Managerial styles:Blake and Mouton’s Leadership Grid.

Blake & Mouton’s Leadership Grid High Autocratic leader “High-High” Democratic leader Concern for Task Laissez-faire leader Paternalistic / Cheerleader Low Low High Concern for People

Contingency Theory

Contingency Theory Fielder’s Contingency Model Suggests the most effective style of leadership depends on the situation. “Best Fit” Leadership style is part of one’s personality “enduring and difficult to change” The goal is to successfully match one’s style with situational demands Relationship motivated vs. Task Motivated

Style of Leadership depends on THREE factors: Leader – Member relationships Are leader and member relations good or poor? Does the group support the leader? Task Structure How structured is the task? Are procedures and guidelines for the task clearly spelled out? Position Power Is the leader’s positional power strong or weak?  To what degree can the leader reward or punish the group members?

Examples: Take the situation which results of rescue and recovery efforts after a natural disaster. Leader-member relations usually poor, Task structure unstructured, Positional power weak. The leader who is directing the group's efforts may not know any of his/her subordinates personally. Relationship-oriented leader he/she may waste valuable time. Task-oriented leader who gets things accomplished is likely to be the most successful in this situation.

Examples: Take the situation at a successful fast-food restaurant. Leader-member relations usually good, Task structure Very structured, Positional power strong. The leader knows his/her subordinates personally. Relationship-oriented leader works well is this situation. Task-oriented leader Little focus on relationships

Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Leaders adjust their styles depending on the readiness (maturity) of their followers to perform in a given situation. Readiness – how willing, able or confident followers are to perform a task Leadership styles come from different combinations of task oriented and relationship oriented behaviours

Vroom-Jago Leader Participation theory Helps leaders choose the method of decision making that best fits the nature of the problem situation. Basic decision-making choices: Authority decision. Consultative decision. Group decision.

Decision-making options Decide alone. No Consultation Consult individually. Then leader makes decision Consult with group. Facilitate. Facilitate group discussion to make a decision Delegate. Group members have authority to define problem and make a decision

Decision Quality Decision Time Decision Acceptance Decision Time

Benefits of participative decision methods: Help improve decision quality. Help improve decision acceptance. Helps develop leadership potential. Potential disadvantages of participative decision methods: Lost efficiency. Not particularly useful when problems must be solved immediately.

Transactional Leadership States that employees are motivated by tasks, rewards and punishment. If employees do their jobs well then they can expect to be rewarded. If employees do something poorly, they can expect to be punished. Can be quite effective for short term goals with certain employees. Major disadvantage - it does not take into account that most people want more from their jobs than just a pay cheque.

Transformational Leadership Superleaders. Persons whose vision and strength of personality have an extraordinary impact on others. Charismatic leaders. Develop special leader-follower relationships and inspire others in extraordinary ways.

Transformational Leadership Someone who is truly inspirational as a leader and who arouses others to seek extraordinary performance accomplishments. The theory of Transformational Leadership states that people will follow a leader who has the ability to inspire and motivate them. A transformational leader helps people to see deeper purposes behind their work, thus making them achieve high levels of motivation.

Characteristics of transformational leaders: Vision. Charisma. Symbolism. Empowerment. Intellectual stimulation. Integrity.