Module: Leadership

Leadership

Leadership

In this section we will look at leadership within a community radio station.

By the end of this section you will be able to:

• Identify the elements of good leadership

• Identify their own natural leadership style

• Select appropriate leadership styles for specific situations and

• Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate leadership

behaviours

2
 Leadership

Activity 1 The Leader from hell

Individually: (10min)

Think of your experience in a community organisation, or at work,

• Who was the worst leader or manager you have ever encountered?

• What was it that makes him/her the worst?

• What made him/her ineffective as a leader or manager?

Group: (45 min)

• Share your experience with the others in the group.

• As a group, use your experiences to draw "The Leader From Hell".

Plenary:

Group Reports: You will be putting up your drawing, and the reporter will be
asked to explain the drawing to the rest of the group.

3
 Leadership

Activity 2 Different types of leaders

Example 1:

Lisa walked into the offices of Radio A1. She went straight to the kettle
and made herself a cup of coffee. On her way to her office, she asked Joe,
the programme manager to come in with the schedule for the next month.
“Good morning, Joe,” she said, “ how did you sort out the problem with
the health slots?” Joe explained what they had worked out in the
programming meeting. “Great!” she exclaimed, “Please ask Tatiana to
come in. “

When Tatiana walked in, Lisa immediately began asking her about the
advertising sales: “How are you doing against the targets we set last month?
Have you managed to get more local advertisers?” Tatiana showed her the sales
figures and the schedule of adverts. “OK!” said Lisa, “Now, what about special
events, what are you planning for May?”

After the meeting with Tatiana, Lisa rushed off to an appointment. As she
walked through the reception, she thought that Thulani, the receptionist, was
looking a bit sad. “I wonder what’s going on?” Lisa thought, but she had no time
to stop and ask. “Please take messages for me,” she shouted on her way out, “I’ll
be back at 2.00.”

Example 2:

At Radio Up! Amos walked into the office. The receptionist was looking a bit
upset. “What’s going on, Bongani ?” he asked. Bongani told him that his granny
had died. “ Of course you must take time off!” Amos exclaimed, “I’ll find a

4
 Leadership
replacement, don’t worry about a thing.” By the time Bongani left the office, he
was feeling a little bit better.

“Bra Piet, come and talk to me, you said you had figures about advertising.” Piet
walked into Amos’s office. “Sit down, Piet, how is your baby? Is she getting over
the flu?” he asked. “It’s so horrible when the little ones are sick.” He listened
while Piet talked about the visit to the doctor, and how much better the baby
was. “Well that’s great, Piet. Now, let’s talk about advertising, How is it going?”
Piet gave him a detailed report on the local and national advertisements, and
then talked about the plans for a promotional event. “Thank you, Piet,” Amos
said at the end of the meeting, “I really appreciate all the hard work.“

The next meeting was with Boitumelo, the programme manager. “Boitumelo, I
really liked the programme you put together yesterday. How did you manage?”
He listened carefully while she explained, and asked a number of questions.
Boitumelo really felt good about the work she had done.

Then it was time to talk about the health programmes. “How is that coming on,
Boitumelo? Last time you told me you were having trouble finding an ‘expert’ to
come onto the show.” Boitumelo explained how she had tracked down a retired
nurse who used to teach at the nursing college, Amos smiled. “Well done!” he
said, “ That will really make a difference.”

Discussion:

What is the difference between Lisa and Amos? How do their styles differ?

In what situations is each style appropriate?

Which would you like as the head of your radio station?

5
 Leadership

Activity 3 T-P Leadership Questionnaire

Your task:

1. Complete the following questionnaire, individually, following the

instructions. Then score yourself as explained.

2. Discuss with your partner whether the results of the Leadership

Questionnaire are accurate for you and whether they really do
show your preferred style of management.

Instructions

The following items describe aspects of leadership behaviour. Respond to

each item according to the way you would most likely act if you were the
leader of a work group or a team in your radio station. Please be honest.

(NB: The word “member” is used to represent staff or volunteers, etc)

Tick your response:

always (A), frequently (F), occasionally (O), seldom (S), or never (N).

(A) always, (F) frequently, (O) occasionally, (S) seldom, or (N) never.
1 I act as the spokesperson of the group. A F O S N
2 I encourage members to work extra hours A F O S N
3 I allow members complete freedom in their work. A F O S N
4 I encourage the use of uniform/standard procedures A F O S N
5 I permit members to use their own judgement in solving A F O S N
problems.
6 I stress being ahead of competing groups. A F O S N
7 I speak as a representative of the group. A F O S N
8 I encourage members to make a greater effort. A F O S N
9 I try out my ideas in the group. A F O S N
10 I let the members do their work they way they think A F O S N
best.
11 I work hard for promotion. A F O S N
12 I am able to allow postponement and uncertainty. A F O S N
13 I speak for the group if visitors are present. A F O S N

6
 Leadership
14 I keep the work moving quickly. A F O S N
15 I turn the members loose on the job and let them at it. A F O S N
16 I settle conflicts when they occur in the group. A F O S N
17 I get overwhelmed by details. A F O S N
18 I represent the group at outside meetings. A F O S N
19 I am reluctant to allow members any freedom of action. A F O S N
20 I decide what should be done and how it should be A F O S N
done.
21 I push for increased production. A F O S N
22 I let some members have authority which I can keep A F O S N
control over.
23 Things usually turn out as I have predicted. A F O S N
24 I allow the group a high degree of initiative. A F O S N
25 I assign group members to particular tasks. A F O S N
26 I am willing to make changes. A F O S N
27 I ask the members to work harder. A F O S N
28 I trust the group members to exercise good judgement. A F O S N
29 I schedule the work to be done. A F O S N
30 I refuse to explain my actions. A F O S N
31 I persuade others that my ideas are to their advantage. A F O S N
32 I permit the group to set its own pace. A F O S N
33 I urge the group to beat its own previous record. A F O S N
34 I act without consulting the group. A F O S N
35 I ask that group members follow standard rules and A F O S N
regulations.

T________ P ________

7
 Leadership

T-P LEADERSHIP STYLE

SCORING SHEET

To score yourselves on the questionnaire, proceed as follows:

1. Make a cross in the column next to the items numbered 8, 12, 17,
18, 19, 30, 34, 35.

2. Then write a number 1 in front of the crossed item number if you

responded S (seldom) or N (never) to that item.

3. Look at the numbers without a cross, write a number 1 in front of

these item numbers if you responded A (always) or F (frequently).

4. Tick the number 1s which you have written in front of the following
items: 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 18, 19, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 35.

5. Count the ticked number 1s. This is your score for “concern for
people”. Record the score in the blank following the letter P at the
end of the questionnaire.

6. Counte the unticked number 1s. This is your score for “concern for
task”. Record this number in the blank following the letter T.

8
 Leadership

T-P LEADERSHIP STYLE

PROFILE SHEET

Directions

1. To determine your style of leadership, mark your score on the

concern for task dimension (T) on the left hand arrow below.

2. Next, move to the right hand arrow and mark your score on the
concern for people dimension (P).

3. Draw a straight line that intersects the P and T scores.

The point at which that line crosses the shared leadership arrow
indicates your score on that dimension.

Autocratic Leadership Shared Leadership Laissez Faire

Leadership
High Productivity High productivity and
morale High Morale

1.1.1
HIGH
20
1.1.2 15
15 MEDIUM

10 10
1.1.3
LOW
5
5

T: Concern for Task P = Concern for People

Shared /participative Leadership results from balancing concern for task

and concern for people

9
Leadership

10
 Leadership

Self Reflection:

What have you learned about your leadership style?

Are you happy with this?

What aspect of your leadership style would you like to build on?

What aspect of your leadership style would you like to change?

11
 Leadership

Activity 4 Continuum of Leadership Behaviour

Use of authority by manager

Participation by group members

Manager Manager
makes Manager Manager Manager
presents presents defines
decision “sells” the Manager
ideas and problems, limits and
and decision permits
invites gets asks the
announces group
questions suggestions group to
it members
and makes make the to make
the decisions decisions
decision
in their
area of
work, in
line with
the
organisatio
n policy

12

Activity 5 Task and Maintenance1
Task
1 Initiating Getting the group started
on the task. Offering new suggestions,
topics for discussion, plans, etc.
2 Asking for information Drawing out
the resources of the group and
identifying information which need to
be found elsewhere.
3 Giving information or facts or
sharing relevant experiences.
4 Asking for Opinions Good decision
making depends on what all members
think and feel about a suggestion.
5 Giving Opinions Some do this too
much and some too little. Sometimes
a quick way to get all opinions needs
to be found (e.g. straw vote).
6 Explaining Giving practical
examples to make a point clear.
7 Clarifying Asking a question or
repeating a point in different words to
make it clear to all.
8 Summarizing Stating briefly the main
points made so far.
9 Checking Consensus Seeing if
everyone, especially silent members
agree on a point.
10 Suggesting a Process for Decision-
making.
1
This table comes from Community Workers Handbook, Volume 2, by Anne Hope and
Sally Timmel.
Leadership
Maintenance
1 Encouraging Being friendly,
responding to and building on
suggestions made by others, showing
aceeptance and appreciation of others
and their ideas.
2 Gatekeeping Giving a quiet person a
chance to join the discussion (e.g.
'John was about to say something').
3 Setting Standards 'Shall we agree
that everybody speaks once and
nobody speaks more than twice?' or
'Let's try to stick to the point and avoid
discussing outside situations.'
4 Diagnosing Difficulties 'I think we
cannot make this decision until we get
more information.' Or 'Maybe some
of us are afraid of the consequences
of this decision.'
5 Expressing Personal and Group
Feeling 'I'm getting bored. This is a
small point and we have spent half an
hour on it.'
6 Harmonising Helping those with
conflicting views to understand one
another's views.
7 Evaluating Creating an opportunity
for people to express feelings and
reactions towards the working of the
group.
8 Relieving Tension By bringing it out
into the open, putting a problem in a
wider context, or making a well-timed
joke.
13
 Leadership

Activity 6 The Responsibilities of Leadership

The responsibilities of a leader can be summarised in the following
diagram.

Task

Team Individual

The diagram shows that leadership is about:

• The task:

Making sure that it is done as well and as efficiently as

possible.

Managing the task includes

1. Managing resources ie: ensuring the station earns or

raises enough money, ensuring that it has the correct
resources and equipments, and ensuring that all the
resources are well used and their use is monitored and
controlled.
2. Managing the work: working out the structures and
how the work will be organised, ensuring that planning
happens, that tasks are allocated, that there is follow-
up or reporting to ensure the work has been done, etc

14
 Leadership
• The team:

To get the task done, you need to have a team that is

effective and working together. Leaders must understand
how teams work, they must help the teams to understand
and fulfil their tasks, and they must ensure that conflicts
and problems are dealt with quickly .

• The individuals in the team:

Making sure that they are motivated and satisfied so that

the team can be productive. Managing the people includes
giving out work, ensuring the work is done, giving positive
feedback for work well done, ensuring that pe

It is important to understand all three aspects, and to keep them in

balance.

Underlying all of these aspects of management, is the vision and mission

of the organisation. Strong leaders help people to keep remembering the
vision and mission so that they feel inspired and committed.

Leadership in community radio is often a collective leadership. Many radio

stations have a leadership team comprising the managers of different
function within the station. The leadership team needs to be united, so
that it can lead, and manage effectively.

15
 Leadership

Something to think about:

Leadership in the sector

While we have only talked about your role as managers of one radio
station, the truth is that you will have to play a leadership role in the
sector as a whole.

Community radio is no different from any other new sector emerging and
developing in South Africa. It is important to realise that, as a new
sector, community radio will need time to grow, to recognise its strengths
and weaknesses, to reach sustainability and to build capacity at different
levels. Stations will have to support and learn from each other, and from
other experiences around the world.

Because community radio is still at the infant stage, station managers

have a crucial role to play as leaders:

• station managers will lead development of their own stations

• station managers will also be leaders in developing the community radio

sector as a whole; and

• because community radio stations are there to respond to the

community’s expressed needs, the station manager will also be a leader
in process of ensuring that the station does contribute to meeting
those needs.

Balancing these leadership roles – of station development, sectoral

development and social development – make managing community radio
station a complex job requiring sound leadership and management skills.

16