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HRM_C14.qxd 10/22/04 2:29 PM Page 299 CHAPTER 14 LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS CHAPTER ARE TO: 1 INTRODUCE A WORKING DEFINITION WHICH REFLECTS THE GENERAL NATURE OF LEADERSHIP 2 EXAMINE THE TRAIT APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP 3 EXAMINE THE STYLE (BEHAVIOURAL) AND CONTINGENCY APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP 4 EXPLORE THE NATURE OF HEROIC AND POST-HEROIC LEADERSHIP 5 INVESTIGATE THE LINK BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION HRM_C14.qxd 10/22/04 2:29 PM Page 300 Part III Performance Leadership and motivation are two of the most loaded and misunderstood words in management. Individual managers are often seduced by concepts of leadership that show them to be knights in shining armour with superhuman qualities and (this is the really dangerous bit) adoring followers. The followers rarely have that view of their managers. Motivation is often constructed in the same way, ‘How can I motivate the members of my team?’, although this ignores the mainsprings of motivation, which are in the performer rather than in the manager of the performer. We must not, however, underestimate the importance of leadership, motivation and the link between the two. There are indeed sometimes needs for individual leaders who have outstanding personal qualities and who achieve extraordinary change in their business, sometimes more subtle leadership qualities are more important, and there are infinitely more roles which call on different and more modest leadership skills, which can be learned and which are equally important, even if they do not merit shining armour and a white charger. Understanding of both leadership and motivation was well developed in the sec- ond half of the twentieth century and it is this work which is the basis of our under- standing and analysis today. The one major addition of recent years has been an appreciation of the impact of changing circumstances of contemporary business and the role of women. All of the twentieth-century studies and theories were based on two complementary assumptions; first, the business norm was of large, stable organ- isations steadily getting bigger; second, management was almost exclusively a male activity, with male norms. This led to explanations and suggestions based on those two givens. We now see a weakening of both these assumptions. Effective businesses are not necessarily large, growing organisations and there are many more women in the workforce and in management positions within it. Although charismatic leaders (a predominantly male concept) are still needed in some situations, empowering leaders are increasingly required. We reach this at the close of the chapter, but we can only get there by starting further back. LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT Northouse (1997) suggests that there are four components that characterise leader- ship: that leadership is a process; it involves influence; it occurs within a group con- text; and it involves goal attainment. This corresponds with Shackleton’s (1995) definition, which we shall use as a working definition for the remainder of the chapter: Leadership is the process in which an individual influences other group members towards the attainment of group or organizational goals. (Shackleton 1995, p. 2) This definition is useful as it leaves open the question of whether leadership is exercised in a commanding or a facilitative manner. It does suggest, however, that the leader in some way motivates others to act in such a way as to achieve group goals. 300 HRM_C14.qxd 10/22/04 2:29 PM Page 301 Chapter 14 Leadership and motivation The definition also makes no assumptions about who is the leader; it may or may not be the nominal head of the group. Managers, therefore, may or may not be leaders, and leaders may or may not be managers. Some authors distinguish very clearly between the nature of management and the nature of leadership but this draws on a particular perspective, that of the transformational leader, and we will consider this in the section on whether the organisation needs heroes. This is a school of thought that concentrates on the one leader at the top of the organisation, which is very different from organisations and individuals who use the terms manager and leader interchangeably with nothing more than a vague notion that managers should be leaders. Indeed, any individual may act as a manager one day and a leader the next, depending on the situation. The flow of articles on leadership continues unabated, but it would be a mistake to think that there is an ultimate truth to be discovered; rather, there is a range of perspectives from which we can try to make sense of leadership and motivation. Grint (1997) puts it well when he comments that What counts as leadership appears to change quite radically across time and space. (p. 3) In the following three sections we will look at three questions which underlie virtually all the work on leadership. First, what are the traits of a leader, or an effect- ive leader? Second, what is the ‘best’ leadership style or behaviour? Third, if different styles are appropriate at different times, what factors influence the desired style? WHAT ARE THE TRAITS OF LEADERS AND EFFECTIVE LEADERS? Trait approaches, which were the earliest to be employed, seek to identify the traits of leaders – in other words what characterises leaders as opposed to those who are not leaders. These approaches rest on the assumption that some people were born to lead due to their personal qualities, while others are not. It suggests that leadership is only available to the chosen few and not accessible to all. These approaches have been discredited for this very reason and because there has been little consistency in the lists of traits that research has uncovered. However, this perspective is frequently resurrected. Kilpatrick and Locke (1991), in a meta-analysis, did seem to find some consist- ency around the following traits: drive to achieve; the motivation to lead; honesty and integrity; self-confidence, including the ability to withstand setbacks, standing firm and being emotionally resilient; cognitive ability; and knowledge of the busi- ness. They also note the importance of managing the perceptions of others in relation to these characteristics. Northouse (1997) provides a useful historical com- parison of the lists of traits uncovered in other studies. Perhaps the most well-known expression of the trait approach is the work relating to charismatic leadership. House (1976), for example, describes charismatic leaders as being dominant, having 301 HRM_C14.qxd 10/22/04 2:29 PM Page 302 Part III Performance a strong desire to influence, being self-confident and having a strong sense of their own moral values. We will pick up on this concept of leadership in the later section on heroes. In a slightly different vein Goleman (1998) carried out a meta-analysis of leader- ship competency frameworks in 188 different companies. These frameworks repres- ented the competencies related to outstanding leadership performance. Goleman analysed the competencies into three groups: technical, cognitive and emotional, and found that, in terms of the ratios between each group, emotional competencies ‘proved to be twice as important as the others’. Goleman goes on to describe five components of emotional intelligence: • Self-awareness: this he defines as a deep understanding of one’s strengths, weak- nesses, needs, values and goals. Self-aware managers are aware of their own limitations. • Self-regulation: the control of feelings, the ability to channel them in constructive ways. The ability to feel comfortable with ambiguity and not panic. • Motivation: the desire to achieve beyond expectations, being driven by internal rather than external factors, and to be involved in a continuous striving for improvement. • Empathy: considering employees’ feelings alongside other factors when decision making. • Social skill: friendliness with a purpose, being good at finding common ground and building rapport. Individuals with this competency are good persuaders, col- laborative managers and natural networkers. Goleman’s research is slightly different from previous work on the trait approach, as here we are considering what makes an effective leader rather than what makes a leader (irrespective of whether they are effective or not). It is also different in that Goleman refers to competencies rather than traits. There is a thorough discussion of competencies in Chapter 17; it is sufficient for now to say that competencies include a combination of traits and abilities, among other things. There is some debate over whether competencies can be developed in people. The general feeling is that some can and some cannot. Goleman maintains that the five aspects of emo- tional intelligence can be learned and provides an example in his article of one such individual. In spite of his argument we feel that it is still a matter for debate, and as many of the terms used by Goleman are similar to those of the previous trait models of leadership, we have categorised his model as an extension of the trait perspective. To some extent his work sits between the trait approach and the style approach which follows. It is interesting that a number of researchers and writers are recognising that there is some value in considering a mix of personality char- acteristics and behaviours, and in particular Higgs (2003) links this approach to emotional intelligence. Rajan and van Eupen (1997) also consider that leaders are strong on emotional intelligence, and that this involves the traits of self-awareness, zeal, resilience and the ability to read emotions in others. They argue that these traits are particularly import- ant in the development and deployment of people skills. Heifetz and Laurie (1997) similarly identify that in order for leaders to regulate emotional distress in the organ- isation, which is inevitable in change situations, the leader has to have ‘the emotional 302
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