Leadership:
Understanding its Global Impact
Chapter 5:
Theories of leadership
Learning objectives
• Explain the development of leadership
theory
• Identify and explain the significant
theories and models of leadership
• Understand how leadership theory
assists leaders to explain their
relationships with their followers
• Develop and critique your own
personal theory of leadership
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Chapter contents
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•
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Introduction
Spotlight: Heather Ridout, Ai Group
The development of leadership theory
Leader in action: Ian Darling
Specific leadership theories and
models
• Summary
• Case study: Kevin Rudd
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Spotlight: Heather Ridout
Heather was named in the
AFR BOSS Magazine twenty ‘true
leaders’ in 2008, not just because of
her leadership of the Ai Group but
because of the perception that she
embodies two of the qualities seen
as critical for leaders in the current
global environment—namely, ethics
and integrity.
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Introduction
• Theories and models
– a ‘theory’ is a structure designed to
explain a set of observations;
explain why things happen.
– a ‘model’ can be interpreted to mean
a representation designed to show
the main workings of a concept;
attempt to be predictive.
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The development of leadership theory
Four distinct approaches to explain
leadership theory:
1. Trait approach
– Kirkpatrick & Locke 1991 traits list
2. Behavioural approach
– task-centred behaviour
– people-centred behaviour
– Leadership Grid
– Likert’s systems model
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The development of leadership theory
3. Situational/contingency approach
– situational factors
– least preferred co-worker model
(Fiedler’s contingency theory)
– the path–goal theory
– situational leadership theory
– leader substitutes theory
– normative decision-making model
– cognitive resource theory
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The development of leadership theory
4. Integrative approach
–
–
–
–
charismatic leadership (see chapter 6)
transformational leadership (see chapter 6
servant leadership and similar theories
shared leadership and distributive
leadership
– adaptive leadership (see chapter 11)
– global leadership
– worldly leadership
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Leader in action: Ian Darling
• Embodies the contemporary theories of
leadership and in particular the ‘worldly’
theory
• His leadership style, vision and values
demonstrate that leaders of large
organisations can not only attend to
profit maximisation and shareholders
return but can wear many hats, paying
attention to higher order societal
priorities or issues that relate to the
common good
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The Leadership Grid
• Blake & Mouton 1964
• Two fundamental concerns (people
and results) manifest seven distinct
styles of relating
• By studying each style … leaders can
examine how behaviours help or hurt
bottom line results
• Most effective style for most situations =
team management style (9,9)
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Likert’s systems model
• Likert 1967
• Same basic factors of concern for
production and people
• Devised a four-level model of leader
effectiveness
• Three classes of variables:
– Causal variables
– Intervening variables
– End-result variables
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Likert’s systems of leadership
Leadership variable
System 1
System 2
System 3
System 4
Autocratic
Benevolent
Participative
Democratic
Confidence and trust in
work team members
Shows no confidence and
no trust in team members
Demonstrates confidence
and trust but as master to
servant
Demonstrates confidence
and trust; still keeps
control of decisions
Demonstrates confidence
and trust in all actions
towards team members
Work team members
feeling of freedom
Team members do not
feel at all free to discuss
things about the job with
manager
Team members not
comfortable about
discussing things about
the job with manager
Team members feel free
to discuss things about the
job with manager
Team members feel free
to discuss job/job
problems with manager
Leader seeking
involvement with team
members
Does not seek ideas and
opinions of team members
in solving job problems
Sometimes gets job
problem-solving ideas
from team members
Solicits and uses ideas
from team members to
help solve job problems
Team members are
consulted for ideas and
opinions and on how
problems are best solved
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Least preferred co-worker model
(Fiedler’s contingency model)
•
•
•
•
Fiedler 1967
Situational theory
Least-preferred co-worker (LPC) scale
Situational favourability:
– Leader-member relations
– Task structure
– Position power
• Task-centred and people-centred styles
may be successful if applied in the
correct situation
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The least preferred co-worker model
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The path-goal model
• House & Mitchell 1974
• Attempts to identify how and why different
types of rewards and different leadership
styles affect:
– motivation
– performance and satisfaction
• Suggests leaders may utilise various
styles in different situations (4 styles)
• Style preference is dependent on: teammember characteristics & environmental
forces
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Path-goal model
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Situational leadership theory
• Hersey & Blanchard 1969
‘Life Cycle’ theory – maturity
• Hersey’s Situational Leadership model
1980
• Blanchard 1990’s
Situational Leadership 11 (SL11)
• Leaders need to assess the ‘readiness’
of the team members and vary their
leadership style in various phases
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Situational leadership theory
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Leader substitutes theory
• Kerr & Jermier 1978
• Situational variables prevent
leaders from influencing teammember attitudes & behaviour
• substitutes and neutralisers
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Normative decision-making
model
•
•
•
•
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Victor Vroom & Philip Yetton 1973
Decision model
Five leadership styles
Attempts to bridge the gap
between theory and practice
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Cognitive resources theory
• Fiedler 1986 and
Fiedler & Garcia 1987
• Relates group performance to the
intelligence and experience of the
leader
• Theory makes five predictions
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Servant leadership & similar
• Robert K Greenleaf 1970
• Leaders are not in their positions
to be served, but to serve their
followers
• Impact of who we are being
• Identified 10 critical characteristics
of the servant leader
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Shared leadership &
distributive leadership
• If power is shared it is increased
• Leader’s role is to distribute
leadership
• Create a culture of accountability
• Five requirements for the shared
leadership model to work
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Global leadership
• Emerged in the early 1990s
• Advent of international org’s
• How leadership occurred across
other cultures and in multinational
organisations
• Contested term
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Global leadership models
• Global explorer model
Black, Morrison & Gregersen 1999
• Global literacies model
Rosen, Digh, Singer &Philips 2000
• Pyramid model
Bird &Osland 2004; Osland 2008
• Global executive leadership inventory
Kets de Vries, Vrignaud, and FlorentTreacy 2004
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Worldly leadership
• Gosling & Mintzberg 2003
• Shift from a global to a worldly
mindset
• Local consequences are a key
indicator of performance
• Three key elements
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Summary
• Leaders need to have the ability to
diagnose the situation … and to
appreciate the impact of the variables
at play
• Relationships with the people you lead
are significant in all situations
• Being able to change style depends on:
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–
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–
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Intensity of existing style
Strength of value system
Pressure situations
Time
Case study: Kevin Rudd
• Having read in the case study the application of
each leadership theory to Mr Rudd, apply each
theory to yourself. Which of the theories, if any,
seem to apply to your leadership? How can this
(or other theories) assist you in developing your
leadership capacity?
• What factors might lead to the conclusion that
leadership theory often looks very different from
leadership in practice?
• Given what you have read and know about the
leadership style of Mr Rudd, make your own
assessment of his effectiveness as a leader. What
can you learn from his leadership strengths and
weaknesses?
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