Industrial Psychology : Leadership

Definition and Styles of Leadership :

·      Simple : The capability to guide oneself and other’s towards growth.

·      In field of Organizational Behavior : “Leadership can be defined as the ability of the management to make sound decisions and inspire others to perform well. It is the process of directing the behavior of others towards achieving a common goal. In short, leadership is getting things done through others.”

·      There is an elaborate understanding to the term Leadership.

·      Types :

o  Authoritarian - Only leader has control over everything – no room for liberal thoughts – he/she believes in getting work done through strict rules, regulations and penalties – employees shouldn’t question – useful when errors cannot be risked – military is an example.

o   Democratic – Complete opposite of authoritarian – called participative leadership – as name suggests, leader discusses with employees before making decisions – free exchange of ideas – one of the most effective styles.

o   Transactional – Also called managerial leadership – based on simple exchange between leader and subordinates in form of rewards and punishments – Max Weber described it first – when successful à rewarded – when failed à punished – high motivation observed in athletes.

o   Transformational – Considered as a positive style – James Burns conceptualized it – do two things – motivate followers to achieve common goal and also to develop as leaders themselves – leader gains trust and respect – inspires the followers – high level of creativity, moral support, motivation.

o   Charismatic – as goes the name, get followers through their personality and charm – very skilled orators (Hitler?) – focus on the deeply emotional side of followers – communication skills are the biggest asset – helps to gain trust and influence people to follow them – politicians are known for this.

Approaches to Leadership :

·      Trait Approach :

o   Looks for mental, physical and personality traits of an individual to be an effective leader.

o   Compare them to non-leaders or non effective leaders.

o   Ralph Stogdill (1948) did major research on this.

o   Found 6 characteristics – physical, social background, intelligence and ability, personality, task-related, and social.

o   Further research attributed more traits – integrity, dominance, flexibility, drive, confidence, etc.

o   This ^ is one of the shortcomings of the approach – because it is a long and never-ending list of traits that could be given.

o   But communication skills/traits and leadership have been strongly linked by all - communication apprehension, argumentativeness, verbal aggressiveness – could affect if a person becomes a successful leader or not – and if people would choose to follow him/her.

·      Situational Approach :

o   Based on situational cues – tasks, relations, commitment, followers and their response.

o   Developed by Hersey and Blanchard – 1969 -  "set of values and attitudes with which the individual or group has to deal in a process of activity and with regard to which this activity is planned and its results appreciated. Every concrete activity is the solution of a situation."

o   Generally 5 elements are observed :

1.    Structure of interpersonal relations within the group

2.   Characteristics of the whole group

3.   Group Environment from which individuals come

4.   Physical constraints on the group

5.    Perceptual Representation – attitudes and values of individual and the group as whole.

o   Leader has to learn to adapt to situations and behave accordingly – directive and supportive dynamic – understand the dynamic nature of individual and situation.

·      Behavioral Approach :

o   Research began to understand behavior – observed successful leaders and found out patterns of leadership for different styles – takes into account the Skinner’s model of reward and punishment – changing behavior of the employees.

o   Developed in Ohio State University (1940’s) gave two groups of behavior that – People Oriented and Task Oriented.

o   People Oriented – Ensure the inner needs are fulfilled – encouraging, empathetic, patient – focus on task but through emphasizing on human relations.

o   Task Oriented – like control – staff motivation not main concern – task is more important – focus behavior on the organizational structure – initiative, clear, organized.