Leadership & communication

Leadership & communication

1. Definition

   • The relationship through which one person influences the behaviour and actions of other people.
     • Influences the behaviour of others
     • Inspires others
     • Creates and communicates a vision others can identify with
   • Purposes
     • To move the organisation forward
     • To carry through change

2. Kotter

   • Copes with change
   • Challenges the status quo
   • Asks why
   • Plans long term
     • Visionary
   • Aligns people
   • Motivates and inspires
   • Focuses on people
   • Communicates and delivers the vision
   • 1990 - organisations need both leaders and managers
     • Regards good management as bringing order and consistency through planning, organising and controlling
       • Creates order
     • Good leadership establishes direction and strategy, communication it to those whose cooperation they need and inspiring people
       • Creates changes and produces movement

3. Grint (2004)

   • Describing a leader
     • Personal qualities
     • Results
     • Position
     • Process

4. Trait theories of leadership

   • McRae & John (1992)
     • The big five traits
       • Openness
       • Conscientiousness
       • Extraversion
       • Agreeableness
       • Neuroticism
   • Drucker (1955)
     • Leadership cannot be created or promoted
     • Cannot be taught or learnt
   • Colbert & Witt (2008)
     • Conscientiousness is the most consistent predictor of work outcomes
   • Fielder & House (1994)
     • Effective leaders tend to have a high need to influence others and achieve
       • Bright and competent
       • Socially adept
       • Not stupid, incompetent social disasters
   • Assumes that leaders are born and not made
   • 'Great person' approach
   • Focuses on the 'qualities' of the person in the job instead of the job itself
     • You should look for signs of leadership when selecting employees

5. Functional or group approach

   • Believes that skills of leadership can be learned, developed or perfected
   • Adair (1997)
     • Developing the individual
     • Building and maintaining the team
     • Functions of a leader
       • Defining a task
       • Planning
       • Briefing
       • Controlling
       • Evaluating
       • Motivating
       • Organising
     • Three circles diagram
   • Whitehead (2002)
     • Leaders are not born but made
     • Everyone can do it
     • You don't have to be promoted to a management position
       • You don't have to be a boss to be a leader
   • Kotter
     • Successful companies do not wait for leaders to come along

6. Behavioural theories

   • Authoritarian style
     • Managers alone exercises decision making and authority
     • Tells subordinates what to do
   • Democratic style
     • The leadership function is shared
     • Focus is more with the group as a whole
   • Laissez-Faire (genuine) style
     • The manager consciously makes the decision to pass power to employees to 'empower' them
     • The manager observes that the group is working well on their own
   • Blake & Moutin grid
     • Country club management
       • High concern for people
       • Low concern for results
     • Team management
       • High concern for people and results
     • Middle-of-the-road management
       • Medium concern
     • Impoverished management
       • Low concern for people and results
     • Produce-or-perish management
       • Low concern for people
       • High concern for results

7. Situational (contingency) theories

   • Managers influence others by adapting their style to the circumstances
   • Tannenbaum & Schmidt (1973)
     • Tells
       • Makes decisions
       • Announces
     • Sells
       • Makes decisions
       • Explains
     • Consults
       • Gets and makes suggestions
       • Decides
     • Shares
       • Defines limits
       • Group decides
     • Delegates
       • Subordinates function with defined limits

8. Types of leadership

   • Transformational leadership
     • Burns (1978)
       • The leader aims to change the status quo
       • Charismatic leaders
         • Kreitner et al
           • Transform followers by creating changes in their goals, values, needs, beliefs and aspirations
         • Conger & Kanungo (1994)
           • Vision and articulation
             • Entrepreneurial, passion, positive energy
           • Environmental sensitivity
             • Recognise barriers that may progress
             • Learn from experience
           • Unconventional behaviour
             • Use non-traditional methods
           • Personal risk
             • High personal risk for the sake of the organisation
           • Sensitivity to members' needs
             • Show sensitivity to needs and feelings of others
             • Builds teams and alliances
           • Not maintaining the status quo
             • Takes unusual actions to achieve goals
             • Risk-taker
   • Inspirational leadership
     • Concerned with the skills of motivating and inspiring people

9. Cutler (2005)

   • The right leader for the right situation
   • GLOBE research programme
     • Charismatic and team-orientated leaders were globally accepted and universally effective
     • International team of researchers in 62 countries
     • High levels of trust, integrity and vision were valued in all societies
       • Cross-cultural
   • Leadership jigsaw
     • Empowerment
     • Vision
     • Communication
     • Example
     • Relationship
     • Motivation