Behavioral approach to leadership strengths and weaknesses. Behavioral approach to leadership

Behavioral approach to leadership

The behavioral approach has provided the basis for the classification of leadership styles or behavioral styles. This has been a major contribution and a useful tool for understanding the complexities of leadership. This approach to the study of leadership focuses on leader behavior. According to the behavioral approach, effectiveness is determined not by the personal qualities of a leader, but rather by his manner of behavior towards subordinates.

An important contribution of the behavioral approach to leadership theory is that it has helped to analyze and classify leadership styles. LEADERSHIP STYLE in the context of management is the habitual manner in which a leader behaves towards subordinates in order to influence them and motivate them to achieve the goals of the organization. The extent to which a manager delegates his authority, the types of power he exercises, and his concern primarily with human relationships or primarily with task accomplishment all reflect the leadership style that characterizes that leader.

Every organization is a unique combination of individuals, goals and objectives. Each manager is a unique personality with a number of abilities. Therefore, leadership styles cannot always be classified into any specific category. According to the traditional classification system, a style can be autocratic (one extreme) and liberal (the other extreme), or it can be a work-centered style and a person-centered style.

MANAGEMENT STYLES

Management style- a set of the most characteristic and sustainable techniques used in the process of management activities. Management styles determined by the personality of the leader: authoritarian, liberal, democratic.

Authoritarian style- focus on work and complete disregard for people. Characterized by high demands, unity of command, personal control over the progress of the production process, and the use of coercive methods. The authoritarian (“hard”) style can be justified in a group with undeveloped material and higher needs, as well as in extreme situations.

Liberal style- focus on people, a style of non-interference in the affairs of subordinates, lack of initiative, waiting for instructions from above, the leader is inconsistent in his actions, easily susceptible to the opinions of others (influence), incompetent in resolving issues, he is characterized by a fear of making decisions, shifting matters to subordinates. The use of a liberal (“club”) style indicates a lack of clarity in defining the goals of the group and its role in the production process.

Democratic style- it is believed that a person enjoys work, wants to take part in management, and assumes collective decision-making; The control system includes various forms of involvement of a wide range of workers in management, and wide publicity. The democratic (“progressive”) style should be used provided that employees are interested in obtaining results, initiative and responsibility.

Determining an effective leadership style should take into account many factors: the psychological characteristics of the leader himself, the needs and interests of subordinates, the degree of their qualifications and responsibility, internal and external factors affecting the organization. The choice of a leadership style that is adequate to the situation, taking into account the most significant factors, can be defined as situational leadership.

The management process includes the following functions:

Planning is the determination of the future desired state of the control object and those actions (events) that need to be carried out in order to move from the current state to the desired one;

Organization - placement of elements of a control object, determination of material and information connections between departments, as well as with objects of the external environment;

Control - comparison of the actual state of the control object with the planned one, identification of discrepancies, their assessment and regulation of the control object in order to eliminate significant discrepancies;

Incentives - rewarding and punishing employees depending on the results of their work activities.

The most important goal of management- use of the personal potential of each employee. Among the possibilities of modern management are the following: improving the professional training of employees, establishing interaction between divisions of the company, strengthening the role of teams at all levels of the company in solving everyday problems, expanding the strategic components in the work of managers.

Review of Leadership Theories

Leadership theory attempts to identify and predict which leadership characteristics are most effective and why.
Behavioral scientists have taken three approaches to identifying the significant factors of effective leadership: the trait approach, the behavioral approach, and the situational approach.

Behavioral approach

The behavioral approach has provided the basis for the classification of leadership styles or behavioral styles. According to the behavioral approach to leadership, effectiveness is determined not by the personal qualities of the leader, but rather by his behavior towards subordinates. Therefore, the concepts of “leadership style” are analyzed and a description of such important categories as autocratic style, democratic style, work-oriented style and people-oriented style is given.

Behavioral approach to leadership

LEADERSHIP STYLE in the context of management is the habitual manner in which a leader behaves towards subordinates in order to influence them and motivate them to achieve the goals of the organization. The extent to which a manager delegates his or her authority, the types of power he or she uses, and his or her concern primarily with human relationships or primarily with task accomplishment all reflect the leadership style that characterizes that leader.

There are two widely used targeting systems. According to the traditional classification system, a style can be autocratic (one extreme) and liberal (the other extreme), or it can be a work-centered style and a person-centered style.

Autocratic and democratic leadership

An autocratic leader is authoritarian in management. An autocratic leader has enough power to impose his will on the performers, and, if necessary, does not hesitate to resort to this. Douglas McGregor, a renowned leadership scholar, called the autocratic leader's presumptions toward employees Theory X. According to Theory X:

1. People initially do not like to work and avoid work whenever possible.
2. People have no ambition, and they try to get rid of responsibility, preferring to be led.
3.What people want most is security.
4. To force people to work, it is necessary to use coercion, control and the threat of punishment.

Based on these underlying assumptions, an autocrat typically centralizes authority as much as possible, structures the work of subordinates, and gives them little freedom to make decisions. An autocrat can exert psychological pressure, usually by making threats.

When an autocrat avoids negative coercion and uses rewards instead, he is called a benevolent autocrat. And no matter how supportive this manager may be, he or she extends his or her autocratic style further by structuring tasks and imposing strict adherence to a huge number of rules that strictly regulate employee behavior.

The ideas of a democratic leader about employees differ from the ideas of an autocratic leader. McGregor called them Theory Y:

1. Labor is a natural process. If conditions are favorable, people will not only accept responsibility, they will strive for it.
2. If people are committed to organizational goals, they will use self-management and self-control.
3. Inclusion is a function of the reward associated with goal achievement.
4. Creative problem solving ability is common and the average person's intellectual potential is only partially utilized.

Because of these assumptions, the democratic leader favors influence mechanisms that appeal to higher-level needs: the need for belonging, purpose, autonomy, and self-expression. A true democratic leader avoids imposing his will on his subordinates.

Organizations where the democratic style dominates are characterized by a high degree of decentralization of powers.
The manager spends a relatively large portion of his time acting as a liaison, ensuring that the goals of the production team are aligned with the goals of the organization.

LEVIN'S RESEARCH. Perhaps the earliest research into the effectiveness of leadership styles was conducted by Kurt Lewin and his colleagues.

A LIBERAL MANAGER does this: Subordinates are given almost complete freedom to determine their goals and control their own work.

In his famous study, Lewin found that authoritarian leaders got more work done than democratic ones. However, on the other side of the scale were low motivation, less originality, less friendliness in groups, lack of groupthink, greater aggressiveness towards both the leader and other group members, greater repressed anxiety and, at the same time, more dependent and submissive behavior. Compared to democratic leadership, liberal leadership reduces workload, lower quality of work, more play, and surveys show a preference for a democratic leader.

** Authoritarian leadership is characterized by a high degree of personal power of the leader: the leader determines all the strategies of the group; no authority is delegated to the group. Democratic leadership is characterized by the sharing of power and the participation of workers in management; responsibility is not concentrated, but distributed. Liberal leadership is characterized by minimal leadership involvement; the group has complete freedom to make its own decisions.

1.Quick response in a critical situation.
2. High speed of implementation of solutions
3. Strict control of execution
4.Maximum exploitation of resources
«-»
1. Complete suppression of initiative on the part of employees;
2. It takes a lot of effort and resources.
3. High risk of making wrong decisions.

Democratic:
«+»
1. Increased performance;
2. Motivating subordinates to discuss all kinds of problems;
3. The opportunity to build trusting relationships within the team.
«-»
1. Weak control;
2. Waste of time for general discussions before making decisions.

Liberal:
«+»
1. All initiative is in the hands of workers;
2. The lack of control gives great scope for the implementation of ideas.
«-»
1. Lack of serious control;
2. informal leaders emerge in the team
3. The efficiency of the organization is low, the company is slow.

Clarification of differences in the content of the concepts of “leader” and “manager”. Characteristics of strategies of communicative behavior (formation, individualism, collectivism) and types of relationships between leaders (authoritarian, democratic, permissive).

Administration of the city of Samara Samara Municipal Institute of Management Work for the competition of the Student Scientific Society in the direction of "Organizational Psychology"

Characteristics of the advantages and disadvantages of authoritarian (businesslike, short orders, prohibitions without leniency, with threat), democratic (orders - with advice, cooperation with the group) and liberal (tone - conventional) leadership styles.

Analysis of research on leadership qualities from the point of view of R. Stogdill's situational approach. Problems of leadership in the works of Russian scientists. Characteristics of the main qualities of a leader. Research on leader personality traits (Alliger, De Wader Lord, Kirkpatrick and Locke).

Distinctive features between leadership styles and management styles. An experiment on the problem of leadership style, carried out under the leadership of Lewin, Lippit and White in the school of “group dynamics”. Leadership styles according to B.D. Parygin and L.I. Umansky.

By the end of the 20th century. the general understanding of the nature of leadership has undergone some changes. It is generally accepted that leadership as an activity, like the communication process, permeates the entire management system of an organization.

The problem of leadership as one of the important problems of management. Definition of the concept of leadership, analytical development of leadership theory. Analysis of the behavioral factor and its role in leadership success. Basic provisions of situational theories of leadership.

The problem of leadership and management. The combination of a leader and a manager in one person. The theory of leadership qualities. Intellectual abilities, personal character traits. Instruments of influence, formal and informal leaders. Concepts of leadership behavior.

General characteristics of the enterprise, a brief description of its structure and activities. Rights and obligations of consumers and service providers. Organization of personnel management in a boarding house, professional development activities and professional training.

Leadership and management are two different concepts. Management focuses on getting people to do things right, while leadership focuses on getting people to do the right things.

Most managers and organizations today are characterized by a leadership model that was originally characterized in N. Machiavelli’s work “The Prince.” In it, the author argues that a leader “does not need to have good qualities.”

The concept of leadership, its main groups. Types of approaches to its study in an organization. Theories and concepts of leadership qualities and behavior. Instruments of influence, formal and informal leaders. The essence and styles of leadership, levels and typology of leaders.

The nature of leadership, formal and informal management. The concept of a group in management. The art of management, degree of leadership. Qualities of successful leadership. Values ​​in management. Showing leadership. Leader and manager. Leadership is a management resource.

The process of influencing people through personal abilities, skills and other resources. Power, authority and leadership. Basic management styles, forms of power and their characteristics. The ability of a leader to influence the behavior of subordinates and the decisions they make.

Types of leaders. General characteristics of conceptual approaches to leadership style. Leadership style as applied to management practice. Formation of leadership style. Formation of a leadership theory that defines the concept of effective leadership.

The essence and relationships of leadership, its difference from management. A form of influencing people to motivate them to achieve the organization's goals. Working with a “difficult” leader. Substitutes for leadership. The theory of leadership qualities. The concept of situational leadership.

MOSCOW STATE OPEN UNIVERSITY Subject: Personnel Management. ABSTRACT topic: “Leadership”. Third year students of the Faculty of Mining

The basis and essence of leadership, its difference from management. Approaches to the study of leadership qualities, research into the influence of their expression on the choice of organizational leadership style. Leader's behavior towards subordinates. Forms of power and its impact.

Behavioral approach to leadership

The contribution of the behavioral approach to leadership theory is important in that it has made it possible to analyze and classify leadership styles from the point of view of the leader's treatment of subordinates. Leadership style in the context of management, it is how a leader typically behaves with subordinates to achieve his will and encourage the achievement of organizational goals. Leadership style is determined by the extent to which a manager delegates his authority; the types of power he uses; and what it is primarily focused on: human relationships or problem solving.

Every organization is a unique combination of individuals, goals and objectives; Every manager is a unique individual with a unique set of abilities. Therefore, specific leadership styles do not clearly correspond to one or another category presented below, but are located on a certain continuum. Two systems are used to determine the extreme points of this continuum. The traditional system classifies styles from autocratic to liberal, and the second system from work-oriented to people-oriented. The first continuum is clearly presented in Fig. 17.1.

Rice. 17.1. Autocratic-liberal continuum of leadership styles

Autocratic and democratic leadership

Autocratic leader– the manager acts authoritarianly. He has enough power to impose his will on his followers and does so without hesitation when necessary. He deliberately appeals to the needs of the lower level of subordinates, based on the fact that this is their level. Well-known leadership researcher Douglas McGregor called the attitude of an autocratic leader towards employees theory "X".

1. People by nature do not like to work and avoid work at every opportunity.

2. The majority of people lack ambition, try to avoid responsibility and prefer to be led.

3. Most of all, people strive for security.

4. To get people to work, they must be coerced, controlled, and threatened with punishment.

Based on such premises, an autocrat usually centralizes power, structures the work of subordinates as much as possible and practically does not involve them in decision-making. He strictly controls all work in his area of ​​competence and, in order to achieve the required level of efficiency, can apply psychological pressure, for example, threaten punishment.

If an autocrat avoids negative coercion and uses primarily his power to reward subordinates, he is called benevolent autocrat. Such a leader remains authoritarian, but actively cares about the feelings and well-being of subordinates. He may even involve them in the planning process, but at the same time retains the actual power to make decisions and carry them out. And in any case, he uses an autocratic leadership style, which is manifested in the detailed structuring of work and the introduction of a huge number of rules that strictly regulate the behavior of employees.

A democratic leader's ideas about people in the work environment are very different from those of an autocratic leader. McGregor called them theory "Y".

1. Labor is a natural phenomenon. In favorable conditions, people will not only accept responsibility, but will strive for it.

2. If people share the goals of their organization, they will manage and control themselves.

3. The degree of loyalty of people is determined by the rewards they receive for achieving goals.

4. People's ability to be creative in solving problems is common, and the average person's intellectual potential is not fully utilized.

Based on these premises, democratic leader prefers influence mechanisms that appeal to higher-level needs: belonging, autonomy and self-realization. A democratic leader avoids imposing his will on his subordinates.

Organizations in which a democratic style predominates are characterized by a high degree of decentralization of powers. Subordinates actively participate in decision making and enjoy great freedom of action. Often, having explained the goals of the organization, the manager allows subordinates to determine their own goals, taking into account organizational ones. Further, he, as a rule, does not supervise people in the process of performing work, but evaluates it upon completion. (For this, of course, the organization needs an effective control system.) Such a manager spends a relatively large part of his time acting as a liaison, ensuring that the work group's goals are consistent with the overall goals of the organization and that the group needs the resources it needs.

Because a democratic manager assumes that people are motivated by higher-level needs, he tries to make his subordinates' responsibilities more challenging and interesting. In a sense, he is trying to create a situation in which people are to some extent self-motivated, so their work itself is a reward for them. A truly democratic manager also strives to instill in subordinates that they should solve most problems on their own, without resorting to his help, but at the same time tries to create an atmosphere of openness and trust in which subordinates can turn to him for help if necessary. To do this, he establishes two-way communications and plays the role of a mentor. He helps subordinates understand the essence of problems, provides them with all the necessary information and teaches them to look for and evaluate alternative courses of action.

Lewin's research

Perhaps the earliest study of the effectiveness of leadership styles was a study by Kurt Lewin, conducted before McGregor proposed his Theories X and Y. The object of Lewin's study were ten-year-old boys, who were divided into several groups and assigned to different clubs according to their interests. At the head of each club was a person prepared to act as an autocratic, democratic and liberal leader. Liberal leader (laissez-faire leader) acts exactly as its name implies (from the French “laissez-faire” - “do as you wish”). It gives subordinates almost complete freedom in choosing goals and control over their work. Authoritarian leadership was characterized by a high degree of personal power of the leader; the leader clearly defines all group policies; she has no authority. Democratic leadership was characterized by the distribution of power and the participation of workers in decision making. Liberal leadership was characterized by minimal involvement of the leader; the group was given complete freedom of action.

Lewin's research found that authoritarian leadership ensures that more work is accomplished than democratic leadership, but these results are negated by people's low motivation to work, the lack of original approaches and friendly relations in the group, increased aggressiveness towards the leader and other members of the group, hidden dissatisfaction and dependent behavior of people. Compared to the democratic leadership style, the liberal style reduces the volume and quality of work, and the element of play becomes more evident; In general, surveys have shown that a democratic leader is better perceived by people.

More recent research has not fully confirmed Lewin's findings that autocratic leadership produces higher productivity but lower satisfaction than democratic leadership. Nevertheless, Lewin's research became the basis for other behavioral researchers who tried to identify the types of behavior that could lead to high productivity and high levels of job satisfaction in people.

Work- and People-Centered Leadership

Dividing leadership styles into autocratic and democratic continuums is one way to classify them. Rancis Likert of the University of Michigan proposed an alternative system by comparing high-performing and low-performing groups from different organizations. He believed that differences in performance could be explained by the leadership style of managers. As in McGregor's Theory X and Y, high- and low-performing group leaders were classified as members of a continuum, with work-oriented managers at one end (Theory X) and managers at the other end. human-oriented (theory “Y”) (Fig. 17.2).

Work oriented leader(or task) is primarily concerned with the structure of work tasks and the development of a reward system aimed at increasing labor productivity. A classic example of such a leader is F. Taylor. As noted, Taylor structured work according to technical principles of efficiency and financially rewarded workers who exceeded standards.

Rice. 17.2. Likert Leadership Style Continuum

Spotlight people-oriented leader, are people. Such a leader strives to increase productivity by improving human relationships. He emphasizes mutual assistance, allows workers to actively participate in decision making, avoids overprotectiveness, and sets high performance standards for his group. He is attentive to the needs of his subordinates, helps them solve problems and stimulates their professional development. In essence, his actions are similar to the behavior of a leader using a style based on involving workers in management.

Likert concluded that leadership style is oriented or to work, or per person. No manager acts in both directions at the same time. Moreover, his research showed that in almost all cases, a people-centered style led to improved performance. But later behavioral scientists discovered that some leaders are still oriented toward both work and people. Moreover, they found that in some situations, a people-centered style does not improve performance and is not always optimal.

Four Likert systems

Continuing his research, Likert proposed four basic management style systems. He hoped that these four systems (Figure 17.3) would provide a guide for classifying leadership behavior. We present them in our book to help you understand that there are intermediate points along the management style continuum. As you read the descriptions of these systems, you will see that they involve varying degrees of authoritarian and democratic behavior designed to influence people to achieve organizational goals.

Rice. 17.3. Likert management styles

Likert-type system 1 managers are described as dictatorial-authoritarian leaders. They are characterized by the features of an autocratic leader. He called system 2 managers benevolently authoritarian. Such leaders are associated with subordinates in authoritarian relationships, but have limited permission to participate in decision making. Rewards and sometimes punishments are used for motivation. Managers of system 3, called consultative, trust subordinates in many ways, but not in all. This system is characterized by two-way communications.

Important decisions are made at the top, but many specific decisions are made by subordinates.

System 4, called participatory-democratic, according to Likert, is the most effective. Managers completely trust their subordinates; their relationships with them are based on friendship and mutual trust. The decision-making process is highly decentralized, communications are efficient and two-way. System 4 managers operate similarly to participative managers (Theory Y) and, unlike the work-oriented System 1 managers, they are people-oriented.

Likert research has shown that the most effective line managers focus on the human side of their people's problems; form relationships based on help; Create effective work groups and set high performance standards. They use a group management style instead of traditional individual discussions with subordinates. Speaking about the benefits of this style for a sales company, Likert states: “New interests, new markets and new selling strategies proposed by one salesman are quickly spread throughout the group, improved and developed by them... The interaction of people in meetings dominated by the manager is not conducive to group loyalty and has a much less favorable effect on sales force motivation than group interactions and meetings where decisions are made jointly.” Other studies confirmed this, but later analysis showed that Likert's conclusions do not apply to all situations.

A Two-Dimensional Approach to Leadership Styles

Ohio University Leadership Styles

Likert's findings and McGregor's work generated enormous interest in the participatory leadership style, but the low actual results of its transition have disappointed many practicing managers. Beginning in 1945, a group of scientists from the Bureau of Business Research at Ohio University conducted extensive research on leadership and identified one of the reasons for this - the initial misclassification of leaders focused on or to work, or per person. It was concluded that although an autocrat will never be a democratic leader at the same time, a manager, by paying a lot of attention to work, can also take care of the person. This was their main discovery.

A group at Ohio University proposed a system for classifying leadership behavior along two dimensions: structure and attention to people. According to researchers, managers can influence others by varying their behavior along these dimensions. Concept structures associated with the behavior that the manager resorts to when planning and organizing the activities of his group and relationships with it; A attention to people - behavior through which he influences people by appealing to higher-level needs and building relationships based on trust, respect, friendship and mutual understanding. It is important to note that this concept is by no means equivalent to banal familiarity. Several of the most typical types of behavior for both parameters are described in Table. 17.1.

Table 17.1. Behaviors associated with structure and attention to people

Structure

Distributes work roles among subordinates

Assigns tasks and clarifies the organization's expectations regarding their completion.

Plans and schedules work

Develops approaches to performing work

Communicates concerns about job performance to employees

Attention to subordinates

Engages in two-way communication

Involve subordinates in decision making

Communicates with people without threats and provides them with assistance

Provides people with the opportunity to meet their work-related needs

In Fig. Figure 17.4 presents four possible combinations of using different degrees of structure and people-focused leadership. Although the highest effectiveness was initially associated with a leader who mastered both aspects of behavior, more recent research has also shown that this does not apply to all situations.

Rice. 17.4. Combinations of two dimensions of leadership style according to Ohio University classification

Control grid

The promising concept of a two-dimensional approach to leadership effectiveness, proposed by a group at Ohio University, was modified and popularized by researchers R. Blake and J. Mouton, who created a grid for classifying manager-leaders into five basic styles. As shown in Fig. 17.5, along the vertical axis of this grid, “attention to people” is ranked from 1 to 9, and along the horizontal axis, “attention to production issues” is ranked in the same way. A manager's leadership style is determined by both of these factors. Blake and Mouton describe the central and four corner positions of the grid this way.

Rice. 17.5. Control grid

Source. The Managerial Grid III: The Key to Leadership Excellence, by Robert R. Blake and Jane Srygley Mouton Houston: Gulf Publishing Company, Copyright 1985, p. 12. Reproduced with permission.

1.1 – lean style. The leader makes the minimum effort to achieve the effectiveness necessary to avoid dismissal.

1.9 – Country Club style. The leader is focused on warm human relationships, but cares little about getting the job done efficiently.

5.5 – organization style. A leader achieves the desired level of effectiveness by balancing performance and high morale.

9.9 – team style. Through attention to subordinates and effective management, the leader creates increased desire among employees to achieve the organization's goals, which ensures both high morale and high efficiency.

Blake and Mouton stated that the most effective, best leadership style is the 9.9 style. They believed that a team leader combines increased attention to subordinates with equal attention to their productivity. They understood that in many activities it is difficult to clearly and unambiguously identify such a team style, but they believed that with special training and a clear understanding of goals, any manager could move closer to the 9.9 style and become more effective. Although little empirical research has been conducted in this area, extensive evidence supports the effectiveness of the control grid.

Now, before we discuss the situational approach, let's talk about the relationship between leadership style, employee satisfaction and productivity.

The What, How, Who Approach The approach that Tom Hoffman took during his brainstorming session is used quite often today. It is known as the “what, how, who” approach and helps people find innovative solutions to problems, abandon traditional

Process Improvement: Traditional and Lean Approaches The traditional approach to process improvement looks first at local efficiencies – “look at the equipment, at the value-adding activities, and

Timid approach Answer the request with vague mumbling, trying to delay making a decision on it. Try to make sure that the person who asks you does not understand whether you answered “yes” or “no.” However, keep in mind that this approach is usually

Assertive approach [*] * Assertive (assertive, English) - persistent, able to insist on one’s own. Note per. Express your pleasure at the fact that you were approached with a request, but succinctly and politely explain why you cannot fulfill it. Suggest alternatives

5.3.7. Behavioral factor At first glance, strategic task management seems to be a system that is not difficult to implement and is easy to manage: it is compact, involves minimal contrived work, and is aimed at solving pressing problems;

3.5.2. Cost-effective approach

3.5.3. Income approach

Professional approach So, you are convinced of the reliability of the organization in which you would like to work. You have learned everything or almost everything about her. Now you need to approach this issue from a professional point of view, since your success in your new place of work will depend on this.

Activity approach What is the naturalistic approach? There are objects of nature, they lie outside of us. We are against them, they are against us. The world of objects forms situations, and we see these objects as data. The naturalistic approach is opposed to the activity approach. How