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Original Title: Achieving Goals through People. Rephrased Title: Achieving Goals WITH People.

By the end of this session students should be able to:


Identify what leadership is and what it means to be a

leader (especially in the context of the workplace)also; Recognise the skills and attributes of effective leaders; Understand basic theories of Leadership

(Author details are available via Moodle)

Many definitions of leadership exist:


There are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept Stodgill (1974)

35,000 definitions of leadership according to Dubrin (2000).

Good Leaders are made not born. To inspire your people into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and do. Leadership makes people want to achieve high goals and objectives, (whereas, bosses tell people to accomplish a task or objective).

3 basic ways to explain how people become leaders:


A crisis or important event Personality traits Great Events Traits Theory Theory Choosing and learning to become leaders Transformational Leadership Theory

Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible (Colin Powell)

Most Leaders learn their skills, they are not born with them and therefore people can choose to become leaders.
Thus, people can learn leadership skills.

the creation of a vision about a desired future state which seeks to enmesh all members of an organisation in its net Bryman (1986) Northouse (2004): Leadership is a process Leadership involves influence Leadership occurs in groups Leadership involves goal-achievement

As Northouse (2004) recognised in the four points just seen: leaders are people who exercise influence over others
However - the ability to influence also needs the permission of those to be influenced - leaders need followers.

The great man theory of history states that the fate of societies, and organisations, is in the hands of key, powerful, idiosyncratic individuals, who by force of personality reach positions of influence from which they can direct and dominate the lives of others. THUS the title of leaders is given to those who seem to be able to motivate us ordinary people to behave in extraordinary ways.

A trait is a distinguishing quality or characteristic of a person. Although we said earlier a leader learns to be a leader others argue that some people hold innate qualities Rowitz (2009) There are hundreds of personality traits, this discussion will focus on a few that are crucial for a leader. The more of these displayed by a leader, the more people will believe and trust in that leader.

Physical characteristics (height, appearance)

Personality Characteristics (extroversion)


Skills and Abilities (intelligence) Social Factors (interpersonal skills)

Take a look at the Character and Traits in Leadership article on Moodle Think in terms of any traits outlined in this article that could apply to you. Do you recognise these in yourself at all?

Intuitively appealing Century of research to support it Conceptual in nature Gives us ideas of what we need to look for

1. Does not tell us which are the essential traits 2. Nor how much of a given trait/characteristic is required 3. Fails to take the situation into account 4. Can encourage an elitist concept of Leadership

1940s onward saw leadership effectiveness as dependent on leader behavior. 1. Rensis Likert - two forms of leader behaviorjob-centered (production) and employee-centered. -Attempt made to balance task and relationship emphasis.

2. Managerial/Leadership Grid developed by Blake & Mouton. -Two dimensions similar to Michigan/Ohio State Studies. -Concern for subordinates and concern for production/results.

Theory x and Theory y But also, Behaviourists identified determinants of leadership so that people could be trained to be leaders. developed training programs to change managers' leadership behaviour assumed that the best styles of leadership could be learned.

Fred E. Fiedler's contingency theory postulates that there is no best way for managers to lead. Situations will create different leadership style requirements for a manager. The solution to a managerial situation is contingent on the factors that impinge on the situation.

Leader Team Task

Path to success rewards and goals (House) Power relations (Fiedler et alia) Direction vs Emotional support (Hersey/Blanchard)

Two emerging leadership perspectives: -Transactional which focuses on leader and follower relationships. -Transformational (also called charismatic) focuses on creating vision, purpose, or mission.

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