Transcript Perspectives on Leadership LLC

Centre for
Executive
Learning and
Leadership
Perspectives of Leadership
James Collins
Overview
• Opening Questions
• Leadership Paradigms Intro & Critique
• New ‘Takes’ on Leadership
Page 2
Some ‘What’ Questions
• What is a leader
• What is Leadership?
• Name Leaders Please!
Page 3
Leaders!!
Page 4
Some Often Cited Quotes
Leadership is one of the most observed but least
understood phenomena on earth (Burns)
Leadership is like the abominable snowman, whose
footprints are everywhere but who is nowhere to
be seen (Bennis & Nanus)
Leadership is not a familiar, everyday idea, as readily
available to common sense as to social science. It
is a slippery phenomenon that eludes them both
(Selznick)
Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do
something you want done because he wants to do
it (Dwight D Eisenhower)
Page 5
Quotes
• People ask the difference between a leader and a
boss; the leader works in the open, and the boss in
covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives
(Theodore Roosevelt)
• A leader is best when people barely know that he
exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim
him, worst when they despise him. Fail to honour
people they fail to honour you. But of a good leader,
who talks little, when his work is done, his aim
fulfilled, they will all say, ‘we did this ourselves’
(Lao Tzu)
• Leadership is all hype. We’ve had three great
leaders in this century - Hitler, Stalin and Mao
(Drucker)
Page 6
Theoretical Approaches: Principal Paradigms
• Overview – The
‘History’ of Leadership
– Traditional Views –
• Is it four, five or six
paradigms? (Different
Phases)
It depends which book you
look in!!!
It’s not so simple to
categorise them - there
are overlaps
• This leads to more
recent (& some
emerging) ideas
Approach/ Theory
Trait Theories
Behaviour/ Style Theories
Situation & Contingency
Theories
‘New’ Leadership
Page 7
Traits Approaches
• An individual’s characteristics and traits are
important predictors of a successful leader
• The notion of a ‘great man’ (sic) Thomas Carlyle mid
19th Century – ‘On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the
Heroic in History’
• Leaders have extraordinary qualities – BUT…
Which traits? – how long does the list get?
What about situation/context?
Traits are (mostly) innate qualities – so how can you
develop leaders who don’t have the right traits?
Perhaps the ‘man’ who does not have the innate
qualities can never be a good leader
Page 8
Traits
• Re-emergence of traits in leadership theories • Kirkpatrick & Locke (1991) model describes the
traits associated with drive, confidence, motivation,
task knowledge, integrity, and cognitive ability –
these are considered important to successful
leadership – But they acknowledge:
…traits are only a precondition. Leaders who possess
the requisite traits must take certain actions to be
successful
…there is a danger that the term ‘trait’ becomes so
stretched that it applies to any variable on which
leaders differ from non-leaders. (Bryman, 1992)
A Nobel Prize awaits the person who resolves the
question of whether leaders are born or made. But
for now the argument leads nowhere. (Bennis 1997)
Page 9
Behaviour/ Style Approaches
• What leaders do rather than who they are
Early work - Lippitt & White (1943) identify a single
behavioural dimension - Reflecting autocratic, democratic
or laissez-faire behaviours
Same authors suggest - leaders cannot easily interchange
styles
Ohio State University: e.g. Fleishman, Harris & Burt,
1955, and others) – A two factor model:
Consideration: a concern for themes such as promoting
mutual trust, respect, and camaraderie in the relationship
between leader and follower
Initiating structure: concerns around the task such as
defining the work, and organising and structuring tasks
and responsibility
Is this a early ref to leaders v mangers
Page 10
Behaviour/ Style Approaches
• University of Michigan (e.g. French 1950; Katz &
Kahn, 1951)
Concern for production (job-centred concerns)
Concern for relationships (employee-centred
concerns).
• Blake & Mouton (1964) Leadership Grid
Concern for people
Concern for results
Page 11
Behaviour/ Style Approaches
But
• Weak empirical support for how behavioural action
contributes to leadership outcome
• What behaviours – How long can scholars make the
list? - Decades of research have not identified a
universal collection of behaviours that contribute to
effective leadership.
• What of the causal direction between the behaviour
of the leader and follower related variables
• Behaviour and Styles Research has employed so
many scales as to make the results meaningless – Of
120 different scales used - most employed only a few
times ( Schriesheim & Kerr, 1977)
• What of the environment/context in which leadership
takes place
Page 12
Situation & Contingency Approaches
• Theories that attempt to account for the influence of
environmental or situational factors
Fluid variables: e.g. The level of authority leaders have
over their subordinates
The degree of leader/ follower relations
The extent that the goals of the group can be
objectively defined
These affect the favourability of the situation faced by
leaders and followers - can influence the methods of
leadership considered appropriate to the situation.
The theories include aspects found in the traits and
behavioural models
Page 13
Situation & Contingency Approaches
• Filley, House & Kerr (1976), Four principle
themes:
Leader characteristics
Followers’ needs, attitudes and expectations
Task requirements of the leader and followers
The organisational and wider contextual
environment
• Contingency Model ( Fiedler, 1965)
• Path-goal theory (House, 1971)
• Situational Leadership Theory [SLT] Hersey &
Blanchard (1993):
Page 14
Situation & Contingency Approaches
BUT
• Validity of the measurement scales
• What is being measured
• What is the solution when there is a mismatch
between situation and leader?
• How are followers’ competences and commitment
conceptualised - how do they relate to followers’
levels of development
• Leader matching (style to needs of situation)- leader
may be appropriate for one situation, for example
fire fighting a crisis, what becomes of the leader
when a status quo is achieved and the style is no
longer considered appropriate?
Page 15
‘New’ Leadership Approaches
• 1980s - Disillusionment and pessimism about
leadership research ( Bryman, 1992)
‘New’ Leadership
Charismatic Leadership (e.g. House, 1977; Conger &
Kanungo, 1987; Shamir, House & Arthur 1993;
Waldman & Yammarino, 1999),
Visionary Leadership (e.g. Bennis & Nanus, 1985;
Nanus, 1992).
Transformational/ Transactional Leadership (e.g. Burns,
1978; Bass, 1985; Tichy & Devanna, 1990; Kouzes &
Posner, 1995; Alimo-Metcalfe & Alban-Metcalfe,
2001)
Page 16
• Core concept – charisma
Some authors use the general label ‘charismatic
leadership’ to describe all of them
Burns (1978) Transforming and Transactional leader
on a single dimension
Bass (1985) Transformational and Transactional
leader – separate dimensions
The four ‘I’s of transformational leadership
Idealised Influence & Inspirational Motivation (which
combine to form charisma)
Intellectual Stimulation
Individualised consideration
Page 17
Covey (1991)
Transformational Leadership
Transactional Leadership
Builds on the need for meaning
Builds on the need to get a job done and make a
living
Focuses more on missions and strategies
Focuses on tactical issues
Makes full use of human resources. Identifies and
develops new talent
Relies on human relations to lubricate human
interactions
Designs and redesigns jobs to make them meaningful
and challenging
Follows and fulfils role expectations by striving to
work effectively within current systems
Leads out in new directions. Aligns internal
structures and systems to reinforce overarching
values and goals
Supports structures and systems that reinforce the
bottom line, maximise efficiency, and guarantee
short-term profits
Is orientated towards long-term goals without
compromising human values and principles
Is short-term and hard data orientated
Is preoccupied with purposes and values, morals, and
ethics
Is preoccupied with power and position, politics
and perks
Transcends daily affairs
Is mired in daily affairs
Separates causes & symptoms and works at
prevention
Confuses causes & symptoms and concerns itself
more with treatment than prevention
Page 18
‘New’ Leadership Approaches
BUT
• Based on studies of ‘distant’ leaders such as CEOs of larger
commercial organisations or senior military officers
• Based largely on the study of males
• Based on white populations
• Based, in the main, on the views of those occupying formal
leadership positions (Alimo-Metcalf)
• Are the constructs really distinctive? – correlation
• Dimensions, particularly charisma, lack conceptual clarity, are
ill-defined and poorly measured
• Transformational leadership viewed as morally superior: some
of the transactional items are written in a manner which already
implies that the leader is ineffective (Smith & Peterson 1988)
• High reliance on rating by subordinates (bias)
• Some More in 2 Slides
Page 19
Overview – The ‘History’ of Leadership
Approach/ Theory
Emphasis
Trait Theories
The Innate Qualities, Traits,
Personality and Characteristics of
the Leader [What Leaders Are]
Behaviour/ Style
Theories
The Behaviour and Style of the Leader
[What Leaders Do]
Situation &
Contingency
Theories
Contextual - Prescriptive and
Predictive Solutions
‘New’ Leadership
Transformational/ Transactional
Leadership. The Charismatic,
Visionary Heroic Leader
Page 20
Exchange Theories
Principally concern the relationship between leader and
follower(s)
• Social Exchange Theory of leadership (SET)
Hollander (1958, 1978, 1993)
• Leader Member Exchange (Dansereau, Graen &
Haga, 1975; Graen & Cashman, 1975; Graen & UhlBien, 1991, 1995)
Good quality relationships (ingroup) between leader
and follower the negotiated role responsibilities are
expanded
Poor quality relationship (outgroup) between leader
and follower - more likely that subordinate will have
formal defined roles
Page 21
Post Heroic
• New Leadership - A return to style, behaviour and
traits –
• A return to the ‘one best way’ (Bryman, 1992)
• Lacking context (again)
• Leadership is not a simple dyadic relationship
• Assumptions about hierarchical arrangements
• Individual achievement? (The leader of course)
Page 22
Post Heroic themes
A ‘Post Heroic’ Approach to Leadership
• Distributed (dispersed)/ Shared/ Collaborative (note:
some similarities and differences)
• Followership & Follower Centred Perspectives
• Servant Leadership
• Authentic / Ethical/ Values / Responsible Leadership
• Creative Leadership
• Spiritual Leadership
And others...
Page 23
Homework
HOMEWORK! – A DISCUSSION SESSION IN
JUNE
• Take one of the post heroic approaches…
• How can this provide new insights into leadership
- Individually take an approach for discussion next
time-
Page 24
• Fin
Page 25
Manager or Leader
Leaders
Managers
seek to challenge and change systems
seek to operate and maintain current systems
create new visions and new meanings
accept given objectives and meanings
Empower
control and monitor
seek to inspire and transcend
trade on exchange relationships
have a long term focus
have a short-term focus
focus on the strategic big picture
focus on detail and procedure
are transformative
are transactional
Page 26