Leadership A leader is the one in charge or the boss of other people.

Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals. It helps an individual or a group identity its goals and then motivates and assists in achieving the stated goals. The difference between Management and Leadership
Setting a Direction vs. Planning and Budgeting Aligning People vs. Organizing and Staffing Motivating People vs. Controlling and Problem Solving

Sources of Influence and Power

Powers characterize the leader and it arises from the interaction between employee and the leader. Expert power: it is based on the knowledge and expertise that that the supervisors have.

Referent power: is the extent to which the employee likes and identifies with the leader.
Legitimate power: is the power inherited in the leaders job title. Reward power: the ability of the leader to reward employees with bonuses, desirable job assignments, promotions or raises. Coercive power: it is the ability of the leader to punish employees with the disciplinary actions, fines, firing, or salary reductions.

Leadership Skills
Technical skill: it refers to a persons knowledge and ability in any type of process or technique e.g. accountants, engineers, word processing operators, and toolmakers. Human skill: the ability to work effectively with people and to build teamwork.
Conceptual skill: it is the ability to think in terms of model, frameworks, and broad relationships e.g. long range plans. Successful leadership requires behavior that unites and stimulates followers toward defined objectives in specific situations.

Followers: leaders in formal organizations are also followers. Follower behavior includes: Not competing with the leader to be in the limelight Being loyal and supportive, a team player Not being a yes person who automatically agrees Penetrating questions

Constructively confronting the leaders ideas, values, and actions.

Anticipating potential problems and preventing them.

Style and the use of power

Autocratic

Participative

Free rein

Autocratic leader
They centralize power and decision making in them. They take full authority and assume full responsibility. Advantage: Satisfying for the leader Quick decisions permits Disadvantage: Employees dislike it Creates fear and frustration

Participative leader

They decentralize authority.

Decisions arise from consultation with followers Leader and the group act as social unit Free-rein leader They avoid power and responsibility Depend on group to establish its own goals and work out its own problems.

Some theories focuses on traits others on behavior

Leadership Approach
Trait Theory
People are born with inherited traits. Some traits are particularly suited to leadership. People who make good leaders have the right (or sufficient) combination of traits.

Theories that sought personality, social, physical, and intellectual traits differentiated leaders from non-leaders.

Traits Adaptable to situations Alert to social environment Ambitious and achievementorientated Assertive Cooperative Decisive Dependable Dominant (desire to influence others) Energetic (high activity level) Persistent Self-confident Tolerant of stress Willing to assume responsibility

Skills Clever (intelligent) Conceptually skilled Creative Diplomatic and tactful Fluent in speaking Knowledgeable about group task Organized (administrative ability) Persuasive Socially skilled

Key traits
Intelligence: Successful leaders tend to have somewhat higher intelligence than their employees.
Maturity and breadth (wideness): Successful leaders tend to be emotionally mature and have a broad range of interest. Inner motivation and achievement drive: Successful leaders are result oriented; when they achieve one goal they seek another. They do not depend primarily on employees for their motivation to achieve goals. Honesty: Successful leaders have integrity. When individuals in leadership positions state one set of values but practice another set, followers quickly see them as untrustworthy.

Traits

Gandhi

Behavioral Theories
Leaders can be made, rather than are born. Successful leadership is based in definable, learnable behavior.This approach predicts effectiveness on what leaders actually do and how they do it. Effective leaders help individuals and teams achieve their goals in two ways: -

1. They build task-centred relations with employees and focus on the quality and quantity of work accomplished. 2. They are considerate and supportive of employees attempts to achieve personal goals e.g. work satisfaction, promotions and recognition and work hard at settling disputes, keeping peoples happy, providing encouragement, and giving positive reinforcements.

Blake and Moutons Managerial Grid

Blake and Mouton developed a Managerial Grid, which the managers use as a tool for identifying their style. It is a nine-by-nine matrix outlining 81 different leadership styles. The grid is based on the leadership style dimensions of concern for people and concern for production.

Blake and Moutons Managerial Grid

Contingency Theories
Contingency leadership models identify variables that permit certain leadership characteristics and behaviors to be effective in given situations. Four variables have influence on a leaders behavior. They are :

A leaders personal characteristics. The employees personal characteristics. The teams characteristics. The structure and task of the team, department or org.

Contingency Variables That Affects Leader Behavior.

Contingencies Groups characteristics Leaders characteristics Employees characteristics Organizational structure characteristics

Leaders Behavior

Employees Behavior

Feed back

Fiedlers Contingency Model

The theory proposes that effective group performance depends upon the proper match between the leaders style and the degree to which the situation gives control to the leader. He defined three contingency dimensions Leader member relations: the degree of confidence, trust, and respect members have in their leader Task structure: the degree to which the job assignment are procedures e.g. structured or unstructured. Position power: the degree of influence a leader has over power variables e.g. hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increase.

The better the Leader member relations, the more highly structured the job and stronger the position power the more control the leader has.

Path-Goal theory

The theory that a leaders behavior is acceptable to employees insofar as they view it as a source of either immediate or future satisfaction. Leaders can enhance the motivation and satisfaction of employees by providing rewards for good job performance and by making it easier for employees to achieve their task goals. They can achieve it by one of the four leadership styles and the efficiency is determined by situational and employee characteristics. They are:

Path Goal Leadership

Supportive style: concern for the needs and welfare of employees

Directive style: it involves the structuring of job tasks for employees and letting them know what is expected.
Participative style: this involves seeking inputs from employees and allowing them to participate in decisionmaking. Achievement style: it involves emphasizing achievement and good performance. It includes the setting of challenging task goals and emphasizing high performance standards. Employees locus of control and the situational factor plays an important role.

Path Goal Theory

Path-Goal leadership process

Leader identifies employee needs

Appropriate goals are established

Leader connects rewards with goals

Leader provides assistance on employee path towards goals

Employee becomes satisfied and motivated and they accept the leader

Effective performance occurs

Both employee and org. are better able to reach the goal

Leader Member Exchange (LMX) Theory

Leader-Member Exchange Theory, also called LMX or Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory, describes how leaders in groups maintain their position through a series of tacit exchange agreements with their members.

Two types of relationship can develop between employee and leaders.

The cadre or in-group consists of employees who are trusted and influential members of the work group. The leader treats them with consideration and adopts a participative style with them. The hired hands or out-group are employees who are supervised with a directive style and are given little input into decisions.

 These relationships, start very soon after a person joins the group and follow three stages. The LMX process: 1. Role taking The member joins the team and the leader assesses their abilities and talents. Based on this, the leader may offer them opportunities to demonstrate their capabilities. Another key factor in this stage is the discovery by both parties of how the other likes to be respected.

2. Role making In the second phase, the leader and member take part in an unstructured and informal negotiation whereby a role is created for the member and the often-tacit promise of benefit and power in return for dedication and loyalty takes place. Trust-building is very important in this stage, and any felt betrayal, especially by the leader, can result in the member being relegated to the out-group. This negotiation includes relationship factors as well as pure work-related ones, and a member who is similar to the leader in various ways is more likely to succeed.

. 3. Routinization In this phase, a pattern of ongoing social exchange between the leader and the member becomes established.

From Charismatic to Transformational Leadership

Charismatic leadership founded on an emotional appeal. It is based on the concept on the Greek word charisma, which means divine gift, and considered such a leader to have considerable power over followers, especially in a time of crisis when there are strong needs for direction. "Transformational leader" who changes the outlook and behavior of followers. The essential point is that the leader strives to go beyond the bounds of the usual to bring about a change in follower thinking that will redirect follower actions.

The Role of Power

Power plays a major part in the interactions occurring in organizational life. Power over others is also especially intertwined with an understanding of leadership processes, with regard both to its appropriateness and limitations.

Distributing Power Delegation may be a better model than participation for truly empowering others.

Barriers to Empowerment There remains a pervasive belief that to empower others is to lose power oneself.