LEADERSHIP

Leadership has been described as a process

of social influence in which one person can enlist
the aid and support of others in the
accomplishment of a common task".

Leadership is a process whereby an individual
influences a group of individuals to achieve a
common goal.

POWER

In politics and social science, power is the ability
to influence the behavior of people.

The term authority is often used for power
perceived as legitimate by the social structure.

Power can be seen as evil or unjust, but the
exercise of power is accepted as endemic to
humans as social beings.
Leadership is a process [focusing on what
leaders actually do] and a property.

As a process, leadership is the use of non-
coercive influence to shape the groups or
organizations goals, to motivate behavior
toward the achievement of those goals,
and to help define group or organizational
culture.

As a property, leadership is the set of
characteristics attributed to individuals
who are perceived to be leaders.

Leaders are people who can
influence the behaviors of
others without having to
rely on force or people
whom others accept as
leaders.

Leader
You must have an honest understanding of who
you are, what you know, and what you can do.
Also, note that it is the followers, not the leader
or someone else who determines if the leader is
successful.
If they do not trust or lack confidence in their
leader, then they will be uninspired.
To be successful you have to convince your
followers, not yourself or your superiors, that
you are worthy of being followed.

Followers
Different people require different styles of
leadership.
For example, a new hire requires more supervision
than an experienced employee does.
A person who lacks motivation requires a different
approach than one with a high degree of motivation.
You must know your people! The fundamental starting
point is having a good understanding of human
nature, such as needs, emotions, and motivation.
You must come to know your employees' be,
know, and do attributes.

Communication
You lead through two-way communication.
Much of it is nonverbal.
For instance, when you set the example, that
communicates to your people that you would not
ask them to perform anything that you would not
be willing to do.
What and how you communicate either builds or
harms the relationship between you and your
employees.

Situation
All situations are different.
What you do in one situation will not always work
in another.
You must use your judgment to decide the best
course of action and the leadership style needed
for each situation.
For example, you may need to confront an
employee for inappropriate behavior, but if the
confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh
or too weak, then the results may prove
ineffective.

Also note that the situation normally has a
greater effect on a leader's action than his or
her traits.

This is because while traits may have an
impressive stability over a period of time, they
have little consistency across situations.

This is why a number of leadership scholars think
the Process Theory of Leadership is more
accurate than the Trait Theory of Leadership.
Various forces will affect these four factors.
Examples of forces are:

your relationship with your seniors
the skill of your followers
the informal leaders within your organization
how your organization is organized

Do you make people follow you?

Or

Do you simply boss other people around?
Although your position as a Leader, supervisor,
lead, etc. gives you the authority to accomplish
certain tasks and objectives in the organization
(called Assigned Leadership), this power does
not make you a leader, it simply makes you
the boss (Rowe, 2007).
Leadership differs in that it makes the
followers want to achieve high goals
(called Emergent Leadership), rather than simply
bossing people around (Rowe, 2007).
Thus you get Assigned Leadership by your
position and you display Emergent Leadership by
influencing people to do great things.

Systems thinking is the process of
understanding how things, regarded as
systems, influence one another within a
whole.
In nature, systems thinking examples include
ecosystems in which various elements such as
air, water, movement, plants, and animals
work together to survive or perish.
In organizations, systems consist of people,
structures, and processes that work
together to make an organization "healthy"
or "unhealthy".
The role of a leader is and must be part of
any system

The role of a leader has meaning and can
only be understood in the context of
followership
Leadership is a necessary function of human
enterprise

In the absence of leadership, all enterprising
collaboration collapses

Lets jump into a time machine

When you were younger, who were the
people that you followed?

What was it about these people that made
you follow them?
Leaders have personal, psychological and
physical traits;
some basic trait or set of traits exist that
differentiate leaders from non-leaders;
Researchers thought that leadership traits
might include:
intelligence,
assertiveness,
above-average height,
good vocabulary,
attractiveness,
self-confidence
and similar attributes.



What types of skills should leaders possess?

Technical skills how-to-do-it skills

Conceptual skills thinking skills

Human relation skills people skills
Leadership styles

Autocratic (Authoritarian)
Bureaucratic
Democratic
Coercive
Transactional
Transformational
Laissez-Faire


Leader retains power (classical approach)

Leader is decision-making authority

Leader does not consult employees for input

Subordinates expected to obey orders without
explanations

Motivation provided through structured rewards
and punishments

New, untrained employees

Employees are motivated

Employees do not respond to any other
leadership style

High-volume production needs

Limited time for decision making

Leaders power is challenged by an employee
Leader manages by the book

Everything must be done according to
procedure or policy

If it isnt covered by the book, the Leader
refers to the next level above him or her

Police officer more than leader
Performing routine tasks


Need for standards/procedures


Use of dangerous or delicate equipment

Safety or security training being conducted

Tasks that require handling cash

Often referred to as participative style

Keeps employees informed

Shares decision making and problem
solving responsibilities

Coach who has the final say, but

Gathers information from staff members
before making decisions


Help employees evaluate their own
performance

Allows employees to establish goals

Encourages employees to grow on the job and
be promoted

Recognizes and encourages achievement

Can produce high quality and high quantity
work for long periods of time


To keep employees informed

To encourage employees to share in decision-
making and problem-solving

To provide opportunities for employees to
develop a high sense of personal growth and
job satisfaction

Complex problems that require a lots of input
To encourage team building and participation.
Power from a persons authority to punish

Most obvious types of power a leader has.

Good leaders use coercive power only as a
last resort:

In todays sophisticated and complex
workplace, excessive use of coercive power
unleashes unpredictable and destabilizing
forces which can ultimately undermine the
leader using it.
To meet very short term goals

When left with no other choice

In times of crisis


Motivate followers by appealing to their
own self-interest

Motivate by the exchange process.
EX: business owners exchange status and wages
for the work effort of the employee.

Focuses on the accomplishment of tasks
& good worker relationships in exchange
for desirable rewards.

Encourage leader to adapt their style and
behavior to meet expectations of
followers
Leader wants to be in control

When there are approaching deadlines that
must be met

Relationship is short term
Charismatic and visionary

Inspire followers to transcend their self-
interest for the organization

Appeal to followers' ideals and values

Inspire followers to think about problems
in new or different ways

Common strategies used to influence
followers include vision and framing
Research indicates that transformational leadership is more strongly correlated
with lower turnover rates, higher productivity, and higher employee
satisfaction.
Instils feelings of confidence, admiration
and commitment

Stimulates followers intellectually,
arousing them to develop new ways to
think about problems.

Uses contingent rewards to positively
reinforce desirable performances

Flexible and innovative.

When leaders want members to be an active
part of the organization and have ownership
to it

When leaders are building a sense of purpose

When the organization has a long term plan

When people need to be motivated


Also known as the hands-off style

Little or no direction

Gives followers as much freedom as possible

All authority or power is given to the
followers

Followers must determine goals, make
decisions, and resolve problems on their
own.
Employees are highly skilled, experienced,
and educated

Employees have pride in their work and the
drive to do it successfully on their own

Outside experts, such as staff specialists or
consultants are being used

Employees are trustworthy and experienced
Some people are motivated by reward

Some people are motivated by
punishment

Social systems work best with a chain of
command

When people have agreed to do a job, a
part of the deal is that they cede
authority to their leader
A theory meaning one thing depends on
other things.

Followers
Leader
Situation
Style
Traits
Behavior
Position
Needs
Maturity
Training
Cohesion
Task
Structure
Systems
Env.
Outcomes
(Performance,
satisfaction, etc.)
approaches that seek to delineate the
characteristics of situations and followers
and examine the leadership styles that
can be used effectively
Fiedlers contingency model: a
model designed to diagnose whether a
leader is task-oriented or relationship-
oriented and match leader style to the
situation

The Path-Goal Theory of leadership
suggests that the primary functions of a
leader are:
to make valued or desired rewards available
in the workplace and;
to clarify for the subordinate the kinds of
behavior that will lead to goal
accomplishment and valued rewards;

the leader should clarify the paths to goal
attainment.
Four kinds of Leader Behavior include:
Directive leader behavior let subordinates know
what is expected of them, give guidance and
direction and schedule work.
Supportive leader behavior being friendly and
approachable, showing concern for subordinate
welfare and treating members as equals.
Participative leader behavior includes consulting with
subordinates, soliciting suggestions and allowing
participation in decision making.
Achievement-oriented leader behavior means setting
challenging goals, expecting subordinates to perform
at high levels, encouraging subordinates and showing
confidence in subordinates abilities.





Theory focuses on the personal
characteristics of subordinates and
environmental characteristics of the
workplace.
Important personal characteristics include
the subordinates perception of their own
ability and their locus of control.
Managers can do little or nothing to
influence the personal characteristics of
subordinates, but they can shape the
environment to take advantage of these
personal characteristics by providing such
things as rewards and/or structuring tasks.



Environmental characteristics include
factors outside the subordinates control.

When task structure is high, directive
leadership is less effective than when structure
is low.
Formal authority system higher degree of
formality, the less directive is the leader
behavior accepted by subordinates.
Nature of work group if social satisfaction and
support are not received within the group,
subordinates may look to the leader for this
support.

Subordinates motivation to perform
Subordinates
Personal
Characteristics
Perceived ability
Locus of control

Leader Behavior
Directive
Supportive
Participative
Achievement
oriented
Environmental
Characteristics
Task structure
Work group
Path Clarification
Increase Rewards
Leader defines what
follower
must do to attain work
outcomes
Leader clarifies followers
work role
Follower has increased
knowledge & confidence to
accomplish outcomes
Leader learns followers
needs
Leader matches followers
needs to rewards if work
outcomes are accomplished
Leader increases value of
work outcomes for follower
Follower displays increased effort and
motivation
Organizational work outcomes are
accomplished
Situatio
n
Leader Behavior Impact on Follower Outcome
Supportive
Leadership
Directive
Leadership
Achievement-
Oriented
Leadership
Participative
Leadership
Followers lack
self-confidence
Ambiguous job
Lack of job
challenge
Incorrect
reward
Increases confidence
to achieve work
outcomes
Clarifies path to
reward
Set and strive for
high goals
Clarifies followers
needs to change
rewards
Increased
effort;
improved
satisfaction
and
performance
refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social,
educational, gender, or economic strength of
individuals and communities.
The term empowerment covers a vast landscape of
meanings, interpretations, definitions and disciplines
ranging from psychology and philosophy to the highly
commercialized self-help industry and motivational
sciences.
Sociological empowerment often addresses members
of groups that social discrimination processes have
excluded from decision-making processes through -
for example - discrimination based on disability, race,
ethnicity, religion, or gender. Empowerment as a
methodology is often associated with feminism.


In the book Empowerment Takes More Than a
Minute, the authors illustrate three keys that
organizations can use to open the knowledge,
experience, and motivation power that people
already have.

The three keys that managers must use to empower
their employees are:
Share information with everyone
Create autonomy through boundaries
Replace the old hierarchy with self-
managed teams

According to author Stewart, in her
book Empowering People she describes that in
order to guarantee a successful work
environment, managers need to exercise the
right kind of authority .

To summarize, empowerment is simply the
effective use of a managers authority, and
subsequently, it is a productive way to maximize
all-around work efficiency.