CHAPTER 12:LEADING WITH INFLUENCE

CH 12© 2015 SAGE Publications

Leadership• The process of influencing employees to work towards

achieving objectives.• Has a direct affect on performance.• Enables employees to achieve great things.

Leadership dilemmas • Are leaders born or made?• Can leadership skills be developed?

• We are all born with different levels of natural leadership ability, but research shows that leadership skills can be developed.

Leaders Versus Managers• People tend to use the terms manager and leader

interchangeably. However, managers and leaders differ.

• Leading is one of the four management functions:• Planning• Organizing• Leading• Controlling

Leadership Theories• There are

four major classifications of leadership theories:

Leadership Trait Theory• Leadership trait theorists attempt to determine a list of

distinctive characteristics that account for leadership effectiveness.

Leadership Trait Theory• Edwin Ghiselli conducted the most widely publicized

trait study identified six traits as important to leadership:• Supervisory ability • Need for occupational achievement• Intelligence• Decisiveness• Self-assurance• Initiative

Behavioral Leadership Theories• Behavioral leadership theorists attempt to determine

distinctive styles used by effective leaders.• Leadership style is the combination of traits, skills, and

behaviors managers use while interacting with employees.

• Behavioral theorists focus on the leaders’ behaviors; however, behaviors are based on traits and skills.

• Includes Two-Dimensional Leadership and the Leadership Grid Theories.

Two-Dimensional Leadership Styles• Two-dimensional leadership styles are four possible

leadership styles that are based on the dimensions of job structure (or direction) and employee consideration (or developing supportive relationships).• Structuring• Job-centered behavior• Consideration• Employee-centered behavior

The Leadership Grid• The Leadership Grid identifies the ideal leadership

style as incorporating a high concern for both production and people. • The leader with an impoverished management style • The leader with an authority-compliance management

style • The leader with a country club management style • The leader with a middle-of-the-road management style • The leader with a team management style

Situational Leadership Theories• Situational approaches to leadership attempt to

determine appropriate leadership styles for particular situations

• Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale:• Do you use a more task-oriented or relationship-

oriented leadership style in working with others? • Are you more task or relationship?

Situational Favorableness• Degree to which a situation enables you to exert

influence over followers.

How to Determine Situational Favorableness• The three variables that determine situational

favorableness are as follows:• Leader–follower relations: Is the relationship between you and

followers good or poor? • Task structure: Is the task structured or unstructured? Do

employees perform repetitive, routine, standard tasks that are easily understood?

• Position power. Do you have position power—the power to assign work, reward and punish, hire and fire, and give raises and promotions?

Leadership Continuum Model• The leadership continuum model is used to determine

which of seven styles of leadership, on a continuum from autocratic (boss-centered) to participative (employee-centered), is best for a given situation.

• Before selecting one of the seven leadership styles, the leader must consider the following three variables: • The leader’s preferred style• The followers’ preferred style for the leader• The situation

The Leadership Continuum

Path-Goal Model• Used to determine employee objectives and to clarify

how to achieve them. The model focuses on how leaders influence employees’ perceptions of their goals and the paths they follow toward goal attainment using situational factors.

Summary of Path-Goal Factors and Styles

Path-Goal Model• Subordinate situational factors are

• Authoritarianism• Locus of control • Ability

• Environmental situational factors are• Task structure • Formal authority • Work group

Leadership Styles in the Path-Goal Model • Based on the situational factors and employee

maturity, a leader can select the most appropriate of the following leadership styles.

Leadership Styles in the Path-Goal Model • Directive: If employee maturity is low, use a telling

style, giving employees explicit directions about how to accomplish a task.

• Supportive: If employee maturity is moderate to low, use a selling style, explaining decisions to gain understanding.

• Participative: If employee maturity is moderate to high, use the participating style, to facilitate decision making among subordinates.

• Achievement-oriented: If employee maturity is high, you use a delegating style, giving employees responsibility for decisions and their implementation.

Contemporary Leadership Theories• Attempt to determine how effective leaders interact

with, inspire, and support followers• Focus primarily on top level managers.

Leadership Substitutes Theory• Substitutes for leadership are characteristics of the

task, of subordinates, or of the organization that replace the need for a leader.