Leadership: Power & Leadership Theories Professor: Zvi Aronson

Leaders vs. Managers Leader’s Manager’s role Increase people’s commitment and effort toward the mission and strategy Establish organizational Mission & Vision (focus on change) Implement Mission & Strategy by directing others. Formulate strategy for implementing that mission Leader’s role Manager’s

Some examples from film.. 40 Top Leader Speeches from Movies in 2 minutes:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQerL6YmxR8&feature=related

Power

Power Refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B does something he or she would not otherwise do

Bases of Power Formal Coercive Reward Legitimate Information Personal Referent Expert Charismatic

Coercive power - One reacts to this power out of fear of the negative results that might occur if one failed to comply

Reward power - People comply with the wishes or directives of another because doing so produces positive benefits Legitimate power - represents the formal authority to control and use organizational resources

Legitimate power – fun example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4LlADSF93c

Information power - comes from access to and control over information

Expert power - influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge Referent power - based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits

Charismatic power - extension of referent power stemming from an individual’s personality and interpersonal style

Leadership Theories

Leadership Theories Trait Theories Behavioral Theories Ohio State Studies U. of Michigan Studies Contingency Theories Fiedler Path-Goal Leader Participation Charismatic Leadership Visionary Leadership

Trait Theories Early work on trait theories resulted in a number of dead ends. More success has come from looking at Big 5 personality traits. Strong leadership has been linked to extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness. Recent studies have offered Emotional Intelligence as another important leadership trait.

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. However, later attempts to identify traits consistently associated with leadership (the process, not the person) were more successful. The seven traits shown to be associated with effective leadership are described briefly in Exhibit 11-1 Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. 11-5

Behavioral Theories Examines behaviors of leaders Assumes people can be trained to lead, and provides the basis of design for training programs 2 notable behavioral theories are the Ohio State & Michigan State studies.

Behavioral Theories Examines behaviors of leaders Assumes people can be trained to lead, and provides the basis of design for training programs 2 notable behavioral theories are the Ohio State & Michigan State studies.

Leadership Behaviors Autocratic Style Democratic Style A leader who centralizes authority, dictates work methods, makes unilateral decisions, and limits employee participation Democratic Style A leader who involves employees in decision making, delegates authority, encourages participation in deciding work methods, and uses feedback to coach employees Laissez-Faire Style A leader who generally gives employees complete freedom to make decisions and to complete their work however they see fit One of the first studies of leadership behavior was done by Kurt Lewin and his associates at the University of Iowa. Researchers explored three leadership behaviors or styles: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. An autocratic style is that of a leader who typically tends to centralize authority, dictate work methods, make unilateral decisions, and limit employee participation. A leader with a democratic style tends to involve employees in decision making, delegates authority, encourages participation in deciding work methods and goals, and uses feedback as an opportunity to coach employees

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Tannenbaum and Schmidt developed a continuum of leader behaviors (see Exhibit 11-2). The continuum illustrates that a range of leadership behaviors, all the way from boss centered (autocratic) on the left side of the model to employee centered (laissez-faire) on the right side of the model, is possible. Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. 11-10

Fiedler Contingency Model Leadership theory that proposes that effective group performance depends on the proper match between a leader’s style and the degree to which the situation allowed the leader to control and influence Least-Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Questionnaire A questionnaire that measures whether a leader was task or relationship oriented The first comprehensive contingency model for leadership was developed by Fred Fiedler. The Fiedler contingency model proposed that effective group performance depended upon properly matching the leader’s style and the amount of control and influence in the situation. To measure a leader’s style, Fiedler developed the least-preferred co-worker (LPC) questionnaire Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. 11-14

Three Contingency Dimensions Leader-member relations the degree of confidence, trust, and respect employees had for their leader Task structure the degree to which job assignments were formalized and structured Position power the degree of influence a leader had over activities such as hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases Fiedler’s research uncovered three contingency dimensions that defined the key situational factors in leader effectiveness

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. Because Fiedler treated an individual’s leadership style as fixed, there were only two ways to improve leader effectiveness. First, you could bring in a new leader whose style better fit the situation. The second alternative was to change the situation to fit the leader. Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall. 11-16

Path-Goal Theory A leadership theory that says the leader’s job is to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide direction or support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the organization’s or group’s goals Currently, one of the most respected approaches to understanding leadership is path-goal theory, which states that the leader’s job is to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide direction or support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the goals of the group or organization.

How Do Charismatic and Visionary Leaders Differ? Charismatic Leaders Enthusiastic, self-confident leaders whose personalities and actions influence people to behave in certain ways Visionary Leadership The ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, and attractive vision of the future that improves on the present situation Although the term vision is often linked with charismatic leadership, visionary leadership is different since it’s the ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, and attractive vision of the future that improves upon the present situation. This vision, if properly selected and implemented, is so energizing that it “in effect jump-starts the future by calling forth the skills, talents, and resources to make it happen.