Leadership

This post is a review of ten years of the Leadership quarterly. It is a discussion of the qualitative including interviews , and quantitative  methodologies involved in the contributions of the journal in its first decade. There is an impetus  early in the review on the story of the conception of the journal. Professional body sponsorship, quality scholarship, and innovation were discussed as the three variables important to the sustainability and viability of new journals. It was noted that the Leadership Quarterly  is innovative and high in the quality of the scholarshipand thus, its prints were able to survive and grow without professional body sponsorship.Innovation and high quality scholarship were the two main pillars in this journals journey so far.

The founders of leadership quarterly focused on building a high quality editorial board for quality control. The diversity of  board members from a variety of disciplines and nationalities facilitated the  journal to grow into an interdisciplinary and international outlet for leadership research.The innovation of the journal has been widely applauded.

Empirical evidence of Leadership quarterly’s quality is provided by Anbar Electronic Intelligence which is an independent organization that evaluates scholarly and practitioner oriented journals.The content analysis was of the journal was done in four stages. Firstly, complete references including abstracts for all LQ publications were imported into the Endnote . Secondly, the authors supplemented the Endnote references by adding information on each publication’s purpose, primary theoretical bases, and publication type.
Empirical articles, were developed with  fields  to record descriptions of the method, sample, independent measures,criterion measures, and data analysis techniques.Thirdly, the information from the Endnote database was used to identify appropriate categories for a secondary coding .In the fourth and final stage, the coded data for each article were aggregated across the ten volumes of the journal and summarized.

The results indicated that there was a need to study the role of women in leadership, the review also suggests that leadership context has been understudied in both its social and temporal form. The results also led to the revelation about the need for organizational systems to develop leaders and the need to study organizational conditions that enhance the efficiency of leadership development efforts.It has been noticed that the journal made a key contribution to the field of leadership by increasing awareness
for more rigorous  identification and testing for appropriate levels of analysis.

The conclusions provided some directions for future study, building on the existing literature and appear  promising for leadership researchers in the next decade. There was an emphasis on building on and following the route of qualitative research.

This particular reading was very interesting, specially because it is more relevant now than ever before. The world we live in is changing at a pace that is beyond imagination. The problems in the world are very different from the past and unique problems demand unusual solutions. Grint provides a thorough analysis of alternative leadership from a leader’s as well as the follower’s perspective.  The chapters in the book focus on Martin Luther king and the interpretation of movement leadership.

What was most interesting was to look at leadership from the perspective of a skill. There have been skill theories describing leadership but this alternative approach is very intriguing and interesting. The idea that an organization is to be looked upon as a verb instead of a noun in itself is revolutionary. Not only is it away from the norm but is also very much viable and practical. The heirarchy is removed from the process of leadership and it is discussed as an active and skillful process. The final chapter talks about feminist and post modern approaches.

I am of the opinion that the complexity of leadership in an ever changing world with unpredictable problems is inevitably going to lead us to formulate leadership roles on an individualized basis. There is no one solution to a problem. No single theroy of leadership or approach there in is going to be able to provide practical solutions to impractical problems. Alternative leadership is one area that is going to be the mantra in the next century. It is my thinking that alternative leadership should not be defined or confined with boundaries. It should be allowed to flow and take shape according to requirements ; confining it with definitions will lead us to curb the creativity involved with the whole concept……..

This week’s blog is about various leadership theories that can be grouped into leader focused and social dynamic theories. The story starts from the grand old daddy of all approaches, trait approach. According to trait approach, leadership can be explained in terms of traits of personality and character. According to Northouse, the traits central to a leader are: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability. The next theory in line is the skills theory and skills are described as capabilities that can be lost if you do not practice with them.

Skills vary, so do the abilities associated with them. The most famous component of the skill theory is the part by Katz, proposed in 1955. The approach is a 3 skill approach where technical, human and conceptual skills are different parts of the scenario. Technical skill refers to the knowledge about and being proficient in a specific type of work or ability. Human skill or interpersonal skill refers to working with people, and conceptual skills refer to the ability to work with ideas. The skill model of leadership has individual attributes (general cognitive ability, crystallized cognitive ability, motivation, and personality), leadership outcomes (effective problem solving, performance), and competencies (problem solving skills, knowledge and social adjustment). Career experience (mentoring, training, hands on experience and challenging job assignments) affect individual attributes and competencies while environmental influences( factors outside leaders control) affect individual attributes, competencies and leadership outcomes.

The next approach is the style approach which falls under the behavioral category and has 2 different orientations. Task orientation mainly focused on the leader defining the role of followers and making decisions and the follower skill/ability level or time available is low. Task takes precedence and people involvement is low. The other kind of orientation is relationship orientation where task is not as important as getting followers involved. The leader is the facilitator and followers have abilities and knowledge to do task. In this orientation, the leader’s role is in helping people function and not in doing the task. Blake and Mouton’s leadership grid was very interesting and simple to understand. The leadership continuum was also interesting to read and the progression from leader-centered approach to authoritative to political to evaluative to participative, laissez-faire and ultimately ending in group-centered approach was multidimensional in scope.

Situational leadership that was next in line seemed more like a model rather than an approach or a theory as it was based on 3-action interplay. As proposed by Hershey and Blanchard, the amount of direction and socio-emotional support a leader provides, and the developmental level of the followers for each specific task determines situational leadership. So, it is very relevant in situations where the leader is working with a small group of followers but is highly unmanageable in large organizations or communities. Path goal theory, contingency theory and leader-member exchange theory were all the different links leading to transactional leadership in the social dynamic category of theories. Transactional leadership focuses on the exchange between leader and follower involving things of agenda, rewards etc.and involves negative reinforcement, negative feedback and corrective criticism. The next theory in line is transformational theory.

Characteristics of Transformational Leadership:

Idealized influence or charisma is

•         envisioning

•         confidence

•         high standards for emulation

•         Inspirational motivation

•         provides followers with challenges

•         meaning for engaging in shared goals and undertakings.

Intellectual stimulation

•         helps followers question assumptions

•         generate more creative solutions to problems

Individualized consideration

•         treats each follower as an individual

•         provides coaching, mentoring and growth opportunities

The most important piece of the whole puzzle was “Transformational leadership increases the effectiveness of transactional leadership. It does not have to replace transactional leadership” (Waldman, Bass, & Yammarino, 1990).

Also, the distinction between transactional, transformational and Pseudotransformational leadership was important. “Pseudo transformational leaders are self-consumed, exploitive, and power-oriented, with warped

moral values” (Bass, 1998).

The readings in Grint were interesting and as usual Grint provided a more concrete and critical view of leadership than Northouse did.

Today’s blog is a very thought provoking as well as introspective entry. The readings on Ethical leadership in Northouse and the reading on Jewish resistance as an example of leadership in social movements were both intellectually stimulating in their own right.

Northouse described the connection between ethics and leadership in a very multidimensional scope. The chapter focuses on the conduct and the character of the leader and its dissection by the followers. Then moves on to the impact of the leader on the followers lives in different ways. Ethics and morality seem to be intertwined in the narration provided by Northouse. The reading from Northouse focused to a great extent on ethics, spirituality and morals as integral parts of leadership.

Although, it is definitely evident that morals and ethics are an inherent part of leadership, how do you measure morality or ethics? They are such fluid and contextual concepts that are often dependent on culture, value systems, norms, traditions etc. I personally, do not see a particular way of defining or producing a methodology for such dynamic and context based concepts. However, we as humans can definitely agree on the basic approach to morals and ethics in terms of equality, justice, law and order etc. But, for sure the interaction of ethics and leadership is more than that. It encompasses what we imbibe, what we project and what we process as individuals in multicultural, pluralistic societies that we all live in currently. The question is still out there or does it have to be answered by every person individually in the leadership continuum? Is it for questioning by the followers or acceptance of the leader they believe symbolizes their ideals? Is it the leader who changes or modifies his/her ethical or moral conduct to fit in with the majority view of the followers? Is it a little bit of all these components…………………

Ethics, as we hear and think about it, how many of us have defined what our ethics actually are? How do we measure up our leaders ethically? What does it actually mean to be ethical to lead or to follow or just be a part of the process we have all come to define as leadership?

It is definitely a lot to think about individually, as a society and as a global citizen. I am sure my definition along with all of its inclusive components of ethics is going to change with age, life experience; personal and professional growth, value systems and so will my perceptions about leaders and followers and their interaction. However, what would be most interesting is how my perception and interpretation of the process of leadership changes over time. Ethical leadership has many implications, who is it supposed to be ethical for? One group, two groups or the whole world at large…… Who defines it and how? It does seem to me this discussion could be the journey of my life……….

Nevertheless, the paper on Jewish resistance was quite striking because of the case studies of the two ghettos and their associated social movements and the results. Here leadership and authority are discussed in great detail. The impact of authority on the end results as well as the leadership in these communities is elucidated uniquely. It is shown how legitimacy of leadership can have an impact on a social movement and in reaching a desired goal. Overall, it was an interesting read.

This post is dedicated to the discussion of leadership and management.This topic is very dear to my heart and ignites my passion for a meaningful, productive change in the society.Leadership and management have been studied in great detail and have different connotations in different contexts. Most of the leadership theories have been formed and studied in a military perspective. In the reading done in the chapter from Grint, there are several key points that point towards the relevance of this topic and this debate in mundane activities. Grint in particular, takes an approach that is very critical and leads us to question our preformed notions and understanding. This challenge is what makes the reading exceptional and inspiring. Grint focuses on leadership and management as two sides of the same coin and argues that ultimately whichever side you choose the ultimate orientation is goal setting. However, the other reading Northouse was unique in its own right, it was easy on the eyes, the brain and very simple to assimilate. It focused on the leader -follower relationship in great detail and often focused on them as the two sides of a coin. Northouse simply describes roles and targets who accomplishes what and thereby distinguishes the leader from the manager. Northouse identifies a leader as someone associated with ‘change and movement’ and a manager who is in charge of bringing about ‘order and stability’. Essentially management is defined in a very transactional approach and leadership in a a very transformational approach by Northouse.

In reality, it is true that managers are responsible for policy and compliance issues  and leaders are associated with ‘change’ but what is a leader who cannot manage his group well and what is a manager that cannot lead his group well. Even though leadership and management are distinct in many ways they are also similar in many ways.Leadership and management ‘go hand in hand’ ( Grint) and this is definitely true.As I read more about the two, I see how they overlap and how they lend meaning to each others existence. I believe now more than ever before that leadership and management are dependent on each other and have to be addressed on the same platform if growth has to be attainable and sustainable .

The part of the reading that caught my attention more than anything else was the paragraph in Grint ” Leadership is associated with mobilization of resources, of all forms, providing new perspectives and avenues”………”Do not follow the leader or the follower, track the mobilization of resources i.e. change”. It is amazing that many things make more sense to me now because of that one paragraph. It was very enlightening to sit under a tree and think about the possibilities that those words made possible for me personally. It made me think about  if people are themselves the resource, then track their change, track where they are and where they can be…….track how their movement brings about the change that is required in society. The readings definitely gave me a new perspective , a new understanding of leadership in a human development perspective.

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