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Leadership. The ability to influence people towards the achievement of organisational goals. . Leadership. Types of Leadership Style. Autocratic/Directive Leader.
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Leadership • The ability to influence people towards the achievement of organisational goals.
Autocratic/Directive Leader • The autocratic leader gives orders that must be obeyed by the subordinates. He determines policies for the group without consulting them, and does not give detailed information about future plans, but simply tells the group what immediate steps they must take. He gives personal praise or criticism to each member on his own initiative and remains aloof from the group for the major part of the time.
Types of Leadership Style • Autocratic/Directive • Leader makes decisions without reference to anyone else • High degree of dependency on the leader • Can create de-motivation and alienation of staff • May be valuable in some types of business where decisions need to be made quickly and decisively
Participative/Democratic Leader • A participative leader is one who gives instructions only after consulting the group. He sees to it that policies are worked out in group discussion and with the acceptance of the group. Participative manager decentralizes managerial authority. His decisions are not unilateral like that of the autocrat. Unlike an autocratic leader who controls through the authority he possesses, a participative leader exercises control mostly by using forces within the group.
Types of Leadership Style • Democratic/Participative • Encourages decision making from different perspectives – leadership may be emphasised throughout the organisation • Consultative: process of consultation before decisions are taken • Persuasive: Leader takes decision and seeks to persuade others that the decision is correct
Types of Leadership Style • Democratic: • May help motivation and involvement • Workers feel ownership of the firm and its ideas • Improves the sharing of ideas and experiences within the business • Can delay decision making
Laissez Faire/ Free Rein • A free rein leader lets the group lead itself. The free rein leader avoids power. He depends largely upon the group to establish its own goals and work out its own problems. Group members work themselves and provide their own motivation.
Types of Leadership Style • Laissez-Faire: • ‘Let it be’ – the leadership responsibilities are shared by all • Can be very useful in businesses where creative ideas are important • Can be highly motivational, as people have control over their working life • Can make coordination and decision making time-consuming and lacking in overall direction • Relies on good team work • Relies on good interpersonal relations
Paternalistic Leader • The leader assumes that his function is paternal or fatherly. His attitude is that of treating the relationship between the leader and his group as that of a family with the leader as the head of family. He works to help, guide, protect and keep his followers happily working together as members of a family.
Types of Leadership Style • Paternalistic: • Leader acts as a ‘father figure’ • Paternalistic leader makes decision but may consult • Believes in the need to support staff
Factors Affecting Style • Leadership style may be dependent on various factors: • Risk - decision making and change initiatives based on degree of risk involved • Type of business – creative business or supply driven? • How important change is – change for change’s sake? • Organisational culture – may be long embedded and difficult to change • Nature of the task – needing cooperation? Direction? Structure?
Leadership roles • Guidance • Direction • Counselling • Coaching and inspiration
Leadership skills • All effective leaders should be: • Good communicators • Critical thinkers • Critical thinking is the discipline of rigorously and skillfully using information, experience, observation and reasoning to guide your decisions, actions and beliefs. Includes he art of problem solving • Good listeners • one cannot afford to exclude the art of listening. As a leader, you must listen to your constituents in order to be effective. You need to listen and correctly understand all messages from group members. Listening is the doorway to gaining the commitment of subordinates. Listen to their complaints and suggestions, and take corrective action
Locus of Control Integrity High energy Flexibility 9 Traits of Effective Leaders Dominance Sensitivity to others Self-confident Intelligence Stability 2-6
Activity • The Task • You are going to be given various situations which require some form of leadership competence. Work in groups to consider the role of a leader in the situations you are given and how the leadership should address the situation. Once you have completed your deliberations, discuss the different approaches that each group have come up with. • You should consider the different approaches, why there are different leadership approaches to the same situation, what the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches might be and try to come to some conclusions about which approach should be adopted.
The following are some guides as to the possible reasons for the differences and the issues that you might need to consider. • What the overall vision is • What the intended outcome is • How complex the change is likely to be • When do you tell people about the change - before it has been decided to implement it or after? • How much do you tell staff about the change and why it is necessary? • How do you get people 'on board' with the change? • How the leader views the people s/he is working with • What the nature of the change required is • The objectives of the business concerned • What resources are available? • Considerations of the effect on morale and motivation of workers • How will you know when you have been successful?
Scenarios • A client has contacted your firm of commercial designers and asked them to come up with a new logo that represents a change in the direction the firm wishes to go in. The new logo and associated corporate branding of headed paper, publications, packaging and so on is set to coincide with the launch of the re-branding in two months time at the start of the client company's new season sales drive. If it does not meet this deadline, the client will run the risk of falling behind their rivals whom it has suffered against in recent years.
Scenario • A business has decided to change its production process from a flow system into a cell system. It feels that it will improve productivity and build a greater team ethic amongst its workers thus improving motivation. It can do the change in two ways: • It can impose its preferred system which it has been planning for two years onto the plant or; • It can hire a consultant to come in to discuss the change with the staff and allow the staff to plan and design their own cell systems.
Scenario • Following a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visit, a chemical company has been warned that its safety procedures in parts of the plant are lacking. It must take steps to remedy these weaknesses within three weeks or face having the plant shut down. The guidelines for remedying the weaknesses are readily available in detailed HSE publications.
Theories of Leadership • Trait theories: • Is there a set of characteristics that determine a good leader? • Personality? • Dominance and personal presence? • Charisma? • Self confidence? • Achievement? • Ability to formulate a clear vision?
Theories of Leadership • Trait theories: • Are such characteristics inherently gender biased? • Do such characteristics produce good leaders? • Is leadership more than just bringing about change? • Does this imply that leaders are born not bred?
Theories of Leadership • Behavioural: • Imply that leaders can be trained – focus on the way of doing things • Structure based behavioural theories – focus on the leader instituting structures – task orientated • Relationship based behavioural theories – focus on the development and maintenance of relationships – process orientated
Theories of Leadership • Contingency Theories: • Leadership as being more flexible – different leadership styles used at different times depending on the circumstance. • Suggests leadership is not a fixed series of characteristics that can be transposed into different contexts
Theories of Leadership • May depend on: • Type of staff • History of the business • Culture of the business • Quality of the relationships • Nature of the changes needed • Accepted norms within the institution
Theories of Leadership • Transformational: • Widespread changes to a business or organisation • Requires: • Long term strategic planning • Clear objectives • Clear vision • Leading by example – walk the walk • Efficiency of systems and processes
Theories of Leadership • Invitational Leadership: • Improving the atmosphere and message sent out by the organisation • Focus on reducing negative messages sent out through the everyday actions of the business both externally and, crucially, internally • Review internal processes to reduce these • Build relationships and sense of belonging and identity with the organisation – that gets communicated to customers, etc.
Theories of Leadership • Transactional Theories: • Focus on the management of the organisation • Focus on procedures and efficiency • Focus on working to rules and contracts • Managing current issues and problems
A Leadership Story: • A group of workers and their leaders are set a task of clearing a road through a dense jungle on a remote island to get to the coast where an estuary provides a perfect site for a port. • The leaders organise the labour into efficient units and monitor the distribution and use of capital assets – progress is excellent. The leaders continue to monitor and evaluate progress, making adjustments along the way to ensure the progress is maintained and efficiency increased wherever possible. • Then, one day amidst all the hustle and bustle and activity, one person climbs up a nearby tree. The person surveys the scene from the top of the tree.
A Leadership Story: • And shouts down to the assembled group below… • “Wrong Way!” • (Story adapted from Stephen Covey (2004) “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” Simon & Schuster). • “Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things” (Warren Bennis and Peter Drucker)
Leader vs Manager • Leader tends to e ore visionary, charismatic and creative. • Manager tends to be more systematic, routine oriented • A leader does not always have to be a manager • An effective manager should possess leadership qualities.
Change Leadership • The most challenging aspect of business is leading and managing change • The business environment is subject to fast-paced economic and social change • Modern business must adapt and be flexible to survive • Problems in leading change stem mainly from human resource management
Change Leadership • Leaders need to be aware of how change impacts on workers: • Series of self-esteem states identified by Adams et al and cited by Garrett • Adams, J. Hayes, J. and Hopson, B.(eds) (1976) Transition: understanding and managing change personal change London, Martin Robertson • Garrett, V. (1997) Managing Change in School leadership for the 21st century Brett Davies and Linda Ellison, London, Routledge
Change Leadership Self-esteem 6. Search for meaning: Individuals begin to work with the change and see how they might be able to make the change work for them – self esteem begins to rise. 1. Immobilisation – as rumours of the change circulate, the individual feels some sense of shock and possible disbelief – so much so that they deem it worthy of doing nothing. 5. Testing out: Individuals begin to interact with the change, they start to ask questions to see how they might work with the change. 2. Minimisation: As the change becomes clearer, people try to fit in the change with their own personal position and may try to believe that it will not affect them. 3. Depression: as reality begins to dawn staff may feel alienated and angry, feelings of a lack of control of events overtake people and they feel depressed as they try to reconcile what is happening with their own personal situation. 4. Acceptance/letting go: The lowest point in self-esteem finally sees people starting to accept the inevitable. Fear of the future is a feature of this stage. 7 2 7. Internalisation: the change is understood and adopted within the individual’s own understanding – they now know how to work with it and feel a renewed sense of confidence and self esteem. 6 3 1 5 4 Time
Give Praise and Recognition Avoid Blame and Embarrassment Develop Supportive Working Relationship Focus on Behavior Not the Person Coaching Guidelines Make Feedback Timely, Yet Flexible Don’t Criticize Provide Modeling and Training Give Specific Feedback Give Coaching Feedback Have Employees Assess Their Own Performance 4-8
Scenarios • A new working practices regime is being introduced. Staff were working 40 hours per week, 9-5, but the firm now needs greater flexibility. The flexibility will come from staff working on shift patterns covering the period 6am-10pm, 365 days per year. The working week will be adjusted to 37 hours per week but there are no funds available for additional pay to be given to any member of staff. • A client has contacted your firm of commercial designers and asked them to come up with a new logo that represents a change in the direction the firm wishes to go in. The new logo and associated corporate branding of headed paper, publications, packaging and so on is set to coincide with the launch of the re-branding in two months time at the start of the client company's new season sales drive. If it does not meet this deadline, the client will run the risk of falling behind their rivals whom it has suffered against in recent years. • A business has decided to change its production process from a flow system into a cell system. It feels that it will improve productivity and build a greater team ethic amongst its workers thus improving motivation. It can do the change in two ways: • It can impose its preferred system which it has been planning for two years onto the plant or; • It can hire a consultant to come in to discuss the change with the staff and allow the staff to plan and design their own cell systems. • Following a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visit, a chemical company has been warned that its safety procedures in parts of the plant are lacking. It must take steps to remedy these weaknesses within three weeks or face having the plant shut down. The guidelines for remedying the weaknesses are readily available in detailed HSE publications.