Becoming an Effective Leader Notes PDF

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Becoming an Effective Leader Notes: Chapter 1: The Nature and Importance of Leadership 1.

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The meaning of leadership a. Leadership is the ability to inspire confidence and support among the people who are needed to achieve organizational goals. i. A process in which an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal ii. The influential increment over and above mechanical compliance with directions and orders iii. An act that causes others to act or respond in a shared direction iv. The art of influencing people by persuasion or example to follow a line of action v. An effort to maintain control and power over others vi. The principal dynamic force that motivates and coordinates the organization in the accomplishment of its objectives vii. A willingness to take the blame (as defined by legendary football quarterback Joe Montana) b. Leadership is needed at all levels in an organization and can be practiced to some extent even by a person not assigned to a formal leadership position. Leadership as a Partnership and Shared Responsibility a. Partnership- A relationship between leaders and group members in which power is approximately balanced i. Four things are necessary for a valid partnership to exist. 1. Exchange of purpose. In a partnership, every worker at every level is responsible for defining vision and values. Through dialogue with people at many levels, the leader helps articulate a widely accepted vision. 2. A right to say no. The belief that people who express a contrary opinion will be punished runs contrary to a partnership. Rather, a person can lose an argument but never a voice. 3. Joint accountability. In a partnership, each person is responsible for outcomes and for the current situation. In practice, this means that each person takes personal accountability for the success and failure of the organizational unit. (See Joe Montana's definition of leadership, stated earlier.) 4. Absolute honesty. In a partnership, not telling the truth to one another is an act of betrayal. When power is distributed, people are more likely to tell the truth because they feel less vulnerable. Leadership as a Relationship a. Good relationships with group members are a major success factor for the three top positions in large organizations. i. It is common practice for leaders to give recognition and praise via e-mail or a posting on the company social media site, or a public social media site such as Facebook or Twitter. Leadership Versus Management a. Broadly speaking, leadership deals with the interpersonal aspects of a manager's job, whereas planning, organizing, and controlling deal with the administrative aspects. b. John P. Kotter believes the following are several key distinctions between management and leadership: i. Management produces order, consistency, and predictability. ii. Leadership produces change and adaptability to new products, new markets, new competitors, new customers, and new work processes. iii. Leadership, in contrast to management, involves having a vision of what the organization can become and mobilizing people to accomplish it.

iv. Leadership produces change, often to a dramatic degree, such as by spearheading the launch of a new product or opening a new market for an old product. Management is more likely to produce a degree of predictability and order. v. Top-level leaders are likely to transform their organizations, whereas top-level managers just manage (or maintain) organizations. vi. A leader creates a vision (lofty goal) to direct the organization. In contrast, the key function of the manager is to implement the vision. The manager and his or her team thus choose the means to achieve the end that the leader formulates. 5. Research & Opinion: Leadership Does Make a Difference a. The flexible leadership theory developed by Gary Yukl, a professor of management at the University of Albany, also provides insight as to when leaders contribute to organizational performance. One proposition of the theory is that organizational performance is stronger when the influence of middle- and lower-level leaders on important decisions is commensurate with their unique, relevant knowledge. b. An overview of research on managerial succession over a recent twenty-year period provides more support for the idea that leadership has an impact on organizational performance. 6. Research & Opinion: Formal Leadership Does Not Make a Difference a. The three major arguments against the importance of leadership are substitutes for leadership, leadership irrelevance, and complexity theory. i. Substitutes for Leadership – factors in the work environment that provide guidance and incentives to perform, making the leader’s role almost superfluous 1. Closely knit teams of highly trained individuals. When members of a cohesive, highly trained group are focused on a goal, they may require almost no leadership to accomplish their task. 2. Intrinsic satisfaction. Employees who are engaged in work they find strongly self-motivating, or intrinsically satisfying, require a minimum of leadership. Part of the reason is that the task itself grabs the worker's attention and energy. The worker may require little leadership as long as the task is proceeding smoothly. 3. Computer technology. Some companies today use computer-aided monitoring and computer networking to take over many of the supervisor's leadership functions. The computer provides productivity and quality data, and directions for certain tasks are entered into the information system. (We could argue here that the computer is being used to control, rather than to lead, workers.) 4. Professional norms. Workers who incorporate strong professional norms often require a minimum of supervision and leadership. A group of certified professional accountants may not need visionary leadership to inspire them to do an honest job of auditing the books of a client or advising against tax fraud. ii. Leadership Irrelevance 1. Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University, theorizes that leadership is irrelevant to most organizational outcomes. Rather, it is the situation that must be carefully analyzed. 2. The leader irrelevance argument would have greater practical value if it were recast as a leader constraint theory, which would hold that leaders are constrained in what they can do but still have plenty of room to influence others. iii. Complexity Theory – holds that organizations are complex systems that cannot be explained by the usual rules of nature. 1. Another aspect of complexity theory that challenges the importance of the leader is that organizational members are not passive workers in need of direction and emotional support. Instead, they are active agents who influenced coworkers and are influenced by them 7. Leadership Roles a. A role is an expected set of activities or behaviors stemming from one’s job. b. Ten roles that can be classified as part of the leadership function of management:

i. Figurehead. Leaders, particularly high-ranking managers, spend some part of their time engaging in ceremonial activities, or acting as a figurehead. Four specific behaviors fit the figurehead role of a leader: 1. entertaining clients or customers as an official representative of the organization 2. making oneself available to outsiders as a representative of the organization 3. serving as an official representative of the organization at gatherings outside the organization 4. escorting official visitors ii. Spokesperson. When a manager acts as a spokesperson, the emphasis is on answering letters or inquiries and formally reporting to individuals and groups outside the manager's direct organizational unit. As a spokesperson, the managerial leader keeps five groups of people informed about the unit's activities, plans, capabilities, and possibilities (vision): 1. upper-level management 2. clients or customers 3. other important outsiders such as labor unions 4. professional colleagues 5. the general public a. Dealing with outside groups and the general public is usually the responsibility of toplevel managers. iii. Negotiator. Part of almost any manager's job description is trying to make deals with others for needed resources. Four illustrative negotiating activities are as follows: 1. bargaining with superiors for funds, facilities, equipment, or other forms of support 2. bargaining with other units in the organization for the use of staff, facilities, equipment, or other forms of support 3. bargaining with suppliers and vendors for services, schedules, and delivery times 4. bargaining with job candidates about starting compensation and benefits iv. Coach and motivator. An effective leader takes the time to coach and motivate team members, and sometimes to inspire large groups of people inside the organization. This role includes five specific behaviors: 1. informally recognizing team members' achievements 2. providing team members with feedback concerning ineffective performance 3. ensuring that team members are informed of steps that can improve their performance 4. implementing rewards and punishments to encourage and sustain good performance 5. inspiring people through such means as being charismatic, creating visions, telling interesting stories, and being highly ethical v. Team builder. A key aspect of a leader's role is to build an effective team. Activities contributing to this role include: 1. ensuring that team members are recognized for their accomplishments, such as through letters of appreciation 2. initiating activities that contribute to group morale, such as giving parties and sponsoring sports teams 3. holding periodic staff meetings to encourage team members to talk about their accomplishments, problems, and concerns vi. Team player. Related to the team-builder role is that of the team player. Three behaviors of team players are: 1. displaying appropriate personal conduct 2. cooperating with other units in the organization 3. displaying loyalty to superiors by fully supporting their plans and decisions vii. Technical problem solver. It is particularly important for supervisors and middle managers to help team members solve technical problems. Two activities contributing to this role are: 1. serving as a technical expert or adviser, such as helping the group make optimum use of social marketing to promote the company

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performing individual contributor tasks on a regular basis, such as making sales calls or repairing machinery viii. Entrepreneur. Although not self-employed, managers who work in large organizations have some responsibility for suggesting innovative ideas or furthering the business aspects of the firm. Three entrepreneurial leadership role activities are: 1. reading trade publications and professional journals to keep up with what is happening in the industry and profession 2. talking with customers or others in the organization to keep aware of changing needs and requirements 3. getting involved in situations outside the unit that could suggest ways of improving the unit's performance, such as visiting other firms, attending professional meetings or trade shows, and participating in educational programs ix. Strategic planner. Top-level managers engage in strategic planning, usually assisted by input from others throughout the organization. Carrying out the strategic-planner role enables the manager to practice strategic leadership. The strategist role is concerned with shaping the future of the organization, or a unit within the larger organization. Specific activities involved in this role include: 1. setting a vision and direction for the organization and providing innovative ideas to pursue 2. helping the firm deal with the external environment 3. helping develop organizational policies x. Executor. In carrying out the executor role, the leader makes things happen, often helping translate plans into action. Parts of this role include: 1. translating strategy into action, such as helping develop action plans 2. making change happen 3. holding people accountable to ensure that productive work is accomplished The Satisfactions and Dissatisfactions and Frustrations of Leaders a. Leaders often experience seven sources of satisfaction i. A feeling of power and prestige ii. A change to help other grow and develop iii. High Income iv. Respect and Status v. Good opportunities for advancement vi. A feeling of being in on things vii. An opportunity to control money and other resources b. Leaders often experience nine sources of frustration i. Too much uncompensated overtime ii. Too many headaches iii. Facing a perform-or-perish mentality iv. Not enough authority to carry out responsibility v. Loneliness vi. Too many problems involving people vii. Too much organizational politics viii. The pursuit of conflicting goals ix. Being perceived as unethical, especially if you are a corporate executive A Framework for Understanding Leadership a. Leadership does not exist in the abstract but takes into account factors related to the leader, the person or persons being led, and a variety of forces in the environment. (L=f(l, gm, s) b. Leadership effectiveness -Attaining desirable outcomes such as productivity, quality, and satisfaction in a given situation

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Leader characteristics and traits refer to the inner qualities, such as self-confidence and problem-solving ability that help a leader function effectively in many situations. d. Leader behavior and style refers to the activities engaged in by the leader, including characteristic approach, that relate to his or her effectiveness e. Group member characteristics refers to attributes of the group members that could have a bearing on how effective the leadership attempt will be. Followership: Being an Effective Group Member a. To be an effective leader, one needs good followers. Leaders cannot exist without followers. b. Another perspective on followers is that they are the people who get things done; that the bright ideas of leaders would go nowhere without the doers. Types of Followers a. A major challenge in being a leader is to recognize that followers differ substantially in talent and motivation. b. Followers classified by level of engagement i. Isolates are completely detached, and passively support the status quo by not taking action to bring about changes. They do not care much about their leaders and just do their job without taking an interest in the overall organization. Isolates need coaching, yet sometimes firing them is the only solution. ii. Bystanders are free riders who are typically detached when it fits their self-interests. At a meeting, a bystander is more likely to focus on the refreshments and peeking at his or her personal text messages. Bystanders have low internal motivation, so the leader has to work hard to find the right motivators to spark the bystander into action. iii. Participants show enough engagement to invest some of their own time and money to make a difference, such as taking the initiative to learn new technology that would help the group. Participants are sometimes for, and sometimes against, the leader and the company. The leader has to review their work and attitudes carefully to determine whether the participant is being constructive. iv. Activists are considerably engaged, heavily invested in people and processes, and eager to demonstrate their support or opposition. They feel strongly, either positively or negatively, about their leader and the organization and act accordingly. An activist might be enthusiastic about reaching company goals, or so convinced that the company is doing the wrong thing that he or she blows the whistle (reports the company to an outside agency). v. Diehards are super-engaged to the point that they are willing to go down for their own cause, or willing to oust the leader if they feel he or she is headed in the wrong direction. Diehards can be an asset or a liability to the leader. Diehards have an even stronger tendency to be whistleblowers than do activists. Essential Qualities of Effective Followers a. As observed by Robert E. Kelley, effective followers share four essential qualities: i. Self-management ii. Commitment iii. Competence and Focus iv. Courage b. Another way of framing the qualities of effective followers is to say that such followers display the personal characteristics and qualities of leaders Summary a. Leadership is a long-term partnership and shared responsibility between leaders and group members. When effective, leadership inspires confidence and support among people who are needed to achieve organizational goals. b. Although some research supports the theory leaders do affect organizational performance, the concepts of substitutes, leader irrelevance, and complexity theory offer an alternative view. c. Leadership involves carrying out at least ten different roles.

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There are many sources of both satisfaction and frustration to leaders. Leadership is a function of leader characteristics and traits, leader behavior and style, group member characteristics, and the internal and external environments. f. Leadership is multilevel, involving the individual, the small group, and the organization. g. To be an effective leader, one needs good followers. h. Followers differ in terms of their engagement to the firm’s goals. Chapter 2 – Traits, Motives, and Characteristics of Leaders 1.

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Personality Traits of Effective Leaders a. Observations by managers and human resource specialists, as well as dozens of research studies indicate that leaders have certain personality traits. b. Leaders' personality traits can be divided into two groups: general personality traits such as self-confidence and trustworthiness, and task-related traits, such as an internal locus of control. General Personal Traits a. We define a general personality trait as a trait that is observable both within and outside the context of work. b. Self-confidence improves one’s performance in a variety of tasks, including leadership. i. Major contributor to leadership effectiveness and must be projected onto the group ii. Not only a personality trait, also refers to a behavior and an interpersonal skill that a person exhibits in a number of situations. c. Humility i. Being humble at the right times ii. Admitting that you don’t know everything and cannot do everything, as well as admitting you mistakes to team members and outsiders d. Core Self-evaluations i. Core self-evaluations- A broad personality trait that captures bottom-line self-assessment, composed of self-esteem, locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, and emotional stability. 1. All four traits positively related 2. Self-esteem deals with feeling positive toward the self, and generalized self-efficacy means roughly the same thing as being self-confident in many situations. 3. Locus of control refers to whether a person feels personally responsible for events happening to him or her 4. Emotional stability refers to having emotional control, not being neurotic, and having good mental health. e. Trustworthiness i. An effective leader or manager is supposed to walk the talk, thereby showing a consistency between deeds (walking) and words (talk) ii. Trust is defined as a person's confidence in another individual's intentions and motives and in the sincerity of that individual's word. iii. Being trustworthy and earning trust is considered so essential to effective leadership that some companies use these factors to evaluate leaders and managers. f. Authenticity i. Embedded in the trait of being trustworthy is authenticity —being genuine and honest about your personality, values, and beliefs as well as having integrity ii. To become an authentic leader, and to demonstrate authenticity, be yourself rather than attempting to be a replica of someone else.

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iii. Organizational citizenship behavior refers to a willingness to help beyond one's job description without expecting to be rewarded. g. Extraversion i. Extraversion (the scientific spelling for extroversion) has been recognized for its contribution to l...