"Implicit Leadership Theories: A Leader who Builds Followership"
Applies Implicit Leadership Theories to indicated that followers have certain expectations of leaders.
"Implicit Leadership Theories: A Leader who Builds Followership"
Applies Implicit Leadership Theories to indicated that followers have certain expectations of leaders.
"Implicit Leadership Theories: A Leader who Builds Followership"
Applies Implicit Leadership Theories to indicated that followers have certain expectations of leaders.
Laura Wake-Ramos The Pennsylvania State University
CAS 450W
May 20 th , 2013
IMPLICIT LEADERSHIP THEORIES
LAW 2 In my course paper, I explore the attributes and behavior that followers expect of effective leaders. A leader label does not guarantee follower acceptance of leader directives or suggestions. According to Implicit Leadership Theories (ILT), followers may hold a more specific cognitive category for a leader worthy of influence (LWI). These studies indicate that followers have certain expectations of leaders. The leadership categorization theory proposed by Lord and his associates in 1985 places emphasis on the cognitive and perceptual processes and underlying leadership and the role of employees prior expectations and cognitive prototypes in shaping their perceptions of managerial behavior (Martin & Epitropaki, 2011). ILTs represent pre- existing cognitive structures or prototypes specifying traits and behavior that followers expect from leaders stored in memory, that are then activated through communication interactions. Leadership can be recognized from qualities and behaviors revealed through interactions, or inferred from the outcomes of salient events. ILTs do not represent objective reality, but rather perceptual abstractions that followers use to categorize individuals in leadership positions. These perceived notions about traits and behaviors are typically associated with categories of leadership. The leader-label does not necessarily guarantee follower acceptance of leader influence; rather, a leader earns the right to be influential. This process of influences is emphasized as a two-way influence process between leaders and followers. In social exchange terms, the person in the role of leader fulfills expectations and achieves group goals, by providing psychological and material rewards for others (Blascovich & Renney, 1996). Therefore, exploring the exact nature of followers expectations is critical to developing a more comprehensive understanding of social influence. IMPLICIT LEADERSHIP THEORIES
LAW 3 Previous studies of ILTs have sought to identify prototypical categories that identify an individual as an effective leader. These studies found that people use behavioral categories (e.g., honest and decisive) to differentiate between leaders and non-leaders, effective and ineffective leaders, specific types of leaders (e.g., political and educational), and appointed versus elected leader expectations (Blascovich & Renney, 1996). Once a stimulus person is categorized as a leader, the activated leader prototype causes followers to attend selectively to, encode, and retrieve situational information and information that does not exist. Empirical studies support this model of categorization to simple heuristics that may operate during leadership perception. In these studies, peoples descriptions of a category (e.g., leader worthy of influence) reflects underlying category prototypes whether the most typical or representative examples of the category. These prototypes can be identified in communicable terms, which are memory stored. Categorization systems occur naturally, organized hierarchically, and include vertical, as well as horizontal dimensions within the realm of the human mind. Past studies hoped to layout a map of the categorization in processes of establishing a leader worthy of influence. A typical study of ILTs aims at gathering prototypical categories associated to a leader worthy of influence, and hierarchical ranked of importance. These prototypes are identified for the study by surveying a large number of individuals to describe the term leader. A few of these terms are funny, caring, interested, truthful, imaginative, knowledgeable, responsible, well-spoken, active, determined, aggressive, honest, popular, enthusiastic, risk-taking, independent, clean-cut, considerate, and authoritative. The results of ILTs studies suggest that leaders must meet the followers expectations of the categories for them to be identified as IMPLICIT LEADERSHIP THEORIES
LAW 4 worthy of influence. Leadership and followership processes must be synchronized to meet these expectations in a specific group. Situational factors can potentially affect leader categorization; however, the studies of interest sought to reach a basic-level behavior and traits for a leader to meet expectations and be influential in group communication processes. These typical categories of prototypes become ideals or specific exemplars for effective leadership. Once people form an impression of a leader as being worthy of influence, they report that they will be more likely to allow that person greater latitude for influence. The ILTs perspective has advantages. First, the expectations of leaders fall into communicable and recognizable categories. Ideas such as honesty or knoledgeability are identifiable to most individuals. Because these processes are simplified, they are easily applicable and practical to apply in everyday concepts. Second, the studies imply that influential leaders are shaped through cognitive and social processes rather exist pure form. Every individual has the capacity to grow and become a more effective leader, and group participant. Third, ILTs suggests that leaders do not have the ultimate power of influence, but rather leadership and followership are equal processes. The ILTs perspective has its disadvantages. First, terms such as honesty and knowledgeability while identifiable are not as easily definable. The definitions of these abstract perceptions vary by individuals past experiences. It is difficult for authors of empirical studies to create hard and fast criteria for such categories, and monitor how participants identify each prototype. Second, these categories are created to suggest effective leadership; however, the studies do not reveal how far the degree of effectiveness or ineffectiveness can be applied. Once again, the idea of effectiveness or ineffectiveness can vary from individual to individual. Third, certain attributes usually regarded IMPLICIT LEADERSHIP THEORIES
LAW 5 as favorable (e.g., sensitivity, intelligence, dedication, and charisma) could receive higher prototypical ratings than the commonly regarded unfavorable ones (e.g., tyranny and masculinity) (Schyns & Schilling, 2011). The studies suggest that leaders in general are seen as effective with prototypical attributes that are all favorable and, therefore, linked to effectiveness. However, there are unfavorable attributes linked to ineffectiveness. The categorization of leaders in prototypical and communicable terms are widely spread into an entire industry. Countless books and self-improvement programs focus on recognizing and developing the qualities these categories embodied in leaders. The danger of recognizing these categories is that producers can organize these categories into formulae, such as 20 simple steps to become a better leader, which becomes a popular trend. As a result, the value of leaders; traits and behavior diminish, because everyone else is trying to develop these qualities, which was before an invaluable and respectable trait. The knowledge of ILTs can be useful for leaders and help them overcome the problem of influencing followers who hold ineffective ILTs prototypes. Followers view certain characterisitics as effective, certain characteristics as ineffective, and each of these characteristics may vary by situation. In group contests, the role of the leader is to be able to recognize, understand, and satisfy these needs and expectations. Leaders then can inspire hard work and dedication (Harrel, 2003). In simplified terms, the leader is one that fulfills a need to a situation. ILTs suggest that a leader satisfies a certain need of the group, which did not exist before. This could be variety of traits or behaviors identified through research, such as charisma, knowledgeable, organized, team IMPLICIT LEADERSHIP THEORIES
LAW 6 player, authoritarian, or sensitivity. This trait of an individual is then recognized and accepted by followers. There is little research that studies the leadership in informal group settings, which leadership emerges rather than is appointed, according to Blascovich and Kenney (1996). Blascovich and Kenney propose that followers hold certain expectations, and search for these qualities within each of these individuals as according to ILTs. Then, the follower recognizes, and is able to identify a leader of the group based on the hierarchical and varied categories identified as leadership qualities. The one perceived as a leader then becomes worthy of influence, and based on the assumption that these traits are universal through communication interactions and situations, all individuals of the group perceive the leader worthy of influence similarly. This kind of research is difficult to study, because groups vary by setting, task, and individuals. Gregory Aarons and David Sommerfeld (2012) conducted a research study that analyzed transformational leadership of innovation teams within a mental health and social services organization. The results revealed that transformational leadership was more predictive of innovation during implementation, whereas leader- member exchange was more predictive of innovation during usual services. However, such findings could vary by organizational contexts of similar services, or even vary by profession, such as an architecture task group, for example. In conclusion, the ILTs suggests that one cannot build leadership, but rather followership. An effective leader meets the expectations and needs of the followers, and cannot establish oneself as a leader worthy of influence unless one is accepted in the group as a leader with particular characteristics.
IMPLICIT LEADERSHIP THEORIES
LAW 7 References: Aarons, G., & Sommerfeld, D. (2012). Leadership, innovation climate, and attitudes toward evidence-based practice during a statewide implementation. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 51, 423-431. Blascovich, J., Kenney R., et al. (1996). Implicit leadership theories: Defining leaders described as worthy of influence. Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 22, 1128-1143. Harrel, K. (2003). The Attitude of Leadership. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Martin, R., & Epitropaki, O. (2011). Role of organizational identification on implicit leadership theories (ILTs), transformational leadership and work attitudes. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 4, 247-262. Schyns, B., & Schilling, J. (2011). Implicit leadership theories: Think Leader, think effective? Journal of Management Inquiry, 20, 141-150.