Leadership Styles

UNIT 15 LEADERSHIP STYLES AND and Influence

Process
INFLUENCE PROCESS
Structure

15.1 Introduction
Objectives
15.2 Leadership Styles
15.3 Leadership Styles and Leadership Theories
15.4 Leadership and Influence Process
15.5 Types of Power
15.6 Types of Leader and Power Concept
15.7 Summary
15.8 Self-assessment Test
15.9 Key Words
15.10 Terminal Questions
15.11 Answers

15.1 INTRODUCTION

In giving the input on leadership styles and influence process to you, we

presume your main aim is to understand and improve your style of functioning
as a leader.

To start with, you must have clear idea as to what is meant by leadership.
Leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group
objectives. As you can see, this process is a function of the leader, the
followers and the situation. There may not be any particular organisation in our
mind, when we talk of leadership. In any situation where you are trying to
influence the behaviour of another individual or group, leadership is operating.
Thus each one of us tries leadership at one time or the other, whether our
activities are centred around a business, educational institution, hospital,
political organisation, Government organisation or a family. As part of this
process, one who attempts to influence the behaviour of others becomes a
potential leader and the persons he is attempting to influence are the potential
followers. This may happen irrespective of the fact that the leader may be their
boss or a colleague (associate) or a subordinate or a friend or a relative. In
other words through a style of functioning he influences attitudes and
expectations, which in turn encourage or discourage the follower’s activity or
achievement, enhance or diminish the follower’s commitment to the work, etc.

In our day-to-day life, we come across instances of how people are influenced
by the activities or word of a person who is trying to lead them. We always
make judgments about the leaders of our own office. In our mind, we make a
difference between a good leader and a bad one, by judging his style or way of
functioning and his influence on others. Hence, in understanding the 289
Introduction to phenomenon of leadership, we must first understand the various styles of the
Management leaders.

Objectives

After studying this unit, you should be able to:

• introduce various leadership styles;

• familiarise you with various theories and styles of leadership; and
• create an awareness that leadership is a process of shared influence on the
work group.

15.2 LEADERSHIP STYLES

The word style is the way in which the leader influences followers. Let us have
a look at the various studies that help us to understand the leadership styles.

Hawthorne Studies

Mayo and Roethlisberger did a series of studies from 1924 to 1932 in an

electricity company, at Illinois, in USA. These studies are known as Hawthorne
Studies.

One phase of these studies aimed at finding out if changes in illumination, rest
period and lunch breaks can affect the productivity of the workers. It was found
to the surprise of the researchers that less light, shorter and fewer rest periods
and shorter lunch breaks resulted in increased productivity. And once all these
changes; were eliminated and the normal working conditions were resumed, it
was also seen that the workers' productivity and the feeling of being together
went up. The increase in productivity was attributed to the attitude of workers
towards each other and their feeling of togetherness. In addition, attention paid
to the workers by the researches made them feel important which resulted in
improvement in their work performance. This is known as Hawthorne effect.
These findings made Mayo and Roethlisberger conclude that a leader has not
only to plan, decide, organise, lead and control but also consider the human
element. This includes social needs of being together and being recognised for
the work interaction of the group members with each other and their well
being. A good leader ought to keep the above aspects in his style of working
with people and supervising their work.

Theory X and Y

McGregor (1960) categorised leadership styles into two broad categories

having two different beliefs and assumptions about subordinates. He called
these Theory X and Theory Y. The Theory X style of leaders believe that most
people dislike work and will avoid it wherever possible. Such leaders feel they
themselves are a small but important group, who want to lead and take
responsibility, but a large majority of people want to be directed and avoid
responsibility. Therefore, this style of leadership exercises strong controls and
290 direction and wherever necessary punish people if they do not do the work. If
people do the work as desired, they may even get monetary or other rewards. Leadership Styles
Theory Y leaders assume that people will work hard and assume responsibility and Influence
if they can satisfy their personal needs and the objectives or goals of their Process
organisation. Such leaders do not sharply distinguish between the leaders and
the followers in contrast to Theory X style. They feel that people control
themselves within rather than being controlled by others from outside such as a
leader or a manager or a supervisor.
An effective leader needs to examine carefully his own ideas about the
motivation and behaviour of subordinates and others, as well as the situation,
before adopting a particular style of leadership.
Iowa Leadership Studies
In 1939 Lippitt and White under the direction of Lewin, did a study on three
different styles of leadership in the task performance of ten-year old boys in
three groups. The authoritarian leader of the group was very directive. He did
not allow any participation. He was concerned about the task and told the
followers what to do and how to do it. He was friendly while praising the
performance of the individual member and was impersonal while criticising the
individual member. In the other group, the democratic leader encouraged
discussion with the group and allowed participation in making decisions. He
shared his leadership responsibilities with his followers and involved them in
the planning and execution of the task. The laissez-faire leader of the third
group gave complete freedom to the group and did not provide any leadership.
He did not establish any policies or procedures to do the task. Each member
was let alone. No one attempted to influence the other.
The researchers selected boys of the same intelligence level. Each group did
the same task of making paper masks or model air-planes or murals or soap
carvings. The room used by the three groups remained the same. The three
group leaders assumed different styles as they shifted every six weeks from
group to group. The researchers under the direction of Lewin, who did several
studies on groups, were trying to see how different styles of leadership could
change the satisfaction, frustration-aggression levels of the individuals. One
definite finding was that nineteen out of twenty boys like the democratic
leadership style. That kind of a leader never tried to boss over them, yet they
had plenty, to do. The only boy who liked the authoritarian style of leadership
happened to be the son of an army officer. It was also observed that seven out
of ten boys preferred the laissez-faire leader to the autocratic one as they
preferred confusion and disorder to strictness and rigidity present in the
autocratic style. Boys under the latter style exhibited more of aggressive,
hostile and indifferent behaviour as compared to their counterparts under other
styles of leadership. They either showed hostility or cracked jokes about
hostility towards others. Others belonging to the democratic style of leadership
showed less aggressive and more indifferent behaviour when brought under the
autocratic style of a leader. Even under the laissez-faire style of the leader,
boys committed more aggressive acts than the ones under the democratic style.
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Introduction to Of course, a study on ten year old boys in making paper masks or soap carving,
Management etc. cannot be compared to leader behaviour of adults with complex jobs. But
like the studies of Mayo and Roethlisberger, the studies by Lewin, Lippitt and
White are a pioneering effort in understanding leadership styles from the point
of scientific methodology. They also throw light on how different styles of
leadership can produce different complex reactions from the same or similar
groups.
Michigan Studies on Leadership Styles
Likert (1961) at University of Michigan Survey Research Centre identified two
major styles of leadership orientations-employee orientation and production
orientation. The employee oriented style of the leader emphasises the
relationship aspect of the jobs of the individual. Such a leader takes interest in
every one and accepts the individuality and personal needs of the individual.
He has complete confidence and trust in all matters in his subordinates. His
subordinates feel free to discuss things about their jobs with their superior. He
always asks subordinates for ideas and opinions and always tries to make
constructive use of them.
The production oriented style of the leader emphasises production and
technical aspects of the job. He looks at subordinates or employees as tools to
accomplish the goals of the organisation. Work, working condition and work
methods are tried to be understood better in his style of the leadership
orientation. Likert related these orientations to the performance of the
employees. He showed that the employee oriented style brought high-
producing performance compared to production-oriented style. Of course, the
satisfaction of employees was not directly related to productivity in Likert’s
study.
Ohio State Studies on Leadership Styles
Stogdill (1957) at the Bureau of Business Research at Ohio State University
initiated ‘a series of researches on leadership in 1945. He, along with his
colleagues, studied leader behaviour in numerous types of groups and
situations by using a Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire (LBDQ).
The studies were conducted on Air Force Commanders and members of
bomber crews, officers, non-commissioned opersonnel, civilian administrators
in the Navy Department, manufacturing supervisors, executives, teachers,
principals and school superintendents and leaders of various civilian groups.
They did not have any satisfactory definition of leadership. They also did not
think leadership is synonymous with `good' leadership. The LBDQ was
administered in a wide variety of situations and surprisingly two dimensions of,
leadership continually emerged from the study: one is `consideration' and the
other is ‘initiating structure’.
Consideration reflects the extent to which individuals are likely to have job,
relationship characterised by mutual respect for subordinates, ideas and
consideration of subordinates, feelings. You may like to describe it as the
behaviour of the leader indicating friendship, mutual trust, respect and warmth
292 in the relationship between the leader and his group members.
Initiating structure reflects the extent to which individuals are likely to define Leadership Styles
and structure their roles and those of their subordinates towards goal and Influence
attainment. In other words, it is the behaviour of the leader which deals with Process
the relationship between himself and the work-group and tries to establish
well-defined patterns of organisation, channels of communication and method
of procedure.

Examples of observed behaviour of the leader under consideration and

initiating structure are as follows:

Consideration Initiating Structure

The leaders finds time to listen to The leader assigns group members
group members ( ) to particular tasks ( )
The leader is willing to make change The leader asks the group members
( ) to follow standard rules and
regulations ( )
The leader is friendly and The leader lets group members
approachable ( ) know what is expected of them ( )

SAQ 1

What should be examined by a effective leader before adopting a particular style

of leaderhsip?
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Scientific Manager's Style

Taylor (1911) stressed the best way of doing a job. He emphasised the
importance of having management and labour work in harmony to maximise
profits. The basis of his scientific management was technological in nature. It
was felt that the best way to increase output was to improve the techniques or
methods used by workers. Therefore, profit can be maximised by using a
systematic and scientifically based approach to the study of jobs. Taylor was
not trained as a manager He relied on scientific study of time and movement
spent and used for a job to improve the performance of the worker. According
to the scientific managerial style, management of a work organisation must be
293
Introduction to divorced from human affairs and emotions and people have to adjust to the
Management management and not management to the people. Once jobs are recognised with
efficiency in mind, the economic self-interest of the workers could be satisfied
through various incentive work plans such as piece rate, system of payment,
etc. The leader is assumed to be the most competent individual in planning and
organising the work of subordinates according to Taylor’s principle of
scientific management.

Various studies reflecting different styles of functioning of a leader have been

stated above, which highlight how the leader simultaneously pays attention to
the:

a) task to be accomplished by the group, and

b) needs and expectations of the group and its individual members.

Exactly how the leader goes about attending to these two functions is a matter
of his leadership style. Many theories have been suggested by the researchers
regarding which leadership style is most effective. Even the above two
functions can have different descriptions for different leaders. But in course of
time every leader develops a particular style which reflects his own ideas and
perspectives on the relative importance of task and people.

We should now consider in what ways we can enrich the understanding of

various styles of leadership by making ourselves familiar with some important
theories of leadership.

SAQ 2

What is the best way to increase output according Taylor’s Scientific Manager’s
style?
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15.3 LEADERSHIP STYLES AND LEADERSHIP

THEORIES
Trait Theory
This theory as described by Kelly (1974) attempts to classify what personal
characteristics such as physical, personality and mental, are associated with
leadership success. Trait theory relies on research that relates various traits to
the success of a leader. A lengthy list of traits has been made to describe an
effective leader in terms of certain characteristics. A broad classification of six
294 categories of traits are given below:
1. Physical characteristics of the leader, such as age, height, weight. Leadership Styles
2. Background characteristics-education, social status, mobility and and Influence
Process
experience.
3. Intelligence-ability, judgment, knowledge.
4. Personality-aggressiveness, alertness, dominance, decisiveness,
enthusiasm, extroversion, independence, self-confidence, authoritarianism.
5. Task-oriented characteristics-achievement needs, responsibility, initiative,
and persistence.
6. Social characteristics-supervisory ability, cooperativeness, popularity,
prestige, tact, diplomacy.

These characteristics according to some people are considered valid indicators

of successful leaders, but if you compare leaders by various physical
personality and intelligence traits, you may find very little agreement on these.
Some findings point out to the fact that leaders are intelligent individuals. But
they do not provide any clue as to whether leaders are brighter than their
followers or are as close to them in intelligence. Again, some of the personality
traits are overlapping with each other. Therefore, you need to be cautious in
stating, personality or any other characteristic as a cause of successful
leadership. You must ask the questions: Who is a successful leader? Is he far
superior physically? Is he far brighter? Is he more mature as a person? Is he
more motivated to achieve his goal? Does he have more consideration for his
followers? etc. Some of the traits may describe a successful leader but
predicting successful leaders on the basis of traits alone is not a correct
approach. The followers have a significant effect on the job accomplished by
the leader. Trait theory completely ignores the followers and the situations that
also help a leader to be successful. Secondly, we should also weigh in our own
mind, which of the objectives, ‘confident’ or ‘independent’ or ‘intelligent’ is
relatively more important in becoming a, successful leader. You may observe
one or all the above traits as important in ' a successful leader whereas your
friend may feel that an enthusiastic, aggressive and authoritarian person is a
good leader. To be more objective, traits of the person as well as demand of the
situation together determine the effectiveness of the leader.

Group and Exchange Theories of Leadership

These theories as reported by Hollandder and Julian (1969) state that the leader
provides more benefits or regards than burden or costs for followers who help
him achieve the goal of the organisation. Thgre must be a positive exchange
between the leader and followers in order for group goals to be accomplished.
The leader can give rewards to his followers in the form of praise or pay
increase or promotion for accomplishment of the group goal or task. This has
positive impact on attitudes, satisfaction and performance of the followers. In
return, they respect the leader and give due regard for his status and esteem and
believe in his heightened influence. As you are already aware, that a leader
emphasises initiating structure when followers do not perform very well. He
increases his emphasis on consideration when the followers do a good job. In
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Introduction to return, the perception of his followers of his being an effective leader
Management increases. Hence the leader and the followers mutually affect each other.

Social Learning Theories

This theory by Bandura (1977) states that there is a continuous reciprocal

interaction between person, environment and behaviour as shown in Fig. 15.1.
Person

Behaviour Environment

Fig.15.1: Reciprocal determination in social learning

Person and environment function in conjunction with the behaviour itself and
reciprocally interact to determine behaviour. A person, through his actions,
produces the environmental conditions that affect his behaviour in a reciprocal
fashion. The experience generated by behaviour also partly determines what a
person becomes and can do. This in turn affects his subsequent behaviour. The
theory is called social learning theory because, individuals learn in an
environment in the process of interacting with each other- which is a social
process. You will appreciate the application of this theory in understanding the
behaviour of a leader and the continuous reciprocal interaction between the
person (leader's cognitions) and environment (including subordinates and their
needs, experiences, objectives in the organisation, abilities, skills, energy
performance, etc. known as contingencies that, regulate their behaviour). Thus
a social learning approach to leadership can be shown in Fig. 15.2.
Leader
(includes cognition)

Leader Environment (includes

Behaviour subordinates and their
behavioural contingencies
which regulate their
behaviour.)

296 Fig.15.2: A social learning approach to leadership

The three aspects of this theory of leadership assume that the leader knows Leadership Styles
how his behaviour is controlled by various needs, situations and experiences and Influence
that he undergoes. The leader works with the subordinates to discover what Process
those needs situations and experience. The leader and the subordinates jointly
attempt to discover ways in which they can manage their individual behaviour
to produce mutually satisfying as well as organisationally productive
outcomes. In this approach, the leader and the subordinates have a negotiable
and interactive relationship. They are continuously aware of how they can
modify or influence each other's behaviour by giving the rewards or holding
back the performance respectively.

SAQ 3

What do you mean by “Trait Theory” leadership?

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Contingency Theory of Leadership

Regarding this theory Fiedler (1967) states that a leader may become effective
if the situation is favourable in three ways. These are: good leader-member
relations showing acceptance of the leader by the group; details of the task
spelled out to the leader's position; and a great deal of authority and power is
formally attributed to the leader’s position. With these three favourable
situations and his style of functioning, a leader will be effective.

When the situation is very favourable or very unfavourable to the leader, the
task-oriented leader is effective. When the situation is moderately favourable to
the leader the person oriented leader is effective.

Example (of moderately favourable A leader with good interpersonal

situation to person-oriented leader) relationships may be developing a
relatively new policy that will have great
impact on the work group. The
situation is vague but moderately
favourable. The task is not very well
defined and the leader-member
relation is good. The leader is likely
to be effective as he would like to
consult the members and consider 297
Introduction to their thoughts and ideas. When the
Management new policy gets approved, the
situation becomes more favourable to
him.

SAQ 4

How could a leader become effective according to contingency theory of

leadership?
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Path-goal Leadership Theory

This theory by House (1971) states that the leader smooths out the path
towards goals and provides rewards for achieving them.

As a leader, you should understand the needs of the people and their desire to
work or behave in a way that accomplishes goals that satisfy those needs. This
theory is based on a situation of the above kind. If you know the need of the
person and his desire to work and he is able to accomplish the work, you can
reward him to make him feel happy and satisfied. In essence, you are doing
three things: One, you are motivating the members of the group by clarifying
the path to personal rewards that result from attaining work goals. You have
thus ‘fixed’ him on the job and made him see that his performance can lead to
positive or negative rewards. Two, you have already made the path-goal clear
to the member and also told him about what the job requires. You need not say
too many things about the job to him as this may decrease his interest in the
work and deter his performance. Three, you must offer the reward to the
member of the group who actually accomplishes the task. Your reward may be
a praise or increase in the pay or promotion of the member to a higher position.
Your judgment about the desirability of the member to a higher position is
crucial. Your judgment about the desirability of the member's effort and the
goal helps you to decide whether a reward can be given.

It is very important for the leader to know every member as a person, in order
to use a style to get the best out of the member. For example, a task-oriented
leader is preferred by a highly achievement-oriented member, whereas a
person-oriented leader is preferred by a person who needs a good deal of
298
affiliation with others. Similarly it does good for the leader to know each Leadership Styles
situation to adjust his style of functioning for better results. With a clear task and Influence
on hand, members feel satisfied if the leader is supporting them. They may not Process
show a lot of output, but they are satisfied. On the other hand with a less clear
or more vague task on hand, member show more output, if the leader directs
them to work better. The member in this situation may not be very satisfied.

In most of the Indian work settings, it is usually observed that members are
quite dependent on the leader or the superior. They also are quite conscious of
their status, but have very little commitment to work. Singh (1980) suggests
that the leader who is task-oriented and nurtures the dependence of members
on him is most effective in dealing with such members. He or she can get the
work done in his nurturant task style from the members of his group. To a great
extent, he knows characteristics of the members’ work group, that he or she
utilises in making the leadership style effective and getting the work done.

From the above discussions, it is clear that a leader is a person who has ability
to persuade others to get the work done. You must have seen a person having
the title of a leader. He may be very popular, but map not have the ability of
leadership. Many leaders try to become popular by agreeing with everyone,
thus avoiding any kind of conflict. Their influence on the subordinate or
members of the work group may not be very lasting. There are leaders, who by
virtue of their ability to exercise authority and power show better influence on
members. It is therefore necessary for you to understand the authority of a
leader and his sources of power, which help him to exercise influence on the
subordinates.

SAQ 5

What do you mean by Path-goal leadership style?

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15.4 LEADERSHIP AND INFLUENCE PROCESS

Authority is the right to command and extract obedience from others. It comes
from organisation and it allows the leader to use power. Power is the ability to
exercise influence or control over others. 299
Introduction to In the functioning of a leader the ability to guide the action of others is
Management achieved through his authority. Carrying out of these decisions is accomplished
because of the power of the leader. You will see the relationship between the
authority and power of a leader as we go further to understand various types of
power.

SAQ 6

True / False:

i) Authority is the right to command and extract obeidence from others.

ii) Power is the ability to exercise influence or control over others.

15.5 TYPES OF POWER

Legitimate Power

This power comes to the leader when the organisation's authority is accepted. It
comes from the rules of the organisation. For example, parents, teachers,
managers, police, etc. have legitimate power only when their authority is
accepted in the positions they hold.

Expert Power

This is the power of knowledge and skill of special kind that are important in
getting the job done. A person's professional competence or knowledge gives
him the expert power. His credibility increases. He can lead other persons to
trust his judgments and decisions, as an expert like a physicist or a lawyer or a
chemist or a computer programmer or a purchasing agent or a financial analyst.
A leader himself may not be an expert in all fields, but he can certainly take the
help of experts in particular fields.

Charismatic Power

This is the power of attraction or devotion, the desire of one person to admire
another. A subordinate feels a positive attraction towards a leader by
identifying himself with the leader, or gets influenced by the leader's attractive
power. This power helps the subordinate to understand and value the leader so
much that he understands and acts according to the expectations of the boss or
the leader. It helps him to act as his own boss, and behave in ways he thinks the
boss will want.

Reward Power

This power is the present or potential ability to reward for worthy behaviour.
The superior or the leader has the power to give tangible rewards such as
promotion, office space, time off from work, attractive work assignments and
help to the subordinate. Also phychological rewards like praise, appreciation,
approval and recognition can be given by the leader or the superior to the
subordinate. The subordinate has to believe that he has access to higher
300
authorities, therefore he can give rewards. This reward power of the leader can Leadership Styles
also increase the leader’s charismatic and legitimate power. and Influence
Process
Coercive Power

This is the ability to threaten or punish. The leader can give tangible
punishments like dismissal, demotion, low rating, less satisfying work
assignments, etc. Psychological punishments include criticism, avoidance,
disapproval, satirical remarks on the subordinate. The reward power helps to
avoid something undesirable. Self-esteem of the subordinate increases because
of reward power and decreases because of punishment or coercive power. Even
a subordinate may withdraw or break the rules or become hostile. He may not
feel attracted towards the charismatic power of the leader and at times may
ignore the leader’s legitimate power. Having seen the reasons for differences
between the authority and power of the leader, you should know the type of
leaders as understood on the basis of their authority and power.

SAQ 7

Point out the different powers of leader and define any two.
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15.6 TYPES OF LEADER AND POWER CONCEPT

Formal Leader

A formal leader is selected by the organisation. For example, a manager is a

formal leader by virtue of the authority coming from the organisation. He
influences others to help accomplish the goals of the organisation or unit. Such
a leadership lasts over a long period of time.

Informal Leader

An informal leader is chosen by the group. Thus, all managers are leaders if
their authority is accepted, but not all leaders are managers. Informal
leadership is leadership without position and may shift from one person to
another. It may last for a brief time. Most people are leaders at one time or the
301
Introduction to other and they can have influence on others as defined by the concept of
Management leadership itself.

The ideal leader is the one who can combine the formal and informal
leadership simultaneously within himself.

SAQ 8

Point out the two major differences of formal leader and informal leader or how
a formal leader differ from informal leader. Give two reasons.

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15.7 SUMMARY

In this unit you have been exposed to leadership as a process of influence on

others to work willingly for group objectives. You have also come across
different leadership styles, such as Human relations style, theory X and Y
styles, Authoritarian, Democratic and Laissez-faire style, Employee-
orientation and Production-orientation styles, Consideration and Initiating
Structure styles and Scientific Managerial styles. Styles have been related to
various theories of leadership such as Trait theory, Group and Exchange
theory, Social Learning theory, Managerial Grid theory, Contingency Theory
and Path-goal theory.

In the context of leadership and influence process, a distinction was drawn

between authority and power. Five types of power such as legitimate power,
reward power, expert power, charismatic power, and coercive power were
explained. Based an the types of power, we discussed two types of leader-
formal and informal.

15.8 SELF-ASSESSMENT TEST

1. What are the various ways in which you influence your colleagues and
subordinates?
302
2. To what extent various theories of leadership are likely to influence your Leadership Styles
leadership styles. and Influence
Process
3. Discuss the various types of power. Relate the concept of power to the
types of leadership. Who is an ideal leader?

15.9 KEY WORDS

Authoritarian style : The assumption that the power of leaders is

derived from the position they occupy and
that people are innately lazy and unreliable.

Consideration : A leader's acts which imply supportive

concern for the followers in a group.

Contingency theory : A theory that considers an organisation's

objectives, environment and leadership
skills, as interacting and affecting the
effectiveness of a leader.

Democratic style : The assumption that the power of leaders is

granted by the group they are to lead and
that people can be basically self-directed
and creative at work, if properly motivated.

Employee orientation : Stresses the relationship aspect of the job.

Group and exchange

theories of leadership : These theories state that the leader provides
more benefits and rewards than burdens or
costs for followers who help him achieve
the goal of the organisation.
Hawthorne effect : When worker’s behaviour changes and
productivity increases because the workers
become aware of their importance.
Human relation style : Follows from the work of Elton Mayo and
his associates to find the best technological
methods to improve output by studying
human relations at interpersonal level.
Initiating structure : Reflects the extent to which individuals are
likely to define and structure their roles and
those of their subordinates towards goal
attainment.
Laissez-faire style : This style of a leader permits the members
of the group to do whatever they want to
do. No policies or procedures are
established. 303
Introduction to Leadership : The ability to influence the behaviour of
Management others. The task is to help the group reach
both organisational and personal goals.

Managerial grid theory : The theory suggests that each manager

must be concerned about both production
(structure) and people (consideration).

Path-goal theory : This theory defines the relationship

between leader behaviour, subordinate's
work attitudes and performance as
situational. The essential ingredient of this
theory is that the leader smoothes out the
path to work goals and provides rewards
for achieving them.

Production orientation : Stresses the production and the technical

aspects of the job. Employees are seen as
tools to accomplish the goals of the
organisation.

Style scientific manager : This style of the leader focuses on the

needs of the organisation and not on the
needs of the individual.

Social learning theory : The theory deals with continuous,

reciprocal interaction among the leader
(including his cognition) the environment
(including subordinates/followers and other
variables) and the behaviour itself.

Theory X, Theory Y : McGregor’s theory that behind every

management decision, there is a set of
assumptions that a manager makes about
human behaviour. The theory X manager
assumes that people are lazy, dislike work,
want no responsibility and prefer to be
closely directed. The theory Y manager
assumes that people seek responsibility,
like to work and are committed to doing
good work if rewards are received for
achievement.

Trait theory : This theory attempts to specify which

personal characteristics (physical,
personality) are associated with leadership
success. Trait-theory relies on research that
relates various traits to success criteria of a
leader.

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Authority : The legitimate right to use assigned Leadership Styles
resources to accomplish a delegated task or and Influence
objective, the right to give orders and to Process
extract obedience.

Charismatic power : This power is based on followers’

identification with a leader. The leader is
admired because of one or more personal
traits. Followers can be influenced because
of this admiration.

Coercive power : The power of a leader that is derived from

fear. The follower perceives the leader as a
person who can punish deviant behaviour
and action.

Expert power : An individual with this type of power has

some technical expertise, skill or
knowledge which is important in getting
the job done.

Formal leadership : A manager is a formal leader by virtue of

authority coming from the organisation that
a formal leader is usually selected by the
organisation.

Informal leadership : An informal leader is chosen by an

individual or a group.

Legitimate power : The power comes when the organisation's

authority is accepted. It is power that stems
from implicit or explicit rules.

Power : Ability to exercise influence or control over

others.

Reward power : The present or potential ability to give

some reward for worthy behaviour.

Situational management : Skill in changing the style demands of one

or more situational elements so that
managerial effectiveness increases.

Situational manipulation : Changing the style demands of one or more

situational elements so that personal
effectiveness increases.

15.10 TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. Write short notes on the following:

305
Introduction to a) Theory X and Y
Management b) Trait theory of leadership

2. What do you mean by Reward Power and Coercive Power?

15.11 ANSWERS

Self Assessment Questions

1. An effective leader needs to examine carefully his own ideas about the
motivation and behaviour of subordinates and others and situation before
adopting a particular style of leadership.

2. According to scientific manager’s style the best way to increase output was
to improve the techniques or methods used by workers through scientific
study of time and movement spent and used for a job.

3. Trait theory, leadership is the function of the personal qualities of leader.

These qualities include physical, intellectual, personality, social and task
oriented.

4. According the contingency theory of leadership states that a leader may

become effective if the situation is favourable in three ways. These are
good leader-member relations, details of the task spelled out to the leader’s
position and a great deal of authority and power is formally attributed to the
leader’s position.

5. Path-goal leadership style is given by House (1971) states that the leader
smooth out the path towards goal and provides rewards for achieving them.
This theory based on to understand the needs of people and their desire to
work or behave in a way that accomplishes goals that satisfy their needs.

6. a) True
b) True

7. Leader have following powers:

a) Legitimate power
b) Expert power
c) Charismatic power
d) Reward power
e) Coercive power

Legitimate power: This power comes to leader when the organisation’s

authority is accepted. It comes from the rules of the organisation.
Expert power: This is the power of knowledge and skill of special kind
that are important in getting the job done. A person’s professional
competence or knowledge gives him the expert power.

8. i) A formal leader is selected by organisation whereas an informal leader

306 is chosen by the group.
 ii) Formal leader lasts over a long period of time whereas informal Leadership Styles
leadership may last for a brief time. and Influence
Process
Terminal Questions

1. a) Theory X and Y

McGregor (1960) categorised leadership style into two broad categories

having two different beliefs and assumptions about subordinates. He
called these theory X and theory Y. The theory X style of leaders
believe the most people dislike work and will avoid it wherever
possible. Such leaders feel they themselves are a small but important
group, who want to lead and take responsibility, but a large majority of
the people want to be directed and avoid responsibility. Therefore, this
style of leadership exercise strong controls and direction and wherever
necessary punish people if they do not do the work.

Theory Y leaders assume that people will work hard and assume
responsibility if they can satisfy their personal needs and objectives or
goals of their organisation. Such leaders do not sharply distinguish
between the leaders and the followers in contrast to theory X style.
They feel that people control themselves within rather than being
controlled by others from outside such as a leader or a manager or a
supervisor.

b) Trait theory

According to this theory leadership is a conglomeration or a set of

personality traits. It is a function of personal traits of a leader. It is the
oldest theory popularised from time of ancient Greeks. This theory has
also been called the “Great Man Theory” because it is based on the set
of traits which are common to great men.

It seeks to rationalise the greatness of leaders. It follows that a leader is

though to possess certain traits which separate him from the common
mass of followers. Traits are innate and inherent personal leadership
traits. These traits include (a) physical characteristics of the leader such
as age, height, weight; (b) background characteristics i.e. education,
social status mobility and experience; (c) intelligence characteristics
such as ability, judgement knowledge; (d) personality characteristics
such as aggressiveness, dominance, self-confidence etc.; (e) task-
oriented characteristics such as achievement need, responsibility,
initiative, persistence; and (f) social characteristics such as supervisory
ability, cooperativeness, popularity, prestige, tact, diplomacy.

2. Reward power: This power is the present or potential ability to reward for
worthy behaviour. The superior or the leader has the power to give tangible
rewards such as promotion, office space, time off from work and help to
the subordinate. Also physical rewards like praise, appreciation, approval 307
Introduction to and recognition can be given by the leader or the superior to the
Management subordinate. This reward power of the leader can also increase the leader’s
charismatic and legitimate power.

Coercive power: This is the ability to threaten or punish. The leader can
give tangible punishment like dismissal, demotion, low rating, less
satisfying work assignments etc. Psychological punishment includes
criticism, avoidance, disapproval, satirical remarks on the subordinate.
Self-esteem of the subordinates increases because of reward power and
decrease because of punishment and coercive powers.

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