Submitted by: Elizabeth B. Bolton, Ph.D.

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Hillel, S. (2006). “Leadership Styles and Leadership Change in Human and Community Service Organizations” Nonprofit Leadership and Management. 17(2). 179-194.

Introduction

This article deals with leaders who must be able to adapt their style to the changing environment of the organization and understand the circumstances that are occurring in each phase of the organization’s development. This is the main argument of the author who notes that if they fail to adapt the goals of the organization will not be attained. Further, if a leader is highly effective at one phase in the organization, he/she may not be able to transfer this effectiveness to another phase in the organization’s development. From these perspectives, the author develops a tool to assist organizations in determining what type of leadership is needed based on the environment at each stage in the organization’s life cycle. In order to use the tool, it is necessary to first analyze the current environment in both the external and internal dimensions.

Methodology

Using many studies on leadership, the author proposes a theoretical model, which classifies leadership types into four quadrants: Task versus people orientation and internal versus external orientation. Four types of leadership emerge: Task oriented internally focused, task oriented externally focused, people oriented externally focused, and people oriented internally focused. To use this methodology, an organization should first determine the current state of the organization and then decide which of these leadership types if the best fit for the time. The selection of an effective leader can be made based on this analysis. The author looks at four types of organizations and suggests which type of leadership would be the most effective.

Main Ideas

The major concepts are defined as follows. Task orientation "relates to the leader’s emphasis …on functions that are perceived as instrumental aspects of the leader’s role and enable him to focus on goal achievement with minimal consideration of the human factor" (p. 185) These tasks include planning, organization and budgeting. People orientation, in contrast, relates to the leader’s emphasis on functions such as motivating workers, training and development, listening and empathy, interpersonal communication…”(p. 185). People orientation includes “the expressive aspects of the leader’s role, including the leader’s body language and facial expressions, which convey the leader’s expectations of their followers and reflect the relationships that develop between them” (p. 186). The second concept of the theory based model, internal versus external orientation, refers to “the importance of external environment in influencing the organization and structural behavior…versus the leader’s orientation to the organization’s internal affairs” (p. 186).

The task oriented internal leader:

Places emphasis on achieving organization goals, taking the organizational structure and internal work procedures into account.

Gives emphasis to the roles of planning, coordination, administrative communication, budgeting and decision making.

The leadership style is authoritative, centralized; no delegation of authority and no involvement of organization members in decision making.

There is a tight control and supervision closely linked to processes and outcomes.

The leader does not tolerate deviations from the rules and processes that regulate the life of the organization. Very low tolerance for ambiguity.

The task oriented external leaders

Focus on achieving organizational goals and attaining legitimization and resources from the external environment.

Leadership style is authoritative, centralized, directive, and focused on attaining resources establishing and expanding the organizational domain, improving the organization’s competitive ability in an attempt to accumulate an organizational and personal power advantage over other organizations.

Leader is task oriented, without considering the human factor which is a means to achieving his goals.

Decision-making and problem-solving processes are based on the leader’s formal authority.

The people oriented internal leaders:

The main focus is on people. He or she motivates, provides incentives, delegates authority, empower, consults, and involves others.

Efforts focus on selecting, developing, building, and guiding the staff and co-opting them to achieve the goals of the organization.

Emphasis on division of labor and roles, including enlargement and enrichment.

The leader motivates workers to seek self-fulfillment, sets challenging goals, and encourages self-development.

The leader develops tools, mechanisms, methods, and technologies for problem solving and conflict resolution.

People oriented external leaders:

The emphasis is on managing the external environment, reducing the organization’s dependence on agents in the environment, and increasing the dependence of others on the organization.

Considerable investment in developing human resources, training, and preparing staff to copy with constraints imposed on the organization by the external environment.

The leader and the administrative staff engage in political activity and form alliances and coalitions with various elements in the environment. The emphasis is on alleviating pressure from interest groups and constituencies; screening the environment to identify opportunities, risks, and threats.

Emphasis on the importance and contribution of the human factor; invests in developing the functional maturity and professional competence of the staff in order to allow for development of relations with the external environment and management by exception.

Conclusion

The main conclusion from this article is that leader should be able to adapt his or her behavior as the organization transitions from one stage to another. Obviously this does not always happen and often the leader’s style is at cross purposes with the organization’s needs and life cycle. If the leader is not able to adapt his/her style to the organization’s life cycle, then it is best to choose a new leader. This model can be useful for boards of directors to assess where the organization is and what it needs before choosing a leader. A congruence between the organization’s life cycle and the leader’s style can result in more effective leadership for the organization. The author proposes that “individuals have to make adaptations in their leadership pattern—whether they are autocratic, democratic-participatory, charismatic, task-oriented, or person oriented—if they which to be effective and achieve their goals “ (P. 192).

Implications for Extension Programs

Extension county faculty deals with leaders in many environments, some of which are local and others regional and statewide leaders. It is not often that anyone has control of enough variables in the environment to change it substantially. The value of this research then is for county extension faculty to see themselves in one of the four leadership styles and determine if there is any congruence between their leadership style and the organizations they work with. When there is an uncomfortable fit, strive to change your style so that it is appropriate for the environment known as the workplace.