LEADERSHIP

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

• Leadership is influencing others in a group by establishing a direction for collective effort and then encouraging the activities needed to move in that direction (Turner, 2005; Yukl, 2006; Zaccaro, 2007).

THE GREAT PERSON THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

• this theory proposed the view that great leaders possess certain traits that set them apart from other human beings
• Certain key personality traits make a person a good leader, regardless of the nature of the situation the leader faces.
• Leaders possess traits that differentiate them from those who are merely followers.
• Some attributes appear to differentiate between leaders and nonleaders (Haslam, 2004; Hogg, 2001):
• slightly more intelligent
• socially skilled
• open to new experiences
• more extroverted

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• However, research has failed to provide very conclusive evidence in support of the great leader theory

MODERN THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP

• Hackman & Wageman, (2007) Turner, (2005) suggest that leaders and followers are both essential parts of the leadership relationship
• Both play a crucial role and that both exert influence as well as receive it. For this reason,
• recent research has considered whether some people are more likely to become leader in some contexts (or times), while others emerge as leaders in other contexts.
• Ryan and Haslam (2005) predict the selection of nontraditional leaders will occur in times of crisis or when the risk is greater.
• This is what is known as the glass cliff effect: When women and minorities are seen as better leaders because of their ability to manage crises. They are more likely to be selected as leader when the situation contains more risk.

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CONTINGENCY THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

• This theory proposes the idea that the effectiveness of a leader depends both on how task oriented or relationship oriented the leader is and on the amount of control the leader has over the group (Fiedler, 1967)
• Task-Oriented Leaders
• Leaders who are concerned more with getting the job done than with workers' feelings and relationships
• Relationship-Oriented Leaders
• Leaders who are concerned more with workers' feelings and relationships

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CONTINGENCY THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

• Task-oriented leaders do well in high-control work situations, when the leader's position in the company is clearly perceived as powerful and the work needing to be done by the group is structured and well defined
• They also do well in low-control work situations, when the leader is not perceived as powerful and the work needing to be done is not clearly defined
• Relationship oriented leaders are most effective in moderate-control work situations.
• When everyone knows their role and things are running smoothly, but important work still needs to be done; the leader who can promote strong relations between individual employees will be the most successful

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LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS

• Researchers have identified two types of leadership styles (Bass, 1998; Haslam et al, 2013).
• Transactional Leaders
• Leaders who set clear, short-term goals and reward people who meet them
• transactional leaders do a good job of making things run smoothly
• Transformational Leaders
• Leaders who inspire followers to focus on common, long-term goals
• transformational leaders think outside the box and inspire their followers to exert themselves to meet big-picture goals.

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LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS

• Leaders that are seen as prototypical of the group (rather than different from other group members) instill greater member satisfaction and perceived leader effectiveness.
• Prototypical leaders are trusted more by group members to make the right decision.
• This trust is shown to prototypical leaders even when they have to make choices that other members do not agree with or are not in favour of other member’s interests.
• The greater trust felt in leaders who are prototypical of the group allows group members to weather poor outcomes and forgive the leader for failures relative to leaders who are seen as not prototypical of the group.