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UNIT 8: Leadership/Membership

8.0 Learning Outcomes

At the end of accomplishing this lesson, you will be able to:

1. Know the nature of leadership
2. Explore and identify qualities of a leader
3. Be familiarized with the different leader effectiveness theories

8.1 Introduction

An organization is a group in which members are differentiated as to responsibility

for tasks leading to a common goal. Just as leaders have been long studied as a part of group
communication research, so too have group member roles. Group roles are more dynamic
than leadership roles in that a role can be formal or informal and played by more than one
group member. Leadership means different things to different people around the world, and
different things in different situations. For example, it could relate to community leadership,
religious leadership, political leadership, and leadership of campaigning groups. The word
"leadership" can bring to mind a variety of images. For example:

✓ A political leader, pursuing a passionate, personal cause.

✓ An explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his group to follow.
✓ An executive, developing her company's strategy to beat the competition.

Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an
inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you
need to go to "win" as a team or an organization; and it is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring.
Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to guide their
people to the right destination, in a smooth and efficient way.

In this module, we'll focus on the process of leadership. In particular, we'll discuss the
"transformational leadership" model, first proposed by James MacGregor Burns and then
developed by Bernard Bass. This model highlights visionary thinking and bringing about
change, instead of management processes that are designed to maintain and steadily
improve current performance. Moreover, we will look into how this model will directly and
positively affect group dynamics.

Share your experiences. In your student life, recall your leadership

experiences, or a student-leader that you admire the most. List down the
qualities and leadership traits that you or this leader.

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8.2 Discussion

The words "leader" and "leadership" are often used incorrectly to describe people who
are actually managing. These individuals may be highly skilled, good at their jobs, and
valuable to their organizations – but that just makes them excellent managers, not leaders.

Leadership involves making sound -- and sometimes difficult -- decisions, creating

and articulating a clear vision, establishing achievable goals and providing followers with
the knowledge and tools necessary to achieve those goals. So, be careful how you use the
terms, and don't assume that people with "leader" in their job titles, people who describe
themselves as "leaders," or even groups called "leadership teams" are actually creating and
delivering transformational change.

On the other hand, an effective leader possesses the following characteristics: self-
confidence, strong communication and management skills, creative and innovative thinking,
perseverance in the face of failure, willingness to take risks, openness to change, and
levelheadedness and reactiveness in times of crisis.

A particular danger in these situations is that people or organizations that are being
managed by such an individual or group think they're being led; but they're not. There may
actually be no leadership at all, with no one setting a vision and no one being inspired. This
can cause serious problems in the long term. For us to know more about these concepts let
us further discus what there are.

Nature of Leadership

Leadership can be hard to define and

it means different things to different people.
The many definitions of leadership each have
a different emphasis. Some definitions
consider leadership an act or behavior, such
as initiating structure so group members
know how to complete a task.

Others consider a leader to be the

center or nucleus of group activity, an
instrument of goal achievement who has a
certain personality, a form of persuasion and power, and the art of inducing compliance.

Multiple definitions of leadership exist, although the different definitions generally

converge in the theory that great leaders have the ability to make strategic and visionary
decisions and convince others to follow those decisions. The consensus is leaders create a
vision and can successfully get others to work toward achieving that goal. They do this by
setting direction and inspiring others to want to succeed in achieving the end result.

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Moreover, they are capable of getting people excited and motivated to work toward the
vision.

Leadership can simply be defined as the ability to influence others. Leadership is the
work that is done by the leader. It is a process of social influence in which one person can
enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Looking into
group dynamics perspectives, we may define leadership as the process of directing and
influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically towards
the achievement of group objectives. Below presents the nature of leadership.

• Leadership derives from the power and is similar to, yet distinct from, management. In fact,
“leadership” and “management” are different. There can be leaders of completely unorganized
groups, but there can be managers only of organized groups. Thus, it can be said that a manager
is necessarily a leader but a leader may not be a manager.

• Leadership is essential for managing. The ability to lead effectively is one of the keys to being an
effective manager because she/he has to combine resources and lead a group to achieve objectives.

• Leadership and motivation are closely interconnected. By understanding motivation, one can
appreciate better what people want and why they act as they do. A leader can encourage or dampen
workers’ motivation by creating a favorable or unfavorable working environment in the
organization.

• The essence of leadership is followership. In other words, it is the willingness of people to follow a
person that makes that person a leader. Moreover, people tend to follow those whom they see as
providing a means of achieving their desires, needs and wants.

• Leadership involves an unequal distribution of power between leaders and group members. Group
members are not powerless; they can shape group activities in some ways. Still, the leader will
usually have more power than the group members.

• Leaders can influence the followers’ behavior in some ways. Leaders can influence workers either
to do ill or well for the company. The leader must be able to empower and motivate the followers
to the cause.

• The leader must co-exist with the subordinates or followers and must have a clear idea about their
demands and ambitions. This creates loyalty and trust in subordinates for their leader.

• Leadership is to be concerned about values. Followers learn ethics and values from their leaders.
Leaders are the real teachers of ethics, and they can reinforce ideas. Leaders need to make positive
statements of ethics if they are not hypocritical.

• Leading is a very demanding job both physically and psychologically. The leader must have the
strength, power, and ability to meet the bodily requirements; zeal, energy, and patience to meet
the mental requirements for leading.

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Styles of Leadership

Leadership style refers to a

leaders’ behavior towards group
members. The behavioral pattern
which the leader reflects in his role
as a leader is often described as the
style of leadership. Leadership
style is the result of the leader’s
philosophy, personality, value
system, and experience.

It also depends on the types

of followers and organizational
atmosphere prevailing in the
enterprise. Throughout history, great leaders have emerged with particular leadership
styles in providing direction, implementing plans and motivating people. The different types
of leadership may be discussed under the following heads:

1. Democratic Leadership (Commonly Effective)

Democratic leadership is exactly what it sounds like — the leader makes decisions
based on the input of each team member. Although he or she makes the final call, each
employee has an equal say on a project's direction.

Democratic leadership is one of the most effective leadership styles because it allows
lower-level employees to exercise authority they'll need to use wisely in future positions they
might hold. It also resembles how decisions can be made in company board meetings.

For example, in a company board meeting, a democratic leader might give the team a
few decision-related options. They could then open a discussion about each option. After a
discussion, this leader might take the board's thoughts and feedback into consideration, or
they might open this decision up to a vote.

2. Autocratic Leadership (Rarely Effective)

Autocratic leadership is the inverse of democratic leadership. In this leadership style,

the leader makes decisions without taking input from anyone who reports to them.
Employees are neither considered nor consulted prior to a change in direction, and are
expected to adhere to the decision at a time and pace stipulated by the leader.

An example of this could be when a manager changes the hours of work shifts for
multiple employees without consulting anyone — especially the affected employees.
Frankly, this leadership style stinks. Most organizations today can't sustain such a

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hegemonic culture without losing employees. It's best to keep leadership more open to the
intellect and perspective of the rest of the team.

3. Laissez-Faire Leadership (Sometimes Effective)

If you remember your high-school French, you'll accurately assume that laissez-faire
leadership is the least intrusive form of leadership. The French term "laissez-faire" literally
translates to "let them do," and leaders who embrace it afford nearly all authority to their
employees.

In a young startup, for example, you might see a laissez-faire company founder who
makes no major office policies around work hours or deadlines. They might put full trust
into their employees while they focus on the overall workings of running the company.

Although laissez-faire leadership can empower employees by trusting them to work

however, they'd like, it can limit their development and overlook critical company growth
opportunities. Therefore, it's important that this leadership style is kept in check.

4. Strategic Leadership (Commonly Effective)

Strategic leaders sit at the intersection between a company's main operations and its
growth opportunities. He or she accepts the burden of executive interests while ensuring
that current working conditions remain stable for everyone else.

This is a desirable leadership style in many companies because strategic thinking

supports multiple types of employees at once. However, leaders who operate this way can
set a dangerous precedent with respect to how many people they can support at once, and
what the best direction for the company really is if everyone is getting their way at all times.

5. Transformational Leadership (Sometimes Effective)

Transformational leadership is always "transforming" and improving upon the

company's conventions. Employees might have a basic set of tasks and goals that they
complete every week or month, but the leader is constantly pushing them outside of their
comfort zone.

When starting a job with this type of leader, all employees might get a list of goals to
reach, as well as deadlines for reaching them. While the goals might seem simple at first, this
manager might pick up the pace of deadlines or give you more and more challenging goals
as you grow with the company.

This is a highly encouraged form of leadership among growth-minded companies

because it motivates employees to see what they're capable of. But transformational leaders
can risk losing sight of everyone's individual learning curves if direct reports don't
receive the right coaching to guide them through new responsibilities.

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6. Transactional Leadership (Sometimes Effective)

Transactional leaders are fairly common today. These managers reward their
employees for precisely the work they do. A marketing team that receives a scheduled bonus
for helping generate a certain number of leads by the end of the quarter is a common example
of transactional leadership.

When starting a job with a transactional boss, you might receive an incentive plan that
motivates you to quickly master your regular job duties. For example, if you work in
marketing, you might receive a bonus for sending 10 marketing emails. On the other hand,
a transformational leader might only offer you a bonus if your work results in a large number
of newsletter subscriptions.

Transactional leadership helps establish roles and responsibilities for each employee,
but it can also encourage bare-minimum work if employees know how much their effort is
worth all the time. This leadership style can use incentive programs to motivate employees,
but they should be consistent with the company's goals and used in addition
to unscheduled gestures of appreciation.

7. Coach-Style Leadership (Commonly Effective)

Similarly, to a sports team's coach, this leader focuses on identifying and nurturing
the individual strengths of each member on his or her team. They also focus on strategies
that will enable their team to work better together. This style offers strong similarities to
strategic and democratic leadership, but puts more emphasis on the growth and success of
individual employees.

Rather than forcing all employees to focus on similar skills and goals, this leader
might build a team where each employee has an area of expertise or skillset in something
different. In the long run, this leader focuses on creating strong teams that can communicate
well and embrace each other's unique skillsets in order to get work done.

A manager with this leadership style might help employees improve on their
strengths by giving them new tasks to try, offering them guidance, or meeting to discuss
constructive feedback. They might also encourage one or more team members to expand on
their strengths by learning new skills from other teammates.

8. Bureaucratic Leadership (Rarely Effective)

Bureaucratic leaders go by the books. This style of leadership might listen and
consider the input of employees — unlike autocratic leadership — but the leader tends to
reject an employee's input if it conflicts with company policy or past practices.

You may run into a bureaucratic leader at a larger, older, or traditional company. At
these companies, when a colleague or employee proposes a strong strategy that seems new

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or non-traditional, bureaucratic leaders may reject it. Their resistance might be because the
company has already been successful with current processes and trying something new
could waste time or resources if it doesn't work.

Employees under this leadership style might not feel as controlled as they would
under autocratic leadership, but there is still a lack of freedom in how much people are able
to do in their roles. This can quickly shut down innovation, and is definitely not encouraged
for companies who are chasing ambitious goals and quick growth.

Leadership Emergence

Early leadership research focused on the physiological and psychological traits

thought to be associated with exceptional leaders. These ‘great man’ theories of leadership
examined the effects of personal characteristics such as height, physical appearance, and
intelligence on leaders' emergence and effectiveness.

Leader emergence represents the degree to which a person attains a formal or

informal leadership role and/or is perceived as a leader by others (Walter, Cole, &
Humphrey, 2011). In the social psychology of groups, an individual who becomes the leader
of an initially leaderless group gradually and implicitly, as the members allow that
individual to assume the responsibilities of the leadership role, rather than by appointment
or election.

Emergent leadership is the process by which an individual is recognized (formally or

informally, perceptually or behaviorally, implicitly or explicitly) as the leader of a formerly
leaderless group. This occurs when a group member is not appointed or elected as leader,
but rather that person steps up as the leader over time within group interactions. It also
empowers team members to make decisions outside the traditional structure of a business
organization. For example, instead of junior employees obtaining approval from higher-ups
on operational decisions—which can often lead to bottlenecks—colleagues who embrace
emergent leadership can make those decisions themselves and lead their teammates
accordingly.

Leader Effectiveness

Most organizations have trouble telling key differences between leader emergence
and leader effectiveness — differences between people who emerge as high-potential
candidates in organizations as a function of political skill, interpersonal savvy, and effective
self-promotion skills, versus those who are effective leaders capable of building high-
performing organizations, cultivating talent, and leading engaged, productive teams.

The effectiveness of the leader is a function of various organizational conditions, some

personal and interpersonal behaviors. Leader effectiveness indicates the importance of self-

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sacrificial work that will bring great benefits to the leader’s organization. Employees can be
inspired by the waiver behavior of leaders in organizations and can give meaning to these
actions to shape their goals. In general, the effective behaviors of leaders have a significant
positive impact on their followers and ultimately on social systems.

Leadership researchers defined leadership effectiveness as the leader’s sacrifice for

the organization, preventing personal interest in the division of labor, ensuring the welfare
environment in the organization, and increasing the desire of the employees to stay in the
organization. By making self-sacrifices, the leader clearly shows that she or he is focused on
the welfare of the organization.

Therefore, self-sacrifice does not only have short-term, direct positive results for the
functioning of the organization, but also has a long-term impact in terms of engaging
employees. In this case, leadership effectiveness determines the beliefs, attitudes, norms,
values and behaviors of employees toward the organization.

Leaders are members of the organization and groups within the organization, so they
share one or more group memberships with the employees they lead. The leadership
processes came into force in the context of the membership of the organization, and in fact,
the characteristics of leaders as members of organizations play an important role in
leadership effectiveness. The leader effectiveness organization ensures that individuals are
more effectively and efficiently represented.

Activity No. 8. Reflection Paper: Identify at least one great leader and
present in your write-up the nature of leadership showcased by the great
leader. You may choose the presidentiables that we have now or the local
LGU where you are to cast your vote.

7.3 References

Forsyth, Donelson R. (2007) Group Dynamics. Thomson Asian Edition.

Franz, Timothy M. (2012) Group Dynamics and Team Interventions. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.,
Publication
Janis, I. Victims of Groupthink. Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 1972.
Hinsz, V.B., and G.S. Nickell. "Positive Reactions to Working in Groups in a Study of Group
and Individual Goal Decision-Making." Group Dynamics 8 (2004): 253–264.
Luthans, F. Organizational Behavior. 10th ed. McGraw Hill Irwin: Boston, 2005.
Maznevski, M.L. "Understanding Our Differences: Performance in Decision-Making Groups
with Diverse Members." Human Relations 47: 531–542.
Nelson, D.L., and J.C. Quick. Organizational Behavior. 3rd ed. Southwestern College
Publishing: Australia, 2000.

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Pearson, J., & Nelson, P. (2000). An introduction to human communication: understanding and
sharing (p. 6). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Thomas-Hunt, M.C., and K.W. Phillips. "When What You Know is Not Enough: Expertise
and Gender Dynamics in Task Groups." Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 30
(2004): 1585–1598.
Tria, Geraldine E. & Jao, Loreto V. (2009) Group Dynamics. Manila, Phil.
Van de Ven, A. and A. Delbecq. "The Effectiveness of Nominal, Delphi, and Interacting
Group Decision-Making Processes." Academy of Management Journal 17 (1974): 147–
178.
Van Knippenberg, D., C.K.W. De Dreu, and A.C. Homan. "Work Group Diversity and Group
Performance: An Integrative Model and Research Agenda." Journal of Applied
Psychology 89 (2004): 1008–1022.
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Gr-Int/Group-Decision-
Making.html#ixzz6Ks9wPVem

8.4 Acknowledgment

The images, tables, figures and information contained in this module were taken from
the references cited above and google.com.

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Assessment No. 8 Group Dynamics Date: _______________

Name: ________________________________________ Year & Section: ____________________

A. Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter of your chosen answer.

1. The Great Man theory is associated with which of the following approaches to studying
leadership?
A. skills B intelligences C. styles D. traits

2. Which of the following sets of five traits are recognized widely to be major leadership
traits?
A. perseverance, resilience, integrity, empathy, masculinity
B. intelligence, resilience, determination, integrity, extroversion
C. intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, sociability
D. extroversion, intelligence, self-confidence, integrity, resilience

3. Which types of leadership remains underexplored through research?

A. leadership of teams B. leadership in organizations
C. leadership of organizations D. leadership at executive level

4. What are the four key intelligences needed by a leader?

A. emotional, ethical, cognitive, spiritual B. cognitive, spiritual, emotional, moral
C. moral, ethical, cognitive, spiritual D. cognitive, emotional, ethical, technical

5. What is the term for power derived from status or position in an organization?
A. Referent B. Expert C. Reward D. Legitimate

6. Leader–Member Exchange Theory focuses particularly on which level in organizations?

A. team B. department C. project D. individual follower

7. What do you call a style of leadership that takes account of others' views, opinions and
ideas?
A. Laissez-faire B. People-oriented C. Democratic D. Autocratic

8. How can you describe the thinking and outlook of transformational leaders?
A. Strategic B. Operational C. Functional D. Developmental

9. What are the key characteristics of transactional leaders?

A. Guiding, mentoring and motivating B. Guiding, commanding and motivating
C. Guiding, demonstrating and motivating D. Guiding, mentoring and demonstrating

10. What does situational theory of leadership emphasize?

A. Events B. Situation C. People D. Roles

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