CHAPTER SIX

LEADING FUNCTION

Overview
Leading (directing) is another important element of management. It is the sum total of
managerial efforts which takes the organization towards the predetermined targets. It is
in fact part of every managerial action. To carry the function of leading is a tough task
before the manager. It involves the taking of human beings with varied nature. It is the
inter _personal phenomenon, which is concerned with men at every level of
management in one form or the other.
In this chapter, we will discuss the various approaches or theories and other related
points that contributed to our understanding of leadership.
Objectives -After studying this chapter, you will be able to
 Explain the basics of the leading function in the management process
 Differentiate the terms leadership and management
 Contrast the three major leadership theories
 Discuss each leadership styles
 Explain the meaning of motivation and its implication to the
effectiveness of employees and an organization
 Explain the communication process with its barriers
The meaning of leadership
Whenever one-person influences an individual or group toward accomplishing an
objective, leadership occurs. Leadership is thus defined as the process of influencing a
group or individual to set or achieve a goal. It is the art or process of influencing people
so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of
organizational or group goals. These definitions recognize that leadership is typically
an on-going activity, is oriented toward having an impact on the behaviours of others,
and is ultimately focused on realizing the specific aims of the organization or a group. It
also involves the leader, the led (group or individual), and a particular goal or situation.
Leadership is a result of the interaction among the superior (leader), the
subordinates (the led), and the organizational environment (work and the work
situation). Leadership is in essence a special relationship between each manager and
individual or group, a relationship that in turn is influenced by the work environment.
Leadership vs. management
Management is abroad subject that encompasses activities such as planning,
organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. Leadership on the other hand, is a part of
management, which focuses almost exclusively on the people aspects of getting a job
done, inspiring, motivating, directing, and gaining commitment to organizational

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activities and goals. Leadership accompanies and complements the management
functions.
Leadership theories
Various leadership theories have been developed in the history of management
thought. Of these theories the major ones are trait, behavioural and situations.
Trait theory
Trait is distinctive internal (personal) qualities or characteristics of an individual,
such as physical (height, weight, appearance, etc), personal (self-confidence,
dominance, adaptable, sociability, etc), and mental (intelligence, creativity, knowledge,
technical, competence, etc). A leader trait is a physical or personal characteristic that can
be used to differentiate leaders from follows.
Trait theory originated from an ancient theory called<< great man>>theory that
assumes<<leaders are born not made>>, a belief dating back to the ancient Greeks &Romans. In
general, the study of leaders’ traits has not been a very fruitful approach to explain leadership.
This is because, not all leaders possess all the traits and many non-leaders may possess most or
all of them. Also, the trait approach gives no guidance as to how mach of any trait a person
should have.

Behavioural theories
Behavioural theories contend that leaders are best classified by behavioural styles. These theories
focus on what the leader does when performing managerial tasks. This group consists of the
following theories:
Leadership Continuum theory -depicts a range of leader behaviour from boss-
centred to subordinate -centred leadership .It contends that effective leaders are
adaptable, delegating authority effectively due to consideration of situational
factors.
University of Michigan research – After studying numerous industrial situations the
Michigan University research identified two leadership styles which include:
 Employee-centered, and
 Production-centered task oriented.
- Production-centered / Task-oriented leadership style: emphasizes more on the
technical aspects of job, work standard, close supervision, considering employees as
tools in the production process.
- Employee-oriented / people centered / leadership style: focuses more on treating
subordinates as human beings, encouraging them in goal setting, and shows concern
for their well-being.
- The Michigan research prescribed employee-oriented style of leadership to increase
productivity.

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- They contended that supervisory controls and production – centered leadership
style will be frustrating to the employees; affects their morale leading to
unsatisfactory performance on the job.
Two-dimensional theory /The Ohio State University studies -proposes two
leadership behaviour dimensions: considerations (developing a work atmosphere of
mutual trust and support with subordinates, and respecting ideas and being
considerate of feelings of subordinates), and initiating structure (structures leader
and subordinate roles, plans work activities, schedules work and establish well
defined patterns channels of communications).
Managerial grid theory-describes a manager’s leadership style along two
dimensions: concern for production and concern for people. Concern for production
includes such things as procedures & processes, work efficiency, volume of output
&quality of staff service. Concern for people includes self-esteem of workers,
responsibility based on trust rather than obedience, and satisfying interpersonal
relationships.
Situational theories
- According to the advocates of this leadership theory, leadership is a complex
social and interpersonal process; and to understand if fully we need to see the
situation in which a leader operates.
- The contingency theory of leadership stresses that no single leadership style is
effective in all situations.
- Thus, an effective leader must be flexible enough to adapt to the differences among
subordinates and situations.
Leadership styles
What is a leadership style?
 Leadership style is the behavior exhibited by a leader during supervision of
subordinates.
 There are different leadership styles.
Positive Versus Negative Leadership Styles
 Positive leadership styles give emphasis to praise and recognition, monetary
rewards, increase in security, and addition of responsibility.
 Negative leadership styles on the other hand emphasize penalties, loss of jobs,
suspension, and public reprimands / critics
 The commonly known and/or practiced leadership styles are: Autocratic,
Democratic and Free-rein.
a. Autocratic / Authoritative/ Directive style
 An autocratic leader centralizes power and decision-making in him-self and
exercises complete control over the subordinates.

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 Such a lender usually shows high concern for the task and low concern for the
people.
 Rigidity and / or inflexibility characterize such a leader.
 The common characteristics of autocratic leaders include the following:

i) The leader is highly conscious of his/her position.

ii) He/she has little trust and faiths in subordinates.
iii) The leader believes that pay is just a reward for working and the only reward
that will motivate employees.
iv) Orders are issued to be carried out with no questions allowed and no
explanations.
v) Subordinates are expected to do what they are told.
vi) Production is good when the leader is present, but poor in the leader’s
absence.
b) Democratic / Participative leadership style
 The leader shows high concern for both task and people.
 A manager with this style usually shares decisions with the group encourage
participation and supports the task efforts of subordinates.
 Democratic leadership has the following characteristics:
 Decision making is shared by the leader and the group
 If forced to make a decision alone the leader explains his/her reason to the
group.
 Objective criticism and praise is given
 New ideas / change proposed by a group are respected
 Develops a feeling of responsibility with in the group
 Increases the quality of work and productivity.
 The group feels successful
c) Free – rein / Laissez faire / Abdicative leadership style
 The leader shows a low concern for both people and work.
 A manager with this style gives full decision-making authority to the group and
shows little interest in the work process or its results

Free – rein / Laissez faire leadership style has the following major characteristics:

 The leader does not set goals to the group

 Decisions are made by who ever in the group willing to do if.
 Individuals may have little interest in their work.
 Morale and teamwork are generally low.

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  Usually productivity is low and work is sloppy (messy)
Qualities of an Effective Leader

Some authorities in the field point out that an effective leader is required to possess the
following basic qualities.

a) Ability to understand human behavior. A leader should be able to understand

employees needs and problems so as to make them work with willingness and
enthusiasm.
b) Social skill. An effective leader should and know the strengths and weaknesses of
people working with him/her. If he/she is helpful friendly, encourages other to
succeed, and appreciates the group members’ viewpoints, people will certainly
cooperate with him/her and work their / oral best towards the achievement of the
organizational goals.
c) Teaching ability (being model). The best way to lead is guiding practically. A
leader should not be in a position to push his subordinates from behind.
d) Readiness to accept responsibility / criticisms and to take appropriate corrective
measures – An effective leader or manager should understand that error is human
but repeat is a mistake. What so over a leader tries to be systematic, mistakes are
created but he should be able to take remedial measures and take control over the
situation.
e) Emotional stability and fairness – The effective leader poses resolutions
indiscriminately after gathering sufficient information and investigating the possible
causes. Moreover, he is relatively free from bias and prejudice and takes consistent
actions.
Motivation
The meaning of motivation
The term motivation derived from the Latin word mover meaning <<to move>>
motivation is the concept used to describe the forces with in an individual which
initiate, energizer, and direct behaviour .It is used to indicate the direction of behaviour.
It cannot be observed, only inferred from observed behaviour. Consequently, manager
can occasionally make in correct assumptions and inferences about employee
motivation.
Theories of motivation
Theories of motivation that focus on employee needs:
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

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 Maslow tried to provide an explanation about motivation by classifying human needs
in hierarch and the theory of human motivation that links these needs to general
behavior.

The basic concepts of Maslow’s motivation theory include the following:

 Needs form hierarch: lower level needs must at least be partly satisfied before
higher level needs emerge.
 Higher level needs can be satisfied in many more ways than can be lower level
needs.
 A satisfied need is not a motivator. It lower level need is satisfied a higher level
need emerges
 People seek growth: people want to more up the hierarchy of needs.
 Adult motives and complex. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be demonstrated as
follows.

Self-actualization
Needs

Esteem
Needs

Social/ love
i Needs

Safety

Physiological Need
Needs s
i) Physiological needs- they are biological needs required to preserve human life -
food, water, clothing and shelter.
ii) Safety needs – they include protection from physiological dangers (fire, accident), job
or economic security (benefits, health, insurance), smooth working atmosphere, etc.
iii) Social / love needs – people want to belong to associate, to gain acceptance from
associates, to give and receive friendship and affection.
iv) Esteem needs – they include those for self-confidence, achievement, etc
v) Self-actualization needs – are the needs for realizing one’s potentialities, for
continued self-development, for being creative in the broadest sense of that term.
- Self – fulfilling people are rare individuals who are close to living up to their full
potential with high achievement.

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- Self-actualization is the desire to become what one is capable of becoming. A
musician must make music, a poet must write, a general must win battles, an artist
must paint, a teacher must teach is he is to be ultimately happy. What a man CAN
be he Must be.
 Herzberg’s two-factor theory- describes that work dissatisfaction and satisfaction
arise from two different sets of factors. From his research, Hertzberg concluded that
job dissatisfaction & job satisfaction arose from two separate sets of factors.
 Dissatisfies (which he called<<hygiene>>factors) included salary, working
conditions, and company policy, all of which affected the context in which work
was conducted .The presence of these factors did not lead to job satisfaction but
their absence leads to dissatisfactions.
 Satisfiers (motivating factors) include achievement, recognition, responsibility,
and advancement, all related to the job contents and the rewards of work
performance.

Communication in organazations
Definition:
- Communication is the transfer of information from one person (sender) to another
(receiver) to achieve goals.
- Management is concerned with getting things done with and through others.
- However, success of an enterprise is mainly dependent on the way the things are
communicated to the employees and to the concerned parties. Thus,
communication involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening
and understanding.
- Communication can also be defined as the process of meaningful interaction among
human beings and it is the act of making one’s ideas and opinions known to others.
The Communication Process
To be an effective communicator a manager should understand the basic framework of
communication process.
- The basic elements of the communication process include the following.
i. Sender / Communicator:
- The sender or source of message initiated the communication. Communication
within an enterprise acts as a coordinating force and links the separate departments
together.
- Each of the communicators involved in the process of communication has a
message, an idea or information to transmit to other.
ii. Encoding

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- Encoding takes place when the sender translates the information into a common
language which reflects the idea to be transmitted in a series of symbols. The
encoding action produces message.

iii. The Message

- The message is he encoded information sent by the sender to the receiver.
- The message can be expressed in verbal or non-verbal manner depending upon the
purpose of the communication.
- What is important is however, the message sent by the communicator should be
clear and precise.
iv. The Medium
- The medium (channel) of communication exists between the sender and the
receiver.
- The media includes: speaking, writing, signaling, gesturing, physical, contacting,
etc.
- The media is the carrier of the message sent by the communicator.
v. The Receiver
- For communication to happen, at least two people are required; the communicator
and the receiver.
- In order for the communication to be effective, the sender should take into account
the receiver’s decoding abilities, understanding capacity.
vi. Decoding
- Decoding refers to the process by which the receiver translates the message into the
terms that are meaningful to him.
- It is the receiver’s interpretation of the message.
- It involves the mental process of asking “what does this mean to me?” And “what
should I do about it?”
- Decoding helps to understand the problem
vii. Feed-back
- Feed-back refers to the response of the receiver to the sender.
- Feed-back helps to decrease the potential and probability of distortion between the
intended and the received message.

B. Organizational Communication
i) Formal Communication – is the type of communication that follows prescribed
channels of communication, through the organization, typically the chain of
command or scalar chain.
- It is the official pattern of communication, designed, approval and recognized by the
organization structure.

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- It includes
(a) Upward communication and information about subordinates’ performance,
feedback on organization practice, opinion, complaints, etc. Which flows to
supervision.
(b) Horizontal communication – communication between people or work units at
the same level of organizational hierarchy.
(c) Diagonal communication – Communication that takes places between work
units or people at different levels of organization hierarchy.
ii) Informal communication
- It is one aspect of organizational Communication, that is not design and recognized
by management.
- It includes informal discussion of employees about promotions, salary increment,
demotions, etc. in the form of rumors and gossips.
Oral and Written Communication
- Two methods of communicating a message may be oral and written.
a) Oral communication includes: speeches, formal group discussion, and
grapevine.
- Primary advantages of oral communication include, speed and quick feed-
back.
- Disadvantages of oral communication are that the message may be distorted,
and recording it is very difficult and costly.
b) Written Communication: is permanent, tangible and verifiable.
- Record is maintained and both the sender and the receiver have access to the
records. Example of written communication include: memorandum, bulleting
boards, forms letters, etc.
- Limitation of written communication: - It is time consuming;
- It doesn’t possess built in feedback mechanism.

Barriers of Communication
Many a time managers say something and the subordinates understand different thing. Thus,
distortion is occurred due to some barrier to communication. Some of the common barriers are
discussed here under.

 Filtering – some studies show that about 75 percent of communication can be lost in its
downward flow from the top to the bottom of an organization levels. There is also a
situation where the sender himself filters information, in the absence of openness. Thus,
filtering of information is experienced when the sender or receiver tries to alter
communication in his favor. The point is that information is commonly distorted as it
descends from the top to the bottom.

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 Selective perception – The receiver may selectively perceive the message based on the
organizational requirements; the employees’ needs, characteristics and back ground; etc.
 Emotions – How the receiver feels at the time of receiver of the information influences
effectively how he interprets the information.
 Language – Difference of semantics can create communication problem. On the other
hand, a word spoken in anger can have an entirely different meaning from the same word
spoken in friendliness. For example, the statement “All right, I will show you how to do the
work.” Can be said with various voices and can be interpreted in different ways.
 Time pressure – when a manager or employee is placed under severe time constraints, it
can create communication problem

A. Overcoming the Barriers to Communication

In order to make communication effective, managers must attempt to remove barriers.
There are no prescribed techniques or ways of overcoming communication barriers.
However, it is essential to give due consideration to the following points while
communicating within the organization.

a) Feed-back – one common way of overcoming barriers to communication is to have a

feed-back. Thus, the communicator should check whether the receiver has
understood the message either by asking questions or devising other mechanism
that facilitate adequate feedback.
b) Simplifying language – effective communication is achieved when a message is
both received and understood. Managers are therefore required to avoid
complicated jargons, and use a simple language that subordinates can easily
understand.
c) Watch non-verbal cues – many a time, action speaks louder than words. Therefore,
particularly to the case of oral communication, the sender should observe the actions
of the receivers and find whether they go along with the understanding.
d) Listen carefully- communication problems can arise because of poor listening.
Good removes communication barriers.

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