BTEC National Diploma in Business Unit 19 Developing

BTEC National Diploma in Business Unit 19: Developing teams in Business

Leadership skills O There has been a lot written about the qualities of leaders O Many contradictions O Some writers suggest that leaders may have certain traits or personality and physical characteristics

Skills O Charles Handy suggests that research shows that leaders: O Tend to have dynamic and assertive personality O Are of above average intelligence without being brilliant O Tend to be either of above average height or relatively small

Difference between power and authority O Power – involves the ability to force through decisions O Authority – involves having the legitimate right to make decisions (team leader) O A good team leader will have both power and authority, their authority rests in their title of the ream leader and their power rests in their ability to use that authority and their personality to get others to do things

Number of different types of power O French and Raven (1960) state there are 5 different types of power; O Charismatic power O Legitimate power O Expert power O Reward power O Coercive power

Charismatic power O This is power that an individual has because of their personality O Barack Obama has a lot of charisma O People listen to him because they are swayed by his personality

Legitimate power O Based on a leader’s official title and legal power that goes with it O Legitimate power – being a Managing Director of own company

Expert power O Based on having a high level of knowledge and skills O Decisions are made on their knowledge of a situation

Reward power O Leaders have considerable powers when they are able to reward members of their team O They have the ‘carrot’ if being able to reward those doing well and the ‘stick’ of being able to take rewards away from those who step out of line

Coercive power O This power stems from the ability to be able to force somebody to do something O Bullying is one example of coercive power

Authority & Responsibility O Leadership brings with it authority to make decisions – providing it is backed with appropriate sources of power. O A team would expect a leader to perform a leadership role O Having authority also means responsibility O Responsibly for the decisions made and the team