3 THINGS THAT WILL AND SHOULD HELP ALL LEADERS
leadership style and techniques
When leaders are looking for styles and techniques to follow they should remember that there are 9 they can choose from.
1. Leadership grid
The leadership grid theory states that there are two major factors that determine success in an organization, the well being of employees and production.
The Concept: There are five different sections of the leadership grid such as that combine the concern with people with the concern for production: impoverished style (1,1), country club style (1,9), middle of the road style (5,5), team style (9,9), and produce and perish style (9,1). The impoverished style (1,1) has little concern for people and production, country style (1,9) has high concern for people and low concern for production, middle of the road style (5,5) cares equally for both the people and production, team style (9,9) has high concerns for both the people and productions, and finally, the produce and perish style (9,1) has low concern for people while having a high concern for production.
1. Leadership grid
The leadership grid theory states that there are two major factors that determine success in an organization, the well being of employees and production.
The Concept: There are five different sections of the leadership grid such as that combine the concern with people with the concern for production: impoverished style (1,1), country club style (1,9), middle of the road style (5,5), team style (9,9), and produce and perish style (9,1). The impoverished style (1,1) has little concern for people and production, country style (1,9) has high concern for people and low concern for production, middle of the road style (5,5) cares equally for both the people and production, team style (9,9) has high concerns for both the people and productions, and finally, the produce and perish style (9,1) has low concern for people while having a high concern for production.
2. Contingency Leadership
Contingency theory- believes that the optimal course of action is dependent on the internal and external situation of a organization.
Some important contingencies for companies are:
1. Technology
2 Suppliers and distributors
3. Consumer interest groups
4. Customers and competitors
5. Government
6. Unions
Fred Fielder's contingency model contained the relationship between leadership style and favourableness of the situation. Situational favourable-ness is described by three dimensions:
Contingency theory- believes that the optimal course of action is dependent on the internal and external situation of a organization.
Some important contingencies for companies are:
1. Technology
2 Suppliers and distributors
3. Consumer interest groups
4. Customers and competitors
5. Government
6. Unions
Fred Fielder's contingency model contained the relationship between leadership style and favourableness of the situation. Situational favourable-ness is described by three dimensions:
- The leader-member relationship, which is the most important variable in determining the situation's favourableness
- The degree of task structure, which is the second most important input into the favourableness of the situation
- The leader's position power obtained through formal authority, which is the third most important dimension of the situation
3. Transactional Leadership
Transactional leadership: Also known as managerial leadership, focuses on the role of supervision, organization and group performance.
What this leadership style believes:
How does it work?
In this type of leadership rewards and punishments are dependent on the performance of the follower. The leader views the relationship between a employer and a employee as an exchange. When the employee performs well they receive some type of reward. Transactional leadership is believed to be the most effective when the problem is evident.
Transactional leadership: Also known as managerial leadership, focuses on the role of supervision, organization and group performance.
What this leadership style believes:
- People perform their best when the chain of command is definite and clear.
- Workers are motivated by rewards and punishments.
- Obeying the instructions and commands of the leader is the primary goal of the followers.
- Subordinates need to be carefully monitored to ensure that expectations are met
How does it work?
In this type of leadership rewards and punishments are dependent on the performance of the follower. The leader views the relationship between a employer and a employee as an exchange. When the employee performs well they receive some type of reward. Transactional leadership is believed to be the most effective when the problem is evident.
4. Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership- enhances the motivation, morale and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms. Transformational leaders develop visions together with employees while tying that vision to a strategy that will lead to achievement. The vision also should translate into action which express confidence, decisiveness, and optimism.
How to know if you are a transformational leader
Transformational leadership- enhances the motivation, morale and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms. Transformational leaders develop visions together with employees while tying that vision to a strategy that will lead to achievement. The vision also should translate into action which express confidence, decisiveness, and optimism.
How to know if you are a transformational leader
- I would never require a follower to do something that I wouldn't do myself.
- I have clear goals for my team.
- I find it comes natural to inspire others.
- I celebrate the talents and successes of my followers.
- I am attentive when it comes to the personal needs of my followers.
- I challenge my followers to get out of their comfort zones.
- I believe that team work is the way to success.
- I encourage my followers to question their most basic way of thinking.
- Followers have told me that my enthusiasm and positive energy are infectious.
5. Servant Theories of Leadership
Servant leadership- Puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.
Characteristics of a Servant Leader:
Servant leadership- Puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.
Characteristics of a Servant Leader:
- Listening: A servant leader puts the emphasis upon listening effectively to others.
- Empathy: A servant leader needs to understand others' feelings and perspectives.
- Healing: A servant leader helps foster each person's emotional and spiritual health and wholeness.
- Awareness: A servant leader understands his or her own values and feelings, strengths and weaknesses.
- Persuasion: A servant leader influences others through their persuasiveness.
- Conceptualization: A servant leader needs to integrate present realities and future possibilities.
- Foresight: A servant leader needs to have a well developed sense of intuition about how the past, present, and future are connected.
- Stewardship: A servant leader is a steward who holds an organization's resources in trust for the greater good.
- Commitment to the growth of people: A servant leader is responsible for serving the need of others.
- Building community: A servant leader is to help create a sense of community among people
6. Democratice Leadership
Democratice leadership- Is a type of leadership in which members of the group take a more participative role in decision-making.
Characteristics
In a democratice leadership group members are essentially encouraged to share idea and opinions, even though the leader makes the final say. Members feel much more engaged in the being of the group when doing this. Beacause that group members are encouraged to share their thoughts, these leaders can have better idea and much more creative solutions to problems. Since group members are much more involved they happen to care more about what is going on in the group as well.
Democratice leadership- Is a type of leadership in which members of the group take a more participative role in decision-making.
Characteristics
In a democratice leadership group members are essentially encouraged to share idea and opinions, even though the leader makes the final say. Members feel much more engaged in the being of the group when doing this. Beacause that group members are encouraged to share their thoughts, these leaders can have better idea and much more creative solutions to problems. Since group members are much more involved they happen to care more about what is going on in the group as well.
7. Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic Leadership- Also known as authoritarian leadership, is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their own ideas and judgements and rarely accept advice from followers. Autocratic leadership involves absolute, authoritarian control over a group.
Characteristics of Autocratic Leadership
-Some of the primary characteristics of autocratic leadership include:-
-Little or no input from group members
-Leaders make the decisions
-Group leaders dictate all the work methods and processes
-Group members are rarely trusted with decisions or important tasks
Benefits of Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leadership can be beneficial in some instances, such as when decisions need to be made quickly without consulting with a large group of people. Some projects require strong leadership in order to get things accomplished quickly and efficiently
Autocratic Leadership- Also known as authoritarian leadership, is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their own ideas and judgements and rarely accept advice from followers. Autocratic leadership involves absolute, authoritarian control over a group.
Characteristics of Autocratic Leadership
-Some of the primary characteristics of autocratic leadership include:-
-Little or no input from group members
-Leaders make the decisions
-Group leaders dictate all the work methods and processes
-Group members are rarely trusted with decisions or important tasks
Benefits of Autocratic Leadership
Autocratic leadership can be beneficial in some instances, such as when decisions need to be made quickly without consulting with a large group of people. Some projects require strong leadership in order to get things accomplished quickly and efficiently
8. Laissez-Faire Leadership
Laissez-Faire leadership- is a type of style which leaders are hands-off and allow group members to make the decisions. This type of leadership style generally leads to the lowest productivity among group members.
Characteristics:
Laissez Faire leaders give very little guidance and complete freedom for followers to make decisions. Leaders only provide tools and resources needed to complete tasks. All members are expected to solve problems on their own without any help.
Benefits and Disadvantages
Laissez-Faire leadership can only be effective in situations where group members are highly skilled, motivated and capable of working on their own. But this is not the ideal leadership style because in many situations group members lack knowledge or expiereince they need to complete their task. Some people are simply not good at setting their own deadlines, managing their own projects and solving problems on their own.
Laissez-Faire leadership- is a type of style which leaders are hands-off and allow group members to make the decisions. This type of leadership style generally leads to the lowest productivity among group members.
Characteristics:
Laissez Faire leaders give very little guidance and complete freedom for followers to make decisions. Leaders only provide tools and resources needed to complete tasks. All members are expected to solve problems on their own without any help.
Benefits and Disadvantages
Laissez-Faire leadership can only be effective in situations where group members are highly skilled, motivated and capable of working on their own. But this is not the ideal leadership style because in many situations group members lack knowledge or expiereince they need to complete their task. Some people are simply not good at setting their own deadlines, managing their own projects and solving problems on their own.
9. Collaborative leadership
Collaborative leadership- is a management practice which is focused on the leadership skills across functional and organizational boundaries.
What do these types of leaders do?
These types of leaders have a desire to create public value no matter where they work. They have a deep empathy of differences within the group such as language, culture and key performance indicators. They are willing to take risks while listening to peoples passion for the cause and optimism about the future.
Collaborative leadership- is a management practice which is focused on the leadership skills across functional and organizational boundaries.
What do these types of leaders do?
These types of leaders have a desire to create public value no matter where they work. They have a deep empathy of differences within the group such as language, culture and key performance indicators. They are willing to take risks while listening to peoples passion for the cause and optimism about the future.
Job Satisfaction and Personal Attributes
Job Performance
The quantity and quality of tasks accomplished
Attitude
Predisposition of how people act and react towards things and people in their own enviornment.
Behaviour
Simply the way people act
Example of positive attitude:
Deborah case. She was placed in a tough situation where she was recently hired by Nova Scotia and was ordered to solve complex problems for the bank. She took a positive approach in dealing with the matter and essentially helped her solve the problem with no negative repercussions. To fully understand attitudes, one must first comprehend the three different components first. Firstly, Cognitive component deals with reflecting upon one’s perception and basis. Secondly, Affective component reflects a certain type of feeling towards things such as work or friends. Lastly, Behavioural component combines both opinions and feelings together to behave with a consistency. However, these components may not necessarily reflect how every person behaves.
What Factors determine individual performances?
Performance equation- Performance= ability x Support x Effort
If high performance is to be achieved in any work setting, the individual must possess the right abilities
Performance Begins with ability
-Ability establishes an individual’s capacity to perform at a high level of accomplishment
-Good training and development keep people’s skills up to date
-The best managers never let a job vacancy pass without giving it serious attention
-These managers ensure every day that all jobs under their supervision are staffed up to the moment with talented people
Performances Requires Support
-Most capable individuals will not achieve high performance levels unless proper support is present
-Support creates a work environment rich in opportunities
-Workers need sufficient resources, clear goals and directions, freedom from unnecessary rules and job constraints
-Forms of direct support is a basic managerial responsibility
Performance involves effort
-Willingness to work hard at a task is an essential compnent of the high-performance work place
-Good managers understand this reality as they build jobs for people in organizations
All managers attempt to create conditions under which the answer to all important questions are brought
for example.
"Should i work hard today?"
Which in most cases is "Yes" more often than "no"
The quantity and quality of tasks accomplished
Attitude
Predisposition of how people act and react towards things and people in their own enviornment.
Behaviour
Simply the way people act
Example of positive attitude:
Deborah case. She was placed in a tough situation where she was recently hired by Nova Scotia and was ordered to solve complex problems for the bank. She took a positive approach in dealing with the matter and essentially helped her solve the problem with no negative repercussions. To fully understand attitudes, one must first comprehend the three different components first. Firstly, Cognitive component deals with reflecting upon one’s perception and basis. Secondly, Affective component reflects a certain type of feeling towards things such as work or friends. Lastly, Behavioural component combines both opinions and feelings together to behave with a consistency. However, these components may not necessarily reflect how every person behaves.
What Factors determine individual performances?
Performance equation- Performance= ability x Support x Effort
If high performance is to be achieved in any work setting, the individual must possess the right abilities
Performance Begins with ability
-Ability establishes an individual’s capacity to perform at a high level of accomplishment
-Good training and development keep people’s skills up to date
-The best managers never let a job vacancy pass without giving it serious attention
-These managers ensure every day that all jobs under their supervision are staffed up to the moment with talented people
Performances Requires Support
-Most capable individuals will not achieve high performance levels unless proper support is present
-Support creates a work environment rich in opportunities
-Workers need sufficient resources, clear goals and directions, freedom from unnecessary rules and job constraints
-Forms of direct support is a basic managerial responsibility
Performance involves effort
-Willingness to work hard at a task is an essential compnent of the high-performance work place
-Good managers understand this reality as they build jobs for people in organizations
All managers attempt to create conditions under which the answer to all important questions are brought
for example.
"Should i work hard today?"
Which in most cases is "Yes" more often than "no"
Multiculturalism in the Workplace
When dealing with a diverse group of individuals you have to keep aspects such as Culture, Religion and Family in mind. All these aspects play big roles in everyone's lives and affect how they work greatly.
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the cultural diversity of communities and policies that promote diversity. Multiculturalism essentially helps a business as it brings many types of new ideas to the team. Many people are from many different cultures and if all of them are working in one environment many new ideas will come up that can't be done if there was only one culture present.
Subculture
Is a group of people within a culture that differentiates themselves from the larger culture to which they belong. Subculture can generally hinder a business if there is a large culture group present in the team which also has subcultures. This can cause problems because people from the same culture may have different views on stuff as their subculture is different. This can also be beneficial towards the team as many more broader and creative ideas will be brought up.
Sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on a person's sex or gender. Sexism is a huge disadvantage towards a team. Many people think its okay to avoid a persons thoughts and ideas just because they are a male/female. In a male dominant team males believe that females are too "soft" or "emotional" which leads them to not take females seriously. In a female dominant team females believe that males make decisions too quick and do not think about it.
Racism
Racism is actions, practices and beliefs that consider different races to be ranked as inherently superior or inferior to each other, based on presume shared inheritable traits, abilities, or qualities. Racism never has a good outcome no matter what the environment is. When looking at a business which in most cases is a very diverse place racism only leads to poor performance as no one wants to work in a poisoned environment. If people do not feel safe just because they are a certain religion and practice certain stuff they will not be motivated to work and will be scared.
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the cultural diversity of communities and policies that promote diversity. Multiculturalism essentially helps a business as it brings many types of new ideas to the team. Many people are from many different cultures and if all of them are working in one environment many new ideas will come up that can't be done if there was only one culture present.
Subculture
Is a group of people within a culture that differentiates themselves from the larger culture to which they belong. Subculture can generally hinder a business if there is a large culture group present in the team which also has subcultures. This can cause problems because people from the same culture may have different views on stuff as their subculture is different. This can also be beneficial towards the team as many more broader and creative ideas will be brought up.
Sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on a person's sex or gender. Sexism is a huge disadvantage towards a team. Many people think its okay to avoid a persons thoughts and ideas just because they are a male/female. In a male dominant team males believe that females are too "soft" or "emotional" which leads them to not take females seriously. In a female dominant team females believe that males make decisions too quick and do not think about it.
Racism
Racism is actions, practices and beliefs that consider different races to be ranked as inherently superior or inferior to each other, based on presume shared inheritable traits, abilities, or qualities. Racism never has a good outcome no matter what the environment is. When looking at a business which in most cases is a very diverse place racism only leads to poor performance as no one wants to work in a poisoned environment. If people do not feel safe just because they are a certain religion and practice certain stuff they will not be motivated to work and will be scared.
How does a leader manage diversity?
When being a leader in a diverse environment you have to ensure that you are open minded towards everything happening around you. Encourage other employees to recognize each others experiences, backgrounds and cultures to see what value they bring to the organization. It is your job as a leader to encourage employees to work in diverse groups and also be open minded them selves. Let the people working under you know that they shouldn't make assumptions about employees from different groups and judge them but should rather work with them to find out who they really are. It is also your job as a leader to avoid any types of stereotypes even if they are postive. As a leader you should judge the successes and failures each individual makes.
When being a leader in a diverse environment you have to ensure that you are open minded towards everything happening around you. Encourage other employees to recognize each others experiences, backgrounds and cultures to see what value they bring to the organization. It is your job as a leader to encourage employees to work in diverse groups and also be open minded them selves. Let the people working under you know that they shouldn't make assumptions about employees from different groups and judge them but should rather work with them to find out who they really are. It is also your job as a leader to avoid any types of stereotypes even if they are postive. As a leader you should judge the successes and failures each individual makes.