organisations and leadership

Organisations and Leadership

Organisational Behaviour

Developed by Dr. Ruth Barton

&

Dr. Margaret Heffernan, OAM

Aims of the lecture

What is leadership?

Define leadership

Approaches to leadership

Mainstream and emerging theories

Leadership styles and behaviours

Competencies of leadership

RMIT University©2013 2

What is Leadership?

• ‘A social process in which one individual influences the behaviour of others without the use or threat of violence’ (Buchanan & Huczynsci, 1985 in Thompson & McHugh, 2009)

• ‘The acid test of leadership must be its ability to improve organisational leadership’ (Fiedler, 1967, in Thompson and McHugh, 2009)

Leadership

• Leadership is broadly distributed, rather than assigned to one person, such that people in the tram and organisation lead each other.

• (McShane et al. 2013: 382)

Shared leadership


Approaches to Leadership

LEADERSHIP

Individualism

Essence of leadership

Dualistic views of

power and influence

Untheorised / exaggerated

agency


Fairhurst (2007)

Competency (Trait) Perspective of Leadership

Competency

Drive

Emotional intelligence

Cognitive ability

Knowledge of the

business

Self-concept

Integrity

Personality


Skills, knowledge, aptitudes and other personal characteristics that lead to superior performance

RMIT University©2013

Traits and Characteristicseg Stodgill (1974), Handy (1980)

Limitations: Assumes that all effective leaders have the same personal characteristics that are equallyimportant in all situations.

Alternative combinations of competencies may be equally successful

Views leadership as something within a person Indicates leadership potential, not leadership performance

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Leadership Styles and Behaviours

• McGregor (1960)

• Theory X

• Theory Y


Types and Roles

Lewin, Lippitt and White (1939)

AutocraticDemocraticLaissez –faire

Benne and Sheats (1948)

Task maintenance actGroup maintenance act


Types and StylesBlake and Mouton’s (1978) Leadership Grid


Authentic leadership

Develop own style

Receive feed-back

Being yourself

Reflect


Emotional intelligence

Effective leaders need to act

consistently with their values, personality, and

self-concept

Source: McShane et al 2013: 384-385 10

Contingency (Situational) Perspective of Leadership

Path-goal theory

Servant leadership

Situational leadership

Fiedler’s Contingency

model

Leadership substitutes


The most appropriate leadership style depends on the situation.

Leaders must be insightful and flexible, and adapt behaviours and styles to the immediate situation.

Contingent LeadershipFiedler’s (1974) Contingency Model


Favourable Unfavourable

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Charismatic LeadershipApplied to a certain quality of an individual

considered extraordinary

treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, specifically exceptional powers or qualities.

qualities are not accessible to the ordinary person

regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary , and the individual concerned is treated as a “leader”’

(Weber,1968: 241)


Transformational Leadership

Visioning the new corporate future

Communicating the vision

Implementing the vision

Popular in 1980s and 1990s

(Dunphy and Stace, 1990)

Elements

Create a strategic

vision

Communicate the vision

Model the vision

Build commitment towards the

vision


Source: McShane et al. 2013: 393

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Paternal Leadership Style

PaternalismDependence on the leader

Personal relationships

Moral leadership

Harmony building

Conflict diffusion

Social distance

Didactic leadership

Subtle, dialogue

RMIT University©2013 Source: Fulop, L and Linstead, S (2009) : 525 15

Paternal Leadership Tactics

PaternalismCentralisation

Non-specific intentions

Secrecy

Protect authority

Selective favours

Non-emotional ties

Differential treatment

Reputation building

RMIT University©2013 Source: Fulop, L and Linstead, S (2009) : 526 16

Narcissistic Leader

Narcissism

They must be more than they are

Their value as people is dependent upon the image they project

People are objects to be manipulated to get the validation narcissists need

RMIT University©2013 Source: Fulop and Linstead, 2009 17

Post Heroic Leadership

Associated with transformational leadership but with a greater emphasis on developing subordinates

(Bradford and Cohen, 1984)

Distributed or collective leadershipHeifetz and Laurie (1997)


Followership

•Followership is the role of the group member in supporting (or not) the leadership role

•Leadership prototypicality (Hogg, 2001)

•Social identity and leadership (Haslam , 2001)


Implicit Leadership Perspective


People evaluate a leader’s effectiveness in terms of how well that person fits preconceived beliefs about the features and behaviours of effective leaders (leadership prototypes)

People tend to inflate the influence of leaders on organisational events

Followers perceptions about the characteristics and influence of people they call leaders

Source: McShane et al. 2013: 395- 396 20

RMIT University©2013 Source: Fulop and Linstead, 2009: 530

Leadership is very much a relational product of the societies in which organisations operate.

Cultural variables will affect how leaders from different cultural backgrounds manage in foreign cultures and with culturally diverse groups.

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References• Fulop, L and Linstead, S (2009) ‘Leadership and Leading’ [Ch. 10], in

Linstead, S, Fulop, L and Lilley, S 9eds) Management and Organization: A critical text, 2nd ed, Palgrave, Houndmills.

• McShane, S Olekalns, M and Travaglione, T (2013) Organisational Behaviour: Emerging knowledge. Global insights. McGraw Hill, Sydney

• Rollinson, D (2005) Organisational Behaviour and Analysis: An integrated approach, Prentice Hall, Harlow .

• Scouller, J. (2011). The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill, Management Books

• Cirencester: Thompson, P and McHugh, D (2009) Work Organisations: A critical approach, Palgrave, Houndmills.

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