L2: Traditional Leadership Theories Flashcards
Name 2 Studies of Leadership Traits and Characteristics
- Lord, DeVader, and Alliger (1986)
Intelligence
Masculinity
Dominance
- Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991) Drive Motivation Integrity Confidence Cognitive- ability Task- knowledge
- Zaccarp, Kemp and Bader (2004) Cognitive abilities Extraversion Conscientiousness Emotional stability Openness Agreeableness Motivation Social intelligence Self-monitoring Emotional- intelligence Problem solving
From the Leadership Trait Research we can list 5 Key Traits to be perceived as an effective Leader
Determination Intelligence Integrity Socialbility Self-confidence [DIISS]
What are the 5 Big Personality Factors and Leadership Traits?
Accronym?
Author and Year?
Opennes to Experience (Imaginative/Conventional)
Conscientiousness (Organised/Spontaneous)(wanting to do your work well)
Extraversion (Outgoing/Solitary)
Agreeableness (Trusting/Competitive)
Neutroticism (Prone to Stress/Emotionally stable)(durastic emotional reactions)
OCEAN
Judge et al. (2002)
Strengths of 5 Big Personality Factors and Leadership Traits? (4)
Weaknesses (6)
Strengths Intuitively appealing Confirms popular portrayal of leaders being a special kind of person A century of research into it Focuses purely on the leader aspect Provides a benchmark
Weaknesses No definitive list Research is largely subjective Focuses exclusively on the leader Gender bias Limited evidence that these traits result in outcomes Focuses on heroic leaders Spencer’s (1860) counter-argument to Great Man Theory - great men are the products of their societies, their actions would be impossible without the social conditions built before their lifetimes
Three-Skill Approach to Effective Leader
Author, Year
Technical Skills
Human Skill
Conceptual Skill
Katz, 1955
Strengths (4) and Weaknesses (4) of Three-Skill Approach to Effective Leader
Strengths
Leader centred that focuses on developing skills
Learned skill at the heart of effective leadership and management
Makes leadership available to everyone
Widens the view on leadership
Weaknesses
Too broad? goes beyond just leadership skills or skills needed for all of us
Weak predicative value – how do skills lead to effective leadership performance?
Claims not to be trait based but includes a number of traits – personality, motivation etc.
Based on research in a particular context
Name 4 Major Studies of Leadership Behaviour/Styles and Who conducted them
Ohio State University 1940s based on Stogdill’s work – more to leadership than traits
University of Michigan - how leadership functioned in small groups
Blake and Mouton, 1960s – how managers used tasks and relationship behaviour in organisations
Vroom’s Continuum - styles typologies
2 findings from the Ohio State study of how leaders acted?
How was study conducted?
Initiating structure - emphasis on performance
Consideration - sensitivity to relationships
Subordinates completed questionnaires about their leaders
2 Findings from Michigan study of Leadership in Small Groups?
Employee orientation – take an interest in employees, their needs
Production orientation – stress the technical and production aspects of the job
Blake and Moutons Managerial (Leadership) Grid 1960s
What is on the axis?
What are the 5 positions?
Concern for Results (X axis)
Concern for people (Y axis)
Impoverished Management 1,1 Authority-Compliance management 9,1 Country-Club management 1,9 Middle of the road management 5,5 Team Management 9,9
What are at the three main leadership decision-making styles of Vroom’s Continuum?
Autocratic/Directive
Democratic/Participative
Laissez-faire/Delegative
4 weaknesses of these studies, particularly Leadership Grid
Not linked to performance – morale, job satisfaction, productivity
Yukl, 1994 – results are most contradictory and inconclusive
Failed to find a universal style of leadership that is useful in every situation
Only limited support for a universal high-high style being the best – certain situations require different styles
Contingency Theory
What is it? Leader’s effectiveness depends on… ?
Authors?
Leader’s effectiveness depends on how well the leader’s style fits the context
Effective leadership is contingent on matching a leader’s style to the right setting
Contingency theory is a leader-match theory (Fiedler & Chemers, 1974)
Leadership personality can be broken up into two main motivation schools of thought for leaders.
- Task-motivated (Low LPCs)
Leaders are concerned primarily with reaching a goal - Relationship-motivated (High LPCs)
Leaders are concerned with developing close interpersonal relationships
The way that Fiedler suggests individuals determine their motivation preference is through …
The way that Fiedler suggests individuals determine their motivation preference is through the Least Preferred Co-Worker Score or LPC
What is the LPC Score?
The LPC scale asks a leader to think of all the people with whom they have ever worked and then describe the person with whom they have worked least well, using a series of bipolar scales of 1 to 8
What does a high and low LPC score indicate?
A high score indicates the test taker is relational in style and a low score indicates the test taker is more task orientated in style.
Situational favorable-ness was described by Fiedler in terms of three empirically derived dimensions: (Situational Analysis)
- Leader-member relationship – high if the leader is generally accepted and respected by followers
- Degree of task structure – high if the task is very structured
- Leader’s position power – high if a great deal of authority and power are formally attributed to the leader’s position
Weaknesses of LPC Approach? (4)
Doesn’t take account of how people can develop
Ignores a lot of other aspects of the situation
Why are particular leadership styles are more effective in some situations than others
LPC scale does not correlate well with other standard leadership measures
Cumbersome to use in real-world settings
Who propsed that no single leadership style is better than another. Instead of focusing on workplace factors, the model suggests leaders adjust their styles to those they lead and their abilities? YEAR?
Hersey & Blanchard, 1969
What type of style is key to the the Hersey and Blanchard Situational Approach Model?
Adapting Styling of leadership - different situations demand different kinds of leadership.
Leaders evaluate employees to assess their _____ and ______ to perform a given task
Leaders evaluate employees to assess their competence and commitment to perform a given task
What are the four different Leadership Styles with different behaviours?
What are the related employee competence and commitment for each of these?
S1 – Directing
High Directive
Low Supportive
(low competence and high commitment)
S2 – Coaching
High Directive
High Supportive
(Some Competence Low Commitment)
S3 – Supporting
High Supportive
Low Directive
(Mid-high competence and low commitment)
S4 – Delegating
Low Supportive
Low Directive
(High competence and high commitment)
4 strengths of the Adaptive Approach?
Marketplace approval - Often used in consulting
Practicality – easy to apply
Leader flexibility
Offers a structured way of deciding which style to use according to the features of the situation
Applicability in virtually all types of organizations and levels of management in organizations
Allows for different types of leader
4 weaknesses of the Adaptive Approach?
One-to-one versus group leadership?
Still based on quite traditional concepts of leadership style
Are leaders are capable of perceiving situations accurately and adjusting their style?
Tend to overlook the possibility that leaders can create or change the situation
