Leadership and Trust

Managers Versus Leaders

• Leaders: People who are able to influence others and who possess managerial authority.

• Managers are appointed; having legitimate power allowing them to reward and punish, and their ability to influence is founded upon the formal authority inherent in their positions.

• Leaders; either appointed or emerge from within a group, they influence others to perform beyond the actions dictated by formal authority.

Trait Theories of Leadership

Trait Theories of Leadership: Theories that isolate characteristics that differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Six traits:

1. Drive

2. Desire to Lead

3. Honesty and Integrity

4. Self-confidence

5. Intelligence

6. Job-relevant Knowledge

Behavioral Theories of Leadership

Theories that isolate behaviors that differentiate effective leaders from ineffective leaders.

1. Identifiable Leadership Behaviors

I. Autocratic Style of Leadership

A style of leadership that keeps all decision-making at the center of the organization.

II. Democratic Style of Leadership

A leadership style that promotes the active participation of workers in taking decisions.

III. Laissez-faire Style of Leadership

A leadership style that leaves much of the business decision-making to the workforce.

2. Ohio State Studies

Initiating Structure: The extent to which a leader defines and structures their role and the roles of employees to attain goals.

Consideration: The extent to which a leader has job relationships characterized by mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas, and regard for their feelings.

3. Michigan Studies

Employee Oriented: A leader, who emphasizes interpersonal relations, takes a personal interest in the needs of employees and accepts individual differences.

Production Oriented: A leader, who emphasizes the technical or task aspects of a job, is concerned mainly with accomplishing tasks, and regards group members as the means to accomplishing goals.

4. Managerial Grid

A two dimensional view of leadership style that is based on concern for people versus concern for production.

Contingency Theories of Leadership

1. Fiedler Model

The theory that effective group performance depends on the proper match between the leader’s style of interacting with employees and the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to the leader.

• Identifies three situational variables:

1. Leader-member Relations.

2. Task Structure

3. Position Power

2. Path-Goal Theory

The theory that it is a leader’s job to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide the necessary direction and support.

• Type of Behavior:

1. Directive

2. Supportive

3. Participative

4. Achievement Oriented

3. Leader-Participation Model

A leadership theory that provides a sequential set of rules for determining the form and amount of participation a leader should exercise in decision making according to different types of situations.

4. Situational Leadership

A model of leadership behavior that reflects how a leader should adjust his or her leadership style in accordance with the readiness of followers.

• Four Leadership styles:

1. Telling

2. Selling

3. Participating

4. Delegating

Emerging Approaches to Leadership

1. Charismatic Leadership Theory

The theory that followers make attributions of heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors.

Characteristics

• Self-confidence

• Vision

• Ability to Articulate the Vision

• Strong Convictions about the Vision

• Behavior that is out of the Ordinary

• Appearance as a Change Agent

• Environmental Sensitivity

2. Visionary Leadership

The ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, attractive vision of the future that grows out of and improves upon the present.

Entrepreneurs as Visionary Leaders

The skills include:

• Having the ability to explain, both oral and writing, the vision to others in a clear manner.

• Express the vision through one’s behavior so it reinforces to organizational members the importance of the vision.

• Extend the vision to different leadership contexts, gaining commitment and understanding from organizational members regardless of their department affiliation or their location.

3. Transactional Leaders Vs. Transformational Leaders

Transactional Leaders: Leaders who guide or motivate their followers towards established goals by clarifying role and task requirements.

Transformational Leaders: Leaders who inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the organization and are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers.

Contemporary Leadership Issues

1. Team Leadership

• Team leaders often have a variety of responsibilities.

• Team leaders involved in four specific roles:

1. Liaisons and External Constituencies

2. Troubleshooter

3. Conflict Managers

4. Coaches

2. National Culture

• National culture is an important situational factor determining which leadership style will be most effective.

• National culture affects leadership style because leaders cannot choose their styles at will: They are constrained by the cultural conditions that their follows have to expect.

3. Emotional Intelligence

• Leaders need basic intelligence and job-relevant knowledge.

• Five components of emotional intelligence: Self-awareness, Self-management, Self-motivation, empathy and Social skills.

• The higher the rank of a person considered to be a star performer, the more that EI capabilities surface as the reason for their effectiveness.

Building Trust: The Essence of Leadership

Trust: The belief in the integrity, character and ability of a leader.

Dimensions

1. Integrity

2. Competence

3. Consistency

4. Loyalty

5. Openness

Three types of Trust:

1. Deterrence-based Trust

Trust based on the fear of reprisal if the trust is violated.

2. Knowledge-based Trust

Trust based on the behavioral predictability that comes from a history of interaction.

3. Identification-based Trust

Trust based on an emotional connection between the parties.