Leadership

PSYCH 485 blog

Leadership is part of our everyday lives

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The idea of leadership is sort of a massive concept but in reality, we all interact with a leader which results in something happening. We surround ourselves with many different types of leaders such as a teacher or a police officer, someone in charge who influences the followers, thus leadership leads to a common goal being achieved. We may not think about the concept of leadership at all but it’s still plays a key factor in our everyday lives.

 

Leadership does not necessarily mean that followers are blindly follow orders from their leaders but rather the followers having the opportunity to engage with their fellow leaders in power. Having the ability to contribute could lead to achieving common goal exerted by both a leader and their follower. Different situations require different forms of leadership which primarily impact how the leader goes on taking the full responsibility. A teacher will use his/ her leadership powers to control the students because the role of a teacher is to ensure that students get maximum benefit from being in school.

 

Certainly when we are faced with the choice of choosing a leader, we would lean more towards someone who is capable of taking on such a responsibility. Assessing properly before making the decision of putting someone in a leadership position is vastly important. Leadership cannot be necessarily be taught through the form of training but more so depends on the person themselves. Using a competency model which includes a set of knowledge, skills and abilities which are key factors needed in order to succeed. Using that evaluation model can help find the true leader who can help their followers achieve the common goal such as a teacher designing lesson plans accordingly so that his/ her students can earn higher grades on a comprehension test.

 

Whether we think that leadership is only applicable when it comes to politicians, leadership is almost everywhere around us, thus society is able to flourish and advance as time goes on. A police officer’s duty is to ensure people are safe and sound which falls under the category of leadership because the police officer’s job is to maintain a society where everyone’s safety is a top. priority and citizens feel safe knowing emergency services are provided when needed.

 

Not all leadership will result in successful effectiveness, so followers have reason to not give power to that person if he/ she fails to achieve the common goal between the leader and follower. However, when we are faced with the concept of leadership, we use logic and reasoning before making a decision about the effectiveness of the leader. As the follower, we are faced with different forms of leaders who helps us achieve a common goal together.

 

Northouse, P.G. (2021).  Leadership: Theory and Practice. Ninth Edition. Los Angeles, SAGE Publications.

Unveiling the Philosophies of Chinese Leadership

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China, a country with a rich history and profound cultural heritage, has always captivated the world with its unique philosophies. Chinese leaders have always prioritized long-term planning, stability, and unity. They are renowned for inspiring and motivating their followers. Three distinct philosophies have shaped the nation, and its way of leading. This began in ancient times with Confucius, who emphasized the importance of collective leadership, humility, and respect for authority (Northouse, 2021).

Confucianism places significant importance on moral values and personal virtues, as stated by Northouse (2021). The principles of respecting authority, promoting harmonious relationships, and pursuing righteousness are highly regarded. These principles have influenced leadership styles in China, fostering a sense of duty, benevolence, and ethical governance. Confucianism stresses the significance of hierarchy and loyalty, encouraging leaders to act selflessly for the greater good. It also emphasizes the importance of maintaining balance and harmony between different clans, classes, and states.

Legalism is a philosophy that stresses the importance of strong central control and strict adherence to laws. Unlike Confucianism, which places emphasis on personal morality and ethics, Legalism advocates for leaders to maintain order and stability through a system of rewards and punishments. Though it has been criticized for its harshness, Legalism has had a significant impact on Chinese leadership during certain periods in history (Northouse, 2021).

According to Northouse (2021), Taoism is often referred to as The Path of Harmony, which teaches the importance of going with the flow and accepting the natural order of things. Beyond stressing the balance between opposing forces, it also promotes a more passive and intuitive approach to leadership. With Tao principles, leaders can make harmonious decisions and create a sense of tranquility within their organizations. Water is a prime example of this philosophy. It flows freely and adapts to its surroundings, with the ability to erode even the toughest rocks while remaining calm. Taoism encourages leaders to emulate water’s flexibility and openness to ideas and possibilities.

In modern China, leadership philosophies have evolved by combining traditional Chinese management philosophies with Western management theories. This unique approach focuses on innovation, adaptability, and global perspectives while still honoring cultural tradition. By integrating the best of both worlds, Chinese leaders are better equipped to face the rapid changes of the world while preserving their values. This combination of traditional and modern elements has created a new type of leadership that is well-suited to China’s current economic, political, and social landscape. Chinese leaders incorporate these philosophies to navigate the challenges of the present age, respecting their heritage while embracing new concepts to steer their organizations and guide their country towards a prosperous tomorrow.

References

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice (9th ed.). US: SAGE Publications, Inc. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781071834473

The Power and Influence of Hitler

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Adolf Hitler and his rise to power was a chain of events that intrigues us yet terrifies us; it makes us question how one man could acquire the power and influence to lead a mass genocide. “Power is the capacity to cause change, influence is the degree of the actual change in a target person’s attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors” (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2012). The Milgram experiment by S. Milgram (1963) is a well-known study that investigated how authority figures exert power and influence over the participants’ moral conscious and obedience to authoritative figures (Hughes, et al., 2012). Participants in this experiment were told to shock the other participant hidden behind glass when they gave the wrong answer, and while some found this absurd and withdrew from the study, 70% of the participants followed orders through the entire experiment (as cited in: Hughes, et al., 2012). Even with permission granted by the experimenter to drop out of the experiment without punishment, a significant portion of the participants chose to continue to take orders. While Hitler’s reign was responsible for the Holocaust and his authority led to real pain and death, the Milgram experiment gave us the perspective of how easily the Power and Influence theory can be applied.

Adolf Hitler is well known for his incredible speeches. He had the ability to vocally inspire millions and drew in his followers with his promises of a better Germany. It was inarguably convenient for Hitler to find many weak spots in Germany’s government as the depression had hit, unemployment was at an all time high, and Germany’s government lost the trust of its’ people (BBC, 2021). A large portion of Hitler’s rise to power was spent influencing people that he is the man the people of Germany needed to make the country thrive again. Influence tactics are the actions and methods an individual does to persuade and influence others, and Adolf Hitler was very fluent in most of them (PSU WC, L. 7, 2021). Hitler started with rational persuasion, using logic and known issues to influence more people to follow his lead, and his inspirational appeals drew in more crowds who were unhappy with the current democracy and agreed and supported Hitler’s ideas (PSU WC, L. 7, 2021). From around 1930-1933 the level of unemployment, starvation, and the citizen’s uncertainty with the government, people was rising and people starting to flock to the extreme left (communism) and the extreme right (Nazi). In 1933 Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, and his rise to power took a bolder turn, especially as more followers were cheering on the slow rise of the Nazi party (BBC, 2021). Hitler now had an actual position of legitimate power and authority and it was time to change his tactics to a more serious and urgent degree.

Due to his new position as Chancellor and the difficulties within the government during the time of his official position in politics, his influencing behaviors turned to more legitimized and pressure tactics. As Chancellor, Hitler held a legitimate level of power and the requests and propaganda he was letting out were now backed up with his authoritative title (Hughes, et al., 2012). Along with his newly heightened power and influence tactics, his ability to use pressure tactics grew as well. Since there was already an immense amount of pressure on the government as the Depression caused devastating results, pressure tactics worked in Hitler’s favor. People wanted jobs, food, and security, and Hitler found his opportunity to persuade the public that communism would destroy the country, and the Nazi party would bring Germany back to what it once was; follow him and you will be rewarded. Hughes, et al. (2012) states that the ease of influencing others increases with the level of power the leader employs. Hitler was able to persuade fellow leaders to pass a law restricting personal liberty which led to many communist arrests, and from there on he was able to pass laws and form an extreme dictatorship and complete control of Germany (BBC, 2021).

“Leaders usually can exert more power during a crisis than during periods of relative calm” (Hughes, et al., 2012). Hitler was recognized as a “savior” who was going to bring Germany out of poverty and lower unemployment rates, and this led to an increased referent power (BBS, 2021). Because he had incredible speeches that drew in crowds with inspiration and perseverance, he was respected and trusted by those who were looking for a government official who wanted to help. Referent power is the potential influence a leader has given the relationship they have with their followers (Hughes, et al., 2012). As previously stated, his legitimate power began when he was appointed Chancellor, and it reached absolute peak when he gained complete control. While legitimate power does add credentials to the individual’s reputation and ability, a leader needs much more, and Adolf Hitler was able to offer it all (Hughes, et al., 2012). Following his climactic career as dictator, he was able to control resources, peoples’ lives, newspapers, and an increasing amount of people’s previous freedoms (BBS, 2021). By having so much control and power over nearly every aspect of life, his reward power was at an extreme as he was able to use this control to increase his influence over the people (Hughes, et al., 2012).  Lastly, and arguably most profound, is the coercive power that Adolf Hitler terrorized his followers, and secret opposers, with. Hitler was responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of disabled individuals he sent off to gas chambers, he placed curfews, made being a Jew practically illegal, and many offenses were punishable by death (The History Place, 2001). Hitler’s reign began with earning the trust of the people he aimed to rule, but it has now turned to terrorizing them into obedience.

Power and influence can be used for the greater good, or it can be taken advantage of and turned into a fear based dictatorship. Hitler was responsible for influencing millions of people that he was going to save them from poverty, hunger, and government failure. The public that supported the nazi party were excited for change and trusted that he would bring it. His ability to influence all those people gave him a stepping stone to push his way through the gaps and take over an entire country in front of everyone’s eyes. Hitler claimed for himself what many powerful leaders want, and that is untimate control. Adolf Hitler is a morbidly perfect example of the disadvantagous side of the power and influence theory and how it can lead someone with the right amount of capabilities to high power.

References

BBC. (2021). The impact of the Depression on Germany – Hitler into power, 1929-1934 – OCR B – GCSE History Revision – OCR B – BBC Bitesize. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zwmdfrd/revision/1.

The History Place. (2001). The History Place – Triumph of Hitler: The Nuremberg Laws. The History Place. https://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-nurem-laws.htm.

Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies

Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2021). PSYCH 485 | Lesson 7: Power and Influence. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2137573/modules/items/32271438

Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral Study of obedience. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371–378. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040525

All of My Favorite Leaders are Single…

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… or, rather, not married and have no children. I have noticed that in my professional life, the two leaders from whom I’ve been most inspired by and who I believe are the most successful are married to their sense of duty. That makes me wonder, is there something to this coincidence? Is it impossible to be successful in both professional and personal realms?

Both leaders in question dedicate themselves to their work both in their personal and professional lives, going hard at work and volunteering their free time in similar services. Additionally, both seem to have the most balance of leadership skills by harnessing empathy with control, passion with knowledge and they genuinely aim to identify what unique skills the individuals in their team have to offer. Both of these leaders eventually became police chiefs. Is this a sign that maybe we can’t have it all?

I asked myself this question as we dove into the preliminary topics of leadership. I do believe that in the realm of Law Enforcement as it exists, you do have to be able to display certain personality traits in order to be successful. According to Northouse (2019), theorists now believe that trait-based leadership does not necessarily mean that a short list of existing personality traits applies to successful leadership in all situations. There are, however, certain professions where certain traits can hinder or aid in advancement to a leadership role. Law enforcement is absolutely one of those professions.

I applied this question primarily to the Five Factor Model of Personality to develop my theory. Three of the five could be to blame for hindering a personal relationship; conscientiousness, neuroticism and extraversion. Effective leaders may be prioritizing their call of duty to a fault, and take their commitment to public service seriously while failing to be attentive to a budding relationship. Leaders are more likely to take time outside of work for training and volunteer opportunities that aid in the advancement of their career. In the high-stress world of modern policing a heavy emphasis is placed on the necessity of stability. One must be able to act calmly under pressure, above all else. One who takes this requirement seriously may distance themselves from any personal risks or failures, anything that may have the potential to shake their emotional stability. Leaders in law enforcement must show that they are confident and decisive to earn followers. A high level of extraversion may create conflict in a relationship, where a partner’s input and decisions should be taken into account just as much as the leader’s.

It’s no secret that the concept of social identity is ripe in the law enforcement world. While modern policing continues to progress to meet the demands of society, there remains an interdepartmental expectation of ‘what makes a good officer’. While we know that anyone can dictate, an emerging leader fits with the identity of the group as a whole. (Northouse, 2019). A person who is determined to be a leader in this profession must subscribe to all of the aforementioned traits to have a decent shot at success. Many studies have been conducted on the matter of the work-family struggles of law enforcement. A study conducted by Viegas and Henriques (2020) found that police job stress is highly correlated with work-family conflict, and instances of ‘burnout’ is high. This finding paired with the demanding trait requirements that it takes to be a successful leader could very well mean that these Chiefs sacrificed their personal life for their work. It makes one wonder what, if anything, can be changed to help the law-enforcement profession establish a healthier work-family balance.  If we can figure that out, there is a chance we may be able to fill the void of successful, effective and inspiring leaders in law enforcement.

 

References:

Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (Eighth Edition). Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.

Viegas, V., & Henriques, J. (2020). Job stress and work-family conflict as correlates of job satisfaction among police officials. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1007/s11896-020-09388-w

The use of power in crisis

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This period in the world has been characterized by great stress and hardship for many companies and people involved in the Covid-19 emergency. Personally, I thought I would be untouched but to my disappointment I have been proven wrong. Not only do I live in Italy where the emergency has been considerably brought to a high level. I also have a husband who was caught in the Abu Dhabi emergency. The professional cycling race taking place in the United Arab Emirates was stopped. A false positive was the result of 800 people being confined in their hotel rooms for 5 days. My husband who is part of the directing committee had to wait for his test to come back negative before even trying to get athletes and workers back to their respective countries. This emergency was incredibly tough and brought out different leadership patterns. His usual leadership style and power to influence his followers changed due to crises. (Hughes, Richard, etal,1993)

My husband who is an ex professional athlete finished his career and was hired by a company that organizes high level sport events, he works for the Olympic committee as well. Obviously having been an athlete for 38 years of his life he was not high in Expert power as far as office requirements like computer tasks. At the beginning he had little to no expertise in the overall role he covered as it required knowledge in areas he has never studied. Although he had low preparation and gaps in his preparation made him uncomfortable at the beginning, he covered with his great knowledge as far as the actual sport dynamics. He was a role model due to his athletic accomplishments this made him appreciated.

Expert power is the power of knowledge. (Hughes, Richard, et al, 1993) Lack of expertise made him vulnerable in certain situations making it tough for him to take charge. When the situations needed expertise such as programming online or other business orientated tasks even if my husband was good at them, he felt less strong as a leader. When it came to certain tasks like excel sheets his power to influence diminished as this was not his expertise. His low level of preparation in certain areas though were and are covered by interpersonal ties he has created among his followers.

His role required his sports knowledge as well. Situations that were tied to the actual sport required his skill and judgment. So, when he was involved in what his expertise covered such as deciding what roads the races should run on, he felt comfortable and was influential. Referent power has always been what my husband relies on when he lacks in expertise. (Hughes, Richard, et al, 1993, ch.5, pg.114) He is admired as leader because he always asks when he does not know something, and he always treats everyone equally. Paolo my husband is seen as a role model therefore is an example of someone who has Referent Power. (Hughes, & Richard. 1993).

Although he could have easily walked into the job arrogantly and exercised legitimate power, he did not. Legitimate power depends on a person’s organizational role. (Hughes, & Richard. 1993, ch5, pg.116). He could have influenced his followers requesting and demanding as his role in the company states. Paolo instead have always influenced others without exercising his positions authority. He is influential by asking collaboration this makes his position and the fact he is a leader synonymous. This is confirmed in ch.5 of enhancing the lessons of experience; Effective leaders intuitively realize they need more than legitimate power to be successful. (Hughes, Richard, et al, 1993, ch.5, pg. 116).

As Paolo is someone that would never draw on his position for anything, he has always been someone who has gone up and forward thanks to all the people that like helping him and value him. He is the type of leaders that has never used his voice or strength to make decisions go through. I sometime listen to him and ask myself how he can be so nice and patient even to people who do not deserve it. This week though in Abu Dhabi the situation was critical. Everyone had to get tested for covi-19 and as the test came in he had to make sure they all got cleared to go home. This was an enormous job, people were getting mad and not collaborating as they would usually. Paolo got to the point that he had to raise his voice and direct like he never has before. Hughes, Richard, et al, describe this as a time of crises, when a leader must exert more power than during periods of relative calm. (Hughes, Richard, et al, 1993).

His interpersonal relationships with his followers and his usual leadership style that sees him using Referent Power to influence is colleagues was not influential in this emergency. When he was finally left out of confinement, he had to draw on his legitimate power in order to influence his followers quickly and get them to focus. He was very stern and had to be stronger vocally in order to get all the people he needed to help him without panicking. The fact he has never abused of his legitimate power and used it in this special situation made a significant mark. This emergency affected Paolo’s capacity to influence his followers. (Hughes, Richard, et al. 1993, ch.5, pg.107). House describes power as the capacity to produce effects on others, or as Bass writes the potential to influence others. (Hughes, Richard, et al. 1993, ch5, pg.107). In this instance power was used in the correct way, he was heard and greatly impacted all the people around him. The result of Power being exercised to influence was that everyone who was not positive stayed safe and came home two days after all the negative test results arrived.

 

Reference

Hughes, Richard, et al. (1993). Leadership: enhancing the lessons of experience. Homewood: Irwin.

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