Kouzes and posner's five practices of exemplary leadership

Leadership involves guiding and influencing others within an organisation to achieve shared goals. Kouzes and Posner (2017) developed a model based on extensive research, identifying five key practices that characterise effective leaders.

The five practices explained

• Model the way - Leaders demonstrate the behaviours they expect from others, setting a personal example through their actions and decisions.
• Inspire a shared vision - Leaders communicate a compelling future goal that unites the team, encouraging everyone to buy into and contribute to the vision.
• Challenge the process - Leaders actively seek opportunities for innovation and improvement, questioning existing methods and encouraging calculated risks to drive change.
• Enable others to act - Leaders promote teamwork by empowering followers, providing resources, and fostering collaboration.
• Encourage the heart - Leaders maintain motivation by recognising achievements, offering support, and celebrating successes.

The leadership practices inventory (lpi)

To measure how well leaders embody the five practices, Kouzes and Posner created the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), a tool designed to assess leadership behaviours through self-reflection and external feedback.

How the LPI works

The LPI is a questionnaire with behavioural statements, divided among the five practices.

Components of the LPI:

• LPI-Self - Completed by the leader to rate their own behaviours on a scale.
• LPI-Observer - Filled out by colleagues or followers who observe the leader's actions.
• Comparison of scores - Results from self and observer versions are compared to identify strengths, discrepancies, and areas for improvement.

Examples of LPI statements

• Supports the decisions that people make on their own - This relates to enabling others to act by promoting autonomy.
• Finds ways to celebrate accomplishments - This links to encouraging the heart through recognition of efforts.
• Speaks with genuine conviction about the higher meaning and purpose of work - This exemplifies inspiring a shared vision by connecting tasks to broader goals.

Supporting research for Kouzes and Posner's model

Kouzes and Posner (1993) conducted a study to test the reliability of their model and the LPI across different contexts.

Method

The research involved managers and their observers from various organisations. Participants completed the LPI, and scores were analysed for patterns in rankings and differences based on factors like gender and organisation type.

Results

Self and observer scores showed identical rank orders for the five practices. No significant differences were found between genders, and organisation type did not notably affect the results.

Conclusions

These findings suggest the model is consistent and applicable across diverse groups, supporting its use in real-world leadership development.

Kelley's followership styles

Followership refers to the behaviours and roles of individuals who support and work under leaders to achieve organisational goals. Kelley (1988) proposed that effective followership is essential for success, identifying two key dimensions: the level of independent critical thinking (versus dependent uncritical thinking) and the degree of active or passive participation in goals.

These dimensions combine to form five distinct followership styles.

The five followership styles

• Exemplary followers - They think independently, bring positive energy, and actively engage in tasks.
• Alienated followers - They think critically but are mostly negative and do not support the organisation's direction.
• Passive followers (sheep) - They are passive in both thinking and engagement, relying heavily on the leader for motivation rather than self-drive.
• Conformist followers (yes people) - They are passive thinkers but positive and aligned with the leader, eagerly following instructions without question.
• Pragmatic followers - They show limited independent thinking and only engage when they see a clear direction or benefit.

Research indicates that exemplary followership correlates with higher performance, as these individuals actively contribute to goals while thinking critically.

Strengths and weaknesses of the theories

Evaluating leadership and followership theories involves considering their reliability, validity, usefulness, and generalisability.

Issues and debates in leadership and followership

Psychological theories of leadership and followership raise broader questions about cultural influences and approaches to understanding human behaviour.

Cultural differences: Oyetunji (2013)

• Background - Cultural context can shape what is considered effective followership. For example, Oyetunji (2013) studied lecturers in Botswana universities.
• Method - Participants self-reported their followership style and perceived job performance.
• Results - Passive followers rated themselves as the highest performers, contrasting with expectations in more individualist cultures where exemplary (active and independent) followers are valued.
• Conclusions - This suggests cultural norms influence ideal followership; in some societies, deference to authority may be seen as a strength rather than passivity.

Idiographic versus nomothetic approaches

Kelley's theory takes a nomothetic approach, focusing on general features and styles of followership that apply universally across organisations and individuals.