LESSON 8 & 9

LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE

Module Title: Managing and Leading Change

Who and What is a Leader?

“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader

takes people where they don’t necessarily

want to go, but ought to be.” -Rosalynn Carter

A leader is one who inspires, motivates and leads people to accomplish organizational

goals

Leadership is all about

influencing a group of people

Characteristics of effective leader

Take the challenges to grow

Take

calculated

risks

Adopt the leadership style that fits

you and your personality

Have courage at the time of

controversies

Accept their mistakes

Communicate frequently

Be approachable

Understand the situation

and the fact

Essential requisites of

leadership are

Trust

Collaboration

Confidence

Competence

Competitive Spirit

How do you define leadership

style?

Types of Leadership Styles

1. Democratic/ Participative

Leadership Style

When to use Democratic

Leadership Style?

Team Agreement is needed

Greater motivation and

commitment

Knowledgeable and skillful team

members

Limitation of Democratic

Leadership Style

It is a time consuming affair

2. Autocratic Leadership

Style

When to use Autocratic

Leadership Style?

When quick decisions are

needed

No need for others input

Team agreement is not

necessary

When high level of

management control is needed

Limitations of Autocratic

Leadership

Employees cannot question

decisions

Little opportunity to give

suggestions

3. Laissez-Faire/ Free Rein

Leadership Style

When to use Laissez Faire/

Free Rein Style?

When the team is highly

capable

When team members are able

to analyze the situation

When close monitoring of a

decision is not needed

When there is full trust and

confidence in the team

members

Limitations of Laissez Faire/

Free Rein Leadership Style

Not suitable for lesser

experienced employees

Lack of motivation

Poor productivity

What are the factors for

selecting leadership style?

Objectives that need to be achieved

Followers

Situation

Apply the appropriate leadership

style and techniques

Leadership style is the approach for

providing the right way to the team

members, implementing planning

strategies and motivating people by

including all the three leadership

styles.

Effective leadership is not about

making speeches or being liked;

leadership is defined by results not

attributes.

Peter Drucker

To read articles on similar

topics, please visit:

blog.commlabindia.com

Thank You

LEADERSHIP THEORIES

APPLICABLE TO LEADING

CHANGE

Great Man (Person) Approach

The Great Man theory is a 19th-century idea according to which history can be largely explained by the impact of "great men", or heroes; highly influential individuals who, due to either their personal charisma, intelligence, wisdom, or political skill utilized their power in a way that had a decisive historical impact.

Sought to identify the traits effective leaders possessed.

Leadership Trait Theory

Trait Theories emphasize upon the traits or qualities of leaders, which lead to their lead to their effectiveness.

Attempts to explain distinctive characteristics accounting for leadership effectiveness to identify a set of traits that all successful leaders possess.

Behavioral Leadership Theories

The Behavioural Theories sought to identify the specific behaviours of leaders that lead to their leadership success.

However, it appeared that Behavioural Theories

overlooked the situational factors and the environment in which behaviours are demonstrated that led to the transition to Contingency Theories and development of contingency models.

Contingency Leadership Theories

Contingency theories state that effectiveness of leadership is related to the interplay of a leader’s traits, behaviours and other situational factors.

Types of Contingency Leadership Theories

Fred Fiedler Contingency Model

Hersey-Blanchard Situational Model

Path- Goal Model

Vroom- Yetton Model

Types of Contingency Leadership Theories

Fred Fiedler Model assumes that performance of a group depends upon leadership style and favourableness of the situation. Some leadership styles work better in certain situations.

For example, task-oriented leaders appeared to perform better in very favourable and very unfavourable situations. In contrast, the relationship-oriented leaders tended to perform better in moderately favourable situations.

Types of Contingency Leadership Theories

Hersey-Blanchard Situational Model suggests that leadership style should be matched to the maturity of the subordinates. Depending on the subordinates’ level of maturity (from highly immature to highly mature), a leader may adopt any of these styles:

Telling (High Task-Low Relationship)

Selling (High Task-High Relationship)

Participating (Low Task-High Relationship)

Delegating (Low Task-Low Relationship)

Types of Contingency Leadership Theories

Path- Goal Model (by Robert House) suggest that a leader can affect the motivation and performance of a group by:

•Offering rewards for the achievement of performance goals

•Clarifying paths towards these goals

•Removing performance obstacles

The model identified four leadership behaviours (directive, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented) and assumed that the leaders could be flexible to adopt any style according to situations.

Types of Contingency Leadership Theories

Vroom- Yetton Model suggests that leadership style (autocratic, consultative, group) may be chosen by consideration of a number of situation variables in the form of questions forming a decision tree.

Charismatic Leadership Theory

A Charismatic leader commands authority not by the virtue of a formal position but by the virtue of charismatic personality. Envisioning, empathy and empowerment are the three core components of charismatic leadership. The Theory states that people would attribute heroic or extra-ordinary qualities to the Charismatic Leaders who had an idealized goal and a strong commitment.

Transactional Leadership Theory

This theory bases leadership on a system of rewards and punishments that are contingent upon the performance of the followers. Transactional leadership is often used in business and Transactional leaders are task and outcome-oriented.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leaders are able to inspire followers with their vision and personality to change expectations, perceptions, and motivations for working towards common goals. Four components of Transformational Leadership are: Intellectual Stimulation Consideration for individuals Inspirational Motivation Idealized Influence

TUTORIAL ACTIVITY