Effective Leadership
We recognize leaders when we work with them or observe them. However, leadership is a complex process, and there are many different definitions of leadership and leadership effectiveness.
What is effectiveness? When is a leader effective?
The definitions of leadership effectiveness are as diverse as the definitions of organizational effectiveness. The choice of a certain definitions depends mostly on the point of view of the person trying to determine effectiveness and on the constituents who are being considered.
Clearly, no one way best defines what it means to be an effective leader. Fred Luthans (1989) proposes an interesting twist on the concept of leadership effectiveness by distinguishing between effective and successful managers. According to Luthans, effective managers are those with satisfied and productive employees, whereas successful managers are those who are promoted quickly. After studying a group of managers, Luthans suggests that successful managers and effective managers engage in different types of activities. Whereas effective managers spend their time communicating with subordinates, managing conflict, and training, developing, and motivating employees, the primary focus of successful managers is not on employees. Instead they concentrate on networking activities such as interacting with outsiders, socializing and politicking.
The internal and external activities that effective managers and successful managers undertake are important to allowing leaders to achieve their goals. Luthans, however, finds that only 10% of the managers in his study are effective and successful. The results of his study present some grave implications for how we might measure our leaders’ effectiveness and reward them. To encourage and reward performance, organizations need to reward the leadership activities that will lead to effectiveness rather than those that lead to quick promotion. If an organization cannot achieve balance, it quickly might find itself with a flashy but incompetent leaders who reached the top primarily through networking rather than through taking care of their employees and achieving goals.
Ideally, any definition of leadership effectiveness should consider all the different roles and functions that a leader performs. Few organizations, however, perform such a thorough analysis and they often fall back on simplistic measures.
The common thread of many examples of effectiveness is the focus on outcome. To judge their effectiveness, we look at the results of what leaders accomplish. Process issues, such as employee satisfaction, are important but are rarely the primary indicator of effectiveness.
One way to take a broad view of effectiveness os to consider leaders effective when their groups is successful in maintaining internal stability and external adaptability while achieving goals. Overall, leader are effective when their followers achieve their goals, and function well together and can adapt to changing demands from external forces. The definition of leadership effectiveness, therefore, contains three elements:
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Goal achievement, which includes meeting financial goals, producing quality products or services, addressing the needs of customers, and so forth.
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Smooth internal processes, including group cohesion, follower satisfaction and efficient operations.
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External adaptability, which refers to a group’s ability to change and evolve successfully.