Leadership

Course Notes Table of Contents

Learning Objectives

  1. Describe traits which define successful and unsuccessful leaders
  2. Define narcissism
  3. Discuss the difference between in-group and out-group members
  4. Describe why trait theories by themselves may be inadequate to predict which type of leader is the best suited for a particular job
  5. Describe the findings of the Ohio State and Michigan State Studies, and the meaning of “consideration” and “initiating structure”
  6. Plot the evolution of leadership theories
  7. Describe the difference between socialized and personalized power, and which is the most effective for leaders
  8. Describe under which conditions an inclusive style of leadership is the most appropriate choice in Vroom and Jago’s decision making tree
  9. Define the seven criteria of the Vroom-Jago model
  10. Discuss which conditions are best suited to the four leadership styles of the Path-Goal model
  11. Discuss which situations are most conducive to relationship and task centered leaders in Fiedler’s theory
  12. Define “people centered management”
  13. Describe the tenets of Southwest’s “Luv” belief system
  14. Discuss the implications of Mary Kay Ash’s management philosophy – what did she feel is one of the most important activities in which a manager should engage?
  15. Describe servant and spiritual leadership, and contrast the differences between these two philosophies

Exercise

List five traits you associate with successful leaders.

Suggested traits and characteristics of highly effective leaders:
http://www.managementhelp.org/ldrship/traits.htm

How would you describe the following leaders in terms of these traits?

  • Clinton
  • Bush
  • Martin Luther King

Four independent studies prove that highly paid executives (one study included 1,139 CEOs with an average annual income of $356,000, had five similar qualities:

  • Loyalty to their spouse
  • A commitment to family
  • A religious affiliation
  • A balanced life style
  • A true love for people

Source:  Executive Excellence, July 1990

Characteristics of Ineffective Leaders:

  • Arrogant
  • Autocratic
  • Know-it-all
  • Intolerant of dissenting viewpoints
  • Self-centeredness

Narcissism

Narcissists – individuals who psychologically foist themselves onto another person, typically through disrespect or aggression; they engage in false empowerment through trying to make another person a mirror image of their own misery.

Narcissists are more likely to select “favorites,” or those who parrot their own opinion. They are also more likely to segment their workforce into “supporters” and “enemies,” - those who do not unquestioningly obey their orders. Graen refers to this segmentation as “Ingroup-Outgroup,” in which ingroup members receive special perks, privileges, opportunities, and training, whereas outgroup members are treated as “hired hands,” given mundane tasks or an inordinate amount of work.

Narcissists:

  1. Love to be the center of attention – “I,” "me," "my," and "myself"
  2. Act as if they are the definitive authority on the topic at hand, then proceed to tell you all about the subject
  3. Are so self-entwined that they often fail to see others as separate individuals with their own needs and desires. They are unable to “put themselves in another’s person’s shoes” or to practice empathy
  4. Expect others to cater to their predilections immediately, and when they don’t, can become aggressive, confrontational, and overbearing
  5. Regard individuals who cross them or who do not conform to their expected image as enemies
  6. Are character disordered: do not accept responsibility, find scapegoats, do not apologize; in effect, are conscienceless – do not care whom they hurt as long as they obtain power/status/possessions for themselves
  7. Use personalized power – try to dominate subordinates to make them weak: “They are rude to other people, they drink too much, they try to exploit others sexually, and they collect symbols of personal prestige like fancy cars or big offices” From Yukl, 1994
  8. Are tactless, insensitive, and poor listeners (talk AT someone, not WITH them).
  9. Are arrogant, autocratic, know-it-all, intolerant of dissenting viewpoints

Source: modified from http://www.tipsofallsorts.com/narcissism.html. Also, see the following article regarding bullying and the recession.


Emotional Intelligence: describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups (Wikipedia.org).

The EQ Factor:  http://eqi.org/timeart.htm

Successful leaders possess Interpersonal Competencies, or the ability to:

  • Engage in dialogue: instead of giving orders, to establish a sense of rapport to preserve the relationship – known as “conversational reciprocity”
  • Possess self-awareness – cognizance of how they’re coming across, combined with the ability to self-correct – double loop learning, or the ability to “read” people

What emotions are conveyed by the following facial expressions?

Faces

Source: How are You Feeling Today?

  • Possess nobility: the tendency not to respond in kind to another’s inconsiderate behavior [behavior that is rude, officious, ill-mannered, egocentric, or disrespectful].

    *They behave with humility instead of arrogant entitlement.
    *They possess the desire to apologize when they behaved in a manner that is inappropriate.
    *They graciously accept apologies from others and acknowledge ways in they contributed to the conflict.

    Bravado and bullying are shrouds for mental weakness and the mark of an emotionally immature person.
  • Possess the ability to delay gratification:  impulse control
  • Exhibit persistence in the face of obstacles – treat setbacks as temporary, surmountable, and fleeting
  • Exercise power for the benefit of others, are hesitant about using power in a manipulative manner, and are more willing to take advice from people (Yukl, 1994) More Personality by geographic location...

Birth Order

http://papa.essortment.com/effectsbirthor_omv.htm

Some have suggested that birth order is a determinant in managerial behavior.  Traits associated with first born, only, last born, and middle born individuals are below:

First Born

  • Conscientious
  • Goal-oriented
  • Achievers
  • Perfectionistic
  • Reliable
  • Well-organized
  • Serious
  • People-pleasers
  • Conservative
  • Closely scrutinized - sensitive to criticism

Workplace Implications

  1. We reward excellence with more work
  2. First borns don't like surprises
  3. First borns don't like to complain
  4. First borns hate to make mistakes

Advice

  1. Learn to say "no"
  2. Learn to express yourself
  3. Take time to relax
  4. Strive for excellence, not perfection

Can Birth Order determine your career?


Onlies

  • "ultra" first borns
  • Intolerant of mistakes
  • Felt like they never had a childhood

Workplace Implications

  1. Get along best with individuals 10 years older or younger
  2. Their word is their bond
  3. May nurse grudges for a long time

Famous Onlies

Indira Ghandi
Einstein
Brooke Shields
Tiger Woods
Leonardo da Vinci
Sammy Davis Jr.
Tara Lapinski

China's Little Emperors


Last Borns

  • Manipulators
  • Happy go lucky
  • Love the limelight
  • Lack of precision

Workplace Implications

    Good salespeople
  1. Charming
  2. Outgoing

Famous Lastborns

Katie Couric
Celine Dion
Kurt Browning
Michelle Kwan


Middle Borns

  • Peacemaker
  • Socially skilled, lots of friends
  • "Fifth wheels"
  • Good negotiators
  • Lower expectations

Workplace Implications

  1. Great team players
  2. Fair
  3. Skilled in give and take

Information adapted and modified from Leman's The Birth Order Book (1984),
and Growing up Firstborn (1989)


Evolution of Leadership Theory

  • Trait theories: Successful leaders characterized by personal characteristics and/or physical traits
  • Behavioral Theories: Leaders are characterized by behaviors they exhibit (Ohio and Michigan State Studies):

  •  Initiating structure (task orientation)
  •  Consideration (friendliness)

The most effective leaders are high on both traits

  • Contingency Theories

Leader effectiveness depends on the situation (work characteristics, leader behaviors, and personality)

  •  Vroom-Jago Decision Making Tree

The degree of follower participation in a manager’s decisions depends on seven situational constraints

These include:

  1. QR: Quality requirement – how large is the impact of making a poor decision?
  2. CR: Commitment Requirement: How important is subordinate commitment to the decision?
  3. LI: Leader Information: Can the leader make a high quality decision by him/herself?
  4. ST: Problem Structure: Is the problem well defined
  5. CP: Commitment Probability: If you made the decision yourself, how committed would your subordinates be?
  6. GC: Goal Congruence: Do subordinates share the same organizational goals in solving this problem?
  7. CO: Subordinate Conflict: Is conflict among subordinates over preferred solutions likely?
  8. SI: Do subordinates have sufficient information to make a high-quality decision on their own?

decision processes are described as AI, AII, CI, CII, and GII 

Team Leadership, GII

Patience to share information
Ability to trust others and give up authority

  • Know when to leave people alone, and when to get involved

Bottom line: the more buy-in that is needed, and the more democratic the company, the more that leaders will need to behave in an inclusion fashion


Women and Leadership

Vroom & Jago (1982) found that women were more participative in their leadership style

      In their study, group members were asked to rank their peers from autocratic to participative, as well as the degree of enthusiasm for which the individual would work for the ratee
      Women who deviated from the normative expectation (who behaved in an autocratic fashion), were rated less favorably than their more participative peers, even by fellow females
      Men had more latitude with respect to leadership styles

- Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership


EXERCISE: LEADERSHIP

    •  Leaders are task oriented or relationship oriented

Relationship oriented leaders will be most effective when the task is moderately favorable, or moderately unfavorable. The situation consists of:

  1. subordinate trust
  2. task ambiguity
  3. the leaders formal and informal power
A situation in which relationship oriented leaders might be best suited Ted is manager of XYZ corporation. His subordinates have rated him an average leader. Ted works with professionals who know what to do within certain parameters; occasionally, they need to ask Ted for advice. About 80% of the time Ted is able to obtain needed resources for his subordinates.
A situation in which a task oriented leader would be best suited Ted is manager of XYZ corporation. His subordinates love/(hate him). They know precisely what to do/have no idea what to do. Ted is always/(never) able to obtain resources for his subordinates.

**************

Conclusion: If a situation is extremely bad or extremely good, then time spent on relationship building activities are a waste. In the good situation, it is redundant; in the bad situation, the manager is too busy trying to keep the ship afloat to give “warm fuzzies” to his subordinates.

Fiedler believed that leadership style was immutable; or in other words, that leaders were born and not made.


      • House’s path/goal theory

A leader’s job is to clear the pathway for workers to more efficiently perform their tasks. House assumes that a leader can change his/her behavior based on the situation. Leaders should be able to exhibit:

      • Supportive Leadership: friendliness – similar to “relationship orientation”
      • Directive leadership: letting subordinates know what they are expected to do – similar to “task orientation”
      • Participative Leadership: asking for followers opinions
      • Achievement leadership: setting challenging goals, seeking performance improvements
      1. If the job is boring, dangerous, or unpleasant, supportive leadership will make it more enjoyable
      2. If the task is unstructured, complex, or ambiguous, directive leadership will reduce role ambiguity
      3. If subordinates are highly motivated, participative and achievement leadership will result in the most effort being exerted.
      4. If teams are in place, then participative leadership will be the most motivating

What are some of the worst jobs in the world?


People Centered Management

The main message of People Centered Management is “be nice.” The basic tenets of this leadership style are respect for employees' dignity through democratic management.

What are some ways in which your boss (current or future) can demonstrate respect to you at work?

Southwest Airlines (from Freiberg & Freiberg, 1996):

Luv is a way of doing business; Luv consists of

(1) Patience:

“Our ability to put up with guff and inconveniences caused by others can be an indicator of how much we love them. Love is slow to anger when inconvenienced. When we get in the trenches with people to endure difficulty or hardship, and we do it without complaining, we express our love for them.”

(2) Courteousness

Provide some examples of “discourteousness” statements at work

(3) Affirming statements

Provide some examples of “affirming” statements that your boss could make

(4) Compassionate behavior

(5) Grace and forgiveness

“Grace is the capacity to accept people as they are and forgive them for the wrong they cause. When we receive grace, it is always undeserved and usually unexpected.”

Herb Kelleher, former CEO of Southwest of Southwest Airlines, is very charismatic.  What is your charisma quotient?

     http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/351-
     400/article396_body.html  

Who's the Worst Boss? http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/june/bosses/index.html

Funny Leadership Video


Office Politics

    • Be visible:  make your boss and higher ups aware of your contributions - be seen at company social functions.  Contact hypothesis:  familiarity breeds liking
    • Avoid "tainted" individuals
    • Support your boss - don't speak negatively about him or her
      • Coercive power - power to punish and control.  What are some ways your boss can punish you?
    • Develop the right image -

dress for success

Source:  Management, Robbins & Coulter, 2005


Should the company defend an employee when a customer is wrong? In what way?


Mary Kay Ash: On Managing People

Mary Kay believed in the “sandwich” technique of performance appraisal. Her motto was “praise people to success.”

In other words, find a small thing that someone is doing correctly, and keep reinforcing similar behaviors.

Recount the last time you received praise at work…how did it make you feel? Should praise be oral, written, or both? Publicly given or in private?

The appropriate time to praise an employee is_______.


Servant leadership

Servant leaders are concerned with enhancing their subordinates and the work-life of one’s colleagues. From Greenleaf:

"The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served".
Source:  http://www.greenleaf.org.au/?SERVANT-LEADERSHIP:Who_is_a_Servant-Leader%3F

Some of the criteria for consideration to unleader, or coach, include the willingness to

      1. Act as a mentor
      2. Initiate joint projects with newcomers
      3. Volunteer for employee orientation
      4. Contribute to ideas that promote inclusion; and
      5. Diffuse tension in interpersonal situations

A critical factor for promotion should be the degree of helping behaviors provided to less experienced employees, and to those who are the most dependent on other people for their success.

List some famous leaders throughout history who have behaved as “servants”.

Servant leaders manage according to McGregor’s Theory Y, who assumes that individuals seek responsibility. A Theory X leader assumes employees have to be prodded to achieve their goals and that they will look for ways to be lazy and avoid work.


The opposite of a servant leader is a bureaucrat, who:

      1. Is concerned with punishing digressions from set policy
      2. Closely monitoring and checking on subordinates
      3. Controlling, or micro-managing those under their purview
      4. Manages in a dictatorial fashion
      5. Rejects conflict or difference of opinion
      6. Is a guardian of the system, regardless of whether the system needs changing

Modified from Adizes, 1979

What type of worker is the bureaucrat most likely to create?


Spiritual leadership

Business spirituality enfolds the desire to make a profit into a larger framework that values workers’ opinions and their personal development. In A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America, Mitroff and Denton highlight several companies that are governed by a higher purpose and a transcendent set of values. They conclude: “A far deeper transformation of organizations than has even been dreamed of is required. Unless this happens, neither organizations nor the individuals who work in them will prosper materially as well as spiritually.”

The spiritual view argues that employees will self-actualize when their capabilities are directed toward a higher goal. Conversely, in an organization that is spiritually bereft, workers and their supervisors behave as separate entities who are linked solely through economic dependence.

Honoring the spirit of employees requires a permanent set of operating principles that are spiritual law. Below are a few of these from A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America:

  • We are put here to do good. One must strive to produce products and services that serve all of humankind.
  • Spirituality is inextricably connected with caring, hope, kindness, love, and optimism.
  • Spirituality is the basic faith in the existence of these things.
  • We should have an attitude of awe and reverence for all of creation.

Exercise

Research the web to find a company that you think incorporates spiritual principles. Identify:

  1. Its work/family policies
  2. Its mission statement
  3. A paragraph about its core values

Add right column content here