Choosing a Leadership Style

One of the most popular models for selecting an appropriate leadership style is one proposed by
Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt.

This model describes a variety of leadership styles
along a continuum from highly autocratic have one end to highly participative at the other, as
illustrated in Exhibit 1611.

Seven different leadership styles along this continuum are identified in the exhibit. At one
extreme the manager uses his/her authority to simply make the decision and announce it. At the
other extreme, the manager provides an area of freedom for subordinates and permits them to
function within these limits to make decisions and direct their own activities. According to
Tannenbaum and Schmidt, the appropriate leadership style is determined by (1) forces in the
manager, (2) forces in the subordinates, and (3) forces in the situation.

Some of the important forces in the manager include the manager's value system and the value
the manager places on participation and involvement by subordinates. The amount of confidence
managers have in their subordinates and the manager's ability to handle uncertainty are also
relevant.




The forces in a subordinate include such things as whether subordinates have high needs for
independence, whether they are ready to assume responsibility for decision making, whether they
are interested in the problems, and whether they possess the necessary experience to deal with
them. As subordinates gain greater skill and competence in managing themselves, leaders ought
to provide more autonomy for them.

The forces in the situation include the culture of the organization and its history of allowing
subordinates to exercise autonomy, cohesiveness in the group and the degree to which the
members work together as a unit, the nature of the problem itself and the question of whether
subordinates have the knowledge and experience needed to solve it, and the pressures of time,
since group decision making is time-consuming and ineffective in a crisis situation.

The framework provided by Tannenbaum and Schmidt provides a useful way to analyze a leadership
situation and choose a successful leadership pattern. The successful leader is one who is aware of the
situational forces and responds appropriately to them. Effective leaders need to understand themselves,
the members of the group, the company, and the broader social environment in which they operate. As a
long-term strategy, Tannenbaum and Schmidt encourage leaders to change their subordinates and the
situation in a way that allows them to gradually provide greater opportunity for subordinate
involvement.

Strategies for Improving Leadership

With thousands of books and articles written about leadership, it is surprising the followers. When we
acknowledge the leaders capacity to reward the behavior of followers, we should not overlook the
capacity of the followers to reward the leader by the ways they perform. For example, organizations
reward managers according to the performance of their group. Consequently, the managers of high-
performing groups are highly rewarded by the organization.


One study has demonstrated the reciprocal nature of influence between leaders and subordinates. In this
study, data were collected from first-line managers and two of the supervisors who reported to them.
Leaders who were more considerate created greater satisfaction among their subordinates; but, at the
same time, the performance of the subordinates caused changes in the behavior of the leaders.
43
Employees who performed well caused their supervisor is to reward them and treat them with greater
consideration. Although research on the reciprocal influence between leaders and followers is still rather
limited, it is important to remember that leadership may be significantly constrained by the followers.

Constraints on leader behavior. Leaders do not have unlimited opportunities to influence others.
Leadership effectiveness is constrained by a variety of factors, such as the extent to which managerial
decisions are preprogrammed due to precedent, structure, technological specifications, laws, and the
absence of available alternatives. Leadership can also be constrained by a variety of organizational
factors limiting the leaders ability to either communicate with or to reinforce the behavior of
subordinates. The constraints imposed on leaders include external factors organizational policies, group
factors, and individual skills and abilities.

1. External factors. Leaders are constrained in what they can do because of various economic
realities and a host of state and federal laws. For example, leaders are required to pay at least the
minimum wage and they are required to enforce safety standards. Leaders who have unskilled
followers will have difficulty leading regardless of their leadership style, and the availability of
skilled followers is influenced by the external labor market. Some geographical areas have a
much better supply of skilled employees than others.
2. Organizational policies. The organization may constrain a leaders effectiveness by limiting the
amount of interaction between leaders and followers and by restricting the leaders ability to
reward or punish followers.

3. Group factors. Group norms are created by the dynamics of the group. If the group is highly
cohesive and very determined, it can limit the leaders ability to influence the group.

4. Individual skills and abilities. The leaders own skills and abilities may act as constraints since
leaders can only possess so much expertise, energy, and power. Some situations may simply
require greater skills and abilities than the leader may possibly hope to possess.

Substitutes for leadership. While some situations constrain leaders other situations make leadership
unnecessary. These variables are referred to as substitute variables because they substitute for leadership
either by making the leaders behavior unnecessary or by neutralizing the leaders ability to influence
subordinates. Some of the variables that tend to substitute for, or neutralize leadership arc illustrated in
Exhibit 16.12. For example, subordinates who possess extensive experience, ability, and training tend to
eliminate the need. For instrumental leadership. The task-oriented instructions from an instrumental
leader are simply unnecessary when subordinates already know what to do. If the subordinates are
indifferent toward rewards offered by the organization, the influence of both supportive leaders and
instrumental leaders is neutralized.

Although the concepts of substitutes and neutralizers for leadership are a relatively new, early studies
seem to support them. For example, studies have to shown that a highly structured situation neutralizes a
leaders efforts to structure the groups behavior.


Realizing that there are constraints on a leaders behavior and that other the factors may serve to
neutralize or substitute for the influence of a leader helps to explain why the research on leadership has
produced such inconsistent results. The fact that the results are inconsistent and generally weak does not
necessarily mean that leadership is unimportant or that leaders dont really account for much. Instead, it
illustrates the complexity of the world in which leaders are required to function. Leadership is an
extremely important function that has an enormous influence on the effectiveness of groups and

organizations. The complexity of the situation, however, may prevent us from knowing in advance
which will be the most effective leadership behaviors.

SUMMARY

1. Leadership refers to incremental influence and is s-aid to occur when one individual influences
others to do something voluntarily that they otherwise would not do. A need for leadership
within organizations stems from the incompleteness of the organization design and the
dynamic nature of the internal and external environments. Three basic leadership roles include
origination of policy and structure, interpolation, and administration.

2. The earliest studies of leadership were primarily trait studies that attempted to identify the
characteristics of effective leaders. These studies focused primarily on physical traits,
intelligence, and personality. Although some personal characteristics were frequently related to
leadership, the results were generally weak and often inconsistent. Many studies concluded that
the characteristics of the subordinate and the nature of the task were as important as the
characteristics of the leader in determining success.





3. A second approach to studying leadership focused on leader behaviorshow leaders actually
behave. One of the earliest studies compared three leadership styles: authoritarian, democratic,
and laissez-faire. Although democratic leadership created the greatest satisfaction, autocratic
leadership created the highest levels of productivity.

4. Research conducted simultaneously at two universities identified two similar leadership
behaviors. At The Ohio State University the researchers labeled these two leader behaviors
initiating structure and consideration. At the University of Michigan the same two factors were
labeled production-centered and employee-centered leader behaviors. These two leader behaviors
appear to identify leadership functions essential to the effectiveness of a group. The two Factors
have been used to form a matrix called the Managerial Grid which places a concern for
production on one side of the grid and concern for people on the other Each dimension is
measured on a nine-point scale, and the ideal leadership style is considered to be 9,9, indicating a
leader who is high in both dimensions. The research evidence, however, does not consistently
support this conclusion.

5. The Failure of leadership research to identify leadership traits or universally superior leader
behaviors resulted in the development of four situational theories of leadership. These theories
suggest that the most effective leadership style depends upon situational variables, especially the
characteristics of the group and the nature of the task.

6. Hersey and B1anchard developed a situational leadership model that matched different
combinations of task behavior and relationship behavior with the maturity of the followers. As
the may of the followers increases, the appropriate leadership style is first telling, then selling,
then participating, and finally, for highly mature followers, delegating.

7. The most extensively researched situational leadership theory is Fred Fiedler's contingency
theory of leadership. Fiedler used the LPC scale to measure the leaders orientation toward
either the task or the person. The most appropriate leadership style was then determined by
assessing three situational variables: whether the relationships between the leader and the
members were good or poor, whether the task was structured or unstructured, and whether the

power position of the leader was strong or weak. When these three situational variables created
an extremely favorable or extremely unfavorable situation, the most effective leadership style
was a task-oriented (low LPC) leader. However, a leader with a high concern for interpersonal
relationships (high LPC) was more effective in situations where there were intermediate levels of
favorableness.

8. The path goal model is another situational leadership theory. This theory is derived from
expectancy theory and suggests that effective leaders must clarify the goal paths and increase the
goal attractiveness for followers. Four distinct leadership styles are proposed in the model:
directive, supportive achievement-oriented and participative leadership styles. The most
appropriate style depends upon two types of situational factors: the characteristics of the follower
arid characteristics of the environment. Three of the most important follower characteristics
include the locus of control, authoritarianism, and personal abilities. The three environmental
factors include the nature of the task, the formal authority system within the organization, and the
group norms and dynamics.



9. Vroom and Yettons normative decision-making model is also a situational leadership theory
since it identifies the appropriate styles leaders should use in making decisions. The three
leadership styles include autocratic decision making, consultative decision making, and group
decision making. The decision titles determining which style is most appropriate include such
questions as whether the leader has adequate information to make the decision alone, whether the
subordinates will accept the goals of the organization, whether subordinates will accept the
decision if they do not participate in making it, and whether the decision will
produce a controversial solution.

10. Although most of the literature on leadership emphasizes the influence of the leader on the
group, the influence of the group upon the leader should not be overlooked. The relationship
between the leader and the group implies a reciprocal influence. Groups have the capacity to
influence the behavior of their leaders by responding selectively to specific leader behaviors. The
influence of a leader can also be constrained by several external factors, such as organizational
policies, group norms, and individual skills and abilities. Other variables have been found to
neutralize or substitute for the influence of a leader, such as the skills and abilities of followers
and the nature of the task itself.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Studies of the relationship between physical traits and leadership suggest that leaders tend to be
tall, dark, and handsome. How do you account for these results?

2. What is the relationship between the two leader behaviors, initiating structure and consideration,
and the two group roles discussed in Chapter 10: work roles and maintenance roles? What does
this association suggest in terms of essential activities for group functioning?

3. Apply Fiedlers contingency theory of leadership by identifying two extremely different
situations, one extremely favorable and the other extremely unfavorable, and explain why a task-
oriented (low LW) leader is most effective in each situation.

4. What is the relationship between expectancy theory and the path-goal model
0
f leadership? -


5. An important difference in the implications of situational leadership theories is whether lead-
ership styles can be learned or changed. What is your opinion about the possibility of signifi-
cantly changing an individuals basic leadership style?

6. The relationship between the leader and the group invokes a reciprocal influence relationship.
Who do you think exerts the greatest influence, the leader or the group? Using the principles of
operant conditioning, describe how a group would need to behave in order to create a punitive,
authoritarian supervisor or a rewarding, participative supervisor.



GLOSSARY

Consideration. Leader behavior that focuses on the comfort, well-being, satisfaction, and need fulfill-
ment of subordinates.

Contingency theories of leadership. Leadership theories that recognize the influence of situational
variables in determining the ideal styles of leadership. Four contingency leadership theories include
Hersey and Blanchards situational leadership model, Fiedlers contingency theory, Houses path-goal
theory, and Vroom and Yettons normative decision-making model.

Initiating structure. Leader behavior that focuses on clarifying and defining the roles and task
responsibilities for subordinates.

LPC scale. A questionnaire with sixteen semantic differential scales that are used to measure the least
preferred coworker. This scale measures a persons leadership orientation.

Leader behaviors. The kinds of behaviors that leaden actually perform in a group. The two leader
behaviors that have been consistently observed including task-related activities, called initiating
structure or production-centered activities, and interpersonal relations activities, sometimes called
consideration or employee-centered activities.

Leadership. The incremental influence that one individual exerts upon another and that causes the
second person to change his or her behavior voluntarily. Three leadership roles include origination of
structure by top-level managers, interpolation or adapting the structure by middle-level managers and
administration or implementation of the policies and procedures by lower-level supervisors.

Managerial Grid A matrix that combines two factors: concern for people and concern for
production. Each factor is measured with a nine-point scale.

Neutralizers of leadership. Forces that tend to destroy the influence of a leader or make it
ineffective.

Normative decision-making model A decision-making model that is also a theory of leadership
which suggests that the roost appropriate decision-making style for a leader depends upon situational
factors, such as the information possessed by leader and followers and whether group members will
accept the decision.

Path-goal model A contingency theory of leadership based upon expectancy theory which suggests
that the characteristics of the follower and environmental factors should determine which of four
leadership styles is most appropriate.

Relationship-oriented leader (high LPC) According to Fiedler, a leader who sees desirable
characteristics even in his or her least preferred coworker.

Substitutes for leadership. Subordinate, task. Or organizational factors that decrease the importance
of leaders influence; forces within the environment that supplant or replace the influence of the
leader.

Task-oriented leader (low LPC) According to Fiedler, a leader who shows a strong emotional dislike
for his or her least preferred coworker.