BUS603: Managing People

5a. Categorize behavioral styles such as laissez-faire, autocratic, democratic, transformational, transactional, or charismatic and models of situational leadership using the contingency approach

• Why is it important to understand the different behavioral styles of leadership?
• How do the behavioral styles of leadership differ?
• What are some emerging theories of leadership that might be effective in our rapidly-changing workplaces?

Many styles of behavioral leadership exist. Behavioral style refers to the way in which leaders lead their team or organization. What is important to remember is that no one style or theory is the best; what works best is dependent on the leader, the situation, and the employee. However, understanding these styles and theories provides a framework whereby leaders can build different leadership styles that meet the needs of their organization and their employees.

Some leadership styles keep power within the leader. Autocratic leaders make all the decisions and do not entertain suggestions or initiatives from employees. Opposite to autocratic is laissez-faire leadership, where the leader lets employees decide their policies and method of work. In between these two styles, you have democratic/participative leaders who share decision-making authority with employees.

Transformational leaders focus on increasing employee motivation and engagement. They focus on the individual strengths and weaknesses of employees to enhance their commitment to organizational goals. Transformational leadership, then, works with the ideas of job satisfaction and organizational commitment – two key ideas you have studied throughout this course. Transactional leaders, on the other hand, are task- and outcome-oriented. They work within the organizational goals and performance measures and use punishment and reward to motivate. Transformational and transactional leadership are not mutually exclusive leadership styles – they can and have been used in what is referred to as the full-range theory of leadership, which blends the best aspects of transactional and transformational leadership into one approach. An example of the full-range theory can often be seen in sports coaches, who must work within a defined space of the rules and regulations of the sport but also must find a way to motivate and engage the players to work as a team toward a common goal.

The contingency approach to leadership studies how leaders can change their leadership style based on the needs of the employees and the specific situation that is occurring. Some major contingency theories include: The Fiedler situational contingency model uses the least preferred co-worker (LPC) test whereby test takers rate the various traits of their LPC. However, this test is not about the LPC but helps leaders understand how their employees react to those they do not like working with. The Hersey and Blanchard situational leadership theory is focused on the appropriate leadership style of the task behavior of followers and the maturity level of followers. The theory posits that followers who have little knowledge of a task need more direction from the leader and that followers who are less confident in completing their task need a different leadership style than those followers who have the skills and confidence to take ownership of the task. Can you see the relationship between the Hersey and Blanchard theory with autocratic and laissez-faire leadership styles?

Two additional contingency approaches to leadership include House's Path-Goal theory and the Vroom-Yetton-Jago model of leadership and decision-making. The role of the leader in the Path-Goal theory is to help followers define their goals, understand organizational goals, and find a path to reach both. House defined four leadership styles to help followers based on the specific situation: directive, achievement-oriented, participative, and supportive. As a decision model, the Vroom-Yetton-Jago model is a decision tree that helps leaders determine how to make the best decision regarding how participatory the followers need to be.

Newer leadership styles are emerging based on the changing workforce and workplace. Emotional leadership is used to influence followers toward a common goal. This leadership style requires charismatic leadership traits and high emotional intelligence on the part of the leader. In interactive leadership, the goal is to help followers understand the different aspects of the organization to engage them in the organizational goals. Ethical/moral leadership involves leadership that respects the rights and dignity of others. In the servant leadership model, the leader focuses on the growth and well-being of the community – whether that community is a project team or the entire organization. Shared leadership or Distributed leadership distributes leadership responsibility so that people within a team and organization lead each other. E-leadership depends on social influences within a dispersed team, such as a virtual team, to reach organizational goals.

To review, see Everyday Leadership, Understanding Organizational Behavior, and What It Takes to Be a Leader.

 

5b. Examine theories and traits of leadership such as Theory X and Theory Y, modern trait theory, behavioral theory, contingency theory, and full range theories

• How do leadership styles and leadership theories differ?
• How do trait theory, contingency theory, behavioral theory, and full-range theories help to inform our leadership?

In the previous subunit, you learned about the many different leadership styles that leaders can use. Remember, a leadership style is how a leader approaches the leadership of a team or organization. A leadership theory is broader in that it refers to the strategies and philosophies that leaders use to guide their team or organization. While there are differences in leadership style and leadership theories, many times, these terms are used interchangeably. What is key is that no one leadership style or theory is best or works in every leadership situation.

Historically, trait theory was based on the physiological and demographic traits of leaders (gender, height, weight, age, socioeconomic background, education, etc.); research in modern trait theory, however, reveals that significant leadership traits are intelligence, adjustment, extroversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and general self-efficacy. Theory X and Theory Y are based on the research done by Douglas McGregor. In the Theory X approach to leadership, the leader/manager assumes that most people do not like work. Employees are perceived as needing to be led and told what tasks to do and how to do them. Theory Y leaders/managers assume that people seek inner satisfaction and fulfillment from their job. They like to participate in and provide input into both personal and organizational goals. Have you had a superior who believes Theory X or Theory Y about his/her employees?

Contingency theory assumes that different situations require different leadership skills, and no single leader profile exists. Behavioral theory suggests that leadership requires a strong personality with a well-developed positive ego. Finally, the full-range theory posits that four qualities are necessary for leaders: individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence. Again, what these theories provide for us is a framework by which we can consider leadership strategies.

To review, see Four Theories of Leadership and Leadership and Organization.

 

5c. Compare the characteristics of trustworthy leaders (fairness, role models, trust in followers, passionate, inspirational, align values and actions) to those of untrustworthy leaders (narcissistic, abuse power, irrational, disagreeable, dishonest, and careless) 

• How can destructive leadership negatively impact employees?
• What are the characteristics of toxic leaders?

In the Three Nightmare Traits (TNT) in Leadership, you learned that three traits are particularly destructive in organizations. Leader Dishonesty can be problematic in an organization because it may induce, encourage, and/or exacerbate an unethical culture with low trust, satisfaction, and high turnover. The consequence of leader dishonesty can range from negative consequences for individual employees and teams to negative consequences for the entire organization's performance. Enron, Worldcom, and Wells Fargo are examples of organizations where the consequences of leader dishonesty were vast.

Leader Disagreeableness is the tendency of a leader to be unforgiving, overly critical, inflexible, and impatient. Leader disagreeableness can induce fear and retaliation, leading to job dissatisfaction, turnover, and costs associated with conflict management mediation or even lawsuits. Other conditions, such as despotism, abuse, autocratic/authoritarian, destructive, and tyrannical, often occur in leader disagreeableness.

Leader Carelessness is the tendency for the leader to be sloppy, lazy, negligent, and impulsive. These characteristics can lead to an accident-prone culture in which rules and regulations are disregarded and industry standards are violated. This can lead to a culture where low, instead of high, performance is the norm.

While much of your work in this unit concerns the positive aspects of leadership, toxic leaders build a culture of distrust, conflict, fear, and anxiety. The characteristics of a toxic leader include: (1) they don't (or won't listen), (2) they are never wrong, (3) it's all about them and ONLY them, (4) they need to control everything, (5) they are too emotional, (6) they abuse their power, (7) they do nothing. As you have learned, leaders are responsible not only for themselves but for their followers as well. Toxic leadership in an organization must be dealt with quickly to lessen the stress, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion of the followers. If not dealt with quickly, toxic leaders can cause far more serious mental health effects and long-term stress, potentially on the entire organization.

To review, see Three Nightmare Traits in Leaders and Signs You Have a Toxic Boss or Leader.

 

5d. Assess the effects of leadership on human support systems and workforce planning to ensure employee well-being and achieve high organizational performance 

• How does workforce planning work in an organization?
• How is the digitization of the workplace affecting management and leadership?
• How are the roles of leadership, CEOs, and CIOs changing?
• What skills do e-leaders need to work effectively with virtual teams?

Workplace planning, done as part of the strategic, long-term plan of the organization, consists of 6 steps. The process begins with strategic planning so that the workforce planning process aligns with the strategic goals of the organization. Next, a current workforce analysis is done to analyze current resources, particularly in projections for training and development and turnover. Identification of future workforce requirements helps us develop specifications for the types, quantities, and locations of human resources. A gap analysis is then done to find gaps between the current workforce and the projected workforce needs. Once the gap is identified, action planning must occur, including plans for recruiting, training, reskilling, organizational restructuring, contracting/outsourcing, automation, and succession planning. Finally, execution and evaluation occur, where resources are secured and processes are monitored relative to organizational goals.

Through a meta-analysis of the literature, researchers have found that digital technology has forever changed the workplace. Digitalization is changing the shape of our organization, the work environment, and the processes in our organizations, creating new challenges for leaders. Workplaces are becoming increasingly digitized as many jobs now involve extensive use of technology and require the ability to exploit it quickly. Increased connectivity and information sharing are contributing to breaking hierarchies, functions, and organizational boundaries resulting in project-based activities where employees directly participate in creating new added value to the organization. Leadership is vital to managing and retaining talent by connecting and engaging with employees.

Some very interesting studies were discussed in this meta-analysis, with results that are important. One article suggests that future leaders base their organizations on three pillars: (1) assuring a highly connected and open working environment at any hierarchical levels and units in organizations, (2) engaging customers by gathering knowledge about the whole person, and (3) establishing more integrated and networked relationships with partners and competitors.

The role of CEOs in organizations is also changing. CEOs in the digital age assume the additional role of digital change agents and digital enablers and recognize the opportunities offered by new technologies. CEOs, who were once just the face of the organization, must now use social media to actively engage stakeholders across the organization's boundaries. The role of the CIO is also changing from fixing technology issues to being an active partner in digital strategy definition and implementation.

Because digital tools affect the design of the work and how people work together, leaders and e-leaders must learn to communicate effectively through digital media, make high-speed decisions, manage disruptive change and connectivity, and learn new technical skills.

Virtual teams have allowed us to remove organizational barriers to adding cultural diversity to our teams. But one of the biggest barriers to communication in virtual teams is the inability to read facial cues, facial expressions, and other non-verbal communication. One of the most important practices an e-leader must adopt is the setting and periodical revision of communication norms within the team. E-leaders must also choose the right communication tools to avoid disruptions in communication. While synchronous platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams are best suited for complex, interdependent tasks, asynchronous platforms may help team members with different backgrounds and in different time zones process others' ideas more effectively. A virtual leader must also have good cross-cultural skills and must ensure that diverse team members are understood, appreciated, and leveraged.

To review, see Building Trust in High-Performing Teams.

 

5e. Articulate the benefits of organizational trust and its role in conflict management and creating a collaborative culture 

• What is trust, and how can we build trust in an organization?
• How are organizations affected by low trust in leaders?
• How can you increase trust in your organization?

The components of trust include authenticity, real rigor in logic, and empathy directed toward others. If any of these components are missing, trust is threatened. Real empathy comes from removing distractors, whether the distractor is a cell phone or the busy lives we lead. Real empathy requires time to listen and feel what the other person is feeling. A failure in logic results from either the quality of your logic or your inability to communicate that logic. To communicate your logic effectively, begin with the main idea and follow that with your supporting evidence. Authenticity is about being yourself; however, society sometimes makes it difficult to be ourselves. As leaders, we must set conditions that make it safe for employees to be authentic. We must make authenticness celebrated in the workplace.

While you might assume that trust cannot be measured, a lack of trust in leadership can result in measurable metrics. If your team doesn't trust you, their effort beyond the bare minimum requirements will be low or non-existent. Your team might become less innovative. Teamwork with peers will suffer; without trust, employees will not share ideas and might be anxious and stressed. All of these conditions can lead to lower productivity and less profit.

To increase or develop trust in your organization: (1) honor every single commitment you make, (2) be appropriately yet scrupulously transparent, (3) authentically and loyally respect those with whom you interact, (4) tell the truth, (5) be a predictable leader; consistency is key, (6) be a competent leader by continuously developing and refining your leadership competencies,

To review, see Trust Underpins Organizational Effectiveness, How to Build (and Rebuild) Trust, and Listen, Learn, then Lead.

 

Unit 5 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

• autocratic leadership
• behavioral theory
• contingency approach to leadership
• contingency theory
• democratic/participative leadership
• E-leadership
• emotional leadership
• ethical/moral leadership
• Fiedler situational contingency model
• full-range theory
• full-range theory of leadership
• Hersey and Blanchard situational leadership
• House's Path-Goal theory
• interactive leadership
• laissez-faire leadership
• leader carelessness
• leader disagreeableness
• leader dishonesty
• least-preferred coworker (LPC)
• modern trait theory
• shared/distributed leadership
• Theory X
• Theory Y
• Three Nightmare Traits (TNT) in leadership
• transactional leaders
• transformational leaders
• Vroom-Yetton-Jago model of leadership and decision making
• workplace planning