Leadership is an indivisible part of directing.

More precisely, it is a tool which makes

direction effective. Only a leader can guide his
subordinates. Without effective leadership,
direction would be useless. Now the question
which arises is what is “LEADERSHIP”?
“Leadership is the ability to shape the attitudes &
behaviour of others or subordinates, whether in
formal or informal situations.”

“Leadership is
influencing people
to follow in the
achievement of
common
objectives.”
 Leadership Theories
Trait Theory
• Trait theory suggests that an individual who
has traits relevant to leadership emerges as an
effective leader. A trait is a distinguishable
quality of an individual that affects his
behaviour. Researchers have concluded that for
being successful, a leader should have the
following traits (qualities):
• Physical features
• It includes height, weight, appearance, etc. These
include inborn features, positive features,
intelligence, etc.
• Knowledge
• Leader should have intimate knowledge of his
field so that when he discusses it with some
authenticity.
• Self confidence
• In order to develop confidence in his followers,
the leader himself should have confidence.
• Decisiveness
• The leader has to analyse the conflicting situations
rationally & take a stand on which he should remain
firm.
• Integrity
• Integrity refers to honesty & transparency in getting
things done. Leader’s integrity makes him a role
model whose behaviour is followed by others.
• Objectivity
• Objectivity implies that what the leader does should
be based on facts & information & not on his own
biases.
• Initiative
• A leader should have an initiative to take his actions
on proactive basis, that is taking actions in advance of
likely changes in the environment.
• Emotional stability
• A leader should have high level of emotional
stability: stability in behaviour, refraining from anger,
consistency in action & well-adjusted. He should not
be upset & should handle ups & downs with maturity.
• Empathy
• A successful leader has empathy which involves
observing the things or situations from others’ points
of view.
• Communication skills
• Leader gets things done by his followers through
communication. So he should have
communication skills.
• Social skills
• Leader should have social skills so that he can
understand others well in terms of their strengths
& weaknesses to get maximum out of them.
• Motivation skills
• It involves understanding his followers’ needs &
how these can be satisfied in the most desirable
way.
Behavioural theory
• Leadership is shown by a person’s acts more than
by his traits. Researchers have concluded that to
operate effectively, groups need someone to
perform two major functions: task-related functions
& group maintenance functions. Task-relating
functions relate to providing solutions to the
problems faced by the groups in performing jobs.
Group maintenance functions relate to actions of
solving disputes & ensuring that individuals are
treated as valued by the group. An individual who is
able to perform both these roles would be an
effective leader.
Situational theory
• Situational/Contingency theory suggests that the
leadership effectiveness depends on leader’s
behaviour & situation in which leadership is
exercised.
Leader’s behaviour: Leader’s behaviour is
affected by two variables:
1. Leader’s characteristics: An individual’s
behaviour is influenced by his characteristics like
his ability, personality, attitudes, motivation, &
physical characteristics.
2. Leader’s hierarchical position: It is important
because persons at different levels face different
kind of problems which affect the degree of
participation between the superior & his
subordinates in arriving at decisions to solve the
problems.
Situational Factors: Various situational factors
may be grouped into four categories:
 Subordinates’ characteristics
 Subordinates’ personal characteristics like their ability,
personality, attitudes, interest, motivation & physical
characteristics affect their behaviour.
 Leader’s situation
 The leader’s situation depends on two variables:
leader’s position power & leader-subordinate relation.
High-position power simplifies the leader’s task of
influencing others while low-position power makes the
leader’s task more difficult. If leader-subordinate
relation is good, leader is likely to be effective. In
alternative case, he will be ineffective.
Group factors
Various group factors like task design, group
composition, group norms & peer-group
relationship affect leadership effectiveness &
performance. If these factors are favourable,
the leader will be effective.
Organizational factors
Organizational factors like organizational
climate & culture affect leadership
effectiveness. If these are conducive, the leader
will be effective.
Systems theory
• Systems theory of leadership suggests that
leadership arises out of interactions of a leader &
his followers within the contextual variables lying
within an organization & outside it. Two
subsystems: technical & social –interact closely &
shape employee behaviour. Since the organization
continuously interacts with its environment, it
makes suitable changes in its working to meet
environmental requirements. As a result, four
types of leadership patterns emerge in
organisation in stages: formal, emergent, shared &
integrative.
 Types/Styles/Models of Leadership
• Leadership styles are the patterns of behaviour
which a leadership adopts in influencing the
behaviour of subordinates. Some of the
important theories/models showing leadership
styles are given below:
Based on behaviour approach
• Power orientation
• Leadership as a continuum
• Likert’s management system
• Employee-production orientation
• Managerial grid
• Tridimensional grid
Based on situational approach
• Fiedler’s contingency model
• Hersey-Blanchard’s situational model
• Path-goal model
 Power Orientation
• Based on degree of use of authority, there
are three leadership styles: autocratic,
participative & free-rein.
Autocratic Leadership Style
• Autocratic/ Directive leadership style,
involves centralization of decision making
authority by the superior.
• Advantages
1. There are many subordinates who prefer
to work under centralized authority
structure & strict discipline. They get
satisfaction from this style
2. It provides strong motivation & reward
to a superior exercising this style
3. It leads to quick decision-making
4. Less competent subordinates also have
scope to work in the organization
• Disadvantages
1. People in the organization dislike it
specially when it is strict &
motivational style is negative
2. Employees lack motivation &
frustration, low morale & conflict
develop in the organization
3. Future leaders do not develop in the
organization
Participative Leadership Style
• Participative leadership style also
known as democratic or consultative
style, involves joint decision making
by the superior & his subordinates.
Along with joint decision-making,
the superior delegates adequate
authority to subordinates to
implement decisions.
• Advantages
1. It is quite motivating to employees when
their ideas & suggestions are given weight
in decision making
2. The employees’ productivity is high & they
implement the decisions whole-heartedly
3. They share the responsibility with the
superior & try to protect him also
4. It provides organizational stability by
developing future leaders
• Disadvantages
1. Complex nature of organisation
may not be understandable to
lower-level employees
2. This method is discouraging for
some people who want minimum
interaction with superior
3. Participation may be used secretly
to manipulate employees
Free-rein Leadership Style
Free-rein leadership style is based on
French term laissez-faire which means
without intervention. Thus, this style
involves giving complete freedom to
the subordinates. The superior just
decides the broad policies & limits of
actions & the entire process is left to
the subordinates.
• Advantages
1. Decision making burden of the superior is
lessened
2. This style is quite motivating to subordinates
because they enjoy considerable autonomy in
their functioning
3. Group members make the best possible efforts
to achieve group goals. This leads to higher
productivity
4. This style leads to development of leadership
quality of subordinates as they work
independently
• Disadvantages
1. There is minimum contribution of leader as he
assigns all the activities to his subordinates
and so his importance becomes questionable
2. Adoption of this leadership style requires
highly competent subordinates
3. This leadership style is effective only in a
favourable working environment in which
groups coordinate among them voluntarily,
otherwise there may be chaos in the
organization
Leadership as a continuum
• Tannenbaum & Schmidt have
depicted a broad range of
leadership styles on a continuum
with autocratic style at one end
free-rein at the other end as
shown in the figure below
• The left side shows a style where control is
maintained by the superior and the right side
shows the release of control. Now the question
which arises is at which point of the continuum
should a manager adopt his leadership style?
There is no readymade answer but it depends
on three factors:
1. Forces in the superior- his value system,
confidence in subordinates, his leadership
inclinations & his feeling of security in an
uncertain situation.
2. Forces in subordinates- their need for
independence, readiness to take responsibility
for decision making, level of tolerance,
understanding of goals, problems & knowledge
& experience to deal with the problems, and
ability to participate in decision-making.
3. Forces in the situation- type of organization,
group effectiveness, & nature of problems.
Likert’s Management Systems
• Likert has given a continuum of four systems of
management. He has taken seven variables to
differentiate one management system from others:
leadership, motivation, communication,
interaction-influence, decision-making process,
goal-setting & control process. Given below is
Likert’s management systems showing leadership
behaviour table and he has concluded that system
4 is the best system because of participation in
decision-making.
 Employee-Production Orientation

• In the studies of the Survey Research Centre at the

University of Michigan, USA, two types of practices
influencing employees have been identified:
employee-orientation & production-orientation.
Employee orientation focuses on the human element
of employment, stressing that employees have needs
that employers should address and care for.
Production orientation focuses on the technical
elements of employment and employees are a means
to complete production. Almost at the same time,
Ohio State Leadership Studies states that leaders
exhibit two types of behaviors, Initiating
Structure and Consideration in managing
employees to achieve goals. Initiating structure
refers to the leader’s behaviour in describing the
relationship between him & members of the
work group. Consideration refers to behaviour
indicative of friendship, mutual trust, respect &
warmth in the relationship between the leader &
the members of his staff. Thus, leadership
behaviour can be plotted on two separate axes as
shown in the figure below:
 Managerial Grid
• The Blake-Mouton Grid, also known as the
Managerial Grid Model, is a framework
used to determine a leader's behavioral
style, identifying their concern for people
versus their concern for task production.
The managerial grid has identified five
leadership styles based on these two factors
as shown in the figure below:
• Blake & Mouton have described the five
styles as follows:
• (1,1) Impoverished Leadership-Low
Production and Low People in which the
manager shows a low concern for both
people and production.
• (1,9) Country Club Style Leadership High
People and Low Production in which leader
is most concerned about the needs and
feelings of his or her team members.
• (9,1) Produce or Perish Leadership- High
Production and Low People which is
characterized by a concern for production as the
only goal.
• (5,5) Middle-Of-The-Road Leadership-
Medium Production and Medium People which
is a kind of realistic medium without ambition. It
is a balanced and compromised style.
• (9,9) Team Leadership-High Production and
High People in which the manager pays high
concern to people and production. This is the
most desirable leader’s behaviour.
 Tridimensional Grid
• Reddin has conceptualized a three-
dimensional grid, also known as 3-D
management. Three dimensional axes
represent task-orientation (TO),
relationship-orientation (RO) &
effectiveness. Combination of TO & RO
results in four leadership styles as shown
in the figure below:
 The Separated Manager is the one who is engaged in
correcting deviations. He is the person who formulates the
rules and policies and imposes these on others. The Related
Manager is the one who likes to work with others and see an
organization as a social system where everyone works
together. The Dedicated Manager is the one who is task
oriented and is only concerned with the production.
The Integrated Manager is the one who mixes up with the
subordinates and facilitate two way communication. His major
emphasis is on building a strong teamwork and effective
communication network.
 From these four basic styles, Reddin added a third dimension
as a means of defining managerial effectiveness. These four
styles are either used inappropriately and appropriately
resulting in eight styles as shown in figure below:
 Four ineffective styles are as follows:
• Deserter
• This is the manager who has both low task & low people
orientation.
• Missionary
• This manager is less task-oriented and more focused on
personal relationships, believes in easy life & avoids conflicts.
• Autocrat
• He is concerned with only the immediate jobs & has no
concern for others.
• Compromiser
• The manager uses both task-oriented and relationship-oriented
management styles.
Four effective styles are as follows:
 Bureaucratic
 This is the manager who has high orientation towards
organizational rules & regulations.
 Developer
 This type of manager uses a limited task orientation and
relies much more on relationships with subordinates
 Benevolent autocrat
 He is a manager who is high on task & less people
oriented.
 Executive
 In this style the manager uses both task achievement and
relationship management orientations.
 Fiedler’s Contingency Model
• Fiedler’s theory of leadership consists of three
elements: leadership styles , situational
variables & their interrelationship.
Leadership styles
• Fiedler has identified leadership styles on two
dimensions: task-directed & human relations
oriented. Fiedler used two types of scores to
measure the style adopted by a leader: Least-
Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) and Assumed
Similarity (AS).
Situational variables
• Fiedler has identified three critical dimensions
of situation. These are Leader Position Power,
Task Structure & Leader-Member Relations.
Leader Position Power: It refers to the
amount of power the leader has over the group,
i.e. to which extent the leader can reward or
punish the group’s members. The stronger the
power, the higher the degree to which the
leader can control the situation.
 Task Structure: It refers to the extent to which group
tasks are clear and structured. When task structure is low,
group tasks are ambiguous, with no clear solution or
correct approach to complete the goal. Conversely, when
task structure is high (structured), the group goal is clear
and straightforward and members have a clear idea about
how to approach and reach the goal.
 Leader-Member Relations: It refers to the degree of
mutual trust, respect and confidence between the leader
and the subordinates. When the leader-member relations
are good, the leader has a high degree of control of the
situation When leader-member relations in the group are
poor, the leader has a low degree of control of situation.
Relation between Styles &
Situation
• Fiedler feels that the effectiveness of
leadership style depends on the
situation. Appropriateness of
leadership styles in different
situations has been presented in the
figure below:
• Thus, task-directed & human relations-
oriented styles tend to be effective in different
situations
1. Task-directed leadership style tends to be
better in group situations that are either very
favourable or very unfavourable to the leader.
2. Human relations-oriented leadership style
tends to be in group situations that are
intermediate in favourableness.
 Hersey-Blanchard’s Situational
Model
• Hersey & Blanchard feel that the leader has
to match his leadership style according to
the needs of maturity of subordinates which
moves in stages & in cycle. Therefore, this
model is also known as life-cycle theory of
leadership. There are two basic
considerations in this model: leadership
styles & maturity of subordinates.
Leadership styles
• It may be classified into four categories
based on the combination of two
considerations: relationship behaviour &
task behaviour. Combination of these two
dimensions results in four leadership
styles: low relationship & low task, low
relationship & high task, high
relationship & low task & high
relationship & high task.
 Subordinates’ maturity
• Maturity in this model has been used in the context of
ability & willingness of the people for directing their
own behaviour. When both components of maturity-
ability & willingness are combined, we can get four
combinations:
1. Low ability & low willingness- Low maturity
2. Low ability & high willingness- low to moderate
maturity
3. High ability & low willingness- moderate to high
maturity
4. High ability & high willingness- high maturity
 Combining Leadership Styles & Maturity
• Combination of leadership styles & subordinates’
maturity results in four leadership styles:
• Telling
• For the subordinates who have low maturity-
neither ability or willingness, telling leadership
style is appropriate.
• Selling
• For subordinates of moderate maturity who have
high willingness but lack ability, selling
leadership style is appropriate.
• Participating
• For the subordinates with moderate to high
maturity & have ability to do but lack
willingness, participating leadership is
appropriate.
• Delegating
• For subordinates with high maturity that is
both ability & willingness, delegating is
appropriate.
 Path-goal model of Leadership
• Path-goal model of leadership developed by
Robert House is basically a combination of
situational leadership & Vroom’s expectancy
theory of motivation. According to this model, the
main function of a leader is to clarify & set goals
with subordinates, to help them find best path for
achieving goals & to remove the obstacles to their
performance & need satisfaction. This goal-path
proceeds as shown in the figure below:
Leadership styles
• The leader may adopt any one of the four
styles depending on the situation.
• Directive
• The leader gives subordinates specific orders
& makes it clear what is expected of them.
• Supportive
• The leader shows friendly behaviour to the
employees, he shows his concern for their
needs & welfare, creates pleasant
organizational climate.
• Participative
• The leader makes the decisions with active
participation of the employees.
• Achievement-oriented
• The leader sets challenging goals, seeks
improvement in performance by displaying
confidence in the abilities of the subordinates.
Situational variables
• The leader must consider two groups of
situational variables: characteristics of
subordinates & work environment.