Brunswick,NJ:Rutgers University Press.Pemberton,J. (1988). A - PDF document

Brunswick,NJ:Rutgers University Press.Pemberton,J. (1988). A ÒmanagerialÓmodel of the trade union.The Economic Journal,98(392),755Ð771.Pomper,G. (1959Ð1960). The public relations of organizedlabor. Public Opinion Quarterly,23(4),483Ð494.Pupo,N.,& White,J. (1994). Union leaders and the economiccrisis:Responses to restructuring. (Canadian),49(4),821Ð847.Quaglieri,P. L. (1989). AmericaÕs labor leaders LAISSEZ-FAIRE LEADERSHIPLaissez-faire leadership may be the best or the worstof leadership styles. If the leader follows the normallyunderstood definition and standard practice of nonin-terference and Òhands-offÓwhen supposedly leadinghis or her followers,the worst form of leadership ismanifested. However,when the twenty-first centuryproperly prepares his or her followers,laissez-faireleadership emerges as the ultimate form of leading.The two words laissez-faireleadership Laissez-Faire Leadership The transformational leader is identified withchange. He or she influences others to improve them-selves and/or the company beyond what would nor-Transformational leaders champion the changeall those involved. The managers continue their func-tions of planning,organizing,staffing,directing,con-trolling,communicating,problem solving,and deci-sion making to maintain productivity output andAUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIPThe autocratic leadership style thrives in highlystructured,hierarchical chain-of-command environ-ments such as the military or very bureaucraticorganizations. This type of leader exercises almostabsolute power and commands strict compliance andconformity. The autocratic leader generally has awell-defined and controlled disciplinary process withThis leader determines prescribed policies,proce-dures,rules,and goals. He or she is the decisionmaker and such self-directed decisions are final. Inthis environment,little interaction or communicationis expected among associates. Out-flowing informa-tion is highly restricted while in-flowing communi-cation is well filtered and defensive. and perceptions. They believe that employees havesupervision and direction,and that controls are neededto assure their compliant behavior. The autocraticleaders believe their style is highly efficient. Unfortu-nately,this style of leadership results in minimal or noinnovation,and virtually no personal or organizationalchange,growth and development. Cooperation,com-mitment and achievement are stifled.Most individuals are familiar with the autocraticleader because such leaders are prevalent even today.of leadership; however,the autocratic leader defi-nitely is the preferred style in the military,police,andother organizations where individuals may be in dan-DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIPenlightened leadership. An individual manifestingthis type of leadership recognizes each personÕs self-worth and esteem. The leaderÕs actions are basedupon trust,integrity,honesty,equality,openness andmutual respect. Democratic leaders show considera-and understanding. They foster open communicationamong all employees at all levels. Reasons and cir-cumstances pertaining to decisions that affect theemployees,department,or organization are shared ina timely fashion. Under such leadership,a highlypositive,motivation-oriented environment is estab-lished to help satisfy the higher-level self-esteem andself-actualization needs as defined by AbrahamMaslow (1998) in his hierarchy of needs. Ultimately,the democratic,enlightened leader strives toempower all employees to their maximum capabilityand desire. At the same time,the democratic leaderplaces a strong emphasis on teamwork,while func-tioning as a facilitator to develop a natural synergyemployee involvement in considering importantissues and exercises influence in reaching consensualdecisions. The ultimate goal is to democraticallyattain commitment to and ownership of decisions.He/she has high performance and quality expecta-tions and recognizes that the only way to attain themis through a committed workforce. Employees partic-the good of the organization and goals for their ownpersonal self-growth,learning and development. TheemployeeÕs success in accomplishing these goals. Afeedback system is instituted whereby each employeeager of any obstacle that prevents successful achieve-ment of the goals,and the leader/manager subse-quently removes the hindrances.upon rewards rather than punishment. When disci-pline or correction is needed,it is administered justly.This leader recognizes that mistakes will happen and Laissez-Faire Leadership considers them learning opportunities. In this way,everyone benefits and the mistakes may not reoccur.LAISSEZ-FAIRE LEADERSHIPThe laissez-faire leader is one who believes in free-dom of choice for the employees,leaving them aloneso they can do as they want. The basis for this style ofleadership is twofold. First,there is a strong belief thatthe employees know their jobs best so leave themalone to do their jobs. Second,the leader may be in apolitical,election-based position and may not want toexert power and control for fear of not being reelected.Such a leader provides basic but minimal infor-mation and resources. There is virtually no participa-tion,involvement,or communication within theworkforce. Understanding of job requirements,poli-cies,and procedures are generally exchanged fromemployee to employee. Because of this,manyprocesses are out of control. No direction is given andthe laissez-faire leader functions in a crisis or reactionmode. If there are goals and objectives,employeeagreement or commitment is just assumed. Even ifgoals and objectives are shared,rarely is there adefined plan to accomplish them.Laissez-faire management or leadership can onlylead to anarchy,chaos,and inefficiency and can bedismissed out of hand as useless. Basically,the over-all effect of laissez-faire leadership seems to be neg-ative. But there may be an aspect of such a style ofleadership that is very positive. Hersey,Blanchard,and Johnson (2000) propose that leaders do not havejust one style of leadership,but rather have manyvarying styles depending upon the situation. In onesituation,the employees are essentially incompetent,and lack job knowledge and skills. Here,the leadermust be the key person in charge. Being an auto-cratic leader seems appropriate since the followersdo not know enough to make any of their own deci-sions. Safety may also be a key factor. It is theleaderÕs objective to train the employees as rapidlyas possible to get them to a predetermined level ofcompetence so they can begin contributing to thedepartment and organization. Once they have suc-cessfully reached the prescribed level,the employeespass onto the next level.In another situation,the leader continues to func-tion in the autocratic style; however,as each employeematures and gains competence,his/her style evolvesinto the democratic leadership mode. The employeescontinue to gain knowledge about the job require-ments,to become technically skilled and gain anunderstanding of the job and related tasks. This isautocratic/democratic leader. The goal here is to makeall employees job-competent so they do not needAt the point that democratic leaders emerge,theyleave the autocrat behind. Through mutual discus-sion and decision making,the leader conducts atransaction with each employee. The leader offers anopportunity for each employee to move on to a thirdstage in which he or she takes on additional respon-sibilities. Employees are expected to continue work-ing at their given jobs,but they begin functioning aspseudo-managers in a participatory manner. Theleader will guide,counsel,direct,instruct,and sharepertinent departmental and organizational job infor-mation to train and develop each employee to themaximum capability. Each employee will beexpected to investigate and make process improve-cratic leader. The recommendations must be fullydocumented and justified to prove to the leader thatthe employee has sound decision-making judgment.The goal in this situation is to allow each employeeto learn and to prove he/she can make good,soundFinally,those employees who have proven theirdecision-making acumen are fully empowered tomake independent decisions within an agreed bound-aries. Once each employee is comfortable in this lastmode,the leader becomes a leader by exception or alaissez-faire leader. He/she knows minimal leader-ship or management is needed for these individuals.Blanchard,K. H.,Carlos,J. P.,& Randolph,A. (1999). keys to empowerment:Release the power within people forastonishing results. San Francisco:Berrett-Koehler. Burns,J. M. (2003). Transforming leadership:The new pursuitNew York:Atlantic Monthly Press. Laissez-Faire Leadership Conger,J. A.,& Benjamin,B. (1999). Building leaders:Howsuccessful companies develop the next generationcisco:Jossey-Bass.Emerging leaders:Emerging leaders research report.RetrievedMay 29,2003,from http://www.butler.edu/centerforce/Hersey,P.,Blanchard,K. H.,& Johnson,D.E. (2000). Manage-ment of organizational behavior:Leading human resourcesed.). Englewood Cliffs,NJ:Prentice Hall.Laissez-faire.Retrieved April 14,2003,from http://encyclope-dia.com/searchpool.asp?target=@DOCTITLE%20laissez-faireLeadership. Retrieved April 14,2003,from http://www.nos.org/Leadership theories.Retrieved May 29,2003,from www.lead-ingtoday.orgManagement & miscellany:Leadership and managementRetrieved April 14,2003,from http://www.sirmvit.edu/news/newsletter/v2n8/v2n8_misc.htmlMaslow,A. (1998). Maslow on management.New York:Wiley.McCauley,C. D.,& Van Velsor,E. (Eds.). (2003). creative leadership handbook of leadership development(2nd ed.). San Francisco:Jossey-BassMcGregor,D. (1960). . New York:McGraw-Hill. LATIN AMERICABay of Pigs; Castro,Fidel; Cuban MissileCrisis; Farm Worker Movement; Guevara,Ernesto Che; Jonestown Mass Suicide;Panama Canal,Building of; Panama CanalTreaties; Pueblo RevoltLEADER CATEGORIZATION THEORYTheories of leadership traditionally have focused onthe leader. For example,the goal of preliminaryleadership research was to identify the characteris-tics that enable someone to be a great leader. Inaddition,researchers,in an attempt to understandleader-follower processes,have examined leaderbehavior,power,and contingency theories that spec-tion. More recently researchers have placed greateremphasis on followers and their perceptions of lead-ership. This emphasis argues that ultimately leader-ship exists in the eye of the beholder (i.e.,the fol-lower) and stresses the process of being labeled (cat-egorized) a ÒleaderÓby oneÕs followers. The catalystfor research involving leader categorization was thework on categories in the social and cognitive psy-CATEGORIESA category is a mental representation of non-identi-cal objects and events,including people and theircharacteristics,that are perceived as belongingtogether. (Note that several terms are used inter-changeably with the word category,schema,knowledge structure.) Specifically,objects,events,and people are categorized based ontheir similarity to either category exemplars or pro-totypes. Exemplars are explicit examples of cate-gory members (e.g.,Wayne Gretzky for ÒhockeyplayerÓ),whereas prototypes are abstractions offeatures common to the focal category (such as thecharacteristics of hockey players). In general,as apersonÕs experience with a particular categoryincreases,categorization moves from exemplar-shown that the activation of particular characteris-tics of a category,prototype,or exemplar will elicitactivation of other characteristics that belong to thatcategory.In addition to varying by content (i.e.,prototypesversus exemplars),categories can vary by hierarchi-cal structure. Specifically,in the context of cognitivepsychology,people have argued that categories existat three alternative levels:the superordinate,basic,and subordinate levels. The superordinatelevelinvolves making general group membership judg-ments (e.g.,deciding whether the animal in questionis a mammal). At the basiclevel,categorization isbased on an overall gestalt (a structure,configura-tion,or pattern of physical,biological,or psycholog-ical phenomena integrated to constitute a unit) per-ception,and this level is the fastest and mostcommon level for identifying category members(e.g.,recognizing the mammal as being a dog).Finally,categorization is most specific at the subor-dinatelevel (e.g.,the dog is a German shepherd). Leader Categorization Theory