Managing Leadership and Influence Processes Chapter Seventeen Managing Leadership and Influence Processes

Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, you should be able to: Describe the nature of leadership and relate leadership to management. Discuss and evaluate the two generic approaches to leadership. Identify and describe the major situational approaches to leadership. Identify and describe three related approaches to leadership. Describe three emerging approaches to leadership. Discuss political behavior in organizations and how it can be managed. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Nature of Leadership The Meaning of Leadership Process: what leaders actually do. Using noncoercive influence to shape the group’s or organization’s goals. Motivating others’ behavior toward goals. Helping to define organizational culture. Property: who leaders are. Characteristics attributed to individuals perceived to be leaders. Leaders People who can influence the behaviors of others without having to rely on force. People who are accepted as leaders by others. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Table 17.1: Kotter’s Distinctions Between Management and Leadership Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Nature of Leadership (cont’d) Power and Leadership Power is the ability to affect the behavior of others. Legitimate power is granted through the organizational hierarchy. Reward power is the power to give or withhold rewards. Coercive power is the capability to force compliance by means of psychological, emotional, or physical threat. Referent power is the personal power that accrues to someone based on identification, imitation, loyalty, or charisma. Expert power is derived from the possession of information or expertise. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Nature of Leadership (cont’d) Using Power Legitimate request A subordinate’s compliance with a manager’s request because the organization has given the manager the right to make the request. Instrumental compliance A subordinate complies with a manager’s request to get the rewards that the manager controls. Coercion Threatening to fire, punish, or reprimand subordinates if they do not do something. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Nature of Leadership (cont’d) Using Power (cont’d) Rational persuasion Convincing subordinates that compliance is in their own best interest. Personal identification Using the superior’s referent power over a subordinate to shape his behavior. Inspirational appeal Influencing a subordinate’s behavior through an appeal to a set of higher ideals or values (e.g., loyalty). Information distortion Withholding or distorting information (which may create an unethical situation) to influence subordinates’ behavior. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Generic Approaches to Leadership Leadership Traits Approach Assumed that a basic set of personal traits that differentiated leaders from nonleaders could be used to identify leaders and as a tool for predicting who would become leaders. The trait approach was unsuccessful in establishing empirical relationships between traits and persons regarded as leaders. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Leadership Behaviors Michigan Studies (Rensis Likert) Identified two forms of leader behavior Job-centered behavior Employee-centered behavior The two forms of leader behaviors were considered to be at opposite ends of the same continuum and similar to (respectively) Likert’s System 1 and System 4 of organizational design. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Leadership Behaviors (cont’d) Ohio State Studies Did not interpret leader behavior as being one-dimensional as did the Michigan State studies. Identified two basic leadership styles that can be exhibited simultaneously: Initiating-structure behavior Consideration behavior Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Leadership Behaviors (cont’d) Ohio State Studies (cont’d) Initial assumption of the research was that leaders who exhibit high levels of both behaviors would be most effective leaders. Subsequent research indicated that: Employees of supervisors ranked high on initiating structure were high performers, but had low levels of satisfaction and had higher absenteeism. Employees of supervisors ranked high on consideration had low- performance ratings, but had high levels of satisfaction and had less absenteeism. Other situational variables make consistent leader behavior predictions difficult. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 17.1: The Leadership Grid Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Situational Approaches to Leadership Situational Models of Leader Behavior Assume that: Appropriate leader behavior varies from one situation to another. Key situational factors that are interacting to determine appropriate leader behavior can be identified. Leadership Continuum (Tannenbaum and Schmidt) Variables influencing the decision-making continuum: Leader’s characteristics Subordinates’ characteristics Situational characteristics Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 17.2: Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s Leadership Continuum Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Situational Approaches to Leadership (cont’d) LPC Theory (Fiedler) The appropriate style of leadership varies with situational favorableness (from the leader’s viewpoint). Least preferred coworker (LPC) The measuring scale that asks leaders to describe the person with whom they are least able to work well. High LPC scale scores indicate a relationship orientation; low LPC scores indicate a task orientation on the part of the leader. Contingency variables determining situational favorableness: Leader-member relations Task structure Position Power Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 17.3: The Least-Preferred Coworker Theory of Leadership Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Situational Approaches to Leadership (cont’d) Path-Goal Theory (Evans and House) The primary functions of a leader are: To make valued or desired rewards available in the workplace To clarify for the subordinate the kinds of behavior that will lead to goal accomplishment or rewards Leader Behaviors: Directive leader behavior Supportive leader behavior Participative leader behavior Achievement-oriented leader behavior Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 17.4: The Path-Goal Framework Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Situational Approaches to Leadership (cont’d) Vroom Decision Tree Approach Attempts to prescribe a leadership style appropriate to a given situation. Basic Premises: Subordinate participation in decision making depends on the characteristics of the situation. No one decision-making process is best for all situations. After evaluating problem attributes, a leader can choose a path on the decision trees that determines the decision style and specifies the amount of employee participation. Decision significance Decision Timeliness Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Situational Approaches to Leadership (cont’d) Vroom Decision Tree Approach (cont’d) Decision-Making Styles Decide Consult (individually) Consult (group) Facilitate Delegate Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 17.5: Vroom’s Time-driven Decision Tree Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 17.6: Vroom’s Development-driven Decision Tree Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Situational Approaches to Leadership (cont’d) The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Approach Stresses the importance of variable relationships between supervisors and each of their subordinates. Vertical dyads Leaders form unique independent relationships with each subordinate (dyads) in which the subordinate becomes a member of the leader’s out-group or in-group. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Related Approaches to Leadership (cont’d) Charismatic Leadership (House) Charisma, an interpersonal attraction that inspires support and acceptance, is an individual characteristic of a leader. Charismatic persons are more successful than non-charismatic persons. Charismatic leaders are: Self-confident Have a firm conviction in their belief and ideals Possess a strong need to influence people Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Related Approaches to Leadership (cont’d) Charismatic Leadership (cont’d) Charismatic leaders in organizations must be able to: envision the future, set high expectations, and model behaviors consistent with expectations. energize others through a demonstration of excitement, personal confidence, and patterns of success. enable others by supporting them, by empathizing with them, and by expressing confidence in them. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Related Approaches to Leadership (cont’d) Transformational Leadership Leadership that goes beyond ordinary expectations, by transmitting a sense of mission, stimulating learning, and inspiring new ways of thinking. Seven keys to successful leadership Trusting in one’s subordinates Developing a vision Keeping cool Encouraging risk Being an expert Inviting dissent Simplifying things Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Political Behavior in Organizations The activities carried out for the specific purpose of acquiring, developing, and using power and other resources to obtain one’s preferred outcomes. Common Political Behaviors Inducement Persuasion Creation of an obligation Coercion Impression management Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Political Behavior in Organizations (cont’d) Managing Political Behavior Be aware that even if actions are not politically motivated, others may assume that they are. Reduce the likelihood of subordinates engaging in political behavior by providing them with autonomy, responsibility, challenge, and feedback. Avoid using power to avoid charges of political motivation. Get disagreements and conflicts out in the open so that subordinates have less opportunity to engage in political behavior. Avoid covert behaviors that give the impression of political intent even if none exists. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Key Terms leadership leaders power legitimate power reward power coercive power referent power expert power job-centered leader behavior employee-centered leader behavior initiating-structure behavior consideration behavior concern for production concern for people least-preferred coworker (LPC) measure path-goal theory Vroom’s decision tree approach Leader-member exchange (LMX) model Substitutes for leadership charismatic leadership charisma transformational leadership strategic leadership political behavior impression management Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.