Leadership Theories

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Likert's Four Leadership Styles

Exploitative Authoritative - the leader shows little concern for employees and their views, and adopts threats and other fear-based methods to ensure staff conform with decision. Communication is almost entirely one-way and downwards through the organization

benevolent authoritative - a combination of centralizaed decision-making with concern for other people. The leader uses rewards to encourage good performance. There is some two-way communication - but perhaps staff will only say what they think the manager wants to hear. There may be some delegation of deicision-making, but the leader will take the decisions on all major issues.

Consultative - the leader makes genuine efforts to listen to the views of others, but decision-making is done centrally. This style must not be confused with a truly participative style - although employees are consulted, their opinions may be ignored.

Participative - the leader makes full use of participative methods of decision-making. There is genuine involvement of people lower down the organization in decisio-making, and there tends to be closer working between people across the organization.

Fiedler's Contingency Theory

This theory shows the relationship between a leader's style and group performance under differing situations.

Based on determining most appropriate and effective leader style as the business situation changes from low to moderate to high control.

Two broad types of leader orientation

- Relationship-orientated

- Task-orientated

Leadership style is classified depending on their Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) score.

High LPC indicates a relationship-orientated leader

- Concerned with personal relations, heading off conflict and sensitive to the feelings of others.

Low LPC indicates a task-orientated leader

- Eager and impatient to get on with job and has a no-nonsense attitude to getting the job done.

Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid

Proposed a mangerial grid containing 5 management or leadership styles based on the leader's relative concerns for people.

Country club leadership - the leader is concerned about the needs of the team, e.g. are they happy and secure? I tresults in a relaxed work encironment but one where production suffers due to lack of direction.

Produce / Perish leadership - The leader views employee needs as sexondary to production targetes. Decisions are taken autocratically and fear of punishment is considered to be the best way to motivate workers.

Middle of the road leadership - this style is a balance between the two competing concerns of people and production. Neither people nor production needs are fully met, which is typical of a compromise position. Leaders using this style settle for average performance.

Impoverished leadership - this leader is the least effective. There is neithera condern for getting the job reslt is dissatisfaction and disorganization.

Team leadership - the Blake/Mouton model defines this as the pinnacle of leadership styles. If workers are involved in inderstanding organizational purpose and determining objectives, they will be committed to, and have a stake in, the success of the organization. This creates a team environment which satisfies both people's beeds and productions targets.

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Tannenbaum and Schmidt - A Leadership Continuum

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