PsychologicalDimesions-LeadershipDev

7/23/2019 PsychologicalDimesions-LeadershipDev

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Russe

ll

N

asse l

A description

o

cer

t in

Psyc

hological

imensi

ons

in Lead

ership e

velopmen

t

THIS

article is concerne

d with

identifying and describing

certain

psy

chological

dimensions which are

pre

sumed

to be involved

in effective

lea

der

ship

dev

elopment and

training. The

role

of the success

ful leader

involves the use

of methods and techniques

whic

h en

gender in

followers

an

enthusiastic

and

cooper

ative pursui

t of goals or

objectives

wh

ich the leader and

a majority of the

followers have

mutually agr

eed u

pon

1, 2

7 14).

well adjusted; I

V.

Te

chnical Informati

on

knows

job

area

well sees

larger

pic

ture,

can organize and manage

success

fully, and instills

in others a desire

to

follow;

V. Decision Making

is

able

to

make sound and

timely dec

isions, can

id

entify critical

elements esse

ntial for

success and

h

as goo

d

fore

sight; and VI.

Teach

ing

and Communica

tions can

ex

press

s

elf

w

ell, is able t

o teach eff

ectively,

and ascertain

s that

subo

rdinates

clearly

understan

d instruc

tions.

Lea

dership Image

The most

vital dimension included

in

the leadership

function

invo

lves the

prese

nce of so

me

acceptable

image, in

the minds

of

both

the

lea

der and

follow

ers,

as

to

just

what

are the q

ualifications

of

an acceptable

leader

2).

Six

major

attributes

have been proposed

in this re

gard:

I. Pers

onal Integrit

y self-confi

dence, sin

cerity

a

nd honesty, devoti

on to

duty,

high initiative, and

a sens

e

of

per

sona

l respon

sibility; II. Consideration

for

O

thers concerned

with welfa

re of

others, fair and impartial, a

nd patient

and tolerant; III.

Good Menta

l

ea

lth

sees

things favorably and

works for

their

accomplish

ment,

h

as goo

d

sense

of hu

Le

adership De

cision Pattern

The

second most important

dimension

with

respec

t to th

e

leadership

function

is the

cha

racteristic

pattern o

f

de

cision

mak

ing

utilized

by

the leader. This e

n

tails four usual

choices

5

): I. Autocratic

Aggressive an

ego

centered leader de

cision

pattern where

the leader alone

mak

es

the

decisions, and with

the

group

objectives and action plan re

leased

bits

at a

time

to the

members

as

requ

ired;

II. Autocratic Subm

issive a r

esource

pe

rson, expert, or comm

ittee centered

decision pattern

where

the leader

em-

Rumell

N

utel

Director

of

Pupil P

rr-

tonnet

Srrvictt, Lompor

Unified School ,



pha

sizes

t

he

use o

f

re

sour

ce p

erso

ns, and

wh

ere

the tot

al pla

n

for

actio

n is

pro

v

ided

m

emb

ers p

rior

to the

act

ion;

III.

D

emo

cratic

C

oope

rativ

e a

par

liame

n

tary

p

roce

dure

cent

ered

de

cisio

n pa

ttern

wherein the chief concern

of

the

leader

is t

o imp

leme

nt the

will

of t

he

majo

rity

of the gr

oup

mem

bers

hip,

and

wh

ere th

e

lead

er

plays

the dual

ro

le

of lea

der and

grou

p me

mbe

r; an

d

IV

.

L

aissez

F

air

e

an

ind

ivid

ual

and in

depe

nden

t gr

oup

m

emb

er cent

ered

d

ecisio

n pat

tern

wher

e

the lead

er

ex

ercise

s a m

inim

um

influ

ence

on

the g

roup

me

mbe

rs, an

d m

erel

y re

main

s

av

ailab

le

as

an

ad

viser

.

Cri

tical

Th

inkin

g

and

P

robl

em S

olvin

g

A

thir

d d

ime

nsion

in

te

rms of

i

mpor

tance

is t

he abili

ty of

the

le

ader

to s

epa

rate

the imp

ortan

t

fro

m the

un

impo

rtan

t

da

ta,

th

e

chaff

fr

om

the

whea

t,

the

c

ritica

l

in

form

ation

from

th

e supp

ortin

g

data, and

then

to

relate

such

information

to the l

eader

ship

fu

nctio

n

(6,

7 8

10

11 .

T

his is

not

alwa

ys

a

ccom

plish

ed by

br

ainst

ormi

ng, g

roup

disc

ussio

ns, or

so

cia

l inte

racti

on.

Usu

ally,

th

e lead

er

ama

sses larg

e a

moun

ts

of in

form

ation

,

an

d

t

hen

has the

task

o

f r

elatin

g su

ch i

n

form

ation

to the

lea

ders

hip

funct

ion.

In t

his rega

rd,

th

ree imp

ortan

t n

otion

s

are

pr

opos

ed:

I. Di

scern

ing t

he ri

tical

iden

tifyi

ng and

r

elati

ng

th

e

r

eally

imp

or

tan

t d

ata avail

able,

or

kn

owin

g

th

at the

da

ta ava

ilabl

e are

no

t r

eally

criti

cal; II

.

Hyp

othe

sis D

eve

lopin

g th

is

inclu

des

the

con

tinu

ous

dev

elopi

ng

and t

estin

g of

h

ypoth

eses

,

and

inv

olve

s the rej

ectio

n

and

rec

onstr

uctio

n of p

ortio

ns

of

a

h

y

pothe

sis durin

g

the tes

ting

proc

ess;

an

d

I

II.

Reali

ty Test

ing t

his

invol

ves a

cy

bernetic interaction including

a

continu

ou

s interp

lay

o

f

e

mpat

hy

des

igned

t

o

po

se of

red

irect

ion

of effo

rt

as th

e ne

eds

i

ndica

te.

rt

of Le

ader

ship

The

fourth

dimension includes

a very

dy

nami

c a

nd el

usive

per

sonal

ity var

iable

th

at

varie

s from

sit

uatio

n to

situ

ation

,

a

nd

fro

m tim

e to tim

e

for the

s

ame grou

p

o

f ind

ivid

uals

(

1,

7

10 13 .

A

lway

s the

per

sonal

ity

aspec

t dea

ls wi

th co

mpa

tibil

ity

be

twee

n

lea

der a

nd th

e f

ollow

ers, an

d

inc

ludes

inte

rdep

ende

nt r

elata

whi

ch

m

ay not ha

ve

gen

eral a

pplic

ation

to

oth

er

g

roup

s

or

situat

ions.

In th

is reg

ard

four

proposals

are made:

I. Group

Cohesion

causi

ng

indi

vidu

als

to

f

eel

w

ante

d and

n

eeded

,

es

tabli

shme

nt

of

g

roup

self d

is

ciplin

e, a

nd e

nrich

ing pe

rson

alitie

s g

en

e

rally

; II

. Eng

ende

ring

Co

oper

atio

n

us

es the

d

esires

of th

e gr

oup f

or e

stab

li

shing

go

als

a

nd

obje

ctive

s, cont

inuou

sly

earn

s th

e

rig

ht

to l

ead,

ser

ves

a

s an

agen

t

for t

he gr

oup,

a

nd refl

ects

enthu

sias

m

and integrity;

III.

Delegates Authority

an

d R

espo

nsibi

lity d

evel

ops

the tea

m

a

ppro

ach,

org

anize

s the

activ

ities

of the

total

gr

oup, a

ppoin

ts

eff

ective

as

sistan

ts,

and

is loya

l and

give

s supp

ort

to

sub

ordi

nat

es;

and

IV. T

echn

ical M

aster

y ha

s

nec

essar

y

ba

ckgr

ound

to

giv

e nee

ded

gui

danc

e

to su

bord

inate

s.

Unconscious

Motivatio n

The

fifth

dime

nsion

in

t

erms

of

i

mpor

tance

dea

ls

l

argel

y

with

th

e

f

eelin

gs of

p

erso

ns, and

w

ith

thei

r u

ncon

scio

us moti

v

ation

s

(9, 14

. In

this rega

rd,

four

sep

a

ra

te

are

as a

re pr

opos

ed: I

.

S

entim

ents

P

roduc

e A

ction

the

y u

rge

the

pers

on to

pur

suit

of

their

end

s, to

grow

an

d ap

pro

p

riate

what

is nec

essar

y

for the

ir

grow

th,

and they

select

thoughts and

emotions

tha

t are

rela

ted;

II

. Sen

timen

ts

Sub

ordi



serve

as

a ce

nter for

orientation

, and

most

happen

ings and

acts

are seen in

relation

to them; III

. Secret D

istress Feel

ings

where

ind

ividual

dec

isions tend

to

de

flate one's ego, or

w

here

feeli

ngs of

fe

ar

o

r

guilt

are present, there

is

a

vital

ne

ed for att

ention

to

the

securit

y and

status

o

f the ind

ividual;

and IV. Sel

f

Image

ry

and Ap

peal people

need

ego

gratificat

ion, and they

need

self

im

agery

to bu

ild their own self

confidence

.

Creat

ivity

Leaders

are

continuously

thrust

into

situatio

ns requiring

measure

s

a

nd deci

sions

never e

xplored

before by

m

an and,

because

o

f

such

unique dema

nds, creativ

ity

is

an

important d

imension

o

f lea

der

ship 8,

11 12). In this

rega

rd, then, the

following

ar

eas have

been propo

sed:

I.

Sen

sitivity to Pr

oblems the

ability to

perceive

needs a

nd defects; II.

Fluency

of

deas

to be abl

e

to

g

enerate new

and

different

ideas

and

hypotheses;

III.

Flex

i

bility being

a

ble to a

djust

to

n

ew

an

d

different

situations,

a

nd bein

g

ab

le to

sh

ift to new

and different

approaches

for

solving a

problem

;

IV .

Originali

ty the

uncommonn

ess

of ide

as,

and the c

apacity

for gene

rating new c

oncepts;

V

. Red

efini

tion

and

Ability

To R

earrange ab

ility

to

shif

t the

func

tion

of

o

bjects; VI. Analysis

or

Ability To

Abstract;

VII. Synthesis

and

losur

e the com

bining

of elements

to

form

new

w

holes; and

VIII.

Coherence

of

Organiz

ation the abil

ity to

do

sys

tem

atic organiza

tion.

Soc

ial

In

sight

It

s

com

mon kno

wledge th

at

on

e of

the

main things expected

of

a

leader

s

that of

getti

ng along with

other peo

ple,

equally common

knowledge

that nearly

80

percen

t

of

promotio

ns

in

indus

try are

based

on

how

w

ell one g

ets along

w

ith

others,

and not

primarily on

how well

o

ne knows

th

e

techn

ical areas

of

conce

rn,

or

not how

well

one accomplishes

his

j

ob

or mission

.

According

ly,

so

cial insight

s

a

vital and

an import

ant dime

nsion

whe

rever peo

ple are

invo

lved,

and this

in

cludes

the

leadership

function 14)

.

F

ive different

means

a

re prop

osed

for

the solu

tion or the

resolutio

n

of so

cial

prob

lems 3):

I.

Withdra

wal running

away or escap

ing the social

situation;

II.

Passivit

y remaining

in the

immediate

area

of

the

problem

but

not

giving

atten

tion to the pro

blem; III.

ooperative

actin

g

natural in the

face of

the

problem,

and

makin

g every effort

to resolve

the

problem with

ma

jor emphasis

in the cog

n

itive or

intellectua

l

ar

ea; IV. Competi

tio

n going

on

the

d

efensive an

d com

pet

ing openly with

emphasis o

n some

form of

rationaliza

tion;

a

nd

V.

Aggres

sion or

Hostility where

the

emphasis

in

volve

s the

em

otion in response

to s

ocial

problems, and

where there

s

a

tenden

cy

to att

ack,

both emotionally

and with hos

tilit

y, the p

erson associa

ted with the

problem

.

Refe

rences

1.

Air

Force

Man

ual

35-15

. Air

Force

Le

adership.

Washington

D.C.: Depar

tment

of the Air

Force

1948.

2.

R . N

. Cassel.

The Le

adership Q-Sort

Test and M

anual. C

h

icago Il linois:

Psy

chometric

Affiliates 1958.

3.

R . N.

Cassel. T

he Test of

Socia

l

In

sight and

Manual. ew Rochelle

New

York:

Martin

M . Bru

ce

195

9.

4.

R . N.

Cas

sel

and

T. C.

Khan. T he

Group

Perso

nality Protectiv

e Test and

Manu

al. M

issoul

a

Montana: The Psycho

logical

Test

Specialists

1957.

5.

R .

N.

Cassel and E.

L.

Sta

ncik.

T he



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PsychologicalDimesions-LeadershipDev