Theories Concerning Leadership And Leadership Styles example essay topic

LEADERSHIP and MOTIVATION A) LEADERSHIP Under the topic Leadership and Motivation we will, first, build on the theoretical analyses of leadership and the development of this theory. Secondly, we will be observing the development of the motivation theory. Leadership is not an issue which has become apparent to us in the recent past. Perhaps it is an issue which has been highly regarded in public eyes in every stage of history. The first person Adam was a leader of his time, Moses, Jesus, Cesar and many others. Their status may be different in their societies but they all had the traits and the qualities that a leader should have.

Some leaders such as Stalin, Hitler and Mao may have misused their leadership skills and have misled the people they influenced. However this is not our point. Nevertheless, they were the leaders of millions of influenced people by themselves and they led those people to a way in which they made people believe what they thought was right. So, as we have understood that leadership is the art or process of influencing people so that they perform assigned tasks willingly and in an efficient and effective manner. (Bruce R. Jewell, 1996). Leadership is, therefore, crucial in motivating people.

In fact, leadership is the key to motivation. If we mention about leadership or motivation, we will have to mention both of them. It is too difficult to separate them from each other. Probably that is the reason why we usually see both of these concepts together in the text books. So What is the essence of leadership and What makes for an effective leader As we are more interested in business leadership we are not going to look at the other realms of leadership. We said leadership is the art of influencing people.

To be able to achieve this a perfect harmony should exist between leaders and the people who leaders influence for effective work. For that to happen, th people who are called leaders should have some special traits and skills which may naturally exist in their personality or may be gained in their life time. Before starting to speak about those traits and skills, let us, first, observe the distinctions between a manager and a leader since these two terms may cause confusion in our minds. A manager is a functionary. He / she enforces what he / she has in his / her knowledge.

Whereas a leader is an innovator, he finds the knowledge. While a manager accepts responsibility, a leader seeks responsibility. And while a manager controls employees, a leader has trust, which is probably one of the most essential things in a relationship between a leader and his employees, against employees. A manager is competent, whereas a leader is generative. When a manager tries to minimise risk, a leader takes calculated risk. A manager accepts speaking but a leader generates it.

When a manager uses power cautiusly, a leader uses it forcefully. In the same way, a manager delegates cautiusly, whereas a leader does it enthusiastically. Lastly, while a manager views workers as employees, a leader views them as potential followers. As a result, being a manager and being a leader are different things.

Generally managers have legitimate power as a result of an appointment to a position, whereas leaders emerge from other people and are promoted. Of course managers may have leadership qualities but it is not common. 1. TRAITS and SKILLS Before moving onto the answer of what are these, I believe that, first we should acknowledge the difference between trait and skill. A trait is something one is either born with or gains and develops early in life, whereas a skill is something which is obtained from experiences later on. For skills we ask the question what can we do rather than what are we Speaking of traits, while some studies concentrated on physical traits (e.g. energy, appearance), some others concentrated on intelligence or personality (e.g. enthusiasm, self-confidence.) So the traits and the skills which are required of a leader can be explained as: Traits Skills Adaptability Intelligence Awareness Creativity Ambition Communication skills Decisiveness Co-operation Domination Knowledge Energy Persuasiveness Persistence Social skills Self-confidence Self-discipline Willing to take responsibility Organising ability Although leaders have many of these traits and skills, they usually do not possess all of these attributes.

To give an example Winston Churchill had the ability of defining missions and goals clearly. General George Marshall, who was America's chief of stuff in the World War II, is an example of leadership through responsibility. (P.F. Drucker, 1992) Therefore Styles of Leadership have been generated by theorists to identify the leaders with particular traits and skills. 2. STYLES of LEADERSHIP In this section we will concentrate on the behaviours of the leaders. We will also look at the theories which are related to these styles.

Styles of leadership are divided into four types. Let us start with the first one: a) The Autocratic Style: As we can understand from the name of the style, the autocratic leader is authoritarian. Managers who adopt an autocratic style simply issue orders and expect those underneath them to obey unquestioningly. (R.W. Griffin, 1993). Hence the autocratic leader assumes all the responsibility. A good thing about this style is that decisions can be made very quickly.

Some strict organisations such as the army and the fire service need this kind of style. However this style in many organisations would result in frustration and resentment in the work group as everything in the organisation depends very much upon the leader. In many organisations employees want greater participation in decision-making. b) The Bureaucratic Style: The bureaucratic personality cannot do without the rule book. Even though there are advantages in terms of predictability and each person knows exactly what their situation is and what they do, this style is not flexible and again results in resentment in the work group. If the leader encounters a situation which does not exist in the rule book he cannot cope with it. c) The Democratic Style: The democratic leader is more consultative, as the leader of this style involves employees in decision making and asks their opinions.

However the leaders retain the last decision which is made by the leader himself. This style is especially needed where the experienced workers need to be fully involved in their work. Although with this style, improved decision-making, high morale and greater commitment by the workers are obtained, this participation is time-consuming and the loss of management control is always possible. d) The Free Rein Style: Goals and objectives of the work are set by the leader for subordinates in this style and they are left alone to achieve these objectives. This style provides freedom for willing and enthusiastic workers that they are motivated by this freedom. However to do the job in that way is risky since it is dependent upon the integrity of workers.

3. BEHAVIOURAL and CONTINGENCY THEORIES The theories on leadership which were produced in recent years provide us with more detailed studies of the leadership styles. Considering the distinction between behavioural and contingency theories, the behavioural theory is an attempt to identify the essential features of leadership. Behind this attempt there is the notion of the single best way. Unlike in contingency theory the best ways to lead vary according to the situation in which the leader is involved. a) Mc Gregor's TheoryX and TheoryY: Douglas McGregor produced two unlike theories.

TheoryX implies economic man. In this theory, workers are reluctant and have to be given extrinsic rewards. As for the TheoryY, workers prefer more participation in decision-making and responsibility. As a result, TheoryX kind of workers result in an autocratic leadership, whereas TheoryY kind of workers result in a democratic even a free rein style of leadership. b) Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid: In this theory two dimensions were used; Concern for People and Concern for Production. Five styles have been identified in this grid: 1. Impoverished Managers: There is little concern for both people (workers) and production.

2. Authority-Obedience: Great concern for production and little concern for people. 3. County Club Management: Great concern for workers and little concern for production. 4. Organisational Man-Management: A balanced level of concern for both people and production.

5. Team Management: Great concern for both workers and production. c) Re nsis Likert: In Likert's analysis on leadership four systems are identified. These are: 1. Exploitive-Authoritative System: Threats, control and imposed decisions are the main characteristics. Team work is not encouraged very much. 2.

The Benevolent-Authoritative System: It is a master-servant relationship. 3. The Consultative System: People are motivated by rewards and by being involved in decision making. 4. Participative Group System: Leaders have complete confidence in their subordinates and encourage them to participate. As a result, employees become willing to achieve the organisational goals.

The fourth system is also the one that Likert regards as ideal. d) Fiedler's Contingency Model: In Fiedler's opinion, when the relations between workers are moderately good, the task is moderately structured and the leader has a moderate degree of power and authority, a relations orientated style is the most effective one. This theory more looks like contingency theory according to which the best method of leadership is dependent upon the situation in which the manager is present. e) Robert House and Path -Goal Theory: According to which theory, the best leader is the one who implies his workers how their performance affects the reward they receive. SUMMARY Common definition of Leadership compared to most of them is the capacity to influence others. The foundation of effective leadership is thinking through the organisations mission, defining it and establishing it, clearly and visibly. A leader sets goals, sets the priorities and sets and maintains the standards.

A leader sees leadership as responsibility rather than a privilige, therefore, if something goes wrong he / she does not blame others. A manager and a leader are not the same things. A manager comes to a position as a result of an appointment, whereas a leader is promoted and emerges. Leaders have special traits and skills, however, as they do not possess all these traits and skills, there are different styles of leadership with the leaders who have particular traits and skills. As for the different theories of leadership, which have been built up in recent years, they can be divided into two types. These are: 1.

Behavioural Theory: This kind is an attempt to identify the essential features of leadership. Behind that there is the single best way of leadership. 2. Contingency Theory: The best ways to lead vary according to the situation in which leader is involved. Consequently, There is no single way of being in charge of a group of people. The most thorough leader is the one who provides correct facilities and environment to work for the team members. (D. Torrington, 1989) B) MOTIVATION As businesses have expanded and the number of employees within workforce has increased over the century, the concept of motivation (of employees) has become apparent along with the expansion of the business world, too.

Since motivation is something which is to be considered by the leader or manager of a company, leadership and motivation are usually seen together in study books. In the chapter of Leadership we have seen many theories concerning leadership and leadership styles. In this chapter we will be observing the theories over motivation which have been built up throughout this century. Naturally, the theories of motivation have been built up over the question of How to motivate workers to work well for organization However, research has shown that there is no simple answer for that question. Probably that was the reason why many theories have emerged. As for the definition of motivation, Motivation, broadly defined, is the set of forces cause people to behave in certain ways. (R.W. Griffin, 1993).

Theorists tried to build up their theories on the bases of the questions which are What makes people act or behave in a certain manner, Why people choose a particular course of action and What gives workers job satisfaction In this chapter we will see six different theories over the concept of motivation. These are: 1. The Classical Theory 4. Two Factor Theory 2. TheoryX and TheoryY 5.

Expectancy Theory 3. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs 6. Theory 1. THE CLASSICAL THEORY According to the classical theory people are motivated solely by money. In the early century Frederick Taylor, an industrial manager, proposed that if people are motivated by money, paying them more money would increase their productivity, and if a company can find better ways to perform jobs, it will be able to produce its products more cheaply, make higher profits and, as a result, be able to pay workers more. As a result of this theory, time and motion studies which use industrial engineering techniques to analyse a job in order to determine how to perform it most efficiently were made.

The system of peace work which means to pay a set rate per product worker completes, was also implemented emerging from the same theory. Taylor also enforced the scientific management system and because of which Henry Ford was able to build cars more rapidly and cheaply than any other automaker-while paying his workers more than double the usual wage. (R.W. Griffin, 1993). The Scientific Management System tries to increase productivity and efficiency by using scientific analyses of individual jobs. However this system ignored the factors other than money that make people happy or unhappy.

2. THE HAWTHORNE STUDIES One of the first challenges to the classical theories came from these studies. When some researchers began a study at the Howthorne Work of Western Electric, they confusingly found out that increased lighting conditions improved productivity but so did lower lighting conditions. Whereas an increase in workers salary did not improve productivity.

Consequently, the scientists concluded that when workers believe that they receive special attention, this caused worker productivity to rise. On the bases of these studies new theories were built up. 3. THEORY-X and THEORY-Y In a motivation study, Douglas McGregor noticed that managers have different beliefs in what motivates people at work, and he divided these beliefs into two categories: 1. TheoryX, 2. TheoryY.

TheoryX kind of managers believe that people are naturally lazy, irresponsible and uncooperative therefore they must be threatened, punished or heavily rewarded. Unlike TheoryY kind of managers believe that people are naturally energetic, responsible and are self-motivated and interested in being productive. McGregor considered TheoryY beliefs as generally the correct ones. Thus the managers of TheoryY are more likely to have motivated and satisfied employees. 4. MASLOW'S HIERARCHY of NEEDS Another theory which resulted from the Howthorne Studies was developed by a psychologist called Abraham Maslow.

Maslow proposed five kind of different needs and suggested that they are arranged in a hierarchy of importance. In Maslow's theory the lower level needs must be satisfied before moving on to the higher levels. The most basic level is the physiological needs such as food, water, shelter and sleep. After that, security needs come.

This include the stability and protection from the unknown. Businesses offer pension plans and job security to help satisfy these needs. Social needs are at the third level to be satisfied. These include the need for friendship.

The satisfaction of these needs make you feel that you belong in the company. After social needs, esteem needs should be satisfied. These include the need for recognition, status and as well as self respect which can be satisfied by providing a respected job title and a large office. Finally, having satisfied all the lower level needs, an individual can seek to satisfy self-actualisation needs. These are the human needs for self-fulfillment. These include to satisfy one's capabilities and to achieve new targets which can be satisfied by a challenging job.

5. TWO FACTOR THEORY This theory of motivation was developed by Frederick Herzberg. According to this theory, job satisfaction depends on two factors: hygienic and motivating. Hygienic factors have nothing to do with motivation of workers. For instance, work condition is a hygienic factor, in the absence of which workers will be dissatisfied. But to provide this hygienic factor does not necessarily mean the satisfaction of workers.

Workers will simply not be dissatisfied. On the other hand, for instance, if workers receive no recognition they will be neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. But if recognition is provided, they will become more satisfied. Thus, their motivation will increase. And these factors are called motivating factors. 6.

EXPECTANCY THEORY This is a newer and somewhat more accurate theory of employee motivation. Expectancy theory suggests that people are motivated to work harder toward rewards that they want and that they believe they have a reasonable chance of obtaining. To understand this theory better let us think of an athlete training hard. Training hard will improve performance.

And there is a link between performance and reward. And athletes will only train hard if they believe they have a reasonable chance of achieving success. 7. THEORY-Z As a relatively new theory, Theory Z was first suggested by William Ouchi in the early 1980's. As a result of his research over the traditional US and Japanese firms, Ouchi found an approach to management that a few very successful US firms are using. In his approach ouchi combines successful elements from both countries such as group decision making which the Japanese enforced and specialised career path which the other US firms enforced.

Thus, successful elements of the traditional US management and the traditional Japanese management have been combined in Theory Z. SUMMARY Motivation is the set of forces that cause people to behave in certain ways. To achieve this goal different theories have been built up. In the classical theory money is the sole instrument by which people are motivated. This approach of Frederick Taylor caused time-and-motion studies, piecework system and scientific management to become apparent. The Hawthorne Studies caused the importance of attention workers receive to be realised and gave way for the new theories to be built up. In McGregor's TheoryX and TheoryY, the managers of TheoryX have a pessimistic and negative view of their workers and the managers of TheoryY have a more optimistic and positive view of their workers.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs have five levels. Physiological needs are the first ones to be met. Then, in turn, security needs, social needs, esteem needs and self-actualisation needs should be met. Leaders or managers should not try to satisfy the higher level needs before satisfying the lower level needs. In two factor theory, job satisfaction depends on two factors. Hygienic factors must be present in order for employees not to be dissatisfied.

Motivating factors are the ones which lead employees to work harder. Expectancy theory suggests that people are motivated to work toward rewards that they want and that they believe they have a reasonable chance of obtaining. Theory-Z is an approach to management that in which the successful elements of the traditional US and Japanese management are blended together. Consequently, we have come to realise that both leadership and motivation consist of some main theories. Apparently we cannot describe neither leadership nor motivation with a single best theory. Because, the theory which is suitable for one company may not be suitable for the other one.

It is apparent that most of the burden of a company is, on a large scale, on the shoulders of the leader of that company. The manager or the leader whom the companies of today's world are looking for is the person who can survive and can offer the best service to community in a competitive business world under different circumstances. So the subtle point was not the theories themselves but it was the leader who can keep pace with the changing environment. 1. Jewell, B.R., 1996, An Integrated Approach To Business Studies, England, Longman. 2.

Griffin, R.W., 1993, Business, New Jersey, Prentice Hall. 3. Farnham, A., 1996, The Myths of Management, London, Whirr. 4. Stewart, R., 1997, The Reality of Management, Oxford, A member of the Reed Elsevier plc group.

5. Drucker, P.F., 1994, The Practice of Management, London, A member of the Reed Elsevier group. 6. Drucker, P.F., 1994, Managing for The Future, London, A member of the Reed Elsevier plc group. 7. Erskine, R., 1991, Business Management, Cambridge, Prentice Hall.