SESSION 6

LEADERSHIP

I. Leadership : what is it ?

 A lot of models that contradict each other, complex!

A) Does leadership matter?

(Peterson et al., 2003) YES, because CEO personality (agreeable ness, openness…) will ameliorate the
behaviour of the top management team  Leading to Income growth
(Barrick et al., 1991) Influence of CEOs on value of company. Top CEO added 25mio. to the value of their
company compared to other CEOs.
 Good leadership has a major influence on performance

B) Leaders and managers, the same thing?

Not all leaders are managers: also informational leaders (same hierarchical role but inspiring,
motivating…
Not all managers are leaders: employee not following a leader when asking for recognition etc…

C) Definition

Leadership: group process, about relationship between leaders and followers. No leader without followers
- Helps to define collective goals
- NOT about power over others (make people do things they want to do!)
“The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it” (Eisenhower)
“Process of social influence through which an individual unless and mobilises the aid of others in the
attainment of collective goal” (Chemers, 2001)

D) Effective VS good leaders

EFFECTIVE
Objective evaluation of
leadership
Successful in setting new
goals and influencing others
to achieve them
GOOD
Subjective evaluation of leadership
Someone who:
- Has attributes we applaud (charismatic)
- Uses means we approve (democratic decision making)
- Sets and achieves goals we value (saving the environment)

E) Sex differences in terms of leadership

No difference in terms of leadership effectiveness between men and women
Why are women represented than men in top management positions?
Patriarchal society, changing but slowly, so we still imagine a man when thinking of a leader

II. Are leaders born or made?

A) Personality theories
Leaders are born
Leadership traits (Creativity, Determination, Integrity, Self-confidence and sociability)
 Results of experiment (Mann, 1959; Geier, 1967) not really convincing. Could not find
characteristics that are defining leadership.
 SESSION 6
LEADERSHIP

(Judge et al, 2002) The Big Five of Leadership effectiveness: Openness, Extraversion,
Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism
“Leadership is not the mere possession of some combination of traits” (Stogdill, 1948)

B) Behavioural theories

Leaders are made

(Fleishman, 1953): Ohio State Studies from list of 1000+ behaviours, 2 main leadership behaviours
- Initiating structure: defines roles and role of followers, organises work, expects workers to have
high level of performance
- Consideration: Mutual trust with flowers, respect for subordinates, friendly, treats followers as
equal, shows support etc…
(Katz&Kahn, 1952): Employee-oriented leader and Production-oriented leader
 Both types of behaviours are important. Increase leadership effectiveness and followers
well-being
(Lewin, Lippit&White, 1939, 1943) were testing different leadership styles
3 main leadership styles
- Autocratic leaders: self oriented, give orders
- Democratic leaders: task-oriented, consult others, take on board other’s ideas
- Laissez-faire: play-oriented, go with the flow

Limits of behavioural theories

- Depends on the context
- Democratic the most effective but not always the most suitable
o Democratic in non-stressful situations
o Autocratic in crisis and high stress situations
o Laissez-faire when motivated group and self-directed

C) Contigency theories

The Robber’s Cave experiment (Sherif et al., 1961)

Hypothesis: Conflicts arise between groups when they are competing for limited resources
Participants: adolescents
Procedure: 3 stages (bonding, competition, cooperation)
 Result: change in leadership according to the stage

The Hersey-Blanchard situational Leadership model

D) Limits of old theories

Focus only about the leader BUT don’t take into

account the relationship between leader and follower!
 SESSION 6
LEADERSHIP

III. New theories of leadership

A) Leader-Member Exchange

Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory: focuses on relationship between leader and subordinates. To be
effective, leader needs to develop high-quality personalised relationships with his subordinates. Leader
adopts different behaviours with individual subordinates

Follower can be perceived as:

 Close and valued member
 Normal member of the group

In high quality LMX relationships

- subordinates are favoured and receive benefits (material and psychological)
- Managers show influence and support
- Subordinated have greater autonomy and responsibility
Subordinates should internalise group’s goals

In low-quality LMX situations,

- Subordinates are disfavoured and receive fewer valued benefits
- Little attempt by the leader to develop or motivate their subordinates
Subordinates will simply comply with group’s goals, without necessarily internalising them as their own

Because leaders usually have to work with large number of subordinates, they cannot develop high-
quality LMX relationships with everyone.
 More efficient to select some subordinates with whom invest a great deal of interpersonal
energy, and to treat the others in a less personalised manner

B) Transformational leadership

Transformational leadership: focuses on way that leaders transform group goals and actions.
Transformational leaders inspire followers to adopt vision that involves more than individual self-interest
(when noble cause: gender equality, black & white…)

4 means
- Charisma (triggers emotions)
- Inspirational motivation (ideas are worth it and inspiring)
- Intellectual stimulation
- Individualised consideration

Behaviour of inspirational leaders (Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela…)

 Raise followers to higher levels of ethics, morality, motivation. Often when defend noble cause.

Make them believe that, as individuals, they can make a difference. Makes them want to be better than
they are.

Limits of LMX and TL: consider these relationships as independent and don’t take into account group
process. TL can only be applied to particular situations where leader promoting noble cause
 SESSION 6
LEADERSHIP

IV. Social identity theory of leadership

Humans are social animals. Live and have evolved to function in social groups (Family,Groups of friends,
Sport events, National events, Work groups)

A) Identity entrepreneurship (Steffens & Haslam, 2013)

Successful candidates were using we and us more often than the others
 Better connexion when there was not “I” VS “You” barrier

Leaders should be crafting sense of us. Should be entrepreneurs in creating the group and promoting
cohesion
- Obama slogan YES WE CAN represents example of creating group identity and embodying this
identity

(Hains, Hogg & Duck, 1997)

Aim: Investigate effect on leader prototypicality on leader
Procedure: Topic was the Increase in police power. Measure individual attitude
 Leader good and effective when similar to the group members

Leaders should be “one of us”. Should be prototypical of group, similar to the members of the group
- Mahatma Gandhi lived modestly, traditional clothes…

B) Identity advancement

(Haslman & Platow, 2001)

Aim: Investigate the effect on in-group favouritism on leader effectiveness
 Even though people believe its not fair to be prioritized, they will support it if they are the
ones favoured

Leadership should be “doing it for us”. Should promote the core interests of the group
- Distinction between the French and British monarchies. British monarchy is still existing
because protecting and helping population

Leadership should “make us matter”. They should make the group visible not only to group members but
also to people outside the group
- While in prison, Mandela had no resources but put in place structures that gave prisoners sense
of what it means o be part of a movement