leadership

• defining leadership

  • chemers (2001) - a process of social influence through which an individual enlists and mobilises the aid of pthers in the attainment of a collective goal
  • differs from influence, exercise of power and conformity
  • often an intergroup
  • good vs bad, effective vs ineffective, subjective vs objective
• kuhn (1962) - paradigm shifts

  • attribution error?
  • ignores incremental change driven by peers
• great person theory of leadership

  • leadership - a constellation of personality attributes that imbue individuals with charisma and leadership ability
  • e.g. above average size, healthy, physically attractive, self-confident, sociable, need for dominance, intelligent, talkative
• are leaders born or made?

  • early perspectives focused on the leader - what makes them different to everyone else?
  • stogdill (1948, 1974) reviewed studies of leadership characteristics - average correlation of 0.30
  • mann (1959) explored the correlations between key personality traits and leadership
• situational perspectives 

  • “To elicit the laws of history we must leave aside kings, ministers and generals, and select for study the homogenous, infinitesimal elements which influence the masses” – Tolstoy
  • Marx’s Theory of History – emphasis on the actions of groups, not individuals
  • Simonton (1980) – analysis of 300 historical battles
  • Situational factors (e.g., size of army) counted
  • But so too did attributes of the leader (e.g., previous experience)
  • Are there some situations where we find ourselves as leaders? Does style matter in a given situation?
• the importance of style 

  • rather than being about who they are, is leadership derived from what the person does?
  • lippitt and white (1943)
  • examined the effects of leader behaviour on group performance and morale within young boys’ after-school activities clubs
  • leaders were trained to be either
  • autocratic - organised club activities, gave orders, focused exclusively on the task at hand
  • democratic - called for suggesyions, discussed plans and behaved like ordinary club members
  • laissez-faire - left group to its own devices, minimal intervention
• What is the term used to describe a leader with strong communication skills?

  Charisma
• What do charismatic leaders do effectively?

  Articulate a compelling vision and arouse emotions
• What is the process of charisma in leadership?

  • Interaction between leader's qualities and followers
  • Followers' needs and identification with the leader
  • Situational factors like need for change or crisis
• How do recent models view charisma?

  As arising through behavior and relationships
• What did Bass (1985, 1990) identify as two types of leader-group relations?

  Transformational and transactional
• What characterizes transformational leadership?

  Leader provides vision or inspiration
• What characterizes transactional leadership?

  Leader intervenes when problems arise
• Why is transformational leadership considered more effective?

  It focuses on vision and inspiration
• How is leadership viewed in terms of personality?

  Not as an enduring personality quality
• What is more important in leadership, according to the study material?

  How leaders behave rather than who they are
• rising to leadership

  • churchill; from MP to allied leader and back again
  • sherif et al (1961) - robbers cave - move to competitive scenario, change leader
  • successful leadership reflects situational demands & is not purely governed by personality traits
• fiedler (1965) contingency theory

  • effectiveness of task-oriented versus socio-emotional leaders is contingent on their match with the situation
  • the most important feature of the situational control, determined by three things;
  • quality of leader-member relations
  • clarity of the structure of the task
  • intrinsic power and authority granted to a leader by virtue of their position
  • when situational control is very high or low, task oriented leaders should be most effective
  • when situational control is intermediate, socio-emotional leaders should be most effective
• least preferred co-worker (LPC) scale

  • not about co-workers, but instead a measure of leadership style
  • high LPC score = relationship oriented leadership style (feel favourably towards colleagues even when they aren’t performing well)
  • low LPC score = task oriented leadership style (harshly evaluate poorly performing colleagues)
• fiedler’s contingency model

  • Task-motivated leaders excel in very favorable or unfavorable situations.
  • Relationship-motivated leaders perform best in moderately favorable situations.

  Position power affects control:

  • High power leaders (e.g., CEOs) can reward/punish effectively.
  • Low power leaders have limited control, even when leading.
• contingency model critiques 

  • what to LPC scores mean?
  • doesnt account for 20% of the population
  • low test-retest reliability - correlations ranging from 0.01 to 0.93 (median = .67; Rice, 1978)
  • leadership style can be taught
  • seems unlikely that leadership approaches would be stable and fixed
• leadership as a process

  • leaders are group members too
  • they must be seen as loyal and act in the groups interest
  • leaders are special
  • must be innovative and must instigate change
• social identity theory of leadership

  • leadership has identity function - we look to our leaders to express clarity, focus, identity etc.
  • social identity theory (SIT) of leadership (hogg 2001)
  • stronger identification with in-group - do prototypical members become more influential?
  • Hains, Hogg & Duck (1997) – participants rated leadership effectiveness when leader was prototypical or not and possessed good leadership skills or not.
  • Group membership salience – high or low

  → highly prototypical leaders seen as most effective when salience is high
• social identity processes

  • prototypical leaders more influential in salient groups
  • embody group attributes and are viewed as a source of conformity processes
  • liked as group members facilitates influence
  • find group more central and identifies strongly with it
  • they can construct and maintain the prototype, securing leadership position
• leadership as a process

  a process that emerges out of reciprocal interactions between individuals and the groups to which they belong
• identity prototypicality 


  representing the unique qualities that define the group and what it means to be a member of this group; embodying those core attributes of the group that make this group special as well as distinct from other groups. Being an exemplar of the group.
• identity advancement 


  advancing and promoting the core interests of the group. Standing up for, defending, group interests (separate from personal interests). Championing concerns and ambitions key to the group as a whole. Contribution to realization of group goals. Acting to prevent group failures and overcome obstacles to achieve group objectives.
• identity entrepreneurship


  Bringing people together by creating a shared sense of ‘we’ and ‘us’ within the group. Making different people feel they are part of the same group, increasing cohesion and inclusiveness. Clarifying people’s understanding of what the group stands for by defining values/norms/ideals.
• identity impresarioship


  Developing structures, events and activities that give weight to the group’s existence and allow group members to live out their membership. Promoting structures to facilitate shared understanding/coordination/success. Creating group-related materials and delivering outcomes. Making the group matter within and without.
• gender disparity in leadership - business

  • just one out of every three managers in the EU is female despite being half of all those employed
  • only 18% of senior executives in the EU in 2019
  • in 2020 only 7.9% of CEOs were women
• gender disparity in leadership - academia

  • the higher up the academic ladder, the wider the gender gap
  • overall women hold 41.3% of academic positions across the EU
  • however at grade A (senior positions) this drops to 23.7%
  • in 2019 female academics earn on average 15.1% less than male counterparts
• The results of the original Schein studies (1973, 1975)…

  Both male and female managers perceive that the characteristics associated with managerial success are more likely to be held by men than by women.
• stereotypes are not only descriptive but also prescriptive (Heilman 2001)

  • role congruity theory suggests these stereotypes can produce two negative outcomes (eagly & karau 2002)
  • less favourable evaluation of the potential for women to take on leadership roles compared to men
  • less favourable evaluations of the actual behaviour of female leaders
• the glass ceiling


  unseen yet unbreakable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder regardless of qualifications
• the glass escalator


  men are promoted through career ranks in an accelerated fashion
• glass walls


  confine women to management positions within certain sectors such as human resources or marketing which do not lead to senior positions
• glass cliff


  tendency for women to occupy leadership positions in times of crisis, making such positions risky and precarious
• credit for success

  • Heilman & Haynes (2005)
  • Participants received info about a male and female employee
  • Worked as a team on a highly male gender-typed task (creating an investment portfolio)
  • Were informed that the joint work product was very successful
  • Rated the competence, degree of influence and presumed leadership behavior of the team members
• understanding these stereotypes is important because

  • they can affect how others see you, how they interpret your behaviour and how they treat you
  • they can affect how you see yourself, how you respond to others and how you behave
  • they reinforce and perpetuate workplace inequalities