Download Why do people want to be leaders?

Why do people
want to be leaders?
• Status
• Respect
• Power
Difference between
Leader and Leadership
• Leader - an individual who is perceived
by group members as having a
legitimate position of power or
influence in a group.
• Leadership - the process of influencing
the group to help it reach its goal.
Types of Leaders
• Designated leader - the group’s
legitimate leader (holds the title)
▫ Coordinator - help organize the work of
the group but do not make the group’s
important decisions
• Emergent leader - starts out with the
same status of others but gradually
emerges in the perceptions of others
as providing leadership services they
value
How to NOT
become a leader
• Be late or miss important appointments
• Be uninformed about the problem
• Show apathy and lack of interest
• Attempt to dominate the conversation
• Listen poorly
• Be rigid and inflexible when expressing
viewpoints
• Bully group members
• Use offensive and abusive language
How do leaders emerge?
• Selected through a two-phase process of
elimination:
1. Elimination of obviously unqualified candidates
2. Elimination of those with irritating or inappropriate
communication styles
• Who emerges?
▫ If group feels threatened, choice is often someone who
had a solution to a crisis
▫ Effective listeners become viable candidates
▫ Candidates may acquire “lieutenants”
Theories of Leadership
• Trait perspective - leaders are born,
not made
• Styles perspective - three leadership
styles
• Situational (Contingency) perspective
- “it depends”
• Functional perspective - leaders
perform certain functions necessary
for the group to be successful
Trait Approach
• Examine successful leaders to determine
what traits they possess
▫ Physical traits: tall, of “ideal” weight, and
good-looking
▫ Communication traits: talkative, confident,
motivated, knowledgeable, punctual,
adaptable, good listeners
▫ Psychological traits: high need to influence
others, friendly, etc.
Charismatic &
Machiavellian Leaders
• Charismatic leaders have:
▫ an extraordinary power of vision and is able to
communicate it to others, OR
▫ unusual powers of practical leadership that will
enable him/her to achieve the goals that will alleviate
followers’ distress
• Machiavellian leaders believe:
▫ people are basically weak, fallible, and gullible, and
not particularly trustworthy
▫ others are impersonal objects
▫ one should manipulate others whenever it is
necessary in order to achieve one’s ends
Styles Approach
• Three leadership styles:
▫ autocratic - highly directive
▫ democratic - nondirective and
participative
▫ laissez-faire - “do nothing” approach
• No one style of leadership will be
suitable for all situations
Kurt Lewin (1939)
Situational
(Contingency) Approach
• The leadership style is adapted to the
specific situation (“it depends”)
• Fred Fiedler’s Contingency Model
• Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational
Model
▫ task emphasis
▫ socio-emotional emphasis
▫ readiness level
Hersey & Blanchard’s
Four Leadership Styles
Task
Relationship
• Telling Style
High
Low
• Selling Style
High
High
• Participating Style Low
High
• Delegating Style
Low
Low
Readiness (AKA Maturity)
• Readiness - how ready a person is to
perform a particular task (willing &
able)
▫ Ability - the knowledge, experience, and
skill that an individual or group brings to a
particular task or activity
▫ Willingness - the extent to which an
individual or group has the confidence,
commitment, and motivation to accomplish
a specific task
Follower
Behavior
HIGH
Follower Readiness LOW
R4
R3
able but
able &
unwilling
willing
or confident or insecure
(supportive behavior)
Relationship Behavior
Leader
Behavior
(Styles)
FOLLOWER
DIRECTED
LOW
R1
}
}
HIGH
R2
unable but unable &
willing
unwilling
or confident or insecure
LEADER
DIRECTED
Participating
Selling
S3
S2
S1
S4
Delegating
Telling
Task Behavior
(guidance)
HIGH
Functional Approach
• Views leadership in terms of certain
functions that must be performed for
the group to be successful
▫ Task requirements
▫ Social or maintenance needs (process)
• “Leader as Completer” (Schutz)
• “Vital Functions” (Fisher & Ellis)
Communication Competence Approach
• Integrates the traits, styles, situational,
and functional perspectives
• Assumptions:
▫ Leadership is an active process of
overcoming barriers to group goal and
achievement
▫ Leadership is exercised through the
process of communication
▫ Communication skills (competencies) are
the core of leadership in groups
Criteria for
Ethical Leadership
• Honesty
• Concern for others
• Respect for others
• Commitment to the group and
group members
• Even-handedness