognise situational contexts and cope with them. Moreover, research has
shown that charismatic leadership qualities can be enhanced by behavioral training using modelling. Also, transformational leadership skills can be taught. Global consequences:
Transformational/charismatic leadership style works around the globe. There are some universal dimensions of leadership e.g. leaders’ vision, foresight, motivating skills,
trust, proactivity, dynamism. However, cultural differences and leadership type adaptation are also important. Globalisation made the leadership style more universal.