HC 1: Theories of leadership
Mediation: geeft het causale verband aan tussen variabelen X en Y in een model, waarbij de
mediator de relatie weergeeft tussen de twee variabelen.
Moderation: de aard van relatie tussen variabelen X en Y hangen af van een moderator-variabele.
Leadership: “Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what
needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to
accomplish shared objectives.”
Theories on leadership:
The ‘Great Man’ theories
The trait approach
The behavioral approach
The contingency approach
New approaches:
o LMX (Leader-member exchange)
o Transformational leadership
o Authentic leadership
o Charismatic leadership
The ‘Great Man’ theory: Historians looking at specific ‘great leaders’ throughout history and
inspecting their lives for certain clues, such as admirable traits and major life events that might
explain their leadership skills (criticism on this theory is that conclusions are mostly not
generalizable).
The trait approach: There are specific characteristics (traits) such as personality and intelligence that
might make people effective leaders.
The behavioral approach: Differs from traits in the sense that behavior can be learned and traits are
mostly genetical. Two main different behaviors of leaders are: task-oriented and relation-oriented.
These are combined in the managerial grid of Blake and Mouton (below).
, The contingency approach (Fiedler): leadership situational favorability can be measured by three
things, namely:
Task structure (+)
Leader position power (+)
Quality of leader-member relations (+)
Task-oriented leadership preferred in highly (un)favorable situations.
Relationship-oriented preferred at moderate levels of situational favorability.
The Hersey-Blanchard model of leadership depends on two variables:
Job maturity: subordinate’s job-related ability, skills, and knowledge.
Psychological maturity: the self-confidence and self-respect of the subordinate.
At low levels of these two, task-oriented leadership is preferred, otherwise at high levels relation-
oriented leadership is preferred.
Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory: differentiates two types of relationships:
1. In-group members: have high-quality relationships with their leader and high latitude for
negotiating their work roles; rare use of formal power or authority.
2. Out-group members: have low-quality relationships with their leader and little latitude for
negotiating their work roles; leader relies on formal power and authority.
People usually start as an out-group member and then gradually become an in-group member.
Transformational leadership: is the interplay between leaders and followers in which each raises the
other to higher levels of ethics, morality, and motivation. The leader transforms the followers by
appealing to their nobler motives, such as justice and peace. There are 4 different factors to
transformational leadership:
Idealized influence (charisma): behavior that increases follower identification with the
leader, such as setting an example of courage and making self-sacrifices to benefit followers.
Inspirational motivation: communicating an appealing vision, and using symbols to focus
subordinate effort.
Mediation: geeft het causale verband aan tussen variabelen X en Y in een model, waarbij de
mediator de relatie weergeeft tussen de twee variabelen.
Moderation: de aard van relatie tussen variabelen X en Y hangen af van een moderator-variabele.
Leadership: “Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what
needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to
accomplish shared objectives.”
Theories on leadership:
The ‘Great Man’ theories
The trait approach
The behavioral approach
The contingency approach
New approaches:
o LMX (Leader-member exchange)
o Transformational leadership
o Authentic leadership
o Charismatic leadership
The ‘Great Man’ theory: Historians looking at specific ‘great leaders’ throughout history and
inspecting their lives for certain clues, such as admirable traits and major life events that might
explain their leadership skills (criticism on this theory is that conclusions are mostly not
generalizable).
The trait approach: There are specific characteristics (traits) such as personality and intelligence that
might make people effective leaders.
The behavioral approach: Differs from traits in the sense that behavior can be learned and traits are
mostly genetical. Two main different behaviors of leaders are: task-oriented and relation-oriented.
These are combined in the managerial grid of Blake and Mouton (below).
, The contingency approach (Fiedler): leadership situational favorability can be measured by three
things, namely:
Task structure (+)
Leader position power (+)
Quality of leader-member relations (+)
Task-oriented leadership preferred in highly (un)favorable situations.
Relationship-oriented preferred at moderate levels of situational favorability.
The Hersey-Blanchard model of leadership depends on two variables:
Job maturity: subordinate’s job-related ability, skills, and knowledge.
Psychological maturity: the self-confidence and self-respect of the subordinate.
At low levels of these two, task-oriented leadership is preferred, otherwise at high levels relation-
oriented leadership is preferred.
Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory: differentiates two types of relationships:
1. In-group members: have high-quality relationships with their leader and high latitude for
negotiating their work roles; rare use of formal power or authority.
2. Out-group members: have low-quality relationships with their leader and little latitude for
negotiating their work roles; leader relies on formal power and authority.
People usually start as an out-group member and then gradually become an in-group member.
Transformational leadership: is the interplay between leaders and followers in which each raises the
other to higher levels of ethics, morality, and motivation. The leader transforms the followers by
appealing to their nobler motives, such as justice and peace. There are 4 different factors to
transformational leadership:
Idealized influence (charisma): behavior that increases follower identification with the
leader, such as setting an example of courage and making self-sacrifices to benefit followers.
Inspirational motivation: communicating an appealing vision, and using symbols to focus
subordinate effort.
