People have wondered about what makes a great leader since the beginning of recorded history – and undoubtedly long before. The formal study of leadership dates back to the 1950s, and is probably one of the most researched topics in Organizational Behavior. Today, after decades of study, we believe that:
In this module, we will review the major theories of leadership that persist to this day. Although some are more complex than others, each seems to have a nugget of truth and adds to our overall understanding of how leadership works and what makes great leadership. The following chart summarizes the major approaches or models that we will cover.
Leadership Model |
Principles |
Trait Model |
Leaders have special innate qualities. Certain people are “natural leaders.†|
Behavioral Models |
Leaders are concerned primarily with task or relationships, though the best leaders are concerned with both. |
Contingency Models |
Different leader behaviors are effective for different types of followers and situations. |
Influence (Power) Models |
Leadership consists of influencing others. |
Transformational Models |
Leaders are visionaries who change organizations and people’s behavior. |
Let’s begin with a PowerPoint presentation that will provide some background on these different models:
The exercise of leadership, by definition, involves compelling people to do something they might not otherwise have done. The manner in which they carry out these tasks varies, however. The degree of motivation and enthusiasm with which a follower performs his or her work is related to the type of leadership that is used. Here are the most common reactions by followers:
Let’s take a look at power, which is closely tied to leadership. Review the sources of power in the following video presentation:
Retrieved April 2017 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSb06mh7EHA.
Now, consider reactions to leadership’s exercise of power (by type):
Type |
Most Common Reaction |
Reward |
Compliance |
Coercive |
Compliance or resistance |
Legitimate |
Compliance |
Referent |
Commitment |
Expert |
Commitment |
This chart would indicate that the most a leader can hope for if he relies on the power received from holding a position (legitimate, reward, coercive) is compliance with directives. If leaders rely too heavily on coercive power, they risk meeting resistance. If, instead, a leader needs to have the follower’s commitment (the knowledge that a follower will comply with directives regardless of whether or not the follower is being monitored or not), then the leader must rely on personal sources of power – such as referent or expert power.
While commitment is very often the most desired reaction, sometimes compliance is enough to accomplish the leader’s objectives. Resistance, however, is something all leaders should want to avoid as it could render them totally ineffective.
Contingency Models
The Eveland PowerPoint presentation also covered contingency models of leadership. Contingency models are based on the idea that the most effective leadership style is one that matches the demands of the situation. There are three basic models of contingency leadership that we will cover in this module. Each has a slightly different prescription as to the factors that a leader needs to consider when exercising the most successful leadership style.
The Fiedler Model
Unlike the behavioral theorists who came before him, Fiedler did not believe that there was one best style of leadership. He agreed that individuals tend to possess either a task-oriented or relationship-oriented leadership style, but that to know the appropriate style for a given circumstance, you also needed to understand the situation:
Situational Factor |
Characteristics |
Leader-Member Relations |
Do the followers have trust and confidence in the leader? |
Task Structure |
Is the task structured or unstructured? |
Leader’s position power |
Does the leader have the discretion to reward or punish? |
Read the following article to learn how these factors combine to indicate which leadership style would be most effective given specific situational constraints, and criticisms of the model:
While Fiedler thought that different leadership styles worked better under different conditions, he did not think that people could change their preferred style. So the important task of management was to match the leader with the right style to the right situation. The next contingency theory of leadership we will examine does not hold that leadership style is static, and instead proffers the argument that leaders can change and adapt their style to fit the situation.
Path Goal Model
The path-goal model of leadership proposes four different leadership styles and considers two situational factors (the follower’s capabilities and motivation) to match the most effective leadership style with the characteristics of the situation as follows:
Appropriate Leadership Style |
Situation |
Directive |
|
Supportive |
|
Participative |
|
Achievement-oriented |
|
In other words, a leader does not use the same approach with hourly employees with limited skills the same way she would lead employees who are highly educated and highly skilled. Read more about this approach to leadership:
Normative Decision Model: Vroom-Yetton-Jago decision tree
The last contingency model we will consider is the Normative Decision Model, so called because it gives leaders a tool to use to decide exactly which of five leadership styles is appropriate for a given circumstance to ensure that the highest quality alternative is selected and the followers have the greatest likelihood of acceptance of that alternative. By asking a series of questions and following the answers through a decision tree, the leader can select the style that is most likely to yield the response she desires. The five leadership styles are:
Decision style |
Characteristics |
A1: Autocratic |
Leader gathers information and decides alone. |
A2: Autocratic |
Leader gets information from followers but decides alone. |
C1: Consultative |
Leader shares problem with individual followers, asks for input, but decides alone. |
C2: Consultative |
Leader shares problem with group of follower, asks for input, but decides alone. |
G2: Group based |
Leader shares problem with group, seeks consensus on solution. |
Find out what the key questions are and see how the decision tree works by reading the following article. Be sure to try out the interactive tool that allows you to try out the decision tree for yourself!
Transformational leadership
Transformational leaders are people who inspire followers to exert their greatest efforts toward achieving a vision for the future of the organization. To do this, the transformational leader needs to clearly communicate his vision for the organization and this vision must be linked to strong values that followers will find motivating. The transformational leader works hard to build trust with his followers – so that his “open area†of the JoHari Window is maximized. (See Module 2 for an explanation of the JoHari Window.)
Although he does not use the term “transformationalâ€, Leadership expert Simon Sinek is clearly describing what constitutes this type of leadership in the following TED talk:
Much of what is written about transformational leadership focuses on the role of top management – particularly CEO’s – as transformational. But what about the rest of us who lead people on a daily basis, but from the middle of the organization? Does the model of transformational leadership have anything to offer individuals who are not at the top of the leadership “food chainâ€?
The following article does just that by making clear how managers at all levels of the organization can become more effective leaders by infusing transformational principles into the meaning of work. Drawing on the Job Characteristics Model (remember this from module 1?), the authors show how “transformational leaders promote (i.e., shape) subordinates’ perceptions of work by influencing their perceptions of key job characteristics.†(p. 354)
You can find this article in the Trident Online Library.
Center for Creative Leadership Website. (2015) Retrieved from http://www.ccl.org/index.shtml
McNamara, C. (2017) All about Leadership. In Free Management Library. Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/leadership/
Most of what is written about leadership has been written by western scholars and practitioners—mostly from the United States. Thus, what we have studied in this module so far reflects western assumptions and values about how to improve leadership performance.
But leadership quality, we know, is mostly about perception. If the followers perceive that a person is a leader, that person will be treated with respect and the followers will grant him the power and authority to guide their actions. These perceptions can vary across cultures, and successful global leaders know that leadership is viewed differently in different cultures and modify their behaviors to align with culturally diverse expectations. This is what is called Cultural Intelligence.
Required Reading
The following reading discusses the importance of cultural awareness in increasing organizational effectiveness:
Assignment
In this exercise, there are two sets of quizzes (A & B) that you will participate in.
After completing the quizzes, address the following questions in a 2- to 3-page essay:
Your paper will be evaluated using the criteria on the SLP rubric (see the rubric for more detail): Assignment-Driven, Critical Thinking, Business Writing, Effective Use of Information, Citing Sources, and Timeliness.