Leadership: Understanding Theory, Style, and Practice: Things You Need to Know About Leading an Organization

By John O. Alizor

This book is for graduate-level courses in organizational leadership and leadership training for government agencies, corporations, and corporate executives that wish to enhance their leadership skills. It provides a deep and intelligent understanding of leadership theory, styles, and practice that impact an organizations success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449794033

John O. Alizor

Dr. Alizor is the founder and CEO of the John Alizor, PhD, Leadership Forensics Business Consulting, located in Long Beach, California. For seminars, coaching, job description development, group workshops, and public speaking, contact John O. Alizor, PhD, at [e-mail] or call Dr. Alizor at [phone].

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LEADERSHIP:

Understanding Theory, Style, and Practice

Things You Need to Know about Leading an Organization

John O. Alizor, PhD

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Copyright © 2013 John O. Alizor, PhD.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-9404-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9405-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-9403-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013907856

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/06/2013

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction: An Overview of the Book’s Construction

Part I:   Theories and Models

1.   Leadership

Initial Considerations about Leadership

Leading with Your Vision

Dimensions of Leadership Attributes

Dimensions of Influence

2.   Management

Managerial Activities

Structural Activities

Control Activities

Task-Oriented Activities

3.   Using Leadership Theories to Improve Your Organization’s Performance

Forensic Leadership

Limitations of Philosophical Beliefs

4.   Become a Good and Effective Leader

Legacy

Good Leaders

5.   Great Man Theories: Precursors to the Scientific Study of Leadership

Trait Theories

6.   Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory

7.   Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

8.   Fiedler’s Contingency Leadership Theory

9.   Discover the Motivational Compass That Guides Your Decision Making

Using the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) Scale to predict group performance based on the leader’s motivational compass.

Least Preferred Coworker (LPC): A Critique

McGregor’s X and Y Theories

Part II:   Leadership Styles

10.   Leadership Styles: Case Studies

Story 1: Rozila and Alex

Story 2: Digir and Larebil

Story 3: Jimwise and Suzspeed

Story 4: George Bezmann

11.   Leadership Styles: Linking Theory to Your Practice

Theory as a Foundation for Making Leadership Decisions

Theory Gives You Tools You Can Apply to Lead Your Organization

Theory Guides You in Assessing Others in Negotiations

Theory Awareness Allows You to Be Proactive in Decision Making Instead of Reactive to Exigencies

12.   Collegial Leadership Style

13.   Commanding Leadership Style

14.   Stationary Leadership Style

15.   Visible Leadership Style

Communication as Perceived by the Visible Leader

Visible Leadership in Relation to Theory Y

Part III:   Leadership Practice

16.   Winning with Leadership of Caring

Integrity

Honesty

17.   Becoming a Transformational Leader

18.   Discovering Your Leadership Effectiveness

Instructions for Using Alizor’s Self-Assessment Matrix

Score Rubric

19.   Treat Employees with Respect

20.   Leadership Is a Matter of Interaction

Making Positive Connection through Communication

21.   Check Your Communication in the Workplace

Commanding Communication

Demonstrate Caring with Commanding Communication

22.   Change the Way You Lead

Be Very Careful How You Use Incentive Plans to Lead

23.   Stop Micromanaging and Start Leading

Reality Check

24.   Make a Difference in Your Organization

Accomplishment Indicator

Your First Step to Making a Difference in

Your Organization

Sources

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THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO

Connie K. Alizor

MY WIFE

MY PARTNER

MY FRIEND

MY CONFIDANT

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Whereas intelligence seeks to grasp, manipulate, re-order, adjust, intellect examines, ponders, wonders, theorize, criticizes, [and] imagines. An intellectual is something more: a person concerned critically with values, purposes, ends that transcend immediate practical needs. By this definition the person who deals with analytical ideas and data alone is a theorist; the one who works only with normative ideas is a moralist; the person who deals with both and unites them through disciplined imagination is an intellectual.

—James MacGregor Burns

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I gratefully acknowledge Connie K. Alizor, my wife, for her unconditional love, understanding, and support during the time I spent writing this book. Her sacrifices and patience in those hours in which I could not give her my personal attention were essential to completing this book.

I also note with thanks the valuable contributions of Alexis A. Alizor, Ashley E. Alizor, and Alyssa E. Alizor, my children, who provided inspirational words and encouragement that helped make this book a reality.

Finally, I appreciatively acknowledge John O. Alizor II, my son, for his understanding during the time when I could not keep in touch with him because of my busy schedule working on this book.

INTRODUCTION:

An Overview of the Book’s Construction

This book draws on the research literature on leadership and the theoretical framework for this topic. It also reflects my doctoral research findings resulting from my pursuit of a PhD degree. The book uses a theorist-practitioner model to explain the leadership styles that leaders employ in their day-to-day leadership judgments in varying fields such as healthcare, education, insurance, IT consulting, law, construction, law enforcement, and telecommunications.

To help better develop your understanding of the foundations of leadership styles and practices, I begin this book with a definition of leadership, followed by an overview of some leadership theories, in part I. In part II, I discuss the leadership styles and present stories about Rozila and Alex, Digir and Larebil, Jimwise and Suzspeed, and finally, George Bezmann, to demonstrate some common challenges that you may face during your organizational leadership career. Each story presents varied leadership challenges, and then later in the book, I use those stories to highlight themes that are applicable to the leadership styles of the CEO or other leaders of an organization, specifically those themes that are typical for executives in medium to large organizations as they navigate through business challenges. It is important to know that one leadership style is not better than the others are, because every situation may demand a particular leadership style. I will demonstrate that throughout this book.

In part III, I introduce the practice of leadership by synthesizing theory with style. For example, I discuss the leader’s interaction with followers. At the end of chapters, I have inserted reflective questions to help you summarize the contents in your own terms. This methodology is especially important because it allows the reader to revisit the chapter before answering the questions. However, not all the chapters have reflective questions or chapter summary. I provided summaries and questions where I find it essential to benefit you. Some of the reflective questions are thematic in nature and others are content specific. In either case, you are challenged to review the chapter for a better understanding.

This book can be used in a number of educational and industry contexts. It is well suited for graduate level courses in organizational leadership, for national and international education leadership seminars, and for training of law enforcement executives or corporate executives in finance, IT corporations, healthcare entities, and other organizations. A careful reading of it will also enhance the leadership skills of any corporate executive. This book provides you in-depth understanding of leadership theories, styles, and practices that impact an organization’s success. Even the experienced corporate executive may gain enlightenment about a completely new skill that can add value to his or her organization. It is my hope that upon reading this book you will be able immediately to apply your newly acquired knowledge to your organization.

PART I

Theories and

Models

Early organization theorists who are regarded as the founders of the field, from Weber through Selznick, regarded the concept of leadership as worthy of serious intellectual inquiry.

—Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana, editors, in Handbook of Leadership Theory

and Practice

CHAPTER 1

Leadership

CHAPTER 1

Leadership

Initial Considerations about Leadership

Definitions of leadership are as varied as its application, partly because people tend to use the terms leadership and management interchangeably. Leadership is not management. Leadership is a term that describes how one individual influences another individual or group of individuals to achieve a goal. For this reason, I have defined leadership with dimensions that are essential for influencing individuals or groups to achieve the leader’s goals. Influence is aimed, in part, at achieving—without coercion—conformity, persuasion, socialization, and obedience. Influence, therefore, is an indirect manipulation to get others to respond in a manner consistent with your desires or wants. When you lead others, you want them to conform to your ways of doing things or at least agree with you, which is a form of obedience. You accordingly socialize them through skillful persuasion. You may not be aware that you are carrying out these forms of manipulation, because the art of influencing is perfected over time by the use of what I call the dimensions of influence enumerated in this book.

Some questions naturally flow from this information: How do we influence other people or groups to achieve a goal? What happens if the goal of the person we are trying to influence differs from our goal? How do we influence groups of people who resist change in our organizations?

One place to start is to realize that leadership is a relationship-building endeavor. In most cases, the relationship must be cultivated over time. But sometimes relationships can develop between individuals in a relatively short period. I propose that people tend to follow those who have positively demonstrated the dimensions of influence.

The dimensions of influence are respect, trust, integrity, and honesty. We influence individuals when they experience us modeling these dimensions of influence. Researchers found that most leaders develop full-scale leadership skills during their midcareer (Conant and Norgaard 2011). This explains why new leaders need more coaching and consulting than advanced leaders. I am not proposing that new leaders are less effective, but merely that they get better during their midcareer as a result of experience and training such as professional development.

Leadership is only effective when these dimensions are incorporated into the culture; it becomes a team endeavor, and when these dimensions resonate with everyone, they commit to the leadership of the organization. Leadership is not attached to a position, nor does it rest only on a few selected individuals ordained by virtue of their gender, race, or ethnicity. Anyone can learn to lead if given the opportunity or if the situation dictates.

Later in this book, I will discuss the situational aspect of leadership, because situations can create leadership when it is least expected. For example, during natural disasters, an individual can emerge as the organizer of a rescue effort without being formally appointed to do so. This is a situational leader. Situational leaders are not appointed by a higher authority, nor are their qualifications questioned. Others simply follow their directions. The power comes from the people they lead.

Any effective leader, if questioned about his or her success, will admit and acknowledge that teamwork is instrumental to their success. They also will tell you that what I call dimensions of leadership never change in respect to influencing people. I will elaborate