Behavioural

Theories of
Leadership
By : Malvika Singh
BA(hons) Business Economics

Introduction
Behavioral theory promotes the
value of leadership styles with an
emphasis on concern for people
andcollaboration. It
promotesparticipative decision
makingandteam development by
supporting individual needs and
aligning individual and group
objectives.Behavioral Theories of
Leadership, also known as The style
approach to leadership focuses on

WHAT ARE BEHAVIORS?

Behavior is the range of actions and mannerisms
made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities
in conjunction with their environment, which
includes the other systems or organisms around as
well as the physical environment.

WHAT IS HUMAN BEHAVIOR?

Human behaviour refers to the range of
behaviours exhibited by humans which are
influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values,
ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion,
coercion and/or genetics.In humans, behaviour is
believed to be controlled primarily by the
endocrine system and the nervous system.
Behaviours can be either innate or learned.

What is Behavioral
Theory of Leadership?
Behavioral Theory of Leadership isa leadership theory
thatconsiders the observableactions and reactions
ofleaders and followers ina given situation.Behavioral
theories focus on howleaders behave andassumethat
leaders can be made, rather thanbornand successful
leadership is based on definable, learnable
behavior.Behavioral theories of leadership are classified as
such because they focus on the study of specific behaviors
of a leader. For behavioral theorists, a leaders behavior is
the best predictor of his leadership influences and as a
result, is the best determinant of his or her leadership
success.
These theories concentrate on what leaders actually do
rather than on their qualities. Different patterns of behavior
are observed and categorized as 'styles of leadership'. This
area has probably attracted most attention from practicing

Overview of Behavioral Theory

of Leadership:
BehavioralTheory of leadershipis a big leap from Trait
Theory, in that it assumes that leadership capability can be
learned, rather than being inherent.This theory is based on
the principle that behaviors can be conditioned in a manner
that one can have a specific response tospecific stimuli.
Rather thanseekinginborn traits this theory looksat what
leaders actually doby studying their behaviors in response
to different situations, assessing leadership
successbystudyingtheiractionsand then correlating
significant behaviors with success.The practical application
of the theory is thatleaders behavioraffects their
performanceand differentleadership behaviorscould
beappropriate at different times. The best leaders are
thosewho have the adaptability to flex theirbehavioral
style, and choose the right stylesuitablefor each situation.
According to this theory, people can learn to become
leaders through teaching and observationand certain

Advantages
ofBehavioral Theory
of
Leadership
Behavioral theory promotes the value of leadership

styles with an emphasis on concern for people

andcollaboration.
It promotesparticipative decision makingandteam
development by supporting individual needs and aligning
individual and group objectives.
It helps managers evaluate and understand how their
behavioral style as a manager affects their relationship
with the team and promotes commitment and
contribution towards organizational goals.
This theory helps managersfind the right balance
betweendifferentstyles of
leadership,andhelpsthemdecide how to behave as a
leader, depending on concerns for people and for
productivity.

Criticism / Arguments
against -Behavioral
Theory of Leadership
As there were inherent limitations with the Trait
approach to leadership, whenearly researchers ran out
of steam in their search for traits, they turned to what
leaders did,how they behavedandcame with
behavioral theory of leadership. This became the
dominant way of approaching leadership within
organizations in the 1950s and early 1960sbut this
theory too had its own limitations.
Behavioral Theory of
Leadershipproposesleadershipstyles but a specific
leadership style may not bebest in all circumstances.
While behavioral theories may help managers develop
particular leadership behaviors but they provide little
guidance as to what constitutes effective leadership in

Criticism / Arguments
against -Behavioral
Theory of Leadership
(cont.)
There were lots of
differences and

inconsistencies between studies. It was

difficult to saywhichstyle of leadership was
significant in enabling one group to work
better than another.
The styles that leaders can adopt are far more
affected by what they are working with, and
the environment they are operating within,
than had been originally thought.Most
researchers today conclude that no one
leadership style is right for every manager
under all circumstances.

TwoImportant
BehavioralStudies
Although many research studies could be
categorized under the heading of the behavioral
approach, the Ohio State studies, and the
Michigan studies,are strongly representative of
the ideas in this approach. By looking closely at
each of these groups of studies, we can draw a
clearer picture of the key concepts and
implications of the style/behavioral approach to
leadership. Of these the two Key Studiesin
behavioral theory at the University of Michigan
and the Ohio State Universitybecame famous in
the next generation of leadership research. These
studies identifiedtwo key behavioral categoriesorientation toward task and orientation toward

Two important
Behavioral studies
1) Ohio State University (1940s)
As leadership studies that were aimed at identifying the appropriate
traits didn't yield any conclusive results, a group of people from Ohio
State University developed a list of 150 statements from their
generated responses that included 1,800 statements. The list was
designed to measure nine different behavioral leadership dimensions.
The resulting questionnaire is now well-known as the LBDQ or the
Leaders Behavior Description Questionnaire.
As part of the study, the LBDQ was administered to various groups
of individuals ranging from college students and their administrators,
private companies including military personnel. One of the primary
purposes of the study was to identify common leadership behaviors.
After compiling and analyzing the results, the study led to the
conclusion that there were two groups of behaviors that were strongly
correlated. These were defined as Consideration (People Oriented
behavioral Leaders) and Initiating Structure (Task Oriented
Leaders).

Task oriented leaders

(Initiating Structure)

The task concerned leaders are focusing their

behaviors on the organizational structure, the
operating procedures and they like to keep control.
Task-oriented leaders are still concern with their staff
motivation; however it's not their main concern. They
will favor behaviors that are in line with:
Initiating
Organizing
Clarifying
Information Gathering

People oriented leaders

(Consideration)

The people oriented leaders are focusing their

behaviors on ensuring that the inner needs of the
people are satisfied. Thus they will seek to motivate
their staff through emphasizing the human relation.
People oriented leaders still focus on the task and
the results; they just achieve them through different
means. Leaders with a people focus will have
behaviors that are in line with:
Encouraging
Observing
Listening
Coaching and Mentoring

Ohio State University stated that because a

leader can be on high or low sides of initiating
structure and/or consideration, they developed four
leadership styles as follows:
low initiating structure and high consideration,
high initiating structure and high consideration,
low initiating structure and low consideration, and
high initiating structure and low consideration.
Leaders with high structure and low consideration
behaviour use one-way communications, and
decisions are made by the managers, whereas
leaders with high consideration and low structure
use two-way communications and tend to share
decision making.

2) University of Michigan
(1950s)

A well-known series of leadership studies that commenced at

theUniversity of Michiganin the 1950s by Rensis Likert, with the
objective of identifying the principles and types of leadership styles
that led to greater productivity and enhanced job satisfaction among
workers.The studies identified two broad leadership styles - an
employee centered and a job centered. They also identified three
critical characteristics of effective leaders - task-oriented behavior,
relationship-oriented behavior and participative leadership.Taskorientedbehavior -in which the leader focuses on the tasks that
need to be performed in order to meet certain goals, or to achieve a
certain performance standard.Relationship-oriented behavior-in
which the leader focuses on the satisfaction, motivation and the
general well-being of the team members. Participative
leadership-is a managerial style that invites input from employees
on all company decisions. The staff is given pertinent information
regarding company issues, and a majority vote determines the
course of action the company will take. Their main objectives are:
To classify the leaders as effective and ineffective by comparing the
behaviour of leaders
To determine reasons for effective leadership.

Similarities between Leadership Models and

Their Contributions
Both of the universities have developed a questionnaire and
conducted a research that have same objective which is to
determine the behaviour of effective leader
Both researches are conducted in same period between 1940s
to 1950s.
Both universities developed leadership model that emphasis on
same definitions which are on task-oriented and people-oriented
style of leadership, even though used term is different.
University
Task oriented style
People oriented style
University of Michigan
centered
Ohio State University

Job-centered

Employee-

Initiating structure

Consideration

Differences between Leadership Models and

Their Contributions
The Ohio State and University of Michigan leadership
models are different in that the University of Michigan
places the two leadership behaviours at opposite ends of
the same continuum, making it one-dimensional. The Ohio
State University Model considers the two behaviours
independent of one another, making it two-dimensional.
University of Michigans one dimensional model proposed
two leadership styles (1) employee-centered and (2) jobcentered while Ohio State leadership model has four
leadership styles as follows, (1) low initiating structure and
high consideration, (2) high initiating structure and high
consideration, (3) low initiating structure and low
consideration, and (4) high initiating structure and low
consideration.

Thank
You