Behavioral Theory of Leadership: 10 Examples and Definition (2023) (2023)

The behavioral theory of leadership states that effective leaders exhibit specific behaviors that lead to improved team performance. The focus of behavioral theories is to identify the specific actions of effective leaders.

This includes observing effective and ineffective leaders and then creating a taxonomy of what effective leaders do.

An important implication of this theoretical perspective is the idea that individuals can be trained to be leaders. H. it is managementa learned behavior.

The idea that individuals can be trained to become leaders is very appealing from an organizational perspective. Effective leadership is valued, but it is not always easy to find.

So if it is possible to simply train people in how to be an effective leader, companies can spread these skills throughout the organization and improve overall performance.

Behavioral theory of the origins of management

The behavioral theory of leadership goes back to several developments. First, there were two dominant and related theories of management in the 20th century^ECentury: The Great Man Theory og Theory of Traits.

• The Big Man Theoryassumed that leaders are born with a set of personality traits that emerge and become evident at critical moments (Carlyle, 1841; 2013).
• The trait theorysimilar in that it assumes that effective leaders possess certain personality traits. In the 1940s and 1950s, researchers began to study the personality traits of successful leaders.

Both perspectives share the same premise: that leadership is something that may or may not be innate in a person.

Unfortunately, research has shown that traits that are effective in some situations are ineffective in others (Stogdill, 1948; Mann, 1959).

Ohio State University researchers began as part of the Ohio State Leadership Studies, led by Dr. Carroll L. Shartle for conducting extensive research on leadership effectiveness.

Hemphill and Coons (1950) constructed the original form of the questionnaire for describing leadership behavior. Members of a leadership team are asked to indicate the frequency with which their leader engages in a particular behavior: always, often, occasionally, rarely, or never.

Statistical analysis of the responses revealed two main factors:thoughtfulnessIinitiating structure.

The consideration factor mainly concerned relationships. Leaders who showed this priority were supportive of employees, communicated well, and were concerned about their feelings (Stogdill & Coons, 1957).

The triggering structural factors were mainly about solving tasks. Managers who demonstrated this priority engaged in work planning, planning and coordinating work-related tasks, and maintaining specific standards through adherence to procedures.

At the same time, researchers (Katz et al. 1959) from the University of Michigan also tried to describe the specific behavior of effective leaders.

This line of research is often referred to as Michigan Leadership Studies.

This research identified two primary dimensions of behavior: professional conductIEmployee-oriented behavior.

Work-oriented behavior included planning and coordinating work-related efforts and providing the necessary resources to perform tasks. Employee-oriented behavior included interpersonal relationships and attention to individual employees

Today, research has produced the Michigan Model of Leadership or Sanger Leadership.

Behavioral theory on examples of leadership

• Management training in company X:Every year, employees of this company participate in a series of leadership workshops aimed at teaching all employees how to be effective leaders.
• Career planning:A manager who helps his employees develop a 5-year career plan shows athoughtfulnesspart of the management.
• Compliance with tight deadlines:For some projects, deadlines can be tight and inflexible. This requires amanagement styleIt's about making sure the team knows the deadlines and makes constant progress.
• To provide resources:It's part of making sure a team has the resources it needs to do its jobtask orientedmanagement style.
• accompaniment:When a manager takes an employee under his wing to give him direct guidance on how to be an effective member of the team and have a long career, he shows that he is successfulEmployee member centralTo behave.
• Software training:Part of a task-oriented management style that can improve employee performance is ensuring that the department is equipped with the latest software and that members are properly trained.
• Employee satisfaction survey:At the end of each year, employees are given a satisfaction survey to measure their attitude towards the organization and its leaders. This stems from a company philosophy that sees employees as valuable individuals who should be listened to and respected.
• Occupation of project management:A manager who is too focused on getting projects off the ground and making sure the team follows company policies may miss an opportunity to improve employee morale and motivation.
• Performance Ratings:A performance review can take place in different ways. A supervisor may lead the feedback session by being extremely critical of the employee and using a fearful and intimidating tone. Another manager may see this as an opportunity to help each member of the team identify their strengths and weaknesses and set improvement goals.
• Professional development fund:Each member of middle management is allocated a small budget that can be used at their own discretion for professional development, as the company has a very people-oriented philosophy.

Behavioural Theory and the Management Grid af Blake og Mouton

The best known behavioral theory of leadership was developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (1964). Her research led to the management grid, a way of visually presenting her management theory.

Similar to the Ohio State and Michigan leadership analyses, Blake and Mouton also identified two distinct leadership orientations: care for production and care for people.

According to her theory, each manager has a different degree of both concerns. For example, Leader Leader Y can be the exact opposite though. They may be very concerned about their employees, but not so much about keeping projects on track.

By analyzing a specific manager across these two dimensions, each concern was measured on a scale of 1 to 9, resulting in the leadership grid and five leadership behaviors.

Grid has undergone some terminological changes over the years. Earlier terminology appears in parentheses in the following descriptions.

• Accommodating Style (Country Club Manager):This style is characterized by a high concern for people and a low concern for production. This usually leads to happy employees but low productivity.
• Indifferent style (poor manager):This style is characterized by a manager who does not care about production or people. Managers with this style are concerned about their job security and are therefore reluctant to take risks.
• Lydstil (Team Manager):This style is characterized by a high respect for production and people. This type of leader wants his employees to feel respected and encourages teamwork and participation.
• Dictatorship style (leaders produce or perish):As the name suggests, this style is characterized by a high focus on production and little concern for people. Managers use pressure and threats of punishment to increase production, which can also lead to employee burnout and poor morale.
• Status Quo style (middle class):This style is characterized by managers who care little about both people and production. They try to balance both priorities, which sounds admirable, but can result in neither priority being met.

Blake and McCanse (1991) suggested that it is possible for a given leader to exhibit behavior consistent with two styles. They identified two in particular: paternalistic and opportunistic.

The paternalistic style oscillates between demanding and using rewards and punishments, acting with benevolence and concern at the same time.

The opportunistic style contains many aspects of the original five styles. It is sometimes characterized as manipulative and insincere because the manager will use any technique required.

Behavioral theory of management applications

Because the behavioral theory of leadership states that effective leadership can be trained, there has been significant growth in leadership development programs over the past 50+ years.

Some of the first academic institutions to focus on leadership research, such as Ohio State University and the University of Michigan, both have extensive program options in management and organizational leadership.

The same applies to any academic institution with a designated business school.

Behavioral theory about the strengths and weaknesses of management

1. Strength: Everyone can be trained

The premise that management can be trained is very appealing to most organizations. Since people are at the heart of a company's success or failure, the opportunity for all employees to receive training and walk out the door as an effective leader is a risk most companies cannot ignore.

2. Power: Is gender neutral

Before the development of a behavioral perspective on leadership, the Great Man theory was the dominant theory. The theoretical basis for this view of leadership was the study of historical figures who were considered great leaders. These individuals were almost exclusively military or political leaders, who were predominantly male.

However, in modern times, the behavioral theory of leadership allows for the study of both male and female leaders. The theory's idea that anyone, regardless of gender, can learn to be a leader is also gender neutral and opens the door for all employees.

In this sense, van Emmerik et al. (2008) a global database of 64,000 subordinates who rated their supervisors in 42 countries. The results showed that women used both consideration and initiation structure strategies more often than men.

3. Weakness: Learning is not doing

Although anyone can take leadership training and learn about the actions and behaviors of effective leadership, there is little guarantee that the training will actually lead people to become leaders.

For example, concern for others is essentially a personality trait. Since it is not possible to change someone's personality profile, the question is whether this part of management can be transferred to everyone.

4. Weakness: Lack of cross-cultural application

The two main dimensions of managerial interest found in a behavioral theory of management were originally drawn from a Western cultural context. The main theory representing the behavioral approach, the management grid, does not incorporate cross-cultural elements into the main principles of the theory.

Despite this theoretical limitation, researchers have studied the role of culture in leadership style. Dorfman et al. (2012) report the results of more than 200 studies conducted as part of Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE).

To provide a very comprehensive summary of the findings, the report found that leaders tended to use a leadership style that suited their culture and was most effective. However, the study also found that charismatic leadership was cross-culturally effective, while participative leadership was more culturally sensitive.

5. Weakness: Ignores situational demands

The main criticism of the behavioral theory of leadership is that it does not take into account situational factors (Harrison & Harrison, 2018). Some projects may be better suited to a task-oriented management style, while others may be better suited to a people-oriented style.

For example, a head teacher in a school context can be responsible for a school where the vast majority of teachers are competent, experienced and motivated. This is a situation that corresponds to a people-oriented management style. However, behavioral approaches do not take into account the match between style and situation.

This criticism has led to the development of several other management theories, known as contingency theories, such as Fiedler's model and Hersey and Blanchard's situational management theory.

Diploma

The behavioral theory of leadership focuses on identifying the apparent actions of effective leaders that distinguish them from ineffective leaders.

By creating a taxonomy of behaviors associated with effective leadership, the argument goes, others can learn to be leaders as well. All they have to do is act like effective leaders.

This is very attractive for organizations, but it also does not work so easily.

First, some of the early leadership theories were based almost entirely on the actions of male leaders. Second, leadership may be effective in some situations but not in others.

These shortcomings have led to the development of contingency-based management theories that take into account the dynamics of the situation.

The most effective leader is the one who has certain inherent qualities that are best suited to a given situation. This more differentiated approach to management is the dominant view today.

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