Rayner and Adam-Smith (eds): Managing and Leading People – Tutor notes
Readers should be able to summarise the content of the study and to draw conclusions
about the training and development of managers in business schools. The Brunel study
suggests that managers must develop soft skills and that MBAs tend to focus on
developing managerial attitudes which are aggressive. The increasing numbers of
women in the workplace and their presence in management implies a necessity for
listening and trust-building. The implications include the need to re-evaluate some of
the traditional methods and techniques that are common in MBA programmes, and to
include emotional intelligence and other less directive styles of leadership.
This is an opportunity to attempt to identify common traits which can be associated
with successful business leaders following the traits or qualities approach. The choice
of leaders should give the opportunity to find traits which are similar and those which
are starkly different (Anita Roddick compared with Alan Sugar, for instance).
The second question should lead into a more contingency-based analysis. It might also
give insights into the development of successful leaders through examination of career
histories.
The first question is fairly self-explanatory. There are clear elements of task knowledge
when Maximus inspects the battle preparations and discusses tactics with his
commanders (for instance, the risk to the cavalry is deemed to be acceptable). The
relationship with individuals is shown in his dealings with some of the front-line
soldiers as he walks through the ranks rather than arriving on horseback to discuss
tactics with his commanders. The team-building element is best shown in the pre-battle
speech.
The second set of questions offers the opportunity to identify different leadership styles
and also to consider questions of power. Maximus has expert power and shows
participatory leadership in some of the gladiatorial contests. Marcus Aurelius has
position and resource power but is a reluctant leader and wishes to enable a more
democratic than autocratic system to be restored. Commodus also has position power
but lacks expertise and tends to rely on autocratic leadership and physical power.
Gracchus has both expert and position power but never really manages to take control.
Lucilla has personal power and exercises what might be deemed a more feminine and
conciliatory style of leadership.
The variety of chosen leaders should offer the scope for the application of different
theories. The Walt Disney example seems to suggest inspirational leadership. Others
suggest significant personality traits, the ability to perform leadership functions and
situational leadership (the Marge Simpson example).
The class activity offers the opportunity for students to think carefully about what they
value in leadership and which models provide what they consider to be the best leaders.
The activity should result in readers’ being able to summarise the main findings of the
research and is thus an exercise in comprehension and analysis.
The consideration of the impact of the research findings in terms of organisational
leadership development offers the opportunity for HRM specialists to consider the
impact on all aspects of HR activity which directly or indirectly deals with the choice,
promotion, development and assessment of leadership performance.
The aim of these questions is to generate discussion about the nature of leadership and
management, and to attempt to clarify the reader’s own views on the matter through
debate and the exchange of ideas. In a group setting the aim is not so much to arrive at
an agreed answer to each question but to enable individuals to develop and defend their
own viewpoint.
 Leadership and management are related.
 Strategic leaders must ‘do the right thing’ in terms of strategy creation.
 Strategic leadership may involve little actual management.
 Managers need to ‘do things right’.
 Managers have direct responsibility for deploying people.
 Management involves leadership.
 MSC analysis includes at least three aspects of management which could be seen
as leadership.
The aim of this activity is to encourage readers to examine how the way in which
leadership is understood affects the actual human resource management practices by
which organisations develop leaders. For instance:
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A traits approach involves seeking individuals who show the required traits.
Training would be based on developing technical competence in the chosen
leaders.
A functional approach is likely to result in a training needs analysis which
attempts to isolate specific skills associated with each function.
This would be followed by the design and delivery of learning events that will
develop these skills.
The contrast between the commercial and public sectors should initiate debate
about the transferability of skills between different organisational contexts.
A critical discussion of the article might also be possible, and it would be
interesting to see how closely the readers’ own suggestions mirror that of the
case.
The aim of this activity is to encourage readers to reflect on their own experience of
leadership within the normal confines of day-to-day working life.
 The initial question should encourage discussion of both the traits and
behaviours/styles of leadership.
 The second question should open up discussion of the contingency approaches
and to try to map skills against different contingencies.
 Links should be made to theoretical frameworks such as those of Tannenbaum
and Schmidt or Hersey and Blanchard.
 Links with Chapter 2 – particularly the ‘Boston box’ analysis of a business
portfolio – would be useful.
The purpose of this activity is to generate ideas about leadership development in the
context of a rapidly evolving field of virtual organisational structures. The most
significant part of the exercise is that which attempts to consider the contribution that
HR specialists might have to make in terms of appropriate training for virtual
leadership. It should be expected that readers can make use of the ideas of training
needs analysis. By its nature, this activity has a fairly loose and undefined outcome.