Employee engagement describes the process of encouraging a positive attitude amongst employees in order to maximise their performance. Unlike performance related pay, for example, initiatives to improve employee engagement are not written in an employee’s contract. They instead aim to create an environment where employees......
The people of a business are the most important and most valuable resource it has. In order to retain employees and get the most out of them, they have to be motivated and engaged in what they do on a day to day basis. So......
The Integrated Psychological leadership model is so called because it integrates the thinking behind the four other leadership models sub-groups, while also addressing the leader’s inner psychology, which tends not to be considered in other more traditional or conventional types of leadership models. James Scouller’s......
Trait-based leadership – the oldest type of thinking about effective leadership – is defined as integrated patterns of personal characteristics that reflect a range of individual differences and foster consistent leader effectiveness across a variety of group and organizational situations (Zaccaro, Kemp, & Bader, 2004). Basically,......
This Model by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard also argues that leaders must change their behaviour according to the circumstances. This theory is based on the concept of variable leadership, where, depending on the situation, a leader is able to adapt to suit the current......
Bolman and Deal argued that leaders should look at and approach organisational issues from four perspectives, which they called “frames”. In their view, if a leader works with only one habitual frame of reference, he risks being ineffective. The four frames they proposed were; Structural,......
Fiedler’s argument was that a leader’s effectiveness is dependent on two forces: situational favourableness and his/her own style. For Fiedler, there were three factors determining the favourableness of a situation; How much trust, respect and confidence exists between leader and team? How clearly the task......
Robert House believed the main role of a leader is to motivate his followers by increasing or clarifying the personal benefits of striving for and reaching the group’s goal and clarifying and clearing a path to achieving the group’s goals. His theory matched ways of......
Kurt Lewin identified three Behavioural styles among leaders. Now these three styles could also fit into the Leadership Styles module. However if you bear in mind the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, you can match them to your circumstances – provided, of course, you......
‘Situational’ (or ‘Contingency’) leadership models are based on the idea that the leader’s actions should vary according to the circumstances he or she is facing – in other words leadership methods change according to the ‘situation’ in which the leader is leading. This category includes......
Functional types of leadership models focus on what the leader has to do. Unlike the Behavioural Ideals approach, Functional leadership models do not suggest ideal ways of behaving, nor do they match behaviours to circumstances like Situational/Contingency theory. Instead, Functional leadership models focus on the action areas that......
‘Behavioural Ideals’ leadership models concentrate on what researchers believe are the most effective behaviours as a leader. The notable model in this category is Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid. The ‘behavioural ideals’ approach argues that if a leader is to be effective he, or she,......
Ethical leadership is a relatively loosely defined philosophy of leadership. To many it is seen to equate to moral leadership, or leading with a sense of great fairness. To others it provides a basis for more detailed explanation and application of; social responsibility, corporate social......
Values-based leadership is the idea that leaders should draw on their own and followers’ values for direction and motivation. Values-based leadership philosophy asserts that people are mostly motivated by values and live according to these beliefs. In other words, values are our most natural motivators.......
The idea of servant leadership is simple: that the leader serves the followers (or a cause, which benefits the followers in some way). A leader who embodies servant leadership is not leading for reasons of status, wealth, popularity or lust for power. Instead, a servant......
Authenticity means being true to character and true to oneself; not living through false emotions that hide the real you. Authentic leaders know and live their values and they win people’s trust by being who they are, not by living up to others’ expectations. Gaining......
A leadership philosophy contains value-based ideas of how a leader should be and act and the sources of their power. Any leadership philosophy is a way of thinking and behaving. It is a set of values and beliefs. A philosophy is a series of reference......
Looking at what has traditionally worked in the past, Jack Welch, a respected business leader and writer, proposes a few fundamental leadership principles that can help a leader successfully pin-point their roles; 1. There is only one way – the straight way. It sets the......
A leader has an important role in developing the performance of their team. John Adair’s Action Centred leadership model is an example of how they can achieve this. Good managers and leaders should have full command of the three main areas of the Action Centred......
Introduction As well as thinking about their leadership styles, all managers should be constantly aware of their roles and responsibilities. You can think of your characteristics as leader as an input and your roles and responsibilities as a catalyst with outward affects. Your characteristics are......
The Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum demonstrates the relationship between the level of freedom that a manager chooses to give a team, and the level of authority used by the manager. As the team’s freedom is increased, so to should the manger’s authority decrease. This is......
Below we have set out 6 qualities we believe it is the responsibility of all leaders to show. 1. Set the standard By nature, leaders identify brand morals as a reflection of their beliefs, team and the products/services they create. Defining a universal standard for......
Misconceptions of Leadership People new to leadership often feel under pressure to lead in a particularly dominant way. Sometimes this pressure on a new leader to impose their authority on the team comes from above. Dominant leadership is rarely appropriate, especially for mature teams. Misreading......
Introduction There are certain attributes and behaviours that make a great leader, as well as common misconceptions about its role. However, there are only a few key points when it comes to characteristics of all leaders, the rest is situational and it is up to......
Despite the common fundamentals that you can follow to enhance your leadership skills, each individual should also have their own leadership style. This will be dependent on your personality and the situation you are in. Some would describe their style as ‘autocratic’, MBWA (‘management by......
The terms ‘leadership’ and ‘management’ are often used interchangeably when describing organisational processes, however, appreciating their differences and utilising their individual strengths are key to maximising business performance. Leaders and managers must complement each other to ensure long-term success, but their responsibilities should not be......
What is leadership? It is very hard to define the meaning of leadership, but there are certain traits that we can attribute to good leaders. All good leaders inspire a vision amongst their followers and set a direction for performance that they expect to be......