Are leaders born or made?

Leadership
By Maxwell Ranasinghe

What we will learn today
• Definition of leadership
• Difference between leader and leadership
• Fundamental elements of leadership
• Basic leadership model
• Models of leadership
• Trait Model
• Behavioral model
» Michigan studies
» Ohio studies
» Leadership grid
• Situational Approach
» Leadership Continuum
» Feidlers Contingency approach
» House’s Path –goal theory
» Vroom, Yeton Jargo Model
» Other Situational Approaches
- Leader member exchange model
- Life Cycle Theory

• Related Perspectives
• Political behavior Model
– Leadership Skills
– Leadership Styles
– Power and Authority in leadership

Leadership
• Leadership Defined
• Leadership is both process and
property.
• As a process: What leaders
actually do – non coercive influence
to motivate others in the
organization to pursue the goals
and help define organizational
culture
• As a property; Set of
characteristics of the people who
are supposed to be the leaders
• But this definition isn't as simple as
it sounds because leadership has
many variations and different areas
of emphasis.

• Common to all definitions
of leadership is the notion
that leaders are
individuals who, by their
actions, facilitate the
movement of a group of
people toward a common
or shared goal. This
definition implies that
leadership is an influence
process.

Selling and Cricket
During a sales meeting the Sales Manager was blaming
the staff for their dismally low sales figures.
“ If you cannot do the job, perhaps leave the job, as
there are other sales people out there who could jump
and take your job as we have a fantastic range of
products backed by a fine promotional programme”

• You have continuously failed for the last
few years to achieve a modest level of the
target given.
• Pointing at a newly recruited former
Cricketer, The Manager said” If a cricket
team is not winning what happens?
• The cricketer said “Sir, the players will be
dropped and replaced”
• “That’s right . That is what I am trying to
convince you all”
• Then there was silence and the cricketer
raised his hand and said “ May I add
something Sir”

• You have continuously failed for
the last few years to achieve a
modest level of the target given.
• Pointing at a newly recruited
former Sri Lankan Cricketer, The
Manager said” If a cricket team
is not winning what happens?
• The cricketer said “Sir, the
players will be dropped and
replaced”
• “That’s right . That is what I am
trying to convince you all”
• Then there was silence and the
cricketer raised his hand and
said “ May I add something Sir”

• “Yes of course” The manager
thought that he is going to add
some more to support his
argument.
• The cricketer said” But Sir, if
the whole Team fails for a
continuous period of time, then
the Captain will be changed”.
• The Managers face became
red and he realised that it was
directed at him..
• What it says is finally almost
everything rises and falls on
the manager/ leadership.

Leadership can be taught
• There are born leaders but to stay on top they
also need to develop the natural leadership
characteristics that they are born with
• The characteristics that are raw materials to
leadership can be acquired
• All what you need is desire to become a leader
and take action towards it
• If desire is a born characteristic then most of the
leaders are born not made.
• There are two opinions as to leadership – some
say it is born characteristic and others say it can
be acquired

Developing leadership in you
Leadership is not something that we can study and
pass but learn to develop on our own with self
discipline having desire and action to do so.
Maxwell Ranasinghe

• Brain storming Session
• What are the qualities that a leader
should have
• Group Discussion
• Categorise all the leadership qualities
presented by the groups
( It could be broadly categorised into 9
areas that you find in the next slide

Skills needed in a newly emerging work
environment revolves around keys/
characteristics of leadership
• Vision
• Self discipline
• Planning organizing and
implementing
• Team work
• Integrity
• Creating Positive
Change
• Problem Solving skills
• Peoples Skills
• Positive attitudes

• The distinction between leader and leadership is
important, but potentially confusing.
• The leader is an individual; leadership is the
function or activity this individual performs.
• The word leader is often used interchangeably
with the word manager to describe those
individuals in an organization who have
positions of formal authority, regardless of how
they actually act in those jobs.
• But just because a manager is supposed to be a
formal leader in an organization doesn't mean
that he or she exercises leadership.

• Manager should have leadership qualities
• Leadership cannot replace management
• Management is needed to help
organizations to meet current
commitments
• Leadership is needed to drive the
organization into future

• Management and leadership are both
important to organisations
• Effective managers have to be leaders too
• It could be two different sets of qualities
• Ideally the manager needs to balance both
leadership and managements qualities

Difference Between Leadership
and Management
Feature Manager Leader
Attribution towards
mission
Impersonal Personal power
Dependence Authority of formal
position
Goodwill and
acceptance
The ability to influence Formal legal authority Motivating and
inspiring, initiate
change
Expectations Goals and objectives Vision/ Mission,
passionate
Basic activities Conduct a balance
among org activities
Introducing new
creative thinking,
innovative
Responsibility Expect Coming behind as

Video on leadership and
management
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKPUY
1XzhUE

Power and Leadership
To understand leadership, it important to
understand the power.
– Power base
• Positional Power
– Legitimate
– Reward
– Coercive
• Personal Power
– Expert
– Referent
– Leadership Process ( basic leadership model)
• Power base
• Process
• Outcome

Power base
• Effective leaders develop and use power, or the
ability to influence others. There are two
categories of power; positional and personal
• Positional Power
• The traditional manager's power comes from his
or her position within the organization.
• Legitimate, reward, and coercive are all forms of
power used by managers to change employee
behavior.
• Position power is an external source. There are
three power types in positional power

Positional Power
• Legitimate power stems from a formal management
position in an organization and the authority granted to it.
Subordinates accept this as a legitimate source of power
and comply with it.
• Reward power stems from the authority to reward
others. Managers can give formal rewards, such as pay
increases or promotions, and may also use praise,
attention, and recognition to influence behavior.
• Coercive power is the opposite of reward power and
stems from the authority to punish or to recommend
punishment. Managers have coercive power when they
have the right to fire or demote employees, criticize
them, withhold pay increases, give reprimands, make
negative entries in employee files, and so on.

Personal Power
• Unlike external sources of position power,
personal power most often comes from internal
sources, such as a person's special knowledge
or personality characteristics.
• Personal power is the tool of a leader.
Subordinates follow a leader because of
respect, admiration, or caring they feel for this
individual and his or her ideas.

There are two types of
personal power
Expert power
• Results from a leader's special knowledge
or skills regarding the tasks performed by
followers.
• When a leader is a true expert,
subordinates tend to go along quickly with
his or her recommendations.

Referent power
• Results from leadership characteristics that
command identification, respect, and admiration
from subordinates who then desire to emulate
the leader.
• When workers admire a supervisor because of
the way he or she deals with them, the influence
is based on referent power.
• Referent power depends on a leader's personal
characteristics rather than on his or her formal
title or position and is most visible in the area of
charismatic leadership.

Basic leadership Model ( process)
Power
base
Positional
- Legitimate
- Reward
- Coercive
Personal
- Expert
- Referent
Leader
Bahavior
Assignment
Implement
Evaluate
Reward
Out come
influence

Power base
• The power base is the basis for leadership
• With that power base, the leader behaves.
• This behavior is the leadership process
• In other words how a leader does his job or work
• Assume a leader has to implement a Production
Increasing System in a factory, first he will have
to do is let his workers know how to use the new
technique. It is called assignment
• Then he will have to make sure that the new
technique been used properly. It is called
implement

• Then after some time he will have to check whether the
new technique has worked well or not. That is called
evaluation
• Then he will have to give a feedback to the employees
and revise, reward or punish.This is called rewarding
• Then he will have to find out the outcome of the new
technique. It could include the increase in productivity,
satisfaction or decrease in productivity or absenteeism
etc. This is called outcomes
• In all these stages the leader can influence his
subordinates/employees/followers. That is called
influencing

Different Models of Leadership
1. Trait Model
2. Behavioral model
2.1 Michigan studies
2.2 Ohio studies
2.3 Leadership grid
3. Situational Approach
3.1 Leadership Continuum
3.2 Feidlers Contingency approach
3.3 House’s Path –goal theory
3.4 Vroom, Yeton Jargo Model
3.5 Other Situational Approaches
3.5 (A) Leader member exchange model
3.5 (B) Life Cycle
4. Theory Related Perspectives
5. Political behavior Model

Everybody wants to become a
leader
• So much have been studied on leadership- Lets check how Prof. Ricky
Griffin of Texas A& M University analyses about various models of
leadership
1.Trait Model- ( inherent qualities… born leaders?/)
• Personal, psychological and physical characteristics of a
leader such as intelligence, assertiveness, above
average height, good vocabulary, attractiveness, self
confidence and similar attributes are traits or
distinguishing personal characteristics of a person
• There were so many studies in finding out leadership
traits, but studies were disappointing as researchers
could not find a common list of traits for all leaders as
there were many exceptional traits in many leaders.

• Therefore, a long list was compiled,
and it was not of practical importance.
• However, many adopt trait orientation
to identify leaders.
• Especially politicians are elected on
their traits such as speaking ability,
physical appearance, attractiveness,
intelligence, honesty etc.

2. Behavioral Model-
• As a result of difficulty or lack of success in identifying
leaders through traits, researchers started investigating
other variable, especially the behaviors or actions of
leaders.
– Michigan studies – Rensis Likert of Michigan
University of the USA, after having extensive
interviews with leaders and followers
identified two basic forms of leaders’
behavior.
– That is Job centered ( task) and employee
centered ( people)leadership behavior

–Job Centered – pays close attention to
subordinates work, explain work
procedures, and keen in performance.
Concern is production.
–Employee Centered- interested in
developing a cohesive work group and
ensuring that employees are satisfied
with their jobs. Concern is welfare of
subordinates.

– Ohio Studies – At the same time that Likert was
doing his leadership studies, a group of researchers
at Ohio State University of USA also did studies on
leadership.
– They also suggested that there are two leadership
behaviors or styles.
– Initiating- structure behavior (Leader clearly defines
the leader subordinate roles, establish formal lines of
communication and how tasks will be performed)
Consideration Behavior (Leader is concerned for
subordinates and attempt to establish warm, friendly,
and supportive climate)

University of Texas Study
Building on the work of universities of Ohio and Michigan studies,
Blake and Louton of Texas Uni, proposed a two dimensional leadership
theory describing five different styles of management.
Leadership Grid
• Concern for production ( the part of the leadership
grid that deals with the job and task aspects of
leader behavior)
• Concern for people ( the part of the leadership grid
that deals with the human aspects of leadership
behavior)

: The managerial grid model, shown in Figure 1 and developed by
Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, Texas Uni identifies five leadership
styles with varying concerns for people and production

• The impoverished style, located at the lower left-hand
corner of the grid, point (1, 1), is characterized by low
concern for both people and production; its primary
objective is for managers to stay out of trouble.
• The country club style, located at the upper left-hand
corner of the grid, point (1, 9), is distinguished by high
concern for people and a low concern for production; its
primary objective is to create a secure and comfortable
atmosphere where managers trust that subordinates will
respond positively.
• The authoritarian style, located at the lower right-hand
corner of the grid, point (9,1), is identified by high
concern for production and low concern for people; its
primary objective is to achieve the organization's goals,
and employee needs are not relevant in this process.

• The middle-of-the-road style, located at the
middle of the grid, point (5, 5), maintains a
balance between workers' needs and the
organization's productivity goals; its primary
objective is to maintain employee morale at a
level sufficient to get the organization's work
done.
• The team style, located at the upper right-hand
of the grid, point (9, 9), is characterized by high
concern for people and production; its primary
objective is to establish cohesion and foster a
feeling of commitment among workers.
•

• Different Models of leadership
1. Trait Model
2. Behavioral model
2.2 Ohio studies
2.3 Leadership grid
3.5 (B) Life Cycle Theory
4. Related Perspectives

3. Situational or Contingency Model
• The theme in early approaches to understanding
leadership was the desire to identify traits or behaviors
that effective leaders had in common.
• A common set of characteristics proved to be elusive,(
difficult to establish/find)
• Researchers were continually frustrated by the lack of
consistent support for their findings and conclusions.
• As a result, research began to focus on what style of
leadership was most effective in a particular situation. (
situational or contingency approach)

• Contingency or situational theories examine the fit
between the leader and the situation and provide
guidelines for managers to achieve this effective fit.
• Situational model assumes that leadership behavior
changes from one situation to another.
• Colin Powell stated that situational leadership was the
key to managing different teams. He elaborated, saying
‘I adjust my style, within limits, to the strengths and
weaknesses of my subordinates so that I understand
what they can and can’t do.’
• The goal of situational theory is to identify situational
factors and interpret how they affect leadership behavior.

• An important early model by Tennabaum and
Schimidt laid the foundation for situational
Approach
• It was like the early Michingan Model of “Boss
centered” and “Subordinate centered” but they
identified several intermediary situations and
shown it on a continuum
• Examples of few famous situational leaders.
https://www.startingbusiness.com/blog/situationa
l-leadership-examples

Tannenbaum and Schimdts
Use of authority
by manager
Area of freedom
for subordinate
Manager
makes
decisions
and
announces
Mgr permits
subordinates
to function
within limits
defined by
superior
Mngr
Sells
decision
Mgr presents
ideas and
invites
questions
Mgr
presents
tentative
decision
subject to
change
Mgr
present
problems
get
suggestion
s makes
decisions
Defines
limits
asks
group to
make
decisions

3.2 Fiedler's contingency theory
• Fred E. Fiedler's contingency theory centers on
the belief that there is no best way for managers
to lead.
• Different situations create different leadership
style requirements for managers.
• The style that works in one environment may not
work in another.

Fiedler looked at three elements that
dictate a leader's situational control.
1. Task structure.
• Is the job highly structured, fairly
unstructured, or somewhere in between?
The spelling out in detail (favorable) of
what is required of subordinates affects
task structure.

2. Leader/member relations.
• This element applies to the amount of loyalty,
dependability, and support that a leader receives
from his or her employees. ( favorable or
unfavorable)
• In a favorable relationship, a manager has a
highly formed task structure and is able to
reward and/or punish employees without any
problems.
• In an unfavorable relationship, the task structure
is usually poorly formed, and the leader
possesses limited authority.

3. Positioning power.
• Positioning power measures the amount of
power or authority a manager perceives the
organization has given him or her for the
purpose of directing, rewarding, and punishing
subordinates.
• Positioning powers of managers depends on the
taking away (favorable) or increasing
(unfavorable) of the decision-making power of
employees.

• Fiedler then rated managers as to whether they were
relationship oriented or task oriented.
• Task-oriented managers tended to do better in situations
with good leader/member relationships, structured tasks,
and either weak or strong position power.
• They also did well when the tasks were unstructured but
position power was strong, as well as when the
leader/member relations were moderate to poor and the
tasks were unstructured.
• Relationship-oriented managers, on the other hand, do
better in all other situations.

• The task-motivated style leader
experiences pride and satisfaction in task
accomplishment for his or her
organization, while the relationship-
motivated style leader seeks to build
interpersonal relations and extend extra
help for team development in his or her
organization.

• Judging whether a leadership style is good or
bad can be difficult.
• Each manager has his or her own preferences
for leadership.
• Task-oriented leaders are at their best when
their teams perform successfully—such as
achieving new sales records or outperforming
major competitors.
• Relationship-oriented leaders are at their best
when greater customer satisfaction is gained
and positive company images are established.

• Models of leadership
1. Trait Model
2. Behavioral model
2.2 Ohio studies
2.3 Leadership grid
3.5 (B) Life Cycle Theory
4. Related Perspectives

3.3 House’s “Path-goal theory”
• The path-goal theory, developed by Robert
House, is based on the expectancy theory of
motivation.
• A manager's job is to coach or guide workers to
choose the best paths for reaching their goals.
• Based on the goal-setting theory, leaders
engage in different types of leadership behaviors
depending on the nature and demands of a
particular situation.

• A leader's behavior is acceptable to
subordinates when viewed as a “source of
satisfaction”.
• He or she is motivational when “need
satisfaction is contingent on performance”;
the leader facilitates, coaches, and
rewards effective performance.
• Path-goal theory identifies several
leadership styles:

• Achievement-oriented. The leader sets
challenging goals for followers, expects
them to perform at their highest levels, and
shows confidence in their abilities to meet
these expectations. This style is
appropriate when followers lack job
challenges.
• Directive. The leader lets followers know
what is expected of them and tells them
how to perform their tasks. This style is
appropriate when followers hold
ambiguous jobs.

• Participative. The leader consults with
followers and asks them for suggestions
before making a decision. This style is
appropriate when followers are using
improper procedures or are making poor
decisions.
• Supportive. The leader is friendly and
approachable. He or she shows concern
for the followers' psychological well-being.
This style is appropriate when followers
lack confidence.

3.4 Vroom- Yeton – Jago Model-
- Originally it was proposed by Victor Vroom and Phillip
Yetton and then revised expanded eith Arthur Jargo. (
As such it is also called VYJ Model)
- It proposes a method for leaders to select the right
approach to making a decision in a given set of
circumstances.
- The model identifies different ways a decision can be
made by considering the degree of follower
participation.

• The Vroom-Yetton-Jago model defines
five different decision approaches that a
leader can use. In order of participation
from least to most, these are:
1.AI – Autocratic Type 1:
Decisions are made completely by the leader.
Leaders make the decision on their own with whatever
information is available.

1.AII – Autocratic Type 2:
The decision is still made by the leader alone, but the leader
collects information from the followers.
Followers play no other role in the decision-making
process.
1.CI – Consultative Type 1:
The leader seeks input from select followers individually
based on their relevant knowledge.
Followers do not meet each other, and the leader's decision
may or may not reflect followers' influence.

1.CII – Consultative Type 2:
Similar to CI, except the leader shares the problem with relevant
followers as a group and seeks their ideas and suggestions.
The followers are involved in the decision, but the leader still makes the
decision.
1.GII – Group-based Type 2:
The entire group works through the problem with the leader.
A decision is made by the followers in collaboration with the leader. In
a GII decision, leaders are not at liberty to make a decision on their
own.

3.5 Other situational Approaches
3.5(A) Leader Member Exchange Model-
leaders have different kinds of relationships
with different subordinates
In Group
• For instance, you probably have team members that
you've developed a great relationship with: you trust
them, they work hard, and they've never let you down.
• To you, these team members are invaluable, and you
make an extra effort to send challenging projects their
way.
• These members get more opportunity for advancement,
training and promotions

Out Group
• It's also likely that you have others on your
team who you think less well of.
• They may not have far-reaching career
goals, they're less competent, and you
simply don't trust them to the same extent.
• These team members get everyday
responsibilities, and are not considered for
promotions or challenging assignments.

3.5 (B) The Life Cycle Theory of Leadership
• According to this situational model, the leader has to
match the leadership style according to the readiness of
subordinates which moves in stage and has a cycle.
Therefore, this theory is also known as the life-cycle
theory of leadership.
• The theory, developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth
Blanchard, is based on the ’readiness’ level of the
people the leader is attempting to influence. Readiness
is the extent to which followers have the ability and
willingness to accomplish a specific task.

• Ability is the knowledge, experience, and
skill that an individual possesses to do the
job and is called job readiness.
• Willingness is the motivation and
commitment required to accomplish a
given task.
• The style of leadership depends on the
level of readiness of the followers.

• The readiness(R) is divided into a
continuum of four levels which are:
• R1 - low follower readiness - refers to
low ability and low willingness of followers
i.e. those who are unable and insecure
• R2 - low to moderate follower
readiness - refers to low ability and high
willingness of followers i.e. those who are
unable but confident

• R3 - moderate to high follower readiness -
refers to high ability and low willingness of
followers i.e. those who are able but
insecure
• R4 - high follower readiness - refers to
high ability and high willingness of
followers i.e. those who are both able and
confident

• The direction is provided by the leader at the lower levels
of readiness. Therefore, the decisions are leader
directed.
• On the other hand, the direction is provided by the
followers at the higher levels of readiness. Therefore, the
decisions in this case are follower directed.
• When the followers move from low levels to high levels
of readiness, the combinations of task and relationship
behaviors appropriate to the situation begin to change.

4. Related perspectives on leadership
– Substitute for Leadership- leadership behaviors are
neutralized or replaced by characteristics of subordinates, the
task and the organization- ( patient is delivered to emergency room and nurses,
para medics will go on to action automatically without waiting for any direction)
– - Charismatic leadership – An interpersonal attraction that
inspires support and acceptance
– Transformational leadership- that goes beyond ordinary
expectations by transmitting a sense of mission, stimulating
learning experiences and inspiring new ways of thinking

5. Political Behavior model
– The activities carried out for the specific purpose of
acquiring, developing and using power and other
resources to obtain one’s preferred outcomes.
– Political behavior may be exercised by managers
dealing with their subordinates, subordinates dealing
with their managers and subordinates and managers
dealing with others at the same level
– Therefore, it is directed upward, downward or
laterally.
– Inducement, persuasion, creation of an obligation and
coercion are the tools of the game

– Managing political behavior is very important
and it should not lead to develop a negative
image in the organization.
– Research indicates that the employees think
that politics is bad, unfair, unhealthy and
irrational.
– But some believe that executives should be
good politicians and be political to get ahead.

Leadership skills
Whereas traits are the characteristics of leaders, skills are
the knowledge and abilities, or competencies, of leaders.
The competencies a leader needs depends upon the
situation.
These competencies depend on a variety of factors:
• The number of people following the leader
• The extent of the leader's leadership skills
• The leader's basic nature and values
• The group or organization's background, such as
whether it's for profit or not-for-profit, new or long
established, large or small
• The particular culture (or values and associated
behaviors) of whomever is being led

Leadership styles
• No matter what their traits or skills, leaders carry
out their roles in a wide variety of styles.
• Some leaders are autocratic.
• Others are democratic
• Some are participatory,
• Others are hands off (laissez-faire or free reign)
• Often, the leadership style depends on the
situation, including where the organization is in
its life cycle.

• Autocratic.
• The manager makes all the decisions and dominates
team members.
• This approach generally results in passive resistance
from team members and requires continual pressure and
direction from the leader in order to get things done.
• Generally, this approach is not a good way to get the
best performance from a team.
• However, this style may be appropriate when urgent
action is necessary or when subordinates actually prefer
this style.
•

• Participative.
• The manager involves the subordinates in
decision making by consulting team members
(while still maintaining control), which
encourages employee ownership for the
decisions.
• A good participative leader encourages
participation and delegates wisely, but never
loses sight of the fact that he or she bears the
crucial responsibility of leadership.

• The participative leader values group discussions and
input from team members
• He or she maximizes the members' strong points in
order to obtain the best performance from the entire
team.
• The participative leader motivates team members by
empowering them to direct themselves; he or she guides
them with a loose rein.
• The downside, however, is that a participative leader
may be seen as unsure, and team members may feel
that everything is a matter for group discussion and
decision.

• Laissez-faire (also called free-rein). In this hands-off
approach, the leader encourages team members to
function independently and work out their problems by
themselves, although he or she is available for advice
and assistance.
• The leader usually has little control over team members,
leaving them to sort out their roles and tackle their work
assignments without personally participating in these
processes.
• In general, this approach leaves the team floundering
with little direction or motivation.
• Laissez-faire is usually only appropriate when the team
is highly motivated and skilled, and has a history of
producing excellent work.

Read
• Management by Griffin- 2005
Management and Performance by
Szilagyi – 1985

Are leaders born or made?

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