Classical Leadership
Classical Leadership
Classical Leadership
What is leadership? Here Michele Erina Doyle and Mark K. Smith explore some of the
classical models of leadership. In particular they look at earlier approaches to
studying the area via the notions of traits and behaviours, and to what has become
known as contingency theory. From there they turn to more recent, ‘transformational’
theories and some issues of practice.
contents: introduction · trait approaches to leadership · behavioural approaches to leadership ·situational or
contingency approaches to leadership · transformational approaches to leadership ·authority · charisma · in
conclusion · further reading and references · links
Traits
Leaders are people, who are able to express themselves fully, says Warren Bennis. 'They also
know what they want', he continues, 'why they want it, and how to communicate what they
want to others, in order to gain their co-operation and support.’ Lastly, ‘they know how to
achieve their goals' (Bennis 1998: 3). But what is it that makes someone exceptional in this
respect? As soon as we study the lives of people who have been labelled as great or effective
leaders, it becomes clear that they have very different qualities. We only have to think of
political figures like Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher and Mao Zedong to confirm this.
Instead of starting with exceptional individuals many turned to setting out the general
qualities or traits they believed should be present. Surveys of early trait research by Stogdill
(1948) and Mann (1959) reported that many studies identified personality characteristics
that appear to differentiate leaders from followers. However, as Peter Wright (1996: 34) has
commented, ‘others found no differences between leaders and followers with respect to
these characteristics, or even found people who possessed them were less likely to become
leaders’. Yet pick up almost any of the popular books on the subject today and you will still
find a list of traits that are thought to be central to effective leadership. The basic idea
remains that if a person possesses these she or he will be able to take the lead in very
different situations. At first glance, the lists seem to be helpful (see, for example, Exhibit 1).
But spend any time around them and they can leave a lot to be desired.
Behaviours
As the early researchers ran out of steam in their search for traits, they turned to what
leaders did - how they behaved (especially towards followers). They moved from leaders to
leadership - and this became the dominant way of approaching leadership within
organizations in the 1950s and early 1960s. Different patterns of behaviour were grouped
together and labelled as styles. This became a very popular activity within management
training – perhaps the best known being Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid (1964; 1978).
Various schemes appeared, designed to diagnose and develop people’s style of working.
Despite different names, the basic ideas were very similar. The four main styles that appear
are:
• Concern for task. Here leaders emphasize the achievement of concrete objectives.
They look for high levels of productivity, and ways to organize people and activities in
order to meet those objectives.
• Concern for people. In this style, leaders look upon their followers as people - their
needs, interests, problems, development and so on. They are not simply units of
production or means to an end.
• Directive leadership. This style is characterized by leaders taking decisions for others
- and expecting followers or subordinates to follow instructions.
• Participative leadership. Here leaders try to share decision-making with others.
(Wright 1996: 36-7)
Often, we find two of these styles present in books and training materials. For example,
concern for task is set against concern for people (after Blake and Mouton 1964); and
directive is contrasted with participative leadership (for example, McGregor’s [1960]
portrayal of managers as ‘Theory X’ or ‘Theory Y’). If you have been on a teamwork or
leadership development course then it is likely you will have come across some variant of
this in an exercise or discussion.
Many of the early writers that looked to participative and people-centred leadership, argued
that it brought about greater satisfaction amongst followers (subordinates). However, as
Sadler (1997) reports, when researchers really got to work on this it didn’t seem to stand up.
There were lots of differences and inconsistencies between studies. It was difficult to say
style of leadership was significant in enabling one group to work better than another.
Perhaps the main problem, though, was one shared with those who looked for traits (Wright
1996: 47). The researchers did not look properly at the context or setting in which the style
was used. Is it possible that the same style would work as well in a gang or group of friends,
and in a hospital emergency room? The styles that leaders can adopt are far more affected
by those they are working with, and the environment they are operating within, than had
been originally thought.
Situations
Researchers began to turn to the contexts in which leadership is exercised - and the idea
that what is needed changes from situation to situation. Some looked to the processes by
which leaders emerge in different circumstances - for example at moments of great crisis or
where there is a vacuum. Others turned to the ways in which leaders and followers viewed
each other in various contexts - for example in the army, political parties and in companies.
The most extreme view was that just about everything was determined by the context. But
most writers did not take this route. They brought the idea of style with them, believing that
the style needed would change with the situation. Another way of putting this is that
particular contexts would demand particular forms of leadership. This placed a premium on
people who were able to develop an ability to work in different ways, and could change their
style to suit the situation.
What began to develop was a contingency approach. The central idea was that effective
leadership was dependent on a mix of factors. For example, Fred E. Fiedler argued that
effectiveness depends on two interacting factors: leadership style and the degree to which
the situation gives the leader control and influence. Three things are important here:
• The relationship between the leaders and followers. If leaders are liked and
respected they are more likely to have the support of others.
• The structure of the task. If the task is clearly spelled out as to goals, methods and
standards of performance then it is more likely that leaders will be able to exert
influence.
• Position power. If an organization or group confers powers on the leader for the
purpose of getting the job done, then this may well increase the influence of the leader.
(Fiedler and Garcia 1987: 51 – 67. See, also, Fiedler 1997)
Models like this can help us to think about what we are doing in different situations. For
example, we may be more directive where a quick response is needed, and where people are
used to being told what to do, rather than having to work at it themselves. They also found
their way into various management training aids – such as the development of Mouton and
Blake’s managerial grid by Reddin (1970; 1987) that looked to the interaction of the
characteristics of the leader, the characteristics of the followers and the situation; and
Hersey and Blanchard’s (1977) very influential discussion of choosing the appropriate style
for the particular situation.
Transformations
Burns (1977) argued that it was possible to distinguish between transactional and
transforming leaders. The former, ‘approach their followers with an eye to trading one thing
for another (1977: 4), while the latter are visionary leaders who seek to appeal to their
followers ‘better nature and move them toward higher and more universal needs and
purposes’ (Bolman and Deal 1997: 314). In other words, the leader is seen as a change agent.
Authority
Frequently we confuse leadership with authority. To explore this we can turn to Heifetz’s
(1994) important discussion of the matter. Authority is often seen as the possession of
powers based on formal role. In organizations, for example, we tend to focus on the
manager or officer. They are seen as people who have the right to direct us. We obey them
because we see their exercise of power as legitimate. It may also be that we fear the
consequences of not following their orders or ‘requests’. The possibility of them sacking,
demoting or disadvantaging us may well secure our compliance. We may also follow them
because they show leadership. As we have seen, the latter is generally something more
informal - the ability to make sense of, and act in, situations that are out of the ordinary. In
this way, leaders don’t simply influence; they have to show that crises or unexpected events
and experiences do not faze them. Leaders may have formal authority, but they rely in large
part on informal authority. This flows from their personal qualities and actions. They may
be trusted, respected for their expertise, or followed because of their ability to persuade.
Leaders have authority as part of an exchange: if they fail to deliver the goods, to meet
people’s expectations, they run the risk of authority being removed and given to
another.Those who have formal authority over them may take this action. However, we also
need to consider the other side. Followers, knowingly or unknowingly, accept the right of
the person to lead – and he or she is dependent on this. The leader also relies on ‘followers’
for feedback and contributions. Without these they will not have the information and
resources to do their job. Leaders and followers are interdependent.
People who do not have formal positions of power can also enjoy informal authority. In a
football team, for example, the manager may not be the most influential person. It could be
an established player who can read the game and energise that colleagues turn to. In politics
a classic example is Gandhi – who for much of the time held no relevant formal position –
but through his example and his thinking became an inspiration for others.
Having formal authority is both a resource and a constraint. On the one hand it can bring
access to systems and resources. Handled well it can help people feel safe. On the other
hand, formal authority carries a set of expectations – and these can be quite unrealistic in
times of crisis. As Heifetz puts it, ‘raise hard questions and one risks getting cut down, even
if the questions are important for moving forward on the problem’ (1994: 180). Being
outside the formal power structure, but within an organization, can be an advantage. You
can have more freedom of movement, the chance of focussing on what you see as the issue
(rather than the organization’s focus), and there is a stronger chance of being in touch with
what people are feeling ‘at the frontline’.
Charisma
Before moving on it is important to look at the question of charisma. It is so much a part of
how we look at leadership - but is such a difficult quality to tie down. Charisma is, literally, a
gift of grace or of God (Wright 1996: 194). Max Weber, more than anyone, brought this idea
into the realm of leadership. He used ‘charisma’ to talk about self-appointed leaders who are
followed by those in distress. Such leaders gain influence because they are seen as having
special talents or gifts that can help people escape the pain they are in (Gerth and Mills
1991: 51 – 55).
When thinking about charisma we often look to the qualities of particular individuals - their
skills, personality and presence. But this is only one side of things. We need to explore the
situations in which charisma arises. When strong feelings of distress are around there does
seem to be a tendency to turn to figures who seem to have answers. To make our lives easier
we may want to put the burden of finding and making solutions on someone else. In this
way we help to make the role for ‘charismatic leaders’ to step into. They in turn will seek to
convince us of their special gifts and of their solution to the crisis or problem. When these
things come together something very powerful can happen. It doesn’t necessarily mean that
the problem is dealt with - but we can come to believe it is. Regarding such leaders with awe,
perhaps being inspired in different ways by them, we can begin to feel safer and directed.
This can be a great resource. Someone like Martin Luther King used the belief that people
had in him to take forward civil rights in the United States. He was able to contain a lot of
the stress his supporters felt and give hope of renewal. He articulated a vision of what was
possible and worked with people to develop strategies. But there are also considerable
dangers.
Charisma involves dependency. It can mean giving up our responsibilities. Sadly, it is all too
easy to let others who seem to know what they are doing get on with difficult matters. By
placing people on a pedestal the distance between ‘us’ and ‘them’ widens. They seem so
much more able or in control. Rather than facing up to situations, and making our own
solutions, we remain followers (and are often encouraged to do so). There may well come a
point when the lie implicit in this confronts us. Just as we turned to charismatic leaders, we
can turn against them. It could be we recognize that the ‘solution’ we signed up to has not
made things better. It might be that some scandal or incident reveals the leader in what we
see as a bad light. Whatever, we can end up blaming, and even destroying, the leader.
Unfortunately, we may simply turn to another rather than looking to our own capacities.
In conclusion
On this page we have tried to set out some of the elements of a ‘classical’ view of leadership.
We have seen how commentators have searched for special traits and behaviours and looked
at the different situations where leaders work and emerge. Running through much of this is
a set of beliefs that we can describe as a classical view of leadership where leaders:
• Tend to be identified by position. They are part of the hierarchy.
• Become the focus for answers and solutions. We look to them when we don’t know what
to do, or when we can’t be bothered to work things out for ourselves.
• Give direction and have vision.
• Have special qualities setting them apart. These help to create the gap between leaders
and followers.
This view of leadership sits quite comfortably with the forms of organization that are
common in business, the armed forces and government. Where the desire is to get
something done, to achieve a narrow range of objectives in a short period of time, then it
may make sense to think in this way. However, this has its dangers. Whilst some ‘classical’
leaders may have a more participative style, it is still just a style. A great deal of power
remains in their hands and the opportunity for all to take responsibility and face larger
questions is curtailed. It can also feed into a ‘great-man’ model of leadership and minimize
our readiness to question those who present us with easy answers. As our awareness of our
own place in the making of leadership grows, we may be less ready to hand our
responsibilities to others. We may also come to realize our own power:
I don't think it's actually possible to lead somebody. I think you can allow yourself to be
led. It's a bit like other things - you can't teach, you can only learn - because you can only
control yourself.
References
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