Week 5 - Discussion 1

CHAPIER l3 L.eadershrP

high impact players, r:bange .xgents,,driuers and tuinners'-peoplet who

arZ ertremely ftixible, bright, tactical and strate;gic, wlto can handkz a lot

of information, make decisions qu:ick,ly, ,motiuate others, chase cr mouing

target and sbake things up. Preuiously, (.orporate recruitirtg emphasized

cridentials [scboolinSl] and experience, tubicb are still important, but ...

yrou can,t te'ach good-ti,eadership or bow tc be excited about life"2

Robert Greenleaf, fol:mer director of Managenrent Research at Al'&T and founding director of the (lenter for Applied Ethics, said,

.'The leacler exists to

serve thJse whom he nominally leads, those who supposedly follow him. He (or

,l.l ,"r... their fulfillmenr as his (or her) principal aim."3 The servant-leader ,"r.., p.opre and their u,ork seriously, listens to and takes the lead from the ;";pr: heals, is self-effaci.g, and sees lhimsel I or herself as a steward.4

LEADERSHIP TRAITS Early theories about leadership suggested thaLt excellent leaders possessed certain

o"i*, o, personal characteriiticq th,at lay at the root of their abilitv to lead' Following lworld war II, the U.S. Army surveyed soldiers in an attempt to coln-

pit. "

tiriof traits sharecl by commanders rvhom s'ldiers perceiverJ as lcaders. ?he.es,rlting list, which included 14 traits, was clearly irLadequate to describe

lcadership. No t*o commanders displeryed all the traits, and rnany famous commanders lacked sever:ll'

More recently, Gary Yukl constructed 'a list of traits and skills commonly

associated with efiective leaders.i Figure 13..[ preserrts these traits. Yukl's list sug-

gests that a leader is strongly motivated to e:<cel ancl succeed

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, Adaptable

Alert to social environment

Ambitious and achievement-oriented

Assertive

Cooperative

,, Decisive

Dependable

Dominant (desires to influence others)

. Energetic (high activitY level) Persistent

Self<onfident

Tolerant of slress

Willing to asume resPonsibilitY

futrce Leodership in Otgonizotions,: /0 by Cary Yukl {O l9u1

E&-rcation, Inc., Upper Saddle River, Nl9/458

Cleverness (intelligence)

Conceptual ability

Creativity

Diplomacy and tact

Fluency in speaking

Knowledge about the grouP thsk

Organizational (administrative) ability

Penuasiveness

Socialability

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by Prentice-Hall, Inc. Adapted with perrnission of Pearson

Do meqgd women approach leadership differently? A study of 2Js

1r+t mal*td.*8-female) owners cf privatelyheld firms with six lo 325 employees in a mid-sized ltlorlh American city presented at thre

annual meeting of the Academy of f\4anagement (Seattle, August 3-6)

revealed no significant difference between male and female executitre

leadership. However, the owners describe gender as having an impor-

tant leadership role in management.

As the authors put it:

Mole ond fenale owners tend to use different-ond gender- stereotypic*rhetoric to de:;cribe their opprooches to business.

The fe,nole owners were siqnilicontly more likely thon the mole

ownerc to describe their alesired relotionship with employees

in stereotypicolly feminine tenns, reveoling the view thot orgo'

nizotitrnol leoders should be responsive to ond empower the

personol growth of their sL,bordinotes... The mole owners werc

signifir.ontly more likely thon the fenole owne$ to describe their

desired relotionshi p with ern plctyees i n stereotypically moscul i ne

terns, expressing the view,thttt orgonizotionol leoders should

commond and co'ttrol their subordinotes to ochieve meosuroble

results far the firn.

The authors, Jennifer E. Cliff of the University of Alberta, Nancy

Langon of the University of British Columbia, and Howard E. Aldridt

of the University of North Carolina note, "Rather than conforming pri-

marily to the masculine model of organizing, it appears that both male

and female owners manage their firms with a mix of masculine and

feminine approaches." Men and women manaSe similarly, but talk

about it differentlv.

$ Select an image that represents leadership, and then write a l0$ word essay explaining why you selected that image. Compare

your image to that of your classmates. Do men and women (in

your class) represent leadership differently?

Source: Academy of Management Media Release, "When lt Comes to Leader-

ship, Gender Difference:; are More a Matter of Talk than Action, Study Finds,'

November 6,2003.

No list of leadershrp traits and skills carr be definitive, however, because no two leaders are exactlJ/ alike. Different leaclers vvorking with different people in different siruations need different traits. tf people in charge possess what is needed vvhen it is needed, they should be abler to exercise effective leaclership.

William Feace, a former executive with Westinghouse and United Technol- ogies, is currently director and execr.rtive consultant with Doctus Management (lonsultancy of Clhester:, England. In the course of his career) Peace learned that certain traits servc him well in management jobs. ln a:n article for Haruard Busi' ness Reuiew, Peace noted the importance of :intelligence, energy, confidence, and responsibility. I-Iq cliffered from some observt:rs in his emphasis on candor, sensi- tivity, and a "cert:lin willingness to suffer the painful consequences of unpopular decisions." Peace called using these traits in nlanagement "soft management."6 As this chapter:'s !'aluing Diversity feature proints out, personal traits are often perceivecl as masculine or feminine.

Leadership Skills A person's skills ilre thr: competencies and caLpabilities he or she possesses. Look again at Figure 13.1, and notice that many of the skills Yukl identified are primar- ily usefuL in dr:aling with others. These skills include diplomacy, fluency in speech (communication skills), persuasiveness, and social r:bility. Some of the traits listed imply the exisrence of skills. Iror example, being decisive means that one has skill in making decisions by both rational and intuitive means.

Chris Carrey, formr:r president of Datatr:c Industries, which makes in-store computer systems, believes that subordinates should evaluate their bosses in what he callsreuerse performance ret,iews.l.[e had his 318 employees score their managers' skills in arcas such as coaching, listening, pr:aising, and responsiveness.

442

CHAPfER l3 L€:adersnlP

:mployees rated upper managei:s in terms of support of employees' articulation

,f go"ir, aftention to employee_ideas, and fairness. The survi:ys were i:Il1on)'mous'

rnd the results were shared. [;ormal, top-rJorarn appraisals followed within a

,""i[. "s.rreduling rhe reviewt; back-to-bac,k underscores the far:t thzit e!'(]ryone

:an perform better andeveryone has a chance t,c say how tLrat w:ill happen'"7

LeadershiP Behaviots

GaryYuklandhiscolleaguesdeterminedlgcategclrieso{..m.eanringhuiarrdmea. ,-hf.;f."dership U.n""uiot

t Figure 13.2 presents the Yukl group's catr:gorics

along with definitions "nd e*""tf its' As you examine these behaviors-ther things

leaders do in the .".r;;;;;rlrlir. or leadership-relate them ro the tr:rits and

skills discussed earliei. Then iirrk rhe conceprs to what you kno,rv about l'ruman

behavior and motivation as described in C'hapter 12'

TheGrstbehaviorYukllisted,p"tfotn.'"nt':emphasis'remaiLnsapopularfo- *, r* ."n"gers and business *.i,.rt. The movement in busines;s

today is; to pay

il;l; f", *"n", they learn arLd to reward them for their individual ancl group

performanc.. et f-vonatll Ptt''"ht-ical' "M'anagers and workers tacl'lie new

undertakings rn teams, whicfr ger bonuses if theii ideas f1y,"e Ily putting their

emphasis and money *her. th.i, words are, company nlanagers ernphasize per-

formance and ProductivitY'

MANAGEM ENr vEllru! EAD]EB9H ry- Management and leadership ;tre not synonyms'

Managert.pl.""t' organiire' staff'

lead, and conrrol. Thef -ight or might not br: efiective in influenci'g threir sub-

ordinates or team Inttt"tJ'" "t 'ni achieve go:rls' Ideally'.leadership and man-

.g.-.*-rr.ius combine to allow a manager to function as a leader, as Figure l3'3

suggests. -I.n" -"."g", *h., giu.. nrde., and r:xplicit instructions

to experienced

people, for instance' is not lez.cli,.'g but actually irnpeding productlvity. Planrring

effectively helps one to become a manager; enabling others to plan effectively

isle"ding.Leadersempower--'theygivepeop,lethethingstheyngedtOgrow'to change, I.rd to cope with cha'ge. Leaders crearp

and share visiot'rs, generatlng

strategies to bring the visions t') realtty'

A"ccording to D"t"t..,, clnris Carey, empowering people r€qrrj1s5 a corporate

culturethatmakesempowerlllentacorevalue.Hiscompanyworkr:dhar:dtc,cre- ate a culture tt"t rr"r-'"r "its,:clre values: horresty, openness' effIpowerlTlent'

and

acceptance of failure'" 1o

JohnKotterandJamesFleskett,irtCo,'rporateCulture_,'lndPer|ormance, listed organizations that hacl rnade maior culiural changes"fhe

[cederr; of rhese

;;;;;";i;rs first had to realize that change was needed.. Then they had to com-

municate to employees the Iacts that point,ed to:r crisis or lPotelltial crisis' so

il;;;1"y.., *ouiJp..cei'e the need ro change. Finally, as l(.tter a.r1 Heskett

described, Performed as follows:

deuelopedorclarifiedtl'.teiruisio.nsc',fwhatchangeswereneeded'...After perceiuingsomeminimt.tmreadinesstlnthepartofthei.rmanagers,tbe iiodrrc th"en began comntunicating their uisi'cns of

wbat cltangt:s were nec-

essary.Theseui'sionsalut'ayscarri"d.so*egemeraltnessdge;.aboutkeycon- stituencres, rspn'iotiy '"t;tLmers""

IAlso] itcluded u'as in'formation aLt<tut

more specific strategies Ltnd practices that w'ere seen (ts needed to tleal u"itb

the cuirent business clift'ate or competitiue situation'| l

CHAPTER l5 Lea'lersnrP

*. planning: The extent to which a leader de,:ides how to organize and schedule lvork ef{iciently, plans how to tttain work-unit obiecives'

and makes contingerrcy plans for potential problems

Exonple:My supervisgr suggested a shortcut that allows us to prepare our finarrcial statements in three days instead of the four days

it

used to take.

ll. Coordinating: The r:xtent to which a lead,:r coordinates the work of subordinalles, emphasizes the importante of coordination' and

encourages subordinates to coordinate their activities'

Exonple:My supervisor encouraged subordinates who were ahead in their work to help those who were behind' By helping

each

otn.i ar the different parts 0f the prolect will be ready at the samr: time.

15. work facilitation: Ihe extent to which a leader obtains for subordinates any necessry supplies, equipment, support services' or other

resources; eliminate; problems in the worl< environment; and removes other ob$acles that interfere with the work'

Exomple:|askedmybosstoordersomes'upp|ies,andheanangedtogetthenrrightaway.

16. Repr*cilarion: I he extent t0 which a klader establishes contacls with other lgroups and important

people n the organization,

oersuades them to appreciate and support the leaderb work unit, and influences superiors and outsiders to

promote and defend the

interesls of the worl: unit.

Exonple:My supennsor met with the datrr processing manager to ask for revisions to the computer

program:;' The revised programs

will meet our needs more ef{ectively'

17. tntenction facililrtion: The extent to urhich a leader tries to gel subordinates to be filendly with each othtr, cooperate, share

information and idera:;, and help each oth'3r'

Exomple:rhe sales manager took the group out to lunch to give r:verybody a chance to get to know the neur sales representatrve'

l& Gonflict managenrent The extent to wlrich a leader restrains subordinates flom fighting and arguing, encc'urages them to resolve

--- .*ni,fr in a coistru<live manner, and he:lps settle disagreement; between subordinates'

Exomple:rwomembers of the department who were working together on a project had a dispute The manager met

with them to help

resolve the matter.

lg. criticismdisriplirne: The extent to which a leader critrcizes or disciplines a subordinate who shows consistently poor performance,

violates a rule, or 6sobeis an order. Disciplinary actions include rtfficial warnings, reprimands, suspensions, and dismissals'

Exomple:rhesuperrvrsgr, concerned that a subordinate repeatedly made the:;ame kinds of errors, made sure that the

subordinate was

aware of expectations concerning quality

futrce: Leodershipinorgoniat,ions,p r0bycaryull (o1981 byprenticeHall, Inc. lrdaptedwithp,e:rmissionof PearsonEducaton, lnc,UpptrsaddleRiver'NJ

g,458.

As the leaders,.sisions ancl strategies were collLveled, thLey won allics and

became role models; for other manaLgeri. "Their ability tD change and play a use-

ful leadership rol. n4;.,"led that othi, could also."12 Such leaders:rre often called

,i"r7rr*"ri"nal ltti'ders because they are able to create fundamental changes in

their organizarions,values, missioni and cultures. Figr.rre: 13,.4, which is based

o., ;otr.r"fo,ter,s *c,rk, f.rrth". differentiates between l:nanagement a.d leader-

ship. Notice how l(,ctter's list of leadership behavirlrs emphasiz:es people skills

and motivational c'onnecttons' Kotter notes that "A few ... corporate change efforts have

bei:n very success-

ful. A few have bee' utter failures. liost fall s'mewhere in betvreen, with a distinct

tilt toward the lou,er: end of the scarle."13 why so fevr-big successi:s? Management

iln g., tt".f. in the planning phase or be trapped with a culture'.a decision struc-

i"t.ip.".ti.es, and people who resist change' "A paralyzed ":1'::3,i'iagement often'comes from hcrving too many nlanagers and not erlotlgh

leaoers' "