Leadership and Psychology

Leadership and Psychology

The process of leadership can be a product of knowledge and skills. The environment one lives in may give some motivation and encouragement on picking some leadership skills. The issue of perception may come in here, that is, how an individual looks at others, and how they relate with others, and the need to achieve group goals (Hogg & Vaughan, 2002). Indeed, groups and organizations tend to have values that they perceive to be their norms. There are those people within the groups who can have traits that closely match the group norms. These are called prototypical people. There are considered by the group to be effective leaders (Knippenberg, De Cremer & Hogg, 2004). On the other hand, those who deviate from the group norms are considered ineffective. However, they might still have good leadership skills. The emergent view in this scenario is that organizations are more predisposed to prefer those leaders who exhibit similar attributes as the organization. This assumption is based on the social identity theory (Blurke, 2006).

Prototypical Leaders

Social identity theory can be useful in gauging the attributes of a leader. The theory refers to ones’ individuality as it is derived from the association of others. Social identity theory looks at future instead of the norms of the larger group. For instance, a leader should be the one who is inspirational and persuasive in realizing the future goals of a group (Berson & Galinsky, 2011). The first benefit of such a leader, based on the social identity theory, is that they work for the benefit of the group. The organization or a given group will always assume that the leader is motivated by the desire to meet their overall good. They will look at any initiative advanced by the leader to be good for the whole community. In essence, they will respect whatever the leader says, since they fell the leader is inspired by the needs of the followers (De Cremer, Van Dijke & Mayer, 2010).

Contradictions

The social identity theory goes against other theories of leadership. However, it is also possible to find a common ground between the assumptions in the various theories. According to the leader categorization theories, an effective leader is one who aligns his or her qualities to group norms, and not those who match the norms of the organization. Therefore, a good leader is one who has the ability to adapt to meet the needs of the organization (De Cremer, Van Dijke & Mayer, 2010).

Social Identify Theory and Leadership Theories

The issue here is how leaders conduct themselves in the environment where they exercise their leadership skills in pursuit of the group goals. According to the social identity theory, leaders should be people whose norms typify those of the organization. In understanding the qualities of such leaders, it is critical to evaluate how leadership theories define a good leader. Some of these theories base themselves on character traits of hereditary leadership and others talk of the situational factor contributing to leadership. Trait theory is somehow related to the Great Man theory because it assumes that a leader inherits certain capabilities that make them more qualified to lead others. However, the environment is a critical component that can greatly affect leadership. Environmental forces can determine the leadership style adopted by the leader. Therefore, a good leader must combine his or her style of leadership with the traits of the followers as well as the specific conditions within their areas of jurisdiction. This is almost similar to situational theories, which argue that a leader chooses the best action based on the situation at hand. For instance, there are some areas where democratic style of government might not realize the desired results. The leader might need to employ an authoritarian style in achieving a set goal. This agrees with the position adopted by Berson & Galinsky (2011) that it is possible to reconcile any differences between the social identity theory and other models of leadership. Indeed, even the proponents of social identify theory argue that a leader can violate the prototypes of the organization and still be considered as effective.

Elements of Good Leadership

In either dimension we look at, there should be elements exhibited by a good leader. At this point, we consider the four major elements that a good leader should put into consideration. These traits are considered critical in the success of any organization and will form the basis for disputing the social identity theory.

Communication Skills

Communication is about expressing oneself either verbally or non- verbally. Either way, communication is meant to pass some information (Platow & Knippenberg, 2001). Any leader passing message to the audience should be powerful, attractive to the audience and be likeable to develop or build a positive attitude from the audience (Tajfel, 2010). There should be good communication skills between the leader and his followers for reasons of conveying their vision, and inspirations, and what they want to achieve for now and in future(Preston 2005). According to the Great Man theory, leadership is something that is inherent in an individual. This theory holds that great leaders are people with high charisma and come to power when their services are needed. However, there are some components that a good leader should posses when it comes to presenting his/her speeches to the audience or his/her followers. In the process of doing this, a good leader should give information, which is credible to the audience and accompanied by examples. A good leader should also give a core message focusing on the needs of the audience (Hogg, 2001). The modes of delivery should also be appropriate depending on the type of message conveyed. The bottom line here is that, good communication skills is a very strong tool for any good leader who is after building success in his/her places of leadership. Any organization would look at individual leaders who good performers in terms of their communication skills. Such leaders become good enabling forces to other people and the organization in terms of performance and development. Language use by any good leader should be influential so as win the social, cultural, or economic barriers that may exist among the audience. By so doing the leader will be motivated to feel good about himself and feel good about the group that he represents (Haslam & Reicher, 2007).

Teamwork

This is yet another element to be exhibited by a good leader. Any good leader should build a team to work with. Any good working team build will depend on the environment that the leader is working in and be able to determine in particular the leadership style which best fits in that situation (contingency theory). This is because success depends on the leadership styles that the leader adapts since not all of them will be compatible in any given situation (Hymans, 2002). A team has common leadership roles targeting goals to achieve by giving each member a chance to participate as a matter of giving his/her contribution (participative theory). Team members have collective accountability and responsibility for what they are aimed at producing. Therefore, the kind of team formed should the “group membership creating in-group/self-categorization and enhancement in ways that favor the in-group at the expense of the out-group (social identity theory) to maximize their output (Hogg, 2010). The group/team members may aim at performing much better if their group gets recognition by the organization as one of the best to acquire pride. Social influence in the team that a leader chose in terms of structuring, performing, interacting, and decision-making has to be felt (Mueller, Goncalo & Kamdar, 2011). However, a number of mistakes may occur when choosing teams since not all working teams make a success in their tasks (Taylor & Moghaddam, 1994). This is in cases where, you use a team for a task that is better done by an individual, fail to build a team when you manage members as individuals and not as a team and putting into assumption that all the members in the team posses the required skills that make them work as a team. It is therefore important for the leader to understand that his role is to bring change in an effort to achieve teamwork. For example, a leader may employ new techniques every other time in solving a certain task (Platow, et al, 2006). Therefore, teamwork requires deviation, in some cases, from the social identity theory in pursuing group goals (Bellanca, n.d).

Motivation

Motivation as an element of good leadership has four areas that should be put into consideration by good leaders within the course of motivating team members. These are the theory of expectancy, behavior modification, recognition, and goal setting. The theory of expectancy bases itself on the argument that “the amount of effort people expand depend on how much reward they expect to get in return” (Durbin et al, 2006, p. 296). The big issue here is the amount of returns and benefits one may expect to get from any task he/she performs. People can get motivation from leaders to work hard especially when assured of good returns even if they are not prototypical (Rast, Gaffney, Hogg & Crisp, 2012). Behavior modification and motivation aims at changing behavior of individuals through rewards and punishment. Positive behaviors may be rewarded, and leaders can use this as a motivating tool to others (Reveves, Lewin & Espin, 2011). Therefore, other team members may improve their approach towards work through learning and observation. By extension, they might accept a leader who is not prototypical, but one who can meet their expectations, especially when they are uncertain about their lives. Indeed, Rast, Gaffney, Hogg & Crisp (2012), agree that the importance of prototypical leaders is diminished as people can gravitate to those leaders they feel meets their expectations. Indeed, social identity theory is completely disconnected from the workplace as it offers “an objectified conception of what is likely to occur when workers, who are accustomed to autonomous work, are called upon to work collaboratively” (Lewis, 2007).

Coaching skills

The other very important element in good leadership is the coaching skills. It becomes more effective for leaders who are in regular interference with the people the lead. By use of this element, performance may be increased since people are all through encouraged, supported, and inspired to acquire their success. However, time, effort, and dedication are required between the two parties to make coaching a success (Fink, Parker. Bret & Higgins, 2009). Any coach has the responsibility to build the team members strength to increase their performance. Coaching is a two-way traffic; it is not an independent process and therefore depends on the effort of the two parties, the leader, and the team.

Conclusion

Generally, the combination of all the four basic elements of good leadership gives a very good recipe for good leadership. Despite the fact that leadership is not very easy, many have tried to come out as very good leaders in society. In understanding the elements of good leadership, it is obvious that the social identity theory is flawed. The theory considers a good leader to be someone who closely matched with the organization. However, the qualities of a good leadership indicate those traits that leader must posses or learn I order to meet the goals of their organizations. Moreover, the proponents of social identify theory argue that a leader can violate the norms of the organization and still be considered as effective. Therefore, a person does not necessarily need to those attributes that match the organization to become a good leader.

References

Bellanca, F. (n.d). The Socail Identity Theory. Retrieved from http://www.teambuilding.co.uk/social-identity-theory.html

Blurke, J. P. (2006). Contemporary Social Psychology Theories. Washington, DC: Stanford University Press.

De Cremer, D, Van Dijke, M, & Mayer, D.M. (2010). Cooperating When “you” and “I” are treated fairly. The Moderating role of leader prototypicality. Journal of Applied psychology, 95, 1121-1133

Fink, J. S., Parker, M. H., Bret, M. & Higgins, J. (2009). Off-Field Behavior of Athletes and Team Identification: Using Social Identity Theory and Balance Theory to Explain Fan reactions. Journal of Sports Management. 23, 142-155

Hains, S. C., Hogg, M. A., & Duck, J. M. (1997). Self-categorization and leadership: Effects of group prototypicality and leader stereotypicality. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 1087-1100

Haslam, S.A. & Reicher, S.D. (2007). Identity entrepreneurship and the consequences of identity failure: The dynamics of leadership in the BBC Prison Study. Social Psychology Quarterly 70, 125-147

Hogg, M. A. (2001). A social identity theory of leadership. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 184-200.

Hogg, M. A. (2010). Influence and Leadership. In S. T. Fiske, D. T. Gilbert, & L. Gardner (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (5th ed., pp. 1167-1207). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.

Hogg, M.A. & Vaughan, G.M. (2002). Social Psychology (3^rd ed. ) London: Prentice Hall.

Hymans, J.E.C. (2002). Applying Social Identity Theory to the Study of International Politics: Retrieved from http://www.cbrss.harvard.edu/events/ppbw/papers/hymans.pdf

Knippenberg, V. D., De Cremer, D., & Hogg, M. A. (2004). Leadership, self, and identity: A review and research agenda. Leadership Quarterly, 15, 825-856.

Lewis, T. (2007). A Critique of the Social identity theory to Work Motivation. Retrieved from http://www.ufhrd.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/lewi-129-fp.pdf

Mueller, J. S., Goncalo, J. A., & Kamdar, D. (2011). Recognizing creative leadership: Can creative idea expression negatively relate to perceptions of leadership potential? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 494-498.

Platow, M. J., & van Knippenberg, D. (2001). A social identity analysis of leadership endorsement: The effects of leader ingroup prototypicality and distributive intergroup fairness. . Personality and social psychology bulletin, 11, 1508-1519.

Platow, M., van Knippenberg, D., Haslam, S., van Knippenberg, B., & Spears, R. (2006). A special gift we bestow on you for being representative of us: Considering leader charisma from a self categorization perspective. British Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 303-320

Rast, D. E., Gaffney, A. M., Hogg, M. A., & Crisp, R. J. (2012). Leadership under uncertainty: When leaders who are non-prototypical group members can gain support. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 646-653.

Reicher, S., Haslam, S. A., & Hopkins, N. (2005). Social identity and the dynamics of leadership: Leaders and followers as collaborative agents in the transformation of social reality. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 547-568.

Reveves, S, Lewin, S, & Espin, S. (2011). Interpersonal Teamwork for Health and Socail Care. New York: Josh Wiley & Sons Tajfel, H. (2010). Social Identity and Interpersonal R

Leadership and Psychology

Name of Student

Institution of Learning