UCC 208: COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP
SESSION 3
THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP
Since Aristotle's time, people have been interested in what makes a good leader. Is it something
you are born with? Can you learn to be a leader? In this next section, several approaches to
understanding leadership are presented. The most useful current theories about leadership focus
on the communication behaviours of individuals.
Trait Approaches
❖ Trait approaches generally assert, "Leaders are born, not made."
❖ The trait model of leadership focused on identifying the personal characteristics that are
responsible for effective leadership.
❖ Research indicate that certain personal characteristics do appear to be associated with effective
leadership.
❖ However, traits alone are not the key to understanding leader effectiveness.
❖ Some effective leaders do not possess all of the traits identified in this model, and some leaders
who do possess them are not effective in their leadership roles.
❖ This lack of a consistent relationship between leader traits and leader effectiveness led
researchers to shift their attention away from what leaders are like (their traits) to what effective
managers actually do, i.e., their behaviors.
❖ Style Approaches
Style approaches focus on the pattern of behaviours leaders exhibit in groups.
Considerable research has examined three major styles of designated leaders:
Democratic,
Laissez-faire, and autocratic.
, Democratic leaders encourage members to participate in group decisions, even major ones:
"What suggestions do you have for solving our problem?"
Laissez-faire leaders are non leaders who take almost no initiative for structuring a group
discussion, but may respond to questions: "I don't care, whatever you want to do is fine with
me." Autocratic leaders maintain strict control over their groups, including making
assignments and giving orders: "Here's how we'll solve the problem. First, you will. . ." They
ask fewer questions but answer more than democratic leaders; make more attempts to coerce,
and fewer attempts to get others to participate.
The style approaches imply that there is a single leadership style good for all situations.
However, most scholars believe that the style should match the needs of the situation.
Contingency Approaches-Fred Fiendler
Contingency approaches assume that group situations vary, with different situations
(contingencies) requiring different leadership styles. In addition, a single group's situation will
vary over time.
Factors such as the type of task, the time available, and the skill of the members determine
what type of leadership is most appropriate for a given situation.
Contingency models of leadership take into account the situation or context within which
leadership occurs. They propose that whether or not a manager is an effective leader is the result
of the interplay between what the manager is like, what he or she does, and the situation in which
leadership takes place.
Fiedler’s contingency model helps explain why a manager may be an effective leader in one
situation and ineffective in another. It also suggests which kinds of managers are likely to be most
effective in which situations.
Factors that influence leader effectiveness
1. Leader style (Personal leader characteristics)
SESSION 3
THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP
Since Aristotle's time, people have been interested in what makes a good leader. Is it something
you are born with? Can you learn to be a leader? In this next section, several approaches to
understanding leadership are presented. The most useful current theories about leadership focus
on the communication behaviours of individuals.
Trait Approaches
❖ Trait approaches generally assert, "Leaders are born, not made."
❖ The trait model of leadership focused on identifying the personal characteristics that are
responsible for effective leadership.
❖ Research indicate that certain personal characteristics do appear to be associated with effective
leadership.
❖ However, traits alone are not the key to understanding leader effectiveness.
❖ Some effective leaders do not possess all of the traits identified in this model, and some leaders
who do possess them are not effective in their leadership roles.
❖ This lack of a consistent relationship between leader traits and leader effectiveness led
researchers to shift their attention away from what leaders are like (their traits) to what effective
managers actually do, i.e., their behaviors.
❖ Style Approaches
Style approaches focus on the pattern of behaviours leaders exhibit in groups.
Considerable research has examined three major styles of designated leaders:
Democratic,
Laissez-faire, and autocratic.
, Democratic leaders encourage members to participate in group decisions, even major ones:
"What suggestions do you have for solving our problem?"
Laissez-faire leaders are non leaders who take almost no initiative for structuring a group
discussion, but may respond to questions: "I don't care, whatever you want to do is fine with
me." Autocratic leaders maintain strict control over their groups, including making
assignments and giving orders: "Here's how we'll solve the problem. First, you will. . ." They
ask fewer questions but answer more than democratic leaders; make more attempts to coerce,
and fewer attempts to get others to participate.
The style approaches imply that there is a single leadership style good for all situations.
However, most scholars believe that the style should match the needs of the situation.
Contingency Approaches-Fred Fiendler
Contingency approaches assume that group situations vary, with different situations
(contingencies) requiring different leadership styles. In addition, a single group's situation will
vary over time.
Factors such as the type of task, the time available, and the skill of the members determine
what type of leadership is most appropriate for a given situation.
Contingency models of leadership take into account the situation or context within which
leadership occurs. They propose that whether or not a manager is an effective leader is the result
of the interplay between what the manager is like, what he or she does, and the situation in which
leadership takes place.
Fiedler’s contingency model helps explain why a manager may be an effective leader in one
situation and ineffective in another. It also suggests which kinds of managers are likely to be most
effective in which situations.
Factors that influence leader effectiveness
1. Leader style (Personal leader characteristics)
