The Meaning of Leadership Leadership is the ability to inspire confidence and support among the people who are needed to achieve organizational goals

Leadership Defined Interpersonal influence directed through communication toward goal fulfillment An act that causes others to act or respond in a shared direction The principle dynamic force that motivates and coordinates the organization in the accomplishment of its objectives A willingness to take blame (as defined by legendary football quarterback Joe Montana)

Leadership as a Partnership Leadership is regarded as a long-term relationship, or partnership, where the leader and the group members are connected in such a way that the power between them is balanced

Four Things Are Needed Exchange of purpose ( every worker at every level is responsible for defining vision and value ) A right to say no ( the belief that people who express a contrary opinion will be punished runs contrary to a partnership ) Joint accountability( each person is responsible for outcome ) Absolute honesty

Management Management is more formal and scientific than leadership Management relies on universal skills Management is a set of explicit tools and techniques Management is based on reasoning and testing Management involves the functional or administrative aspects of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling

Leadership Leadership deals with the interpersonal aspects of a manager’s job Leadership involves having a vision of what an organization can become Leadership requires eliciting cooperation and teamwork Leadership produces change, often to a dramatic degree A leader creates a vision to direct the organization

Visionary Passionate Creative Flexible Inspiring Innovative Courageous Imaginative Experimental Independent Shares Knowledge Rational Consulting Persistent Problem solving Tough-minded Analytical Structured Deliberative Authoritative Stabilizing Centralizes knowledge LeaderManager

Leadership Matters The results of one study showed –transactional leadership was not significantly related to performance –charismatic leadership was slightly, positively related to performance –in an uncertain environment, charismatic leadership was more strongly related to performance

The Impact of Leadership Leadership does make a difference –Research from Michael Maccoby –Southwest Airlines –Studies of senior managers –Attribution theory – the process of attributing causality to events

The Impact of Leadership Formal leadership does not make a difference –Leadership has a smaller impact on outcomes than do forces in the situation –There are three major arguments against the importance of leadership substitutes for leadership leadership irrelevance complexity theory

Closely knit teams of highly trained individuals Intrinsic satisfaction Computer technology Professional norms Closely knit teams of highly trained individuals Intrinsic satisfaction Computer technology Professional norms Substitutes for leadership and leadership function Substitutes for leadership and leadership function Substitutes for Leadership

Leader Irrelevance Factors outside the leader’s control have a larger impact on business than do leadership actions Leaders have unilateral control over a only a few resources Firms choose leaders whose values are compatible with those of the firm

Complexity Theory Holds that organizations are complex systems that cannot be explained by the usual rules of nature Leaders and managers can do little to change the course of the system Managers cannot predict which business strategies or product mixes will survive Managers can only scramble or innovate in order to adapt to outside forces

Leadership Roles Research has identified nine roles that can be classified as part of the leadership function of management: Figurehead Entrepreneur SpokespersonStrategic Planner Negotiator Coach Team Builder Team Player Technical Problem Solver

Satisfactions of Leaders A feeling of power and prestige A chance to help others grow and develop High income Respect and status A feeling of “being in on” things An opportunity to control money and other resources

Dissatisfactions and Frustrations of Leaders Too much uncompensated overtime Too many “headaches” Not enough authority Loneliness Too many problems involving people Too much organizational politics The pursuit of conflicting goals

A Framework for Understanding Leadership The leadership framework can be expressed in terms of a simple formula: L = f (l, gm, s) The formula shows that the leadership process is a function of the leader, group members, and other situational variables

SOURCE: Managing Today! by Stephen P. Robbins, © 1997 Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, N.J.

Leadership Effectiveness Leadership effectiveness refers to attaining desirable outcomes such as productivity, quality, and satisfaction in a given situation Whether or not the leader is effective depends on four sets of variables

Skill Development in Leadership Leadership skills are in high demand Leadership skills are listed as the top attributes executives are seeking in candidates for management jobs Developing leadership skills is more complex than developing structured skills and can be acquired, using a general learning model