UNIT 3: LEADING

3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles

3.2 – Leadership Theories
& Styles (Overview)

■ As you learned in Activity 1, leading is one of

the four functions of management.
■ Some suggest that leaders are born and not
made and others argue that effective
leadership qualities can be taught,
practiced, learned and refined.
■ Most likely, great leaders possess natural
leadership qualities, but also learn to
become great through experience and
practice.
3.2 – Leadership Theories
& Styles (Overview)

■ There are common characteristics and

personality traits shared among most
effective leaders.
■ You will begin to identify and explore
these in this activity.
■ You will also begin to understand
various leadership theories and styles
that can be applied in real business and
organizational settings.
3.2 – Leadership Theories &
Styles (Chief Justice Murray
Sinclair)
■ The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair
is a prominent Canadian leader.
■ Justice Sinclair is a Canadian
Government Senator, a former judge,
and a First Nations lawyer.
■ He has served on many community
service boards of directors and is the
Chair of Canada's Indian Residential
Schools Truth and Reconciliation
Commission.
3.2 – Leadership Theories
& Styles (Arlene Dickinson)

■ Arlene Dickinson is a very successful

Canadian businesswoman – you might
recognize her from her time on the CBC
hit show, The Dragon’s Den.
■ She was recognized by PROFIT
magazine as one of the top 100 women
business owners in Canada.
■ Mrs. Dickinson is also an accomplished
investor and author.
3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles
(Warm-Up)
■ What makes a leader great? Are there personal characteristics that
are common among all leaders? Think about your own personal
experiences with leaders, especially those you felt were really good
ones. This might be a parent, a boss, a coach, a teacher, or someone
else. What personal characteristics made them a good leader?
■ Think about the leaders identified in the images, and the person you
feel is an effective leader in your life and start to formulate a list of
personal characteristics that those people possess.
 WATCH OBAMA’S
FAMOUS SPEECH…
What makes former US president Obama an effective leader? What leadership
qualities does he possess? Are they different from the top 5 characteristics you
identified earlier?
Obama’s Speech
 BREAK IN SECTION 3.2
Please complete the Leadership Characteristics activity on our classroom
site.
3.2 – Leadership
Theories & Styles
(Classical
Leadership Styles)
■ Leaders are often characterized
by a classical approach to
understanding leadership.
■ The classic leadership styles
are often referred to as:
– Autocratic style leadership.
– Laissez-faire style
leadership.
– Democratic style
leadership.
3.2 – Leadership
Theories & Styles
(Classical
Leadership Styles)
■ A leader with an autocratic
style acts in a unilateral,
command-and-control
fashion.
■ Workplace is focused on
command by the leader
and there is little flexibility
with tasks.
3.2 – Leadership
Theories & Styles
(Classical
Leadership Styles)
■ A leader with a laissez-
faire style displays a “do
the best you can and don’t
bother me” attitude.
■ Employees are expected to
make their own decisions
and solve their own
problems.
3.2 – Leadership
Theories & Styles
(Classical
Leadership Styles)
■ A leader with a democratic
style emphasizes both
task and people.
■ The manager encourages
their staff to be creative
and to produce their own
ideas, however, they still
have final say.
3.2 – Leadership Theories &
Styles (Transactional vs
Transformational)
■ Leaders are often considered
either a Transactional leader
or a Transformational leader.
■ What do you suppose is the
difference between the two?
3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles
(Transactional vs Transformational)
■ Transactional leadership uses tasks, rewards, and structures to
influence and direct the efforts of others.
■ Transactional leaders are task- and outcome-oriented.
■ They are especially effective under strict time and resource
constraints and in highly-specified projects, this approach
adheres to the status quo and employs a form of management
that pays close attention to how employees perform their tasks.
3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles
(Transactional vs Transformational)
■ Transformational leadership is inspirational and arouses extraordinary
effort and performance.
■ Transformational leadership focuses on increasing employee motivation
and engagement and attempts to link employees’ sense of self with
organizational values.
■ This leadership style emphasizes leading by example, so followers can
identify with the leader’s vision and values.
■ A transformational approach focuses on individual strengths and
weaknesses of employees and on enhancing their capabilities and their
commitment to organizational goals, often by seeking their buy-in for
decisions.
3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles
(Transactional vs Transformational)
■ Transactional leadership reacts to problems as they arise, whereas transformational
leadership is more likely to address issues before they become problematic.
■ Transactional leaders work within an existing organizational culture, while
transformational leaders emphasize new ideas and thereby “transform” organizational
culture.
■ Transactional leaders reward and punish in traditional ways according to organizational
standards; transformational leaders attempt to achieve positive results from employees
by keeping them invested in projects, leading to an internal, high-order reward system.
■ Transactional leaders appeal to the self-interest of employees who seek out rewards for
themselves, in contrast to transformational leaders, who appeal to group interests and
notions of organizational success.
■ Transactional leadership is more akin to the common notions of management, whereas
transformational leadership adheres more closely to what is colloquially referred to as
leadership.
3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles
(Warm-Up)
■ Can you think of any current business leaders who might be more of a
transformational leader - a leader that inspires, engages, and truly
motivates all of the businesses stakeholders?
■ In the image on the next slide, the Harvard Business Review ranked
the top 10 transformational leaders (CEO’s - Chief Executive Officers)
based on the success of the companies they lead.
■ What do many of these companies have in common? Think about the
products and services that these companies provide to consumers. In
these types of industries, why is it really important that companies be
led by transformational leaders?
3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles
(Leadership & Power)
■ Leadership involves making things happen and ensuring
that people do the things that need to be accomplished.
■ As a result, leaders generally hold some element of power
over others.
■ Leadership power is really the ability of a leader to get
someone else to do something.
■ Leaders gain power from two areas - the position they hold,
and the personal qualities they possess.
3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles
(Leadership & Power)
■ Position Power
– This type of power is based on a leader's position in an
organization, and their ability to influence action through rewards
or punishment.
– Some examples of Position Power in the workplace:
■ “If you work 2 extra hours today, I’ll buy your dinner.”
■ “If you don’t stay late today, I’ll cut your hours back next week.”
■ “I’m your boss; I’m telling you that you must stay late today.”
■ “Tell your family you’ll be late tonight; we have a lot of work to do
here.”
3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles
(Leadership & Power)
■ Personal Power
– This type of power is really based on how a leader is viewed by
others, and their ability to influence action through their positive
relationship with others.
– Some examples of Personal Power in the workplace:
■ “I will follow her directions because she really knows what she is talking
about.”
■ “I am going to do what my boss asks of me because I really like her, and I
want our relationship to continue to be a positive one.”
■ “I am going to do what she has asked because it is really for the good of
the organization and the entire team.”
■ “I really appreciate the recognition I’ve been getting from my boss in the
last few weeks, so I will continue to put in extra hours to get the job done.”
3.2 – Leadership Theories &
Styles (Servant Leadership)

■ A relatively new theory of leadership is one that

places an emphasis on service to others, rather
than self interest.
■ The term “servant leadership” was coined by
Robert Greenleaf in the 1970s.
■ His theory is that people aspire to lead based on
a human nature element of helping others –
serving or leading by example.
■ A leader who is more of a servant will focus on
the growth and well-being of others, rather than
through the exercise of power - whether that be
position or personal power.
What Is Servant Leadership?
 ■ Make a list of the nine key
attributes of servant
leadership.
Nine Key ■ In your own words, briefly
Attributes of explain each.
Servant ■ Attempt to identify a leader
that demonstrates service
Leadership leadership qualities.
■ Save your response to your
Portfolio.
3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles
(Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid)
■ Leaders are also often identified as having a high concern for tasks,
having a high concern for people, or some sort of combination of the
two.
■ A concern for tasks revolves around making sure the job gets done -
tasks are assigned and completed, plans are followed, directions are
set.
■ A concern for people revolves around making sure all staff are
supported, the workplace is a social one, and personal needs are met,
and feelings respected.
3.2 – Leadership
Theories & Styles
(Blake and Mouton
Managerial Grid)
■ Robert Blake and Jane Mouton
created a grid system called, The
Blake and Mouton Managerial
Grid, that is often used to identify
types of leaders.
■ It places a leader on a vertical
and horizontal grid style graph
based on their concern for tasks
and their concern for people.
■ It effectively identifies five
different categories of leaders.
3.2 – Leadership Theories & Styles
(Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid)
■ Country Club Manager ■ Team Manager
– High concern for people, low – High concern for people, high
concern for task. concern for task.
– Focuses on people’s needs and – Focuses on building
building relationships. participation and support for a
shared purpose.
■ Impoverished Manager
– Low concern for people, low ■ Authority-Obedience Manager
concern for task. (Authoritarian)
– Focuses on minimum effort to – Low concern for people, high
get work done. concern for task.
– Focuses on efficiency of tasks
and operations.

Middle-of-Road Manager – focuses on balancing work output and morale.

THINK OF THE THREE
CLASSIC LEADERSHIP
STYLES…
Where would they fit amongst the grid?
 BREAK IN SECTION 3.2
Please complete the Classical Leadership Styles Quiz on our classroom
site.
END OF SECTION 3.2
Please complete the Leader Research activity on D2L.