Year: 2020

Online leadership is a social influence process, mediated by technology, to produce a change in attitudes, feelings, thinking, behavior, and performance with individuals, groups, or organizations to direct them toward achieving a specific goal;. As stated by Avolio and Kahai (2002), this involves enhancing the relationships among organizational members in a context in which work is mediated by technology. In this case, communication and the collection and dissemination of information occurs via information technology. Traditionally, leadership in organizations involve face-to-face interactions. Now, leaders may lead entire projects from a distance and interact with followers solely through information technology. Today, organizations are incorporating technology that interactions, creating a need for e-leadership. This wiring involves forms of technology such as videoconferencing, online collaboration software, cellphones, e-mail, and Wi-Fi. As a result, organizations are struggling with technological-integration issues while employees face a steep learning curve;. However, our understanding of how information systems change human dynamics has lagged behind the introduction and use of new technology. Thus, technology is being used without knowing the full extend of its impact on human dynamics in organizations.

Online leadership Research

Researchers have investigated online leadership in both the organizational and laboratory setting. According to Avolio and Kahai (2002), field studies of virtual teams suggest that early interactions during the formation of the teams can predict subsequent trust, satisfaction, and performance. For example, teams who spent early meetings identifying team members and clarifying expectations were found to have higher performance several months later. Thus, in order to provide virtual teams with a reason to work together, e-leaders should promote interdependence and reliance on each other. It must be noted that virtual teams may be geographically and culturally dispersed. Thus, in order to foster close relationships in geographically dispersed team, leaders should encourage a variety of task related communication. Online leadership has also been investigated in more controlled settings. According to, controlled experiments on e-leadership suggest that participative leadership may be more suitable for generating solutions for un- or semi-structured problems while directive leadership may be more suitable for generating solutions for structured problems. These studies also report that features of the groupware system that is used for communication may substitute for leadership. Finally, controlled experiments also report that motivation is enhanced by anonymity. Thus, e-leaders should probably consider using anonymous chat rooms and polls as mentioned previously.

Online Leadership Approaches/Styles

Online leadership can involve the same style and content as traditional face-to-face leadership, especially as the advancement of technology enables more visual virtual interactions. Participative leadership involves creating opportunities for individuals to be more involved in decision-making. Considering the importance of having members involved in the decision-making process, participative e-leaders can use technology such as chat rooms with anonymous input and electronic polls as tools to inform both their followers and themselves. Like the more traditional transformational leadership, e-leadership can also be inspiring. To this end, e-leaders can use tools such as e-mail to communicate compelling visions, pride in the accomplishments of followers, or excitement about new ventures.

Successful online leadership

No one can deny that being a successful leader requires building relationships and trust. However, in the case of e-leadership, one may have the added challenge of building relationships and trust more rapidly. Close personal relationships are possible in virtual settings and leaders can aid in fostering them by considering factors of media richness. In choosing modes of communication, these leaders must consider its capacity to provide immediate feedback, availability of personalization, language variety. To this end, leaders need to learn the vividness and interactivity of media to make their presence felt in a positive way. Avolio and Kahai (2002) mention that successful e-leadership involves an appropriate balance of traditional and new methods, avoiding misunderstandings by carefully and clearly communicating intent to followers, using technology to reach out to others in responsive ways, and using technology to deal with greater workforce diversity.

For many businesspeople, the last thing you want to worry about (or do) is managing people. You want to get out there and meet customers and create awesome products and bring exciting new opportunities through your front door. But unless you’ve hired people to take on the task of managing your employees, then you’re still on the hook.

The good news is that you can make that task a little bit easier for yourself by remembering these 7 essential leadership keys, and your organization will benefit as a direct result.

1. Delegate wisely

The key to leadership success is to learn to effectively delegate both the responsibility for completing assignments and the authority required to get things done. Many bosses feel that they need to control every little thing that their employees do. This is a recipe for disaster. When you delegate work to employees, you multiply the amount of work you can accomplish while you develop your employees’ confidence, leadership and work skills.

2. Set goals

Every employee needs goals to strive for. Not only do goals give employees direction and purpose, but they ensure that your employees are working towards the overall organizational goals. Set specific and measurable goals with your employees, then regularly monitor their progress toward achieving them.

3. Communicate

Far too many bosses communicate far too little. It’s often difficult for busy business owners and executives to keep their employees up-to-date on the latest organizational news. Regardless, you must make every effort to get employees the information they need to do their jobs quickly and efficiently.

4. Make time for employees

Above all, leadership is a people job. When an employee needs to talk with you–whatever the reason–make sure that you set aside the time to do so. Put your work aside for a moment, put down your smartphone, and focus on the person standing in front of you.

5. Recognize achievements

Every employee wants to do a good job. And when they do a good job, employees want recognition from their bosses. Unfortunately, few bosses do much in the way of recognizing and rewarding employees for a job well done. The good news is that there are many things bosses can do to recognize employees that cost little or no money, are easy to implement, and that take only a few minutes to accomplish.

6. Think about lasting solutions

No matter how difficult the problem, there is always a quick solution, and leaders are happiest when they are devising solutions to problems. The trouble is that, in our zeal to fix things quickly and move on to the next fire, we often overlook the lasting solution that may take longer to develop. Although it’s more fun to be a firefighter, the next time you have a problem to solve in your organization, deal with the cause of the problem instead of simply treating the symptoms.

7. Don’t take it all too seriously

Without a doubt, running a company is serious business. Products and services must be sold and delivered, and money must be made. Despite the gravity of these responsibilities, successful leaders make their organizations fun places to work. Instead of having employees who look for every possible reason to call in sick or to arrive to work late or go home early, organizations work hard and play hard end up with a more loyal, energized workforce.

Effective Leadership

Effective leadership shines not only when the going is good, but also (even more so, sometimes) when things are rough. They’re respected (not feared) by the people around them, who in turn, become motivated to work harder and make more significant contributions to the betterment of the organization as well.

Leadership is not about working towards a goal single-handedly. In fact, leadership is about inspiring and motivating people to work together towards a goal.

Good leadership is important. As an article from Pennsylvania State University states, “Effective leadership is essential to a functioning society.” In a smaller scale, the fact remains true in organizations and businesses. It’s basically impossible for a company to continue to evolve and grow with the times without effective leadership. Especially during this time where digital technology is changing every aspect of how business is being done and how customers are engaging with brands, a brand without effective leaders will be like a ship sailing without a captain directing which way to go.

What make good leaders?

Being a good leader isn’t something everyone can do. It’s not easy. Every effective leader needs to possess and/or work towards their goals and vision. Good leaders are keys to improved productivity and morale among members of an organization. So what makes an effective leader? Many good leaders share several traits and attitudes. Here are some of them.

1. Good leaders are decisive

Effective leadership is about not wasting time. That includes the time needed to make decisions. More often than not, so much time can be wasted in the decision-making process that many opportunities are missed. Production sometimes even comes to a halt. Good leaders are all about making informed decisions, but are always mindful of the timeframes involved. And once a decision is made, they commit to it and see things through. They realize that putting-off important decisions can have significant effects on an organizations productivity and growth.

2. They practice what they preach

Effective leadership, in essence, also involves leading by example. It’s hard to respect someone who asks everyone to come on time, or work towards a certain goal if that person isn’t willing to come on time or put in their share of the work themselves. Many times, good leaders set the bar and meet it instead of just talking down to everyone. As an article in Forbes says, “A leader who rolls up their sleeves and gets dirty from time to time will create a loyalty in his or her people that will result in achieving goals beyond what we usually expect.”

3. They don’t lose sight of goals

Effective leaders are problem-solvers. Or at the very least, they don’t dwell on problems and instead focus on working towards a solution. They don’t have the answers all the time, but they sure will always be working to get answers. They don’t complain and instead look forward and move forward, always keeping in mind the goals they set at the beginning, and always looking at the bigger picture. To this end, they prioritize and set the tasks that need to be done first.

4. They are passionate about what they do

Effective leadership is about believing in what one is doing. Good leaders don’t and will never say, “it’s just a job,” or “I just work here.” They care about what they do, they care about the organization, and they care about the people they lead and work with.

5. Good leaders are humble and accountable

This plays into the aspect of effective leadership that relies on generating respect that is earned, instead of relying on one’s position or title in the organization. It is humility that makes great leaders open-minded and willing to listen to others and even take constructive criticism. They don’t let pride get in the way of accomplishing goals and executing their vision for the business. They are also willing to take responsibility for their actions and don’t point fingers at the people they work with when things go south.

6. They give credit where credit is due

Often you’ll hear the story about the boss that stole an idea, or took credit for someone else’s accomplishment. Good leaders share the glory, and are quick to credit a team member or colleague for a good idea. They know that success is through teamwork, and they respect the contribution and work other people make.

7. Helps people grow

Great leaders help people grow. They willingly share what they know and look out for learning opportunities for the people they work with (or the people who work for them). They build up the team and foster strong relationships, rapport and cooperation within that team. They know the weakest link, and work towards strengthening that weak link.

8. Communicate effectively

An integral part of effective leadership is strong communication. And communication isn’t just saying “I want this to happen.” It’s all about listening and truly considering the input that comes from other people in the team. Proper communication allows for better dissemination of information, as well as a stronger ability to work well with others when the situation calls for it.

Charisma

Charisma is Greek word means “divinely inspired gift”. In general use it means charming and colorful personality.

According to Weber, charisma occurs when there is a social crisis, a leader with exceptional personal qualities emerges with a radical vision that provides a solution to the crisis and attracts followers who believe in the vision and perceive the leader to be extraordinary.

Types of charismatic leaders

Charismatic leaders can be catagorized into five types

1. Socialized charismatic’s
2. Personalized charismatic’s
3. Office holders charismatic’s
4. Divine charismatic’s

1. Socialized charismatic leaders

• A socialized charismatic leader is the one who restrains the use of power to benefit others
• They try to bring group member value in line with his or her own values
• They formulate and pursues goals that fulfill the needs of group members and provide intellectual stimulation to them
• Their followers are autonomous, empowered and responsible

2. Personalized charismatic leaders

• Such individuals primarily serve their own interests and exercise few restraints on their use of power
• They impose self serving goals on their constituents and offer consideration and support to group members only when it facilitates their own goals
• Their followers are typically obedient, submissive and dependent.

3. Office holder charismatic

For this type, the leadership is more a property of the office occupied than of his or her own personal characterics.

They attain high status by holding a valuable position in organization.

4. Divine charismatic leadership

In 1924 Max Weber defined charismatic leadership as mystical, narcissistic and personally magnetic savior who would arise to lead people through crisis

Charismatic leadership is basically the method of encouraging particular behaviors in others by way of eloquent communication, persuasion and force of personality.  Charismatic leaders motivate followers to get things done or improve the way certain things are done.  This is accomplished by conjuring up eagerness in others to achieve a stated goal or vision.  In essence, the charismatic leadership style has its basis in a form of heroism.  This leadership style is almost of divine origin.

The charismatic leadership style relies on the charm and persuasiveness of the leader. Charismatic leaders are driven by their convictions and commitment to their cause.

Charismatic leaders also are sometimes called transformational leaders because they share multiple similarities. Their main difference is focus and audience. Charismatic leaders often try to make the status quo better, while transformational leaders focus on transforming organizations into the leader’s vision.

Charismatic leaders are often identified in times of crisis and exhibit exceptional devotion to and expertise in their fields. They are often people with a clear vision in business or politics and the ability to engage with a large audience.

A charismatic leadership definition is incomplete if it does not focus on the leader personally. More than other popular leadership styles, charismatic leadership depends on the personality and actions of the leader not the process or structure.

Qualities of Charismatic Leaders

The following are some of the most prominent characteristics of charismatic leadership.

1. Communication

Charismatic leaders have extraordinary skills in communication. This helps to motivate employees through tough times and also help them stay grounded when things are good. The leaders are equally comfortable communicating one-to-one or in a group setting.

2. Maturity

Though they have a very powerful personality, a charismatic leader also has maturity and character. They don’t believe in empty showmanship, but they draw on their wisdom and knowledge which they have accumulated over the years of life and business experiences. They behave in a mature and responsible manner on all occasions.

3. Humility

Charismatic leaders also have a sense of humility. They place a lot of value on each employee, and have the ability to truly listen to their concerns. The charismatic leader is able to convince the employee of the value that they bring to the organization, and show them how their contributions impact the strategic interests of the company. They inspire great loyalty from their employees.

4. Compassion

Successful charismatic leaders are also compassionate. Charisma alone may not be enough, because there’s a very real possibility that it can disintegrate into mere hero worship. Compassion, integrity, honesty, and fortitude are also qualities that successful charismatic leaders exhibit.

5. Substance

Charisma can exist without substance, but only for a very short time. Flashy and glitzy behavior may capture the attention of people, but eventually they will want something substantial beneath the facade. A charismatic leader must not only talk the talk, but also walk the walk. Charm gets him the face time, and substance closes the deal.

6. Confidence

It goes without saying that charismatic leaders are truly confident. They are the glass half full kind of people, and are comfortable with who they are. They understand themselves well and do not try to be anyone else. Charismatic leaders are secure and confident enough to be comfortable in their own skin.

7. Positive body language

One of the first things that you’d notice about a charismatic leader is their warm, open, and positive body language. They make eye contact with were that they are talking to, smile, and introduce themselves to strangers with the genuine joy of making a new contact. They have an endearing swagger, and they are authentic.

8. Listening skills

Charismatic leaders are extremely good listeners. When they listen to you, they don’t fidget or look distracted. A charismatic leader pays attention to what is being said, and listens with interest. They are engaged in the conversation and act with empathy.

9. Self-monitoring

One of the attributes of charismatic leaders is that they often tend to watch themselves. They are aware of their powerful personality, and the fact that their followers are watching them constantly. For this reason, they consider it important to portray a good image of themselves to their followers. This can be achieved only with self-monitoring.

10. Self-improvement

A charismatic leader understands that he has certain qualities that make him different from others, and that these are the qualities that get him attention and make him charismatic. So he also knows how important it is to continually improve himself.

Examples of charismatic leadership

Charismatic leaders are from all walks of life. In addition to business, this leadership style can be found in religious institutions and political and social movements.

Religious examples of charismatic leadership

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Born in 1929, Dr. King followed in the footsteps of his father as a Baptist minister. He started his civil rights career as the leader of the bus boycott the night that Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama. Dr. King’s powerful speeches and belief in peaceful protest put energy into the civil rights movement. In January 1957, he and several others founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1960, Dr. King gained national notoriety for his arrest at a lunch counter sit-in, which came to the attention of presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. He was soon released and went on to have even greater influence in the fight for civil rights.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches ignited smaller movements for equal rights through the American South and beyond. Dr. King is best known for the August 28, 1963, march on Washington that drew more than 200,000 people. At that march, he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The following year, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.

Mother Teresa

Born in Macedonia (now Yugoslavia) as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910, Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun best known for her work with the poor. Mother Teresa joined the Sisters of Loreto when she was 18 and moved to India in 1929. As a novitiate, she was sent to Calcutta and taught at St. Mary’s School for Girls.

In 1946, Mother Teresa abandoned teaching to follow what she considered her calling, founding the Missionaries of Charity to live and serve in the slums of Calcutta. Over the course of the 1950s and ’60s, she established a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic and a string of mobile clinics.

In 1971, she traveled to New York to open her first U.S.-based house of charity. In 1985, she spoke at the 40th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly. By the time of her death, the Missionaries of Charity numbered over 4,000 sisters with 610 foundations in 123 countries. Her inspiring, devout persona and devotion to a singular idea make her a good example of a charismatic leader.

Pope John Paul II

In 1920, Pope John Paul ll was born in Poland as Karol Józef Wojtyla. Under Nazi occupation, he began his theological studies in a secret seminary in 1938 and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1946. John Paul became the bishop of Ombi in 1958.

Well regarded for his work in the church, John Paul was made a cardinal in 1967. In 1978, he was elected pope, a role he occupied until his death in 2005. Pope John Paul II was instrumental in examining the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the modern world. He traveled to more than 100 countries and was a vocal advocate for human rights.

Political examples of charismatic leadership

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in 1911. He gained fame as an actor after signing a seven-year movie contract with Warner Brothers in 1937. During World War ll, he made training films for the military. Although he served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, a labor union, Reagan’s political views shifted from liberal to conservative in the 1950s.

He began giving motivational talks to businesses and moved to the national stage in 1964, when he gave a well-received televised speech for Barry Goldwater. He ran for president beginning in 1968 and won in 1980. President Reagan was able to articulate his political vision in ways that appealed to his followers. Along with Teddy Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, Reagan is recognized as one of the most charismatic American presidents of the 20th century.

Sir Winston Churchill

Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born in 1874. Although he is best known for being the prime minister of England during World War ll, he honed his communication skills as a war correspondent in World War l and crafted legislation for Parliament as a member. He was a powerful orator who used radio speeches to buoy the British people’s resilience during Germany’s World War II bombing of England.

Strategic Leadership is the ability to influence others to voluntarily make decisions that enhance the prospects for the organization’s long-term success while maintaining short-term financial stability. Different leadership approaches impact the vision and direction of growth and the potential success of an organization. To successfully deal with change, all executives need the skills and tools for both strategy formulation and implementation. Managing change and ambiguity requires strategic leaders who not only provide a sense of direction, but who can also build ownership and alignment within their workgroups to implement change.

Strategic Leadership can be defined as the ability of the top level managers or executives to determine the future courses of action and direction of the firm and motivate the members to make efforts in that direction.

Strategic leadership provides techniques that focus organizations when they are deciding on their purpose and best business practices that are critical for remaining competitive and relevant. Being able to learn and adapt has become vital for sustainability. Failure to be able to adapt to changing technology, climate change, and economic factors risks the organization becoming obsolete.

Strategic Leadership aims at inspiring others to make those decisions that bring better opportunities for the enterprise’s long-term success, without compromising its short-term financial stability.

Strategic Leadership is an intricate form of leadership, wherein the strategic leaders, i.e. managers or top-level executives design an organization structure, allocates resources, inspire employees to follow their ideas.

It encompasses the ability to envision, forecast and stimulate others to contribute to the implementation of strategic change in the organization.

Strategic Leader

A strategic leader is someone who determines the organization’s strategies and actions and makes every effort to implement it, in an intended manner.

In general, the manager acts as a strategic leader in the organization, who foresees and interprets, the dynamic business environment and work on issues that can influence and can be influenced by the events that occur to/with the organization.

Functions of Strategic Leader

• Setting the direction
• Strategic decision making
• Human capital management
• Translating strategies into actions
• Change Management
• Effective communication within the organization
• Ensuring efforts are made in the right direction.
• Developing strategic competencies.
• Framing policies and plans for the effective implementation of strategic decisions.
• Developing and maintaining a constructive work culture

The strategic leader has the following qualities – Open-mindedness, Foresightedness, Accountable, Risk-taking ability, Influential, Discipline, Endurance, Up-to-date, Self-control and Self Awareness.

Roles played by the strategic leader

1. Navigator

A strategic leader identifies the major issues and its causes. Further, he/she always look for better opportunities, to affect actions.

2. Strategist

As a strategist, he/she develops such strategies which have a long range view and establish those objectives which suit the organization’s vision and mission.

3. Entrepreneur

A strategic leader has the risk-taking ability, who takes risks after completely analysing it. For this purpose, he/she always looks for opportunities and exploit them at the right time.

4. Change Agent

As a change agent, he/she initiates changes in the organization, wherever required. And to do so, first of all, he/she makes sure that the members of the organization realize the need for change so that they can accept it positively and the changes are successfully implemented.

5. Motivator

A strategic leader plays the role of a motivator, by attracting, developing, encouraging and retaining talent in the organization, to make sure that the organization possess the best human resource.

6. Captivator

As a captivator, the strategic leader aims at developing passion, dedication, persistence and commitment towards the common goals, by influencing them in a way that people get ready to follow the vision.

Apart from these roles a strategic leader also plays the role of a visionary, policy maker, crisis manager, spokesperson, process integrator, mobilizer, enterprise guardian etc.

To conclude, Strategic leaders can create vision, express vision, passionately possess vision and persistently drive it to accomplishment.

Leadership is a trait of influencing the behavior of individuals, in order to fulfill organizational objectives. A number of leadership theories have been propounded by various management experts considering behaviour, traits, nature, etc. namely, Authoritarian, Laissez-faire, Transactional, Transformational, Paternalistic and Democratic. Transactional Leadership or otherwise known as management leadership, refers, to a leadership style which lays emphasis on the transaction between leader and its subordinates.

On the other hand, Transformational Leadership is a type of leadership which becomes a reason for the transformation (change) in the subordinates. In this style, the leader works with the subordinates to ascertain the desired change in the organization.

Transactional Leadership

A leadership style whereby the objectives and goals are predefined and the leader uses reward and punishment to motivate his followers is known as Transactional Leadership. It focuses on improving the current situation of the organization by framing the steps and controlling the organizational activities. The basic purpose of this type of leadership is to revamp the existing corporate culture and to enhance current policies & procedures.

In 1947, the style was first proposed by Max Weber followed by Bernard Bass in the year 1981.

In this leadership style, the leader uses his authority and responsibility as his power as well as the style has a formal approach. Prize and penalties are the two primary tools employed by the leader to inspire his subordinates i.e. if an employee achieves the target within the stipulated time he is given initiative for his work, whereas if the task is not completed within the required time, then he will be penalised for the same.

Transformational Leadership

The style of leadership in which the leader uses his influencing power and enthusiasm to motivate his followers to work for the benefit of the organization. Here, the leader seeks the requirement for a change in the existing organization culture, gives a vision to his subordinates, incorporates mission and implement the change with the dedication of his followers.

In transformational leadership, the leader acts as a role model and as a motivator too who offers vision, excitement, encouragement, morale and satisfaction to the followers. The leader inspires his people to increase their abilities and capabilities, build up self-confidence and promotes innovation in the whole organization.

James MacGregor Burns first proposed the concept of this leadership style in the year 1978. The main idea of this leadership style is that both the superior and subordinate work for lifting each other for improving their morale and motivation.

Differences between Transactional and Transformational Leadership

The following are the major differences between transactional and transformational leadership:

1. Transactional Leadership is a type of leadership whereby rewards and punishment are used as a basis for initiating the followers. Transformational Leadership is a leadership style in which the leader uses his charisma and enthusiasm to influence his followers.
2. In transactional leadership leader, is lays stress on his relationship with followers. Conversely, in transformational leadership leader lays stress on the values, beliefs and needs of his followers.
3. Transactional Leadership is reactive whereas Transformational Leadership is proactive.
4. Transactional Leadership is best for a settled environment, but Transformation is good for the turbulent environment.
5. Transactional Leadership works for improving the present conditions of the organization. On the other hand, Transformational Leadership works for changing the present conditions of the organization.
6. Transactional Leadership is bureaucratic while Transformational Leadership is charismatic.
7. In Transactional Leadership, there is only one leader in a group. In contrast to transformational leadership, in which there can be more than one leader in a group.
8. Transactional Leadership is focussed towards planning and execution as compared to transformational leadership which promoted innovation.

According to some researchers, transactional leadership is best while some think that transformational leadership is better. So the debate is never ending, for the two leadership styles. In my opinion, there is no standard leadership style which is best suited to all the circumstances. So, an organization should not rely on a single leadership style. It must employ the requisite leadership style as per its needs and prevalent conditions.

If you are searching for the best leadership style between transactional and transformational leadership, then you will end up saying that both are having its merits and demerits. It depends on the situation which leadership style will be most appropriate to it.

The shortcomings of the trait theory led to a significant change in the emphasis of leadership approach. This shift in emphasis began to focus attention on the actual behaviour and actions of leaders as against personal qualities or traits of leaders. According to this approach, leadership involves an interpersonal relationship between a leader and subordinates in which the behaviour of the leader towards the subordinates constitute the most critical element. The good behaviour of the leader raises the morale, builds up confidence and spirit among the team members and lack of good behaviour will discard him as a leader.

The behavioural approach differs from the traits approach in that:

(i) The traits approach emphasizes some particular trait to be possessed by leader whereas this theory emphasized on particular behaviour by him.

(ii) The purpose of trait theory was to separate leaders from non-leaders on the basis of traits, whereas the purpose of behavioural theory is to determine how various kinds of specific behaviour affect the performance and satisfaction of subordinates.

Behavioral leadership theory is conducted by scientifically evaluating the moods and actions of individuals in leadership roles to adopt patterns that may impact you and the environment around your team members. If a study of multiple leaders is large enough, statistical conclusions can be drawn to determine the tangible metrics of their behaviors, and it can serve as an indicator to if their management style encourages workplace improvement.

Behavioral leadership theories are designed to study a leader’s behavior in a controlled situation to generate marketing potential. If leaders can take the viewpoint of their customers when they’re reviewing a product or service targeted toward them, they know how to establish a lasting relationship, leading to continuous purchases and revenue for the company. In this article, we overview how behavioral leadership theories are defined and the effects they have on you and your coworkers.

Advantages of behavioral leadership theory

There are two main advantages of behavioral leadership theory:

1. It addresses key questions on an organization’s leadership model

A couple of points that can be addressed by this study is if leaders expect you to cooperate among various departments on different tasks or if teams are consistently involved in decision-making to foster support on related projects. If there is a lag when it comes to the work being completed on a marketing project, the behavioral theory of leadership can answer why there may be a lag and who is directly responsible for it. If a marketing manager did not communicate expectations for the approval process on client deliverables, then a change of direction is needed to get a project back on track to keep the clients satisfied with your brand.

2. It identifies the leadership style of your manager

Behavioral theories of leadership only assess behavior, not traits or capabilities. Trait theory goes in-depth on how managers and employees have characteristics like being adaptable to changing circumstances and alertness in a social environment that show if they’re qualified to be a leader. Executing a behavioral leadership theory evaluation highlights the events a manager acts upon given the situation.

If you feel like your means of communication differs from your manager, determine which leadership style your manager has, such as:

• Coaching leadership: This kind of leader helps you set your and your department’s goals and is proactive in giving feedback about performance. For example, a manager can assign your team a project as a growth opportunity in addition to setting expectations and creating a positive work environment for staff. Each month, a sales director can set goals for their team to reach a quota of outbound calls to prospects, leads generated and deals closed over a set period. Once the sales director gathers all performance metrics, they determine if they met or exceeded their targets for these three categories, suggest improvements and answer questions or concerns from the team about how to proceed.
• Visionary leadership: These types of leaders can inspire progress from their employees while earning trust for new ideas and creating a bond between you and other organizations’ employees. This is helpful if you’re a part of a smaller organization that is growing fast or a larger organization that is experiencing a corporate restructuring. If your manager forms a group with you and your coworkers to resolve anxieties about workload, this is an example of a visionary leader.
• Servant leadership: Servant leaders have a people-first mindset and are fulfilled when you feel personally and professionally fulfilled. Many managers have the belief that if you’re fulfilled in all aspects of your life, then you’re more likely to produce great work regularly. They can raise employee morale and help you re-engage with your work. Say the CEO of your company has coffee with you once a month to address concerns, questions or thoughts about a product that is launching soon. This is intended to help alleviate confusion you may have about your work and to help the client receive a highly valuable product.
• Autocratic leadership: An autocratic leader makes a company decision without consulting you about it directly. If a decision needs to be made quickly, then it makes sense to not loop you in, especially if you’re not an upper-level employee in an organization. This strategy can save you time if you’re working on a project that has a stringent client deadline so you don’t have to be pulled into a meeting that doesn’t require your input.
• Laissez-faire or hands-off leadership: This approach is the opposite of autocratic leadership where its approach is centered on delegating tasks to different employees without or with little supervision. if you’re highly experienced in your field, then you would be in favor of this style as it requires little oversight. It’s also beneficial if you like the freedom of creating your own schedule that meets the department’s goals.
• Democratic leadership: Democratic leaders ask their team to provide input before making a managerial decision. This can be a chance for you to shine by presenting your ideas in a way that is correlated to the teams’ performance. Even though each leader differs in how much input they ask from their team, an agreement matters if there is an unbreakable bond between coworkers.

Disadvantages of behavioral leadership theory

There are two main disadvantages of behavioral leadership theory:

1. Behavioral theories are a learned process and take time

Whether you’re a leader or an employee, determining certain behaviors that fit scenarios come with trial and error. Leaders have to be willing to put themselves in an environment to be tested, and they have to acknowledge that their behavior is worth monitoring. With the vast deadlines pending and clients to attend to, a CEO or impactful leader may be a difficult test subject to access. However, if they show a willingness to be vulnerable, they’ll know more about themselves than they did going into the evaluation, and it can have a direct effect on how they interact with you as time progresses.

2. Leaders have other considerations for how to manage employees

Leaders may consider power and influence approaches to getting work done and how to work with you. This way, your role and the manner in which you operate within an organization factors into what decision you make and when.

Two leadership styles that fit this paradigm include:

• Pacesetter leadership: This approach is geared toward driving fast results from team members where they hold high standards for you and your colleagues for meeting your goals. Your manager can change a weekly staff meeting from one hour in the boardroom to a 15-minute standup meeting to go over the past week’s performance.
• Transactional leadership: This method is also centered on a leader who is only measuring the performance of their team. This leader offers predetermined incentives, usually a monetary one for success or disciplinary action for failure. However, the leader still provides mentorship opportunities to achieve those goals. A sales director meets with their team biweekly to see how they can exceed their targets to earn their bonuses. This is not an optimal management style if you’re seeking to move into a creative field.

Criticism of the Behavioural Approach

(i) This approach does not take into consideration the situational variables. A particular leadership style may be effective in one situation, but it may not be so effective or ineffective in another situation. In fact, the situation determines the effectiveness of a particular leadership style.

(ii) This approach does not consider the time factor also. A particular behaviour or action of the leader may be effective at one point of time while the same may be ineffective at some other point of time. Several theories where developed during 1950s and 1960s that approached leadership from the standpoint of actual behaviour of leaders.

Two important behavioural theories are:

• Michigan Studies
• Ohio State University Leadership Studies

1. Michigan Studies

These empirical studies were conducted slightly after World War II by the Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan. The purpose of these studies was to identify styles of leadership behaviour that results in higher performance and satisfaction of a group.

These studies distinguished between two distinct styles of leadership:

(i) Production Centered Leadership

This leadership is also known as task oriented leadership.

The production oriented leadership stressed on certain points:

• Rigid work standards, procedure and rules
• Close supervision of the subordinates
• Technical aspect of the job
• Employees were not to be considered as human beings but as tools to accomplish the goals of the organizations.

(ii) Employee Centered Leadership

This style is also known as relation oriented leadership because it emphasize on human relations.

The main parts which are concentrated upon in this approach are:

• To treat subordinates as human beings.
• To show concern for the employees needs, welfare, advancement etc.
• To encourage employee participation in goal setting and in other work related decisions.
• To help ensure high performance by inspiring respect and trust.

2. Ohio State University Leadership Studies

The Bureau of Research at Ohio State University conducted these studies. The main objective of the studies was to identify the major dimensions of leadership and to investigate the effect of leader’s behaviour on employee behaviour and satisfaction.

Ultimately, these studies narrowed the description of leader behaviour to two dimensions:

(i) Initiating Structure

(ii) Consideration

(i) Initiating Structure

It refers to the leader’s behaviour in defining and organizing the relationship between himself and members of the group.

The purpose of initiating structure is to:

• Establish well defined patterns of organization.
• Develop channels of communications and methods or procedures.
• To supervise the activities of employees.

Consideration

Consideration refers to the behaviour which can be characterised by:

• Friendliness
• Mutual trust
• Respect
• Supportiveness
• Openness
• Concern for the welfare of employees

The basic feature of this theory is that leadership behaviour is plotted on two axes rather than on a single continuum.

The Trait Theory asserts that an individual is composed of a set of definite predisposition attributes called as traits. These traits are distinguishable and often long lasting quality or a characteristic of a person that makes him different from the others.

Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion. According to this perspective, traits are aspects of personality that are relatively stable over time, differ across individuals (e.g. some people are outgoing whereas others are not), are relatively consistent over situations, and influence behavior. Traits are in contrast to states, which are more transitory dispositions.

In some theories and systems, traits are something a person either has or does not have, but in many others traits are dimensions such as extraversion vs. introversion, with each person rating somewhere along this spectrum.

There are two approaches to define traits: as internal causal properties or as purely descriptive summaries. The internal causal definition states that traits influence our behaviours, leading us to do things in line with that trait. On the other hand, traits as descriptive summaries are descriptions of our actions that don’t try to infer causality.

The two most common trait theories are:

1. Allport’s Trait Theory

This theory is given by Gordon Allport. According to him, the personality of an individual can be studied through a distinction between the common traits and the personal dispositions.

The common traits are used to compare the people on the grounds of six values, such as religious, social, economic, political, aesthetic and theoretical. Besides the common traits, there are personal dispositions which are unique and are classified as follows:

• Cardinal Traits: The cardinal traits are powerful, and few people possess personality dominated by a single trait. Such as Mother Teressa’s altruism.
• Central Traits: These traits are the general characteristics possessed by many individuals in the varying degrees. Such as loyalty, friendliness, agreeableness, kindness, etc.
• Secondary Trait: The secondary traits show why at times, a person behaves differently than his usual behavior. Such as a jolly person may get miserable when people try to tease him.

2. Cattell’s Trait Theory

This trait theory is given by Raymond Cattell. According to him, the sample of a large number of variables should be studied to have a proper understanding of the individual personality.

He collected the life data (everyday life behaviors of individuals), experimental data (standardizing experiments by measuring actions), questionnaire data (responses gathered from the introspection of an individual’s behavior) and done the factor analysis to identify the traits that are related to one another.

By using the factor analysis method, he identified 16 key personality factors:

• Abstractedness: Imaginative Vs Practical
• Warmth: Outgoing Vs Reserved
• Vigilance: Suspicious Vs Trusting
• Tension: Impatient Vs Relaxed
• Apprehension: Worried Vs Confident
• Emotional Stability: Calm Vs anxious
• Liveliness: Spontaneous Vs Restrained
• Dominance: Forceful Vs Submissive
• Social Boldness: Uninhibited Vs Shy
• Perfectionism: Controlled Vs Undisciplined
• Privateness: Discreet Vs Open
• Sensitivity: Tender Vs Tough
• Self Reliance: Self sufficient Vs Dependent
• Rule-Consciousness: Conforming Vs Non-Conforming
• Reasoning: Abstract Vs Concrete
• Openness to Change: Flexible Vs Stubborn

The trait theory is based on the assumption that the traits are common to many individuals and they vary in absolute amounts. Also, the traits remain consistent over a period of time, and thus can be measured through the behavioral indicators.