Leadership Theories and Concepts

Evolution of leadership theories 1) The Great man Theory (Trait Theories) These were basis of leadership research until 1940’s. The great man theory from Aristoteham philosophy asserts that some people are born to lead whereas others are born to be led. Trait theory(ies) assume that some people have certain characteristics or personality trait that make them better leaders than others. (refer to traits as stipulated by Bass (notes) Behavioral Theories During human relations era, many behavioural and social scientists studying management also studied leadership.

Emphasis was on what the leader did – leaders style of leadership (Lewin 1951) and White & LippiH (1960) came up with leadership styles:

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1. Authoritarian ii) Democratic & leissez-faire Authoritarian leader is characterized by the following behaviours (refer previous notes also)
2. Strong control is maintained over the work group.
3. Others are motivated by coercion.
4. Others are directed with commands.
5. Communication flows downwards.
6. Decision making does not involve others.
7. Emphasis is on difference in status (“I” and “you”).

• Criticism is punitive (should be constructive) Productivity is high but creativity, self motivation and autonomy are reduced. Authoritarian leadership is useful in crisis situations and frequently found in large bureaucrasis such as Armed Forces.

Democratic leader exhibits the following behaviours * Less control is maintained. * Economic and ego awards are used to motivate. * Others are directed thorough suggestions and guidance. * Communication flows up and down. * Decision making involves others. * Emphasis is on “we” rather than “I” and “you”. * Criticism is constructive.

Because many people have to be consulted it takes time and therefore frustrating to these who wants modified. Leissez-Fair Leader * Is permissive with little or no control. * Motivate by support when requested by the group or individuals. * Provides little or no direction. * Uses upward and downward communication – members of group. * Places emphasis on the group and does not criticize. * Leissezfare leadership is appropriate when problems are poorly defined and brainstorming is needed to generate alternative solutions. Situational & Contingency Leadership Theories:

No one leadership style is ideal for every situation Situational Theories: Leaders are product of a given situation. It supports the follower theory which states that people will follow people who they see as means of accomplishing their personal ends. Contingency Theory .The theory urgues that leaders must alter their style in a manner consistent with the aspects of the context Combines traits and situation. People become leaders because of their responsibility and situational factors. * Leader subordinate relationship (a leader/people to lead). The extent to which the leader is liked, trusted and respected by followers. * The task structure, whether jobs are structured and clarified. The position power and degree of influence a leader has over the group e. g. hire or fire, discipline promotes rewards and 1. Blake and Moutonris managerial grid 9 roles of managerial gnd). The managerial grid Five leadership styles are plotted in four quadrants of a two dimensional grid. The grid depicts various degrees of leader 1. Impoverished – Low concern for both production and people. 2. Authority compliance – high concern for production and low concern for people. . Middle of the road – moderate concern for production and people. 4. Country club – High concern for people and low concern for production. 5. Team – High concern for both production and people. MANAGERIAL GRID 91. 9 Country club9. 9 Team 8 Concern for people 7 6 55. 5 Middle of the road 4 3 2 1 1. 1 Impoverished9. 1 Authority Compliance 0123456789 Concern for production Continuum of leadership behavior Leadership is depicted as occurring along a continuum. It focuses on decision making styles of managers let and continuum – reflects a manager’s centred style.

Managers are autocratic and directive and simply makes and announces decisions. At the right end, managers are employee centred. They use a laissez-faire style and permit employees to set their own goals and function within established parameters. NB: No leadership style is appropriate/correct for every management situation. Manager centred leadershipEmployee centred leadership Use of Authority by The manager Area of freedom for employees * incentives. Contemporary Theories of Leadership i) Schein (1970) – Systems Theory. SYSTEM 4 MANAGEMENT Developed by Likert.

It is based on the premise that involving employees in decisions about work is central to effective leadership. It has four dimensions based on increasing levels of employee’s involvement. 1. Autocratic leaders – have little trust in employees and exclude them in decision making. 2. Benevolent leaders – Are kind to employees but still do not involve them in decision making. 3. Consultative leaders – Seek employee’s advice about decisions. 4. Participative or democratic leaders – they value employees involvement, team work and team building.

They also have high levels of confidence in employees and seek consensus in decision making. Transformational Leadership Burns (1978) suggested that both leaders and followers have the ability to raise each other to higher levels of motivation and morality. He identified this concept as transformational leadership. He maintained that there are two types of leaders in management. 1. The traditional manager, concerned with the day to day operations was termed as Transactional Leader. 2. The manager who is committed, has a vision and is able to empower others with this vision was termed as Transformational leader.

Differences between the two: Transactional LeaderTransformational Leader * Focuses on management tasks. - Identifies common values. * Is caretaker (takes care of tasks. - Is committed (extra mile). * Uses tradeoffs to meet goals. - Inspires others with vision. * Shared values not identified. - Has longterm vision. * Examiner causes. - Looks at effects. * Uses contingency rewards. - Empowers others. Vision is the essence of transformational leadership. Vision implies the ability to picture some future state and describe it to others so they will begin to share the dream.

Wolf and colleagues (1994) defined transformational leadership as an interactive relationship based on trust that positively impacts both the leader and the follower. * The purposes of the leader and follower become focused, crating unity, wholeness and collective purpose. Transformational leaders are able to crate change because of their futuristic focus, values, creativity and innovations. * They value organizational culture and values strongly perpetuating these some values and behaviours in their staff. “Visioning is the mark of transformational leader; visionary leadership allows nurses to create a picture of an ideal future.

In sharing these visions the transformational leader empowers staff to find a common ground and a sense of connection. Transformational leaders do the following to achieve results: i. Involve stakeholders (including staff) from the outset when change occurs. ii. Focus on the quality of service. iii. Use non-hierarchical teams with devolved leadership. iv. Create supportive and informal culture. v. Implement successful change leadership. Important concepts in leading/directing Supervision (overseeing) Supervision is another leadership behavior.

It includes inspecting another’s work, evaluating his/her performance and approving or correcting performance. Good supervision is facilitative because a good supervisor inspects work in progress and can remedy inadequate performance before serious consequences develop. The intensity of supervision should match situational requirements, employees needs and managers leadership skills. Supervision must be appropriate in type and intensity for work groups members to interact effectively e. g. technical nurses need closer supervision than professional nurses. Intensity of supervision should also depend on manger-caregiver ration.

A manager can effectively supervise a large number of subordinates when they are confined in a small area, perform similar jobs and are fairly educated. The purpose of supervision is to inspect, evaluate and improve worker performance. Therefore a criteria is needed for judging the quality of work processes and outcomes. Job description and associated performance standards provide such evaluation criteria. The following performance elements should be appraised. 1. Quantity of work output 2. Quality of output 3. Time use 4. Conservation of resources 5. Assistance to co-workers 6. Support of administrators Co-ordination

This is another leadership activity. It includes all activities that enable work group members to work together harmoniously. Co-ordination ensures that everything that needs to be done is done and that no two people are doing the same thing (or duplication of activity). Coordinating means: 1. Distributing authority 2. Providing channels of communication 3. Arranging work so that the * Right things are done. * At the right time * In the right place * In the right way * By the right people The overall results of coordination should be orderly work, harmonious, efficient and successful activities Communication

Management is working through others in order to achieve organizational goals. Therefore a manager must be able to communicate ideas, opinions, requests and directions effectively to co-workers. Effective communications consist of transmitting an accurate message to the proper recipients at the appropriate time in a manner that conserves the senders and receivers energy, followed by checking that the intended message was received. Communication can therefore be defined as the exchange of information or understanding between a sender (source) and a receiver (audience).

It includes verbal and non verbal through which meaning is conveyed to others. Silence is also considered as communication since it can also convey a meaning. The process involves a message which is encoded and transmitted through some medium to a receiver who decodes the message and then a feedback to the sender. Communication model: Methods of communication (channels) Receiver Sender Message Feedback Giving feedback indicates understanding of the message; hence there is effective two way communication which is necessary for effective management: ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATION: (give a handout)

Formal channels of communication: Those are the official paths prescribed by the management which generally follow the organizational chain of command: information may be communicated in several ways: a. Downward communication b. Upward communication c. Horizontal communication Downward communication: The information flows down the organizational hierarchy from managers to subordinates and the objectives of this four of communication is: * To give directives. The staff is told what needs to be done or given information to facilitate the job to be done e. g. procedure guidelines. Upward Communication:

Occurs from staff to management or from lower management to middle or upper management. It mainly involves reporting pertinent information to facilitate problem solving and decision making. It reveals problem areas, indicates status of worker ‘s morale and makes workers feel part of the organization. Horizontal communication: This is routinely achieved through committees or teams e. g. Outpatient management teams, clerical teams. Committees provide a mechanism for representatives of different organizational units at similar levels to discuss common problems and potential problems face to face.

This is time consuming, expensive and their decisions are often compromises that may represent ineffectual solution. Lateral Communication: Occurs between individuals or departments at the same hierarchical level (e. g. nurse managers). Diagonal Communication: Involves individuals or departments at different hierarchical levels (staff nurse to chief of medical staff). Both lateral and diagonal communication involves information sharing, discussion and negotiation. Informal Communication: An informal channel seen in organization is the grapevine (i. e. rumours and gossips).

This is often rapid, haphazard and prone to distortion. Managers can control negative aspects of the grapevine by communicating accurately, timely information, by maintaining and activating open channels of communication in all directions and by moving quickly to correct inaccurate information. BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION 1. Environmental Barriers: (Noise, Attention, Time) a. Noise – Can cause misunderstanding since it makes it difficult for one to hear. b. Attention – Multiple and Simultaneous demands on the sender may cause the message content to be packaged inappropriately (phone, signing documents). c.

Time – If less, the sender may have little opportunity to completely think through structure the message to be conveyed, while to the receiver there is inadequate opportunity to ascertain its meaning. 2. Philosophy, Levels, Power Status a. Philosophy – an organization that is not interested in promoting communication upward or downward will certainly establish procedural and organizational blockages. E. g. inaccessibility to superiors, lack of interest in employees, insufficient time to receive information, retard communication flow, lack of action with regard to complaints, ideas, and problems tend to discourage flow of information.

Multiple levels in an organization hierarchy tend to cause message distortion. b. Levels: When multiple links exists in the communication chain information will be rearranged as it is transmitted to other receivers. c. Power status relationship: This can also distort or inhibit transmission of message. A discordant superior-subordinate relationship can dampen the flow and content of information. In health organizations it is quite common e. g. patients may not question the doctor or a very experienced nurse may not tell a doctor that the treatment is wrong! d.

Terminology and Complexity of the message: Words mean specific things to those who are familiar with them and tend to minimize misunderstanding vice versa. Complexity of message with terminology that may be unfamiliar to the receiver will obviously lead to misunderstanding of the message. COMMUNICATION IN GROUPS / TEAMS A GROUP:- A group is an aggregate of individual who interact and mutually influence each other. We have two types of Groups Formal Groups These are clusters of individuals designated by an organization to perform specified organ tasks. Taskforces, committees teams e. injection control team. Informal Groups Groups that evolve from social interactions that are not defined by an organizational structure. e. g People who take levels together who convince sponeneously to discuss a clinical dilemma. A. Teams Teams are real groups in which individuals must work co0operatively with other in order to achieve some goals. They demonstrate healthy interdependence. A team is composed of a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals and approach for which they held themselves mutually accountable.

Teams have commend or line authonty to perform tasks and membership is based on the specific skills required to accomplish the task. Phases of GROUP AND formation Concepts/ leaves develop in the following phases 1. Forming 2. Storming 3. Norming 4. Performing 5. Adjourning 1. Forming This is the initial stage of group development in which individual members assemble into a well defined cluster ( members get to know each other, and very cautions. 2. Storming The second stage of group department, in which group members develop ** and relationship; competition and conflict generally occur. . Norming 3rd stage of Group development. The Group defines its goals and rules of behavior. They define acceptable and unacceptable behavior attitudes. They define acceptable and unacceptable behavior attitudes ** develops. 4. performing (4th stage) The members agree on basic purposes and activities and came out the work. Cooperation improves and emotional issues subside. Members communicate effectively and interact in a relaxed atmosphere of sharing. 5. Adjourning This is the final stage of group development, in which a group dissolves after achieving its objectives.

Team building/ team development. This is a group development technique that focuses on task and relationship aspects of group functioning in order to build team cohesiveness. Team building involves a) Gathering data through individual interviews, questioners and or group meetings a benefit the team and its functioning. b) Digressing the team strengths and arcsine need of development. c) Helding semi- structural retreat sessions usually ducted by an experienced facilitator aimed at addressing priority team problem. Characteristics of effective teams 1. Clear objectives and agreed goals . Openness and confrontation 3. Support and trust 4. Co-operation and conflict 5. Sound procedures 6. Appropriate leadership 7. Regular review 8. Individual development 9. Sound intergroup relations Communicating in Groups Characteristics of Groups 1) Norms: These are informal rule sin behaviour shared and enforced by group members e. g Time keeping, changing of shifts. Roles A role is a set of expected behaviors that fit together into a unified whole and are characteristic of persons in a given context. Roles commonly seen in groups can be classified as auther; Task Roles

Nurturing roles or social emotional roles Individuals performing task roles attempt to keep group focused on its goals. STATUS This is a social ranking of individual relative to others in a group based on the position they occupy. Status comes from factors the group values such as achievement, personal characteristics the ability to control rewards or the ability to control information. Higher status members often exercise more influence in group decisions than others. In Summary Communication is influenced by the status and roles of the individuals who dominate team discussions. e. High – status members who are fulfilling key roles in relation to a teams priorities are likely to exercise considerable control over communication in the group by determining topics, setting the tone of the discussions and influencing how decisions are made. Communicating with others in the clinical setting 1. Communicating with supervisions Communicate with supervision to develop a good working relationship. 1. Always observe professional courtesy. 2. incase of any problem, follow the policy and procedure of the organization 3. If not an emergency, request for an appointment, to discuss the problem further.

This demonstrates right time and place. 4. State the concern clearly and accurately. 5. Provide supporting evidence 6. State a willingness to co-operate in finding the solution. 7. Match behaviors to words. Communicating with co-workers * To collectively provide quality patients care, nurses depend on co-workers and this requires effective communication. * Do unto others as you wound have them do into you * Your perspective should be that all members of the team are important to successfully realize quality patient care. * Appreciate others for work well done * Offer constructive feedback Be open to the possibility that coworkers especially those with experience have some wisdom to share with you. Communicating with others practitioners * Always introduce yourself to other practitioners. ( or if you are the manager, introduce new gradates. Students to other practitioners) * Be honest and up front. Ask something that you are not aware off. * Show respect and consideration for other practitioners you work with ( But don’t be a dormant) * Present information in a straight forward manner, clearly delineating the problem supported by pertinent evidence. Document well especially if the expected actions were not done in the incident book. MOTIVATION Motivation describes the factors that initiate and direct behavior. Therefore a nurse manager’s most important leadership task is to maximize subordinates work motivation because employees bring to the organization different needs and goals, the type and intensity of motivators vary among employees. Therefore the nurse manager must know which needs the employee expects to satisfy through employment and should be able to predict, which needs will be satisfied through the job duties of each nursing position.

Importance of Motivation Motivation is a very important for an organization because of the following benefits it provides:- 1. Puts human resources into action Every concern requires physical, financial and human resources to accomplish the goals. It is through motivation that the human resources can be utilized by making full use of it. This can be done by building willingness in employees to work. This will help the enterprise in securing best possible utilization of resources. 2. Improves level of efficiency of employees The level of a subordinate or a employee does not only depend upon his qualifications and abilities.

For getting best of his work performance, the gap between ability and willingness has to be filled which helps in improving the level of performance of subordinates. This will result into- a. Increase in productivity, b. Reducing cost of operations, and c. Improving overall efficiency. 3. Leads to achievement of organizational goals The goals of an enterprise can be achieved only when the following factors take place :- d. There is best possible utilization of resources, e. There is a co-operative work environment, f. The employees are goal-directed and they act in a purposive manner, g.

Goals can be achieved if co-ordination and co-operation takes place simultaneously which can be effectively done through motivation. 4. Builds friendly relationship Motivation is an important factor which brings employees satisfaction. This can be done by keeping into mind and framing an incentive plan for the benefit of the employees. This could initiate the following things: h. Monetary and non-monetary incentives, i. Promotion opportunities for employees, j. Disincentives for inefficient employees. In order to build a cordial, friendly atmosphere in a concern, the above steps should be taken by a manager.

This would help in: a. Effective co-operation which brings stability, b. Industrial dispute and unrest in employees will reduce, c. The employees will be adaptable to the changes and there will be no resistance to the change, d. This will help in providing a smooth and sound concern in which individual interests will coincide with the organizational interests, e. This will result in profit maximization through increased productivity. 1. Leads to stability of work force Stability of workforce is very important from the point of view of reputation and goodwill of a concern.

The employees can remain loyal to the enterprise only when they have a feeling of participation in the management. The skills and efficiency of employees will always be of advantage to employees as well as employees. This will lead to a good public image in the market which will attract competent and qualified people into a concern. As it is said, “Old is gold” which suffices with the role of motivation here, the older the people, more the experience and their adjustment into a concern which can be of benefit to the enterprise. From the above discussion, we can say that otivation is an internal feeling which can be understood only by manager since he is in close contact with the employees. Needs, wants and desires are inter-related and they are the driving force to act. These needs can be understood by the manager and he can frame motivation plans accordingly. We can say that motivation therefore is a continuous process since motivation process is based on needs which are unlimited. The process has to be continued throughout. We can summarize by saying that motivation is important both to an individual and a business. Motivation is important to an individual as: 1.

Motivation will help him achieve his personal goals. 2. If an individual is motivated, he will have job satisfaction. 3. Motivation will help in self-development of individual. 4. An individual would always gain by working with a dynamic team. Similarly, motivation is important to a business as: 1. The more motivated the employees are, the more empowered the team is. 2. The more is the team work and individual employee contribution, more profitable and successful is the business. 3. During period of amendments, there will be more adaptability and creativity. 4.

Motivation will lead to an optimistic and challenging attitude at work place. Motivational theories (REFER TO NOTES ON NEOCLASSICAL THEORISTS) Motivational theories were concerned with three things: a. What mobilizes or energizes human behavior. b. What directs behavior towards the accomplishment of some objectives. c. How such behavior is sustained over-time. Motivation theorists 1. Maslow Hierarchy of needs (5). 2. Alderfer – 3 need levels: Existence, relatedness, growth theories. 3. Herzbergs two factor theory 4. Skirine’s reinforcement theory – behavior modification (behavior becomes associated with a particular consequence.

Consequences may be positive or negative. A positive reinforces reward, a negative reinforces like punishment. 5. Vrooms expectancy theory – emphasizes the role of rewards and this relationship to the performance of desired behavior. 6. Adams (equity theory) – the motivational theory that suggests that effort and job satisfaction depend on the degree of equity or 7. Goal Theory (locke). 8. Equity – the perception that one’s work contribution is rewarded in the same proportion that another person’s contribution is reward.

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