Leadership, Team and Team work

LEADERSHIP
Leadership is a process of directing and influencing task related activities of group
members.
Leadership involves people like employees and followers by their willingness to
accept the direction. They help to define the status of the leader and make the
leadership process possible.
There is an unequal distribution of power between leaders and group members.
Leaders have the ability to use different form of power to shape the followers
behavior in a number of ways. Ex : commander influence the soldiers to kill.
Leadership is about values. Followers need to be given enough choices when it
comes to respond to leaders proposal. Leader who ignored moral component of
leadership may well go down to history.

Trait Approach of leadership

Leaders usually are self confident, extrovert, brighter and well, may be taller. But these
are not certain. There are exceptions. Abraham Lincon was introvert and moody.
Nepolean was rather short. Some traits identified may be the result of leadership
experience rather than leadership ability.

Behavioral Approach of Leadership

Rather than try to figure out who effective leaders are, researchers tried to determine
what effective leaders do. Behaviors can be learned. So individuals trained in more
appropriate leadership behavior would be able to lead more effectively.
Researchers focus on:
Leadership Functions: To operate effectively group need someone to perform two
major functions.
Task-oriented or problem solving function.
Group maintenance or social function.
Leadership Style.
Task oriented style: Closely supervise employee to be sure that the task is
performed satisfactory.
Employee oriented style: Emphasis more on motivation rather than
controlling subordinates
The Ohio State and University of Michigan Studies
The Ohio State University:
Low
High
Consideration (Employee oriented)
Structure and
Structure and
Initiating Structure (task oriented)
High
High
University of Michigan:
Consideratio
Consideration
Production Centered
n
Employee Centered
Consideration
Low
High
Structure and
Structure and
Low
Low
Consideratio
Consideration
n
Initiating Structure
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Leadership, Team and Team work

Continuum of Leadership Behavior

Leadership, Team and Team work

Managerial Grid

Contingency Approach
Hesrey and Blanchard's situational leadership model

Leadership, Team and Team work

They believed that the relationship between managers and follower moves through four
phases. As the employee develop, manager need to vary their leadership style
accordingly.

Fiedler Model
Fiedler measured the leadership style on a scale that indicated "The degree to which a
man described favorably or unfavorably his least preferred co-worker (LPC).
Fiedler identifies three Leadership situations" or variables that help determine which
leadership style will be effective.
Leader-member relations: It can be good or poor
Task Structure: It can be structured or unstructured.
Position power: It can be strong or weak.

So from the theory the effectiveness of leadership can be summarized as follows:

Low LPC Leaders who are task oriented or authoritarian were most successful or
effective in extreme situation. Here leader either have great power and influence
or very little power or influence.
High LPC leaders who are employee oriented were most effective in situation
where leaders have moderate power and influence.
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