Leading

Definition

Leading is defined as the process of influencing People so

that they will contribute to organization and group goals.
Leadership is an important aspect of managing i.e. the ability
to lead effectively is one of the keys to being an effective
manager.
The essence of leadership is followership because followers
believe the leader will achieve their own desire, wants &
needs

Qualities/Ingredients of Leadership
Leaders envision future , they inspire organization members
and chart the course of the organization .
Leadership skills is a compound of the following ingredients :

the ability to use power effectively and in a responsible

manner.
the ability to comprehend that human beings have
different motivating forces at different times and in
different situations.
the ability to inspire followers to apply their full
capabilities.
the ability to act in a manner that will develop a climate
conducive to responding to and arousing motivations.
the ability to develop a healthy relationship with the
boss.

Principle of leadership:
since people tend to follow those who offer them a means of
satisfying their personal goals , the more managers
understand what motivates their subordinates and the more
they reflect this understanding in their actions , the more
effective they are likely to be as leaders .

Theories of Leadership:
We have broad categories of leadership theories (1)
trait theories (2) behavioral and styles theories (3)
situational and contingency theories (4) Transactional
and transformational levels theory
(1) Trait approaches to leadership:
Prior 1949 theories of leadership attempt to identify the traits
that leaders process (great man theory) leaders are born and
not made. Traits included physical, mental and personality
traits of various leaders.
Charismatic theory to leadership
This approach states that charismatic leaders may have
certain characteristics such as self-confidence, strong
convictions, a vision , change initiation , communicating
high expectations etc
Although these are admirable characteristics, other
factors such as the characteristics of the followers and
the situation may impact on effective leadership.
(2)

Behavior and styles theories

In behavioral theories - Unlike trait theories of

leadership- attention turned from who the leader was
to how the leader actually behaved.
Style based in use of authority
There are three classic styles of leadership
(a) Authoritarian, in which the leader retains all authority
and responsibility, and assigns people to clearly defined tasks
through a downward flow of communication. Here, the leader

in the positive stresses to prompt orderly and predictable

performance. But - in the negative stifles individual initiative
(b) Democratic, in which a leader delegate great deal of
power and retains ultimate responsibility, and a assign people
to clearly defined tasks through participatory decision making
and upward and downward communication. here, leaders in
the positive - enhance communication . but - in the negativethey consume a lot of time .
(c) Laissez fair, leadership, in which the leader denies
responsibility and abdicate authority to a group of people
whom are told through horizontal communication - to do
their best and work things out by themselves. In the positive,
leaders here permit self starters to begin as they fit without
interference. But in the negative the group may lose
direction in the absence of the leader.

theorists and managers hailed democratic leadership as the

key to productive and happy employees, whom have been
shown through studies - to prefer democratic style rather
than authoritarian style of leadership , but The democratic
style does not always lead to better performance. some
employees preferred to be told what to do rather than to
participate in decision making.

Style based The Managerial-Grid

The managerial grid is the most useful approach to describing

leadership styles is the managerial grid, developed by Robert
Blake and Jane Mouton.
The grid has two dimensions - concern for people and concern
for production. Concern for people may include such elements
as provision of good working conditions, placement of
responsibility on the basis of trust rather than obedience,
maintenance of self-esteem of workers and good interpersonal
relations. Concern for production may also include the
attitudes of a supervisor toward a wide variety of things, such
a quality of staff services, work efficiency, volume and quality
of output etc.
The bi-dimensional managerial grid identifies a range of
management behaviours based on the various ways that taskoriented and employee-oriented styles (each expressed as a
continuum on a scale of 1 to 9) can interact with each other
(see figure )

High 9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
low
1

1.9

9.9

5.5

1.1
1
low

9.1
9
high

(1.1) Impoverished Management

Here, managers concern themselves very little with either
people or production & have minimum involvement in their
jobs.
Here, it is believed that Exertion of minimum effort to get
required work done is appropriate to sustain organization
membership.
(1,9) Country Club Management
Managers have little concern to production & are
concerned only with people.
Here, we have thoughtful attention to needs of people ,
because satisfying relationships leads to a comfortable,
friendly organization atmosphere and work tempo.
(9, 1) Autocratic task managers .
Here, the concern is only with production.
We have an Authority Compliance
Here , we have efficiency in operations which results
from arranging conditions of work in such a way that
human elements interfere to a minimum degree.
(9,9) Team Management
Here managers display the highest possible dedication
both to people & production.
Here, work accomplishment comes from committed
people; interdependence through a "common stake" in
organization purpose leads to relationships of trust and
respect.

(5,5) Middle of the Road Management

Here, we have Medium concern for production & people .
Here, adequate organization performance is possible,
but we need balancing the necessity to get out work
with maintaining morale of people at a satisfactory level.
Critique
Despite the fact that the (9,9) leadership style correlate
positively with better result , better mental and physical
health, and effective conflict resolution, Blake and mouton
believe in the falsity of the theory that there is no one best
leadership style. Through experimenting with 100 managers,
they found that these managers prefer overwhelmingly the
(9,9) leadership style, which led them to develop other
program to help organizations and individual move into the
(9,9) leadership style in the situational grid.

Leadership as a Continuum
R. Tannenbaum and W.H. Schmidt developed the leadership
continuum concept
to characterize the adaptation of
leadership
styles
to
different
contingencies.
These
contingencies range from one that is highly boss-centered
(managers make decisions that non managers accepted ),
( managers must sell decisions before gaining acceptance) ,
( managers present decisions but must respond to questions
from non-managers .) to one that is highly subordinate
-centered.

Area of freedom for non-managers

Managers and non- managers jointly make decisions

within limits : managers define limits within which nonmanagers make decision . Managers present problems ,
gets inputs from non-managers then decide.
the continuum theory recognizes that the appropriate
style of leadership depends on the leader , the followers
and the situation

Robert Tannenbaum and Warren H, while personally

favor the employee- centered type, they suggest that a

manager - before choosing a leadership style must

consider three sets of "forces that may influence a
managers style . These forces can be seen along a
continuum as:
1. The forces operating in the managers personality.
2. The forces in the subordinates
3. The forces in the situation e.g. organizational values
& traditions

(3)

Situational or ( contingency) theories

As disillusionment with the Great man and trait approaches

to understanding leadership, increased attention turned to
the study of situations and the belief that leaders are the
product of given situations i.e. emerge from interaction
between the group and the leader. It supports the follower
theory.

(a) Contingency theory of leadership (Fiedler):

Fielder believes that people become leaders not only

because of their personality attributes but also because of
various situational factors and the interactions between
leaders and group members.

We can only speak of a leader who tends to be effective in

one situation and ineffective in other. If we wish to
increases organizational and group effectiveness , we must
learn not only how to train leaders more effectively but also
how to build an organizational environment in which the
leader can perform well.

(b) Path-goal Approach to leadership

This approach says that the main function of the leader is to
clarify and set goals with subordinates, help them find the
best path for achieving the goals and remove obstacles.
Accordingly, this approach categorizes leader behavior into
four groups:
a. Supportive leadership:
Here, managers treat
subordinates as equals , while working to improve
their wellbeing
b. Participative leadership. Here managers consult with
subordinates to get their suggestion and then
consider those suggestions when making decision.
c. Instrumental leadership: is a directive leadership.
Here managers tell subordinates what expected from
them.
And provide specific guidance, schedule,
regulations, and standard.
d. Achievement - oriented leadership: Here, managers
set challenging goals, emphasize excellence, and
seek continuous improvement while maintain a high
confidence that subordinate wills these challenges.

The appropriate style depends on the situation

& the most effective leaders help subordinates
achieve enterprise as well as personal goals.

4. Transactional and Transformation leadership

a) Transactional leaders identify what needs to be done

to achieve goals , including clarifying roles an tasks ,
rewarding performance and providing for the social
needs of followers.
b) Transformational leaders articulate a vision, inspire,
and motivate followers and create a climate favorable
for organizational change.