Unlock your potential as an effective leader and master the art of motivation with this concise yet comprehensive guide. Delve into the core principles of leadership styles, from the hands-on approach of autocratic leadership to the empowering dynamics of democratic methods, and the autonomy of laissez-faire. Navigate the landscape of universalist and contingency leadership theories, understanding trait theories and leader behavior models like the Ohio State University Study, Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid, McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, and Likert’s Leadership Systems. Discover the power of situational leadership with Blanchard’s model, adapting your approach to maximize team performance. Explore the depths of motivation theories, including content-based models like Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's two-factor theory, alongside process-oriented theories such as expectancy and equity. Learn how to apply reinforcement techniques like Skinner’s operant conditioning to shape behavior and drive results. Enhance your communication skills, master the art of feedback, and harness the power of the self-fulfilling prophecy to cultivate a positive and productive work environment. Whether you're a student preparing for exams or a seasoned professional seeking to refine your leadership skills, this book provides invaluable insights and practical strategies to elevate your influence, inspire your team, and achieve organizational success. Embark on a journey of self-discovery and professional growth, and become the leader you were meant to be. This guide offers a structured pathway to understanding leadership and motivational frameworks, enabling you to implement effective strategies in diverse scenarios and achieve your goals, no matter the setting. Prepare to transform your approach to leadership, unlocking new levels of success for yourself and your team. This book is your essential companion for navigating the complexities of human behavior in the workplace.
Contents
Disclaimer
Figures
1. Introduction
2. Leadership styles
2.1 Autocratic
2.2 Laissez Faire
2.3 Democratic
3. Leadership Theories
3.1 Universalist Leadership Theories
3.1.1 Trait Theories
3.1.2 Leader Behaviour Theories (Ohio State University Study)
3.1.3 Blake and Mouton´s Managerial Grid
3.1.4 McGregor´s Theory X and Theory Y
3.1.5 Likert´s Leadership Systems
3.2 Contingency Leadership Theories
3.2.1 Blanchard´s Situational Leadership
4. Motivation Theories
4.1 Content Motivation Theories
4.1.1 Force and Coercion Model
4.1.2 Economic Model
4.1.3 Hawthorne Studies (Mayo) – The Hawthorne Effect
4.1.4 Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Motivation
4.1.5 Maslow
4.1.6 Alderfer
4.1.7 Herzberg
4.1.8 McClelland
4.2 Process (Cognitive) Motivation Theories
4.2.1 Expectancy Theory (VIE)
4.2.2 Equity Theory
4.2.3 Goal Setting Theory
4.3 Reinforcement Motivation Theories
4.3.1 Skinner´s Operant Conditioning
5. Leadership and Communication
6. Leadership and Feedback
7. The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
8. Conclusion
9. References
Disclaimer
I declare that to the best of my knowledge that this assignment does not contain material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference are made in the text.
Signed
Date: May 21st, 2002
Figures
Figure 1: The Managerial Grid
Figure 2: Hersey´s and Blanchard´s Situational Leadership Model
Figure 3: The Motivational Process
Figure 4: Maslow´s hierarchy of needs
Figure 5: Alderfer´s ERG-model
Figure 6: Herzberg´s two factor theory
Figure 7: Expectancy theory
Figure 8: Paths A and B
Figure 9: Equity theory
Figure 10: Goal setting theory
Figure 11: Reinforcement theory
Figure 12: The communication process
Figure 13: “Reciprocal process of human interaction”
1. Introduction
A human being is, first of all, a social being. We define ourselves for a large part through our social contacts, whose number has highly increased in the last generations. The importance of this interaction led to a heightened interest in social sciences like psychology or sociology or economics. One huge field here is the examination of different leadership styles and motivation techniques.
The aim of this essay is to provide a person without any prior knowledge of the topic with an overview of some leadership and motivation theories, and to be a helpful resource for an exam preparation. This is why it is neither possible to cover each theory with just one sentence nor to explore it in depth. To fulfil this aim it was necessary to extend the word suggestion, while trying to be as succinct as possible.
2. Leadership-styles
These leadership-styles were examined during the studies of the University of Iowa, where boys were divided into hobby clubs and submitted to different styles. They “were designed primarily to examine patterns of aggressive behavior” (Luthans 2002,p. 577), but also showed the effects of leadership-styles.
2.1 Autocratic
The autocratic, or authoritarian leader did not allow any participation and only allowed one way communication, but gave friendly or impersonal attention while praising or criticizing the boys and did not display any hostility (Luthans 2002, p. 577).
This is an appropriate style for the armed forces, emergency situations or situations with high safety issues like climbing, but only possesses a short-term effectiveness.
This group tended to show “reactions to the frustration caused by the autocratic leader” (Luthans 2002, p. 577): they were aggressive or apathetic, and the apathetic boys turned to be aggressive, as soon as “the autocratic leader left the room” (Luthans 2002, p. 577).
2.2 Laissez-Faire
Laissez-Faire is French and means roughly ´do what you want´. This leader did not provide any leadership and gave the boys complete freedom (Luthans 2002, p. 577).
There was no communication at all, the leader did neither suggest activities nor provide feedback.
Applied to education, for example, a child would learn that fire is hot by burning its hand on the first try. A useful application would be when teaching a group of self- motivated managers.
This group had the greatest number of aggressive acts.
2.3 Democratic
The democratic leader “encouraged group discussion and decision making. He tried to be “objective” in giving praise or criticism” (Luthans 2002, p. 577). Policies and activities were chosen by the leader and the group and there was two-way communication as well as feedback. Therefore this style has long-term effectiveness. Most political systems of the West are based on democracy.
The result here was settled between the two other extremes.
The actual insight from these studies should be that different leadership styles produce different outcomes. It can be concluded that a mixture of all three is most likely to produce the biggest productivity.
3. Leadership Theories
“Leadership may be defined as a process of social interaction between the leader and his or her subordinates, in which the leader seeks to influence his or her subordinates to achieve the objectives of the organisation.” (Petzall, Selvarajah, Willis 1991, p. 143).
In the field of recreation there are different levels of leadership: Supervising, for example babysitting; teaching and instructing, for example a skiing instructor; programming, organizing or coordinating, for example recreation camps; educational leadership, for example as a university teacher; and finally management.
There are two types of leadership theories: Universalist theories, and contingency theories.
3.1 Universalist Leadership Theories
These theories assume that “there is one type of leader behaviour which, by nature, is superior to all others”, and that the “´correct´ style is assumed to be universally applicable” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 144).
3.1.1 Trait Theories
There are various kinds of trait theories, but all are based on the assumption that there are “individuals who possess the personal qualities which enable them to encourage their followers to do their will” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 145).
The great man theory assumes that leaders are born with certain inherited traits and cannot be made (Petzall et al 1991, p. 145). There are several historical persons used as examples for this theory like Alexander the Great, Adolf Hitler, or Mahatma Gandhi.
This theory is purely descriptive and does not provide any systematic insight or a suggestion for the development of great persons. But according to Bortz (1999) a theory should attempt to describe, explain and enable to predict behaviour. The trait theories remain on the descriptive state, and therefore should not be called ´theories´.
Another theory assumes that charismatic leaders “are able to inspire collective excitement among their followers so that the latter respond en masse… and surrender themselves totally to the will of their heroic leader” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 146). One example is Adolf Hitler.
According to Conger and Kanungo the five qualities of charismatic organisational leaders are self-confidence, a vision plus an ability to inspire people, total commitment, unconventional behaviour, and ”being perceived as radical change agents” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 146).
The main problem of this theory is its ignorance of situational factors and its mere descriptiveness.
3.1.2 Leader Behaviour Theories (Ohio State University Study)
This study developed from the trait theories and examined observable behaviours (Petzall et al 1991, p. 148-149) of successful leaders.
A Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire was used and the results subjected to a factor analysis, finding two dimensions: initiating structure and consideration. They were found to be independent (Petzall et al 1991, p. 148), meaning that it is possible to get a high grade in both of them.
These studies were the basis for many other models.
3.1.3 Blake and Mouton´s Managerial Grid
Blake and Mouton put the findings of the Ohio studies into the ´managerial grid model´. The diagram is produced by two independent variables, the concern for production (initiating structure), and the concern for people (consideration). “There are eighty-one possible styles on their grid, but they argue there are five major styles which categorise most managers” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 148).
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Figure 1: The Managerial Grid
(source: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1650/htmlleaderbnm.html )
A 1.1 style means a ´least energy´ manager, with neither concern for people nor for production. This equals a laissez-faire style.
1.9 is called ´country club style´ as the major concern is people. This equals democratic leadership.
5.5 is the middle way, called the ´organisation man´ who unites both characteristics in equal parts.
9.1 describes a ´task manager´, with a focus on production. This equals an autocratic leader.
A 9.9 style describes a ´team manager´ who has a high concern for production and people. Blake and Mouton “conclude that a 9.9 style is the best and most effective leadership style” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 150).
One problem, besides its ignorance of situational issues, is the unclear relationship between the two variables. While this theory is based on the Ohio studies, which find them independent, the Michigan studies found the opposite (Petzall et al 1991, p. 148).
3.1.4 McGregor´s Theory X and Theory Y
McGregor´s theories provide assumptions about employees. Theory X assumes that employees are “inherently lazy, …have no ambition… for responsibility, …have no motivation to achieve organisational objectives, …are motivated only by physiological and safety needs” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 151).
These assumptions equal “autocratic management, initiating structure and production-centred behaviour” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 152). In the Managerial Grid this would lead to a 9.1 style.
One example for this would be a poorly educated line worker who only does the same job, never sees the end product and does not enjoy his or her work and therefore will hardly be motivated by anything else than money.
Theory X, however, assumes that “employees find work as natural as play, …can be motivated by higher order needs, …seek responsibility” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 151).
Both theories mention higher and lower order needs. This refers to Maslow´s hierarchy of needs (see 4.1.5.).
“Theory Y assumptions seem to underlie democratic management, consideration, and employee-centred behaviour” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 152), and is therefore seen as the better approach by McGregor (Petzall et al 1991, p. 152). In the Managerial Grid this would lead to a 9.9 leadership.
In modern life this attitude can be found among managers or better-earning employees, because they have satisfied their lower order needs (see 4.1.5) and are motivated by higher order needs.
3.1.5 Likert´s Leadership Systems
Likert´s approach is close to McGregor´s theories. He identified four leadership styles, which are called systems.
System one is identified by the management´s low confidence in employees and the fact that “employees are forced to work by threats and punishment” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 152), which equals Theory X, and autocratic or 9.1 leadership.
In System two the management has “condescending confidence”, and there are “a few rewards” to motivate workers (Petzall et al 1991, p. 152).
In s ystem three management has “substantial confidence in subordinates” and “subordinates (are) permitted to make specific decisions at lower levels” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 152).
In s ystem four finally “management has complete confidence” and “decision making is decentralised” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 153), which equals Theory Y.
Likert concludes that system four is the best approach.
The problems of this approach are the ignorance of situational variables and the lack of independent evidence.
3.2 Contingency Leadership Theories
In contrast to the universalist theories, the contingency theories do not assume that there is one “ideal style of leadership for all situations, rather, some styles suit some situations” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 153) better than others.
3.2.1 Hersey and Blanchard´s Situational Leadership Theory
This theory is a development of Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid, which also uses the findings of the Ohio State Studies (Luthans 2002, p. 614).
The main concept is the assumption that “the key for leadership effectiveness … is to match up the situation with the appropriate style” (Luthans 2002, p. 616), and that “the main situational determinant of leader behaviour is the task-relevant readiness (previously called maturity) of the subordinate” (Petzall 1991, p. 153).
Leader behaviour can be divided into two styles: directive and supportive behaviour. Directive behaviour means that “the leader organises and defines roles for member” (Luthans 2002, p. 614) Supportive behaviour, on the other hand, means that ”the leader has close, personal relationships with the members of the group” (Luthans 2002, p. 614).
Figure 2 shows both behaviours, producing a diagram with four quadrants. They are named S1 to S4, with the numbers rising anti-clockwise. S1 is the starting point of the movement through the diagram indicating low supportive and high directive behaviour. S2 implies high directive and supportive behaviour, and so on.
illustration not visible in this excerpt
Figure 2: Hersey´s and Blanchard´s Situational Leadership Model
(source: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1650/htmlblanchard.html )
The subordinate’s readiness also consists of two factors: competence, meaning one’s knowledge and skills, and commitment, describing one’s motivation and confidence (Petzall et al 1991, p. 153). These factors determine the developmental level of employees, shown at the bottom of figure 2. D1 is here the lowest level of development, indicating low competence and high commitment. D2 means some competence with low commitment, D3 high competence and variable commitment, and D4 high competence and commitment. Hersey and Blanchard assume that a person will move though this line from right to left while further developing his or her skills. This movement can also be seen along the curve through the four quadrants.
For the management style this means that “the manager should adjust his or her style to adapt to the employee’s increasing level of readiness by moving from a more directive style… to a more participative style” (Petzall et al 1991, p. 153).
Frequently asked questions about the Leadership and Motivation Theories Text
What is this document about?
This document provides a comprehensive overview of leadership styles and motivation theories. It includes a table of contents, objectives, key themes, chapter summaries, and keywords. It is intended as an academic resource for analyzing these topics in a structured manner.
What leadership styles are discussed?
The document discusses three primary leadership styles: Autocratic, Laissez-Faire, and Democratic. It also references other styles from various leadership theories.
What leadership theories are covered?
The document covers Universalist Leadership Theories, including Trait Theories (Great Man Theory, Charismatic Leaders), Leader Behaviour Theories (Ohio State University Study), Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid, McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y, and Likert's Leadership Systems. It also covers Contingency Leadership Theories, specifically Blanchard's Situational Leadership.
What motivation theories are included?
The document includes Content Motivation Theories (Force and Coercion Model, Economic Model, Hawthorne Studies, Extrinsic versus Intrinsic Motivation, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Alderfer's ERG Model, Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, McClelland's Needs Theory), Process (Cognitive) Motivation Theories (Expectancy Theory, Equity Theory, Goal Setting Theory), and Reinforcement Motivation Theories (Skinner's Operant Conditioning).
What does the document say about the Autocratic leadership style?
The Autocratic leader maintains control, limits participation, and provides one-way communication. It is appropriate for specific situations like emergencies or situations with high safety issues, but its effectiveness is generally short-term. The study showed that this leadership style lead to aggression or apathy.
What are the key points about the Laissez-Faire leadership style?
The Laissez-Faire leader provides minimal guidance or involvement, offering complete freedom to the group. While useful in some teaching situations, this lack of leadership often results in higher levels of aggression.
How is the Democratic leadership style described?
The Democratic leader encourages group discussion, facilitates decision-making, and provides objective feedback. This leads to two-way communication. It generally has long-term effectiveness.
What is the main idea behind Universalist Leadership Theories?
Universalist Leadership Theories suggest that a specific style of leadership is superior in all situations. The document describes trait theory, leader behaviour theory, and management grid.
What is the great man theory?
The great man theory assumes that leaders are born with specific inherited traits and cannot be developed. Example people were Alexander the Great, Adolf Hitler, and Mahatma Gandhi.
What is charismatic leadership?
Charismatic leaders are able to inspire excitement and complete devotion in their followers. They are often seen as radical change agents.
What are the key findings of the Ohio State University Study on Leader Behavior?
This study focused on observable behaviours and identified two key dimensions of leadership: initiating structure and consideration. These dimensions were found to be independent of each other.
What is Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid?
Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid is based on two variables: concern for production and concern for people. The model identifies five major management styles: impoverished (1.1), country club (1.9), middle-of-the-road (5.5), task management (9.1), and team management (9.9).
What are McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y?
McGregor's Theory X assumes employees are inherently lazy and lack ambition, while Theory Y assumes employees find work natural, are motivated by higher-order needs, and seek responsibility. Theory Y is seen as the superior approach.
What are Likert's Leadership Systems?
Likert identified four leadership systems based on management's confidence in employees and the level of employee participation in decision-making: exploitative authoritative (System 1), benevolent authoritative (System 2), consultative (System 3), and participative group (System 4). System 4 is considered the most effective.
What are the basic ideas of contingency leadership theories?
Contingency theories emphasize that the ideal leadership style depends on the specific situation. The document describes the situational leadership theory.
What is Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory?
Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory proposes that leaders should adapt their style to match the task-relevant readiness of their subordinates. It focuses on the employee’s competence and commitment.
What is meant by the term "reinforcement motivation theories"?
These theories are focused on motivation by stimulus and response. The theory mentioned is Skinner's Operant Conditioning.
What is the communication process?
The communication process involves the transmission of information from a sender to a receiver, including feedback and potential barriers to effective communication.
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?
The self-fulfilling prophecy describes the phenomenon where expectations about an individual or situation can influence behaviour and ultimately cause those expectations to become reality.
- Citation du texte
- Sabine Haecker (Auteur), 2002, Leadership in Recreation, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/106686
