CHAPTER TWO –

LEADERSHIP STYLES
AND THEORIES

1 02/11/2023
Leadership style
Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing
direction, implementing plans, and motivating people.
 Kurt Lewin (1939) led a group of researchers to identify
different styles of leadership. This early study has been
very influential and established three major leadership
styles. The three major styles of leadership are: 
Authoritarian or autocratic
Participative or democratic
Declarative or Free Reign or Laissez - fair
The Autocratic Leadership Style- “I” Approach
This style is used when leaders tell their employees what
they want done and how they want it accomplished,
without getting the advice of their followers.

Some of the appropriate conditions to use it are when

you have all the information to solve the problem, you
are short on time, and your employees are well
motivated.
Cont….
People within the team are given few opportunities for
making suggestions, even if these would be in the team's
or organization’s interest.
It is a dictatorial method of leading –
low concern for followers and high emphasis on task -
typically reinforced with threat, punishment, and often
ruthless exploitation of workers, who have little or no
freedom to resist or desert.
 It is a feature of a strongly dictatorial application of
the transactional leadership style
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
Strong control, directive
Downward and task directed
The Democratic/Participative Leadership Style-“We”
Approach
Let's work together to solve this. . .
This style involves the leader including one or more
employees in the decision making process (determining
what to do and how to do it). However, the leader
maintains the final decision making authority.

This is normally used when you have part of the

information, and your employees have other parts. Note
that a leader is not expected to know everything — this is
why you employ knowledgeable and skillful employees.
Using this style is of mutual benefit
it allows them to become part of the team and allows you to
make better decisions.
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
May help motivation and involvement
Workers feel ownership of the firm and its ideas
Improves the sharing of ideas and experiences within the business
Subordinates involved in decision-making
Lengthy process, communications flow up and down
Can delay decision making
The Laissez Faire Leadership Style-“They”
Approach
You all take care of the problem while I go. . .
Laissez-faire leaders allow followers to have complete freedom
to make decisions concerning the completion of their work.
It allows followers a high degree of autonomy and self-rule,
while at the same time offering guidance and support when
requested.
The laissez-faire leader using guided freedom provides the
followers with all materials necessary to accomplish their
goals, but does not directly participate in decision making
unless the followers request their assistance
NOTE: This is also known as laissez faire (or lais·ser faire),
which is the noninterference in the affairs of others.
Cont…
This is an effective style to use when:
Followers are highly skilled, experienced, and educated.
Followers have pride in their work and the drive to do it
successfully on their own.
Outside experts, such as staff specialists or consultants
are being used.
Followers are trustworthy and experienced.
This style should NOT be used when:
Followers feel insecure at the unavailability of a leader.
The leader cannot or will not provide regular feedback to
their followers
Transformational, Transactional and Servant Leaders.
1. Transforming leadership/Transformational leadership
Transformational leaders are those who transform their
followers into becoming leaders themselves.
"Transformational leadership is a leadership approach that
is defined as leadership that creates valuable and positive
change in the followers.
A transformational leader focuses on "transforming" others
to help each other, to look out for each other, to be
encouraging and harmonious, and to look out for the
organization as a whole.
 In this leadership, the leader enhances the motivation,
morale and performance of his follower group
Cont…
Establishing high levels of personal integrity to gain
trust and inspire the members
Applying passion and energy at work, and injecting
such energy and enthusiasm to followers
Leading from the front to demonstrate attitudes and
actions for followers to emulate
Motivating and rallying followers by constantly
listening, soothing, and enthusing
Developing a shared vision and appealing to people’s
inborn desire to attain higher levels related to love,
learning, leaving a legacy, and the like
2. Transactional leadership

People are motivated by reward and punishment.

Social systems work best with a clear chain of command.
When people have agreed to do a job, a part of the deal is that
they cede all authority to their manager.
The prime purpose of a subordinate is to do what their
manager tells them to do.
Transactional refers to the traditional employer/employee
exchange typified by being paid to in return for doing work,
extending to other incentives offered by leadership in return
for extra efforts and inputs by followers
3. Servant Leadership
This term, coined by Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s,
describes a leader who is often not formally recognized
as such. When someone, at any level within an
organization, leads simply by virtue of meeting the needs
of his or her team, he or she is described as a servant
leader.

A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and

well-being of people and the communities to which they
belong
Ten Characteristics of a Servant-Leader
Listening: Servant leader must listen to verbal and non-verbal
signals and interpret what the others are saying.
Empathy: "The most successful servant-leaders are those who
have become skilled empathetic listeners
Healing: "servant-leaders recognize that they have an
opportunity to help make whole those with whom they come in
contact“
Awareness: Servant leaders should "view most situations from
a more integrated, holistic position.“
Persuasion: The servant leader should rely "on persuasion,
rather than on one's positional authority, in making decisions
within an organization."
Cont….
 Conceptualization: "The ability to look at a problem or an
organization from a conceptualizing perspective means that one must
think beyond day-to-day realities
 Foresight: "a characteristic that enables the servant-leader to
understand the lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and
the likely consequence of a decision for the future“
 Stewardship: "a commitment to serving the needs of others. It also
emphasizes the use of openness and persuasion, rather than control“
 Commitment to the growth of people: "deeply committed to the
growth of each and every individual within his or her organization.“
 Building community: A servant-leader should "seek to identify some
means for building community among those who work within a given
institution"
LEADERSHIP
THEORIES
 LEADERSHIP THEORIES
The three general types of theories that emerged were
(1) trait theories, which propose leaders have a particular
set of traits that makes them different from non leaders;
(2) behavioral theories, which propose that particular
behaviors' make for better leaders; and
 (3) contingency theories, which propose the situation
has an effect on leaders
Trait Theory: Are Leaders Different from Others?
Trait theories of leadership emerged in the hope that if it
were possible to identify the traits of leaders, it would be easier
to select people to fill leadership roles.
Assumptions
People are born with inherited traits.
Some traits are particularly suited to leadership.
People who make good leaders have the right (or sufficient)
combination of traits.
Traits are inborn and inherent personal qualities of individuals.
This theory believes leaders possess certain specific inborn
traits, which are inherited rather than acquired. It has a root
from "the great man theory" dating back to the ancient
Greeks & Romans time, holds that leaders are born not made.
Early trait theories said that leadership is an innate,
natural quality that you do or don't have.
Trait theories help us identify traits and qualities (for
example, integrity, empathy, assertiveness, good
decision-making skills, and likability) that are helpful
when leading others.
However, none of these traits, nor any specific
combination of them, will guarantee success as a leader.
Traits are external behaviors that emerge from the things
going on within our minds – and it's these internal beliefs
and processes that are important for effective leadership
Behavioral Theories: Do Leaders Behave in
Particular Ways?
Behavioral theories of leadership are based upon the
belief that great leaders are made, not born.
Rooted in behaviorism, this leadership theory focuses on
the actions of leaders not on mental qualities or internal
states.
According to this theory, people can learn to become
leaders through teaching and observation.
Behavioral theories focus on how leaders behave.
Cont…
The three most best-known behavioral theories of
leadership APPROCH are;
1. the Ohio State University studies
2. the University of Michigan studies and
3. Blake and Mouton’s Leadership Grid, which
reflects the behavioral definitions of both the Ohio and
Michigan studies.
All three approaches consider two main dimensions by
which managers can be characterized: attention to
production and attention to people
1. The Ohio State Studies
In the Ohio State studies, these two dimensions are
known as initiating structure and consideration.
A. Initiating structure
refers to the extent to which a leader is likely to define
and structure his or her role and the roles of employees in
order to attain goals;
it includes behaviour that tries to organize work, work
relationships, and goals. For instance, leaders using this
style may develop specific output goals.
B. Consideration is defined as the extent to which a
leader is likely to have job relationships characterized
by mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas, and
regard for their feelings.
A leader who is high in consideration shows concern
for followers’ comfort, well-being, status, and
satisfaction.
For instance, leaders using this style may create more
flexible hours, or flextime, to make it easier for
employees to manage family issues during work hours
2. The Michigan Studies
Researchers at the University of Michigan, whose work is
referred to as “the Michigan studies,” also developed two
dimensions of leadership behaviour that they labelled
employee-oriented and production-oriented.
Employee-oriented leaders emphasize interpersonal
relations. They take a personal interest in the needs of their
subordinates and accept individual differences among
members.
Production-oriented leaders, in contrast, tend to emphasize
the technical or task aspects of the job. They are mainly
concerned with making sure the group accomplishes its tasks,
and the group members are simply a means to that end.
3. The Leadership Grid
Blake and Mouton developed a graphic portrayal of a
two-dimensional view of leadership style.
 They proposed a Leadership Grid based on the styles
of “concern for people” and “concern for production,”
which essentially represent the Ohio State dimensions of
consideration and initiating structure, or the Michigan
dimensions of employee orientation and production
orientation.
The Leadership Grid
The grid, shown below has 9 possible positions along each
axis, creating 81 different positions in which the leader’s
style may fall, but emphasis has been placed on 5
impoverished management (1,1);
authority-obedience management (9,1);
middle-of-the-road management (5,5);
country club management (1,9); and
team management (9,9).
The grid shows the dominating factors in a leader’s
thinking with respect to how to get results from people,
without focusing on what the specific results are
9high
Team management
Country club management
1,9 9,9
8 Thoughtful attention to the needs of
Work accomplishment is from
committed people who have a
people for satisfying relationships
common stake” in the organization's
7 leads to a comfortable, friendly
purpose. This leads to relationships of
organization atmosphere and work
trust and respect.
tempo.
6

5 Middle-of-the-road management
5,5
4 Adequate organizational performance
is possible through balancing the
necessity to get out work with
3 maintaining morale of people at a
satisfactory level.
2
Authority-obedience
1 Impoverished management 9,1
1,1 Efficiency in operations results
Exertion of minimum effort to get from arranging conditions of work
required work done is appropriate to in such a way that human elements
sustain organization membership. interfere to a minimum degree.

low 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 high
concern for production
Contingency Theories: Does the Situation Matter?
Situational, or contingency, theories of leadership try
to isolate critical situational factors that affect leadership
effectiveness. The theories consider the degree of structure
in the task being performed, the quality of leader-member
relations, the leader’s position power, group norms,
information availability, employee acceptance of leader’s
decisions, employee maturity, and the clarity of the
employee’s role
situational, or contingency, theories propose that
leadership effectiveness depends on the situation.
There are four situational theories and these are
1. Fiedler Contingency Model
Fiedler contingency model proposes that effective group
performance depends on the proper match between the
leader’s style and the degree to which the situation gives
control to the leader
Fiedler identified three contingency dimensions that together
define the situation a leader faces:
Leader-member relations. The degree of confidence, trust,
and respect members have in their leader.
 Task structure. The degree to which the job assignments are
procedurized (that is, structured or unstructured).
 Position power. The degree of influence a leader has over
power variables such as hiring, firing, discipline,
promotions, and salary increases.
2. Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational
Leadership Theory
situational leadership theory (SLT) A theory that proposes
that effective leaders adapt their leadership style according to
how willing and able a follower is to perform tasks.
If a follower is unable and willing, the leader needs to display
high task orientation to compensate for the follower’s lack of
ability, and high relationship orientation to get the follower to
“buy into” the leader’s desires (in other words, “sell” the task).
 If the follower is able and unwilling, the leader needs to adopt
a supportive and participative style.
Finally, if the employee is both able and willing, the leader
does not need to do much (in other words, a laissez-faire
approach will work)
3. Path-Goal Theory
 The essence of the theory is that it is the leader’s job to assist
followers attain their goals and to provide the necessary direction
and/or support to ensure that their individual goals are compatible
with the overall goals of the group or organization
 According to this theory, leaders should follow three guidelines to
be effective:
 Determine the outcomes subordinates want. These might include
good pay, job security, interesting work, and the autonomy to do
one’s job.
 Reward individuals with their desired outcomes when they perform
well.
 Let individuals know what they need to do to receive rewards (that
is, the path to the goal), remove any barriers that would prevent
high performance, and express confidence that individuals have the
ability to perform well
Differences between a Good and Bad Leader
Here are a few of my thoughts regarding good and bad leaders
Good Leaders...
Need to have a vision that is different, but still able to be accepted
by the masses.
step outside of their comfort zones to make change happen
take risks, make sacrifices, and sometimes pay a cost to achieve
their vision
instill confidence in others because they themselves are confident
build consensus
with charisma can change organizations
are encouragers
are positive
have the interests of others above their own
attract followers
bring new perspective to problem solving
are enablers
are an inspiration
Bad Leaders...
drive wedges in between people, teams, and organizational structures
don't stand up for their peers or their subordinates
behave like children when they don't get their way
gossip and spread rumors
don't reward others for their accomplishments
use "techno babble" and jargon to confuse others
believe they are smarter than everybody else
are unaware (sometimes) that most people don't respect them
dictate policy and doctrine almost exclusively via e-mail or
memo
are invisible to most of the organization
don't want rules, processes, or procedures... except for others
prescribe before diagnosing
don't solicit input from others unless it is to validate what they
already believe
kill organizations through their arrogance and unwillingness to
listen
are silent when they should speak
speak when they should be silent
Bad leaders are hurting our organizations, our governmental
institutions, our local schools, churches, and neighborhoods.
 Bad leaders poison many of those around them, run
organizations into the ground, and are culture killers.