IFSTA Fire Co Officer: Ch 2 Flashcards
Supervising
Act of directing, overseeing, or controlling the activities and behavior of employees who are assigned to a supervisor
Managing
Act of controlling, monitoring, or directing a project, program, situation, or organization through the use of authority, discipline, or persuasion.
Leading
Acting of controlling, directing, conducting, guiding, and administering through the use of personal behavioral traits or personality characteristics that motivate employees to the successful completion of an organization’s goals.
Behavioral Leadership theories
- Basic Leadership Style (autocratic, democratic, laissez faire)
- Two-dimensional leadership stylers (job & employee centered models)
- Contingency leadership theory (no single best style exists)
- Contemporary leadership styles (charismatic, transformational, transactional, symbolic)
- Theory X (average worker dislikes work)
- Theory Y (workers believe work is natural)
- Theory Z (workers performing w/out supervision)
Autocratic leadership
Form of Basic leadership style
- Tells subordinate what and how w/little or no input
Negatives
- may result in significant challenges from subordinates
- not effective in daily operations
- Positives
- appropriate for emergency ops
- Examples
- Giving emergency scene orders/commands
Democratic leadership
- Form of Basic leadership style
- Includes employees in decision-making
- Allows them to work with least amount of supervision
- Works for daily operations and special operations (HAZMAT, technical rescue) where knowledge and skills more important than rank
Laissez-faire leadership
- Form of basic leadership styler
- French for “allow to do”
- Employees make all decisions, leader does not supervise at all
- Good for routine station/community tasks
Negatives
- Can result in loss of respect from followers if dominant leadership style.
- Potential for challenge from strong informal leader
- Never used at emergency incidents
Two-dimensional leadership style
- 4 quadrant chart compares degree of job structure to degree of employee consideration
- referred to as job-centered and employee-centered
Contingency leadership theory
- No single best leadership style
- Match situation to leadership style
Success or failure depend on answers to:
- How good is the relationship between leader and subordinates?
- Is the task structured or unstructured?
- Is the leader working from a position of strong or weak power?
Contemporary leadership styles
Currently popular theories
- Charismatic
- Transformational
- Transactional
- Symbolic
Charismatic leadership
- Form of Contemporary leadership
- Inspires loyalty and creates enthusiastic vision others work to attain
- Leaders have strong personalities
- Difficult to separate personalities from that of the organization
- When leader dies/leaves difficult to replace.
Transformational Leadership
- Form of contemporary leadership
- Depends on continuous learning, innovation, and change within organization.
- Leader involves followers in change process
- Challenges them to attain their full potential
- True x-formational leadership is a rare quality
Transactional leadership
- Form of contemporary leadership
- Involves exchange between leader and followers
- Followers perform tasks effectively in exchange for rewards from leader
Symbolic leadership
- Form of contemporary leadership
- Theory based on strong organizational culture that holds common values and beliefs.
- Leadership starts at top and extends down to first-line supervisor
- Employees have full faith and trust in leadership
- Leaders viewed as infallible.
Negatives
- Employees fail to question leadership decisions or speak openly when management makes errors.
Theory X
- Average worker is lazy, dislikes work, avoids it
- Workers must be coerced into performing adequately based on threats and punishment
- Average worker prefers to be closely supervised and shuns responsibility due to lack of ambition
Theory Y
- Work is as natural as play or rest
- Workers will perform adequately with self-direction and self-control without coercion
- Workers will support organizational objectives if associated with their personal goals
- Average worker learns not only to accept responsibility but to seek it
- Only a small part of the worker’s intelligence, ingenuity, and imagination is ever harnessed but can excel with proper leadership
Theory Z
- Based on Japanese firms with high level of commitment and production from workforce
- Involved workers are key to increased productivity
- Can perform autonomously because they’re trustworthy
- Leadership style focuses on the people
- Employees remain with company for life
- Close relationship between work and social life
- Goal to produce economic success futures togetherness
- Participative approach to decision making
Situational Leadership (3 theories)
Style of leadership based on type of situation
- Leadership-continuum theory
- path-goal theory
- results-based theory
Leadeerhip-Continuum theory
- Which style (autocratic to democratic) to apply
Weaknesses
- Leader must be good judge of situations and people
- Assumes leader has all the necessary information
- Assumes no external forces (political or social)
- Oversimplifies complex situation by making it two-dimensional
Tell-Sell-Consult-Share
Path-Goal Theory
- Based on employees’ perceptions of the unit’s goals and objectives
- Leader determines best of four styles
- Considers situational factors:
- Subordinate
- How much authority in choosing tasks?
- How much influence to members think they have in reaching goals?
- What skills do members have to achieve goals?
- Environmental
- Consists of actual authority of leader, type of task, how involved members are in completing task
Path-Goal theory 4 types of leadership style
- Directive- leader gives specific guidance
- Supportive- leader shows concern for subordinates
- Participative- Leader asks for suggestions
- Achievement-oriented- Leader establishes high goals and expects high performance.
Results-Based Leadership Theory
- Leadership ability not judged by personal traits alone but also by results
- Effective leadership = personal attributes x results
- Leader’s success based on:
- How well leader balances demands of employees, organization, customers, and stakeholders
- How well leader connects results to organization’s strategy
- How well results conform to short & long term goals
- How well results support the organization rather than the leader’s personal gain.
Principle-Centered Leadership
- Stephen Covey, basic values/principles to lead
- Decisions based on certain core ethical values
- Values must be held by members to be effective
- Integrity, excellence, harmony, loyalty, faith, honesty, courage
Leadership Levels: Level 1
Hierarchy of leadership based on traits of various leaders
Highly capable individual
- Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits.
Leadership Levels: Level 2
Contributing team member
- Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.
Leadership Levels: Level 3
Competent manager:
- Person who organizes people and resources towards the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.
Leadership Levels: Level 4
Effective Leader
- Person who catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.
Leadership Levels: Level 5
Executive:
- Person who builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional willpower.
Also has these characteristics
- Ambition for the organization rather than self
- Development of subordinates who will become successful successors
- Personal modesty and humility
- Driven to make company succeed
- Diligence to ensure organizational success regardless of effort required
- Success attributed to factors other than themselves but takes full responsibility for failures.
Leadership model vs. theory
Model: has been proven through application
Theory: only hypothesis that needs to be proven
Basic Leadership Model
Based on 3-category theory: autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire.
Situational Leadership Model
Based on two-dimensional and situational leadership theories, depends on matching leader’s style to maturity of the members.
Maturity based on 2 elements:
- Ability to perform task
- Willingness to perform task
Situational Leadership Model: 4 readiness levels
Situational Leadership Model: leadership styles
- Telling: uses autocratic approach
- Selling: uses refined autocratic approach, convincing members task is appropriate and justified
- Participating: relies on input from members in determining how to accomplish task
- Delegating: uses limits set my leader, allows members to determine how to accomplish task
Social Change Model
- Value-based model of leadership that places service at the core for social change.
- Make changes for the betterment of others through leadership
Goals
- Promote self-knowledge in the individual and an understanding of one’s interests, talents, and values
- Increase leadership competence to cause positive cultural change in institution
Social Change Model: Individual critical values
- Consciousness of self and others: awareness of values, emotions, attitudes, and beliefs that motivate people to action
- Congruence: Consistency of thoughts, feelings, and actions towards others
- Commitment: Personal investment of time and energy for the duration of the project.
Social Change Model: Group critical values
- Common purpose: Shared goals and values defined by the active participation of members of the group
- Collaboration: Application of mutual trust as a means of empowering others and oneself.
- Controversy with civility: Acknowledgment that group members will inevitably hold different views and that differences must be addressed in a civil values-based, respectful manner.
Social Change Model: Community/society
Citizenship: Acknowledgment that the members of the group have both individual rights and responsibilities to the community.
Alpha Leadership Model
- Continuation of transformational theory.
- Leader involves followers in the process of accomplishing goals win the limits of the system.
- Relationship between the 4: leader, follower, system, and goal
- Leaders characterized as persons who generate loyalty and commitment through relationships
- Subordinate take action without being asked directly.
Alpha Leadership Model: 3 core skills
- Anticipating: notes trends, patterns that cause problems in the system.
- Aligning: leader establishes strong relationships with members and creates conditions that permit each person to succeed.
- Acting: leader applies 80/20 rule (Pareto’s Principle) by committing 80% of the effort on 20% of the tasks that are important.
Concepts of Leadership: 5 leadership traits
A good leader:
- Sees opportunities that others do not
- Identifies challenges early
- Communicates effectively
- Plans for success
- Builds trust with others
5 types of Power
- Reward
- Coercive
- Identification
- Expert
- Legitimate
Types of Power: Reward
Based on perception of another’s ability to grant rewards
Types of Power: Coercive
Based on perception that leaders can punish
Types of Power: Identification
- Derived from someone’s desire to identify with and emulate another.
- Celebrity endorsements
- Referent or personal power: perception that one has power based on relationship with someone who does have power.
Types of Power: Expert
Power is based on perception that another’s knowledge and expertise can help in their endeavors.
Types of Power: Legitimate
- Power is derived from organizational structure.
- Subordinates accept legitimate power if they deem the supervisor worth.
- Legitimate power derived from:
- Shared values
- Acceptance of a social structure
- Sanction of a legitimizing agent
Command Presence: 8 steps
- Know what the situation is.
- Know what resources are available.
- Know the strategy and tactics required.
- Listen to all points of view.
- Make the decision.
- Take responsibility for the decision.
- Implement the decision.
- Evaluate the decision.
5 leadership levels (book Good to Great)
- Highly capable individual
- Contributing team member
- Competent manager
- Effective leader
- Executive
