Tennenbaum and Schmidt Reading Note

Tennenbaum and Schmidt Reading Note

Background knowledge

• In 1938, Lewin and Lippitt proposed classifications of leaders based

on how much involvement leaders placed into task and relationship

needs. This range of leadership behaviors was expressed along a

continuum by Tannenbaum & Schmidt in 1973, ranging from boss-centered

(task) to subordinate-centered (relationship).

• It is a simple model which shows the relationship between the level

of freedom that a manager chooses to give to a team and the level of

authority used by the manager.

As you can see in the graph, the model allows more control to the

managers in the begininning making the leadership style more

autocratic, thus the subordinates have less or nothing to contribute

in the discussion process.

As u move towards the end, the subordinates gain more control, and in

the end the leadership style is more “laissez faire” leadership, so

the subordinates have much more control over their task.

This also follows maslow’s heirarchy of motivation, as the

subordinates gain responsibility, they work harder for the business.

How does it make a good leadership model?

• As the team’s freedom is increased, so the manager’s authority

decreases. This is a positive way for both the team and the manager to

improve.

• When the manager needs less time to spend on the team, he will have

more time to spend on other areas such as calculating budget,

forecasting, calculate prof...