What does it take to be an effective leader?
- courage: the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; braveryAn example of when courage is needed by a leader in a business is when the leader needs to stand in front of cameras and reporters to accept responsibility (ie. for a product default) on behalf of his/her team/company.
- communication: the imparting or interchange of thoughts,opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs.
- compassion: a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.
- flexible/ adaptability: able to adjust oneself readily to different conditions
- motivator: to provide with an incentive or a reason for doing something
- decisiveness: putting an end to controversy
- organisation / multi-tasking: to give structure or character to
- planner: someone who can scheme/plan (:method of acting, doing, proceeding,making, etc., developed in advance)
- knowledge
- risk-assess
- risk-take
- poise
- confidence
- compassion
- identifies
- professional
- advisor
- determination
- time management
How can you differentiate between leadership skills & qualities?
Qualities are what you are born with and skills are what you can develop (from your qualities). Each of the qualities of an effective leader can be categorised as either a skill or quality.
The main Leadership Styles
!. Autocratic Leadership (Authoritarian)
Autocratic leaders make the decisions, delegate, direct, and tell every other team member what they have to do. They don’t allow any feedback from their team and on a visual sociogram, they would be set apart from the rest of the team but also placed above, where they have more power. The positive aspect of autocratic leadership is that the leader will make sure there is an equal share of work across the team members and it is useful for specialised jobs where the worker's inputs are not needed.
An example of when autocratic leadership is best used is when control is necessary.
2. Democratic Leadership
Democratic leaders are expected to work in democracy and to consider the POV of the all team members. They can vote, play a part and have their opinions heard. On the sociogram, democratic leaders would be located in the centre of the team, whether they are liked by their team members or not.
An example of when democratic leadership is best used under fast moving situations when all ideas must be considered to keep the group from falling behind.
3. Laissez-Faire Leadership
Laissez Faire leaders let team members get along with their own work and trust them to work effectively without guidance or pressure from them. This leadership method can be effective when it is impossible to monitor or control their team.
An example of when Laissez-Faire leadership was best used was when firefighters on 9/11 had to make their own independent decisions of entering the building to save the people or to save their own lives, as this was a decision that a leader could not make for them.
4. Transformational Leadership
A transformational leader motivates team members by personality and desire.
“If you do this, then this is what you will achieve”, is what a typical transformational leader might say to the team.
An example of when transformational leadership is best used is when the team needs to be motivated to do their work (ie. invent new technology).
5. Transactional Leadership
A transactional leader motivates the team with rewards and punishments.
“If you do this, I will give you this./ If you don't do this, you have to do 20 push ups.”, is what a typical transformational leader might say to the team.
An example of when transactional leadership is best used is when directing children, who tend to work better with short term rewards and punishments to motivate them.
6. People orientated Leadership
People orientated leaders are largely concerned about the growth, progression, harmony and relationships of the team members.
An example of when people orientated leadership is best used is when a leader addresses workers' individual concerns to earn respect and trust from the team members.
7. Task orientated Leadership
Task orientated leaders care most about winning and achieving.
An example of when task orientated leadership should be used is when the rest of the team members are poorly organised and have a hard time meeting deadlines.
Autocratic leaders make the decisions, delegate, direct, and tell every other team member what they have to do. They don’t allow any feedback from their team and on a visual sociogram, they would be set apart from the rest of the team but also placed above, where they have more power. The positive aspect of autocratic leadership is that the leader will make sure there is an equal share of work across the team members and it is useful for specialised jobs where the worker's inputs are not needed.
An example of when autocratic leadership is best used is when control is necessary.
2. Democratic Leadership
Democratic leaders are expected to work in democracy and to consider the POV of the all team members. They can vote, play a part and have their opinions heard. On the sociogram, democratic leaders would be located in the centre of the team, whether they are liked by their team members or not.
An example of when democratic leadership is best used under fast moving situations when all ideas must be considered to keep the group from falling behind.
3. Laissez-Faire Leadership
Laissez Faire leaders let team members get along with their own work and trust them to work effectively without guidance or pressure from them. This leadership method can be effective when it is impossible to monitor or control their team.
An example of when Laissez-Faire leadership was best used was when firefighters on 9/11 had to make their own independent decisions of entering the building to save the people or to save their own lives, as this was a decision that a leader could not make for them.
4. Transformational Leadership
A transformational leader motivates team members by personality and desire.
“If you do this, then this is what you will achieve”, is what a typical transformational leader might say to the team.
An example of when transformational leadership is best used is when the team needs to be motivated to do their work (ie. invent new technology).
5. Transactional Leadership
A transactional leader motivates the team with rewards and punishments.
“If you do this, I will give you this./ If you don't do this, you have to do 20 push ups.”, is what a typical transformational leader might say to the team.
An example of when transactional leadership is best used is when directing children, who tend to work better with short term rewards and punishments to motivate them.
6. People orientated Leadership
People orientated leaders are largely concerned about the growth, progression, harmony and relationships of the team members.
An example of when people orientated leadership is best used is when a leader addresses workers' individual concerns to earn respect and trust from the team members.
7. Task orientated Leadership
Task orientated leaders care most about winning and achieving.
An example of when task orientated leadership should be used is when the rest of the team members are poorly organised and have a hard time meeting deadlines.
Different leadership styles in different situations?
It is important for a leader to be able to change their leadership style depending on different situations, in order to make the best use of the available resources, tools and techniques. For instance, an effective leader would be able to change from an Autocratic leadership style to a Laissez-Faire leadership style when there is a crisis (ie. 9/11) and individual decisions must be made under time pressure.
Which style am I?
1. Democratic Leadership : 22
2. Autocratic Leadership :20
3. Laissez- Faire Leadership :15
The above ranking of my leadership style was calculated with a questionnaire that can be found at the link below:
http://studysites.sagepub.com/northouseintro2e/study/resources/questionnaires/89527_03q.pdf
Before I knew this, I made an assumption on the descriptions of which style I thought I undertook:
http://studysites.sagepub.com/northouseintro2e/study/resources/questionnaires/89527_03q.pdf
Before I knew this, I made an assumption on the descriptions of which style I thought I undertook:
Which style I thought I was (before questionnaire)
KEY
A: Autocratic Leadership
D: Democratic Leadership
L: Laissez-Faire Leadership
Tf: Transformational Leadership
Ts: Transactional Leadership
P: People orientated Leadership
T: Task orientated Leadership
A: Autocratic Leadership
D: Democratic Leadership
L: Laissez-Faire Leadership
Tf: Transformational Leadership
Ts: Transactional Leadership
P: People orientated Leadership
T: Task orientated Leadership
(looking only at A, D & L)
The graph above, shows that I thought that I was a very democratic leader, followed by a autocratic leader, and the least being a Laissez- Faire leader. Although the results from the questionnaire showed that this order was correct, the difference between the three heights were a lot flatter (less varying) on the graph than I had perceived it to be. In other words, I am able to transition from and to different leadership styles according to different situations, which is an advantage.
The graph above, shows that I thought that I was a very democratic leader, followed by a autocratic leader, and the least being a Laissez- Faire leader. Although the results from the questionnaire showed that this order was correct, the difference between the three heights were a lot flatter (less varying) on the graph than I had perceived it to be. In other words, I am able to transition from and to different leadership styles according to different situations, which is an advantage.
Tannenbaum & Schmidt Continnum
The Tannenbaum & Schmidt continuum, developed by Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt in 1958, shows the amount of authority and freedom the leader of a group uses on a continuum. The continuum shows one end as extreme authority and the other end as extreme freedom. As the level of authority increases, the level of freedom decreases and as the level of freedom increases, the level of authority decreases.
To apply the Tannenbaum & Schmidt theory to us, we completed an activity that involves us getting into groups, picking a leader, then attempting to build a bridge made out of the resources we were given (paper, tape). The aim was to allow a bowl of water to pass under the bridge and also to balance on top of the bride by itself. The purpose of this activity was the test how
authoritative the leader was on the rest of the team members. My group's leader turned out to be quite authoritative and didn't give us much freedom.
authoritative the leader was on the rest of the team members. My group's leader turned out to be quite authoritative and didn't give us much freedom.
John Adair: Action Centered Leadership
According to John Adair, there are 3 elements to all leadership situations:
1)Task
2)Team
3)Individual
The Action-Centered Leadership Model says that effective leaders have to balance the three elements if they want their groups to succeed. This model is interdependent; if the leader focuses too much on one element and less on the others, the group is likely to face problems.
1)Task
2)Team
3)Individual
The Action-Centered Leadership Model says that effective leaders have to balance the three elements if they want their groups to succeed. This model is interdependent; if the leader focuses too much on one element and less on the others, the group is likely to face problems.
The 8 leadership functions required to achieve success:
- Defining the task
- Planning
- Briefing
- Controlling
- Evaluating
- Motivating
- Organising
- Setting an example
How can this leadership model be applied?
GOOGLE VS. APPLE
Google and Apple are both hugely successful companies that have the same traits of innovation and likability, but use different leadership styles. Apple is known to be introverted, secretive and perfectionist, quite autocratic, whereas google is an open source that launches produces all all different stages of production- quite democratic. The late CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, cared mostly about the task that needed to be achieved and a bit about the team development. In contrast, Google (lead by Sundar Pichai) cares about the team and individual members, and hope that this development will eventually lead to achievement of the task.
GOOGLE VS. APPLE
Google and Apple are both hugely successful companies that have the same traits of innovation and likability, but use different leadership styles. Apple is known to be introverted, secretive and perfectionist, quite autocratic, whereas google is an open source that launches produces all all different stages of production- quite democratic. The late CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, cared mostly about the task that needed to be achieved and a bit about the team development. In contrast, Google (lead by Sundar Pichai) cares about the team and individual members, and hope that this development will eventually lead to achievement of the task.
