Lecture on Leadership
Nature of leadership:
Reciprocal, transactional
relationship
Legitimate (leadership is
different from domination)
Goal-oriented--leaders lead
people toward some goal
(Sometimes)
Transformational--unites and
transforms people (leadership
different from management)
Theories
(numerous--noconsensus yet)
Overall themes:
Two leadership styles or sets of behaviors:
Relationship / Task
Two dimensions to consider:
The person / the situation
Theorist differ in considering
how flexible these are.
Contingency theory: Effective
leadership depends on a flexible
match between leader and
something else:
*structure of situation,
*developmental stage of group,
*member characteristics
Fiedler's Contingency Model:
Leaders are either relationship-motivated or task-motivated
Views people as relatively
fixed.
Situation varies according to
three dimensions:
Leader-member relations (good/bad)
Task structure
(high structure/unstructured
Leader's power position
(strong/weak)
Effective leadership depends on
the match between favorability
of the situation and leadership
style. Favorability = good
relations, high structure,
strong power position.
Leader Match training teaches leaders how to modify the situation (not themselves)
Leadership Grid
(Blake & Mouton, 1980)
(formerly call Managerial Grid)
Based on distinction between
relationship and task
Focuses on the person, not the
situation
Proposes a single "best" style (9,9), high on both concern for
people and concern for results
Training focuses on changing the leader
Vroom's normative model
Balances a focus on decision
quality (task) and involvement of
members(task/relationship)
AI, AII, CI are leader-focused
and task-focused
CII and GII are group-focused and
involves more attention to
relationship issues
Contingencies involve a match
between the style and the several
aspects of the situation:
Importance of decision quality
Importance of decision acceptance
Need for information or expertise
Training focuses on instructing leader about contingencies (cognitive model); leaders are presumed to be able to switch among styles