Describe what psychologists know about leadership.

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Q. Describe what psychologists know about leadership?

"Leadership" is defined as the ability to guide a group towards the attainment of goals. Throughout history, psychologists have conducted research to determine what constitutes effective leadership. The earliest theories were the universalistic theories, which sought to uncover the universal characteristics of effective leaders. The second category comprises the behaviourist theories, which focus on the behaviours of effective leaders, instead of inferred leader characteristics. The largest category contains the contingency theories, which investigate the dynamics between elements of the work situation and characteristics of the leader. Additional theories of leadership have concentrated on the exceptional characteristics of some leaders that inspire and motivate their followers. This answer will outline the salient features of the last three categories mentioned.

The behavioural theories of leadership focus on particular behaviours that are related to effective leadership. They are based on two research projects, one conducted at Ohio State University by Halpin & Winder (1957) and the other at Michigan University by Likert (1967), both of which arrived at similar conclusions about leadership. According to the Ohio State Leadership Studies, all leader behaviours can be narrowed into two general categories: initiating structure (leader behaviours that define, organise and structure the work situation) and consideration (leader behaviours that show a genuine concern for the feelings and needs of followers). According to the Ohio State researchers, the two categories were independent of each other, that is, a leader's score on one did not relate to their score on the other. Therefore, some effective leaders were high on initiating structure alone, others exhibited only consideration behaviours, and still others display both.

Similarly, the University of Michigan Leadership Studies also found that all leadership behaviours could either be classified into either of two categories, which they termed as "task-oriented" (i.e. behaviours focused on the work task) or "relationship-oriented" (i.e. behaviours focused on maintaining interpersonal relationships on the job). The findings of the Michigan study were used by Blake & Moulton (1985) to produce a leadership intervention program called The Leadership Grid, which is based on the premise that the best leaders show both high concern for work and production and high concern for people. However, by specifying one ideal leadership style, it departs from the behavioural viewpoint and takes a universal approach instead.

Contingency theories of leadership examine the interaction between leader characteristics and elements of the work situation, arguing that effective leadership depends on the proper match between the two. Fiedler's contingency theory (1967) looks at the interaction between leadership style and the degree of control and influence given to the leader by the work situation. By means of the LPC measure, Fiedler determined whether the leader was task- or relationship-oriented by examining how harshly or leniently the leader has rated their least preferred co-worker on bipolar adjective rating scales. Fiedler argues that low LPC scorers are task-oriented because they are likely to value task success and thus would be highly critical of their least preferred co-worker; high scorers, however, are likely to be relationship-oriented because they value interpersonal relationships and would therefore rate their least preferred co-worker leniently. Fiedler defined the work situation using three variables: leader-member relations, which refer to the quality of the interaction between leader and follower; task structure, which is an assessment of how well elements of task are structured; and position power, which is the leader's authority to reward or punish followers. According to Fiedler (1967), low-LPC task-oriented leaders are successful in either very favourable or very unfavourable situations because their take-charge style and focus on task success encourages the group to perform the job; whilst, in favourable circumstances with straightforward and structured tasks, and good relations between leader and worker, the group is already very productive, resulting in the leader adopting a more relationship-oriented style. High-LPC relationship-oriented leaders are most effective in "middle situations" that may lack in one of three situational variables because they possess the interpersonal skills required to communicate their concern for workers and to allow them to resolve conflicts that arise, resulting in increased worker satisfaction and job performance, despite the deficiencies in the work environment. The Fiedler's contingency theory led to the development of an application called Leader Match, which trains managers to identify their own orientation as well as situations in which they are most likely to succeed. If a mismatch is discovered between the leader's orientation and their work situation, suggestions are made for changing situational variables to provide a more appropriate fit.
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Another contingency theory is House's path-goal theory (1971), which proposes that the leader facilitates the work group in the attainment of their goals. The leader can adopt one of four categories of behaviour: directive behaviour, which involves providing instructions for performing a job; achievement oriented, which focuses on particular work outcomes; supportive behaviours, which focused on interpersonal relationships and showing support; and participative behaviour, which encouraged workers to take an active role in planning and decision-making. The first two types are initiating structure behaviours, while the latter two are consideration behaviours. The leader adopts a behaviour type, depending ...

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