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13 Leadership Essentials the key point
Not all managers are leaders and not all leaders are managers. In a managerial position, being a leader requires understanding how to adapt one’s management style to the situation to generate willing and effective followership. As shown in the Zappos example, the most successful leaders are those who are able to generate strong cultures in which employees work together to get things done.
chapter at a glance
What Is Leadership?
What Are Situational Contingency Approaches to Leadership?
What Are Follower-Centered Approaches to Leadership?
What Are Inspirational and Relational Leadership Perspectives?
what ’s inside?
ETHICS IN OB
CEO PAY—IS IT EXCESSIVE?
FINDING THE LEADER IN YOU
LOOKING FOR LEADER MATCH AT GOOGLE
OB IN POPULAR CULTURE
PATH-GOAL AND REMEMBER THE TITANS
RESEARCH INSIGHT
PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP AND PEACE
leaders make things happen
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292 13 Leadership Essentials
Most people assume that anyone in management, particularly the CEO, is a leader. Currently, however, controversy has arisen over this assumption. We can all think of examples where managers do not perform much, if any, leadership, as well as instances where leadership is performed by people who are not in management. Researchers have even argued that failure to clearly recognize this difference is a violation of “truth in advertising” because many studies labeled “leadership” may actually be about “management.”1
Managers versus Leaders
A key way of differentiating between managers and leaders is to argue that the role of management is to promote stability or to enable the organization to run smoothly, whereas the role of leadership is to promote adaptive or useful changes.2 Persons in managerial positions could be involved with both manage- ment and leadership activities, or they could emphasize one activity at the expense of the other. Both management and leadership are needed, however, and if managers do not assume responsibility for both, then they should ensure that someone else handles the neglected activity. The point is that when we dis- cuss leadership, we do not assume it is identical to management.
For our purposes, we treat leadership as the process of infl uencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objec- tives.3 Leadership appears in two forms: (1) formal leadership, which is exerted by persons appointed or elected to positions of formal authority in organizations, and (2) informal leadership, which is exerted by persons who become infl uential because they have special skills that meet the needs of others. Although both types are important in organizations, this chapter will emphasize formal leader- ship; informal leadership will be addressed in the next chapter.4
The leadership literature is vast—thousands of studies at last count—and consists of numerous approaches.5 We have grouped these approaches into two chapters: Leadership Essentials, Chapter 13, and Leadership Challenges and Orga- nizational Change, Chapter 14. The present chapter focuses on trait and behavioral
• Leadership is the process of infl uencing
others and the process of facilitating individual and
collective efforts to accomplish shared
objectives.
LEARNING ROADMAP Managers versus Leaders / Trait Leadership Perspectives / Behavioral Leadership Perspectives
Leadership
Change Brings Out the Leader
in Us Avon CEO Andrea Jung feels “there is a big difference between being a leader and being a manager.” That difference lies in being fl exible and willing to change. According to Jung, if you have diffi culty with change you will have a harder time being successful as a leader.
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theory perspectives, cognitive and symbolic leadership perspectives, and transfor- mational and charismatic leadership approaches. Chapter 14 deals with such leadership challenges as how to be a moral leader, how to share leadership, how to lead across cultures, how to be a strategic leader of major units, and, of course, how to lead change. Many of the perspectives in each chapter include several models. Although each of these models may be useful to you in a given work setting, we invite you to mix and match them as necessary in your setting, just as we did earlier with the motivational models discussed in Chapter 5.
Trait Leadership Perspectives
For over a century, scholars have attempted to identify the key characteristics that separate leaders from nonleaders. Much of this work stressed traits. Trait per- spectives assume that traits play a central role in differentiating between leaders and nonleaders in that leaders must have the “right stuff.”6 The great person-trait approach refl ects the attempt to use traits to separate leaders from nonleaders. This list of possible traits identifi ed only became longer as researchers focused on the leadership traits linked to successful leadership and organizational perfor- mance. Unfortunately, few of the same traits were identifi ed across studies. Part of the problem involved inadequate theory, poor measurement of traits, and the confusion between managing and leading.
Fortunately, recent research has yielded promising results. A number of traits have been found that help identify important leadership strengths, as outlined in Figure 13.1. As it turns out, most of these traits also tend to predict leadership outcomes.7
Key traits of leaders include ambition, motivation, honesty, self-confi dence, and a high need for achievement. They crave power not as an end in itself but as a means to achieve a vision or desired goals. At the same time, they must have enough emotional maturity to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, and have to be oriented toward self-improvement. Furthermore, to be trusted, they must have authenticity; without trust, they cannot hope to maintain the loyalty of their followers. Leaders are not easily discouraged, and they stick to a chosen
• Trait perspectives assume that traits play a central role in differentiating between leaders and nonleaders or in predicting leader or organizational outcomes.
Energy and adjustment or stress tolerance: Physical vitality and emotional resilience
Prosocial power motivation: A high need for power exercised primarily for the benefit of others
Achievement orientation: Need for achievement, desire to excel, drive to success,
willingness to assume responsibility, concern for task objectives
Emotional maturity: Well-adjusted, does not suffer from severe psychological disorders
Self-confidence: General confidence in self and in the ability to perform the job of a leader
Integrity: Behavior consistent with espoused values; honest, ethical, trustworthy
Perseverance or tenacity: Ability to overcome obstacles; strength of will
Cognitive ability, intelligence, social intelligence: Ability to gather, integrate, and
interpret information; intelligence, understanding of social setting
Task-relevant knowledge: Knowledge about the company, industry, and technical aspects
Flexibility: Ability to respond appropriately to changes in the setting
Positive Impact on Leadership Success
Figure 13.1 Traits with positive implications for successful leadership.
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294 13 Leadership Essentials
course of action as they push toward goal accomplishment. At the same time, they must be able to deal with the large amount of information they receive on a regular basis. They do not need to be brilliant, but usually exhibit above-average intelligence. In addition, leaders have a good understanding of their social setting and possess extensive knowledge concerning their industry, fi rm, and job.
Even with these traits, however, the individual still needs to be engaged. To lead is to infl uence others, and so we turn to the question of how a leader should act.
Behavioral Leadership Perspectives
How should managerial leaders act toward subordinates? The behavioral per- spective assumes that leadership is central to performance and other outcomes. However, instead of underlying traits, behaviors are considered. Two classic research programs—at the University of Michigan and at the Ohio State Univer- sity—provide useful insights into leadership behaviors.
Michigan Studies In the late 1940s, researchers at the University of Michigan sought to identify the leadership pattern that results in effective performance. From interviews of high- and low-performing groups in different organizations, the researchers derived two basic forms of leader behaviors: employee-centered and production-centered. Employee-centered supervisors are those who place strong emphasis on their subordinates’ welfare. In contrast, production-centered supervisors are more concerned with getting the work done. In general, employee- centered supervisors were found to have more productive workgroups than did the production-centered supervisors.8
These behaviors are generally viewed on a continuum, with employee- centered supervisors at one end and production-centered supervisors at the other. Sometimes, the more general terms human-relations oriented and task oriented are used to describe these alternative leader behaviors.
Ohio State Studies At about the same time as the Michigan studies, an impor- tant leadership research program began at the Ohio State University. A questionnaire was administered in both industrial and military settings to measure subordinates’ perceptions of their superiors’ leadership behavior. The researchers identifi ed two dimensions similar to those found in the Michigan studies: consideration and initiating structure.9 A highly considerate leader was found to be one who is sensitive to people’s feelings and, much like the employee-centered leader, tries to make things pleasant for his or her followers. In contrast, a leader high in ini- tiating structure was found to be more concerned with defi ning task requirements and other aspects of the work agenda; he or she might be seen as similar to a production-centered supervisor. These dimensions are related to what people sometimes refer to as socioemotional and task leadership, respectively.
At fi rst, the Ohio State researchers believed that a leader high in consider- ation, or socioemotional warmth, would have more highly satisfi ed or better per- forming subordinates. Later results suggested, however, that many individuals in leadership positions should be high in both consideration and initiating structure. This dual emphasis is refl ected in the leadership grid approach.
The Leadership Grid Robert Blake and Jane Mouton developed the leadership grid approach based on extensions of the Ohio State dimensions. Leadership grid results are plotted on a nine-position grid that places concern for production on
• The behavioral perspective assumes that
leadership is central to performance and other
outcomes.
• A leader high in consideration is sensitive
to people’s feelings. • A leader high in
initiating structure is concerned with spelling
out the task requirements and clarifying aspects of
the work agenda.
• Leadership grid is an approach that uses a grid
that places concern for production on the horizontal axis and concern for people
on the vertical axis.
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the horizontal axis and concern for people on the vertical axis, where 1 is mini- mum concern and 9 is maximum concern. As an example, those with a 1/9 style—low concern for production and high concern for people—are termed “country club management.” They do not emphasize task accomplishment but stress the attitudes, feelings, and social needs of people.10
Similarly, leaders with a 1/1 style—low concern for both production and people—are termed “impoverished,” while a 5/5 style is labeled “middle of the road.” A 9/1 leader—high concern for production and low concern for people—
RESEARCH INSIGHT
In an unusual cross-cultural organizational behavior study, Gretchen Spreitzer examined the link between business leadership practices and indicators of peace in nations. She found that earlier research suggested that peaceful societies had (1) open and egalitarian decision making and (2) social control processes that limit the use of coercive power. These two characteristics are the hallmarks of participatory systems that empower people in the collective. Spreitzer reasoned that business fi rms can provide open egalitarian decisions by stressing participative leadership and empowerment.
Spreitzer recognized that broad cultural factors could also be important. The degree to which the culture is future oriented and power distance appeared relevant. And she reasoned that she needed specifi c measures of peace. She selected two major indicators: (1) the level of corruption and (2) the level of unrest. The measure of unrest was a combined measure of political instability, armed confl ict, social unrest, and international disputes. While she found a large leadership database that directly measured participative leadership, she developed the measures of empowerment from another apparently unrelated survey. Two items appeared rel- evant: the decision freedom individuals reported (decision freedom), and the degree to which they felt they had to comply with their boss regardless of whether they agreed with an order (compliance).
You can schematically think of this research in terms of the following model.
As one might expect with exploratory research, the fi ndings support most of her hypotheses but not all. Participative leadership was related to less corruption and less unrest, as was the future- oriented aspect of culture. Regarding empower- ment, there were mixed results; decision freedom was linked to less corruption and unrest, but the compliance measure was only linked to more unrest.
Participatory Leadership and Peace
Do the Research Do you agree that when business used participatory leadership, it legitimated the democratically based style and increased the opportunity for individuals to express their voice? What other research could be done to determine the link between leadership and peace?11
Cultural Factors Future Orientation Power Distance
Empowerment Decision Freedom Compliance
Peace Corruption Unrest
Participative Leadership
Source: Gretchen Spreitzer, “Giving Peace a Chance: Organizational Leadership, Empowerment, and Peace,” Journal of Organizational Behavior 28 (2007), pp. 1077–1095.
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296 13 Leadership Essentials
has a “task management” style. Finally, a 9/9 leader, high on both dimensions, is considered to have a “team management” style; this is the ideal leader in Blake and Mouton’s framework.
Cross-Cultural Implications It is important to consider whether the fi ndings of the Michigan, Ohio State, and grid studies transfer across national boundaries. Some research in the United States, Britain, Hong Kong, and Japan shows that the behav- iors must be carried out in different ways in alternative cultures. For instance, British leaders are seen as considerate if they show subordinates how to use equipment, whereas in Japan the highly considerate leader helps subordinates with personal problems.12 We will see this pattern again as we discuss other theories. The concept seems to transfer across boundaries, but the actual behaviors differ. Sometimes the differences are slight, but in other cases they are not. Even subtle differences in the leader’s situation can make a signifi cant difference in precisely the type of behavior needed for success. Successful leaders adjust their infl uence attempts to the situation.
The trait and behavioral perspectives assume that leadership, by itself, would have a strong impact on outcomes. Another development in leadership thinking has recognized, however, that leader traits and behaviors can act in conjunction with situational contingencies—other important aspects of the leadership situa- tion—to predict outcomes. Traits are enhanced by their relevance to the leader’s situational contingencies.13 For example, achievement motivation should be most effective for challenging tasks that require initiative and the assumption of per- sonal responsibility for success. Leader fl exibility should be most predictive in unstable environments or when leaders lead different people over time.
Prosocial power motivation, or power oriented toward benefi ting others, is likely to be most important in situations where decision implementation requires lots of persuasion and social infl uence. “Strong” or “weak” situations also make a difference. An example of a strong situation is a highly formal organiza- tion with lots of rules, procedures, and policies. An example of a weak situation is one that is ambiguous and unstructured. In a strong situation traits will have less impact than in a weaker, more unstructured situation because the leader has less ability to infl uence the nature of the situation. In other words, leaders can’t show dynamism as much when the organization restricts them.
Traits may also make themselves felt by infl uencing leader behaviors (e.g., a leader high in energy engages in directive, take-charge behaviors).14 In an attempt to isolate when particular traits and specifi c combinations of leader behavior and situations are important, scholars have developed a number of situational contin- gency theories and models. Some of these theories emphasize traits, whereas others deal exclusively with leader behaviors and the setting.
Fiedler’s Leadership Contingency View
Fred Fiedler’s leadership contingency view argues that team effectiveness depends on an appropriate match between a leader’s style, essentially a trait measure, and the
• Prosocial power motivation is power
oriented toward benefi ting others.
LEARNING ROADMAP Fiedler’s Leadership Contingency View / Path-Goal View of Leadership / Hersey and Blanchard Situational Leadership Model / Substitutes for Leadership
Situational Contingency Leadership
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Situational Contingency Leadership 297
demands of the situation.15 Specifi cally, Fiedler considers situational control—the extent to which a leader can determine what his or her group is going to do—and leader style as important in determining the outcomes of the group’s actions and decisions.
To measure a person’s leadership style, Fiedler uses an instrument called the least–preferred co-worker (LPC) scale. Respondents are asked to describe the person with whom they have been able to work least well—their least preferred co-worker, or LPC—using a series of adjectives such as the following two:
Unfriendly ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Friendly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pleasant ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Unpleasant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Fiedler argues that high-LPC leaders (those describing their LPC very posi- tively) have a relationship-motivated style, whereas low-LPC leaders have a task- motivated style. Because LPC is a style and does not change across settings, the leaders’ actions vary depending on the degree of situational control. Specifi cally, a task-motivated leader (low LPC) tends to be nondirective in high- and low- control situations, and directive in those in between. A relationship-motivated leader tends to be the opposite. Confused? Take a look at Figure 13.2 to clarify the differences between high-LPC leaders and low-LPC leaders.
Figure 13.2 shows the task-motivated leader as being more effective when the situation is high and low control, and the relationship-motivated leader as being more effective when the situation is moderate control. The fi gure also shows that Fiedler measures situational control with the following variables:
• Leader-member relations (good/poor)—membership support for the leader
• Task structure (high/low)—spelling out the leader’s task goals, procedures, and guidelines in the group
• Position power (strong/weak)—the leader’s task expertise and reward or punishment authority
• Situational control is the extent to which leaders can determine what their groups are going to do and what the outcomes of their actions are going to be. • The least-preferred co-worker (LPC) scale is a measure of a person’s leadership style based on a description of the person with whom respondents have been able to work least well.
1 2 3
Task-Motivated
Leader
Leader–Member Relations
Task Structure
Position Power
Relationship-
Motivated Leader
Good
High Low
Weak StrongStrong
High-Control
Situations
4 5 6 7
Good Poor
High LowLow
WeakWeak StrongStrong
Moderate-Control
Situations
8
Poor
Low
Weak
Low-Control
Situations
Figure 13.2 Fiedler’s situational variables and their preferred leadership styles.
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298 13 Leadership Essentials
Consider an experienced and well-trained production supervisor of a group that is responsible for manufacturing a part for a personal computer. The leader is highly supported by his group members and can grant raises and make hiring and fi ring decisions. This supervisor has very high situational control and is oper- ating in situation 1 in Figure 13.2. For such high-control situations, a task-oriented leader style is predicted as the most effective. Now consider the opposite setting. Think of the chair of a student council committee of volunteers who are unhappy about this person being the chair. They have the low-structured task of organizing a Parents’ Day program to improve university–parent relations. This low-control situation also calls for a task-motivated leader who needs to behave directively to keep the group together and focus on the task; in fact, the situation demands it. Finally, consider a well-liked academic department chair who is in charge of determining the fi nal list of students who will receive departmental honors at the end of the academic year. This is a moderate-control situation with good leader– member relations, low-task structure, and weak position power, calling for a relationship-motivated leader. The leader should emphasize nondirective and considerate relationships with the faculty.
Fiedler’s Cognitive Resource Perspective Fiedler later developed a cogni- tive resource perspective that built on his earlier model.16 Cognitive resources are abilities or competencies. According to this approach, whether a leader should use directive or nondirective behavior depends on the following situational con- tingencies: (1) the leader’s or subordinates’ ability or competency, (2) stress, (3) experience, and (4) group support of the leader. Cognitive resource theory is useful because it directs us to leader or subordinate group-member ability, an aspect not typically considered in other leadership approaches.
The theory views directiveness as most helpful for performance when the leader is competent, relaxed, and supported. In this case, the group is ready, and directiveness is the clearest means of communication. When the leader feels stressed, his or her attention is diverted. In this case, experience is more impor- tant than ability. If support is low, then the group is less receptive, and the leader has less impact. Group-member ability becomes most important when the leader is nondirective and receives strong support from group members. If support is weak, then task diffi culty or other factors have more impact than either the leader or the subordinates.
Evaluation and Application The roots of Fiedler’s contingency approach date back to the 1960s and have elicited both positive and negative reactions. The biggest controversy concerns exactly what Fiedler’s LPC instrument mea- sures. Some question Fiedler’s behavioral interpretations that link the style mea- sure with leader behavior in all eight conditions. Furthermore, the approach makes the most accurate predictions in situations 1 and 8 and 4 and 5; results are less consistent in the other situations.17 Tests regarding cognitive resources have shown mixed results.18
In terms of application, Fiedler has developed leader match training, which Sears, Roebuck and Co. and other organizations have used. Leaders are trained to diagnose the situation in order to “match” their LPC score. The red arrows in Figure 13.2 suggest a “match.” In cases with no “match,” the training shows how each of these situational control variables can be changed to obtain a match. For instance, a leader with a low LPC and in setting 4 could change the position
• In leader match training, leaders are
trained to diagnose the situation to match their
high and low LPC scores with situational control.
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Situational Contingency Leadership 299
power to strong and gain a “match.” Another way of getting a match is through leader selection or placement based on LPC scores.19 For example, a low LPC leader would be selected for a position with high situational control, as in our earlier example of the manufacturing supervisor. A number of studies have been designed to test this leader match training. Although they are not uniformly sup- portive, more than a dozen such tests have found increases in group effectiveness following the training.20
We conclude that although unanswered questions concerning Fiedler’s con- tingency theory remain, especially concerning the meaning of LPC, the perspec- tive and the leader match program have relatively strong support.21 The approach and training program are especially useful in encouraging situational contingency thinking.
Finding the Leader in You LOOKING FOR LEADER MATCH AT GOOGLE The news came as a surprise: Eric Schmidt was out as CEO of Google, and Larry Page was in. Schmidt had been brought in by board of directors in 2001 to provide “adult supervision” to then 27-year-old founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. For 10 years Google’s management structure was described as some- thing of a three-ring circus, with co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin running the business behind the scenes, and Schmidt as the public face. Now, the three decided, it was time for Page to take the stage.
“For the last 10 years, we have all been equally involved in making decisions. This triumvirate approach has real benefi ts in terms
In many ways, Page is taking over at an ideal time. Google’s business is doing well, with the company reporting revenues of $29.3 billion, up 24 percent from the year before and profi ts soaring. But the concern isn’t for the present; it is for the future. As reported in Newsweek, “there has been a gnawing sense that Google’s best days may be behind it.” Google is facing tough competition from Face- book and Microsoft, and has been losing top talent to younger tech shops.
Page’s job is clear: Shake things up and knock loose some new ideas. But it’s a risky move. As reported in Newsweek, “Page is a computer scientist, not a business strategist. And not all founders make great leaders. Page is no Steve Jobs.”
Steve Jobs or not, Page is a brilliant entrepreneur who has been heavily involved in running the business and gets along well with the engineers. The question now is whether the new leader- ship structure will work, and if Google has found its match between leader capabilities and company needs.
of shared wisdom, and we will con- tinue to discuss the big decisions among the three of us. But we have also agreed to clarify our individual roles so there’s clear responsibility and accountability at the top of the company,” said Eric Schmidt.
The objective is to simplify the management structure and speed up decision making. “Larry will now lead product development and technology strategy, his greatest strengths . . . and he will take charge of our day-to-day operations as Google’s Chief Executive Offi cer,” according to Schmidt.
That leaves Sergey Brin, with title of co-founder, to focus on strategic projects and new products, and Schmidt to serve as executive
chairman, working externally on deals, partnerships, customers, and government outreach. As described on the offi cial Google blog, “We are confi dent that this focus will serve Google and our users well in the future.”
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Path-Goal View of Leadership
Another well-known approach to situational contingencies is one developed by Robert House based on the earlier work of others.22 House’s path-goal view of managerial leadership has its roots in the expectancy model of motivation dis- cussed in Chapter 5. The term path-goal is used because of its emphasis on how a leader infl uences subordinates’ perceptions of both work goals and personal goals, and the links, or paths, found between these two sets of goals.
The theory assumes that a leader’s key function is to adjust his or her behav- iors to complement situational contingencies, such as those found in the work setting. House argues that when the leader is able to compensate for things lack- ing in the setting, subordinates are likely to be satisfi ed with the leader. For example, the leader could help remove job ambiguity or show how good perfor- mance could lead to an increase in pay. Performance should improve as the paths by which (1) effort leads to performance—expectancy—and (2) performance leads to valued rewards—instrumentality—become clarifi ed.
House’s approach is summarized in Figure 13.3. The fi gure shows four types of leader behavior (directive, supportive, achievement-oriented, and participative) and two categories of situational contingency variables (follower attributes and work-setting attributes). The leader behaviors are adjusted to complement the situational contingency variables in order to infl uence subordinate satisfaction, acceptance of the leader, and motivation for task performance.
Before delving into the dynamics of the House model, it is important to understand each component. Directive leadership has to do with spelling out the subordinates’ tasks; it is much like the initiating structure mentioned earlier. Supportive leadership focuses on subordinate needs and well-being and on promoting a friendly work climate; it is similar to consideration. Achievement- oriented leadership emphasizes setting challenging goals, stressing excellence in performance, and showing confi dence in the group members’ ability to achieve high standards of performance. Participative leadership focuses on consulting with subordinates, and seeking and taking their suggestions into account before making decisions.
• Path-goal view of managerial leadership
assumes that a leader’s key function is to adjust his or
her behaviors to complement situational
contingencies.
• Directive leadership spells out the what and
how of subordinates’ tasks. • Supportive leadership
focuses on subordinate needs, well-being, and
promotion of a friendly work climate.
• Achievement-oriented leadership emphasizes
setting goals, stressing excellence, and showing
confi dence in people’s ability to achieve high
standards of performance. • Participative
leadership focuses on consulting with subordinates and seeking and taking their
suggestions into account before making decisions.
Leadership Factors
Subordinate Outcomes
Leadership Behaviors:
Directive Supportive Achievement–oriented Participative
Job Satisfaction:
Job leads to valued rewards
Contingency Factors
Follower Attributes:
Authoritarianism Internal–external orientation Ability
Work-Setting
Attributes:
Task Formal authority system Primary workgroup
Acceptance of Leader:
Leader leads to valued rewards
Motivational Behavior:
Expectancy that effort leads to performance Instrumentality that such performance is the path to valued rewards
Figure 13.3 Summary of major path-goal relationships in House’s leadership approach.
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Situational Contingency Leadership 301
Important subordinate characteristics are authoritarianism (close-mindedness, rigidity), internal-external orientation (i.e., locus of control), and ability. The key work-setting factors are the nature of the subordinates’ tasks (task structure), the formal authority system, and the primary workgroup.
Predictions from Path-Goal Theory Directive leadership is predicted to have a positive impact on subordinates when the task is ambiguous; it is predicted to have just the opposite effect for clear tasks. In addition, the theory predicts that when ambiguous tasks are being performed by highly authoritarian and closed- minded subordinates, even more directive leadership is called for.
Supportive leadership is predicted to increase the satisfaction of subordinates who work on highly repetitive tasks or on tasks considered to be unpleasant, stressful, or frustrating. In this situation the leader’s supportive behavior helps compensate for adverse conditions. For example, many would consider tradi- tional assembly-line jobs to be highly repetitive, perhaps even unpleasant or frustrating. A supportive supervisor could help make these jobs more enjoyable. Achievement-oriented leadership is predicted to encourage subordinates to strive for higher performance standards and to have more confi dence in their ability to meet challenging goals. For subordinates in ambiguous, nonrepetitive jobs, achievement-oriented leadership should increase their expectations that effort leads to desired performance.
Participative leadership is predicted to promote satisfaction on nonrepetitive tasks that allow for the ego involvement of subordinates. For example, on a chal- lenging research project, participation allows employees to feel good about deal- ing independently with the demands of the project. On repetitive tasks, open- minded or nonauthoritarian subordinates will also be satisfi ed with a participative leader. On a task where employees screw nuts on bolts hour after hour, for example, those who are nonauthoritarian will appreciate having a leader who allows them to get involved in ways that may help break up the monotony.
Evaluation and Application House’s path-goal approach has been with us for more than 30 years. Early work provided some support for the theory in general and for the particular predictions discussed earlier.23 However, current assessments by well-known scholars have pointed out that many aspects have not been tested adequately, and there is very little current research concerning the theory.24 House recently revised and extended path-goal theory into the theory of work-unit lead- ership. It’s beyond our scope to discuss the details of this new theory, but as a base the new theory expands the list of leader behaviors beyond those in path-goal theory, including aspects of both leadership theory and emerging challenges of leadership.25 It remains to be seen how much research it will generate.
In terms of application there is enough support for the original path-goal theory to suggest two possibilities. First, training could be used to change leader- ship behavior to fi t the situational contingencies. Second, the leader could be taught to diagnose the situation and learn how to try to change the contingencies, as in leader match.
Hersey and Blanchard Situational Leadership Model
Like other situational contingency approaches, the situational leadership model developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard indicates that there is
• The situational leadership model focuses on the situational contingency of maturity or “readiness” of followers.
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no single best way to lead.26 Hersey and Blanchard focus on the situational con- tingency of maturity, or “readiness,” of followers, in particular. Readiness is the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specifi c task. Hersey and Blanchard argue that “situational” leadership requires adjusting the leader’s emphasis on task behaviors—for instance, giving guidance and direction— and relationship behaviors—for example, providing socioemotional support— according to the readiness of followers to perform their tasks. Figure 13.4 identi- fi es four leadership styles: delegating, participating, selling, and telling. Each emphasizes a different combination of task and relationship behaviors by the leader. The fi gure also suggests the following situational matches as the best choice of leadership style for followers at each of four readiness levels.
A “telling” style (S1) is best for low follower readiness (R1). The direction provided by this style defi nes roles for people who are unable and unwill- ing to take responsibility themselves; it eliminates any insecurity about the task that must be done.
OB IN POPULAR CULTURE
PATH-GOAL AND REMEMBER THE TITANS
A leader following the Path-Goal View will adjust her or his style in response to a number of situations that may exist. If followers lack ability, a directive style might be used. If the work is unpleasant, a supportive approach is needed. Achievement-oriented and participative styles can be used to increase follower motivation. A leader must be aware of the conditions that exist and help clear the paths that lead followers to achieve goals (both individual and organizational).
In Remember the Titans, legendary Coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) has a daunting task. In assuming the position of head football coach at the newly integrated T.C. Williams High School, he
demonstrates Path-Goal leadership. Boone knows that many of the players will not respect a “colored” coach. When it comes to practice, he uses a very directive leadership style—my way or else, get the plays right or expect to run. At the same time, he respects the diffi cul- ties his players face. When Louie Lastik (Ethan Suplee) says he does not have the grades to go to college, Boone whispers that they will work on his grades together because he does not want that to keep Lastik from going to college. “Let’s just keep that between you and me,” he adds at the end.
Herman Boone clearly knew when to be tough and when to use a softer, more under- standing approach. He was clearly the leader, making tough decisions even in situations involving assistant coaches and star players. Still, he recognized the impact his leadership would have on the lives of the young men who played for him.
Get to Know Yourself Better Coach Boone was an effective coach because he knew what it took to get a team in shape and meet the individual needs of his players. What about you? Complete Assessment 11, Leadership Style, in the OB Skills Work- book to see if your concern for task is balanced in terms of your concern for people. Too much emphasis on one aspect over the other could lead to problems. Can you show enough concern for individuals and still keep them focused on getting the job done?
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Situational Contingency Leadership 303
A “selling” style (S2) is best for low-to-moderate follower readiness (R2). This style offers both task direction and support for people who are unable but willing to take task responsibility; it involves combining a directive approach with explanation and reinforcement in order to maintain enthusiasm.
A “participating” style (S3) is best for moderate-to-high follower readiness (R3). Able but unwilling followers require supportive behavior in order to increase their motivation; by allowing followers to share in decision mak- ing, this style helps enhance the desire to perform a task.
A “delegating” style (S4) is best for high readiness (R4). This style provides little in terms of direction and support for the task at hand; it allows able and willing followers to take responsibility for what needs to be done.
This situational leadership approach requires that the leader develop the capa- bility to diagnose the demands of situations and then choose and implement the
LEADER BEHAVIOR
Low High
L o w
H ig
h
Task Behavior Guidance
Relationship Behavior
Supportive Behavior S2S3
S1S4
Explain decisions and provide opportunity
for clarification
Share ideas and facilitate in decision making
Provide specific instructions and closely supervise performance
Turn over responsibility
for decisions and implementation
Follower Readiness
R4 R3 R2 R1
Able and Willing or Confident
Able but Unwilling or Insecure
Unable but Willing or Confident
Unable or Unwilling or Insecure
T e llin
g
S e llin
g
P a rt
ic ip
a ti n g
D e le
g a ti n
g
Figure 13.4 Hersey and Blanchard model of situational leadership.
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appropriate leadership response. The model gives specifi c attention to followers and their feelings about the task at hand and suggests that effective leaders focus on emerging changes in the level of readiness of the people involved in the work.
In spite of its considerable history and incorporation into training programs by a large number of fi rms, this situational leadership approach has received very little systematic research attention.27
Substitutes for Leadership
A fi nal situational contingency approach is leadership substitutes.28 Scholars using this approach have developed a perspective indicating that sometimes managerial leadership makes essentially no difference. These researchers contend that cer- tain individuals, jobs, and organization variables can serve as substitutes for lead- ership or neutralize a managerial leader’s impact on subordinates. Some examples of these variables are shown in Figure 13.5.
Substitutes for leadership make a leader’s infl uence either unnecessary or redundant in that they replace the leader’s infl uence. For example, in Figure 13.5 it will be unnecessary and perhaps impossible for a leader to provide the kind of task-oriented direction already available from an experienced, talented, and well- trained subordinate. In contrast, neutralizers can prevent a leader from behaving in a certain way or nullify the effects of a leader’s actions. If a leader has little formal authority or is physically separated, for example, his or her leadership may be neutralized even though task supportiveness may still be needed.
• Substitutes for leadership make a leader’s
infl uence either unnecessary or redundant
in that they replace a leader’s infl uence.
Professional orientation
Indifference toward organizational rewards
Experience, ability, training Substitutes for task-oriented leadership
Substitutes for task-oriented and supportive leadership
Neutralizes task-oriented and supportive leadership
Characteristics of Individuals Impact on Leadership
Highly structured/routine Substitutes for task-oriented leadership
Intrinsically satisfying Substitutes for supportive leadership
Characteristics of Job
Substitutes for task-oriented and supportive leadership
Neutralizes task-oriented and supportive leadership
Neutralizes task-oriented and supportive leadership
Cohesive workgroup
Low leader position power
Leader physically separated
Characteristics of Organization
Figure 13.5 Some examples of leadership substitutes and neutralizers.
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Follower-Centered Approaches 305
Research suggests some support for the general notion of substitutes for lead- ership.29 First, studies involving Mexican, U.S., and Japanese workers suggests both similarities and differences between various substitutes in the countries examined. Again, there were subtle but important differences across the national samples. Second, a systematic review of 17 studies found mixed results for the substitutes theory. The review suggested a need to broaden the list of substitutes and leader behaviors. It was also apparent that the approach is especially impor- tant in examining self-directed work teams. In such teams, for example, in place of a hierarchical leader specifying standards and ways of achieving goals (task- oriented behaviors), the team might set its own standards and substitute them for those of the leader’s.
Central to the substitutes for leadership perspective is the question of whether leadership makes a difference at all levels of the organization. At least one researcher has suggested that at the very top of today’s complex fi rms, the leader- ship of the CEO makes little difference compared to environmental and industry forces.30 These leaders are typically accountable to so many groups of people for the resources they use that their leadership impact is greatly constrained, so the argument goes. Instead of a dramatic and an important effect, much of the impact a top leader has is little more than symbolic. Further, much of what is described as CEO leadership is actually part of explanations to legitimize their actions.
Such symbolic treatment of leadership occurs particularly when performance is either extremely high or extremely low or when the situation is such that many people could have been responsible for the performance. The late James Meindl and his colleagues call this phenomenon the romance of leadership, whereby people attribute romantic, almost magical, qualities to leadership.31 Consider the fi ring of a baseball manager or football coach whose team does not perform well. Neither the owner nor anyone else is really sure why the poor showing occurred. But the owner can’t fi re all the players, so a new team manager is brought in to symbolize “a change in leadership” that is “sure to turn the team around.”
• Romance of leadership involves people attributing romantic, almost magical, qualities to leadership.
So far we have dealt with leader traits, leader behavior, and the situations facing the leader and his or her subordinates. But what about followers and their part in the leadership process? Interestingly, until very recently, issues of followership have been largely ignored in leadership research. It seems that our fascination with leaders has caused us to overlook the importance of followers. As discussed in this section, this issue is addressed in cognitive approaches to leadership, but is also becoming its own fi eld of study in newly emerging work on followership.
Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs)
In the mid-1970s, Dov Eden and Uri Leviatan32 wrote an article in which they concluded that “leadership factors are in the mind of the respondent.” This radical idea sparked what is known as the cognitive revolution in leadership, in which researchers recognized that if leadership resides in the minds of followers, then it is imperative to discover what followers are thinking.33
LEARNING ROADMAP Implicit Leadership Theories / Implicit Followership Theories
Follower-Centered Approaches
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Scholars began using cognitive categorization theory to learn more about how followers process information regarding leaders.34 Recall from Chapter 4 on perception and attribution that cognitive categorization is a type of mental short- cut that helps us simplify our cognitive understanding of the world by attaching labels when we are faced with a stimulus target. For example, think about your fi rst day of class. Did you look around the room and fi nd yourself making assess- ments of the teacher, and even your classmates? Were your assessments accurate? This is the process of cognitive categorization, and it occurs automatically and spontaneously when individuals categorize others on the basis of visually salient cues (e.g., age, race, gender, and appearance) and social roles (e.g., leader and follower). We do it because it helps us process and act on information quickly and easily.
Leadership Categorization Theory In leadership research, these ideas developed into leadership categorization theory. According to this theory, indi- viduals naturally classify people as leaders or nonleaders using implicit theo- ries. Implicit leadership theories are preconceived notions about the attributes (e.g., traits and behaviors) associated with leaders.35 They refl ect the structure and content of “cognitive categories” used to distinguish leaders from nonleaders.
These attributes, or leadership prototypes, are mental images of the charac- teristics that make a “good” leader, or that a “real” leader would possess. Indi- viduals engage in a two-stage categorization process.36 First, relevant prototypes, such as those shown in Table 13.1, are activated and the target person is com- pared with the prototype. Second, the target person is categorized as a leader or nonleader depending on the fi t with the prototype.
For example, think of someone you consider to be a great leader. Make a list of attributes you associate with that person as a leader. These images that come to mind represent your implicit theory of leadership. The words you listed repre- sent your “prototypes” for effective leadership. Now look at Table 13.1. Are the attributes you listed in the table? Chances are they are in the list, which is a mea- sure of the implicit leadership theories developed in research by Lynn Offermann and colleagues.38
• Implicit leadership theories are preconceived notions about the attributes associated with leaders that
refl ect the structure and content of “cognitive
categories” used to distinguish leaders from
nonleaders. • Prototypes are a mental image of the characteristics
that comprise an implicit theory.
Prototype Description
Sensitivity Sympathetic, sensitive, compassionate, understanding
Dedication Dedicated, disciplined, prepared, hard-working
Tyranny Domineering, power-hungry, pushy, manipulative
Charisma Charismatic, inspiring, involved, dynamic
Attractiveness Attractive, classy, well-dressed, tall
Masculinity Male, masculine
Intelligence Intelligent, clever, knowledgeable, wise
Strength Strong, forceful, bold, powerful
Table 13.1 Implicit Leadership Theories Prototypes
Source: Offermann, L. R., Kennedy, John K., Jr., & Wirtz, P. W. (1994). Implicit leadership theories: Content, structure, and generalizability. Leadership Quarterly, 5, 43–58.
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Follower-Centered Approaches 307
Through sampling individuals about their implicit theories, research has identifi ed eight predominant factors, both positive and negative, in peoples’ images of leaders: sensitivity, dedication, tyranny, charisma, attractiveness, mas- culinity, intelligence, and strength. The prototypes show that people view lead- ers in a positive fashion and hold them to high standards. However, the negative prototypes also reveal that people recognize the possibility for leaders, who are in positions of power, to use that power negatively, such as to dominate, control, and manipulate others.
Since these factors were developed from an American sample, we should expect differences in prototypes by country and by national culture. For example, a typical business leader prototype in Japan is described as responsible, educated, trustworthy, intelligent, and disciplined, whereas the counterpart in the United States is portrayed as determined, goal-oriented, verbally skilled, industrious, and persistent.39 More in-depth insights on such prototypes, as related to culture, are provided by the broadscale Project GLOBE discussed in the next chapter.
Implicit Followership Theories
Although research on implicit theories has been around since the early 1980s, it wasn’t until 2010 that these ideas were applied to followers. This work is now rapidly developing as the study of followership. Followership is defi ned as the behaviors of individuals acting in relation to leaders.40 To understand these behav- iors, researchers are investigating whether an association exists between follow- ers’ implicit theories and the nature of their interactions with leaders.
Followership Categorization Theory Paralleling the approach described earlier in leadership categorization theory, Dr. Thomas Sy developed a measure of implicit followership theory (IFT) that we can refer to as followership cat- egorization theory.41 Again using the concept of implicit theories, this research gathered the prototypical behavior of followers as described by leaders.
Using a sample of managers, the investigator asked leaders to identify char- acteristics associated with effective followers, ineffective followers, and subordi- nates. He then analyzed the responses to see whether categories of prototypes emerged. The result, as shown in Table 13.2, is an 18-item implicit followership
• Followership is defi ned as the behaviors of individuals acting in relation to leaders.
• Implicit followership theories are preconceived notions about prototypical and antiprototypical followership behaviors and characteristics.
Prototypical/
Antiprototypical Category Description
Prototypical Industry Hardworking, Productive, Goes above and beyond
Prototypical Enthusiasm Excited, Outgoing, Happy
Prototypical Good Citizen Loyal, Reliable, Team player
Antiprototypical Conformity Easily infl uenced, Follows trends, Soft spoken
Antiprototypical Insubordination Arrogant, Rude, Bad Tempered
Antiprototypical Incompetence Uneducated, Slow, Inexperienced
Table 13.2 Implicit Followership Theories Prototypes and Antiprototypes
Source: Sy, T. (2010). What do you think of followers? Examining the content, structure, and consequences of implicit followership theories. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 113(2), 73–84.
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theory (IFT) scale that contains two main factors: followership prototype and fol- lowership antiprototype. Followership prototype consists of factors associated with good followers, including being “industrious,” having enthusiasm, and being a good organizational citizen. Followership antiprototype consists of behaviors associated with ineffective followership, including conformity, insubordination, and incompetence.
Although this work is very new, it has important practical implications. For example, if we think about leaders and recognize they have implicit theories of followers represented by follower prototypes, these prototypes may play a key role in shaping leaders’ judgments of and reactions to followers. Remember that categorization processes are spontaneous and automatic. This suggests that lead- ers make assessments of followers very quickly and very early on in the relation- ship. Followers who fulfi ll leaders’ prototypes will be judged more positively than those who match the follower antiprototype. It could also be that leaders’ implicit followership theories (IFTs) may predispose them to certain socioemotional experiences. For example, leaders who endorse more prototypic perceptions of followers may be more likely to generate more positive affective tones in their workgroups, whereas leaders who endorse more antiprototypic perceptions of followers may generate more negative emotion with the group.
The Social Construction of Followership Using a somewhat different approach, Melissa Carsten and colleagues are exploring followership through a lens of “social construction.”42 According to social construction approaches, individual behavior is “constructed” in context, as people act and interact in situations. Social constructions are infl uenced by two things: the individuals’ implicit theories about how they should act, and the nature of the situation in which they fi nd themselves. For example, have you ever been in situations where you think you should do one thing but fi nd yourself doing another? This is because your implicit belief is interacting with the situation to infl uence your behavior.
Using a social construction approach, Carsten and colleagues found that fol- lowers tend to act in different ways according to their beliefs and the context. Some followers hold passive beliefs, viewing their roles in the classic sense of following—as passive, deferential, and obedient to authority (i.e., a passive belief). Others hold proactive beliefs, viewing their role as expressing opinions, taking initiative, and constructively questioning and challenging leaders (i.e., a proactive belief). These proactive followership beliefs more closely resemble leading (e.g., followers acting as leaders) than following. Not surprisingly, proac- tive beliefs were found to be strong among “high potentials”—people who have been identifi ed by their organizations as demonstrating the skills and capabilities to be promoted to higher-level leadership positions in their organization. This makes sense. It suggests that one key to advancement in organizations is being able to demonstrate the ability to lead not only downward, but upward.
Because social construction is dependent on context, fi ndings also show that not everyone is able to act according to their followership beliefs. This occurs when the work environment does not support the belief. Individuals holding proactive beliefs reported they could not be proactive when they were operating in authoritarian or bureaucratic work climates because these environments sup- pressed their ability to take the initiative and speak up. In this environment they were frustrated—they felt stifl ed and were not able to work to their potential.
• Social construction approaches describe
individual behavior as “constructed” in context, as
people act and interact in situations.
• Passive followership beliefs are beliefs that
followers should be passive, deferent, and obedient to authority.
• Proactive followership beliefs are beliefs that
followers should express opinions, take initiative,
and constructively question and challenge leaders.
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Inspirational and Relational Leadership Perspectives 309
Alternatively, individuals with passive beliefs reported cases where an empower- ing climate encouraged them to offer ideas and opinions, but these situations were uncomfortable because their natural inclinations as followers were to follow rather than be empowered. They were stressed by leaders’ demands that they be more proactive, and weren’t comfortable engaging in those behaviors. These cases of mismatch created dissonance for these individuals, leading to varying levels of stress and discontent.
Although this work is still developing, similar to discussions of the impor- tance of person–job fi t, when the mismatch between one’s followership beliefs and the work context is ongoing and pervasive it is likely to create strong feelings of dissonance. These feelings can be detrimental to workplace functioning, such as making one dissatisfi ed or highly stressed in their job, and potentially leading to high levels of burnout.
The role of the follower is also considered in inspirational and relational perspec- tives to leadership. Like follower-centered approaches, these perspectives con- sider how followers view and interact with leaders.
Charismatic Leadership
One of the reasons leadership is considered so important is simply because most of us think of leaders as highly inspirational individuals—heroes and heroines. We think of prominent individuals who appear to have made a signifi cant differ- ence by inspiring followers to work toward great accomplishments. In the study of leadership, this inspirational aspect has been studied extensively under the notions of charismatic leadership.
Studies of charismatic leadership have provided an extensive body of evi- dence indicating that charismatic leaders, by force of their personal abilities, are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers.43 Find- ings show that charismatic leaders are high in need for power and have high feelings of self-effi cacy and conviction in the moral rightness of their beliefs. Their need for power motivates them to want to be leaders, and this need is then reinforced by their conviction of the moral rightness of their beliefs. The feeling of self-effi cacy, in turn, makes these individuals believe they are capable of being leaders. These traits also infl uence such charismatic behaviors as role modeling, image building, articulating simple and dramatic goals, emphasizing high expec- tations, showing confi dence, and arousing follower motives.
Some of the more interesting and important work based on aspects of charis- matic theory involves a study of U.S. presidents.44 The research showed that behav- ioral charisma was substantially related to presidential performance and that the kind of personality traits described in the theory, along with response to crisis among other things, predicted behavioral charisma for the sample of presidents.45
The charisma trait also has a potential negative side as seen in infamous lead- ers such as Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, who had been considered charismatic.
• Charismatic leaders are those leaders who are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers.
LEARNING ROADMAP Charismatic Leadership / Transactional and Transformational Leadership / Leader–Member Exchange Theory
Inspirational and Relational Leadership Perspectives
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Negative, or “dark-side,” charismatic leaders emphasize personalized power and focus on themselves—whereas positive, or “bright-side,” charismatic leaders emphasize socialized power that tends to positively empower their followers.46 This helps explain the differences between a dark-side leader such as David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian sect, and a bright-side leader such as Martin Luther King Jr.47
Jay Conger and Rabindra Kanungo have developed a three-stage charismatic leadership model.48 In the initial stage the leader critically evaluates the status quo. Defi ciencies in the status quo lead to formulations of future goals. Before developing these goals, the leader assesses available resources and constraints that stand in the way of the goals. The leader also assesses follower abilities, needs, and satisfaction levels. In the second stage, the leader formulates and articulates the goals along with an idealized future vision. Here, the leader empha- sizes articulation and impression-management skills. Then, in the third stage, the leader shows how these goals and the vision can be achieved. The leader empha- sizes innovative and unusual means to achieve the vision.
Martin Luther King Jr. illustrated these three stages in his nonviolent civil rights approach, thereby changing race relations in this country. Conger and Kanungo have argued that if leaders use behaviors such as vision articulation, environmental sensitivity, and unconventional behavior, rather than maintaining the status quo, followers will tend to attribute charismatic leadership to them. Such leaders are also seen as behaving quite differently from those labeled “non- charismatic.”49
Transactional and Transformational Leadership
Building on notions originated by James MacGregor Burns, as well as on ideas from charismatic leadership theory, Bernard Bass has developed an approach that focuses on both transactional and transformational leadership.50
Transactional Leadership Transactional leadership involves leader–follower exchanges necessary for achieving routine performance agreed upon between lead- ers and followers. Transactional leadership is similar to most of the leadership approaches mentioned earlier. These exchanges involve four dimensions:
1. Contingent rewards—various kinds of rewards in exchange for mutually agreed-upon goal accomplishment.
2. Active management by exception—watching for deviations from rules and standards and taking corrective action.
3. Passive management by exception—intervening only if standards not met. 4. Laissez-faire—abdicating responsibilities and avoiding decisions.
Transformational leadership goes beyond this routine accomplishment, how- ever. For Bass, transformational leadership occurs when leaders broaden and elevate their followers’ interests, when they generate awareness and acceptance of the group’s purposes and mission, and when they stir their followers to look beyond their own self-interests to the good of others.
Transformational Leadership Transformational leadership has four dimen- sions: charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration.
• Transactional leadership involves
leader–follower exchanges necessary for achieving
routine performance agreed upon between leaders and followers.
• Transformational leadership occurs when
leaders broaden and elevate followers’ interests and stir followers to look
beyond their own interests to the good of others.
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Inspirational and Relational Leadership Perspectives 311
Charisma provides vision and a sense of mission, and it instills pride along with follower respect and trust. For example, Steve Jobs, who founded Apple Com- puter, showed charisma by emphasizing the importance of creating the Macintosh as a radical new computer and has since followed up with products such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
Inspiration communicates high expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts, and expresses important purposes in simple ways. As an example, in the movie Patton, George C. Scott stood on a stage in front of his troops with a wall-sized American fl ag in the background and ivory-handled revolvers in holsters at his side. Soldiers were told not to die for their country but make the enemy die for theirs. Intellectual stimulation promotes intelligence, rationality, and careful problem solving. For instance, your boss encourages you to look at a very diffi - cult problem in a new way. Individualized consideration provides personal attention, treats each employee individually, and coaches and advises. This occurs, for example, when your boss drops by and makes remarks reinforcing your worth as a person.
Bass concludes that transformational leadership is likely to be strongest at the top-management level, where there is the greatest opportunity for propos- ing and communicating a vision. However, for Bass, it is not restricted to the top level; it is found throughout the organization. Furthermore, transforma- tional leadership operates in combination with transactional leadership. Lead- ers need both transformational and transactional leadership in order to be successful, just as they need to display both leadership and management abilities.51
Reviews have summarized a large number of studies using Bass’s transforma- tional approach. These reviews report signifi cant favorable relationships between Bass’s leadership dimensions and various aspects of performance and satisfac- tion, as well as extra effort, burnout and stress, and predispositions to act as innovation champions on the part of followers. The strongest relationships tend to be associated with charisma or inspirational leadership, although in most cases the other dimensions are also important. These fi ndings are consistent with those reported elsewhere.52 They broaden leadership outcomes beyond those cited in many leadership studies.
Issues in Charismatic and Transformational Leadership In respect to leaders and leadership development, it is reasonable to ask: Can people be trained in charismatic/transformational leadership? According to research in this area, the answer is yes. Bass and his colleagues have put a lot of work into devel- oping such training efforts. For example, they have created a workshop where leaders are given initial feedback on their scores on Bass’s measures. The leaders then devise improvement programs to strengthen their weaknesses and work with the trainers to develop their leadership skills. Bass and Avolio report fi ndings that demonstrate the benefi cial effects of this training. They also report the effec- tiveness of team training and programs tailored to individual fi rms’ needs.53 Simi- larly, Conger and Kanungo propose training to develop the kinds of behaviors summarized in their model.
Approaches with special emphasis on vision often emphasize training. Kouzes and Posner report results of a week-long training program at AT&T. The program involved training leaders on fi ve dimensions oriented around develop- ing, communicating, and reinforcing a shared vision. According to Kouzes and
• Charisma provides vision and a sense of mission, and it instills pride along with follower respect and trust. • Inspiration communicates high expectations, uses symbols to focus efforts, and expresses important purposes in simple ways. • Intellectual stimulation promotes intelligence, rationality and careful problem solving, by for example, encouraging looking at a very diffi cult problem in a new way. • Individualized consideration provides personal attention, treats each employee individually, and coaches and advises.
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Posner, leaders showed an average 15 percent increase in these visionary behaviors 10 months after participating in the program.54 Similarly, Sashkin and Sashkin have developed a leadership approach that emphasizes various aspects of vision and organizational culture change. They discuss a number of ways to train leaders to be more visionary and to enhance cultural change.55 All of these leadership training programs involve a heavy hands-on workshop emphasis so that leaders do more than just read about vision.
ETHICS IN OB
CEO PAY—IS IT EXCESSIVE?
In corporate America today, there seems to be a perception that CEOs have a tremendous infl uence on company success, whereas workers are more or less interchangeable. In fact, CEO compensation is typically over 260 times greater than the compensation provided to the median full-time employee. A typical CEO will earn more in one workday than the average worker will earn all year.
While the pay gap between top executives and the average American worker has traditionally been relatively large, it has grown tremendously over the past few decades. For the decade 1995–2005, CEO compensation rose nearly 300 percent while the average employee salary rose less than 5 percent—both
occurring during a timeframe in which average corporate profi ts rose by a little over 100 percent.
In support of rising CEO salaries, the argument has been made that companies have to pay a lot to attract the best executive talent and need to pay for performance. However, pay levels are now such that many CEOs are assured of getting rich no matter how the company performs. In fact, over 80 percent of executives receive bonuses even during down years for the stock market.
In the midst of the recent economic downturn, one might expect this gap to be signifi cantly reduced. Surprisingly, though, that has not occurred, and the pay gap remains very high by historical standards. Many people continue to be shocked by the exorbitant salaries and bonuses received by top executives, especially at a time when many companies are laying off employees and freezing salaries among lower-level workers.
An underlying question seems to be whether it is ethical for a company to eliminate hundreds or thousands of jobs while its CEO remains very highly compensated.
What Do You Think? Is it ethical for executives to reap such high rewards when employees are being laid off and shareholders are seeing little to no return on their investment? Should CEO pay be capped at some multiple of the average worker’s pay? Should CEOs be forced to take a pay cut during this diffi cult fi nancial period? What are the consequences (both positive and negative) of unrestricted CEO sala- ries? If you were the CEO of a company that was struggling fi nancially and was in the process of laying off thousands of employees, would you voluntarily give up some of your compensation?
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Inspirational and Relational Leadership Perspectives 313
A second issue in leadership and leadership development involves this ques- tion: Is charismatic/transformational leadership always good? As pointed out ear- lier, dark-side charismatics, such as Adolf Hitler, can have a negative effect on followers. Similarly, charismatic/transformational leadership is not always helpful. Sometimes emphasis on a vision diverts energy from more important day-to-day activities. It is also important to note that such leadership by itself is not suffi cient. That leadership needs to be used in conjunction with all of the leadership theo- ries discussed in this chapter. Finally, charismatic and transformational leadership is important not only at the top of an organization. A number of experts argue that for an organization to be successful, it must apply at all levels of organiza- tional leadership.
Leader–Member Exchange Theory
While charismatic and inspirational theories emphasize leader behavior, relational leadership theories adopt a different perspective: They view leadership as pro- duced in the relationship between leaders and followers. The most prominent of these theories is leader–member exchange (LMX) theory.
LMX theory shows that leaders develop differentiated relationships with sub- ordinates in their work groups.56 Some relationships are high-quality (high LMX) “partnerships,” characterized by mutual infl uence, trust, respect, and loyalty. These relationships are associated with more challenging job assignments, increased leader attention and support, and more open and honest communica- tion. Other relationships are low quality (low LMX), more in line with traditional supervisory relationships. Low-quality relationships are characterized by formal status and strict adherence to rules of the employment contract. They have low levels of interaction, trust, and support.
According to LMX theory, leadership is generated when leaders and followers are able to develop “incremental infl uence” with one another that produces behavior above and beyond what is required by the work contract. Returning to our discussion of managers and leaders at the beginning of the chapter, we can state that LMX approaches assume that managers are leaders when, through development of high-quality relationships, they are able to generate “willing fol- lowership” with subordinates in their work unit.
These differentiated relationships are important for subordinates because they have strong associations with work outcomes.57 Research shows that high- quality LMX is associated with increased follower satisfaction and productivity, decreased turnover, increased salaries, and faster promotion rates. Low-quality relationships are associated with negative work outcomes, including low job satisfaction and commitment, greater feelings of unfairness, lower performance, and higher stress. Recent discussions of LMX suggest that to generate strong leadership, managers should try to develop high-quality relationships with all subordinates.
The LMX approach continues to receive increasing emphasis in organiza- tional behavior research literature worldwide. The evidence for the benefi ts of high-quality relationships is robust, and the implications for both managers and employees are quite clear. Relationships matter, and working to develop them— whether you are a leader or a follower—is critical in terms of both organizational and personal career outcomes.
• Leader–member exchange (LMX) theory emphasizes the quality of the working relationship between leaders and followers.
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314 13 Leadership Essentials
13 study guide Key Questions and Answers What is leadership?
• Leadership is the process of infl uencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives.
• Leadership and management differ in that management is designed to promote stability or to make the organization run smoothly, whereas the role of leadership is to promote adaptive change.
• Trait or great-person approaches argue that leader traits have a major impact on differentiating between leaders and nonleaders or predicting leadership outcomes.
• Traits are considered relatively innate and hard to change.
• Similar to trait approaches, behavioral theories argue that leader behaviors have a major impact on outcomes.
• The Michigan and Ohio State approaches are important leader behavior theories.
• Leader behavior theories are especially suitable for leadership training.
What is situational contingency leadership?
• Leader situational contingency approaches argue that leadership, in combination with various situational contingency variables, can have a major impact on out- comes.
• The effects of traits are enhanced to the extent of their relevance to the situational contingencies faced by the leader.
• Strong or weak situational contingencies infl uence the impact of leadership traits.
• Fiedler’s contingency theory, House’s path-goal theory, Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory, and substitutes for leadership theory are particularly important specifi c situational contingency approaches.
• Sometimes, as in the case of the substitutes for leadership approach, the role of situational contingencies replaces that of leadership, so that leadership has little or no impact in itself.
What are follower-centered approaches to leadership?
• Follower-centered approaches focus on how followers view leaders and how they view themselves. The former are called implicit leadership theories (ILTs), and the latter are called implicit followership theories (IFTs).
• Implicit leadership theories (ILTs) are part of leadership categorization theory. They describe the cognitive categorization processes individuals use to identify character- istics, or prototypes, of traits and behaviors they associate with leaders (and nonleaders).
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Terms to Know 315
• Typical prototypes of leaders are sensitivity, dedication, tyranny, charisma, attractiveness, masculinity, intelligence, and strength. They refl ect both the positive and negative elements of leaders.
• Followership is defi ned as the behaviors of individuals acting in relation to leaders. Followership categorization theory is the study of implicit followership theories that leaders hold of followers.
• Prototypical follower behaviors have been identifi ed as industriousness (e.g., hard-working), having enthusiasm, and being a good citizen. Follower antiprototypes include conformity, insubordination, and incompetence.
• Implicit followership theories have also been studied relative to social constructions of follower roles. Social construction approaches consider individuals’ beliefs regarding how they should act and the contexts in which they act.
• Social construction perspectives of followership have identifi ed passive and proactive followership beliefs. Passive beliefs are consistent with classic defi nitions of followers as obedient, passive, and deferential, while proactive beliefs refl ect include express- ing opinions, taking the initiative, and constructively challenging leaders.
What are inspirational and relational leadership perspectives?
• Inspirational and relational leadership perspectives focus on how leaders motivate and build relationships with followers to achieve performance beyond expectations.
• Particularly important among inspirational approaches are Bass’s transformational/ transactional theory and House’s and Conger and Kanungo’s charismatic perspectives.
• Transformational behaviors include charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Transactional behaviors include contingent reward, management-by-exception, and laissez-faire leadership.
• Charismatic/transformational leadership is not always good, as shown by the example of Adolf Hitler.
• The most prominent relational leadership theory is leader–member exchange (LMX).
• LMX describes how leaders develop relationships with some subordinates that are high quality and some that are low quality. Subordinates in high-quality relationships receive much better benefi ts and outcomes than those in low-quality LMX.
• The most effective leaders should develop high-quality relationships with all subordinates.
Terms to Know Achievement-oriented
leadership (p. 300) Behavioral perspective (p. 294) Charisma (p. 311) Charismatic leaders (p. 309) Consideration (p. 294) Directive leadership (p. 300) Followership (p. 307)
Implicit followership theories (IFTs) (p. 307)
Implicit leadership theories (ILTs) (p. 306)
Individualized consideration (p. 311) Initiating structure (p. 294) Inspiration (p. 311) Intellectual stimulation (p. 311)
Leader match training (p. 298) Leader–member exchange (LMX)
theory (p. 313) Leadership (p. 292) Leadership grid (p. 294) Least-preferred co-worker (LPC)
scale (p. 297) Participative leadership (p. 300)
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316 13 Leadership Essentials
Passive followership beliefs (p. 308) Path-goal view of managerial
leadership (p. 300) Proactive followership beliefs (p. 308) Prosocial power motivation (p. 296)
Prototypes (p. 306) Romance of leadership (p. 305) Situational control (p. 297) Situational leadership model (p. 301) Social construction (p. 308)
Substitutes for leadership (p. 304) Supportive leadership (p. 300) Trait perspectives (p. 293) Transactional leadership (p. 310) Transformational leadership (p. 310)
Self-Test 13 Multiple Choice
1. Leadership is ____________. (a) equivalent to management (b) being in charge (c) the process of infl uencing others to get things done (d) holding a formal position
2. In comparing leadership and management, ____________. (a) leadership promotes stability and management promotes change (b) leadership promotes change and management promotes stability (c) leaders are born but managers are developed (d) the two are pretty much the same
3. The earliest theory of leadership stated that individuals become leaders because of ____________. (a) the behavior of those they lead (b) the traits they possess (c) the particular situation in which they fi nd themselves (d) being very tall
4. The behavioral approaches to leadership show that the most common types of leadership behaviors relate to ____________. (a) empowering and motivating (b) directing and controlling (c) guiding and visioning (d) relationships and tasks
5. Leadership grid research suggests that the most effective managers are (a) high, high (b) high, low (c) low, high (d) middle of the road
6. Leader traits will have less of an impact in a(n) ____________situation than in a(n) ____________ situation. (a) prototypical, antiprototypical (b) implicit, explicit (c) weak, strong (d) favorable, unfavorable
7. A key fi nding in Fiedler’s contingency theory is the importance of ____________. (a) leader match (b) implicit theories (c) prosocial power motivation (d) task-oriented leadership behavior
8. Path-goal has its roots in the ____________ theory of motivation. (a) hierarchy (b) equity (c) manifest need (d) expectancy
9. Substitutes for leadership research suggests that in certain situations leadership ____________. (a) has no substitutes (b) is contingent upon traits (c) makes no difference (d) substitutes for management
10. When followers attribute superior qualities to leaders, it is referred to as ____________. (a) substitutes for leadership (b) romance of leadership (c) implicit leadership theories (d) follower-centered approaches to leadership
11. The idea that leadership resides in the minds of followers represents the ____________ in leadership. (a) cognitive revolution (b) contingency approach (c) behavioral approach (d) substitutes neutralizer
12. ____________ is defi ned as the behaviors of individuals acting in relation to leaders. (a) Subordination (b) Prototyped (c) Implicit theory (d) Followership
13. Conformity, insubordination, and incompetence represent followership ____________. (a) prototypes (b) antiprototypes (c) social construction (d) dissonance
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Next Steps 317
14. Findings regarding charismatic leadership indicate that ____________. (a) anyone can be a charismatic leader (b) charisma is the most desirable leadership style (c) there is a potential negative side to charismatic leadership (d) charismatics are found to have the best interests of followers in mind
15. Research showing that leaders develop differentiated relationship with followers is known as ____________. (a) leader-member exchange theory (b) transformational leadership theory (c) transactional leadership theory (d) follower-centered theory
Short Response
16. Defi ne “leadership” and contrast it with “management.”
17. How do situational contingency theories relate to behavioral approaches to leader- ship theory?
18. Describe the difference between transactional and transformational theories of leadership.
19. What are the characteristics of low and high LMX relationships?
Applications Essay
20. Your manager at work just called you into the offi ce to inform you that you are being promoted to supervisor. You are excited and nervous at the same time: You want to do a good job in this position but you are not sure how. Your friend is taking an OB course, so you decided to ask him for advice. What does he tell you?
Next Steps Top Choices from The OB Skills Workbook
Cases for Critical
Thinking
Team and Experiential
Exercises
Self-Assessment
Portfolio
• The New Vice President • Interview a Leader • Leadership Skills
Inventories • Leadership and
Participation in Decision Making
• Student Leadership Practices Inventory
• Least-Preferred Co-worker Scale
• Leadership Style • “TT” Leadership Style
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318
Ready About: Don’t Lose Your Bearings
Mark Berns has a fl air for navigating treacherous waters.
A passionate sailor, Berns also heads Ready About, a consulting fi rm that guides companies through potentially
disruptive changes, such as strategic realignments, mergers, and acquisitions.
Plans for organizational change often look lucrative on paper and
meet resounding approval at the highest levels of management. But
they can go awry when they fail to
account for a company’s intangible—but
often most valuable—assets. These can
include group or corporate culture,
operational strategy, and trusted
avenues of internal communication. It
doesn’t help matters if key employees
resist the coming change because they
resent the strategy or don’t have
enough information about what’s going
to happen.
Enter Ready About, named after the command a captain issues to
make sure his crew is ready to chart a new course. Berns and his
team help organizations thrive before and after big changes. They
specialize in organizational strategy, team effectiveness, and mergers
and acquisitions.
Whether brought into a company to manage change or keeping in
close contact as a consulting partner, Ready About makes sure
companies stay watchful of the “soft” assets that bring them value.
Berns himself has been involved in more than 100 acquisitions, and
he’s quick to emphasize the importance of culture in defi ning an
organization. “I see culture as the story we tell about ourselves,” he
says. “It’s mission, vision, and our relationships with each other and the broader world. It’s the all-out company
effort to support a food pantry. It’s even that we always dress casually and have muffi ns on Friday.”a
FYI: 83% of mergers fail to increase shareholder value.c
Quick Summary
• Ready About helps clients manage and survive large organizational changes such as mergers, acquisitions, and
strategy realignments.
• Immersed in day-to-day operations, many companies lack the perspective to understand how organizational change
will affect their soft assets, such as company culture and successful internal communication.
• Ready About’s consulting emphasizes helping companies understand and monitor the health of these resources
while managing operational or material change.
“If culture is a company’s DNA, acquisitions are a bit like gene splicing. You want to combine the best of both worlds so you don’t end up with Franken- stein, Inc.” —Mark Berns.b
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319➠
14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change the key point
Some challenges of leadership and organizational change are quite new; others have been recog- nized for decades. In leadership, these issues are addressed relative to moral persuasion, cultural differences, and strategy. Moreover, one of the key challenges to leaders, as illustrated in the Ready About chapter opener, is managing change.
chapter at a glance
What Is Moral Leadership?
What Is Shared Leadership?
How Do You Lead Across Cultures?
How Do You Lead Organizational Change?
what ’s inside?
ETHICS IN OB
COLLEGE ATHLETES MAKE ETHICAL CHOICES
FINDING THE LEADER IN YOU
PATRICIA KARTER USES CORE VALUES AS HER GUIDE
OB IN POPULAR CULTURE
AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP AND BRAVEHEART
RESEARCH INSIGHT
CEO VALUES MAKE A DIFFERENCE
you can’t do it alone
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320 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
All of us are aware of recent concerns about moral leadership issues. American Inter- national Group (AIG), for example, joined the growing list of fi rms such as Enron and Merrill Lynch, which at one time had highly questionable leadership. It appears that leaders of various government, religious, and educational entities made decisions based on short-term individual gain rather than long-term collective benefi t.
As these problems have gained attention and scrutiny, there has been a stronger emphasis in research on topics including authentic leadership, servant leadership, spiritual leadership, and ethical leadership. These are the topics we will cover in our treatment of moral leadership. Essentially the moral leader is attempting to use transcendent values to stimulate action that is considered benefi cial. The chal- lenge of moral leadership starts with who you are and what you think the job of a leader should be.
Authentic Leadership
Authentic leadership essentially argues “know thyself.”1 It involves both owning one’s personal experiences (values, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs) and acting in accordance with one’s true self (expressing what you really think and believe, and acting accordingly). Although no one is perfectly authentic, authenticity is something to strive for. It refl ects the unobstructed operation of one’s true or core self. It also underlies virtually all other aspects of leadership, regardless of the particular theory or model involved.
Those high in authenticity are thought to have optimal self-esteem, or genu- ine, true, stable, and congruent self-esteem, as opposed to fragile self-esteem based on outside responses. Leaders who desire authentic leadership should have genuine relationships with followers and associates and display transparency, openness, and trust.2 All of these points draw on psychological well-being empha- sized in positive psychology literature.3 For instance, Nelson Mandela is consid- ered an authentic leader.
In positive psychology we fi nd emphasis on self-effi cacy, which is an indi- vidual’s belief about the likelihood of successfully completing a specifi c task; optimism, the expectation of positive outcomes; hope, the tendency to look for alternative pathways to reach a desired goal; and resilience, the ability to bounce back from failure and keep forging ahead. An increase in any one of these traits is seen as increasing the others. These are important traits for a leader to demon- strate and are believed to positively infl uence his or her followers.
Perhaps the most important aspect of authentic leadership is the notion that being a leader begins with you and your perspective on leading others. But being authentic is just one aspect of moral leadership. A second feature is your view of the leader’s task.
Spiritual Leadership
In contrast to authentic leadership, spiritual leadership can be seen as a fi eld of inquiry within the broader setting of workplace spirituality.4 Western religious
• Self-effi cacy is a person’s belief that he or
she can perform adequately in a situation.
• Optimism is the expectation of positive
outcomes. • Hope is the tendency to
look for alternative pathways to reach a
desired goal. • Resilience is the ability
to bounce back from failure and keep forging ahead.
LEARNING ROADMAP Authentic Leadership / Spiritual Leadership / Servant Leadership / Ethical Leadership
Moral Leadership
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Moral Leadership 321
theology and practice coupled with leadership ethics and values provide much of the base for the actions of a spiritual leader. As one might expect with a view based on religion, there is considerable disagreement. One key point of contention is whether spirituality and religion are the same. To some, spirituality stems from their religion. For others, it does not. Researchers note that organized religions provide rituals, rou- tines, and ceremonies, thereby providing a vehicle for achieving spirituality. Of course, one could be considered religious by following religious rituals but could lack spirituality, or one could refl ect a strong spirituality without being religious.
Even though spiritual leadership does not yet have a strong research base in organizational behavior, there has been some research resulting in the term Spir- itual Leadership Theory, or SLT. It is a causal leadership approach for organiza- tional transformation designed to create an intrinsically motivated, learning orga- nization. Spiritual leadership includes values, attitudes, and behaviors required to intrinsically motivate the leader and others to have a sense of spiritual survival through calling and membership. In other words, the leader and followers experi- ence meaning in their lives, believe they make a difference, and feel understood and appreciated. Such a sense of leader and follower survival tends to create
OB IN POPULAR CULTURE
AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP AND BRAVEHEART
Contemporary leadership styles are based heavily on the values of leaders. Authentic leadership exists when a leader knows her or his values and leads in accordance with them. An authentic leader will develop genuine relationships with others. Characteristics associated with this style of leadership include self-effi cacy, optimism, hope, and resilience.
Braveheart is an account loosely based on the life of William Wallace, the Guardian of Scotland, who helped liberate Scotland from England. In the movie, nobleman Robert the Bruce (Angus Mac- fayden), the seventeenth Earl of Scotland, fi nds out that Wallace (Mel Gibson) has started a rebellion. He reports to his father, who advises him to embrace the movement while he opposes it. Frustrated, the younger Bruce describes Wallace as a commoner who fi ghts with passion and inspires others. When the father suggests a meeting with the nobles, the younger Bruce complains that they are all talk (with no action).
William Wallace brings about change because he fi ghts not for himself, but for the rights of all Scotsmen. He exhibits self-effi cacy in his belief that he can defeat the English when others have been unsuccessful. He is optimistic that he can obtain freedom for Scotland—even to the point of death. There is a hope that this freedom will allow fellow Scotsmen to live a life he dreams about. Finally, he is resilient, fi ghting against incredible odds, including betrayal by the Scottish nobles.
Get to Know Yourself Better At its core, authentic leadership is about knowing yourself. This requires not only understanding your strengths and weaknesses, but also knowing your core values and acting in line with them. The OB Skills Workbook provides self-assessments that paint a picture of you as a leader. Is your leadership style in accordance with your core values? What factors work against your ability to be authentic as a leader, and how do you deal with these?
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322 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
value congruence across the strategic, empowered team and at the individual level; it ultimately encourages higher levels of organizational commitment, pro- ductivity, and employee well-being.
Figure 14.1 summarizes a causal model of spiritual leadership. It shows three core qualities of a spiritual leader: Vision—defi ning the destination and journey, refl ecting high ideals, encouraging hope/faith; Altruistic love—trust/loyalty as well as forgiveness/acceptance/honesty, courage, and humility; Hope/Faith— endurance, perseverance, do what it takes, have stretch goals.
Servant Leadership
Servant leadership, developed by Robert K. Greenleaf, is based on the notion that the primary purpose of business should be to create a positive impact on the organization’s employees as well as the community. In an essay he wrote about servant leadership in 1970, Greenleaf said: “The servant-leader is servant fi rst. . . . It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve fi rst. Then con- scious choice brings one to aspire to lead.”5
The servant leader is attuned to basic spiritual values and, in serving these, assists others including colleagues, the organization, and society. Viewed in this way servant leadership is not a unique example of leadership but rather a special kind of service. The servant leader helps others discover their inner spirit, earns and keeps the trust of their followers, exhibits effective listening skills, and places the importance of assisting others over self-interest. It is best demonstrated by those with a vision and a desire to serve others fi rst rather than by those seeking leadership roles. Servant leadership is usually seen as a philosophical movement, with the support of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Development, an interna- tional nonprofi t organization founded by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1964 and head- quartered in Indiana. The Center promotes the understanding and practice of servant leadership, holds conferences, publishes books and materials, and spon- sors speakers and seminars throughout the world.
Leader Values, Attitudes, and Behaviors
Follower Needs for Spiritual Survival
Organizational Outcomes
Effort (Hope/Faith) Works
Reward (Altruistic Love)
Membership Be Understood Be Appreciated
Calling Make a Difference Life has Meaning
Organizational Commitment
Productivity
Employee Well-being
Performance (Vision)
Figure 14.1 Causal model of spiritual leadership theory. Source: Lewis W. Fry, Steve Vitucci, and Marie Cedillo, “Spiritual Leadership and Army Trans- formation: Theory, Measurement, and Establishing a Baseline,” The Leadership Quarterly 16.5 (2005), p. 838.
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Moral Leadership 323
Similarities with Ethical Leadership Differences from Ethical Leadership
Authentic Key similarities: Key differences: Leadership � Concern for others (altruism) � Ethical leaders emphasize moral management � Ethical decision making (more transactional) and “other” awareness. � Integrity � Authentic leaders emphasize authenticity and � Role modeling self-awareness.
Spiritual Key similarities: Key differences: Leadership � Concern for others (altruism) � Ethical leaders emphasize moral management. � Integrity � Spiritual leaders emphasize visioning, hope/faith; � Role modeling work as vocation.
Transformational Key similarities: Key differences: Leadership � Concern for others (altruism) � Ethical leaders emphasize ethical standards and � Ethical decision making moral management (more transactional). � Integrity � Transformational leaders emphasize vision, � Role modeling values, and intellectual stimulation.
Figure 14.2 Similarities and differences between ethical, spiritual, authentic, and transforma- tional theories of leadership. Source: Michael E. Brown and Linda K. Trevino, “Ethical Leadership: A Review and Future Directions,” The Leadership Quarterly 17.6 (December 2006), p. 598.
While servant leadership is not rooted in OB research, its guiding philosophy is consistent with that of the other aspects of moral leadership discussed here. In this case, the power of modeling service is the basis for infl uencing others. You lead to serve and ask others to follow; their followership then becomes a special form of service.
Ethical Leadership
There is no simple defi nition of ethical leadership. However, many believe that ethical leadership is characterized by caring, honest, principled, fair, and bal- anced choices by individuals who act ethically, set clear ethical standards, com- municate about ethics with followers, and reward as well as punish others based on ethical or unethical conduct.6 Figure 14.2 summarizes the similarities and differences among ethical, authentic, spiritual, and transformational leader- ship. A key similarity cutting across all these dimensions is role modeling. Altru- ism, or concern for others, and integrity are also important similarities. Leaders infl uence others by appealing to transcendent values. In terms of differences, authentic leaders stress authenticity and self-awareness and tend to be more transactional than do the other leaders. Ethical leaders emphasize moral con- cerns, while spiritual leaders stress visioning, hope, and faith, as well as work as a vocation.
Transformational leaders emphasize values, vision, and intellectual stimu- lation. Taken as a whole, it is clear that any of these related approaches are important and ready for systematic empirical and conceptual development. Even servant leadership would lend itself to further developments.7 Despite the lack of research, ethical leadership can and should be a driving force for improving today and tomorrow’s leaders. Take a look at Ethics in OB for one example.8
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324 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
ETHICS IN OB
COLLEGE ATHLETES MAKE ETHICAL CHOICES
During a volleyball game, player A hits the ball over the net. The ball barely grazes off player B’s fi ngers and lands out of bounds. However, the referee does not see player B touch the ball. Because the referee is responsible for calling rule violations, player B is not obligated to report the violation and lose the point. Do you “strongly agree,” “agree,” are “neutral” about, “disagree,” or “strongly disagree” that player B should be silent? At an increasing rate, athletes are answering “strongly agree.” In other words, winning is more important than fair play.
The above is one example of work conducted by Sharon Stoll, a University of Idaho faculty member and administrator, to see if athletes are as morally developed as the normal popula-
tion. A 20-year study of some 80,000 high school, college, and professional athletes, showed that the athletes’ responses on moral reasoning are less ethical than those of nonathletes. From the time male athletes enter big-time sports, their moral reasoning does not improve and it sometimes declines. The same has also recently become true of female athletes.
As part of a leadership role in this problem, Stoll has developed an educational program as a component of “Winning with Character.” The universities of Georgia and Maryland, among other athletic programs, hold weekly group discussions with athletes about ethical problem areas.
Make Ethics Personal Would you expect the ethical response differences between athletes and nonathletes? What kinds of details might you suggest be included in the weekly group discussions?
Shared leadership is defi ned as a dynamic, interactive infl uence process among individuals in groups for which the objective is to lead one another to the achieve- ment of group or organizational goals, or both. This infl uence process often involves peer or lateral infl uence; at other times it involves upward or downward hierarchical infl uence. The key distinction between shared leadership and tradi- tional models of leadership is that the infl uence process involves more than just downward infl uence on subordinates by an appointed or elective leader. Rather, leadership is broadly distributed among a set of individuals instead of centralized in the hands of a single individual who acts in the role of a superior.9
Shared Leadership in Work Teams
So far our treatment of leadership has tended to treat it as vertical infl uence. The notion of vertical leadership is best depicted by the old Westerns of Hollywood
• Shared leadership is a dynamic, interactive
infl uence process through which individuals in teams
lead one another.
LEARNING ROADMAP Shared Leadership in Work Teams / Shared Leadership and Self-Leadership
Shared Leadership
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Shared Leadership 325
fame. A single rider wearing a white hat and riding a white horse—the bad guys wear black hats and ride black horses—arrives in town. The townsfolk are passive and docile while they stand by and watch as the hero cleans up the town, eliminates the bad guys, and declares, “My work here is done.” You should recognize that leadership is not restricted to the vertical infl uence of the lone fi gure in a white hat but extends to other people as well. Shared and ver- tical leadership can be more specifi cally illustrated in terms of self-directing work teams.
Locations of Shared Leadership Leadership can come from outside or inside the team. Within a team, leadership can be assigned to one person, rotate across team members, or even be shared simultaneously as different needs arise across time.10 Outside the team, leaders can be traditional, formally designated, fi rst-level supervisors, or outside vertical (top down) leaders of a self-managing team whose duties tend to be quite different from those of a traditional supervisor. Often these nontraditional leaders are called coordina- tors or facilitators. A key part of their job is to provide resources to their unit and serve as a liaison with other units, all without the authority trappings of traditional supervisors. Here, team members tend to carry out traditional man- agerial/leadership functions internal to the team along with direct performance activities.
The activities or functions vary and could involve a designated team role or even be defi ned more generally as a process to facilitate shared team perfor- mance. In the latter case, you are likely to see job rotation activities, along with skill-based pay, where workers are paid for the mix and depth of skills they pos- sess as opposed to the skills of a given job assignment they might hold.
Desired Shared Conditions The key element to successful team performance is to create and maintain conditions for that performance. Although a wide vari- ety of characteristics may be important for the success of a specifi c effort, fi ve important characteristics have been identifi ed across projects: (1) effi cient, goal- directed effort; (2) adequate resources; (3) competent, motivated performance; (4) a productive, supportive climate; and (5) a commitment to continuous improvement.
Effi cient, Goal-Directed Effort The key here is to coordinate the effort both inside and outside the team. Team leaders can play a crucial role and need to coordinate individual efforts with those of the team, as well as team efforts with those of the organization or major subunit. Among other things, such coordina- tion calls for shared visions and goals.
Leaders Unlock Talent Through
Diversity Max DePree is a noted author and former CEO of the innovative furniture maker Herman Miller, Inc. He says “It is fundamental that leaders endorse the concept of persons” and that “this begins with an understanding of the diversity of people’s gifts, talents, and skills.”
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326 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
Adequate Resources Teams rely on their leaders to obtain enough equip- ment, supplies, and so on to carry out the team’s goals. These are often handled by the outside facilitator and almost always involve internal and external negotia- tions enabling the facilitator to do his or her negotiating outside the team.
Competent, Motivated Performance Team members need the appropriate knowledge, skills, abilities, and motivation to perform collective tasks well. Lead- ers may be able to infl uence team composition so as to enhance shared effi cacy and performance. We often see this demonstrated with short-term teams such as task forces.
A Productive, Supportive Climate Here, we are talking about high levels of cohesiveness, mutual trust, and cooperation among team members. Sometimes these aspects are part of a team’s “interpersonal climate.” Team leaders contribute to this climate by role-modeling and supporting relationships that build the high levels of cohesion, trust, and collaboration. Team leaders can also work to enhance shared beliefs about team effi cacy and collective capability.
Commitment to Continuous Improvement and Adaptation A successful team should be able to adapt to changing conditions. Again, both internal and external team leaders may play a role. The focus on continuous improvement may be through formal mechanisms. Often, however, teams recognize that a fail- ure to strive for improvement actually results in a deterioration of performance.
Shared Leadership and Self-Leadership
These shared and vertical self-directing team activities tend to encourage self- leadership activities. Self-leadership can help both the individual and the team. All members, at one point or another, are expected to be leaders. Self-leadership represents a portfolio of self-infl uence strategies that positively infl uence indi- vidual behavior, thought processes, and related activities. Self-leadership activities are divided into three broad categories: behavior-focused, natural-reward, and constructive-thought-pattern strategies.11
Behavior-Focused Strategies Behavior-focused strategies tend to increase self-awareness, leading to the handling of behaviors involving necessary but not always pleasant tasks. These strategies include personal observation, goal setting, reward, self-correcting feedback, and practice. Self-observation involves examin- ing your own behavior in order to increase awareness of when and why you engage in certain behaviors. Such examination identifi es behaviors that should be changed, enhanced, or eliminated. Poor performance could lead to informal self- notes documenting the occurrence of unproductive behaviors. Such heightened awareness is a fi rst step toward behavior change.
Self-Rewards It helps if you, as a team member, set high but reachable goals and provide yourself with rewards when they are reached. Self-rewards can be quite useful in moving behaviors toward goal attainment. Self-rewards can be real (e.g., a steak dinner or a new outfi t) or imaginary (imagining a steak dinner or a new outfi t). Also, such things as the rehearsal of desired behaviors you know will lead to self-established goals before the actual performance can prove quite
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useful. Rehearsals allow you to perfect skills that will be needed when the actual performance is required.
Constructive Thought Patterns Constructive thought patterns focus on the creation or alteration of cognitive thought processes. Self-analysis and improve- ment of belief systems, mental imagery of successful performance outcomes, and positive self-talk can help. Developing a mental image of the necessary actions allows you to think about what needs to be accomplished and how it will be accomplished before the stress of performance takes hold.
These activities can infl uence and control the team members’ thoughts through the use of cognitive strategies designed to facilitate ways of thinking that can positively affect performance. Where these activities occur, they tend to serve as partial substitutes for hierarchical leadership even though they may be encour- aged in a shared situation in contrast to a vertical leadership setting.
A fi nal thought is in order before we move on. Leadership should not be restricted to the traditional style of vertical leadership, nor should the focus be primarily on shared leadership. Shared leadership appears in many forms and is often used successfully in combination with vertical leadership. As with a number of the leadership approaches discussed in this book, various contingencies oper- ate that infl uence the emphasis that should be devoted to each of the leadership perspectives.
At some point in your career you will confront the challenge of cross-cultural leadership. This may come in the form of leading team members from different cultures, or it may come when you are offered your fi rst international assignment. Or it might happen when you are asked to join in a cooperative venture with a foreign-based supplier or distributor. There are a wide variety of approaches to meeting the challenge of cross-cultural leadership. A major research project con- ducted by an international team of researchers provides an excellent overview of the factors you need to consider. Called Project GLOBE, it outlines the common dimensions of leadership that are important, as well as the signifi cant differences in how effective managers lead in different cultures.
LEARNING ROADMAP The GLOBE Perspective / Leadership Aspects and Culture / Culturally Endorsed Leadership Matches / Universally Endorsed Aspects of Leadership
Leadership across Cultures
Innocent Protects Its Identity Coco-Cola invested $44 million in Innocent, the highly regarded British maker of healthy smoothies. Innocent uses recycled bottles, gives 10 percent of profi ts to charity, and follows ethical marketing practices, all while selling a product consumers love. By not allowing Coke to have a majority stake for its millions, Innocent plans to keep its identity and integrity while gaining the advantages of Coke’s global reach.
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328 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
The GLOBE Perspective
Project GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Research Program) is an ambitious program involving over 17,000 managers from 951 organizations functioning in 62 nations throughout the world. The project, which is led by Robert House, has involved over 140 country co-investigators, as well as a coordinating team and a number of research associates.12
The GLOBE approach argues that leadership variables and cultural variables can be meaningfully applied at societal and organizational levels. Congruence between cultural expectations and leadership is expected to yield superior per- formance. The central assumption behind the model, shown in Figure 14.3, is that the attributes and entities that differentiate a specifi ed culture predict organiza- tional practices, leader attributes, and behaviors that are most often carried out and are most effective in that culture.
A variety of leadership assumptions are evident in the Globe theoretical model as summarized in Figure 14.3. For example, societal cultural norms, values, and practices affect leaders’ attributes and behaviors, as do organizational forms, cultures, and practices. Founders and organization members are immersed in their own societal cultures as well as in the prevailing practices in their industries. Societal cultural norms, values, and practices also affect organizational culture and practices. Both societal culture and organizational culture, in turn, infl uence the culturally endorsed leadership prototype. And leader attributes and behaviors affect organizational forms, cultures, and practices.
Figure 14.3 also shows that acceptance of leaders by followers facilitates lead- ership effectiveness. Leaders who are not accepted by organization members will fi nd it more diffi cult and arduous to infl uence these members than leaders who
3
4
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1
5
6
7
9
10
Societal Cultures, Norms, & Practices
Culturally Endorsed Implicit Leader Theory (CLT) or Leadership Prototype
Organizational Form, Culture, & Practices
Leader Attribute & Behaviors
Leader Acceptance
Leader Effectiveness
Figure 14.3 A simplifi ed version of the original GLOBE theoretical model. Source: See Robert J. House, Paul J. Hanges, Mansour Javidan, Peter W. Dorfman, and Vipin Gupta (eds.), Culture, Leadership, and Organizations (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004).
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Leadership across Cultures 329
are accepted. Furthermore, leader effectiveness over time increases leader accep- tance. Demonstrated leader effectiveness causes some members to adjust their behaviors toward the leader in positive ways. Those followers who do not accept the leader are likely to leave the organization either voluntarily or involuntarily.
Leadership Aspects and Culture
So far the GLOBE researchers have identifi ed and studied six broad-based dimen- sions that can be more or less effective in different cultures. These leadership dimensions are as follows.
• Charismatic/value-based—the extent to which the leader inspires, motivates, and expects high-performance outcomes
• Team-oriented—the degree to which the leader stresses team building and implementation of a common goal among team members
• Participative—the degree to which subordinates are involved in making an implementation
• Humane-oriented—the degree to which the leader stresses support, consid- eration, compassion, and generosity
• Autonomous—the degree to which the leader stresses independent and individualistic leadership
• Self-protective—the degree to which the leader stresses ensuring the safety and security of the individual, self-centered, and face saving
In addition to these leadership dimensions, the GLOBE researchers also iden- tifi ed and studied variations in national cultures. They chose to emphasize cultural aspects known to have some relationship to effective leadership. The presump- tion was that leaders in different cultures would be required to adjust their approaches to best fi t these cultural differences. In other words, effective leader- ship is based on a good fi t of leadership approach and culture. The nine dimen- sions of societal/cultural used in the GLOBE studies are:
1. Assertiveness: assertive, confrontational, and aggressive approaches in relationships versus nonconfrontational approaches
2. Future orientation: future-oriented behaviors such as delaying gratifi cation and investing in the future versus a stress on immediate gratifi cation
3. Gender egalitarianism: belief that the collective minimizes gender inequality versus asserting major differences by gender
4. Uncertainty avoidance: reliance on social norms, rules, and the like to alleviate future unpredictability versus adaptation to rapid change
5. Power distance: expectation that power is equally distributed versus large differences in the power of positions and individuals
6. Institutional collectivism: organization/society rewards and collective resources/action versus individual rewards
7. In-group collectivism: individual’s expression of pride, loyalty, and similar attitudes in organizations/families versus individualism
8. Performance orientation: the collective’s encouragement/reward of group for performance improvement versus rewards for membership
9. Humane orientation: the collective encouragement/reward of individuals for being fair, generous, and kind.
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330 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
Although each culture has its own unique pattern across these nine dimen- sions, nations do have enough similarities to be grouped in societal clusters. These clusters often form around geographic areas where there is a common language and an extensive pattern of interaction. For example, Argentina is a member of the Latin American societal cluster, whereas India is a member of the Southern Asian societal cluster. Figure 14.4 shows some of the major societal clusters identifi ed in Project GLOBE and highlights a representative country for each cluster.
Culturally Endorsed Leadership Matches
So far GLOBE researchers have matched cultural and leadership dimensions for over 62 countries and have collapsed them to form 10 geographic clusters. For the six broad-based leadership dimensions, Figure 14.4 shows the degree to which a particular aspect of leadership is endorsed with an H for highly endorsed, an M for moderately endorsed, and an L for not endorsed. Where an emphasis on a specifi c leadership dimension is matched with an H on a cultural dimension, it is labeled a culturally endorsed leadership dimension. This aspect of leadership is char- acteristic of what individuals in the culture expect from an effective leader.
Perhaps the best way to grasp this complicated perspective is to examine the patterns across the leadership dimensions by cluster in Figure 14.4. For example, in the United States the charismatic dimension is highly endorsed, whereas the protective dimension is not. For team orientation, endorsement is medium. In Russia, the self-protective dimension is culturally endorsed. Note the differences in the degree to which specifi c dimensions of leadership are endorsed or refuted. For instance, there is a very sharp contrast between the Anglo cluster (of which the United States is a part) and the Middle East.
• A culturally endorsed leadership dimension is
one that members of a culture expect from
effective leaders.
Leadership Dimensions Charismatic/ Sample Value- Team- Partici- Humane- Autono- Self- Country Societal Cluster Based Oriented pative Oriented mous Protective
Russia Eastern Europe M M L M H H
Argentina Latin America H H M M L H
France Latin Europe H M M L L M
China Confucian Asia M H L H M H
Sweden Nordic Europe H M H L M L
United States Anglo H M H H M L
Nigeria Sub-Saharan Africa M M M H L L
India Southern Asia H H L H M H
Germany Germanic Europe H L H M H L
Egypt Middle East L L L M M H
Figure 14.4 Summary of GLOBE comparisons for culturally endorsed leadership dimensions. Source: Mansour Javidan, Peter W. Dorfman, Mary Sully de Luque, and Robert J. House, “In the Eye of the Beholder: Cross Cultural Lessons in Leadership from Project GLOBE,” Academy of Man- agement Perspectives 20.7 (2006), pp. 67–90. Note: H 5 high rank; M 5 medium rank; L 5 low rank as a culturally endorsed leadership dimension.
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Leadership across Cultures 331
Universally Endorsed Aspects of Leadership
Finally, GLOBE seeks to understand which attributes of leadership are universally endorsed. To date, across the sampled countries, some aspects of leadership are associated with effective leadership while others portray ineffective leadership. Lead- ership described in terms of integrity, charismatic-visionary, charismatic-inspirational, and team-oriented are almost universally endorsed as indications of outstanding leadership. Leadership described in terms of irritability, egocentricity, noncoopera- tiveness, malevolence, as well as being a loner, dictatorial, and ruthless, are identifi ed as indicators of ineffective leadership. Some aspects of leadership were seen as effective in only some national samples and involved characterizing leaders as indi- vidualistic, status conscious, risk taking, or self-sacrifi cing.
RESEARCH INSIGHT
Although there has been a lot of discussion about how the values of the CEO impact performance, comparatively few comprehensive studies have been done. Recently, Y. Berson, S. Oreg, and T. Dvir started to remedy this gap with a study of CEO values, organizational culture, and performance. They suggested that individuals are drawn to and stay with organizations that have value priorities similar to their own. That includes the CEO. Furthermore, the CEO reinforces some values over others, and this has a measurable impact on the organizational culture. The organizational culture, then, emphasizes some aspects of perfor- mance over others.
The researchers hypothesized and found the following in a study of some 22 CEOs and their fi rms in Israel: CEOs tend to place a high priority on self-direction or security or benevolence. This priority tends to emphasize a particular type of organizational culture. Specifi cally, when a CEO values self-direction, there is more cultural emphasis on innovation; when a CEO values security, there is more cultural emphasis on bureaucracy; and when a CEO values benevolence, the culture is more supportive of its members. Then they linked aspects of organizational culture with specifi c elements of performance (organizational outcomes). More innovation was associated with higher sales growth. A bureaucratic culture was linked to effi ciency, while a supportive culture was associated with greater employee satisfaction. In sum, CEO values are linked to organizational culture, which, in turn, is associated with organizational outcomes. Sche- matically, it looks like this:
CEO Values Make a Difference
What Do You Think? Do you think this study would transfer to fi rms located in North America? Is it possible that fi rms with an established innovative culture select a CEO that values self-direction?
CEO Values
Self-direction, Security, Benevolence
Organizational Culture
Innovation, Bureaucratic, Supportive
Organizational Outcomes
Sales growth, Efficiency, Satisfaction
Source: Yair Berson, Shaul Oreg, and Taly Dvir, “CEO Values, Organizational Culture and Firm Outcomes.” Journal of Organiza- tional Behavior 29 (2008), pp. 615–633.
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332 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
The important point to remember is that there are dramatically different expectations for leaders in different cultures. Leading across cultures is far from simple, as this overview of the GLOBE project suggests. Throughout the book we have stressed integrity, and the discussion of shared leadership emphasizes a team orientation. These aspects of leadership appear to be important in most cultures. In many respects the GLOBE perspective on leadership highlights the diffi culty in prescribing exactly what a leader should do in our increasingly global economy. As your career progresses and you become more engaged in cross- cultural leadership, it will be important for you to go beyond a universalist view to study cultural expectations. Each culture is unique, and the pattern of cultural expectations for leaders is also unique.
Leaders can also change the situation facing them and their followers. Change leadership deals with the idea that an organization needs to master the challenges of change while creating a satisfying, healthy, and effective workplace for its employees. For over a decade fi rms have dealt with a “new economy [that] has ushered in great business opportunities—and great turmoil.”13 The terms turmoil and turbulence are particularly salient in the current economic environment. In addition to the traditional challenges, the forces of globalization provide a num- ber of problems and opportunities, and the new economy is constantly springing surprises on even the most experienced organizational executives. Flexibility, competence, and commitment are the rules of the day. People in the new work- place must be comfortable dealing with adaptation and continuous change, along with greater productivity, willingness to learn from the successes of others, total quality, and continuous improvement.
To deal with all of these concerns and more, we will examine leaders as change agents, phases of planned change, change strategies, and resistance to change.
Contexts for Leadership Action
During the recent recession, it became quite clear that leaders are facing new and unique challenges. Not only have North American-based fi rms fully entered the information age, they have recognized the need to innovate or die. The old titans of the industrial age, the Fords, the GMs, the U.S. Steels, today look like remnants of a bygone era. Now we send tweets instead of handwritten letters; we check e-mails on our Blackberry or iPad anytime and anywhere; and we even display our photos electronically on our blogs or social networking sites, instead of in frames or photo albums. Increasingly, leaders in every level of the organization are confronting the necessity and challenges of continual innovation and the uncertainty of the age. Simply put, leaders need to be acutely aware of the setting in which they lead.14 And the leadership needed in a routine setting is not the same leadership that is needed in other contexts.15
Contextual leadership perspectives detail the conditions facing the leader and then suggest the type of leadership that is needed for success. In organizational
LEARNING ROADMAP Contexts for Leadership Action / Leaders as Change Agents / Planned Change Strategies / Resistance to Change
Leading Organizational Change
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Leading Organizational Change 333
behavior, the term context is used to describe the collection of opportunities and constraints that affect the occurrence and meaning of behavior as well as the relationships among variables.16 The different contexts may be described in terms of the stability and uncertainty facing the leader and his or her other unit.
For most managers there are three major sources of instability. The fi rst is market and environmental instability. During a recession, for example, the market is extremely unstable. Second is technological instability, where what is produced and how it is produced are changing. For example, competitors may be innovat- ing rapidly but in ways your fi rm cannot easily predict. Finally, there is fi rm insta- bility with an emphasis on process and procedure or internal administration insta- bility. An example is an internal production and delivery system that needs changing, but the instability is so great that the design changes cannot keep up with system demands. In other words, managers cannot clear the swamp because the alligators keep eating the workers.
Four Leadership Contexts These sources of instability can be combined to depict the overall character of the opportunities and constraints facing the leader. For simplicity consider the four contexts in Figure 14.5.17 In context 1 (Stability), stable conditions exist, and the focus is on adjusting and creating internal opera- tions to enhance system goals. This is often the context for earlier leadership perspectives. Note that to measure success, the leader should judge progress on the basis of goals assigned to his or her unit.
In context 2 (Crisis), there are identifi able and dramatic departures from prior practice and sudden threats to high-priority goals, providing little or no response time. For many managers the current recession is such a crisis and calls for dra- matic action and active leadership where charismatic and transformational leader- ship can be particularly important. Although the situation appears dire, leaders are aware of factors contributing to the crisis and can develop action plans to try and weather the storm. For example, in a recession, downsizing is a way to preserve
• Context is the collection of opportunities and constraints that affect the occurrence and meaning of behavior and the relationships among variables.
Figure 14.5 Four situational contexts, the desired leadership, and how to measure success. Source: Based on Osborn, Hunt, and Jauch (2002).
Context Stability: among Crisis: dramatic Dynamic equilibrium: Near the edge of external environment, departure from prior organizations in change chaos: transition structure, size, and practice and sudden mode often attributable zone delicately technology threats to high- to competition, poised between priority goals with technology, internal order and chaos little or no response initiatives, or that many complex time institutional evolution adaptive systems seem to naturally evolve toward
Desired Adjust to and create Focus on the crisis; Adjust leadership to Stress diversifi cation Leadership internal operations interpret major causes; strategy of the fi rm; of approaches with using basic stress transformational/ stress change leadership greater patterning approaches with charismatic leadership with ethical leadership of attention and clear direction and network develop- supportive leadership ment to innovate
Success By performance on Adjustment to crisis; Movement toward Balance of stability Measures assigned goals return to normalcy successful implementa- and dynamic tion of proposed adaptation to change programs increase fi tness
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334 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
Finding the Leader in You PATRICIA KARTER USES CORE VALUES AS HER GUIDE Sweet is what one gets when digging into one of Dancing Deer Baking’s Cherry Almond Ginger Chew cookies. Co-founded by Trish Karter, Dancing Deer sells over $10 million of cookies, cakes, and brownies a year. Each product is made with all-natural ingredients, packaged in recycled materials, and comes from inner-city Boston.
This story began for Karter in 1994 when she and her husband made a $20,000 Angel investment in a talented baker and set her up in a former pizza shop. Karter hadn’t planned on working in the company, but growth came quickly and for the company to prosper, their baker partner, Suzanne Lombardi, needed more support and Karter jumped in. Customer
develop bakery mixes and eventually, many more products and a substantial relationship. Instead of losing an opportunity, by sticking with her values, Karter’s fi rm gained more sales.
“There’s more to life than selling cookies,” says the Dancing Deer’s Web site, “but it’s not a bad way to make a living.” And Karter hopes growth will soon make Dancing Deer “big enough to make an impact, to be a social economic force.” As she says on www.dancingdeer.com: “It has been an interesting journey. Our successes are due to luck, a tremendous amount of dedication and hard work, and a commitment to having fun while being true to our principles. We have had failures as well—and survived them with a sense of humor.”
What’s the Lesson Here?
Do you know your core values? Do those core values guide your leadership decisions? Have you ever had your core values tested, and how did you respond?
demand led to product develop- ment and expansion; many positive press call outs and industry awards, such as being recognized on national TV as having the “best cake in the nation” and winning (the fi rst of 11) Sophie awards, the food industry’s equivalent of the Oscars, fueled growth further.
It isn’t always easy for a leader to stay on course and in control while changing structures, adding people, and dealing with competi- tion. But for Karter the anchor point has always been clear—let core values be the guide. Dancing Deer’s employees get stock options and a package of benefi ts well above the industry standard; 35 percent of the sales price from the fi rm’s Sweet Home line of cake and cookie gifts are donated to fund scholarships for homeless and at-risk mothers. When offered a chance to make a large cookie sale to Williams- Sonoma, Karter declined. Why? Because to fulfi ll the order would have required the use of preserva- tives, and that violated the com- pany’s values.
Williams-Sonoma was so impressed that it contracted to
the fi rm until the economy improves. To judge success, the leader should monitor the degree to which the unit is coping with the crisis and make sure it is on track to return to normal operations. While those in the middle can face a crisis, in cases of a dramatic downturn the fi rm may even bring in a new CEO.
In context 3 (Dynamic Equilibrium), organizational stability occurs only within a range of shifting priorities with programmed change efforts. This is the well-known dynamic equilibrium setting found in many analyses of corporate strategy, strategic leadership, and change leadership.
Context 4 (Near the Edge of Chaos) is a transition zone poised between order and chaos. Here, the system must rapidly adjust while maintaining suffi cient stabil- ity to learn.18 While globally operating high-tech fi rms are classic examples of those at the edge of chaos,19 more conventional analyses of today’s corporations have suggested that many fi rms are moving toward the edge of chaos. Why? By moving forward with a balance of exploration and exploitation, they fi nd superior
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Leading Organizational Change 335
performance. Poised near the edge of chaos, fi rms stress innovation, responsiveness, and adaptability over routine effi ciency.
Near the edge of chaos, context 4 leaders operate in uncertainty where no one person can actually describe the challenges and opportunities facing the fi rm. The context is just too complex. With this level of complexity some of the tradi- tional aspects of leadership are expected to yield very poor performance. For example, transforma- tional leadership often fails simply because no single leader is capable of charting the necessary goals and paths to keep the system viable.20 More transactional leadership appears to provide stabil- ity but often reinforces sticking to a failed approach. The challenge is to stimulate innovation while keeping the learning environment stable.
Patterning of Attention and Network Devel-
opment Recent research suggests that in order to meet context challengers, leaders need to empha- size two often neglected aspects of leadership, pat- terning of attention and network development.21 Patterning of attention involves isolating and communicating important information from a potentially endless stream of events, actions, and outcome. The term patterning is used to stress the establishment of a norm where the leader is expect- ed to ask questions, raise issues, and help gather information for unit members. The leader is not tell- ing others what the goal is or how to reach it. Nor is the leader stressing an ideology or a moral position. The leader is merely stimu- lating discussion among others in the setting. This discussion, in turn, produces new knowledge and information as individuals develop coping strategies.
In combination, greater patterning of attention and network development increases the size, interconnectedness, and diversity of the unit to provide a variety of world views. By increasing the depth and breadth of talent in combination with increased interaction, the chances are much greater that the unit will isolate reach- able goals and develop a sustaining way of accomplishing them. Too much pattern- ing of attention and/or network development, however, can decrease the chances of effective adaptation. This becomes the case when there is too much talk and not enough action. Managers must realize that patterning of attention and network development is a delicate balancing act. Finally, network leadership can be an important aspect of infl uence in many contexts. An example of how it is used to establish a philanthropic entity can be found in the accompanying sidebar.22
Leaders as Change Agents
While change is the watchword for most fi rms, it is important to separate trans- formational from incremental change. Some of this change may be described as radical change, or frame-breaking change.23 This is transformational change,
• Patterning of attention involves isolating and communicating what information is important and what is given attention from a potentially endless stream of events, actions, and outcome.
• Transformational change radically shifts the fundamental character of an organization.
Networking Leadership for the Greater Good
Managers can emphasize leadership by encouraging the formation of giving circles that bring people together for a charitable purpose.
A number of charities may arise informally or as part of a formal voluntary organization. Here are some tips for establish- ing the circles.
• Find out who is interested in participating in a giving circle comprised of employees who will contribute a fi xed amount of money and/or time toward a charitable cause.
• Once the circle is established, provide a schedule of meeting times and locations.
• Assign an appropri- ate number of people, depending on the size of the group, to bring forward a cause for support.
• Educate members in a variety of activities and organizations in order to get more people involved.
• Decide on the scope of the charitable cause, whether broad, narrow, or variable.
• Keep in touch with other volunteer organizations and giving circles.
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336 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
which results in a major overhaul of the organiza- tion or its component systems. Organizations experiencing transformational change undergo signifi cant shifts in basic characteristics, including the overall purpose/mission, underlying values and beliefs, and supporting strategies and struc- tures.24 In today’s business environments, trans- formational changes are often initiated by a criti- cal event, such as a new CEO, a new ownership brought about by merger or takeover, or a dra- matic failure in operating results. When it occurs in the life cycle of an organization, such radical change is intense and all encompassing.25
The most common form of change is incre- mental change, or frame-bending change. This type of change, being part of an organization’s natural evolution, is frequent and less traumatic than other types of change. Typical incremental changes include the introduction of new products,
technologies, systems, and processes. Although the nature of the organization remains relatively the same, incremental change builds on the existing ways of operating to enhance or extend them in new directions. The capability of improv- ing continuously through incremental change is an important asset in today’s demanding business environment.
The success of both radical and incremental change in organizations depends in part on change agents who lead and support the change processes. These are individuals and groups who take responsibility for changing the existing behavior patterns of another person or even the entire social system. Although change agents are sometimes consultants hired from outside the orga- nization, most managers in today’s dynamic times are expected to act in the capacity of change agents. Indeed, this responsibility is essential to the leader- ship role. Simply put, being an effective change agent means being effective at “change leadership.”
Planned and Unplanned Change Not all change in organizations is the result of a change agent’s direction. Unplanned changes can occur spontaneously or randomly. They may be disruptive, such as a wildcat strike that ends in a plant closure, or benefi cial, such as an interpersonal confl ict that results in a new proce- dure designed to improve the fl ow of work between two departments. When the forces of unplanned change appear, the goal is to act quickly in order to minimize negative consequences and maximize possible benefi ts. In many cases, an unplanned change can be turned into an advantage.
In contrast, planned change is the result of specifi c efforts led by a change agent. It is a direct response to someone’s perception of a performance gap—a discrepancy between the desired and actual state of affairs. Performance gaps may represent problems to be solved or opportunities to be explored. Most planned changes are efforts intended to deal with performance gaps in ways that benefi t an organization and its members. The processes of continuous improvement require constant vigilance to spot performance gaps and to take action to resolve them.
• Incremental change builds on the existing ways of operating to enhance or
extend them in new directions.
• Unplanned change occurs spontaneously or
randomly.
• Planned change is a response to someone’s
perception of a performance gap—a discrepancy
between the desired and actual state of affairs.
• Performance gap is a discrepancy between the
desired and the actual conditions.
How to Increase Your Chances of Success with Transformational Change
• Develop a sense of urgency.
• Have a powerful guiding coalition.
• Have a compelling vision.
• Communicate the vision.
• Empower others to act.
• Celebrate short-term wins.
• Build on accomplishments.
• Institutionalize results.
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Leading Organizational Change 337
Forces and Targets for Change The driving forces for change are ever present in and around today’s dynamic work settings. They are found in the organization–environment relationship, with mergers, strategic alli- ances, and divestitures among the examples of organizational attempts to rede- fi ne their relationships in challenging social and political environments. They are found in the organizational life cycle, with changes in culture and structure among the examples of how organizations must adapt as they evolve from birth through growth and toward maturity. They are found in the political nature of organiza- tions, with changes in internal control structures, including benefi ts and reward systems that attempt to deal with shifting political currents.
Planned change based on any of these forces can be internally directed toward a wide variety of organizational components, most of which have already been discussed in this book. As shown in Figure 14.6, these targets include organizational
Change Is Shorthand for Opportunity For Fred Smith, founder and CEO of FedEx, “change is shorthand for opportunity.” He claims, “You’ll get extinguished if you think you will not have to change.” Organizational change calls for a high degree of trust and outstanding communication capability.
Culture Clarify or create core beliefs and values
Tasks Update job designs for individuals and groups
Strategy Clarify or create strategic and operational plans
Structure Update organizational design and coordination mechanisms
Purpose Clarify or create mission and objectives
People Update recruiting and selection practices; improve training and development
Objectives Set or modify specific performance targets
Technology Improve equipment, facilities, and work flows
Change targets
Figure 14.6 Organizational targets for planned change.
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338 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
purpose, strategy, structure, and people, as well as objectives, culture, tasks, and technology. When considering these targets, it must be recognized that they are highly intertwined in the workplace. Changes in any one are likely to require or involve changes in others. For example, a change in the basic tasks—what people do—is inevitably accompanied by a change in technology—the way in which tasks are accomplished. Changes in tasks and technology usually require alterations in structures, including changes in the patterns of authority and communication as well as in the roles of workers. These technological and structural changes can, in turn, necessitate changes in the knowledge, skills, and behaviors of the members of the organization.26 In all cases, tendencies to accept easy-to-implement, but ques- tionable, “quick fi xes” to problems should be avoided.
Planned Change Strategies
There are a variety of power change strategies utilized to mobilize power, exert infl uence over others, and get people to support planned change efforts. Three pure strategies—force–coercion, rational persuasion, and shared power—are described in Figure 14.7. Each of these strategies builds from the various bases of social power. Note in particular that each power source has somewhat different implications for the planned change process.27
Force–Coercion A force–coercion strategy uses authority, rewards, or pun- ishments as primary inducements to change. Here, the leader acts unilaterally to “command” change through the formal authority of his or her position, to induce change via an offer of special rewards, or to bring about change through threats of punishment. People respond to this strategy mainly out of the fear of being punished if they do not comply with a change directive or out of the desire to gain a reward if they do. Coercion compliance is usually temporary and continues only as long as the leader is present. With reliance on legitimate authority and rewards, compliance remains as long as supervision is visible and rewards keep coming. The actions as a change agent using the force–coercion strategy might match the following profi le:
You believe that people who run things are motivated by self-interest and by what the situation offers in terms of potential personal gain or loss. Since you feel that people change only in response to such motives, you try to fi nd out where their
• Force–coercion strategy uses authority,
rewards, and punishments to create change.
Power base Predicted outcomes
Rewards Punishments Legitimacy
Temporary compliance
Long-term internalization
Expertise
Long-term internalization
Reference
Change strategy Change agent behavior
Force–coercion Unilateral action; “command”
Rational persuasion; expert testimony; demonstration projects
Empowerment; participative decisions
Rational persuasion
Shared powers
Figure 14.7 Power bases, change strategies, and predicted change outcomes.
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Leading Organizational Change 339
vested interests lie and then put the pressure on. If you have formal authority, you use it. If not, you resort to whatever possible rewards and punishments you have access to and do not hesitate to threaten others with these weapons. Once you fi nd a weakness, you exploit it and are always wise to work “politically” by building supporting alliances wherever possible.28
Rational Persuasion Change agents using a rational persuasion strategy attempt to bring about change through the use of special knowledge, empirical support, or rational arguments. This strategy assumes that rational people will be guided by reason and self-interest in deciding whether or not to support a change. Expert power is mobilized to convince others that the change will leave them better off than before. It is sometimes referred to as an empirical-rational strategy of planned change. When successful, this strategy results in a longer-lasting, more naturalized change than does force–coercion. A change agent taking the rational persuasion approach to a change situation might behave as follows:
You believe that people are inherently rational and are guided by reason in their actions and decision making. Once a specifi c course of action is demonstrated to be in a person’s self-interest, you assume that reason and rationality will cause the person to adopt it. Thus, you approach change with the objective of communicat- ing—through information and facts—the essential “desirability” of change from the perspective of the person whose behavior you seek to infl uence. If this logic is effectively communicated, you are sure of the person who is adopting the proposed change.29
Shared Power A shared-power strategy actively involves the people who will be affected by a change in planning and making key decisions relating to this change. Sometimes called a normative-reeducative approach, this strategy tries to develop directions and support for change through involvement and empower- ment. It builds essential foundations, such as personal values, group norms, and shared goals, so that support for a proposed change emerges naturally. Managers using normative-reeducative approaches draw on the power of personal reference and share power by allowing others to participate in planning and implementing the change. Given this high level of involvement, the strategy is likely to result in a longer-lasting and internalized change. A change agent who shares power and adopts a normative-reeducative approach to change is likely to fi t this profi le:
You believe that people have complex motivations and behave as they do as a result of sociocultural norms and commitments to these norms. You also recognize that changes in these orientations involve changes in attitudes, values, skills, and sig- nifi cant relationships, not just changes in knowledge, information, or intellectual rationales for action and practice. Thus, when seeking to change others, you are sensitive to the supporting or inhibiting effects of group pressures and norms. In working with people, you try to fi nd out their side of things and identify their feelings and expectations.30
Resistance to Change
In organizations, resistance to change is any attitude or behavior that indicates unwillingness to make or support a desired alteration. Leaders often view any resistance as something that must be “overcome” in order for change to be suc- cessful. This is not always the case, however. It is helpful to view resistance to
• Rational persuasion strategy uses facts, special knowledge, and rational argument to create change.
• Shared-power strategy uses participatory methods and emphasizes common values to create change.
• Resistance to change is any attitude or behavior that indicates unwillingness to make or support a desired change.
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340 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
change as feedback that the leader can use to facilitate gaining change objec- tives.31 The essence of this constructive approach to resistance is to recognize that when people resist change, they are defending something that is important to them that appears to be threatened.
Why People Resist Change People have many reasons to resist change—fear of the unknown, insecurity, lack of a felt need to change, threat to vested inter- ests, contrasting interpretations, and lack of resources, among other possibilities. A work team’s members, for example, may resist the introduction of an advanced workstation of computers because they have never used the operating system and are apprehensive. They may wonder whether the new computers will even- tually be used as justifi cation for “getting rid” of certain members of their depart- ment, or they may believe that they have been doing their jobs just fi ne and do not need the new computers. These and other viewpoints often create resistance to even the best and most well-intended planned changes.
Resistance to the Change Itself Sometimes a leader experiences resistance to the change itself. People may reject a change because they believe it is not worth their time, effort, or attention. They may believe that the proposed change asks them to do more for less. To minimize resistance in such cases, the leader should make sure that everyone who may be affected by a change knows how it satisfi es the following criteria.32
Benefi t—The change should have a clear advantage for the people being asked to change; it should be perceived as “a better way.”
Compatibility—The change should be as compatible as possible with the existing values and experiences of the people being asked to change.
Complexity—The change should be no more complex than necessary; it must be as easy as possible for people to understand and use.
Triability—The change should be something that people can try on a step-by-step basis and make adjustments as things progress.
Resistance to the Change Strategy Leaders must also be prepared to deal with resistance to the change strategy. Someone who attempts to bring about change via force–coercion, for example, may create resistance among individuals who resent management of leadership by “command” or the use of threatened punishment. People may resist a rational persuasion strategy in which the data are suspect or the expertise of advocates is not clear. They may resist a shared- power strategy that even appears manipulative and insincere.
Resistance to the Change Agent Resistance to a leader implementing the change often involves personality differences and a poor history of relationships. Leaders who are isolated and aloof from other persons in the change situation, who appear self-serving, or who have a high emotional involvement in the changes are especially prone to such problems. Research indicates that leaders who differ from other persons on such dimensions as age, education, and socio- economic status may encounter greater resistance to change.33
How to Deal with Resistance An informed leader has many options available for dealing positively with resistance to change. Figure 14.8 summarizes insights
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Leading Organizational Change 341
into how and when each of these methods may be used to deal with resistance to change. Regardless of the chosen strategy, it is always best to remember that the presence of resistance typically suggests that something can be done to achieve a better fi t among the change, the situation, and the people affected. A good leader deals with resistance to change by listening to feedback and acting accordingly.34
The fi rst approach in dealing with resistance to change is through education and communication. The objective is to teach people about a change before it is implemented and to help them understand the logic of the change. Education and communication seem to work best when resistance is based on inaccurate or incomplete information. A second way is the use of participation and involve- ment. With the goal of allowing others to help design and implement the changes, this approach asks people to contribute ideas and advice or to work on task forces or committees that may be leading the change. This is useful when the leader does not have all the information needed to successfully handle a problem situation. Here, for instance, the increased use of patterning of attention and net- work development by the leader may help resolve tensions.
Facilitation and support help to deal with resistance by providing help—both emotional and material—for people experiencing the hardships of change. Here a leader increases consideration by actively listening to problems and complaints. This is matched with a greater initiating structure whereby the leader provides training in the new ways and helps others to overcome performance pressures. Facilitation and support are highly recommended when people are frustrated by work constraints and diffi culties encountered in the change process.
A negotiation and agreement approach offers incentives to actual or potential change resistors. Trade-offs are arranged to provide special benefi ts in exchange for assurances that the change will not be blocked. It is most useful when dealing with a person or group that will lose something of value as a result of the planned change.
People lack information or have inaccurate information
Use when Advantages Disadvantages
Creates willingness to help with the change
Can be very time consuming
Other people have important information and/or power to resist
Adds information to change planning; builds commitment to the change
Can be very time consuming
Resistance traces to resource or adjustment problems
Satisfies directly specific resource or adjustment needs
Can be time consuming; can be expensive
A person or group will “lose” something because of the change
Helps avoid major resistance
Can be expensive; can cause others to seek similar “deals”
Other methods don't work or are too expensive
Can be quick and inexpensive
Can create future problems if people sense manipulation
Speed is important and change agent has power
Quick; overpowers resistance
Risky if people get “mad”
Education & communication
Participation & involvement
Facilitation & support
Negotiation & agreement
Manipulation & cooptation
Explicit & implicit coercion
Method
Figure 14.8 Methods for dealing with resistance to change.
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342 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
Frustrated managers may attempt to use manipulation and co-optation in covert attempts to infl uence others, selectively providing information and consciously structuring events so that the desired change occurs. Although manipulation and co-optation are common when other tactics do not work, only the more astute and experienced executives fi nd they can gain temporary reductions in resistance.
In a crisis, some leaders fi nd that in order to overcome resistance to change they must resort to explicit or implicit coercion. Often, resistors are threatened with a variety of undesirable consequences if they do not go along with the plan. In a crisis, the temporary compliance to the change may be all that is necessary to weather the storm. Unfortunately, crises are much rarer than the use of this approach. When the crisis is past, even the temporary use of coercion means that leaders will need to embark on a new change program that stresses facilitation and support.
Finally, it is important to recognize the history, change, and culture of the fi rm as it undergoes planned change. Often a planned change will yield unanticipated alterations in the culture of the organization. We will spend the next chapter delv- ing into the concept of organizational culture and the necessity to promote inno- vation, a unique kind of planned change.
14 study guide Key Questions and Answers What is moral leadership?
• Moral leadership includes authentic leadership, servant leadership, and spiritual and ethical leadership.
• Authentic leadership emphasizes owning one’s personal experiences and acting in accordance with one’s true or core self which underlies virtually all other aspects of leadership.
• Servant leadership is where the leader is attuned to basic spiritual values and, in serving these, serves others, including colleagues, the organization, and society.
• Spiritual leadership is a fi eld of inquiry within the broader setting of workplace spirituality; it includes values, attitudes, and behaviors required to intrinsically motivate self and others to have a sense of spiritual survival through calling and membership.
• Ethical leadership emphasizes moral concerns.
What is shared leadership?
• Shared leadership is a dynamic, interactive infl uence process among individuals in groups for which the objective is to lead one another to the achievement of group or organizational goals or both.
• The infl uence process often involves peer or lateral infl uence and at other times involves upward or downward hierarchical infl uence within a team.
• Though broader than traditional vertical leadership, shared leadership may be used in combination with it.
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Terms to Know 343
• Self-leadership techniques can be used to improve the effectiveness of shared leadership.
How do you lead across cultures?
• Cross-cultural leadership emphasizes Project GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organi- zational Behavior Effectiveness Research Program), which involves 62 societies, 951 organizations, and about 140 country co-investigators.
• It assumes that the attributes and entities that differentiate a specifi ed culture predict organizational practices and leader attributes and behaviors that are most often carried out and most effective in that culture.
• It identifi es a number of potentially important aspects of culture that form the basis for culturally based leader prototypes.
• It matches key aspects of leadership to the important aspects of culture to identify endorsed elements of leadership.
• It suggests both universally endorsed elements of leadership and those unique to a particular culture and group of nations.
How do you lead organizational change?
• Change leadership helps deal with the idea of an organization that masters the challenges of both radical and incremental change while still creating a satisfying, healthy, and effective employee workplace.
• Change leadership deals with leaders as change agents, phases of planned change, change strategies, and resistance to change.
• Radical or transformational change results in a major overhaul of the organization or its component systems.
• Incremental or frame-bending change as part of an organization’s natural evolution is frequent and less traumatic than radical change.
• Change agents are individuals and groups who take responsibility for changing the existing behavior pattern or social system; being a change agent is an integral part of a manager’s leadership role.
• Planned change strategies consist of force–coercion, rational persuasion, and shared power.
• Dealing with resistance to change involves education and communication, participation and involvement, facilitation and support, negotiation and agreement, manipulation and co-optation, and explicit or implicit agreement.
Context (p. 333) Culturally endorsed leadership
dimension (p. 330) Force–coercion strategy (p. 338) Hope (p. 320) Incremental change (p. 336)
Optimism (p. 320) Patterning of attention (p. 335) Performance gap (p. 336) Planned change (p. 336) Rational persuasion strategy (p. 339) Resilience (p. 320)
Terms to Know Resistance to change (p. 339) Self-effi cacy (p. 320) Shared leadership (p. 324) Shared-power strategy (p. 339) Transformational change (p. 335) Unplanned change (p. 336)
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344 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
Self-Test 14 Multiple Choice
1. Authentic leadership ____________. (a) is easily attainable (b) is the most common type of leadership (c) involves acting in accordance with one’s true or core self (d) focuses on awareness of others
2. Research on project GLOBE found that ____________. (a) some dimensions of leadership are universally endorsed (b) there are no commonalities in leadership across cultures (c) expectations for leaders are pretty similar across cultures (d) risk-taking and self-sacrifi cing are the most important aspects of leadership
3. The ____________ leader helps others discover their inner spirit, earns and keeps the trust of their followers, exhibits effective listening skills, and places the importance of assisting others over self-interest. (a) ethical (b) shared (c) servant (d) spiritual
4. ____________ is a causal leadership approach for organizational transformation designed to create an intrinsically motivated, learning organization. (a) Servant leadership (b) Spiritual leadership (c) Shared leadership (d) Ethical leadership
5. Shared leadership ____________. (a) emphasizes managerial relationships (b) is an extension of participative leadership (c) replaces vertical leadership (d) is a dynamic, interactive infl uence process
6. Characteristics that are important for successful team performance include all but which of the following? (a) a strong vertical leader (b) effi cient, goal directed effort (c) commitment to continuous improvement (d) competent, motivated performance
7. Which of the following is not one of the three broad categories of self-leadership? (a) constructive-thought-pattern strategies (b) natural-reward (c) behavior-focused (d) achievement-focus
8. In shared leadership teams, non-traditional leaders are often called ____________. (a) task leaders (b) project managers (c) facilitators (d) mentors
9. Contexts are usually described in terms of ____________ and ____________. (a) high, low (b) stability, uncertainty (c) shared, vertical (d) individualism, collectivism
10. In edge of chaos contexts, transformational leadership ____________. (a) is highly successful (b) is better than transactional (c) is the same as patterning of attention (d) often fails
11. Two often neglected aspects of leadership are ____________ and ____________. (a) transformational, transactional (b) shared, vertical (c) patterning of attention, network development (d) strategic, contextual
12. Which type of change radically shifts the fundamental character of an organization? (a) transformational (b) incremental (c) transactional (d) hierarchical
13. The most common form of change is ____________. (a) transformational (b) incremental (c) transactional (d) hierarchical
14. In a ____________ strategy, leaders use authority, rewards or punishments as primary inducements to change. (a) rational persuasion (b) shared power (c) benefi t-compatibility (d) force-coercion
15. ____________ is a change approach in which managers offer incentives to actual or potential change resistors. (a) Manipulation and co-optation (b) Explicit or implicit coercion (c) Negotiation and agreement (d) Education and communication
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- part 4 Influence Processes and Leadership
- 13 Leadership Essentials
- Leadership
- Managers versus Leaders
- Trait Leadership Perspectives
- Behavioral Leadership Perspectives
- Situational Contingency Leadership
- Fiedler’s Leadership Contingency View
- Path-Goal View of Leadership
- Hersey and Blanchard Situational Leadership Model
- Substitutes for Leadership
- Follower-Centered Approaches
- Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs)
- Implicit Followership Theories
- Inspirational and Relational Leadership Perspectives
- Charismatic Leadership
- Transactional and Transformational Leadership
- Leader—Member Exchange Theory
- Chapter 13 Study Guide
- 14 Leadership Challenges and Organizational Change
- Moral Leadership
- Authentic Leadership
- Spiritual Leadership
- Servant Leadership
- Ethical Leadership
- Shared Leadership
- Shared Leadership in Work Teams
- Shared Leadership and Self-Leadership
- Leadership across Cultures
- The GLOBE Perspective
- Leadership Aspects and Culture
- Culturally Endorsed Leadership Matches
- Universally Endorsed Aspects of Leadership
- Leading Organizational Change
- Contexts for Leadership Action
- Leaders as Change Agents
- Planned Change Strategies
- Resistance to Change
- Chapter 14 Study Guide
