The New Age of Leadership Chapter 8

What is a New Age in Leadership? So far, during this class we have studied many theories about leadership. We have examined what others believed about leadership in the past. We started with the earliest theories and moved forward in time. Now we will get a modern, contemporary definition of leadership. This Class: Transformational, Cultural, and Symbolic Theories Current views of Leadership (the New Age) Contingency and Situational Theories Trait Theories Power and Influence Theories Behavioral Theories

A “Paradigm Shift” in Leadership Thinking In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a small group of leadership scholars began to talk about a “new age” in leadership. Their ideas were radically (very, extremely) different from the other ideas on leadership. Older ideas and theories are considered of the “industrial” age The new ideas are considered “post-industrial” There is a huge difference between industrial and post-industrial thinking Joseph Rost is one of the biggest contributors to this new ideas.

What is Leadership? …No Good Answer Over the past century (100 years), leadership scholars have had a desire to define leadership. They tried many times to answer the question “what is leadership?” They used ideas such as “trait theories” or “behavioral theories” but were not successful in properly defining leadership. Thousands of studies, hundreds of theories and definitions, but nothing seemed to work. The studies only seemed to reveal the complexities of leadership. …until the “new age of leadership”

The Focus of Leadership Studies The problem with many of the older theories is that they tried to focus on the leader when defining leadership. The post-industrial (the new views) focus is on the interaction between the leaders and followers. The post-industrial focus is NOT on the leaders only. “The essence of Leadership is not the leader, but the relationship”

Joseph Rost’s Definition of Leadership “Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes.” – Joseph Rost, 1991

The Four Components (parts) of Rost’s Definition The relationship is based on influence People have freewill Both leaders and followers can be influenced—the influence is multi-directional Relationship not based on authority or coercion Leaders and the flowers are the people in this relationship Both leaders and followers are practicing leadership Both leaders and followers are using influence Leaders and followers intend real changes Leaders and followers seek to make changes that are significant or substantial The changes the leaders and followers intend reflect their mutual purposes The changes made are desired by the leader and the followers, not just the leader

Leadership vs. Leader Development In the past, training managers to be good leaders was Training programs were designed to improve the skills of the leaders Rost, following the post-industrial paradigm, has a different opinion. Today, the focus of training and education should be on teaching leadership Must teach both leaders and followers how to work together Should teach the concept of shared leadership (we will learn more about this soon) considered important (even today, it is common).

The Post-Industrial View This view requires (demands) a shift away from these thoughts: Leadership is what leaders do Leadership is good management Instead, we should consider these seven conclusions from Rost: Leadership is more about relationship than an individual The leadership process is distinct and different from management The leadership focuses on the interaction of leaders and followers, not just the behavior of leaders Leadership seeks mutual purposes rather than just the wishes of the leader Leadership desires deep and real change Influence tactics are the only acceptable behaviors The leadership process is something that is not done all the time

Industrial Vs. Post-Industrial Leadership is… Post-Industrial Individual (about the leader) Relationship centered Good Management A process much different from management Leader behaviors and traits Leaders and “collaborators” interacting Doing the leader’s wishes Doing what both leaders and collaborators wish About using any means (power, coercion, etc…) About using influence behaviors only Safe Risk-taking Control Freedom Stability Change and movement Leading weak followers Working together with strong followers Using coercive influence Never using coercive influence Top-down Empowering others Results-oriented Process-oriented

The Role of Followers In the industrial age there was very little recognition of the role of followers It was assumed that followers were not important However, the view of followers changes with post-industrial thinking Followers are put on an equal level with leaders in the leadership process Leaders and followers interact in a power-sharing environment

Distributed Leadership Some studies have shown that followers are the major reason for organizational success (i.e. Japanese companies – page 104). Distributed leadership rises out of a time when followers were mistreated. Distributed leadership means that leadership is shared. Shared leadership depends on: The willingness of the leader The competency of the follower A lot of research is being conducted on shared leadership. Distributed leadership has become very popular, but still has much room to grow and spread.

Summary of Chapter 8 Finally, we have a good definition of leadership. The FHSU leadership curriculum is based on Rost’s definition. This new “post-industrial” view is very different from older theories. Autocracy has been replaced with collaboration. The following chapters will all present theories which are based on the post-industrial paradigm.

What’s Next? During the rest of this class, we will theories that developed out of the work of Rost and contemporary theorists. Future contemporary theories we will study include: Social change leadership Risk leadership Followership Change processes