LEADERSHIP

LO2
 DEFINATION OF LEADER
 Leadership is the ability to persuade followers
to achieve delivered objectives.
 It is the art of influencing and inspiring the

behavior of others in accordance with

requirement.
 For this purpose leader must have clear vision

about the objectives of the organization and

procedures or achieving predetermined
objectives.
 ROLE OF LEADER
 Goal Determination
 Co-ordinate Organizational Activities
 Represent the Organization
 Integrate Objectives
 Direct and Motivate Staff
 Organize Activities
 Encourage Teamwork
 Communication
 Take Initiation
 Control and Supervision
 CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERSHIP
Following basic features:
 Process of Interpersonal Influence: A leader

influences the behavior and activities of

subordinates through power, inspiration, reward,
motivation and other tools.
 Leaders and Followers: Mutual relation between

leader and followers. Followers are supposed to

follow their leaders’ foot steps only by getting
inspiration from his conduct.
 Common Goal: Leadership aims at the pursuit of

common goals. Leaders and followers must have

the common objectives.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERSHIP
 Continuous Exercise: Leadership is a
continuous managerial process. It continues till
the existence and functioning of organization.
 Leadership is Situational: A leader must be
innovative and creative to handle difficult and
unexpected situations.
 Rest on Power: Leader rests on power rather
than formal authority. Here, Power focuses on
the personal outstanding qualities and
knowledge.
LEADERSHIP STYLES
 AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP
◦ Authoritarian and dictatorial leadership
◦ Leader believes in centralized power and expects all
decisions from him without consultation form
subordinates.
◦ Total power to the leader and full authority
◦ Leader determines plans and policies independently
and implements them according to his knowledge
and logic
◦ He solves every problem of orgn himself.
◦ One Way Communication
AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP
 Leader uses Negative Motivation and Positive
motivation.
 Strict supervision and control.

Advantages:
 Provide Strong Motivation
 Quick
 Frequent Implementation
 Strict Discipline
 Disadvantage:
◦ Negative Motivation Style: Focus more on negative
motivation like demotion, penalties, minimize
remuneration etc.
◦ Decrease Organizational Efficiency: Employee work
under pressure. Employee work under leader
instructions thus discourage employee skills.
◦ Lack of Creativity: Unable to introduce new
knowledge, ideas and process of work.
◦ Instability: Work under pressure leads to job
insecurity which leads to high employee turnover.
DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP
 Believes in decentralization of power
 Invites subordinates in decision making

process
 Two –way Communication
 More Scope for creativity
 Provide Importance for team spirit and group

effort
Advantages:
 Better Decision: More heads on the problem

so more solutions to solve problems.

 Better Satisfaction of Employees: Two way
communication and employees are
independent in doing work so have positive
impact and lead to employee satisfaction
 Increase Productivity: Two way communication
so better guidance so inspire for better
performance.
 Promotion of Mutual Co-operation: Close
relationship and interchange of ideas and views
helps to create harmony among members
Disadvantages
 Delay in Decision Making: More discussion

about problems leading to more time for

making decisions. Leads to business failure.
 Inefficient and Incompetent Employees: If

incompetent employees may cause problems

in organization
Free Rein Leadership
 Leader avoids power and responsibility.
 Leader grants authority and responsibility to

group
 Group members are told to work things out

themselves and do the best they can.

 Only suitable for highly trained and

professional staffs
 Group may drift aimlessly in the absence of

leader.
Paternalistic Style
 Leader assumes a fatherly role
 Leader guides protect the followers and work

together as family

Each leadership Style is effective when it

matches the needs of the situation, the
attitude and belief of work group and leader .
Fiedler’s Contingency Approach

 The effectiveness of the leader is based

on his ability to act in terms of situational
requirements.
 Fiedler used least preferred scale to

measure leadership motivation – whether

a manager is task oriented or employee
oriented.
 In addition he suggested three important
situations for the effectiveness/
favorableness of the leadership
◦ Leader –Member Relation : A high degree of trust,
confidence and respect for subordinate toward
the leader
◦ Task- structure: The extent to which the group
task, goal and performance are clearly defined.
◦ Position Power: The extent to which the leader
uses control, reward and punishment for
subordinates.
Path-goal theory of leadership
(Contingency)

 This theory suggests that motivation of

employees can be enhanced by linking reward
with performance. It states that effective
leader have to clarify the path (behavior) that
will ultimately lead to desire reward (goal)
 Path- goal theory is based on expectancy theory
of motivation and it includes for leadership styles:
◦ Directive: Provide specific guidance, schedules, rules and
regulation, standard.
◦ Supportive: Treat equally and maintain friendly
environment.
◦ Participative: Encourage to generate ideas and seek
suggestion from employees in decision making process.
◦ Achievement Oriented: Set challenging goals, emphasize
excellence and seek continuous improvement.
Adaptive leadership
 Adaptive leadership is a practical leadership
framework that helps individuals and
organizations to adapt to changing environments
and effectively respond to recurring problems. 
 An adaptive challenge allows problems to be

identified more accurately and involves the entire

organization in the search for possible solutions.
 Adaptive leaders learn to control the context

through experiments.
 Adaptive Leadership is Adaptive change
 Navigating business environments
 Adaptive leaders should embrace uncertainty

and encourage the organization to look for

new approaches.
 It’s about the context; rules and procedures

should be left behind. Sticking to rules and

procedures can actually be counter-
productive.
 Learning from changes will lead to the best

solution.
 Leading with empathy
 Adaptive leaders create a group attitude

instead of an atmosphere of divide and

conquer. An adaptive leader will understand
alternative perspectives and ideas and be able
to share them with others by looking at the
organization through the eyes of others. 
 Learning through self-correction and
reflection
 Adaptive leaders encourage experimentation.

Of course some experiments will fail, but

those failures can serve as lessons for the
future. Falling and getting back up teaches us
that many roads can lead to success.
 Create win-win solutions
 An adaptive leader values platforms for

cooperation and builds on them. The

organization's success often depends on the
involvement of an extended network of
stakeholders.
Guidelines for Adaptive Leadership
 Understand your leadership situation and try to make
it more favorable/ effective leadership.
 Increase flexibility by learning how to use a wide
range of relevant behavior
 Use more planning for a long complex task
 Consult more with people who have relevant
knowledge
 Provide more direction to people with interdependent
roles.
 Monitor a critical task or unreliable person more
closely
 Provide more coaching to inexperienced subordinate
 Be more supportive to someone highly stressful task.