Culture and Leadership
Leadership Theories

Great Man Theory
Leaders are born not made.
Great leaders will emerge when there is a great need.

Trait Theory
> Based on a combination genetics and socialization, each of us
develops a unique set of traits.
> Some traits are particularly suited to leadership. According to
this perspective, people who make good leaders have the right (or
sufficient) combination of traits.
Kurt * Leadership Theory

The first Psychological leadership theory.
 In 1939, a group of researchers led by Kurt
Lewin identified three styles of leadership.
 In the study, schoolchildren were assigned to
one of three groups with an authoritarian,
democratic or laissez-fair leader. The children
were then led in an arts and crafts project
while researchers observed the behavior of
children in response to the different styles of
leadership.
Authoritarian (Autocratic) Leaders

Authoritarian leaders provide clear
expectations for what needs to be done,
when it should be done, and how it should be
done. There is also a clear division between
the leader and the followers. Authoritarian
leaders make decisions independently with
little or no input from the rest of the group.
Participative (Democratic) leadership

Participative leadership is generally the most
effective leadership style. Democratic leaders
offer guidance to group members, but they
also participate in the group and allow input
from other group members. In Lewin’s study,
children in this group were less productive
than the members of the authoritarian group,
but their contributions were of a much higher
quality.
Delagative (Laissez-fair) Leadership

Delegative leaders were the least productive
of all three groups. The children in this group
also made more demands on the leader,
showed little cooperation and were unable to
work independently.
 Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance
to group members and leave decision-making
up to group members. While this style can be
effective in situations where group members
are highly qualified in an area of expertise, it
often leads to poorly defined roles and a lack
of motivation.
Managerial Grid Model

Introduced by Blake and Mouton in 1964, this
is a behavioral leadership model originally
identified five different leadership styles
based on the concern for people and the
concern for production
Leadership Theories

Participative Leadership
> Involvement in decision-making improves the understanding of
the issues involved by those who must carry out the decisions.
> People are more committed to actions where they have involved
in the relevant decision-making.
> Several people deciding together make better decisions than one
person alone.
It was the great psychologist, Rensis Likert, who
introduced this leadership concept in 1967
Likert’s Leadership Styles

Rensis Likert (1903-1081) believed that good
leadership stems from a climate and system
of management that creates an effective
organization.
 He examined different types of organizations
and leadership styles, and he asserted that to
achieve maximum profitability, good labor
relations and high productivity, every
organization must make optimum use of their
human assets.
Four Systems of Management

System 1 - Exploitive Authoritative
 System 2 - Benevolent Authoritative
 System 3 - Consultative
 System 4 - Participative
Exploitive Authoritative

Decisions are imposed on subordinates,
where motivation is characterized by threats,
where high levels of management have great
responsibilities but lower levels have virtually
none, where there is very little communication
and no joint teamwork.
Benevolent Authoritative

Leadership is by a condescending form of
master-servant trust, where motivation is
mainly by rewards, where managerial
personnel feel responsibility but lower levels
do not, where there is little communication
and relatively little teamwork.
Consultative

Leadership is by superiors who have
substantial but not complete trust in their
subordinates, where motivation is by rewards
and some involvement, where a high
proportion of personnel, especially those at
the higher levels feel responsibility for
achieving organization goals, where there is
some communication (both vertical and
horizontal) and a moderate amount of
teamwork.
Participative

According to Likert, the optimum solution,
where leadership is by superiors who have;
complete confidence in their subordinates,
where motivation is by economic rewards
based on goals which have been set in
participation, where personnel at all levels
feel real responsibility for the organizational
goals, where there is much communication,
and a substantial amount of cooperative
teamwork.
More Leadership Theories

Situational Leadership
The best action of the leader depends on a range of
situational factors.
- Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership
- Vroom and Yetton’s Normative Model
- House’s Path-Goal Theory of Leadership
Leadership Theories

Contingency Theories
The leader’s ability to lead is contingent upon various situational
factors, including the leader’s preferred style, the capabilities and
behaviors of followers and also various other situational factors.
- Fiedler’s Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) Theory
- Cognitive Resource Theory
- Strategic Contingencies Theory
Leadership Theories

Transactional Leadership
> People are motivated by reward and punishment.
> Social systems work best with a clear chain of command.
> When people have agreed to do a job, a part of the deal is that
they cede all authority to their manager.
> The prime purpose of a subordinate is to do what their manager
tells them to do.
- Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory
Leadership Theories

Leaders as change agents.

Transformational theory has been one of the most
highly utilized leadership theories of the past 30
years, within both organizational research and
practice. In addition, transformational theory is
useful as it includes a full range of leadership
styles that cover transformational, constructive
transactional and passive-avoidant leadership.
Transformational Leadership

Transformational Leadership
> People will follow a person who inspires them. A
person with vision and passion can achieve great things.
> The way to get things done is by infecting followers
with enthusiasm and energy.
- Bass’ Transformational Leadership Theory
- Burns’ Transformational Leadership Theory
- Kouzes and Posner’s Leadership Participation
Inventory
A Case for Transformational
Leadership

Gill, Levine & Pitt (1998) believe that the ‘new, postbureaucratic organization’ will require
transformational leadership that enables flexibility,
horizontal networks, high-trust relationships,
adaptability to change and uncertainty, innovation
and empowerment of employees. Gill et al. propose
that such leadership will lead to the necessary reinvention of organizational cultures into forms that
will meet the new organizational requirements for
success.
Recapping Leadership Without the Fancy
Theoretical Jargon
Models of Leadership

Directive/Supportive Behavior model
 Directive vs. nondirective leaders
 Supportive vs. non-supportive leaders
Supportive
Directive
NonDirective
Non-Supportive
Michael Maccoby: Into the 21st Century
The Gamesman Model (Michael Maccoby)
From The Gamesman: The New Corporate
Leaders (1976) and The Leaders We Need:
And What Makes Us Follow (2007)
Four Leadership Styles
 The Spectator
 The Technician
 The Jungle Fighter
 The Gamesman

Michael Maccoby is a colorful character who is
a globally recognized expert on leadership who
for 35 years. He has advised leaders in
businesses, governments, unions, universities
and non profit organizations in more then 30
countries. He is president of the Maccoby
Group in Washington, D.C. which offers
consulting, coaching, research and leadership
workshops. He has a PhD from Harvard
University, where he directed the Program on
Technology, Public Policy and Human
Development from 1978-90. He graduated from
The Mexican Institute of Psychoanalysis where
he studied under Erich Fromm, the famous
Psychoanalyst.