Chapter Five

Directing/Leading Functions

By
Mesfin A. (PhD Scholar)

Target Groups: For 1st Year MBA Students

 Definitions
Leadership: is the process by which a person
exerts influence over others and inspires,
motivates and directs their activities to
achieve group or organizational goals.
 This leadership definition implies that:
 It involves the use of influence.
 Involves the importance of being a change agent—
being able to affect followers’ behavior and
performance.
 Finally, the definition focuses on accomplishing
goals.
 Definitions Cont’d
 Leadership occurs when one modifies the
motivation or competencies of others.

 Effective leader may have to deal with individual,

group, and organizational goals.

 Leader effectiveness is typically measured by the

accomplishment of one or a combination of these
goals.
 Definitions Cont’d
Followership – the process of being guided and
directed by a leader in the work environment
 Ineffective followers may be more of a handicap
to an organization than ineffective leaders.
 Qualities of effective followers:
 They manage themselves well.
 They are committed to a purpose outside themselves.
 They build their competence and focus their efforts for
maximum impact.
 They are courageous, honest, and credible
 Definitions Cont’d
Leader: An individual who is able to exert influence
over other people to help achieve group or
organizational goals
 Leaders are agents of change; persons whose acts affect
other people more than other people’s acts affect them
 Leaders influence others since they have power
 Power is the key to leadership.

Power :is the ability of individuals or groups to induce or

influence the beliefs or actions of other persons or groups.
 Source of power
 Two sources of power which in turn divided into five
categories:
1. Organizational sources of power (Legitimate, reward and
coercive)
2. Personal sources of power (expertise and referent)

 Legitimate Power
 Power based on the influencer’s right or authority to make a request
 The authority that a manager has by virtue of his or her position in the
organization.
 Reward Power
 Power based on providing and promising a positive outcome.
 The ability of a manager to give or withhold tangible and intangible
rewards.
 Source of power Cont’d
 Coercive Power
 Power based on providing or promising a negative outcome.
 The ability of a manager to punish others.
 Expert Power
 Power that is based on special knowledge, skills, and expertise
that the leader possesses.
 Tends to be used in a guiding or coaching manner
 Referent Power
 Power that comes from subordinates’ and coworkers’ respect ,
admiration, and loyalty
 Possessed by managers who are likable and whom subordinates
wish to use as a role model.
 Associated with charismatic leadership
 Leadership Theories
1. Early Theories:
 Great Man Theories : Leaders are exceptional people,
born with innate qualities, destined to lead

 Trait Theories: Lleadership success is associated with

specific characteristics (Physical, ability, personality)

2. Behavioral Theories

3. Situational/contingency Leadership
4. Contemporary views on Leadership

5. Emerging Issues in Leadership

 Great Man Theory
 Leaders are exceptional people, born with innate
qualities, destined to lead
 Leaders are born, not made
 Great man approach actually emphasis “charismatic”
leadership, charisma being the Greek word for gift.
 According to this great man theory of leadership,
leadership calls for certain qualities like:
 commanding personality
 charm courage
 Intelligence
 persuasiveness
 aggressiveness.
 Trait Theory

 Theory that attempts to identify specific

characteristics (physical, ability, personality)
associated with leadership success.

 Traits are characteristics of the person:

 Physical characteristics (height, weight, appearance,
health, etc)
 Abilities (intelligence, creativity, knowledge, technical
competence etc).
 Personality traits (self-confidence, dominance,
adaptable, extroversion/sociability, originality, etc)
 Trait Theory Cont’d

 Traits consistently associated with

leadership:
Ambition and energy
The desire to lead
Honesty and integrity
Self-confidence
Intelligence
Job-relevant knowledge
 Behavioral Theories of leadership
 Propose that specific behaviors differentiate
leaders from non-leaders
 Three schools:
 Kurt Lewin Studies
 Ohio State Studies
 University of Michigan Studies
 Kurt Lewin Studies
 Identified three leadership styles:
 Autocratic style: centralized authority, low
participation
 Democratic style: involvement, high participation,
feedback
 Laissez faire style: hands-off management
 Research findings: mixed results
 No specific style was consistently better for
producing better performance
 Employees were more satisfied under a democratic
leader than an autocratic leader
 Ohio State Studies
 Identified two dimensions of leader behavior:
 Initiating structure: the role of the leader in defining
his or her role and the roles of group members
 Consideration: the leader’s mutual trust and respect
for group members’ ideas and feelings.
 Research findings: mixed results
 High-high leaders generally, but not always, achieved
high group task performance and satisfaction.
 Evidence indicated that situational factors appeared to
strongly influence leadership effectiveness.
 University of Michigan Studies

 Identified two dimensions of leader behavior

 Employee oriented: emphasizing personal
relationships
 Production oriented: emphasizing task
accomplishment
 Research findings:
 Leaders who are employee oriented are strongly
associated with high group productivity and high job
satisfaction.
 Contingency Perspective
1. Fiedler’s Contingency Model
2. Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational
Leadership Theory
3. Leader Participation Model (Vroom and
Yetton)
4. House’s Path-Goal Theory
 Fiedler’s Contingency Model

 Proposes that effective group performance

depends upon the proper match between:
 the leader’s style of interacting with followers
and
 the degree to which the situation allows the
leader to control and influence.
 Fiedler’s Contingency Model Cont’d
 Assumptions:
 A certain leadership style should be most
effective in different types of situations.
 Leaders do not readily change leadership
styles.
• Matching the leader to the situation or changing the
situation to make it favorable to the leader is
required
 Fiedler’s Contingency Model Cont’d
 Situational factors in matching leader to the
situation:
 Leader-member relations
• Degree of confidence, trust, and respect
members have for leader.
 Task structure
• Degree to which jobs are structured.
 Position power
• Degree to which leader has control over
“power”: hiring, firing, discipline,
promotions, salary.
 Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational
Leadership theory
 Argues that successful leadership is achieved by selecting
the right leadership style which is contingent on the level
of the followers’ readiness.
 Readiness: the extent to which followers have the ability and
willingness to accomplish a specific task.
 Posits four stages of follower readiness:
 R1: followers are unable and unwilling
 R2: followers are unable but willing
 R3: followers are able but unwilling
 R4: followers are able and willing
 Acceptance: leadership effectiveness depends on whether followers
accept or reject a leader.
 Leader Participation Model (Vroom and
Yetton)
 Posits that leader behavior must be adjusted
to reflect the task structure—whether it is
routine, non-routine, or in between—based
on a sequential set of rules (contingencies)
for determining the form and amount of
follower participation in decision making in a
given situation.
 Use the decision method most appropriate
for a given decision situation.
 Leader Participation Model Cont’d
 Leader Participation Model Contingencies:
 Decision significance
 Importance of commitment
 Leader expertise
 Likelihood of commitment
 Group support
 Group expertise
 Team competence
 Leader Participation Model Cont’d
Leadership Styles:
 Decide: Leader makes the decision alone and either announces or
sells it to group.
Consult Individually: Leader presents the problem to group
members individually, gets their suggestions, and then makes the
decision.
Consult Group: Leader presents the problem to group members in a
meeting, gets their suggestions, and then makes the decision.
Facilitate: Leader presents the problem to the group in a meeting
and, acting as facilitator, defines the problem and the boundaries
within which a decision must be made.
Delegate: Leader permits the group to make the decision within
prescribed limits.
 House’s Path-Goal Theory
 States that the leader’s job is:
 to assist his or her followers in attaining their
goals and
 to provide direction or support to ensure their
goals are compatible with organizational
goals.
 House’s Path-Goal Theory Cont’d
 Identifies four leadership behaviors/styles
depending on situation:
1. Directive behaviors: set goals, assign tasks, show how to
do things.
2. Supportive behavior: look out for the worker’s best
interest.
3. Participative behavior: give subordinates a say in
matters that affect them.
4. Achievement-oriented behavior: Setting very
challenging goals, believing in worker’s abilities.
 Motivating with Path-Goal:
 Which behavior to be used depends on the nature of the
subordinates and the kind of work they do
Contemporary Views on Leadership
 Transformational Leadership
 Transactional Leadership
 Charismatic Leadership
 Visionary Leadership
 Servant and Super-leadership
 Transactional vs. Transformational Leadership
 Transactional leaders
 Leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the
direction of established goals by clarifying role and
task requirements.
 Transformational leaders
 Leaders who inspire followers to transcend their own
self-interests for the good of the organization by
clarifying role and task requirements.
 Leaders who also are capable of having a profound and
extraordinary effect on their followers.
Transformational Leadership Elements

Building Creating
Commitment a Vision

Transformational
Leadership
Modelling Communicating
the Vision the Vision

28
 Charismatic Leadership
 An enthusiastic, self-confident leader whose
personality and actions influence people to
behave in certain ways.
 Characteristics of charismatic leaders:
• Have a vision.
• Are able to articulate the vision.
• Are willing to take risks to achieve the vision.
• Are sensitive to the environment and follower needs.
• Exhibit behaviors that are out of the ordinary.
 Visionary Leadership
 A leader who creates and articulates a realistic,
credible, and attractive vision of the future that
improves upon the present situation.
 Visionary leaders have the ability to:
 Explain the vision to others.
 Express the vision not just verbally but through
behavior.
 Extend or apply the vision to different leadership
contexts.
Servant and Super-leadership
 Servant Leadership represents a philosophy in
which leaders focus on increased service to
others rather than to oneself.
 A super-leader is someone who leads others to
lead themselves by developing employees’ self-
management skills.
 Super-leaders attempt to increase employees’ feelings
of personal control and intrinsic motivation.
Thank You