High Performance Leadership - Free Courseworks Examples

Content Chapter 1 : Leadership Chapter 2 : Leadership Theories and Styles Chapter 3 : Leadership – Leadership Skills Chapter 4 : Leadership Lessons through Literature Chapter 5 : Team Work and Team Building Chapter 6 : Interpersonal Skills – Conversation, Feedback, Feed forward Chapter 7 : Interpersonal Skills – Delegation, Humor, Trust, Expectations, Values, Status Chapter 8 : Conflict Management – Types of Conflicts Chapter 9 : Conflict Management – Coping Strategies Chapter 10 : Conflict Management – Conflict Management Styles Chapter 11 : Positive Thinking – Attitude, BeliefsChapter 12 : Positive Thinking – Martin Seligman’s theory of Learn Helplessness Chapter 1 Leadership From ancient times, the topic of leadership has generated excitement and interest. When people think about leadership, images come to mind of powerful dynamic individuals who command victorious armies (Alexander, Napolean, Shivaji), shape the events of nations ( Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln), develop religions (Gautam Buddha, Guru Nanak) or direct corporate empire ( Bill Gates, Jack Welch, JRD Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani). How did these leaders build such great armies, countries, religions, and companies?Why do certain leaders have dedicated followers, while others do not? It wasn’t until the twentieth century that researchers attempted to scientifically answer such questions, using many different definitions. Defining Leadership In his survey of leadership theories and research, Ralph M.

Stogdill pointed out that, ‘there are almost as many different definitions of leadership, as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept’. “Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement” (Stogdill, 1950, p. 3) Three key components to this definition: an interpersonal process between one person and a group – can’t have ‘leaders’ without ‘followers’ – criterion for effective leadership = goal achievement Some working definitions of leadership and related concepts: • While management works in the system, Leadership works on the system.

• “ …. The genius of leadership lies in the manner in which leaders see and act on their own and their followers’ values and motivations. • Leadership is an affair of heart, not of the head. • Leadership is the process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by he leadership or shared by the leader and his or her followers. • Leadership is what gives an organization its vision and its ability to translate that vision into reality.

• Leadership is an art, something to be learned over time, not simply by reading books. • Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in efforts toward goal achievement in a given situation. • Leadership is a privilege to have the responsibility to direct the action of others. • “Power” is the ability to get others to do what you want them to do. “Leadership,” as distinct from power, consists of three components: • The ability to influence others • The willingness to do so • The ability to influence in such a way those others responds willingly. Often these definitions are like the blind man’s description of an elephant. When touching the elephant, the blind men determined an elephant was four pillars and wall with a rope on one end and a hosed on the other.

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He was able to discern the parts but unable to see the whole. Leadership may be one of those things that are easier caught than taught.Despite our best efforts to the contrary, attempts at defining leadership tends to focus on the parts rather than the whole. Various leadership definitions tend to focus in four areas. Some definitions describe leadership in the context of the person who is leader. Others describe the process by which leader lead. Still others tend to focus on the leader’s persuade to follow.

Then there are those who describe leader in the context of the people being led. Comprehensive Definition of Leadership : Leadership is influencing process of leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through change.Leadership Definition – Key Elements [pic] Leader-Follower : In the above definition of Leadership the influencing process is between leaders and followers, not just a leader influencing followers; it’s a two way process. Knowing how to lead and developing leadership skills will make you a better leader and follower. Influence : Influencing is the process of a leader communicating ideas, gaining acceptance of them, and motivating followers to support and implement the ideas through change. Influence is the essence of leadership. Influencing includes power, politics and negotiating.

Organizational Objectives : High performance leaders influence followers to think not only of their own interests, but the interest of the organization. Leadership occurs when followers are influenced to do what is ethical and beneficial for the organization and themselves. Leaders need to provide direction; with the input of the followers, they set challenging objectives and lead the charge ahead to achieve them. Change : Influencing and setting objectives is about change. Organizations need to continually change, in adapting to the rapidly changing global environment. People :Although the term people is not specifically mentioned in the above definition of Leadership, after reading about the other elements, one can realize that leadership is about leading people.

Effective Leadership : Leaders with the power and personal traits to be effective in a leadership situation can lead by taking four sets of actions: • Providing a vision. • Thinking like a leader. • Using the right leadership style. • Using organizational behavior leadership skills. Leader Vs Manager Leadership can, however, be simply defined as the act of making an impact on others in a desired direction.In this sense leadership is a broader term than management.

Leaders are people who are able to influence others and who possess managerial authority. Managers can run organizations effectively, but only leaders can build them. |Personality Dimension |Manager |Leader | |Attitudes toward goals |Impersonal, passive, functional; goals arise out of |Personal, active, goals arise from desire, | | |necessity, reality |imagination |Conceptions of work |Combines people, ideas, things; seeks moderate risk |Looks for fresh approaches to old problems; | | | |seeks high risk | |Relationships with others |Prefers to work with others; avoids close |Comfortable in solitary work; encourages close | | |relationships and conflicts |relationships, not averse to conflict | |Sense of self |Accepts life as it is; unquestioning |Questions life; struggles for sense of order | Managers and leaders are entirely different: – leaders develop visions and drive changes while managers monitor progress and solve problems (Zalenik, 1977) – managers do things right, while leaders do the right thing (Bennis and Nanus, 1985) Leader’s goals are to motivate others to accomplish work/class tasks and to feel that they are contributing to their own professionalism. Chapter 2 Leadership Theories and StylesFrom ancient times, scholars have propose theories of leadership to explain why certain leaders- that is kings, religious leaders, and military leaders-were effective and successful, where as others were not. Until the 20th century, these theories were largely trait theories. Such theories assumed that one or more specific temperament, character, or social trait, such as intelligence, speaking ability, energy level, or dominance, accounted for a leader’s success or effectiveness. More recently, other leadership theories have been proposed that focus on the leader’s behavior patterns, situational factors, and relational factors that ostensibly offer more potent and compelling explanations than do trait theories.Different approaches used to study leadership can be categorized as : A) Trait Theories B) Behavioural Theories C) Contingency Theories D) Situational Theory of Leadership E) Leadership Functions Theories F) Some Recent Theories ( A ) Trait Theories According to trait theories, people are born with certain inherited traits.

The belief in earlier approaches was that some traits are particularly suited to leadership, and people who make good leaders possess the right (or sufficient) combination of these traits, which distinguish them from ‘non-leader’. Therefore, studies have tried to discover those special traits of great leaders. Some of these trait theories are : 1. Stogdill’s Trait TheoryStogdill reviewed more hundred such studies and concluded that while leaders were found to be superior to non-leaders in specific abilities such as intelligence and physical size, there were no specific traits that distinguished leaders from non-leaders. Stogdill’s study almost put an end to the trait approach to leadership. However, he did suggest the traits (inborn characteristics) and skills (competences) of successful leaders.

iii) Good interpersonal skills – Ability to communicate and persuade others with restoring negative or coercive tactics. iv) Intellectual breadth – Ability to understand wide range of areas (open-minded), rather than having a narrow area of expertise (narrow-minded). 3. Bennis and Thomas’s Trait Theory of Effective Leaders Bennis and Thomas, based on in-depth interviews of more than forty leaders, both young and old, have suggested the following four characteristics of effective leaders. ) Adaptive capacity – Hardiness, keen observance, proactive seizing of opportunities and creativity. ii) Engaging others by creating shared meaning – encouraging dissent, empathy, and obsessive communication. iii) Voice – Purpose, self-awareness, self-confident, and emotional intelligence. iv) Integrity – ambition, competence, and moral compass.

Weakness of Trait Theory • Ignores the followers and the situation • Does not differentiate regarding the specific value of each trait • Correlation evidence only (not causal) ( B ) Behavioural Theories There are two main assumptions underlying behavioural theories: (1) leaders are made, rather than born, and (2) successful leadership is based on definable, learnable behaviour.Instead of searching inborn traits or capabilities, behavioural theories look at what leaders actually do. According to these theories, if success can be defined in terms of describable behaviour, then it should be relatively easy for other people to learn to behave in the same way. The assumption that leadership capability can be learned provides great hope for leadership development.

This approach studies the behaviour of successful leaders. Studies based on large samples can help in identifying statistically significant behaviours that differentiate successful leaders from ineffective leaders. The renewed interest in ‘trait’ is based on such behavioural research. 1. Three – Dimensional TheoryKurt Lewin and colleagues carried out leadership-decision experiments in 1939, and identified the following three different styles of leadership, in particular, regarding decision making. i) Autocratic : Autocratic leaders take decisions on their own, without consulting others. From the experiments of Lewin et al it was found that this style resulted in very high level of discontent. Autocratic leaders are effective when there is no need for others’ contribution to the decision making, and where the motivation of the people to implement the decision would not be affected whether they were or were not involved in decision making.

ii) Democratic : Democratic leaders involve their people in decision making. People usually like democratic decision making.Democratic leadership, however, may be difficult when options differ widely and it is difficult to arrive at an equitable final decision.

iii) Lassez-faire : Lassez-faire leaders have minimum involvement in decision making. They allow people to make their own decisions. The employees are responsible for the outcome of their decisions. Lassez-faire leadership is successful when people are capable and motivated to make their own decisions, and where there is no requirement for a centralized coordination, for example, in sharing resources among autonomous regions in a country.

It was discovered by Lewin et al that democratic style was most effective style of leadership.Excessive autocratic styles led to revolution, while under a lassez-faire approach, people were not coherent in their work and did not put in enough energy in their work. 2. Michigan Studies While the trait approach met a setback with Stogdill’s research, the behaviours of leaders has always been a subject of observation and study. Early studies at the University of Michigan, under the leadership of Rensis Likert suggested that leadership behaviour could be described on a continuum ranging from authoritarian to participative style.

Likert identified four main styles of leadership, in particular, around decision making and the degree to which people are involved in the process. ) Exploitive Authoritative : Exploitive Authoritative leaders have low concern for people, and use threats and other coercive ways for compliance of decisions. Communication is usually top-down, and managers are least concerned with people’s concerns. ii) Benevolent Authoritative : Benevolent Authoritative leaders are authoritarian, but pay attention to people’s concerns.

They attend to people’s problems and use rewards to encourage appropriate performance. Even though there may be some delegations of decisions, almost all major decisions are still made by the leader. iii) Consultative : Consultative leaders make major decision, which remains centralized, although they make genuine efforts to listen to their people’s ideas. v) Participative : Participative leaders involve people at all levels, including lower levels in the decision making process. People across the organizations are psychologically closer together and work well together at all levels.

3. LBDQ Theory The Ohio State University, using the famous Leadership Behaviour Description Questionnaire ( LBDQ), conducted landmark research. In this approach, group members describe the behaviour of the leader, or leaders, in any type of group or organization. It is assumed that the followers have had an opportunity to observe the leader in action as a leader of their group. Based on extensive research, 40 items were developed.However, only 30 are scored, 15 for each of the two dimensions, initiating structure and consideration. These two dimensions accounted for approximately 34 to 50 percent of the common variance.

Initiating structure refers to the leader’s behaviour in delineating the relationship between himself or herself and the members of his or her group, and in endeavouring to establish well-defined patterns of organization, channel of communication and ways of getting the job done. Consideration refers to behaviour indicative of friendship, mutual trust, respect, and warmth in relationship between the leader and the members of the group. 4. Continuum of Leader BehaviourThe two contrasting styles of boss-centred leadership, defined by emphasis on the task to be done and subordinate-centred leadership, defined by the attention to the person doing the task (people-oriented style), were later seen as a continuum from high task orientation.

The manager makes the decision and announces it (telling) by convincing people about what should be done. The manager ‘sells’ a decision (selling) and by discussing the task and its strategy with subordinates, he/she presents ideas and invites questions (consulting). The manager provides the employees the responsibility to plan and achieve result. Thus, by providing enough support, the manger permits his/her subordinates to function within defined limits (delegating). 5.

Managerial Grid The treatment of task orientation and people orientation as two independent dimensions was a major step in leadership studies.Blake and Mouton proposed the famous managerial grid with these two dimensions, each dimension ranging from low (1) to high (9). This section describes the five styles of the managerial grid, or the leadership grid as it came to be known later. i) Impoverished Management : It is characterized by low-low (style 1,1), low task, and low people orientation. Minimum effort is exercised toward getting the work done. It refers to lazy approach that avoids work as much as possible. ii) Authority-Compliance : It is characterized by high-low (style 9,1), high task, and low people orientation.

There is strong focus on task, but little concern for people. The focus is on efficiency, including the elimination of people wherever possible. iii) Country-club Management :It is characterized by low-high (style 1,9), low task, and high people orientation, care and concern for the people, a comfortable and friendly environment and collegial style. However, a low focus on task may lead to questionable result. iv) Middle of the road Management : This style of leadership is characterized by medium-medium (style 5,5), medium task and medium people orientation. There is a lack of focus on both people and the work. The leader concentrates only on getting the work done and does not push the boundaries of achievements. v) Team Management : It refers to leadership style characterized by high-high (style 9,9), high on task, and high on people orientation.

Highly motivated subordinates are committed to the task, and the leader is committed to his/her people and the task. ( C ) Contingency Theories Contingency theories are based on the assumption that the leader’s ability to lead is contingent upon various situational factors such as the leader’s preferred style, the capabilities and behaviours of followers, etc. Contingency theories contend that there is no one best way of leading and that is leadership style that is effective in some situations may not be always successful in others. 1. Fiedler’s Theory Another milestone in leadership research was Fiedler’s theory of contingency. Fiedler demonstrated that the effectiveness of task orientation and people orientation depends on the situation.According to Fiedler, relationships, power, and task structure are the three key factors that drive effective leadership styles. He identified the least preferred coworker (LPC) scoring for leaders by asking them first to think of a person with whom they have worked and would now least prefer to work with again.

The manager then scores the person on a range of scales between positive factors (friendly, helpful, cheerful, etc. ) and negative factors (unfriendly, unhelpful, gloomy, etc. ). A high LPC leader generally scores the other person as positive and a low LPC leader scores the other person as negative. High LPC leaders tend to have close and positive relationships, and act in a supportive way.They even prioritize the relationship before the task. Low LPC leaders put the task first and turn to relationships only when they are satisfied with the progress of the work. The following three aspects determine the effectiveness of the two leadership styles (high or low LPC): Leader-member relations : The extent to which the leader has the support and loyalties of followers.

Cognitive Resource Theory Cognitive resource theory is another contingency theory. It predicts that : 1) a leader’s cognitive ability contributes to the performance of the team only when the leader’s approach is directive, 2) stress affects the relationship between intelligence and decision quality, and 3) experience is positively related to decision quality under high stress.Leader’s cognitive ability : When leaders are better than their people at planning and decision making, in order to implement their plans and decisions, they need to tell people what to do. When they are not better than the people in the team, then a non-directive approach is more appropriate.

For example, such leaders can facilitate an open discussion with the team, where ideas can be aired and the best approach identified and implemented. Effect of stress : Intelligence is fully functional and makes an optimal contribution in situations of low stress. However, during high stress, natural intelligence not only makes no positive difference, but it may have a negative effect. One reason for this may be that an intelligent person seeks rational solutions, which may not be available, and may be one of the causes of stress.

In such situations, a leader who is inexperienced in ‘gut feel’ decisions is forced to rely on this unfamiliar approach. Another possibility is that the leader retreats within him or her, to think hard about the problem, leaving the group to their own devices. Experience and decision quality : When there is a high stress situation and the relationship between decision making and intelligence is impaired, experience of the same or similar situations enables the leader to react in the best possible way.

The main implication of the cognitive resource theory is that a leader can be effective and powerful if he or she focuses on the strategic role, is an expert in problem solving, and possesses unique knowledge and skills that nobody else has. 3.Strategic Contingencies Theory The strategic contingencies theory, proposed by Fiedler, deals with the concept of organizational power. Intra-organizational power depends on three factors: problem skills, actor centrality, and uniqueness of skill. Fiedler linked the cognitive resource theory with his LPC theory, suggesting that high LPC scores are the main drivers of directive behaviour. An employee will be in demand if he or she has the skills and expertise to resolve important problems, works in a central part of the workflow of the organization, and is difficult to replace. For simple tasks, a leader’s intelligence and experience are irrelevant.

If people work on tasks that do not need direction or support, then it does not matter how good the leader is at making decisions. The manager need not provide any further support to the team. 4. Vroom—Yetton Theory Vroom and Yetton, using a decision-making framework, contrasted the autocratic and consultative styles of leadership.

They proposed two dimensions: decision quality and decision acceptance. Decision quality is the selection of the best alternative and is particularly important when there are many alternatives. It is also important when there are serious implications for selecting (or failing to select) the best alternative.

Decision acceptance is the degree to which a follower accepts a decision made by a leader.Leaders focus more on decision acceptance when the quality of decision is more important. Vroom and Yetton defined five different decision procedures. Two of these procedures are autocratic (Al and A2), two are consultative (C1 and C2), and one is group based (G2). A1 : Leader takes known information and then decides alone. A2 : Leader gets information from followers and then decides alone.

C1 : Leader shares problem with followers individually, listens to ideas, and then decides alone. C2 : Leader shares problems with followers as a group, listens to ideas, and then decides alone. G2 : Leader shares problems with followers as a group and then seeks and accepts consensus agreement.Situational factors that influence the method are relatively logical. These factors are illustrated here. 1. When decision quality is important and followers possess useful information, then Al and A2 procedures are not the best methods. 2.

When the leader sees decision quality as important but followers do not, then G2 procedure is inappropriate. 3. When decision quality is important, the problem is unstructured, and the leader lacks information or the skills to make the decision alone, then G2 procedure is best. 4. When decision acceptance is important and followers are unlikely to accept an autocratic decision, then Al and A2 procedures are inappropriate.

5.When decision acceptance is important but followers are likely to disagree with one another, then Al, A2, and CI procedures are not appropriate, because they do not give opportunity for differences to be resolved. 6. When decision quality is not important but decision acceptance is critical, then G2 is the best method. 7. When the whole team, including the leader, feels that decision quality is important, and the decision is not likely to result from an autocratic decision, then G2 procedure is the most appropriate.

5. Path-Goal Theory Path-goal leadership theory is a contingency theory developed by Martin Evans and expanded upon by Robert House.It integrates the expectancy theory of motivation. House has suggested four types of leaders: directive (directs subordinates), supportive (shows genuine concern for subordinates), participative (consults subordinates but decides himself or herself), and achievement oriented (sets challenging goals and shows confidence in subordinates). The path-goal theory proposes that the same leader uses all these styles, depending on the situation.

The situation is characterized by two main factors: subordinates’ characteristics (leader behaviour being accepted to the extent to which subordinates see the behaviour leading to present or future satisfaction) and environmental pressures on subordinates.The second factor is more important in the expectancy theory of motivation. Subordinates’ motivation (increased effort) depends on two factors: the leaders making subordinates’ needs contingent on effective performance, and the leader providing support for performance, including guidance and rewards. As proposed in the contingency—expectancy framework, the leaderby influencing subordinates’ perceptions and motivation—improves their role clarity, expectancies, satisfaction, and performance. In other words, the leader attempts to make the subordinates’ paths to their goals smooth. The leader must use an appropriate style to smoothen the path to the goals.

The leader smoothens the path by stimulating subordinates’ need for achievement, increasing pay-offs for goal achievement, coaching and guiding, clarifying subordinates’ expectancies, reducing functioning barriers, and increasing opportunities for high satisfaction on good performance. This theory has been used extensively in management. [pic] D) Situational Theory of Leadership Hersey and Blanchard combined the grid approach and the contingency theories to propose their situational theory of leadership. According to this theory, leadership is a function of the situation and an effective leader is one who assesses the situation accurately, uses a style appropriate to the situation, is flexible, and is also able to influence and alter the situation. We shall discuss these aspects in some detail. Leadership StylesAccording to Hersey and Blanchard, a leader is concerned with the task to be performed and with building relations with his or her people. However, a leader may have high or low concern for each of these (task and people).

A leader may focus mainly on the work to be completed and/or the leader may focus mainly on building the team. Combining concerns for task (low or high) and for people (low or high), Hersey and Blanchard proposed four leadership styles: Style 1 indicates high concern for the task and low concern for people, Style 2 showing high concern for both, Style 3 having high concern for people and low for the task, and Style 4 with both low. According to them, all the four styles are functional; it is their relevance to situations that is important.Later, Blanchard proposed new terms and his modified model is used here, with the necessary additions. As already stated, leadership style in the situational model is classified according to the amount of task and relationship behaviour the leader engages in. Task-related behaviour, called directive behaviour by Blanchard, is called regulating behaviour here because a leader’s behaviour is focused mainly on regulating his or her group members and their activities for task accomplishment. Other leaders concentrate on providing socio-emotional support and on building personal relationships, which is called nurturing behaviour (formerly called relationship behaviour and also supportive behaviour by Blanchard).Regulating behaviour : This is defined as the extent to which a leader engages in one-way communication; spells out the groups’ roles and tells the group members what to do, where to do it, when to do it, and how to do it; and closely supervises their performance.

Three words can be used to define regulating behaviour, structure, control, and supervise. Nurturing behaviour : This is defined as the extent to which a leader engages in two-way communication, listens, provides support and encouragement, facilitates interaction, and involves the group in decision making. Three words can be used to define nurturing behaviour, praise, listen, and facilitate.A combination of high and low directive and supportive behaviour will give four quadrants, each representing four different leadership styles.

These are shown in Diagram below : Style 1: Directive : High regulating and low nurturing leader behaviour is called directive style. The leader defines the roles of group members, telling them what tasks to do and how, when, and where to do them. Problem solving and decision making are initiated solely by the leader.

Solutions and decisions are announced, communication is largely one-way, and the leader closely supervises implementation. Style 2: Supportive : High regulating and high nurturing behaviour is called supportive style.In this style the leader still provides a great deal of direction and leads with his or her ideas, but the leader also attempts to discover the group’s feelings about decisions as well as eliciting their ideas and suggestions. While two-way communication and support are increased, control over decision making remains with the leader. Style 3: Consulting : High nurturing and low regulating leader behaviour is called consulting style. In this style, the focus of control for day-to-day decision-making and problem solving shifts from the leader to the group members. The leader’s role is to provide recognition and to actively listen and facilitate problem solving and decision making on the part of the group.

Style 4: Delegating : Low nurturing and low regulating leader behaviour is labeled delegating style.The leader discusses problems with his or her people until a joint agreement is achieved on problem definition and then the decision-making process is delegated totally to the group members. Now it is the group that has significant control over deciding how tasks are to be accomplished. Style Appropriateness According to the situational theory of leadership, none of the four styles is ideal: each style can be effective depending on the situation. An effective leader is one who uses a style that is appropriate for the situation he or she is dealing with. In this theory, the situation is characterized by the type of people (team) the leader is working with. Hersey and Blanchard, who developed their theory and an instrument to measure the leadership styles, used a one-to-one framework (leader in relation to a subordinate).They defined the situation in terms of what they called ‘maturity’ of the subordinate (his or her competence and his or her motivation, commitment or willingness to take responsibility).

Later, Blanchard proposed the term ‘development level’, which seems to be a better term. Hersey and Blanchard proposed that the development level or maturity of the followers be determined by their competence and commitment, that is, their willingness to take responsibility. Since Hersey and Blanchard used the leader—follower model (one-to-one framework), they neglected the team, the main focus of leadership in organizations. For the situational theory of leadership, the situation is defined by the development level of the team with which the leader is working.Three aspects determine the development of a team or a group: competence, commitment or motivation, and cohesion or teamwork. A leader should, in the first place, know the development level of his or her group and its members, that is, their levels of competence, motivation, and teamwork. The various situations with which the leader deals can be defined in terms of the development level of the group.

D4 level (very high) indicates that all the three aspects of competence, motivation, and teamwork are high in the group. D3 level (moderately high) means two of the three aspects are high, while one is low. D2 (moderately low) means one aspect is high and the other two are low. Level D1 (low) indicates that the group is low on all three aspects.The effective leadership styles for each development level are shown in the above diagram (Style 1 is appropriate for a D1 team, Style 2 for a D2 team, Style 3 for a D3 team, and Style 4 for a D4 team.

) An effective leader uses a style appropriate to the development level of his or her team or organization. An example of style appropriateness is given in the next section. Style Flexibility Hersey and Blanchard also proposed the concept of style range or flexibility (how easily a leader is capable of using the four styles) in addition to relevance or appropriateness (how appropriately a leader uses the various styles).

A leader needs both diagnostic competence to assess the situation (development level of the group) as well as competence to use the various styles with ease, as relevant to the situation or its changing conditions.As already stated, according to this theory, if the situation is D1, characterized by a low level of development (people do not know their jobs well, have low motivation, and do not support each other), the most effective style would be 1, in which the leader defines tasks, monitors performance, and provides the necessary guidance. However, after the group has ‘developed’ (i. e.

, they know their jobs, work together, and are able to perform fairly well), the leader needs to change the style, paying attention to group morale, facilitating of work, and so on. On further development of the group, the leader need no longer worry about task requirements (low directive behaviour) but may need to build the group (high supportive). If the group is at D4 that is, highly developed (can work on its own as a team and has relevant competencies), the leader need not be concerned with providing guidance or with providing support (low on both, 4).The leader’s main focus may then be envisioning, boundary management, providing facilities needed by the group, and looking after external linkages and relationships. The leader can decide which leadership style will be more appropriate for the group when he or she knows the development level of the group he or she leads. Diagnosis of the development level may also help the leader to prepare a plan of action for raising the development level by working on the dimensions in which the group is weak.

Leadership Effectiveness Although the situational theory of leadership suggests that leadership effectiveness depends on the use of a style appropriate to the situation and that there is no best leadership style, the most desirable style is 1.However, in order to move towards this, the leader needs to prepare the group and take them to the D4 level. In this sense, this theory of leadership is a developmental theory. Raising competence levels : The competence level of a group is made up of the competence of its members. Competence includes the understanding (based on knowledge) and skills required to perform a job. Competence levels of individual members can be summed up and the average gives the group’s competence level. Competence building requires providing information relevant to the roles, building skills to fulfill the roles effectively, and planning a proper long-term training strategy.Raising commitment levels : Commitment or motivation refers to the willingness individually members to set and accept challenging goals, their eagerness to take responsibility, their involvement in the work, and job satisfaction.

Again, the average of individual ratings or scores gives the group’s motivational level. Commitment building (developing motivation) can be facilitated by helping individual members to set realistic and challenging goals, supporting them to achieve these and recognizing their achievement through feedback and rewards. Raising teamwork levels The teamwork level can be diagnosed by assessing the level of cohesion, collaboration, and confrontation in the group. Cohesion means that the group functions as a strong team and each member feels that his or her views and concerns are considered by others.Collaboration indicates that some tasks are done by members as small teams and members feel free to volunteer, ask for, and respond to requests for help. Confrontation implies that whenever there is a problem that concerns the group, the group faces the problem and deals with it, generating alternative solutions and taking decisions about a course of action. An instrument on this aspect is available.

Team building can be achieved by making teams responsible for various tasks, allocating resources to them, and recognizing the importance of teamwork through team rewards, the high value accorded to teamwork in performance appraisal systems, and special programmes to reduce conflicts and increase collaboration.Raising development levels through delegation The movement of a group towards the D4 level can be accelerated through delegation. We shall discuss various processes of delegation and how to ensure their effectiveness in the next chapter. In short, leadership is the dynamic process of making people more effective, increasing their competence to multiply power, and achieving goals through them. There are different styles of participating in this process. However, the ultimate goal of a leader is to develop his team and people to become more effective and competent to achieve organizational goals as well as their own objectives.

(E) Leadership Function Theories Two types of leadership functions have been contrasted, transactional and transformational.Transactional leaders maximize efficiency, while transformational leaders emphasize on creativity. Transactional Leadership The basic beliefs of transactional leaders are that people are motivated by reward and punishment; social systems work best with a clear chain of command; when subordinates agree to do a job, they cede all authority to their manager; and the prime purpose of subordinates is to do what their manager tells them to do.

The transactional leader works by creating clear structures. The leader provides clear instructions to his or her subordinates regarding their work and the subsequent rewards. Punishments are not always mentioned, but they are well understood.The formal systems of discipline are usually in place. Transactional leadership is based on contingency; rewards or punishments are contingent upon performance. Transactional leadership is still a popular approach with most managers. Transformational Leadership While transactional functions are primarily concerned with successful completion of tasks, transformational functions go beyond the immediate task.

Transactional functions build the competencies of individuals and groups, and enable them to achieve targets that the organization or the individual would have not expected to achieve. These functions empower various groups and individuals in an organization.The following functions fall in this category: visioning, modeling (setting a personal example of a desirable style and behaviour), setting standards, building culture and climate, boundary management (ensuring continuous availability of resources, support from the major customers and from outside and developing a strong lobby and networks for the organization), synergizing (building teams), and searching and nurturing talent. Based on their research, Singh and Bhandarkar reported the following six main characteristics of transformational leaders: 1.

Empowering 2. Risk taking 3. Clarity of mission 1. Team building 4. Equanimity 5. Evolving trust 1.

Burns’ theory Inspired by the effectiveness of great leaders such as Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, who ‘transformed’ millions of helpless people into a formidable force, Burns proposed the concept of transformational leadership.He assumed that people associated with a higher moral position will be motivated by a leader who promotes this quality. Such people are better off working collaboratively than working individually.

Burns defined transformational leadership as a process in which leaders and followers engage in a mutual process of ‘raising one another to higher levels of morality and motivation’. Transformational leaders raise the bar by appealing to higher ideals and values of followers. In doing so, they may model the values themselves and use charismatic methods to attract people to the values and to the leader.

Burns’ view is that transformational leadership is more effective than transactional leadership, in which the appeal is to more selfish concerns.An appeal to social values thus encourages people to collaborate, rather than working alone as individuals and potentially competitively with one another). He also views transformational leadership as an ongoing process rather than the discrete exchanges of the transactional approach. 2.

Bass’ theory Bass defined transformational leadership in terms of how the leader affects followers, who are intended to trust, admire, and respect the transformational leader. He identified three ways in which leaders transform followers: increasing their awareness of task importance and value; getting them to focus first on team or organizational goals, rather than their own interests; and activating their higher-order needs.Two key charismatic effects that transformational leaders achieve are to evoke strong emotions and to cause identification of the followers with the leader. This can be achieved through stirring appeals, coaching, and mentoring.

Bass has recently noted that authentic transformational leadership is grounded in moral foundations that are based on four components: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. He also proposed three aspects: the moral character of the leader, the ethical values embedded in the leader’s vision, articulation, and process (which followers either embrace or reject), and the morality of the processes of social ethical choice and action that leaders and followers engage in and collectively pursue. 3.

Leader–member exchange theory A well-known transactional theory is the leader—member exchange theory, also known as LMX, or vertical dyad linkage theory. It describes how leaders in groups maintain their position through a series of tacit exchange agreements with their members. Leaders often have a special relationship with an inner circle of trusted lieutenants, assistants, and advisers.

The members of the inner circle are entrusted with high levels of responsibility, decision influence, and access to resources. The members of the ‘in-group’ have to pay for their position. They work harder, are more committed to task objectives, and share more administrative duties.They are also expected to be fully committed and loyal to their leader. The out-group, on the other hand, is provided with lower levels of choice or influence.

This also puts constraints upon leaders. They have to constantly nurture the relationship with their inner circle. The subordinates are given power; however, it is ensured that they do not strike out on their own. LMX process These relationships, if they are going to happen, start very soon after a person joins the group and follow three stages. Role taking : The member joins the team and the leader assesses his or her abilities and talents. Based on this, the leader may offer them opportunities to demonstrate their capabilities.Another key factor in this stage is the discovery by both parties of how the other likes to be respected.

Role making : In the second phase, the leader and member take part in an unstructured and informal negotiation whereby a role is created for the member. The often tacit promise of benefit and power in return for dedication and loyalty takes place during this stage. Trust building is very important in this stage, and any betrayal by the employee can result in the member being relegated to the out-group. This negotiation includes relationship factors and pure work-related ones.

A member who is similar to the leader in various ways is more likely to succeed.This perhaps explains why mixed gender relationships are usually less successful than same-gender ones (it also affects the seeking of respect in the first stage). The same effect also applies to cultural and racial differences. Routinisation : In this phase, a pattern of ongoing social exchange between the leader and the member becomes established. Successful members are thus similar in many ways to the leader (which perhaps explains why many senior teams comprise of upper caste, upper middle-class, and middle-aged individuals). They work hard at building and sustaining trust and respect. The employees are empathetic, patient, reasonable, sensitive, and are good at seeing the viewpoint of other people (especially the leader).Aggression, sarcasm, and an egocentric view are exhibited by members of the out-group.

The overall quality of the LMX relationship varies with several factors. Curiously, the quality is better when the challenge of the job is extremely high or extremely low. The size of the group, the financial resource availability, and the overall workload are also important determinants of the quality of the LMX relationships.

The leaders also gain power by being members of their superiors’ inner circle. These leaders then share this power with their subordinates. People with unusual power at the bottom of an organization may get it from an unbroken chain of circles up to the hierarchy. Level 5 LeadershipBased on an intensive study of 11 most effective leaders, Collins proposed the theory of Level 5 leadership. A Level 5 leader blends genuine personal humility with intense professional will.

According to such a leader, Level 5 is the highest level of leadership in a hierarchy of leadership capabilities. Leaders at the other four levels in the hierarchy can produce high levels of success but not enough to elevate organizations from mediocrity to sustained excellence. Good-to-great transformations do not happen without Level 5 leadership.

A Level 5 leader can transform a mediocre organization into a great organization. The various levels suggested by Collins are as follows: Level 1 : The leader is a highly capable individual.He or she makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits. Level 2 : The leader is a contributing team member. He or she contributes to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.

Level 3 : The leader is a competent manager. He or she organizes people and resources towards the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. Level 4 : The leader is an effective leader. He or she catalyses commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, and stimulates the group to high performance standards. Level 5 : The leader is an executive.

He or she builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of professional will and personal humility. Each level is appropriate in its own right, but none has the power of Level 5. One does not need to move sequentially through each level of the hierarchy to reach the top. However, to be a fully-fledged Level 5, we need the capabilities of all the lower levels, along with the special characteristics of Level 5.

A Level 5 leader possesses paradoxical combination of professional will and personal humility. Collins has cited Abraham Lincoln as an example of a Level 5 leader. The example of Mahatma Gandhi is more appropriate. In India, the late Ravi Matthai, former director of IIM, Ahmedabad, represented such institutional leadership.Narayana Murthy of Infosys is an example of corporate Level 5 leadership. Collins has suggested the following characteristics of the two aspects.

Chapter 3 Leadership Skills Getting and Giving Information Leadership Skills involves getting information for appropriate action. An element of caution and care has to be exercised by the leaders while getting information as there is a possibility of message loss and ambiguity in understanding, during the process of communication exchange. Information received may have to be recalled at a later time. There are many different ways to store and retrieve information. While giving information, there is a greater need for leaders to apply all five senses wherever possible.The leader should speak clearly, use language that everyone understands and vary the tone and pace wherever required. Group Needs and Characteristics The competence of understanding group needs and characteristics have five major parts namely, understanding motives, assessing values, evaluating norms, meeting individual needs and learning personal characteristics. Controlling the Group Control is most often an overt behaviour of the leader.

There are specific actions a leader can take to exert influence over a group. The leader in a group deploys the people in his team in a manner to control, breaking up destructive cliques, to encourage greater participation, etc. Knowing and Understanding Group ResourcesThis skill enables leader to recognize knowledge and use of group resources as a major technique in bringing a group together and creating commitment to common goals.

Also recognized that resources are theoretically limitless and that the leaders ( and groups) ability to recognize and utilize diverse resources, tremendously affects what the group can accomplish. Involve more people in active leadership by giving each a part according to his/her resources. Evaluate the impact that the availability of resources has on doing a job and maintaining the group. Counseling This skill enables leader to gain knowledge of principles of counseling and practice some simple counseling techniques to be used in ordinary situation. Setting ExampleEvery leader has a special responsibility to set a positive example. As a leader you are constantly watched by those you work with.

Representing the Group Representing the group is accurately communicating to non-group members. The sum of group members’ feelings, ideas, etc. and vice versa. A leader must represent his team on a great variety of issues. Problem Solving This skill, sometimes called planning, enables the leader to identify problem solving as one of the key techniques in developing the group’s capability, gain knowledge of a definite technique for problem solving and understand the value of problem solving in group commitment to the task and to the group unity. EvaluationThis skill enables leaders to use evaluation as a technique to maintain group integrity while improving job performance. Also it helps leader to describe what is meant by ‘getting the job done’ and ‘maintaining the group. Evaluation helps to analyze a situation for improvement and to avoid conflicts between getting the job done and maintaining the group.

It also develops an attitude of constant evaluation. A leader use variety of strategies for evaluation purposes. Sharing Leadership This skill enables leader to develop a concept of leadership for a group which permits different functions of leadership being shared or distributed among group member according to the situation and member’s strengths. Sharing leadership is a key function of a leader.The ability to extend him, to accomplish jobs than one person alone can handle. Manager of Learning Manager of learning ( MOL) describes a system for exposing learners to the need to know and involving them in their own learning. By learning, we mean the gaining of knowledge, the improvement of skills, or the development of attitude in certain area. A combination of attitude, skills, and knowledge are usually needed to operate any specific area.

Attitudes are the most important and are the most difficult to acquire. Often a new attitude replaces an old attitude before skills or knowledge can be used. The manager of learning must be able to detect this situation and know how to effect the change.Chapter 4 Leadership Lessons – Through Literature There are lots of leadership lessons to be learnt from the literature. There have been leaders as early as 200 B.

C who have left there mark so strong that today also society remembers and follows there vision and teachings. They were the path setters in formation of our civilized world. The path shown by them is still followed by thousands of people and even though there has been so many changes and progress in our society but there teachings, theories and visions are still revered.

Broadly we can classify them into three groups: ? Political ? Religious & Humanitarian ? Business and EconomicsPolitical Leadership : These men and women have guided the world in ways that they are still remembered . Some of the path breaking and history making leaders are mentioned below : i. Napoleon Bonaparte ii.

George Washington iii. Abraham Lincoln iv. John. F.

Kennedy v. Ronald. W. Regan vi. Bill Clinton Some of the most influential leaders in Indian political and Kings Era are – i. Ashoka the Great ii. Shivaji Maharaj iii.

Mahatma Gandhi iv. Indira Gandhi Religious and Humanitarian : There are a handful of religious and humanitarian leaders who have left there mark on the minds of the people. Few of them are mentioned below – i.

Gautam Buddha ii.Raja Ram Mohan Roy iii. Dalai Lama iv. Mother Teresa Business Leaders : There are people in the field of economics and business who has created space for there names to be written in the history books. Below mentioned are few of them : i. Bill Gates ii. Narayan Murthy iii.

Dhirubhai Ambani Special Reference – Top Ten Despots are: i. Tamerlane ( Timur) ii. Ivan the terrible iii. Maximillien Robespierre iv.

Joseph Stalin v. Adolf Hitler vi. Mao Zedong ( Mao – Tse – tung) vii. Francoise “papa doc”Duvalier viii. Nicolae Ceausescu ix. Idi Amin x. Pol Pot Another person who has left a mark in our history and also in the minds of the people is ARISTOTLE.

Chapter 5 Team Work and Team Building What is Team? A Team is “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable”. A team consists of group of approximately 3-20 people, who are working towards a common goal / objective / mission, where each person has been assigned specific roles or functions to perform, and where completion of the mission requires some form of dependency among group members (Dyer). Why teamwork? • Project complexity • Redundancy..

Project will not drop if one person leaves • Synergy.. • Individual growth ..

Humans learn from each other by osmosis Challenges in team work • Dilution of responsibility (accountability), dependence on others, taking on too much, overlap • Lack of focus • Conflicting personalities and styles/Egos • Distribution of credit Skills Needed for Team Work Aside from any required technical proficiency, wide varieties of social skills are desirable for successful teamwork, including: • Listening – it is important to listen to other people’s ideas. • Questioning – it is important to ask questions, interact, and discuss the objectives of the team. • Persuading – individuals are encouraged to exchange, defend, and then to ultimately rethink their ideas. Respecting – it is important to treat others with respect and to support their ideas. • Helping – it is crucial to help one’s co-workers, which is the general theme of of teamwork.

• Sharing – it is important to share with the team to creat an environment of team work. • Participating – all members of the team are encouraged to participate in the team. • Communication – for team to work effectively it is essential team members acquire communication skills and use effective communication channel between one another. Stages of team Development ?? ?? 1.

Forming • Get to know each other • Identify strengths and where you can contribute • Specify commitment • Establish the rules 2. Storming Further define goals, roles, responsibilities • Power struggles, maneuvering, personality conflicts • Discuss the sources of potential conflicts and set guidelines • Engage everyone • Allow silence people and “read them” 3. Norming • Team starts to gel.

. Managing team dynamics • Project management plans • Regular reporting and questioning one another • Assess progress 4. Performing • More feedback • Milestones and action reviews • Thank in public • Manage psychology • Identify weak links and support them 5. Adjourning • Celebrate success • Learn form the experience • Provide closure Role of a Successful Team and Meredith Belbin Model of Team and Work GroupMeredith Belbin (1993) based on his research proposed following roles that successful teams should have: • Co-ordinator – This person will have a clear view of the team objectives and will be skilled at inviting the contribution of team members in achieving these, rather than pushing his or own view.

• Shaper – The shaper is full of drive to make things happen and get things going. • Plant – this member is one who is most likely to come out with original ideas and challenge the traditional way of thinking about things. • Resource investigator – The resource investigator is the group member with the strongest contacts and networks, and is excellent at bringing in information and support from the outside. Implementer – the individual who is a team member is well organized and effective at turning big ideas into a manageable tasks and plans that can be achieved. • Team worker – Team worker is the one who is most aware of the others in the team, their needs and their concerns. • Completer – The completer is the one who drives the deadlines and make sure they are achieved. • Monitor evaluator – the monitor evaluator is good at seeing all the options . They have a strategic perspective and can judge situations accurately.

• Specialist – this person provides specialist skills and knowledge and has a dedicated single-minded approach. • Finisher – A person who sticks to deadline and likes to get on with things. Will probably be irritated by the more relaxed member of the team.Steps to Team Building 1. Area – What is required to be done? 2.

Goal – Define goals and clarify the contents to the team members. 3. Targets – Establish targets to achieve the goals. Organizational goals should be broken down into departmental targets. 4. Resources – Identify and recognize the talents, skill, knowledge and experience of team members. 5. Role and Responsibility – Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each team members. 6. Principles – Have a clearly understood and accepted set of principles that will contribute to the success of the team. 7. Communication – Create an environment that is conducive to communication 8.Ideas – Have a methodology to assess, finalize and implement ideas and alternative solutions. 9. Progress – Create a system to regularly monitor progress. 10. Mistakes – Ensure that team and individual errors are examined without personal attack. 11. Rewards – When goals and targets are achieved, share the rewards and celebrate the success. Stages Involved in Team Building 1. Creation : a) Stage Indicators – ? Newly formed team ? New Manager ? Many new team members ? New Project/ pro

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