LEADERSHIP

By Dr. Sweta Mishra

Meaning
• Leadership is the ability of an individual or a group of people to
influence and guide followers or members of an organization, society
or team.
• Leadership often is an attribute tied to a person's title, seniority or
ranking in a hierarchy. However, it's an attribute anyone can have or
attain, even those without leadership positions. It's a developable skill
that can be improved over time.
• Leadership is the ability to build up confidence and zeal among people
and to create an urge in them to be led. To be a successful leader, a
manager must possess the qualities of foresight, drive, initiative, self-
confidence and personal integrity. Different situations may demand
different types of leadership.

Definitions
• George R. Terry, Leadership is the activity of influencing people to
strive willingly for group objectives.
• According to C.I. Bernard – ‘Leadership is the quality of behaviour of
the individuals whereby they guide people or their activities in
organized efforts’.
• Koontz and O’Donnell, “Leadership is the process of influencing
people so that they will strive willingly towards the achievement of
group goals.”
• According to Livingston – ‘Leadership is the ability to awaken the
desire to follow a common objective’.
Importance of Leadership
• Initiating Action: Leadership starts from the very beginning, even
before the work actually starts. A leader is a person who
communicates the policies and plans to the subordinates to start the
work.
• Providing Motivation: A leader motivates the employees by giving
them financial and non-financial incentives and gets the work done
efficiently. Motivation is the driving force in an individual’s life.
• Providing guidance: A leader not only supervises the employees but
also guides them in their work. He instructs the subordinates on how
to perform their work effectively so that their efforts don’t get wasted.
• Creating confidence: A leader acknowledges the efforts of the
employees, explains to them their role clearly and guides them to
achieve their goals. He also resolves the complaints and problems of
the employees, thereby building confidence in them regarding the
organization.
• Building work environment: A good leader should maintain personal
contacts with the employees and should hear their problems and solve
them. He always listens to the point of view of the employees and in
case of disagreement persuades them to agree with him by giving
suitable clarifications. In case of conflicts, he handles them carefully
and does not allow it to adversely affect the entity. A positive and
efficient work environment helps in stable growth of the organization.
• Co-ordination: A leader reconciles the personal interests of the
employees with the organizational goals and achieves co-ordination in
the entity.
 • Creating Successors: A leader trains his subordinates in such a
manner that they can succeed him in future easily in his absence. He
creates more leaders.
• Induces change: A leader persuades, clarifies and inspires employees
to accept any change in the organization without much resistance and
discontentment. He makes sure that employees don’t feel insecure
about the changes.

Difference Between
Leadership Styles
I. Autocratic or Authoritative Style:
• In this case, the leader makes all decisions on behalf of the team
without taking any input or suggestions from them.
• The leader holds all authority and responsibility. They have absolute
power and dictate all tasks to be undertaken.
• There is no consultation with employees before a decision is made.
• After the decision is made, everyone is expected to support the
decision made by the leader. There is often some level of fear of the
leader by the team.
• The autocratic type of leadership style can be very retrogressive as it
fuels employee disgruntlement since most decisions would not be in
the employees’ interests.
• It can lead to persistent absenteeism and high employee turnover.
• However, autocratic leadership can be an effective approach in cases
where the leader is experienced and knowledgeable about the
circumstances surrounding the decision in question and where the
decision needs to be made swiftly. There are other instances where it
 is also ideal such as when a decision does not require team input or an
agreement to ensure a successful outcome.

II. Democratic or Participative

• A democratic leadership style is where a leader makes decisions based
on the input received from team members.
• It is a collaborative and consultative leadership style where each team
member has an opportunity to contribute to the direction of ongoing
projects. However, the leader holds the final responsibility to make the
decision.
• Democratic leadership is one of the most popular and effective
leadership styles because of its ability to provide lower-level
employees a voice making it equally important in the organization.
• It is a style that resembles how decisions are made in company
boardrooms.
• Democratic leadership also involves the delegation of authority to
other people who determine work assignments. It utilizes the skills
and experiences of team members in carrying out tasks.
• The democratic leadership style encourages creativity and engagement
of team members, which often leads to high job satisfaction and high
productivity.
• However, establishing a consensus among team members can be time-
consuming and costly, especially in cases where decisions need to be
made swiftly.

III. Laissez-Faire Style

• Laissez-faire leadership is accurately defined as a hands-off or passive
approach to leadership. Instead, leaders provide their team members
with the necessary tools, information, and resources to carry out their
work tasks.
 • The “let them be” style of leadership entails that a leader steps back
and lets team members work without supervision and free to plan,
organize, make decisions, tackle problems, and complete the assigned
projects.
• The laissez-faire leadership approach is empowering to employees
who are creative, skilled, and self-motivated.
• The level of trust and independence given to the team can prove to be
uplifting and productive and can lead to job satisfaction.
• At the same time, it is important to keep such a type of leadership in
check as chaos and confusion can quickly ensue if the team is not
organized. The team can end up doing completely different things
contrary to what the leader expects.

IV. Transactional Leadership:

• In the transactional leadership style, leaders choose rewards and
punishments to achieve optimal job performance from their team
members. In other words, it works on an exchange and transaction
model: the leader rewards workers who reach their goals and penalizes
those who do not perform as expected.
• Transactional leadership is more short-term and can best be described
as a “give and take” kind of transaction. Team members agree to
follow their leader on job acceptance; therefore, it’s a transaction
involving payment for services rendered.
• Employees are rewarded for exactly the work they would’ve
performed. If you meet a certain target, you receive the bonus that
you’ve been promised. It is especially so in sales and marketing jobs.
• Transactional leadership establishes roles and responsibilities for each
team member and encourages the work to be completed as scheduled.
There are instances where incentive programs can be employed over
 and above regular pay. In addition to incentives, there are penalties
imposed to regulate how work should be done.
• Transactional leadership is a more direct way of leadership that
eliminates confusion between leader and subordinate, and tasks are
clearly spelled out by the leader.

V. Transformational Leadership:
• Transformational leadership is all about transforming the business or
groups by inspiring team members to keep increasing their bar and
achieve what they never thought they were capable of.
Transformational leaders expect the best out of their team and push
them consistently until their work, lives, and businesses go through a
transformation or considerable improvement.
• The transformation is done by motivating team members to go beyond
their comfort zone and achieve much more than their perceived
capabilities. To be effective, transformational leaders should possess
high levels of integrity, emotional intelligence, a shared vision of the
future, empathy, and good communication skills.
• Such a style of leadership is often associated with high growth-
oriented organizations that push boundaries in innovation and
productivity. Practically, such leaders tend to give employees tasks
that grow in difficulty and deadlines that keep getting tighter as time
progresses.
• However, transformational leaders risk losing track of individual
learning curves as some team members may not receive appropriate
coaching and guidance to get through challenging tasks. At the same
time, transformational leaders can lead to high productivity and
engagement through shared trust and vision between the leader and
employees.
VI. Charismatic Leadership: Charismatic leadership is a style where
leaders inspire and motivate followers through their charm, confidence, and
vision, building strong emotional connections and rallying them towards a
common goal.
• Charismatic leaders have a magnetic personality and are highly
persuasive. They employ charisma to motivate and inspire followers.
• Leaders use eloquent communication skills to unite a team towards a
shared vision. This style can create a culture where employees are
highly motivated by the leader's charisma, but it also carries the risk of
creating a personality-centric culture. If the leader departs, the
organization may struggle to maintain its culture.

VII. Servant Leadership: Servant leadership is rooted in the idea that

leaders exist to serve their teams and organizations.
• Leaders prioritize the well-being and development of their employees.
This style cultivates a culture of empathy, support, and a strong sense
of community. Employees are more likely to trust their leaders and
work collaboratively to achieve common goals, rather than focusing
on personal power or control.
• Many scholars believe servant leadership may not be suitable for
competitive situations where other leaders compete with servant
leaders. The servant leadership style is also criticized for not being
agile enough to respond to tight deadlines and high-velocity
organizations or situations.
Leadership Theories
I. Trait Theory
 This theory of studying leadership is taken into consideration to analyze
the personal, psychological and physical traits of strong leaders. The
assumption made in this theory was that some basic traits or set of traits
differentiates leaders from non-leaders.

 For example, the leadership traits might include intelligence,

assertiveness, above average height, self-confidence, initiative and
understanding of interpersonal human relations. The existence of these
traits determines the importance of leadership. Possession of these traits
helps the individuals to gain possession of leadership. Since all
individuals do not have these qualities, only those who have them would
be considered potential leaders.

 This theory proposes one of the oldest methods of improving workplace

effectiveness and derives its foundation from the "great man theory of
leadership" introduced by Thomas Carlyle in the 19th century.

 According to the leadership trait theory, leaders are born with specific
natural characteristics that ensure success in their work duties.

Common Leadership Traits are as follows:

• Intelligence: This is the most important trait, as leaders generally
have a higher level of intelligence than the average of their followers.
It is described as an ability to think scientifically, analyze accurately
and interpret problems. It's a natural quality related to the human brain
and its activity. But psychologists think it can be improved with the
help of proper training programs. Due to such an ability, good leaders
make decisions that move the group forward.
• Self-confidence: As great leaders are self-assured, their followers act
in the same way. At least, they are sure of what they are doing or
believing.
• Decisiveness/Decision making ability: Great leaders know that they
are the ones expected to make the tough decisions, and they are
confident in making those choices.
• Emotional Stability: Successful leaders are consistent in their
actions; know how to control their emotions, especially anger.
Avoiding overreactions is what every leader needs.
• Adaptability and flexibility: You cannot find a leader that does not
think outside of the box. Such an ability helps them adapt quickly to
changing situations.
• Role model: Leaders are skilled. Therefore, team members always
know whom they will look at when unaware of how things should be
done. In this sense, leaders should have some technical skills of
planning, delegation, analysis, making decisions, controlling, etc.
• Trustworthiness: Team members always trust them. For this, leaders
should have the ability to work with team members by winning their
confidence and loyalty. As a result, people will cooperate with them
willingly and not under pressure.
• Vision and Foresight: Successful leaders can foresee the future,
visualize trends and act according to them.
• Empathy: Leaders ought to be able to observe things or situations
from the point of view of others. This ability helps leaders predict and
understand the behavior of people.
• Motivation: Leaders should be great motivators. They know how to
inspire team members to do their best.
• Art of Communication: Great leaders know various techniques of
interacting with both other leaders and team members.
 • Courage and responsibility: Good leaders never hide from
challenges. In addition, they take on responsibility (and take
ownership of their mistakes).

Advantages
• Serves as a standard to measure and assess the leadership traits and
potential of an individual
• Provides helpful insight into leadership and its core elements
• It is valid as lot of research has validated the foundation and basis of
the theory.

Disadvantages

Some of the weakness of this theory is:

• All the traits are not identical with regard to essential characteristics of
a leader.
• Some traits may not be inherited, but can only be acquired by training.
• It does not identify the traits that are most important and that are least
important for a successful leader.
• It does not explain the leadership failures, in spite of the required
traits.
• It is difficult to define traits in absolute terms.

II. Behavioural Theories

• The behavioural leadership theory is a management theory that
evaluates leaders according to their behaviours, actions and
management style.
• This philosophy proposes that all you require to become an influential
leader is to adopt a specific set of behaviours.
 • This theory says that by observing and evaluating a leader's actions
and behaviours and noting their responses regarding specific
situations, you can determine what kind of a leader they are.
• According to this theory, successful leaders build themselves through
learned behaviour and are not born successful. This leadership theory
is highly action-focused and relies heavily on assessing leaders'
actions in predicting leadership success.
• This theory enables individuals to practice learned behaviours to direct
their actions to become the leaders they want to become.

A. Michigan Studies on Leadership Style: The Michigan Leadership

Studies was a well-known series of leadership studies that commenced at
the University of Michigan in the 1950s, intending to identify the
principles and types of leadership styles that led to greater productivity
and enhanced job satisfaction among workers. The studies identified two
broad leadership styles: an employee orientation and a production
orientation.
• Employee orientation: It focuses on the human element of
employment, stressing that employees have needs that employers
should address and care for. Besides taking care of the task-related
aspects of organizational life, such leaders also develop personal
relationships with their subordinates. They take a personal interest in
the needs of the employees. Just like considerate leaders, they value
each employee for their individuality. Employees feel comfortable
around such leaders. This is because the leader trusts the employees
and foster a climate of mutual respect.
• Production orientation: It focuses on the technical elements of
employment and employees are a means to complete production. This
style of leadership focuses on technical and task aspects of the job.
 They do not invest much in building personal relationships with
subordinates. Production-oriented leaders believe in numbers and
strict hierarchy. This is because they feel that work comes first. Such
leaders do not take an interest in the needs of the employees.

B. Ohio State Studies on Leadership Styles:

• Pioneering scholars Ralph M. Stogdill initiated leadership studies at
the Bureau of Research at Ohio State University to identify various
dimensions of leader behavior in 1945.
• The studies were conducted on Air Force Commanders and members
of bomber crews, officers, non-commissioned personnel, civilian
administrators in the Navy Department, manufacturing supervisors,
executives, teachers, principals and school superintendents and leaders
of various civilian groups.
• As part of the study, the LBDQ (Leader Behavior Description
Questionnaire) and LOQ (Leader Opinion Questionnaire) were
administered to these various groups of individuals which ranged from
college students and their administrators, private companies including
military personnel.
• Two dimensions of; leadership continually emerging from the study
were `consideration' and the other was ‘initiating structure’. These
were defined as Consideration (People Oriented behavioral Leaders)
and Initiating Structure (Task Oriented Leaders).

I. Consideration:
• A leader who has a high score on consideration has a warm and open
personality. They are dedicated to serving their employees, unlike a
typical “boss”.
 • Therefore, the well-being of employees is their first priority. If you
notice carefully, such leaders are very similar to servant leaders. This
is because they put the welfare of the employees first.
• Undoubtedly, such leaders are like paternal figures. The employees
look up to them for advice and guidance in all matters because the
leaders are very friendly. They not only understand the problems of
their subordinates but also empathize with them.

II. Initiating Structure:

• A leader who scores high on initiating structure is likely to be very
methodical and strict with respect `to work. This is because they give
first priority to job tasks. Unlike considerate leaders, they are not very
open to the problems their subordinates are facing. Rather work is
their first goal. They also expect followers to obey them.
• Such kind of leaders are usually rated below considerate leaders
because they often lack the human touch. They may appear to be
workaholic and emotionally cold.
• It is not necessary that a leader who scores high on consideration must
score low on initiating structure. The two can co-exist in a leader at
the same time.

(In each quadrant, there is a relative mixture of initiating structure and consideration, and a
manager can adopt any one style.)
III. Contingency Theory
• The main assumption of this theory is that the behavior of an
appropriate leader varies from one situation to another.
• It states that there's no single "best" leadership style, but rather that the
most effective approach depends on the specific situation and the
characteristics of the leader, followers, and the context
• The motive of a contingency theory is to identify key situational
factors and to specify how they interact to determine appropriate
behavior of a leader.
• In other words, a type of leadership might be appropriate under
specific conditions, but another kind of leadership might be preferable
for the same organization under different conditions. The idea is that
nothing is set in stone and that the leadership has to adapt to individual
situations and circumstances.
• All the contingency theories advocate for a certain flexibility in the
management method to achieve the best results for the organization.

A. Fiedler’s Contingency Model

Fiedler developed his model to determine the most appropriate leadership
method. Situational favorableness or situational control describes the
leader’s ability to control the group situation. More specifically, the degree
to which the leader can influence the behaviour of group members in order
to face the current situation.

i. The situational factors are:

a. Leader-followers Relations: This factor measures the level of

confidence and trust the team members have on the leader. Greater trust
increases the favorableness of the situation and less trust reduces it.
b. Task Structure: This factor measures the nature of task that needs to be
performed at workplace. Vague tasks decrease the favorableness of the situation
and concrete and clear tasks increase it.

c. Position Power: This is determined by your authority, meaning the power

you have to reward or punish your subordinates. As you might expect, having
more power increases the situational favorableness.

ii. Leadership Styles: Fiedler identified two primary leadership styles:

a. Task-Oriented: Leaders who prioritize task completion and efficiency.

b. Relationship-Oriented: Leaders who prioritize building relationships and

fostering a positive team environment.

Matching Style to Situation:

• Fiedler's model suggests that task-oriented leaders are most effective
in highly favorable or highly unfavorable situations, while
relationship-oriented leaders are most effective in moderately
favorable situations.

Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) Scale:

• Fiedler developed the LPC scale to assess a leader's style, with a high
LPC score indicating a relationship-oriented style and a low LPC
score indicating a task-oriented style.

Implications of the model:

• The model suggests that organizations should consider matching
leaders to situations that align with their leadership style, rather than
trying to change a leader's style to fit a situation.
• In summary, Fiedler's contingency model highlights that leadership
effectiveness is not solely determined by the leader's personality but
 also by the fit between the leader's style and the characteristics of the
situation they are in.

B. Path-Goal Leadership Theory

• Path-Goal Theory, developed by Martin Evans and Robert House,
related to the contingency approach, is derived from the expectancy
theory of motivation.
• It states that the leader is responsible for providing followers with the
information, support, or other resources necessary to achieve their
goals.
• Path-Goal theory indicates that a leader must properly set a path to a
goal and guide and explain how to achieve the goal successfully to
followers.

Path goal theory suggests 4 various styles which can be and are used by
the same leader in different situations.

a. Directive Leadership: A directive leader lets subordinates know

what is expected of them, gives guidance and direction, and schedules
work according to the expectation.
 b. Supportive Leadership: A supportive leader is friendly and
approachable. He is concerned for the subordinate welfare and treats
members as equals.

c. Participative Leadership: A participative leader always consults

with subordinates, asks for suggestions, and allows participation in
decision-making.

d. Achievement Oriented Leadership: An Achievement-oriented

leader sets challenging goals and expects subordinates to perform at
high levels. Encouraging subordinates and showing confidence in
subordinates’ abilities is necessary for him.

Situational Leadership Theory

• In the 1980s, Ken Blanchard and Paul Hershey developed a theory on
how the adaptation of a leadership style to an employee's potential is
more effective than trying to adapt employees to fixed leadership
styles.
• Based on their work, the two men identified four leadership styles that
can be matched to an employee's ability and commitment.
 Telling (S1): In this style of leadership, the leader provides support,
specific guidance and close supervision. Telling and directing leaders
make decisions and direct actions through communication and
interaction. These leaders are closely involved and use a top-down
approach, meaning employees follow the directions that have been given
to them.
 Selling (S2): Considered the explaining and persuading style, selling and
coaching leaders accept input from group members and encourage them
to submit their own ideas and suggestions. These leaders effectively sell
their concept to the group and aim to recruit their cooperation through
 debate and collaboration, although the final decision belongs to the
leader.
 Participating (S3): Participating and supporting leaders offer less
direction and leave the decisions to others. Although they may oversee
operations, participating leaders trust the group or member's ability and
expect them to make the appropriate choices.
 Delegating (S4): These leaders tend to limit participation and leave most
of the responsibilities to the group. Delegating leaders may be consulted
now and then, but they primarily pass decision-making and project
direction to the group members.

The Managerial Grid

• This theory by Blake and Mouton (1978) has a popular application of
both task and person orientation. According to this theory leaders are
 most effective when they achieve a high and balanced concern for
people and for tasks.

The Managerial Grid is based on two behavioral dimensions:

• 1. Concern for People: This is the degree to which a leader considers
the needs of team members, their interests, and areas of personal
development when deciding how best to accomplish a task. In this
style, leaders look upon their followers as people - their needs,
interests, problems, development and so on. They are not simply units
of production or means to an end.
• 2. Concern for Production: This is the degree to which a leader
emphasizes organizational efficiency and high productivity when
deciding how best to accomplish a task. Here leaders emphasize the
achievement of concrete objectives. They look for high levels of
productivity, and ways to organize people and activities in order to
meet those objectives.
There are 5 styles as identified in this grid. They are:

a. Impoverished Management (1, 1):

• Managers with this approach are low on both the dimensions and
exercise minimum effort to get the work done from subordinates.
• The leader has low concern for employee satisfaction and work
deadlines and as a result disharmony and disorganization prevail
within the organization. The leaders are termed ineffective wherein
their action is merely aimed at preserving job and seniority.

b. Authority Obedience (9, 1):

• Also called dictatorial or perish style. Here leaders are more
concerned about production and have less concern for people.
 • The employees’ needs are not taken care of and they are simply a
means to an end. The leader believes that efficiency can result only
through proper organization of work systems and through elimination
of people wherever possible.
• Such a style can definitely increase the output of organization in short
run but due to the strict policies and procedures, high labour turnover
is inevitable.

c. Organization man Management (5, 5):

• This is basically a compromising style wherein the leader tries to
maintain a balance between goals of company and the needs of people.
• The leader does not push the boundaries of achievement resulting in
average performance for organization. Here neither employee nor
production needs are fully met.

d. Country Club (1, 9):

• This is a collegial style characterized by low task and high people
orientation where the leader gives thoughtful attention to the needs of
people thus providing them with a friendly and comfortable
environment.
• The leader feels that such a treatment with employees will lead to self-
motivation and will find people working hard on their own. However,
a low focus on tasks can hamper production and lead to questionable
results.

e. Team Management (9, 9):

• Characterized by high people and task focus, the style has been termed
as most effective style according to Blake and Mouton.
• The leader feels that empowerment, commitment, trust, and respect
are the key elements in creating a team atmosphere which will
automatically result in high employee satisfaction and production.

THANK YOU