Session 9
Motivation and Leadership
6.Reward schemes
6.1Money
Achievement of high performance may be through positive rewards or the fear of job insecurity.
The role of money in motivation needs to be viewed in relation to the various theories.
•Maslow – pay can be used to satisfy a range of needs either directly (for lower level needs) or indirectly (for higher level needs)
•McClelland – pay is form a feedback for those with high achievement needs. It is also a way of controlling people and gaining prestige which relates to power need.
•Herzberg – pay is normally a hygiene factor but could also be viewed as a major reason for feelings of inequity.
•Adams’s equity theory – pay is an object of comparison and major reason for feelings of inequity.
•Expectancy theory – Pay is one of the rewards that may be valued by an individual.
It is important to recognize money not only for its purchasing power but also its impact as a status indicator.
6.2Non-financial motivators
Non-financial motivators might be:
•Participation
•Quality of work life
•Job design
6.3 Feedback
Feedback is an essential element of motivation. Recognition, praise and encouragement create feelings of confidence, competence, development and progress all of which enhance motivation.
7.Nature and importance of leadership
A basic definition of leader is “someone who exercises influence over other people”.
This can be expanded into a more complex definition:”Leadership is an interpersonal influence directed toward the achievement of a goal or goals”.
•Interpersonal – between people
•Influence – the power of affect others
•Goal – something that we need/want to achieve
There are different views of leadership. It can be seen as an attribute or position, a characteristic or a category of behaviour.
Leadership is a dynamic process in a group or team where one individual influences the others to contribute voluntarily to the achievement of group tasks in a given situation.
In the examination leadership can be examined on its own or combined with motivation, communication, team building, or management.
8.Classical theories of leadership
8.1Trait theories
Based on assumption that leaders are born and not made. Try to identify common personality characteristics (or traits) that are common to help recognize actual and potential leaders.
Leadership traits include:
•Physical – drive, energy, appearance
•Personality – adaptability, enthusiasm, self-confidence
•Social – co-operation, tact, administrative ability
8.2Activity based theories
Leadership is an active process involving giving instructions, persuasion and motivation.
Adair’s action – centered leadership model looks at leadership in relation to the needs of the task, individual and group.
Question 4
All organizations require leadership. Current ideas suggest that leaders need a number of inter-related skills, known as action centered leadership. Your manager wants to involve the department in this idea but is uncertain as to what is involved. You have been asked to explain:
Required
a)Outline five skills leader might possess (3 marks)
b)Explain the term action-centered leadership (3 marks)
c)Describe the three major goals of action-centered leadership (9 marks)
(15 marks)
Answer Plan
‘9Contingency and modern theories
9.1Contingency based theories
Contingency theory shows that there is no ideal personality or style for a leader. Leadership skills and behaviour styles need to be adapted to different situations.
9.2Hersey – Blanchard situational theory
The Hersey – Blanchard theory of leadership is based on three elements. These are:
Direction (task behaviour) – to what extent does the leader need to spell out tasks and responsibilities to the individual or group.
Socio-emotional support (relationship behaviour) – the extent to which the leader engages in two way or multi way communication.
Maturity of the followers – their willingness to take responsibility for their own behaviour.
Having identified the maturity level, appropriate leadership style can be adopted. These may be classified as
•Delegating – low relationship/low task behaviour
•Participating – high relationship/low task behaviour
•Selling – high relationship/high task behaviour
•Telling – low relationship/low task behaviour
9.3Handy’s best fit approach
Handy identifies the attributes of leader and subordinates, the task and the environment as the four key factors in successful leadership.
9.4Style (behavioural) theories
Most styles have been classified in terms of how authoritarian or democratic they are. The two extremes of leadership style can be described as task centered or group centered.
Task centered leadership – where the main concern of the leader is getting the job done, achieving objectives and seeing the group as simply a means to an end.
Group centered leadership – where the prime interest of the leader is to maintain the group, stressing factors such as mutual trust, friendship, support respect and warmth of relationships.
Likert distinguished between four key styles or ‘systems’ of leadership
•Exploitative autocratic
•Benevolent autocratic
•Participative
•Democratic
Research by White and Lippit showed that a more democratic style of leadership tended to be most successful.
Lastly, Blake and Mouton developed a management grid based on two of the fundamental ingredients of managerial behaviour: concern for production and concern for people.
Blake’s grid for assessing managerial behaviour;
9.5Continuum of leadership behaviour theories
Unlike some of the leadership theories Tannenbaum and Schmidt suggest that leadership style is best described as a continuum. The appropriate style depends upon the characteristics of the leader, subordinates and the situation.
Question 5
As part of your accountancy training you have been sent on a leadership development course. Upon your return, your manager has asked for a report specifically about the following.
Required
a)Describe Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid. (5 marks)
b)Describe the five extreme scores identified by Blake and Mouton. (5 marks)
c)Discuss the usefulness of the managerial grid to the organization (5 marks)
(15 marks)
Answer Plan
’10.Leadership and management
10.1Introduction
Leadership, as part of management, emphasizes interpersonal relationships and the encouragement of latent human capabilities.
Successful leadership depends not only on the knowledge, skills and personality of the leader, but also the task to be achieved, skills and motivation of the team.
10.2Skills of a leader
To inspire confidence and trust, leaders must have many skills. These include:
•Intelligence
•Confidence
•Decisiveness
•Strategic thinking
•Entrepreneurial ability
•Communication ability