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Leadership Myths

Myth: Good Leadership is All Common Sense Most leadership literature only confirms common sense knowledge. Common sense is ambiguous. The challenge is to know when common sense applies and when it does not. If leadership was simply common sense, then workplace problems would be few, if any. Effective leadership must be something more than just common sense. Myth: Leaders are Born, not Made Many factors and formative experiences influence behavior and leadership. Research shows cognitive abilities and personality traits are partially innate. Different environments can nurture or suppress different leadership qualities. Leaders are born and made. Myth: The Only School You Learn Leadership from Is the School of Hard Knocks Formal study and experiential learning compliment each other. Students must learn to discern critical lessons about leadership from their own experience. Being able to analyze experiences from multiple perspectives may be the greatest contribution a formal course in leadership can give you.

Leadership

process of influencing an organized group toward achieving its goals.

The study of leadership must also include two other areas:

the followers and the situation.

Leadership is Both a Science & an Art

Bass & Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research and Managerial Applications cites approx. 8,000 studies on leadership. managers may be effective leaders w/o ever having taken a course or training program in leadership. scholars in the field of leadership may be relatively poor leaders themselves. Leadership will always remain partly an art as well as a science.

The Followers

Both practitioners and scholars stress the relatedness of leadership and followership. Aspects of followers that affect the leadership process: Expectations Personality traits Maturity levels Levels of competence Motivation Workers that share a leader's goals and values are more motivated. Other relevant variables include: The number of followers reporting to a leader Followers' trust and confidence in the leader The leader-follower relationship has undergone dynamic change for many reasons: Increased pressure to function with reduced resources Trend toward greater power sharing and decentralized authority in organizations Increase in complex problems and rapid changes. Followers can become much more proactive in their stance toward organizational problems. Followers can become better skilled at "influencing upward" by being flexible and open to opportunities.

Leadership and management

Considerable overlap exists between leadership and management.

How leadership status is reached is important

Leaders appointed by superiors may have less credibility and may get less loyalty. Leaders elected or emerging by consensus from ranks of followers are seen as more effective. A leader's experience or history in a particular organization is usually important to her or his effectiveness. The extent of follower participation in a leader's selection may affect the leader's legitimacy.

The Situation

Leadership often makes sense only in the context of how the leader and followers interact in a given situation. The situation may be the most ambiguous aspect of the leadership framework.

Effective leaders differ from their followers and from ineffective leaders on elements such as:

Personality traits, cognitive abilities Skills, values Another way personality can affect leadership is through temperament.

There is No Simple Recipe for Effective Leadership

The right behavior in one situation is not necessarily the right behavior in another situation. Though unable to agree on the one best behavior in a given situation, agreement can exist on some clearly inappropriate behaviors. Saying that the right behavior for a leader depends on the situation differs from saying it does not matter what the leader does.

Individual aspects of the leadership equation

Unique personal history Interests Character traits Motivation

Illustrating the Interactional Framework: Women in Leadership Roles

Women are taking on leadership roles in greater numbers than ever before. Problems still exist that constrain the opportunity for capable women to rise to the highest leadership roles in organizations. Research shows that there are no statistically significant differences between the leadership styles of men and women.

Managers:

administer maintain control have a short-term view ask how and when imitate accept the status quo.

Leadership

complex phenomenon involving the leader, the followers & the situation. An agent induces a subordinate to behave in a desired manner. Directing and coordinating the work of group members. An interpersonal relation in which others comply because they want to, not because they have to. The process of influencing an organized group toward accomplishing its goals. Actions that focus resources to create desirable opportunities. Creating conditions for a team to be effective. Ability to get results & build teams; these represent the what and the how of leadership. A complex form of social problem solving.

The interactional framework

depicts leadership as a function of three elements: The leader The followers The situation A particular leadership situation scenario can be examined using each level of analysis separately. Examining interactions in the area of overlaps can lead to better understanding. Leadership is the result of complex interactions among the leader, the followers, and the situation

Leadership is Both Rational and Emotional

includes actions & influences based on reason and logic as well as those based on inspiration & passion. Since people are both rational and emotional, leaders can use rational techniques and/or emotional appeals. Aroused feelings can be used either positively or negatively, constructively or destructively. People tend to act differently among a group than when they are alone. Leaders need to consider both the rational and the emotional consequences of their actions.

Leaders

innovate develop inspire have a long-term view ask what and why originate challenge the status quo

Good leadership makes a difference

it can be enhanced through greater awareness of the important factors influencing the leadership process.