The Determinants of Effective Leadership - Essay Example

Outline The Introduction defines the concept of Effective Leadership; and the significance of the various factors towards determining effective leadership. The research question or purpose of the paper is stated. The Discussion explains first the basic premises about leadership effectiveness, then the various determinants of effective leadership such as the critical role of followers, the importance of attitude, emotional intelligence, social intelligence and the biology of leadership, the cognitive resource theory in effective leadership, and effective communication as key to successful leadership. The Conclusion sums up the various determinants that have been identified and discussed, thus fulfilling the purpose of the research paper. Any related area to be further explored through future research will be stated. Introduction Effective leaders in an organization are executives who support the optimal performance of a group of subordinates. They are known to add great value to an organization. Highly effective executives who are also known as peak performers are noted to have productivity rates that are 25 to 50 percent higher than their minimally effective or poorly performing counterparts. Highly effective leadership is characterized by productivity, health, relational behaviour, or any combination of these factors, which result in performance at optimal level (Sperry: 17). The main goals of effective leadership are: facilitating organizational goal setting and helping to achieve them, promoting optimal levels of individual motivation, commitment and satisfaction, facilitating effective interactions among individuals within teams, helping employees to set high goals for themselves, and place the organization’s effectiveness above their own self-interests (Anderson et al: 303). The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the various determinants of effective leadership. Discussion The effective leader operates concurrently on the performance as well as the people of the organization or unit. Performance depicts both the process of how things get done, the length of time taken, as well as the outcome of productivity and quality. The aim of performance is productivity and the aim for people is health. The effective leader operates both successfully, involving both productivity and health. Productivity is the ratio of input to output; and increased productivity has beneficial outcomes such as higher profits and market share. People encompasses the skills, talents, competencies and needs of the employees, leaders and other stakeholders involved with a particular corporation or organization. Health is similar to productivity in being a measure of outcome, and is manifest in both the individual as well as the corporation. For individuals, health includes physical and psychological well-being, job satisfaction, and other factors. For corporations, health mainly translates into absenteeism rates, turnover rates, costs related to health management and commitment to the organization (Sperry: 10). Sperry (p.10) states that the first basic premise regarding effective leadership is that it is a function of both productivity and health, and they are inter-connected. By realizing the importance of the people dimension, the effective leader ensures that employees’ levels of commitment and morale remain high, burnout does not occur, and expenditure on health is reduced. The second basic premise of effective leadership is that it significantly influences corporate effectiveness which is connected to corporate productivity and health. The third basic premise of effective leadership is that corporations are continually searching for better strategies to increase leadership effectiveness to maximise corporate productivity and health. Earlier theories of leadership emphasized the rational processes, whereas the new theories emphasize emotions and values which are necessary to influence followers to make self-sacrifices, commit to ideological objectives and achieve high levels of success. Important insights about the nature of effective leadership are advanced by the new theories. Weaknesses can occur in the conceptualization and measurement of leadership processes, in the omission of relevant leader behaviours, the neglect of group and organizational processes, and over-reliance on weak research methods. For example, the earlier approach of using two-factor models to describe leadership, such as autocratic versus participative leadership or transformational versus transactional leadership, oversimplify the complexity of effective leadership, and encourage stereotyping of individual leaders (Gary: 33). The ethics and character of leaders are important for effective leadership. Hence, some important determinants of effective leader-follower relations are prosocial motives, morality and trustworthiness. Prosocial leaders as opposed to self-centered leaders, are empathetic, self-sacrificing, trustworthy, considerate and focused on building collective missions (Weiner et al: 284). Other important determinants of effective leadership are as follows: The Critical Role of Followers as a Determinant of Effective Leadership Leadership is a concept that occurs simultaneously with followership. The inherent implication of the term is that there is no leadership without people following. Hence, the core element in leadership research have always been the make leaders effective in influencing and fuelling action among followers. However, leadership research focuses mainly on leader characteristics and behaviour, and less on the role of followers. In this respect, Jim Meindl’s follower-centered perspective (Meindl: 329) outlines how followers play a critical role in leadership effectiveness mainly because leadership effectiveness depends on followers’ social construction of leadership. The focus on the role of followers for leadership effectiveness, aligns well with the social identity perspective on leadership effectiveness. Both factors emphasize the fact that the leader’s characteristics and behaviour as a group member form the basis of followers’ response to the leaders. Some leaders have more group prototypical characteristics than their own personal characteristics, due to which they represent the shared social identity and the common characteristics of the group. Such leaders differentiate the group from other people, more than other leaders. Because group prototypes emphasize identification of group members, those leaders who are group prototypical tend to be more influential and effective, and also aim for the best interests of the group (Meindl & Shamir: 52). The Importance of Attitude on the Part of the Leader Attitude is the manifestation of a leader’s disposition, and fuels his/ her character; it could limit the leader’s ability to understand or form a catalyst for his determination to overcome and succeed. For developing, strengthening and sustaining optimal leadership, the qualities that are essential are: toleration, tactful ingenuity, the determination to unite and the drive to encourage. The leadership position which may be acquired by choice, by appointment, by election or sometimes by default, is always one of responsibility. The leader is accountable for the outcome of his decisions and actions, and should be careful to modify his attitude, according to the requirements of the situation (Reidenback: 12). The Requirement of Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence is now increasingly being used as “a tool for identifying potentially effective leaders and as a tool for developing effective leadership skills” (Palmer et al: 5). To determine the effectiveness of emotional intelligence in the above areas and to explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and effective leadership, the researchers conducted a survey on 43 participants employed in management positions. Emotional intelligence was measured by a modified version of the Trait Meta Mood Scale, a multi-factor leadership questionnaire; and effective leaders were identified as those who manifested a transformational rather than a transactional leadership style. It was found that emotional intelligence coincided with several components of transformational leadership, thus identifying emotional intelligence as an important component of effective leadership. Emotional intelligence particularly relates to how effective leaders interact with and monitor subordinates, and consequently how the followers feel at the workplace. The significance of social intelligence and the biology of leadership Goleman & Boyatzis (p.76) state that new studies of the brain reveal that by understanding the biology of empathy, leaders can effectively improve group performance. Social intelligence skills are crucial for outstanding leadership, and gender differences do influence in some ways the extent of social intelligence skills in a leader. It is believed that on average, women are better than men at immediately sensing other people’s emotions. At the same time, men are likely to have more social confidence, at least in work settings. However, the researchers found that gender differences in social intelligence that are normally very prominent in the general population, were almost completely absent among the most successful leaders. For measuring and developing a plan for improving social intelligence, administration of the behavioral assessment tool: the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory. According to seven social intelligence qualities, the 360-degree evaluation instrument by which bosses, clients, peer, and sometimes even family members, assess a leader. By integrating the existing emotional intelligence framework with data assembled, seven social intelligence qualities were formulated using hard metrics to measure the behavior of top-performing leaders at hundreds of corporations over two decades. Appropriate questions helped to assess each of the qualities: empathy, attunement, organizational awareness, influence, developing others, inspiration and team work (Goleman & Boyatzis: 78-79). The cognitive resource theory in effective leadership Some of the conditions in which intelligence contributes to the performance of a group or organization are based on the cognitive resource theory, and the reasons why directive leaders (those who give instructions to their subordinates), or non-directive leaders (those who do not give directions) are not always successful. A directive leader who does not understand the problem or has poor judgment may do a worse job than a non-directive leader who may be less bright but may be conducive to incorporating others’ ideas (Fiedler & Gibson: 175). On the other hand, the reason why nondirective leaders who are intelligent perform poorly in some research studies is that group members interpret the failure to give directions as letting them down, and may not know how to react to a leader who is very bright but refrains from telling subordinates what to do. Though nondirective and participative leadership has several advantages, it is found from research that this leadership style is only effective when the leader is less bright, and has the support of his subordinates. Further studies need to be conducted to determine whether these effects will be found in larger organizations (Fiedler & Gibson: 175). Figure 1. (Fiedler & Gibson: 175) Cognitive resource theory attempts to identify the role of intelligence in determining leadership effectiveness and group performance. Figure 1 shows the group mean performance in standard scores, of two groups, one under a leader of high intelligence and the other under a leader of low intelligence, with high and low degrees of directiveness or group support. The graph shows the continuous and steep decline in the performance of the group with high leader intelligence, whereas the group with low leader intelligence shows a rise in performance, followed by a slow decline when the directiveness or the group support become low (Fiedler & Gibson: 175). Effective communication as key to successful leadership Managers and those in positions of leadership require a combination of excellent spoken communication skills and awareness in order to be highly effective leaders. According to Aziz (p.7) the three key elements to be addressed are message, audience and medium, out of which audience is the most important. The message has to be delivered appropriately, for which an accurate analysis of the audience is necessary. The audience may consist of a single colleague or a hall of conference delegates, and accurately analysing the audience helps the leader to make an impression and change the way people think, act and feel, which forms the foundation of a successful presentation or briefing to subordinates. With a clear idea of the concepts to be conveyed, the speaker needs to pitch the presentation according to the factors that should be taken into account. An instant rapport is established with the audience if a common ground is achieved, by taking into consideration what the audience wishes to hear. Another key element is structure. The speech or instructions should have a clear beginning, middle and an end. It is important to first introduce the topic to the audience, discuss the points and then summarize the discussion. The medium or the environment in which the presentation is to be given also needs attention. Even when a particular presentation seems small and informal and may involve just one other person, all the relevant points need to be implemented (Aziz: 7). Conclusion This paper has highlighted the concept of effective leadership, identified the determinants of effective leadership and discussed the various factors. The basic premises about leadership effectiveness are taken into consideration. Then, the various determinants of effective leadership such as the critical role of followers, the importance of attitude, emotional intelligence, social intelligence and the biology of leadership, the cognitive resource theory in effective leadership, and effective communication as key to successful leadership are discussed. The extensive literature available on the attributes pertaining to effective leadership, are mostly related to middle or lower level leaders. Weiner et al (p. 285) agree that it is necessary for future research to focus on the personal attributes and life experiences of more senior leaders. Moreover, further research on effective leadership also has important implications for selection and placement in employment. For instance, future research on the role of intellectual abilities in organizational performance, developing improved tests to measure intellectual abilities, providing conditions under which intellectual abilities can be applied, and indicating methods for applying this knowledge are all essential to promote best practices in selection and placement. These in turn will lead to greater organizational effectiveness. Works Cited Anderson, Neil, Ones, Deniz S., Sinangil, Handan K. & Visweswaran, Chockalingam (eds.). Handbook of industrial, work and organizational psychology. New York: Sage Publications. 2001. Aziz, Khalid. Effective communication. Development and Learning in Organizations, 17.5 (2003): 7-9. Fiedler, Fred E. & Gibson, Frederick W. Determinants of effective utilization of leadership abilities. Retrieved on 3rd September, 2008 from: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/au-24/fiedler.pdf Goleman, Daniel & Boyatzis, Richard. Social intelligence and the biology of leadership. Harvard Business Review, (September 2008): 74-81. Meindl, James R. The romance of leadership as a follower-centric theory: a social constructionist approach. The Leadership Quarterly, 6.3 (Autumn 1995): 329-341. Meindl, James R. & Shamir, Boas. Follower-centered perspectives on leadership. The United States of America: Information Age Publishing Inc. 2007. Palmer, Benjamin, Walls, Melissa, Burgess, Zena & Stough, Con. Emotional intelligence and effective leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 22.1 (2001): 5-10. Reidenbach, Jack W. Leadership: attitude is everything. Supervision. 69.8 (August 2008): 12-13. Sperry, Len. Effective leadership. New York: Psychology Press Publications. 2002. Weiner, Irwing B., Freedheim, Donald K., Gallagher, Michela & Schinka, John A. Handbook of Psychology. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. 2003. Yuki, Gary. An evaluative essay on current conceptions of effective leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8.1 (1999): 33-48. Read More