ILM L 3 - Understanding Leadership Part 1

• Personal Development
• Further Education (Key Stage 5)

ILM Level 3 Understanding Leadership

Introductions

Who are you?

  

What is your role?

What do you hope to get out of the course?

Learning Outcomes

AC 1.1 Describe the factors that will influence the choice of leadership styles or behaviours in workplace situations

  

AC 1.2 Explain why these leadership styles or behaviours are likely to have a positive or negative effect on individual and group behaviour

What’s the best manager you ever worked for like?

Are people 'born leaders' or do they practice and develop their skills?

Born leaders

Develop skills

What is Leadership?

Leadership is not a magnetic personality – that can just as well be demagoguery. It is not ‘making friends and influencing people’ – that is salesmanship.

What is Leadership?

Leadership is not a magnetic personality – that can just as well be demagoguery. It is not ‘making friends and influencing people’ – that is salesmanship.

What is Leadership?

Leadership is the lifting of a man’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a man’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a man’s personality beyond its normal limitations.

Peter F. Drucker The Practice of Management - 1954

What is Leadership?

Leadership is the lifting of a man’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a man’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a man’s personality beyond its normal limitations.

Peter F. Drucker The Practice of Management - 1954

What is the difference between a leader and a manager?

Leadership

Management

Sets stretching objectives for team members

Champions, supports and delivers change

Builds and maintains positive relationships across teams

Ensures tasks are completed within timeframes

Spots talented people and finds opportunities to develop them

Works to achieve and maintain KPI’s

Which do you think you do more in your role: Leadership or Management?

Leadership

Management

What’s the risk if a manager only does management tasks?

What’s the risk if they only focus on leadership tasks

Trust

What factors are likely to help you earn the trust of your colleagues?

While authority and power are crucial to a team leader, the respect and confidence of the team is the key to successful outcomes. Trust is critical to successful team leading. It is important for the team leader to trust his or her team but, fundamental to a successful team, is trust in the leader. Effective communication and openness will make a significant difference to how the team perceives a team leader: a competent communicator who is honest will be more likely to earn the trust of his or her colleagues.

In simple terms, trust is founded on the belief of the team in the leader’s integrity, character and credibility.

Trust Formula

The assertion in the formula is that to develop high levels of trust you must be credible in your role – ie ‘look the part’ and ‘act the part’ and you must be reliable – ie do what you say and in the timescales agreed. You must be sensitive to the people around you – ie see things from their perspective and be empathetic where appropriate. However, the biggest impact in the formula comes from self-orientation, what the formula implies here is that people who are consumed by self-importance and self-interest will have dramatically less trust from others than those whose focus is on the people around them – their team and the organisation generally.

Functional Approach

A Leader is defined by what they do

• Action-centred leadership – outcomes matter (J Adair)
  
• The team is the key to success
  

• Three elements (needs):
• Task needs
  
• Team needs
  
• Individual needs
  
• A series of functions support each need

Functional Approach

A Leader is defined by what they do

• Action-centred leadership – outcomes matter (J Adair)
  
• The team is the key to success
  

• Three elements (needs):
• Task needs
  
• Team needs
  
• Individual needs
  
• A series of functions support each need

Adair’s Functional Leadership Model

Behavioural Theories of Leadership

• The root of behavioural leadership theories is the assumption that leaders can be trained to behave in certain ways.
  
• One of the most prominent behavioural Theories is Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y (or Theory XY).
  

McGregor proposes that there are two fundamental approaches to managing people: Theory X and Theory Y. The two different approaches, which, at the extremes, are polar opposites on a continuum, assume that people are either, work-shy (Theory X) or motivated by work (Theory Y). His proposition is simple: for Theory X employees, managers should adopt an authoritarian management approach, and, for Theory Y employees, a more participative management approach should be used. In simple terms, the management styles associated with Theory XY are as follows:

Theory X Authoritarian

• Avoid Work
• Must be Controlled
• Avoid Responsibility
• Look for Security

Theory Y Participative

• Enjoy Work
• Self-Directed
• Seek Responsibility
• Make good decisions with a brad focus

Theory X (the ‘authoritarian management style) proposes that the average person dislikes work and will avoid it if they can. It is assumed that the average person prefers to be directed (that is, they want to be told what to do, how to do it and when to do it); they will avoid responsibility; they are lacking in ambition; and seek security. To manage Theory X people, the leader must take a coercive approach, threatening sanctions and punishment to ensure that organisational objectives are achieved.

Theory X Authoritarian

• Avoid Work
• Must be Controlled
• Avoid Responsibility
• Look for Security

Theory Y Participative

• Enjoy Work
• Self-Directed
• Seek Responsibility
• Make good decisions with a broad focus

All employees fall somewhere on the continuum

Theory X (the ‘authoritarian management style) proposes that the average person dislikes work and will avoid it if they can. It is assumed that the average person prefers to be directed (that is, they want to be told what to do, how to do it and when to do it); they will avoid responsibility; they are lacking in ambition; and seek security. To manage Theory X people, the leader must take a coercive approach, threatening sanctions and punishment to ensure that organisational objectives are achieved.

What is Leadership Style?

Leadership Styles

Definition: A leadership style is the specific way a leader behaves, interacts with their team, and makes decisions. It reflects the leader's personal preferences, values, and approach to leadership.

Purpose: To describe how a leader actually leads in practice.

Example: Kurt Lewin’s Leadership Styles Framework (1939)

Autocratic Style: Leader makes decisions without consulting the team.

Democratic Style: Leader involves the team in decision-making.

Laissez-Faire Style: Leader provides minimal direction and lets the team operate independently.

Back in the 1930s, a psychologist called Kurt Lewin looked at how leaders behaved with their teams. He said there are basically three styles:

Autocratic – the boss makes all the decisions and tells everyone what to do. It’s quick, but people don’t always feel involved.

Democratic – the leader involves the team in decisions, asks opinions, and works with them. It takes a bit longer, but people feel more motivated and valued.

Laissez-faire – which is French for ‘let it be’. The leader steps back and lets the team get on with it. Works fine if the team is skilled and motivated, but can feel like a free-for-all if they’re not.

So Lewin’s point was: leaders don’t all act the same, and the style you use can really change how the team performs.”**

Tannenbaum & Schmidt

Leadership Styles Continuum

Tannenbaum and Schmidt took it a step further. Instead of three styles, they put leadership on a sliding scale. At one end is Tell — the boss makes the decision and gives orders. Next is Sell — you still decide, but you explain and persuade. Then Consult — you ask for input before deciding. Finally Join — you and the team decide together. Their point was that leadership isn’t fixed — you slide up and down depending on how much freedom you give the team.”

Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s Continuum Theory – Contingency

 

The Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum, set out in the Harvard Business Review in 1958, suggested that leaders should make decisions about how they lead based – or contingent – upon the situation. The Continuum, which comprises seven (7) distinct leadership styles, has, at either end of the spectrum, the option of an authoritative (autocratic) and a participative (democratic) approach to leadership.

 

Very similar in many ways to McGregor’s Theory XY, Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s Continuum Theory has considerable utility when used in conjunction with other models. In simple terms, the Model shows the relationship between the level of freedom that a leader chooses to give to a team and the level of authority exercised by the leader. As the team's freedom is increased, so the leader's authority decreases.

 

The diagram shows how the ability and the freedom of the team to make decisions increases as the chosen style of leadership moves across the Continuum from left to right. The decision to move away from an authoritative approach, in Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s view, was linked to the readiness of the team to participate in decision-making. In other words, as a team develops and competence within the team rises, it makes sense for a leader to involve the team in both problem-solving and decision-making through increased delegation.

Hersey & Blanchard

Situational Leadership Theory

Hersey and Blanchard said the best leaders adapt their style to the team’s maturity or readiness. If the team’s new or inexperienced, you need to Tell them what to do. If they’re learning, you Sell/Coach — giving direction but also support. Once they’re more capable, you Support them by involving them in decisions. And if they’re highly skilled and motivated, you Delegate and let them take ownership. So it’s about flexing your style to match your people.

Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard in their book published in 1977, Management of Organizational Behavior 3rd Edition – Utilizing Human Resources, developed their Situational Leadership Theory. The essence of the Situational Leadership Model is that a leader has to vary his or her leadership style to take account of the competence of the team, and the competence of each individual within the team.

 

Neither Hersey nor Blanchard uses the word ‘competence’, preferring instead to use the phrase ‘maturity level’ to describe the team or individual’s readiness for a particular style of leadership. The Situational Leadership Model defines 4 styles of leadership – Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating – and 4 levels of maturity from immaturity through to maturity. The level of maturity of a team or an individual dictates the leadership style to be adopted by the leader.

 

Blanchard further developed his thinking on Situational Leadership to reflect his view that effective leadership was about choosing a behaviour that fitted with the needs of the individual and the team. In his book, Leadership and the One-Minute Manager, first published in the UK in 1986, Blanchard coined the phrase ‘different strokes for different folks’ to illustrate this. He redefined the 4 leadership styles, preferring the terms – Directing, Coaching, Supporting and Delegating – and used the phrase ‘development level’ in place of ‘maturity level’ to reflect the responsibility of the leader to develop his or her team and the individuals within that team. He also introduced the notion of commitment – that is, the individual’s motivation to be developed – as another factor to be considered by the leader when deciding how to lead the team.

 

Blanchard suggests that there are 2 specific types of behaviour that effective leaders use – ‘directive’ and ‘supportive’ behaviour – and that the combination of these behaviours determines the style of leadership used; hence the 4 distinct leadership styles:

 

Directing. The most directive leadership style (S1) in which the leader provides the individual with specific instructions, monitoring closely the work that is done to ensure successful completion of the task. The leader does not need to offer much by way of supportive behaviour since the individual is not given any freedom to determine how the task is to be completed.

 

Coaching. The second leadership style (S2) focuses on enabling the individual to participate more fully in determining how the task should be completed. The leader will explain what the task is and invite the individual to explain how they intend to successfully complete it. The leader will take the final decision on how the task is to be completed but will work closely with the individual to arrive at the final decision. By actively involving the individual in discussion about how the task should be done, the leader’s behaviour is both highly directive and highly supportive.

 

Supporting. The third leadership style (S3) is yet more participative. In exercising this leadership style, the leader will outline the required or desired outcome and invite the individual to propose and implement a course of action. While the decision to proceed with a particular course of action ultimately rests with the leader, the leader will facilitate and support the individual in making the decision, exercising more supportive behaviour and less directive behaviour.

 

Delegating. In employing the fourth leadership style (S4), the leader’s behaviour is ‘light touch’. In delegating a task to an individual, the leader is indicating that responsibility for carrying out the task rests with that individual. This gives the individual the freedom to both determine what needs to be done to achieve the task and to complete it accordingly.

Group Activity

According to situational leadership theory, effective leaders vary their leadership styles.

 

In groups, pick the most appropriate style and explain why you would adopt this approach.

Telling/Directing (high task, low relationship)

Selling/Coaching (high task, high relationship)

Participating/Supporting (low task, high relationship)

Delegating (low task, low relationship)

According to situational leadership theory, effective leaders vary their leadership styles.

In groups, pick the most appropriate style and explain why you would adopt this approach.

Telling/Directing (high task, low relationship)

Selling/Coaching (high task, high relationship)

Participating/Supporting (low task, high relationship)

Delegating (low task, low relationship)

Why did your group pick this style?

What behaviours from the Five Guys Behaviours sheet connect with this choice?

Could another style work just as well — why or why not?

Factors Affecting Leadership Style

The Leader

The Team

The Environment

The Task

Choice of leadership style may depend on...

• Maturity of team
  
• Expertise in the group...may delegate more
  
• Belief that delegating/participative style is more motivational
  
• Emergency or not
  
• Time constraints – tight deadlines
  
• Your personality; your team’s personalities
  
• Team coherence
  
• Creativity required
  
• Desire to reduce staff turn over
  
• Stage of team development; individual development
  

Group Activity

Using the Five Guys Behaviours tables as your guide, identify the likely positive effects and negative effects of your assigned leadership style.

Think about:

• Customer focus
• Developing others
• Team morale and drive
• Performance and KPIs

Models - Recap

Lewin

Tannenbaum & Schmidt

Situational Leadership (Hersey & Blanchard)

• Autocratic
• Democratic
• Laissez-Faire

• Tell
• Sell
• Consult
• Join 
• (continuum of control → freedom)

• Directing
• Coaching
• Supporting
• Delegating

Share + & - of your assigned style

Self-Assessment

Please complete the Tannenbaum and Schmidt, ‘How to Choose a Leadership Pattern’ Questionnaire

Today we explored:

• The difference between leadership and management – and why both matter
• Key leadership theories and models:
• Trait & Behaviour approaches
• Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership
• McGregor’s Theory X & Y
• Lewin’s 3 Styles (Autocratic, Democratic, Laissez-Faire)
• Tannenbaum & Schmidt’s Continuum
• Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational Leadership
• Factors that influence leadership style: leader, team, task, environment, time pressures
• The positive and negative effects of different styles on teams, customers and performance
• How the Five Guys Behaviours link to effective leadership

Next week we will:

• Reflect on our own leadership styles
• Use feedback to assess our behaviours and potential
• Plan actions to enhance leadership effectiveness

Homework:

• Complete MyLeadership Profile on leadership.global website

Any Questions?