This revision presentation provides business students with an overview of the role of leadership in business strategy

1. Leadership

2. Different meanings of leadership
• Getting others to follow
• The use of authority in decision-
making
• A personal characteristic
• An ability to achieve effective
performance in others

3. A general interpretation of leadership
A relationship through
which one person
influences the behaviour
or actions of other people
Source: Mullins (The Nature of Leadership)

4. Leadership perspectives
• Traditional view
– Command & Control
– Decision-making
• Modern view
– Inspiration
– Creating a vision
– Building effective
teams

5. Importance of leadership in modern business
• Changing organisational structures
– Flatter + greater delegation
– Teamwork + focus on quality assurance
– Coaching, support & empowerment
• Rapid environmental change
– Change is becoming a constant feature of
business life
– Soft skills of leadership & management
increasingly important

6. The role of strategic leadership
• Strategic leaders are the people who
influence or control the corporate
strategy of a business
• Often personally identified with the
strategy
• Occurs both in small firms (e.g. the
founder) and large corporates

7. How strategic leadership is demonstrated
Where leaders take Where leaders set
direct control the vision and core
beliefs
Leadership as Leadership
command as vision
Leadership as
Leadership as
decision-
symbolic
Where the leader is
making Where the leader
the embodiment of weighs up the
the strategy, but not options and
involved day-to-day decides

8. E.g. leadership as command & vision
I believe we have lacked
accountability and
leadership to align and
direct the company
through these disruptive
times. We had a series of
misses. We haven’t been
delivering innovation fast
enough. We’re not
collaborating internally.
Nokia, our platform is
burning. Stephen Elop
CEO, Nokia

9. E.g. leadership as symbolic

10. Leadership or Management?
Leaders Managers
Inspire people Enact the plan
Build relationships Use their authority
Take risks Manage risks
Have followers Have subordinates
In reality, both are closely linked

11. What is a leadership style?
The way that the functions
of leadership are carried
out
The way that a leader
behaves

12. Everyone has their own style

13. Broad classifications of leadership style
Authoritarian Paternalistic
Democratic Laissez-faire

14. Authoritarian
• Focus of power is with the
manager
• Communication is top-down &
one-way
• Formal systems of command
& control
• Use of rewards & penalties
• Very little delegation
• McGregor Theory X approach

15. Paternalistic
• Leader decides what is best for
employees
• Links with Mayo – addressing employee
needs
• Akin to a parent/child relationship
• Still little delegation
• A softer form of authoritarian
leadership

16. Democratic
• Focus of power is more with the group as a
whole
• Leadership functions are shared within the
group
• Employees have greater involvement in
decision-making
• Emphasis on delegation and consultation
• A trade-off between speed of decision-
making and better motivation and morale?

17. Laissez-faire
• Leader has little input into day-to-day
decision-making
• Conscious decision to delegate power
• Managers / employees have freedom to
do what they think is best
• Effective when staff are ready and
willing to take on responsibility
• Not the same as abdication

18. Why move away from autocratic leadership?
• Changes in society’s values
• Better educated workforce
• Focus on need for soft HR skills
• Changing workplace organisation
• Greater workplace legislation
• Pressure for greater employee
involvement

19. McGregor Theory X & Y
Grouped Managers into Two Types
Theory X Theory Y
Managers Managers
Average worker is lazy Most people enjoy work
and dislikes work Workers will take
Workers need to be responsibility and
controlled & directed organised themselves
Centralised organisation Decision-making can be
and exercise of authority delegated

20. Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1)
• A “continuum” of leadership behaviour
• Continuum represents a range of action
related to the:
– Degree of authority used by the manager
– Area of freedom available to non-managers
• Links with Theory X (boss-centred
leadership) & Theory Y (subordinated-
centred leadership)

21. Tannenbaum and Schmidt (2)
Four Main Styles of Leadership
Tells Manager identifies problems, makes decision and
announces to subordinates; expects implementation
Sells Manager still makes decision, but attempts to
overcome resistance through discussion & persuasion
Consults Manager identifies problem and presents it to the
group. Listens to advice and suggestions before
making a decision
Joins Manager defines the problem and passes on the
solving & decision-making to the group (which
manager is part of)

22. Factors affecting leadership style
• Personal value • Type of organisation
systems (size, structure)
• Manager’s experience • Effectiveness of teams
• Confidence in and groups
subordinates • Skills and experience
• Feelings of security of subordinates
• Nature of the business • Pressure (time, costs)
problems

23. Which leadership style is best?
• Many alternative forms & styles
• Right leader for the right situation
– Autocratic makes more sense when business is
in trouble (e.g. rapid turnaround)
– Autocratic would be inappropriate where
performance highly dependent on effective
team-working & decentralised operation
– Stage of business: start-up v established &
complex

24. Five essential qualities of a leader
1 Courage
2 Confidence
3 Concentration
4 Passion
5 Values

25. The six tasks of leaders
• Be clear about what change is required
• Turn ideas into action points and motivate
others to act on them
• Win commitment based on honest,
realistic, two-way discussion
• Create a climate of learning, so people
know it is safe to make mistakes
• Keep going – persistence is vital
• Learn from experiences and mistakes

26. Leadership tasks of the MD
• Create the vision, based on an
understanding of SWOT
• Form the team and a structure that
will help achieve business goals
• Decide key business and personnel
policies
• Manage rewards and discipline

27. Leadership and business change
Successful management of
change requires positive
action from top management
and a leadership style that
gains a commitment to
change

28. “Change leaders”
Effective change management involves…
• Effective, open communication of
the reasons for change
• Championing innovation and
creativity as a response to change
• Setting a good personal example

29. Leadership quotes (1)
Management is
doing things right;
leadership is doing
the right things
Peter Drucker

30. Leadership quotes (2)
"How do you know you have
won? When the energy is
coming the other way and
when your people are visibly
growing individually and as a
group."
Sir John Harvey-Jones

31. Leadership quotes (3)
""Management is efficiency
in climbing the ladder of
success; leadership
determines whether the
ladder is leaning against the
right wall."
Stephen R Covey

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