Leadership theories
Chelsea Janssen
Created on March 15, 2023
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Transcript
5
Based on employee participation
Situational leadership
X-Y Theory
Leadership diagram
3 dimensional model
LeadershipTheories
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Classifying leadership according to employee participation and ability to make decisions
AuthoritarianLeadership
DemocraticLeadership
Laissez-Faire Leadership
Authoritarian Leadership
Autocratic leadership is defined as one where a leader gives orders to employees concerning their work and their behaviour. Power is used to establish authority. There is a strict hierarchy, here is no room for participation or discussion. All decisions are made by the leader themselves. This style of leadership has it’s advantages and disadvantages depending in the type of company.
Example 2
Example 1
The best known use of autocratic leadership is in the military, decision making is very much top down. Situations with high stakes and consequences, and where the wrong decision can come at a huge cost. During these times, one clear voice giving direction is very important.
In business autocratic leadership was traditionally used in lower skilled work such as factories, as they were thought not to be ‘smart’ or ‘skilled’ enough to make any decisions, and fast efficient work was the most important part.
Democratic Leadership
In contrast to an authoritarian style of leadership, group participation is the normal procedure here, and leadership therefore becomes a function of the group. Members of the organisation are thus involved in the management of the organisation or department. The leader coordinates the group decision-making process.
Example 1
Democratic leadership is most often seen in western politics as: democracy. Everyone gets to vote and is involved in the decision-making. Conversation and participation are encouraged through votes and debates. And so is the case in democratically led companies. Employees; opinions are heard and taken into consideration, but the final decision lies with the leader.
Laissez-Faire Leadership (Participatory leadership)
What is Laissez-Faire leadership? It’s French for ‘letting people do as they choose’. This leadership style is the opposite of micromanaging. Laissez-faire leaders allow their followers to have the autonomy to make their own decisions and manage their own desk. They give their team support, guidance, consultation, and training when needed, but trust them to handle the details and execution of their tasks and projects. Laissez-faire leaders are comfortable with delegating tasks, that’s why it’s also known as the delegative/participatory leadership style. These leaders also don’t mind if mistakes are made by their team throughout the process but are still held accountable for the group’s mistakes and successes. Freedom is a big priority for laissez-faire leaders, and they empower their team to make their own decisions and manage their work as they see fit.
Advantages
DisAdvantages
When the leadership style is used in the right setting, there are a lot of benefits. It encourages freedom and therefor team members are more independent, productive, and confident to continue holding their own. It allows your team a chance to grow by getting their hands dirty and learning as they go. It also gives them a sense of empowerment since they can work how they prefer, make their own decisions, and act. The flexibility of this leadership style creates a low-pressure environment that fosters innovation, creativity, and collaboration. This leadership style also keeps everyone accountable for their work – team members take responsibility for their own tasks, and the leader is held accountable for the team’s successes and failures. This keeps everyone invested in their work. Overall, these benefits can boost effectiveness, job satisfaction, and forward momentum which contributes to higher team member retention.
Since this leadership style works best with people who are experts in their field, it’s not the most effective approach with groups that need more hands-on guidance or individuals who are new to the field. In these cases, this leadership approach can hinder performance and growth and lead to a sense of overwhelm which can decrease overall job satisfaction. Leaders need to be careful to not be too hands-off, as this can also cause a lack of structure that causes your team to spin their wheels and confuses the power balance between the leader and their reports. If your team isn’t self-motivated or good at managing their time and deadlines, or the job requires high precision, this leadership style may also not be ideal. Some ways for leaders to overcome these challenges are:
- Slowly delegate tasks as team members gain the experience and knowledge they need to stand on their own
- Regularly provide helpful feedback
- Ensure each member has what they need to succeed at the job
- Provide guidance as needed
- Let your team members know you’re there to support them, and encourage them to reach out for help
"I work as a product developer for a new company and I love how much freedom I have to make something new and creative."
"At the company I work at we do things by following the plans and orders of our team leaders. This gives us a clear overview of what we need to do to succeed.
"Every week we start with a staff meeting where we can ask our questions and voice our concerns, I like that I am able to start a discussion with my team members to think outside the box."
X and Y theory
Under the name ‘X and Y theory’ McGregor identifies two opposites of the human mentality.
Which is more preferable?
The X theory assumes that a human being:
- Is lazy and dislikes work
- Cannot and does not want to think
- Has to be forced to perform tasks and is interested only in money
- Does not want to accept responsibility and prefers to be led.
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The Y theory, on the other hand, assumes that a human being:
- Is eager to work and considers it a natural process
- Is inventive, creative and has imagination
- Achieves more when development is made possible and when rewarded in an immaterial way
- Money is not the only incentive
- Is prepared to accept responsibility
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The leadership style resulting from the X theory is characterised by submission, compulsion, control, punishment, and lack of feedback. It is an authoritarian leadership style. If the leader bases their actions on the assumptions of X theory, they run the risk of never making any progress. Employees working with an authoritarian type leader will eventually demonstrate the very behaviour described by X theory
By contrast, the leadership style resulting from Y theory shows features such as participation, discussion, opportunities for employee development, encouragement, and reward. This is a form known as participatory or democratic leadership.
Nowadays, with greater emphasis being placed on achieving organisational goals, it is important to have a leadership style based on the assumptions behind Y theory. Neglecting the needs of employees can lead to a situation where organisational members try to satisfy those needs outside the organisation. For example, they may actively participate in boards or clubs, or put their other talents to use in their hobbies. In time, these employees lose interest in the organisation and function only at a minimum level. They will not want to accept responsibility and will resist change. This may result in an unnecessary loss of talent and ultimately prove harmful to the organisation. But it should be noted that not all members of an organisation want (or are able) to accept responsibility to any great extent.
In their book The Leadership Grid, Robert Blake and Jane Mouton developed a grid which shows a large number of different leadership style This model is based on their assumption that a leadership style has two dimensions: concern for production (task orientation), and concern for people (relationship orientation). The diagram shows the degree to which a manager focusses on these dimensions.
Leadership diagram
*Click on the arrows to see the dimensions
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Style 1.9 (Country club management): This ‘social club’ style is characterised by a high concern for the welfare of the employee and little attention to production
Style 5.5 (Middle-of-the-road management): Concern for production and people is balanced.
Style 9.9 (Team-oriented/democratic management): Team leadership, which uses good group atmosphere and collaboration to strive for high efficiency.
Style 1.1 (Impoverished management): This style is characterised by low concern for production and low concern for people
Style 9.1 (Authority-compliance management): This is a very directive style which focusses on production rather than people
Country club management
Team-oriented/democratic management
Impoverished management
Middle-of-the-road management
Authority-compliance management
Drag the names to the right spot
Country club management
Team-oriented/democratic management
Impoverished management
Middle-of-the-road management
Authority-compliance management
Answer
William Reddin added a third dimension to Blake and Mouton’s leadership grid, namely effectiveness. The three dimensions of Reddin’s model are:
- Attention to people;
- Attention to production or task;
- Effectiveness.
Three-dimensional model of leadership
*Click on the squares to learn more
The relational style. This style is applied by managers who communicate with their employees regularly and at length. Such a manager is receptive to all that goes on with their employees and possesses good social skills.
The integrating style. The manager gears their activities to other managers, making less use of power but more use of various other kinds of motivational techniques.
The non-involved style. The manager attaches value to procedures, guidelines, methods and systems. These mainly concern routine affairs that need to be assigned and executed according to specific instructions.
The dedicated style. The manager is often a specialist who directs subordinates that have to do a large amount of work within a short time frame. This style often has the features of autocracy and absolute power.
Reddin later expanded on his initial theory, adding in the third dimension of Effectiveness. This effectiveness was defined by the appropriateness of the particular leadership style in any given situation and he argued that this should be the main focus of any manager's efforts.
As you can see in the diagram, the appropriate versions of the initial styles can be seen in the upper right (Developer, Executive, Benevolent Autocrat, Bureaucrat) and the inappropriate styles (Missionary, Compromiser, Autocrat, Deserter) in the bottom left. These are not new styles in themselves, only the primary styles when applied to appropriate or inappropriate situations.
Task-orientated approaches generally are most effective in scenarios when the group is constrained by resources or time, when there is disorganisation which needs to be brought back into order or when the leader is working with inexperienced or low-skilled team members.
People-oriented approaches are often more effective in more open, creative tasks, when the leader sees the opportunity to develop their staff's leadership and skills over the long term or to motivate them through new experiences and greater responsibility. The leader may also see fit to work on a more people-centric basis in times when they have a highly experienced, skilled and competent team.
Situational leadership
This model by Hersey and Blanchard is based on the theory that every situation asks for a different leadership style. The choice for a leadership style is based on 2 factors that make up the "task maturity":
- The capability of the employee (training, experience etc.)
- The willingness of the employee to accept responsibility (curiosity, self-confidence etc.)
*Click on the squares to learn more
Participating. This leadership style is characterised by a strong relational orientation but a weak task orientation. The employee receivea little direction from the manager, but a lot of support. Decision-making occura jointly, with the manager encouraging the employee in the completion of the required activities.
Selling. This style is characterised by a strong emphasis on both the directional and support dimensions. Employees are given a lot of direction as well as a lot of support in the execution of their tasks.
Telling. Employees are given a lot of instruction, but little in the way of support. This leadership style scores high on task orientation, but low on relational orientation
Delegating. This style scores low in both dimensions, with the manager giving little direction and support to the employee with respect to completing a certain task, and delegating the accompanying responsibility to that employee. The employee is therefore acting autonomously in the execution of those tasks.