Leadership
What the heck is it?
What is Leadership?
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Academic View
Leadership is about coping with change,
The ability to influence a group towards the
achievement of goals,
A relationship between people in which
influence and power are unevenly distributed
What is Leadership?
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Practitioner Views
Leadership is organizing, inspiring, and
driving a group to achieve results beyond their
expectations. Michael Dell
Leadership is taking a group of people in a
new direction or to higher levels of
performance than they would have achieved
without you. George Fisher
Leadership Theories
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Trait theory
Focuses on personal characteristics
Leaders seen as different from the average
person
Traits and effective leadership not highly
correlated
Leadership Theories
Limitations of Trait Theory
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Do traits lead to effective leadership or does
effective leadership lead to traits?
Traits do not guarantee effective leadership
Situation may limit the validity of traits
Traits predict the appearance of leadership, not its
effectiveness
Leadership Theories
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Traits that predict effective leadership
Motivation
Ambition, energy, tenacity
Honesty and integrity
Self-confidence
Cognitive ability
Content knowledge
Leadership Theories
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Behavioral Theories
Behavioral style determines leadership effectiveness
Assumes there are 2 primary functions of leadership:
Orientation to task and Orientation to people
Assumes there is one best way to approach
leadership: orientation to teamwork, democratic
processes and production processes
Leadership Theories
Do behaviors alone capture the complexity of
the leadership process?
Early research focused on three styles:
-Autocratic, command
-Democratic, group input and DM
-Laissez-faire, total freedom
Leadership Theories
Situational Theories
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Circumstances determine appropriate behavior
Appropriate style is contingent on the situation.
Considers traits, behavioral and situational
approaches to create adaptability
Leadership Theories
Situational Leadership Model (Hersey and Blanchard)
- Focuses on amount of guidance given
- Relationship oriented behavior
- Readiness level of individuals to perform tasks
- Forms 4 possible leadership styles
- Appropriate style depends on subordinate
readiness combined with leader’s view of
performance