3. Leadership Flashcards
Define steer and mobilise
Steer: find a direction
Mobilise: convince a group of people to move in that direction
What is the difference between managers and leaders
A leader should demonstrate to people that they are capable of achieving more than they think they can achieve.
On the other hand, a manager is task-oriented and organises the group.
In organisations, both managers and leaders often overlap, but not always
What is episodic leadership?
Episodes of work life that require leadership behaviour
What are two types of leadership?
Transactional and transformational
What is transactional leadership?
Carrot and stick approach: make it clear to followers what behavior pattern will be rewarded
Monitoring results and rewarding desired behavior
Using punishment and other corrective action in response to deviations from acceptable performance standards
What is transformational leadership?
Impressing on followers the importance and implications of the tasks they are performing
Persuading followers to concentrate on the goals of the work group or organization
Appealing to higher-order needs such as making a contribution
Which leadership approach is favoured? (Transactional vs transformational)
Transactional leadership may be seen as the ‘easy way out’. Some research suggests this method is dominant in managers. True leaders take a transformational approach.
What is the Michael Jordan effect?
People that are promoted due to technical skills alone usually fail due to lack of leadership skills
What are characteristics of managers who derail?
Rigidity: they were unable to adapt their style to changes in the organizational culture. They couldn’t listen or learn.
Poor relationships: being too harshly critical, insensitive, or demanding, so that they alienated those they work with
What % of leader emergence accounted for by heritability?
30%
Where is leadership learned? (percentages)
70% through experience
20% through others
10% through structured courses and programs
10% is important as it allows us to accelerate our skills through reflection
What is developmental readiness?
The ability and motivation to attend to, make meaning of, and appropriate new knowledge into one‘s long-term memory structures
Summarise the evolution of leadership research and approaches
- TRAIT Approach (1920-1950)
- BEHAVIOURAL Approaches (1950-1970): Specific leadership styles or leader behaviours affect follower performance and satisfaction. (task-orientated vs relationship-orientated)
- CONTINGENCY Approach (1970-present): The effectiveness of any leadership style or behaviour depends on the situation. The interaction between people, tasks, and environment is crucial.
What are the two types of behaviours within the behavioural approach (1950-1970)?
- Task-oriented behaviours: goal-setting, organizing, setting deadlines, controlling, etc. (“initiating structure”)
- Relationship-oriented behaviours: communicating, giving support, providing feedback, etc. (“consideration”)
Describe the trait approach to leadership
Attempts to show that leaders possess certain characteristics that non-leaders did not
Started with “Great Man” approach: historians searching for clues on admirable traits differentiating leaders from others - assumed “great men are born, not made”
Characteristics include self-confidence, initiative, ambition, drive, integrity, concern for others, communication skills, resilience, emotional intelligence etc. (led to nature/nurture debate: are leaders born or made?)
However, thought to be poor correlation with leadership effectiveness
Summarise the limitations of the trait approach
- Extroverts rise to the top, however, correlation does not equal causality - they may not actually be the best leaders
- Depends on situation: success of the extroverted leader depended on how proactive subordinates were (field + lab studies)
- Stores where employees weren‘t very proactive extroverted leadership was associated with 15% higher profits than average. Stores where employees were very proactive and offered ideas – extroverted leadership was associated with 14% lower profits (different leadership styles may be effective depending on situation e.g. type of followers, organization, industry)
What are three key leadership myths?
- Everyone can be a leader: becoming a leader requires a high degree of self-knowledge; individuals must also want to be leaders: not everybody is interested in taking that responsibility
- People who get to the top are leaders: people who make it to the top may have done it for other reasons than leadership quality; by definition, leaders are simply people who have followers (not related to rank)
- Leaders deliver business results: Not always; some well-led businesses do not necessarily produce results, particularly in the short-term
What did managers say was the most common cause of poor performance by employees?
Lack of effort (49%)
Lack of ability (30%)
Lack of support (21%)
What did managers say was the most common cause of poor performance by themselves?
Lack of support (90%)
Lack of effort (8%)
Lack of ability (2%)
What did Frankl suggest leaders should do?
There is discussion about whether boss’s behaviour causes subordinate performance, or vice versa.
Frankl (learning from others) suggests leaders should appear to overestimate others, encouraging them to strive higher than the target. Then, they will reach the target.
What is the Pygmalion effect?
Positive self-fulfilling prophecy
When assigning subordinates according to potential: if assigned to high potential, leaders provided more help, career advice, and feedback; Mistakes; opportunities for teaching and learning
If assigned to low potential: Performance decreased sharply although the assignment as “low potential” had been arbitrary
What is ‘set up to fail syndrome’?
Essentially opposite of the Pygmalion theory
With weaker performers, bosses tend to: focus on what needs to be done/how, set targets/deadlines, make clear action plans and check points, focus on operational issues, limit open ended contact and provide more routine assignments and projects.
Therefore, with weaker performers, FREEDOM and INTRINSIC MOTIVATORS are reduced, which increases chance of failure.
How ‘set up to fail syndrome’ be overcome?
- Manage your own expectations and biases
- Joint Exploration: “I want to discuss your performance … because I may be part of the problem”
NB: - You may be wrong about your performance judgment, you may be right but there may be reasons, you may be one of the reasons - Shared Diagnosis
- Agreement on Cures: (changes that the subordinate will make, changes that the boss will make, contracting on how much and what type of supervision, progress reviews)
Describe diminshers
Need to be the smartest
Limited to their own opinion and inner circle, under-utilising intelligence around them.
Describe multipliers
Make the best leaders
Use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them
Look for talent everywhere: appreciating all types of genius and ignoring boundaries
Find people‘s native genius: appreciate uniqueness
Remove the blockers: remove prima donnas, as well as accidental diminishers
What qualities should you have to become a multiplier?
Have a genuine interest and belief in the potential of employees
Engage in actions that support others and communicate that belief
Believe in own ability to develop others (success does not measure a human being, effort does!)
