“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” Leadership Chapter 12

What is Leadership? (pg. 284) Behavior/communication that influences, directs, or controls a group Counteractive influence when groups get off track

Characteristics of Effective Leaders Identifying attributes; intelligence, enthusiasm, dominance, self confidence, and social participation Physical traits; Larger, more active, and better looking than other group members

Trait VS Functional Approach Trait approach indentify the sort of person who should be appointed to a leadership position Functional approach communicative behaviors a leader needs in order to help a group to function effectively

The Trait Perspective View of leadership as the personal attributes or qualities that leaders posses. useful in one situation may not be in another Leading troops into battle vs conducting a business meeting Does not identify Traits important to becoming a leader Traits important to maintaining the position. Not the most useful approach

The Functional Perspective Behavior that may be performed by any group member to maximize group effectiveness

Functional Perspective: Group Needs and Roles (Pg. 285) The major leadership behavior fall in two categories 1) task leadership- aim specifically at accomplishing a group goal 2) process leadership (group building or maintenance)- help maintain a satisfactory interpersonal climate within a group Both types of leadership are essential

When You Need Task Leadership (pg. 286) Lose track of where they are going Cannot seem to get started One person monopolizes the conversations while others remain silent Leader has a responsibility to keep a group moving. “leader” does not mean they are the best equipped for the job

Task Leadership Behaviors Initiating Task oriented group discussions need to generate ideas. Ex) “lets get this meeting under way” “lets consider an alternative plan” Coordinating Point out the “groupness” Summarizing How discussion has progress and what needs to be accomplished Helps motivate toward end goal

Task Leadership Behaviors Cont’d Elaborating Ideas can be visualized When an idea is brought up several things might happen; 1. members might be in favor and some not 2. another idea might be suggested and recorded 3. idea might have fallen flat and elaboration might give it a fighting chance

Task Behaviors Summarized Initiating, coordinating, summarizing, and elaborating are types of communicative behaviors Making suggestions, offering new ideas, giving information, asking for information, and making procedural observations

Functional Approach Summary The functional approach reveals; leadership skill is associated with the ability to analyze a groups process choose appropriate behaviors to further that process

Process Leadership For a group to function effectively, Address external task of group Address needs of each member Maintain a satisfying group climate Failure can lead to a breakdown in Group’s performance

Process Leadership Four major process leadership behaviors that enhance the groups climate: Releasing Tension Gatekeeping Encouraging Mediating

Releasing Tension Suggest a Coffee Break Get a Good Laugh Both can renew a groups energy and improve member satisfaction

Gatekeeping Coordinated group discussions Ensures more input along the task dimension Higher member satisfaction

Encouraging Increases Cohesiveness Member satisfaction Productivity

Mediating Aimed at: Resolving conflicts Releasing tension Renewing a groups energy

IMPORTANT Both task and process leadership are essential to the success of a small group.

Situational Perspective: Adapting Style to Context A perspective that views leadership as the interaction among the group’s task needs, process needs and goals, leadership style, and situational variables that influence groups Most research using this approach focuses on the behavior of leaders

Leadership Style (p 290) Relatively consistent pattern of behavior reflecting a leader’s belief’s and attitudes No two people can act as a leader at as a leader in the precisely the same way. Three Styles: Authoritarian, Democratic, and Laissez-Faire These leadership styles can be situational to the group needs.

Authoritarian (p.291) They assume positions of intellectual and behavioral superiority in groups This leader usually dictates task, decisions and work companion for each member Usually groups with highly structured goals and high stress moves towards this style. Example: Need a leader like this when a room catches on fire

Democratic (p.291) They tend to try to encourage and direct members of the group in making decisions Leader discusses steps for activities and goals and leaves division of tasks to the group Let’s group member work freely with anyone Leader tends to voice praise or criticism example: good group when it comes to maybe a book club discussing what the next book to read is.

Laissez-Faire Avoids dominating group and assumes group will direct itself Allows the group complete freedom in decisions Supplies various materials and information when asked but doesn’t lead discussion on how to accomplish group’s task

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Model (p.292) This model uses various combinations of task and relationship leadership behavior to describe leadership style as it relates to different situations The style of leaders in this model: telling, selling participating, and delegating These four leadership styles usually start off at a low maturity and moves to high maturity. Maturity in this content refers to the degree of experience group members have with one another.

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Model Telling- Selling- Participating- Delegating- This model is used widely in training managers and executives because it teaches them that they can change their leadership style due to their employees maturity levels.

Transformational Leadership (Pg 296) Changes the organization by realigning its culture with a new vision and restructuring its shared assumptions and norms. Have a sense of vision and purpose.

Four defining characteristics Idealized leadership Inspirational motivation Intellectual stimulation Individual consideration

3 Critical skills of transformational leadership Building shared vision Surfacing and challenging mental models Engaging in systems thinking

Building shared vision Encouraging individuals to express their visions of group or organizational goals while encouraging the development of a common, positive view.

Surfacing and challenging mental models Identifying and challenging assumptions without creating defensiveness.

Engaging in systems thinking Understanding groups and organizations and the great complexity that characterizes them requires that leaders look beyond day-to-day operations to find underlying themes, forces of change, and interrelationships.

The Minnesota Studies (pg 297) Leaders emerge through a “method of residues,” whereby group members are rejected for the role of leader, until only one remains.

Phase I Quiet ones who do not actively participate in discussions Talkative but overaggressive or dogmatic group members

Phase II Style is perceived as disturbing. Ones who have an authoritarian style (too bossy or dictatorial) Ones who are unable to contribute Ones who are too process-oriented

Leadership and Gender (pg 300) 1960s and 1970s – Women were reluctant to assume leadership roles. 1980s – most effective leader is a leader who could draw from a repertoire of both traditionally male and traditionally female behaviors.

Task-relevant communication Sole significant predictor of emergent leadership. -Katherine Hawkins

Leadership and Self Deception Leaders in organizations tend to ignore upward communication from non-managerial staff members, especially when that communication is critical of management. The First step leaders can take to better themselves and their situation is to develop awareness of their own tendencies toward self deception. To do this, higher status members of a group or organization can not always think they are going to have the best ideas and take everyone’s thoughts in to consideration.

Leadership Training… “Research consistently indicates that the productivity of a group improves if its members are trained” Training involves instruction to help and encourage the development of skills, rather than the way you think. Training emphasizes what you can DO not necessarily just the way you THINK.

Leadership Training… One proven method of training is providing feedback to the members of a group regarding their individual performance. Studies show that when members know they are being evaluated, they tend to work harder. People need a more objective eye than their own to see what they are doing and how the can do it better. Another productive way of training is the use of simulations.

Leadership Training… “A simulation is a structured exercise that creates conditions that participants might confront outside the training environment”. It allows users to experiment without any unnecessary risks. Many leadership or management training programs recreated conditions of the work environment.

Leadership Example War games The conditions of war are re-created so the trainees can experiment them in a way that is not life threatening.

Military War Games

Summary Good training should provide you with a broad array of behaviors and give you the understanding and ability to know when, how, why, and where to use these behaviors.