Leadership Flashcards
What is leadership?
A process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal
Ability of an individual to influence, motivate & enable others to contribute towards effectiveness & success of the organisation of which they’re members
What is the trait theory of leadership?
Great man theories (early 1900s)
Focused on identifying innate qualities & characteristics possessed by great social, political & military leaders
Major traits include intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity & sociability
How do the big 5 relate to leadership (Judge et al, 2002)?
High Extraversion - strongly associated with leadership
High conscientiousness - 2nd most related factor with leadership,
High openness - next most related
Low neuroticism
High agreeableness - weakly related to leadership
What are the strengths & criticisms of trait theory?
Strengths - intuitively appealing to followers, credibility due to research support, provides benchmarks for what to look for when choosing a leader
Criticisms - endless lists of traits, doesn’t take situational effects into account, research fails to look at traits in relationship to leadership outcomes, limited use for training & development
What are the applications of trait theory?
Provide direction as to which traits are goof to have if one aspires to a leadership position
Through tests & questionnaires, individuals can determine whether they have the select traits for leadership
Can be used by managers to assess where they stand in their organisation
What is the behavioural theory of leadership?
Emphasises the behaviour of the leader
Focuses exclusively on what leaders do & how they act
Composed of 2 behaviours - task behaviours (help members achieve goals, initiate structures) & relationship behaviours (concern for people, help subordinates feel comfortable with self & situation)
What are the Ohio state studies for the behavioural approach?
Leadership behaviour description questionnaire
Identify number of times leader engaged in specific behaviours (150qs)
Different settings (military, industrial, education)
Found particular clusters of behaviours typical of leaders
What is the second questionnaire proposed by Ohio state for leadership?
LBDQ-XII (shortened LBDQ)
Most widely used assessment
Found 2 general types of leadership behaviour
Initiation structure - leader provides structure for subordinates (organise work, defining role)
Consideration - leader nurtures subordinates (build camaraderie, respect & trust)
What are the university of Michigan studies of behavioural leadership?
Explore leadership behaviour with emphasis on impact of behaviour on performance of small groups
Found 2 types of behaviours conceptualised at opposite ends of single continuum
Employee orientation (HR emphasis) - product orientation (stress on technical aspect)
Later studies conceptualise as independent orientations
What is the Blake & Moutons managerial grid?
High consideration low structure
High consideration high structure
Low consideration high structure
Low consideration low structure
What are the strengths of the Blake & Moutons managerial grid?
Major shift in leadership research from focusing on traits to examining behaviour & actions of leaders
Easy to understand system of classifying leadership
Validated by research
Allow leader to classify & evaluate own behaviours
What are the criticisms of the Blake & Moutons managerial grid?
Research hasn’t adequately demonstrated how leaders styles are associated with performance outcomes
Predicts most effective style of high-high
No universal style of leadership that could be effective in almost every situation
What are some applications of the Blake & Moutons managerial grid?
Many leadership training & development programmes based on approach
Managers can evaluate personal style & can understand how others perceive them & identify adjustments to enhance effectiveness
What is the situational approach of leadership?
Effectiveness of leadership is determined nit just by leaders traits/ behaves but dependent on situational factors
Effective leadership achieved by selecting right leadership styles, contingent to maturity of follower
What are the strengths & criticisms of the situational leadership theory?
Well-known & frequently used for training
Easy to understand & easily applied
Emphasises leader flexibility
Few studies to support assumptions
What is the leader-member exchange theory?
Leadership as a process that’s centred on interactions between a leader & follower
Dyadic relationship
What is the background of the leader-member exchange theory of leadership?
Early research addressed differences between in/out-groups
Later research addressed how theory was related to organisational effectiveness
Higher quality leader - member exchange resulting in positive outcomes for leader follower, groups & organisation
What do later studies of the LMX show (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995)?
Less employee turnover
More positive performance evaluations
Higher frequency of promotions
Greater organisational commitment
Better job attitudes
Greater participation
More attention & support from leader
More desirable work assignments
What are the strengths & criticisms of the LMX theory?
Only approach making leaders relationship with followers centrepiece of leadership process
Importance of positive communication
Solid research evidence
Appears unfair & discriminatory
Accurate measurement of quality of leader-member exchange is questioned
What is the transformational leadership theory?
Process - leaders behaviour & processes changes/ transforms individuals
Influence - influence can move followers to accomplish more
Core elements - influence followers emotions, values, ethics standards & long-term goals
Measurement - multifactor leadership questionnaire
What are the types of leadership in transformational theory?
Transactional - focus on exchange occurring between leaders & followers
Pseudo-transformational - focus on leaders own interests rather than interests of followers
What are transformational leadership factors?
Idealised influence/ charisma - strong role model
Inspirational motivation - communicate high expectations
Intellectual stimulation - stimulates creativity
Individualised consideration - supportive climate
Contingent reward - effort exchanged for reward
Management by exception - corrective criticism, negaitve reinforcement
What are non-leadership factors?
Laissez-faire - absence of leadership (hand over responsibility, delays decisions, no feedback & little effort to satisfy needs)
What are the strengths & weaknesses of transactional leadership?
Intuitive appeal
Emphasises followers needs, values & morals
Effectiveness - evidence support
Lacks conceptualisation & measurement clarity
Treats leadership more as personality traits than behavior
Not clear transformational leaders actually transform organisations
