{"id":693,"date":"2019-06-25T20:57:34","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T00:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businessessentials\/chapter\/the-leadership-process\/"},"modified":"2022-06-07T19:34:07","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T23:34:07","slug":"the-leadership-process","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/businessessentials\/chapter\/the-leadership-process\/","title":{"raw":"6.2 The Leadership Process","rendered":"6.2 The Leadership Process"},"content":{"raw":"

Leadership Positions and Processes<\/h2>\r\n

Leadership is a process, a complex and dynamic exchange relationship built over time between leader and follower and between leader and the group of followers who depend on each other to attain a mutually desired goal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Hollander & Julian, 1969.<\/div>\r\nThere are several key components to this \u201cworking relationship\u201d: the leader, the followers, the context (situation), the leadership process per se, and the consequences (outcomes) (see (Figure)<\/a><\/strong>).\r\n
R.M. Stogdill. 1948. Personal factors associated with leadership: A survey of the literature. Journal of Psychology<\/em> 28: 35\u201371.<\/div>\r\nAcross time, each component interacts with and influences the other components, and whatever consequences (such as leader-follower trust) are created influence future interactions. As any one of the components changes, so too will leadership.\r\n
A.J. Murphy. 1941. A study of the leadership process. American Sociological Review<\/em> 6:674\u2013687.<\/div>\r\n \r\n
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The Leadership Process<\/p>\r\n

\"A<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

(Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC-BY 4.0 license)<\/div>\r\n
<\/div>\r\n
The Leader<\/span><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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Leaders are people who take charge of or guide the activities of others. They are often seen as the focus or orchestrater of group activity, the people who set the tone of the group so that it can move forward to attain its goals. Leaders provide the group with what is required to fulfill its maintenance and task-related needs. (Later in the chapter, we will return to the \u201cleader as a person\u201d as part of our discussion of the trait approach to leadership.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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New York Philharmonic @ UN<\/div>\r\n
The New York Philharmonic, conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert, paid special tribute in the General Assembly Hall to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a tribute to his 10-year term. Gilbert is the formal leader of the New York Philharmonic.<\/div>\r\n\"A<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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The Follower<\/h3>\r\n

The follower is not a passive player in the leadership process. Edwin Hollander, after many years of studying leadership, suggested that the follower is the most critical factor in any leadership event.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Hollander, 1964.<\/div>\r\nIt is, after all, the follower who perceives the situation and comes to define the needs that the leader must fulfill. In addition, it is the follower who either rejects leadership or accepts acts of leadership by surrendering his power to the leader to diminish task uncertainty, to define and manage the meaning of the situation to the follower, and to orchestrate the follower\u2019s action in pursuit of goal attainment.\r\n\r\nThe follower\u2019s personality and readiness to follow determine the style of leadership that will be most effective. For example, individuals with an internal locus of control are much more responsive to participative styles of leadership than individuals with an external locus of control.\r\n
R.J. House & T.R. Mitchell. 1974 (Autumn). Path-goal theory of leadership. Journal of Contemporary Business<\/em> 81\u201397.<\/div>\r\nIndividuals with an authoritarian personality are highly receptive to the effectiveness of directive acts of leadership.\r\n
G. Yukl. 1971. Toward a behavioral theory of leadership. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance<\/em> 6:414\u2013440.<\/div>\r\nIt is the followers\u2019 expectations, as well as their performance-based needs, that determine what a leader must do in order to be effective.\r\n

The strength of the follower\u2019s self-concept has also been linked to the leadership process. High-self-esteem individuals tend to have a strong sense of self-efficacy, that is, a generalized belief they can be successful in difficult situations. They therefore tend to be strongly motivated to perform and persist in the face of adversity.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

D.G. Gardner & J.L. Pierce. 1998. Self-esteem and self-efficacy within the organizational context. Group & Organization Management<\/em> 23(1):48\u201370.<\/div>\r\nThe high-self-esteem follower tends to be responsive to participative styles of leadership. Low-self-esteem individuals, who doubt their competence and worthiness and their ability to succeed in difficult situations, function better with supportive forms of leadership. This helps them deal with the stress, frustration, and anxiety that often emerge with difficult tasks. Followers without a readiness to follow, limited by their inability to perform and lack of motivation and commitment, usually need more directive forms of leadership.\r\n
P. Hersey & K.H. Blanchard. 1988. Management of organizational behavior utilizing human resources.<\/em> Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.<\/div>\r\n \r\n

Follower behavior plays a major role in determining what behaviors leaders engage in. For example, followers who perform at high levels tend to cause their leaders to be considerate in their treatment and to play a less directive role. Followers who are poor performers, on the other hand, tend to cause their leaders to be less warm toward them and to be more directive and controlling in their leadership style.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

C.N. Greene. 1975. The reciprocal nature of influence between leader and subordinate. Journal of Applied Psychology<\/em> 60: 187\u2013193.<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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The Context<\/h3>\r\n

Situations make demands on a group and its members, and not all situations are the same. Context refers to the situation that surrounds the leader and the followers. Situations are multidimensional. We discuss the context as it pertains to leadership in greater detail later in this chapter, but for now let\u2019s look at it in terms of the task and task environment that confront the group. Is the task structured or unstructured? Are the goals of the group clear or ambiguous? Is there agreement or disagreement about goals? Is there a body of knowledge that can guide task performance? Is the task boring? Frustrating? Intrinsically satisfying? Is the environment complex or simple, stable or unstable? These factors create different contexts within which leadership unfolds, and each factor places a different set of needs and demands on the leader and on the followers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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The Process<\/h3>\r\n

The process of leadership is separate and distinct from the leader (the person who occupies a central role in the group). The process is a complex, interactive, and dynamic working relationship between leader and followers. This working relationship, built over time, is directed toward fulfilling the group\u2019s maintenance and task needs. Part of the process consists of an exchange relationship between the leader and follower. The leader provides a resource directed toward fulfilling the group\u2019s needs, and the group gives compliance, recognition, and esteem to the leader. To the extent that leadership is the exercise of influence, part of the leadership process is captured by the surrender of power by the followers and the exercise of influence over the followers by the leader.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Hollander & Julian, 1969.<\/div>\r\nThus, the leader influences the followers and the followers influence the leader, the context influences the leader and the followers, and both leader and followers influence the context.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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The Consequences<\/h3>\r\n

A number of outcomes or consequences of the leadership process unfold between leader, follower, and situation. At the group level, two outcomes are important:<\/p>\r\n\r\n