The Directing Function

The Directing Function
Introduction
The difference between successful and unsuccessful organizations is the presence or absence of dynamic and effective leadership. The function of management is being viewed as not simply a set of practices and policies, but a crucial component in the total organization strategy.  To play its role of enabling the organization gain and sustain competitive advantage, all managers have to play a leadership role especially in the present business environment which is getting increasingly flexible, innovative and dynamic. Leadership is a concept that has generated much interest among academics and practicing managers, politicians and sociologists among others.  In this lecture we shall examine some key aspects of leadership. To do so the following set of objectives will be the main focus
What is Leadership?
Leadership is an important aspect of management and the ability to lead is one of the keys to being an effective manager. The difference between success and failure whether in war, business, a protest movement or a soccer game can be attributed largely to leadership.
A large number of definitions can be found in the literature e.g.
Leadership is the art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward achievement of group goals. Leadership is the ability of management to induce subordinates to work towards group goals with confidence and keenness. Leadership is the ability of a person to influence the thoughts and behaviour of others towards the accomplishment of some goals or goal.
In summary, leadership is:
The activity of influencing people to strive willingly towards group objectives. The process of influencing the activities of an individual or group towards goal achievement in a given situation. A process of giving purpose (meaningful directions) to collective effort and causing willing effort to be expended to achieve such a purpose. Getting people to move in certain directions, make decisions and support paths they would typically not have selected. The process of making sense of what people are doing together, so that they will understand and be committed to the goal. The process of articulating visions, embodying values and creating the environment within which things can be accomplished.
From the above definitions, we can say that managers lead by giving orders, handling disputes, supervising, disciplining and taking steps to improve employee performance. In so doing they use influence, power, authority, delegation of responsibility and be accountable. It is these components of leadership that managers use to direct the actions of their subordinates.
Difference Between Leadership and Management
Leadership and management are closely related activities but distinguishable. Leaders and managers are not different people, but can be the same individual performing both roles. In recent years, theorists and practitioners in management have noted that, “to survive in the 21st century, organizations need a new generation of leaders, not managers”. The fundamental difference between leaders and managers is that a manager focuses on the implementation of company policy while the leader tries to lead and inspire people to do their best for the company. A leader tries to cultivate a sense of commitment to the vision and mission of the company by inspiring the subordinates to willingly strive for the achievement of organizational objectives. A manager on the other hand manages employees by the power and authority delegated to him by his superiors. While leaders strive to conquer the volatile, turbulent and ambiguous surroundings that seem to conspire against business organizations, managers tend to surrender to them. In other words while managers administer, control, and accept the status quo, leaders innovate, inspire and change the status quo.
The Complementarity of management and leadership
According to Brewster (1999), leadership and management qualities are complementary. These characteristics may be summarized as follows.
Management Characteristics Leadership Characteristics Administers and problem-solves. Works within a system. Focuses on control. Short range view. Accepts the status quo. Sets things in motion by means of methods and techniques. Attitude of doing. Innovates- means alertness to opportunities, uses imagination and vision to capitalize on them. Works on the system focuses on people. Inspires trust. Long range view. Challenges the status quo. Is a natural unforced ability to inspire people. Attitude of serving
Effective Leadership
To be effective, a leader must win the hearts and minds of the followers. This requires a guiding vision and clear idea of what is to be accomplished. Effective leaders must be able to communicate their vision. Knowing what to do, but not being able to communicate this to others can be a major drawback to effective leadership. Communication means understanding each other as individuals and as members of larger groups. Often communication is not effective because of barriers such as poor communication skills, distortion or omission of information, wrong interpretation and lack of trust between the sender and the recipient. Successful organizations are associated with leaders who are able to communicate effectively their vision and strategy.
Types of Leaders
Writers identify various types of leaders. Charismatic Leaders – These are those whose influence is derived form the personality e.g. Napoleon, Kenyatta, Billy Graham, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu etc. This type resides only in a few people and cannot be acquired by training – it is natural. Traditional Leaders –These are those whose position is assured by birth e.g. Kings, Queens, tribal chieftains etc. It is limited and not applicable to workplaces except in family businesses. Situational Leaders -Their influence is effective by being in the right place at the right time – It is impromptu and temporary eg. One who steps to direct traffic in a jam. Appointed Leaders –Refers to those whose influence arises from position e.g. managers and supervisors. It is a bureaucratic type of leadership where legitimate power comes from the position in the hierarchy. Functional Leaders – Are those whose influence comes from the work done rather than position such as experts.
Leadership and Power
The concepts of leadership and power are closely related. Power is the capacity to influence others through the control of instruments of reward and punishment – which can be tangible or intangible. Sources of Power are: Legitimate power – derived from the position e.g. kingship, managerial Reward Power – derived from control of resources e.g. promotion, recommendation, training etc Referent power– derived from association with powerful people Coercive power – uses the ability to force other people to act against their wishes through the fear of punishment. Expert power – derived from the possession of expert knowledge or information that others need but have no alternative access.
Importance of Leadership
Leadership is important as it can make a difference to organizational performance. Leadership provides the spark that can raise morale of employees. Peter F. Drucker noted that: “Leadership is a human characteristic which lifts a person’s vision to highest heights, raises performance to higher standards and builds personality beyond its normal situations”. Leadership can be said to be important in the following ways: Leaders not only guide, but provide a psychological shield to their followers (Managers –employees) as the average person prefers to be led by an efficient and effective leader. The presence of a leader (manager), makes followers (subordinates) behaviour consistent, and raises morale, thus high quality of work. Creates and sustains teamwork and groups. The will to work and accomplish a task is triggered by effective leadership. Usually without leadership, a group disintegrates, destroys its team spirit and fritters away its energy. Leadership inspires and motivates the group. Leaders are role models who set examples. Leaders create confidence in the workers. Promotes morale which leads to high productivity and organizational stability. Maintains unity and cohesiveness of the group. Maintains discipline of the group and among group members.
Approaches to Leadership Studies
Three approaches have been used in the study of leadership.  These are:
(i) Trait Approach
The earliest studies on leadership focused on the qualities of effective leaders such as bravery, loyalty, honesty, and compassion. However, as traits are many, research findings often disagreed on which are the most important traits. Keith Davis (1972), in human behaviour at work, summarized the traits and gave four general characteristics namely:-
Intelligence – leaders tend to have higher intelligence than their followers. Social maturity and breadth – leaders tend to be emotionally mature and have broad range of interests. Inner motivation and achievement drives – leaders want to accomplish things, achieve goals and are intrinsically motivated. Human Relations attitudes - leaders are able to work with others, and tend to respect others.
NB: Not all leaders have these traits, and followers can also have them (they are not exclusive to leaders). Although positive correlations have been found between the above traits and effective leaders, examples of effective leaders exist who do have these traits. The trait approach was used before 1949, when the ‘Great Man’ theory of ‘leaders are born not made’, a belief originating from the Greeks and Romans was in vogue. However, this school of thought was no longer acceptable after the rising influence of the behaviourist school of Psychology which emphasized that people are not born with traits, but made.
Criticisms of the Trait Approach
Not all leaders possess all the traits. Many non-leaders possess most of the traits. The trait approach gives no guidance as to how much of any trait a person should have. Research findings do not agree as to which are leadership traits and what their relationships are to instances of leadership. The so called traits are nothing but patterns of behaviour.
(ii) Behaviourist Approach
As a result of the failure of the trait approach to leadership, the focus shifted on the individual behaviours of leaders. The main concern was on the leadership styles of leaders. Leadership styles refer to the way a leader typically behaves towards his followers/group members. These styles have been classified into: Autocratic Leadership – This approach refers to where all authority centers around the leader. The manager enforces decisions by use of rewards and punishments (ability to withhold or give rewards and punishment), communication is in one direction - from manager to subordinate and conformity and obedience on the part of followers is expected.
Advantages:
Decisions are made speedily as leader does not have to obtain group’s approval. Useful where decision is unfavourable. Useful in cases where followers are incompetent.
Disadvantages:
Has negative effect on group morale – decisions may not be supported. Can create ‘yes’ mentality among group members.
(iii) Situational or Contingency Approaches to Leadership.
As a result of failure of the trait approaches, leadership studies turned to the study of situations and the belief that leaders are the products of given situations. This approach supports the follower theory that people follow those in whom they perceive (accurately or inaccurately) a means of accomplishing their own goals. E.g. The rise of Hitler, Jomo Kenyatta, student leaders, F.D. Roosevelt during the American great depression in the 1930’s. Museveni in Uganda in 1985-86, Corazon Aquino in the Philipines and Nelson Mandela. Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt (1958) saw leadership as involving a variety of styles ranging from boss-centered to subordinate-centered. Their approach suggests a range of styles without preference for any. The concept of the continuum recognizes that a style of leadership depends on the situation e.g. Forces operating within the manager’s personality such as value system, confidence/trust in subordinates, feelings of security etc. Forces in subordinates that will affect manager’s behaviour e.g. need for independence, readiness to assume responsibility for decision making, tolerance for ambiquity, interest in problem, understanding goals of organization, knowledge and experience levels, sharing decisions. Forces in the situation e.g organization values and traditions, nature of the problem, pressure of time, trade unions, civil rights etc. Forces in the external environment: In a revised publication Tannebaum and Schmidt, recognized the forces in the external environment such as government legislation, political, social awareness and economic considerations as having an effect upon leadership style.
Critical Dimensions of the Leadership Situation - Fieldler F. E. (1967)
According to Fiedler, people become leaders because of various situational factors and the interaction between leaders and the situation. He describes these as:
Position Power:-refers to the degree to which the power of the position enables group members to comply with leader’s directions i.e. organizational authority. A leader with position power can obtain better followership than one without. Task Structure:- refers to the degree to which tasks are structural. Where tasks are clear, the quality of performance can be easily controlled and group members held responsible than where they are unclear. Leader- member relations:- refers to the extent to which group members like and trust the leader and are willing to follow. The better the relations, the easier it is for the leader to exercise influence.
Based on the three dimensions, Fiedler postulated two styles of management – task oriented and interpersonal relations oriented. Measures were carried out on these elements using the least preferred coworker scale indicating a favourable or unfavourable situation continuum.
Findings
Favourable situation in which the leader has power, informal backing and a structured task – then the group is ready to be directed. When leader position power is weak, task structure is unclear, and leader-member relations are poor, the situation is unfavourable for the leader and a task-oriented leader is most effective. Where the situation was moderately favourable – middle of the scale, then interpersonal oriented leader was most effective.
Usefulness of Leadership Theories to Managers
Participative/democratic styles of management are better than autocratic styles but extremes are not effective thus the continuum. Autocratic styles of management allow employees to satisfy lower level needs e.g. physiological, safety, but participative styles allow higher level needs to be satisfied e.g. recognition, responsibility and self-actualization. In reality people prefer to have control over work they do and seek opportunities to put into practice their ideas. Employees have valuable expertise, experience and initiative that is often untapped by management. Appropriate training in leadership can change a manager’s style of management if done early in the career. However, it is not easy as style is rooted in attitudes. The most difficult to change is the authoritarian, task-centred manager. Management can transfer such managers to an appropriate section to make full use of their abilities or restructure the work to suit their styles.