Leadership

What the heck is it?

What is Leadership?
Academic View
 Leadership is about coping with change,
 The ability to influence a group towards the
achievement of goals,
 A relationship between people in which
influence and power are unevenly distributed
What is Leadership?
Practitioner Views
 Leadership is organizing, inspiring, and
driving a group to achieve results beyond
their expectations. Michael Dell
 Leadership is taking a group of people in a
new direction or to higher levels of
performance than they would have achieved
without you. George Fisher
Leadership Theories

Trait theory
 Focuses on personal characteristics
 Leaders seen as different from the average
person
 Traits and effective leadership not highly
correlated
Leadership Theories
Limitations of Trait Theory

• Do traits lead to effective leadership or does

effective leadership lead to traits?
• Traits do not guarantee effective leadership
• Situation may limit the validity of traits
• Traits predict the appearance of leadership, not
its effectiveness
Leadership Theories
Traits that predict effective leadership
 Motivation
 Ambition, energy, tenacity
 Honesty and integrity
 Self-confidence
 Cognitive ability
 Content knowledge
Leadership Theories
Behavioral Theories
 Behavioral style determines leadership effectiveness
 Assumes there are 2 primary functions of leadership:
Orientation to task and Orientation to people
 Assumes there is one best way to approach
leadership: orientation to teamwork, democratic
processes and production processes
Leadership Theories
Do behaviors alone capture the complexity of
the leadership process?

Early research focused on three styles:

-Autocratic, command
-Democratic, group input and DM
-Laissez-faire, total freedom
Leadership Theories
Situational Theories

 Circumstances determine appropriate behavior

 Appropriate style is contingent on the situation.
 Considers traits, behavioral and situational
approaches to create adaptability
Leadership Theories
Situational Leadership Model (Hersey and Blanchard)
- Focuses on amount of guidance given
- Relationship oriented behavior
- Readiness level of individuals to perform tasks
- Forms 4 possible leadership styles
- Appropriate style depends on subordinate
readiness combined with leader’s view of
performance