Douglas McGregor’s theory on human motivation proposes the
X and Y theory, (Bennis, & Schein, 1966)
Theory Y
This
theory can be likened to participative style of leadership. They believe that followers are self
motivated and need little
direction. Therefore, theory Y leadership styles encourage decentralised positions of power.
Followers are expected to be motivated by increased level of responsibilities.
This type of leadership styles are accepted in Y-type organisations. This
includes health and social care settings such as hospitals. For example, The
New Public Management paradigm of the 1990s demonstrated the decentralisation
of power from the top. Lower level workers such as healthcare assistants and
receptionists were given more responsibility in delivering frontline services.
Therefore, theory Y argues that this maintains high motivation levels, thus
improving organisational effectiveness.
Theory
X
This leadership style adopts an authoritarian leadership style. It assumes that
followers need control and direction in order for them to produce good
results. The leader anticipates that the workers dislike their work.
Rewards and incentives are used to motivate workers. Additionally, X-type
organisations are more likely to adopt tall
hierarchal structures. This means that there is little delegation of
authority and control from the top and the power remained centralised. For
example, famous examples of X-theory leaders (the most extreme) could include,
Hitler. This is because he dominated people through high levels of control and
fear. Furthermore, the X theory is seen as less desirable trait than Y theory.
Laissez-Faire Leadership
(Hinkin,
Schriesheim, & Chester, 2008)
There is a lack of literature regarding laissez-faire leadership (also known as
delegative leadership). However, academics have argued that the absence of
leadership is just as important as the presence of it. Characteristics of such
leadership include a lack of
guidance from the top,
leaders provide resources and followers are left to solve their own problems.
This method of leadership would be best effective with high skilled group
members who have the ability to solve their own problems. However, if group
members lack the knowledge needed to complete the task, then group productivity
may be low.
This form of leadership can be seen as an extension from
Gardner’s trait theory. Ethical leaders embody traits such as honesty and
agreeableness. This person centred approach can be compared to participative
leadership styles (and Y Theory). This is because there is a big emphasis on
people and their morals.
The ethical leader as a moral person is influenced by their altruistic motivations. They
aim to uphold ethical and moral standards. However, another aspect of this
leadership style includes the moral manager. This is where a more directive
leadership style is adopted. The moral manager focuses on influencing
follower’s ethical and unethical behaviours through rewards and discipline.
This is interesting because the moral manager takes aspects from X theory
leadership styles. However, ethical leadership using moral management combines
participative and directive leadership.
For ethical leadership to be effective there needs to be
trust between follower and leader. Therefore, this role incorporates
participative and transformational leadership styles. Additionally, social
learning theories explain the effectiveness of ethical leadership. Followers who are influenced by the ethical
leader begin to emulate the attitudes and values of their
leader. Therefore, followers of this leadership style would be highly motivated
and have high satisfaction levels.
Martin
Luther King:
He
was a man who talked about non-violence and spoke mostly to and for black
people about their ‘mounting
challenge to white oppression.’ (Ling, J 2012) The article also says that a
student in the 1960s denied that they were following King's orders, and it was
the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), rather than King's Southern Christian
Leadership Conference.’ This illustrates that within teams, not everyone agrees
with the way the leader is running the group or is happy about the way he or
she is handling the group’s work. Martin Luther King was a leader who set
goals for himself and his group.
‘I will not rest until all black men, women, children are free
of segregation’ – Martin Luther King
These goals and person centred leadership styles could
link Martin Luther King to the Y theory leadership style. Furthermore, his
goals led to the implementation of anti racism legislations. This demonstrates
his influential and motivational skills as he was able to encourage people from
all races to join together for the same cause.
Nelson Mandela:
Nelson Mandela was a man who fought for his freedom and the
freedom of his people from the Apartheid Government in South Africa.
There are eight leadership styles that Nelson Mandela used while fighting to
finish the Apartheid. Some of the leadership styles that he used were;
‘courage is not the absence of fear — it's inspiring others to move beyond it’,This meant that when he was taken back into prison, he could still negotiate with the Apartheid Government and his group still managed to follow everything that he believed in and everything that he was fighting for. ‘Appearances matter — and remember to smile’ is another leadership style that Nelson Mandela used as he believed that being charismatic and being serious when you need to be and also smiling to hose that you talk to and those that listen to you as a leader, will motivate and make the group successful at what they are working towards. This also showed the Apartheid Government the seriousness of Mandela’s group.
‘Lead from the front — but don't leave your base behind.’ -Nelson Mandela
