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Chapter 14

Leading and Leadership Development A leader lives in each of us

CHAPTER QUICK START

“Leadership” is one of those words that we hear and use all the time but may rarely stop to think much about. In fact, leadership is a very complicated process that demands a great deal from leaders and followers alike, and requires lots of background understanding and personal insight. This review of the research foundations of leadership and its implications for leadership development can help you build skills and reach your full leadership potential.

Key Takeaways

· Define leadership and explain its foundations in power, vision, and service.

· Identify key leader behaviors that impact leadership effectiveness.

· Identify major contingencies that impact leadership effectiveness.

· Understand the challenges of personal leadership development.

what to look for inside >

MANAGEMENT IS REAL

analysis> MAKE DATA YOUR FRIEND Followers Report Shortcomings of Leaders

choices> THINK BEFORE YOU ACT Sometimes “No” May Be Your Best Answer

ethics> KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG A Step over the Line into Community Service

insight> LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF There’s No Substitute for Integrity

wisdom> LEARN FROM ROLE MODELS Educator Turns Leadership Vision into Inspiration

SKILLS MAKE YOU VALUABLE

· EVALUATE Career Situations: What Would You Do?

· REFLECT On the Self-Assessment: Least-Preferred Co-worker Scale

· CONTRIBUTE To the Class Exercise: Most Needed Leadership Skills

· MANAGE A Critical Incident: Playing Favorites as a Team Leader

· COLLABORATE On the Team Activity: Leadership Believe-It-or-Not

· ANALYZE The Case Study: Zappos: They Do It with Humor

A glance at the shelves in your local bookstore will quickly confirm that “leadership” is one of the most popular topics in the field of management. The consensus is that leaders become great by bringing out the best in the people who follow them. As the late Grace Hopper, management expert and the first female admiral in the United States Navy, once said: “You manage things; you lead people.” 1 Leadership scholar and consultant Barry Posner believes, “The present moment is the domain of managers. The future is the domain of leaders.” 2 Consultant and author Tom Peters claims the leader is “rarely—possibly never?—the best performer.” 3 All seem to agree that leaders thrive through and from the successes of others.

Although the leadership message seems clear, the task of leading isn’t easy. Managers and team leaders often face daunting responsibilities. Resources can be scarce and performance expectations high. Time frames for getting things accomplished can be short, while problems to be resolved are complex, ambiguous, and multidimensional. 4 It takes high self-awareness and hard work to be a great leader. There are many challenges to be mastered on the pathways toward leadership success at work, in our communities, and at home with families and loved ones. This chapter offers an opportunity to find out more about the leader who resides in you.

The Nature of Leadership

TAKEAWAY 1 What is the nature of leadership?

LEARN MORE ABOUT |

Leadership and power • Leadership and vision • Leadership and service Leadership and followership

It helps to think of leadership as the process of inspiring others to work hard to accomplish important tasks. 5 As shown in Figure 14.1 , it also is one of the four functions that constitute the management process. Planning sets the direction and objectives; organizing brings together resources to turn plans into action; leadingbuilds the commitments and enthusiasm for people to apply their talents to help accomplish plans; and controlling makes sure plans turn out right.

Leadership is the process of inspiring others to work hard to accomplish important tasks.

FIGURE 14.1 Leading viewed in relationship to the other management functions.

Leadership and Power

Leadership success begins with the ways we use power to influence the behavior of other people. Harvard professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter once called power“America’s last great dirty word.” 6 She was concerned that too many people, including managers, are uncomfortable with the concept of power. They don’t realize how critical it is for leadership.

Power is the ability to get others to do something you want done, or to make things happen the way you want. The “positive” face of power is that it is the foundation of effective leadership. This means using power not with the desire to influence others for the sake of personal satisfaction, but for the good of the group or organization as a whole. 7

Power is the ability to get others to do something you want done or to make things happen the way you want.

Theoretically, anyone in a managerial position—team leader, department head, supervisor—has power, but how well it is used varies from person to person. Leaders gain power both from the position they hold and from their personal qualities. 8 You can remember this as an equation: Managerial Power = Position Power + Personal Power. The three bases of position power are reward power, coercive power, and legitimate power; three important bases of personal power are expertise, information and networking, and referent power.

Position Power

When it comes to the position of being a manager, reward power is the ability to influence through rewards. It is the capacity to offer something of value—a positive outcome—as a way to influence others’ behavior. This involves use of incentives such as pay raises, bonuses, promotions, special assignments, and verbal or written compliments. In mobilizing reward power, a manager says, in effect: “If you do what I ask, I’ll reward you.” As you might expect, this approach works as long as people want the reward and the manager/leader makes it continuously available. But take the value of the reward or the reward itself away, and the power is quickly lost.

Reward power is the capacity to offer something of value as a means of influencing other people.

Coercive power is the ability to achieve influence through punishment. It is the capacity to punish or withhold positive outcomes to influence others’ behavior. A manager may attempt to coerce by threatening with verbal reprimands, pay penalties, and even termination. In mobilizing coercive power, a manager says, in effect: “If you don’t do what I want, I’ll punish you.” How would you feel if threatened in these ways? If you’re like most people, you’ll resent both the threat and the person making it. You might do what you’re told or at least go through the motions. But, you’re unlikely to continue once the threat is gone.

Coercive power is the capacity to punish or withhold positive outcomes as a means of influencing other people.

Legitimate power is the ability to influence through authority. It is the right to exercise control by virtue of organizational position or status. In mobilizing legitimate power, a manager says, in effect: “I am the boss; therefore, you need to do what I ask.” When your instructor assigns homework, exams, and team projects, most often you do what the instructor requested. Why? You do it because the requests seem legitimate in the context of the course. But if the instructor moves outside of the boundaries of the course, such as telling you to attend a campus sports event, the legitimacy is lost and you are much less likely to comply.

Legitimate power is the capacity to influence others by virtue of formal authority, or the rights of office.

Personal Power

After all is said and done, position power alone isn’t sufficient for any manager. It’s very often the amount of personal power you can mobilize through expertise and reference that makes the difference between success and failure in a leadership situation, and even in your career.

Expert power is the ability to achieve influence through special skills, knowledge, and reputation. It is the capacity to influence others’ behavior because of expertise and a high-performance reputation. When a manager uses expert power, the implied message is one of credibility: “You should do what I want because of what I know and what I have accomplished.” This expertise is part of our human capital, which is the ability to get things done based on what we know and can do. It can be earned from credentials, experience, and visible performance achievements. But, it has to be maintained by protecting credibility, not overstepping boundaries or pretending to expertise that isn’t really there. Although some people, such as medical doctors and attorneys, are granted at least temporary expertise due to credentials, they can quickly lose it through mistakes and bad behavior. Most of us acquire expertise one step at a time. Gaining it, in fact, may be among of your biggest early career challenges.

Expert power is the capacity to influence others’ because of specialized knowledge.

Human capital is the ability to get things done based on what we know and can do.

Information and networking power is the ability to achieve influence through access to information and contacts with other people. 9 It is the capacity to influence others due to centrality in information flows and social networks, and as a result of being trusted as a credible information source and reliable networking partner. When a manager uses information and networking power, the implied message is: “I have access to information and people, I can get things done.” This power is linked to the informal structures and social networks—both interpersonal and media driven—that give life to day-to-day organizational dynamics. It is part of what is called social capital, the ability to get things done based on who you know.

Information and networking power is the ability to influence others through access to information and contacts with other people.

Social capital is the ability to get things done because of who you know.

Referent power is the ability to achieve influence through identification. It is the capacity to influence others’ behavior because of their admiration and their desire for positive identification with you. Referent power derives from charisma or interpersonal attractiveness. When a manager uses referent power, the implied message is: “You should do what I want in order to maintain a positive, self-defined relationship with me.” It’s helpful to view referent power as something that can be developed and maintained through good interpersonal relationships that encourage others’ admiration and respect. It is a lot easier to get others to do what you want when they like you than when they don’t.

Referent power is the capacity to influence other people because of their desire to identify personally with you.

Leadership and Vision

“Great leaders,” it is said, “get extraordinary things done in organizations by inspiring and motivating others toward a common purpose.” 10 Their power is enhanced by their ability to communicate a compelling vision—a hoped-for future that if achieved will improve on the present state of affairs. But simply talking up a vision isn’t enough. Truly exceptional leaders excel at transforming their vision into accomplishments.

Vision is a clear sense of the future.

The term visionary leadership describes the behaviors of leaders who offer a clear and compelling sense of the future, as well as an understanding of the actions needed to get there successfully. 11 This means having a clear vision, communicating the vision, and getting people motivated and inspired to pursue the vision in their daily work. Think of it this way. Visionary leadership gives meaning to people’s work; it makes what they do seem worthwhile and valuable. Noted educational leader Lorraine Monroe says: “The job of a good leader is to articulate a vision that others are inspired to follow.” 12 Her views match those of the late John Wooden, member of the college basketball hall of fame and coach of 10 NCAA Division I men’s national championship teams at UCLA. Wooden once said: “Effective leadership means having a lot of people working toward a common goal.” If you can achieve that with no one caring who gets the credit, you’re going to accomplish a lot. 13

Visionary leadership brings to the situation a clear sense of the future and an understanding of how to get there.

Recommended Reading

Eric Risberg/©AP/Wide World Photos

Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t (HarperBusiness, 2010)

by Jeffrey Pfeffer

According to Jeffrey Pfeffer, there’s no doubt about it. Power plays a major role in career success, salary level, and job performance. He claims that it can even positively affect life span. With power as the engine that helps people accomplish both personal and professional social goals, it’s something to be cultivated—not avoided. Pfeffer believes that people in organizations need to be politically savvy, know key power centers, and be diligent and adept at getting resources and making decisions. Focus, energy, and ambition are desirable personal qualities for power seekers. But raw intelligence, says Pfeffer, is no guarantee of power.

Leadership and Service

Institutions function better when the idea, the dream, is to the fore, and the person, the leader, is seen as servant to the dream.

—Robert Greenleaf of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership 14

The real leader is a servant of the people she leads. A really great boss is not afraid to hire smart people. You want people who are smart about things you are not smart about.

—Lorraine Monroe of the Monroe Leadership Institute 15

When thinking about leadership, power, and vision, it is critical to remember personal integrity as described in the chapter opener. According to Peter Drucker, the concept of “service” is central to integrity, and leaders who have integrity act as “servants of the organization.” 16 More and more today you’ll hear conversations aboutservant leadership that is based on serving others and helping them fully use their talents so that organizations benefit society. 17 Ask this question: Who is most, the leader or the followers? For those who believe in servant leadership the correct answer clear—the followers. A servant leader is “other-centered” and not “self-centered.”

Servant leadership is follower-centered and committed to helping others in their work.

When servant leaders shift the focus away from themselves and toward others, what happens? The answer is empowerment. This is the process of allowing others to exercise power and achieve organizational influence. Servant leaders realize that power is not a “zero-sum” quantity. They reject the idea that in order for someone to gain power, another has to give it up. 18 They empower others by providing them with the information, responsibility, authority, and trust to make decisions and act independently. They also expect that people who are empowered will work hard so that the organization is better equipped to pursue its cause or mission.

Empowerment enables others to gain and use decision-making power.

wisdom> LEARN FROM ROLE MODELS

> “The job of the leader is to uplift her people … as individuals of infinite worth… .”

Educator Turns Leadership Vision into Inspiration

Dr. Lorraine Monroe’s career in the New York City public schools began as a teacher. She went on to serve as assistant principal, principal, and vice-chancellor for curriculum and instruction. She then founded the Frederick Douglass Academy, a public school in Harlem, where she grew up. Like its namesake, an escaped slave who later became a prominent abolitionist and civil rights leader, the school became highly respected for educational excellence.

Through her experiences, Monroe formed a set of beliefs centered on a leader being vision-driven and follower-centered. They are summarized in what is called the “Monroe Doctrine.” It begins with this advice: The job of the leader is to uplift her people—not just as members of and contributors to the organization, but as individuals of infinite worth in their own right. “We can reform society,” she says, “only if every place we live—every school, workplace, church, and family—becomes a site of reform.”

Monroe believes leaders must always start at the “heart of the matter” and that “the job of a good leader is to articulate a vision that others are inspired to follow.” She also believes in ensuring that all workers know they are valued, that their advice is welcome, and that workers and managers should always try to help and support one another. “I have never undertaken any project,” she says, “without first imagining on paper what it would ultimately look like… . All the doers who would be responsible for carrying out my imaginings have to be informed and let in on the dream.”

FIND THE INSPIRATION

Is visionary leadership something that works only at the very top of organizations? Should the leader of a work team also have a vision? What about this notion that leaders should be follower centered? Does that mean that followers get to determine what gets done and when? What are the lessons of the Monroe Doctrine for everyday leaders at all levels in organizations of all types and sizes? How could this doctrine serve you?

Leadership and Followership

The discussion of servant leadership and empowerment is a nice transition into the subject of “followership.” What roles do followers play in leadership? How do followers influence leadership success and failure? Do follower perceptions and expectations of effective leadership vary in discoverable ways? These are but a few of the questions that leaders and followers alike should be asking in teams and organizations.

If leadership is the act of inspiration, followership is the act of joining with a leader to accomplish tasks and goals. 19 The work of scholar Mary Uhl-Bien and others strongly suggests that the emphasis in this definition should be on the word “joining.” They view leadership as something that is “co-produced” by leaders and followers, rather than being a singular result of a leader’s actions alone. They criticize tendencies toward the romance of leadership and the subordination of followership, which together create situations where leaders get credit for accomplishments and the contributions of followers get overlooked. 20

Followership is the act of joining with a leader to accomplish tasks and goals.

In research on followership, the perceptions of both leaders and followers are of interest. Some followers, for example, tend to see themselves as passive players whose job it is to obey and take little responsibility for shared leadership. They are comfortable being told what to do and may get stressed and uncomfortable with a leader who emphasizes empowerment and independence. Other followers may see themselves as proactive partners with responsibility to make real leadership contributions. They are likely to be unhappy in a top-down leadership climate, but act energized and motivated in a shared leadership climate. From an empowering leader’s perspective, followers tend to get high ratings for showing initiative, enthusiasm, and loyalty, and get low ratings for showing incompetence and conformity. 21

Learning Check 1

TAKEAWAYQUESTION 1 What is the nature of leadership?

BE SURE YOU CAN • define power • illustrate three types of position power and discuss how managers use each • illustrate three types of personal power and discuss how managers use each • define vision • explain the concept of visionary leadership • explain the notion and benefits of servant leadership • defineempowerment and followership • explain the “romance of leadership” and “subordination of followership”

Leadership Traits and Behaviors

TAKEAWAY 2 What are the important leadership traits and behaviors?

LEARN MORE ABOUT |

Leadership traits • Leadership behaviors • Classic leadership styles

Societies have recognized for centuries that while some people do really well as leaders, others do not. The question still debated is: “Why?” Historically, the answer has been sought by studying leader traits, behaviors, and situational contingencies. Although they differ in how leadership effectiveness is explained, each approach still offers useful insights on leadership development.

Leadership Traits

Question—What personal traits and characteristics are associated with leadership success?

An early direction in leadership research involved the search for universal traits or distinguishing personal characteristics that separate effective from ineffective leaders. 22 Sometimes called the “great person theory,” the results from many years of research in this direction can be summarized as follows.

analysis> MAKE DATA YOUR FRIEND

> Only 37% of workers in a Harris survey believe leaders display “integrity and morality.”

Followers Report Shortcomings of Leaders

Anderson Ross/Blend/Getty Images

Harris Interactive periodically conducts surveys of workers’ attitudes toward their jobs and employers. The results for “leaders” and “top managers” reveal some surprising shortcomings:

· 37% believe their top managers display integrity and morality.

· 39% believe leaders most often act in the best interest of the organization.

· 22% see leaders as ready to admit mistakes.

· 46% believe their organizations give them freedom to do their jobs.

· 25% of women and 16% of men believe their organizations pick the best people for leadership.

· 33% of managers are perceived by followers as “strong leaders.”

YOUR THOUGHTS?

How do the leaders you have had experience with stack up? Which ones rate as strong or weak, or as moral or immoral? How would you describe your best leader and his or her impact on you? What makes the greatest difference in the ways leaders are viewed by followers?

Physical characteristics such as a person’s height, weight, and physique make no difference in determining leadership success. On the other hand, certain personal traits are common among the best leaders. A study of more than 3,400 managers, for example, revealed that followers tend to consistently admire leaders who are honest, competent, forward looking, inspiring, and credible. 23 A comprehensive review by Shelley Kirkpatrick and Edwin Locke identifies these personal traits of many successful leaders: 24

Personal leadership traits

· Drive—Successful leaders have high energy, display initiative, and are tenacious.

· Self-confidence—Successful leaders trust themselves and have confidence in their abilities.

· Creativity—Successful leaders are creative and original in their thinking.

· Cognitive ability—Successful leaders have the intelligence to integrate and interpret information.

· Job-relevant knowledge—Successful leaders know their industry and its technical foundations.

· Motivation—Successful leaders enjoy influencing others to achieve shared goals.

· Flexibility—Successful leaders adapt to fit the needs of followers and the demands of situations.

· Honesty and integrity—Successful leaders are trustworthy, honest, predictable, and dependable.

Leadership Behaviors

Question—How is leadership success affected by the ways leaders behave when engaging with followers?

After the early trait studies, researchers turned their attention to the issue of how leaders behave when dealing with followers. 25 If the most effective behaviors could be identified, they reasoned, then it would be possible to train leaders to become skilled at using these behaviors.

A stream of research that began in the 1940s, spearheaded by studies at Ohio State University and the University of Michigan, focused attention on two dimensions of leadership behavior: (1) concern for the task to be accomplished, and (2) concern for the people doing the work. The Ohio State studies used the terms initiating structure and consideration for the respective dimensions; the University of Michigan studies called them production-centered and employee-centered. 26 Regardless of the terminology used, the characteristics of each dimension of leadership behavior were quite clear.

· A leader high in concern for task—plans and defines the work to be done, assigns task responsibilities, sets clear work standards, urges task completion, and monitors performance results.

· A leader high in concern for people—acts with warmth and supportiveness toward followers, maintains good social relations with them, respects their feelings, is sensitive to their needs, and shows trust in them.

The results of leader behavior research at first suggested that followers of people-oriented leaders would be the most productive and satisfied. 27 However, researchers eventually moved toward the high-high position that effective leaders were high in concerns for both people and task. 28 This type of leader focuses on task accomplishments while also sharing decisions with team members, empowering them, encouraging participation, and supporting teamwork.

Classic Leadership Styles

Question—How do different leadership styles combine concerns for task and concerns for people?

Work in the leader behavior tradition made it easy to talk about different leadership styles—the recurring patterns of behaviors exhibited by leaders. When people talk about the leaders with whom they work, even today, their vocabulary often describes classic styles of leadership shown in Figure 14.2 . 29 These styles represent different combinations of concerns for task and concerns for people in the leadership experience.

Leadership style is a recurring pattern of behaviors exhibited by a leader.

A leader identified with an autocratic style emphasizes task over people, retains authority and information, and acts in a unilateral, command-and-control fashion. A leader with a human relations style does just the opposite and emphasizes people over task. A leader with a laissez-faire style shows little concern for the task, lets the group make decisions, and acts with a “do the best you can and don’t bother me” attitude. A leader with a democratic style, the “high-high” team manager, is committed to both task and people. This leader tries to get things done while sharing information, encouraging participation in decision making, and otherwise helping others develop their skills and capabilities.

An autocratic leader acts in a command-and-control fashion.

A human relations leader emphasizes people over task.

A laissez-faire leader has a “do the best you can and don’t bother me” attitude.

A democratic leader emphasizes both tasks and people.

FIGURE 14.2 Classic leadership styles combining concerns for task and concerns for people.

Learning Check 2

TAKEAWAYQUESTION 2 What are the important leadership traits and behaviors?

BE SURE YOU CAN • contrast the trait and leader-behavior approaches to leadership research • identify five personal traits of successful leaders • illustrate leader behaviors consistent with a high concern for task • illustrate leader behaviors consistent with a high concern for people • describe behaviors associated with four classic leadership styles

Contingency Approaches to Leadership

TAKEAWAY 3 What are the contingency approaches to leadership?

LEARN MORE ABOUT |

Fiedler’s contingency model • Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership model House’s path–goal leadership theory • Leader-member exchange theory Leader-participation model

Over time scholars became increasingly uncomfortable with both the trait and leader behavior approaches. They concluded that no one set of traits or behaviors or styles works best all of the time. In response, they developed a number of contingency approaches to explain the conditions for leadership success in different situations.

Fiedler’s Contingency Model

Question—Which leadership styles work best in the different types of situations that leaders face?

One of the first contingency leadership models was developed by Fred Fiedler. He proposed that good leadership depends on a match or fit between a person’s leadership style and situational demands. 30 Fiedler viewed leadership style as part of personality and therefore as difficult to change. He didn’t place much hope in trying to change styles and train leaders to behave in new ways. Instead, he suggested that the key to success was to put existing leadership styles to work in the situations where they fit best. In order to achieve these style–situation matches, leaders have to understand both their personal styles and the situational strengths and weaknesses of those styles. 31

Understanding Leadership Styles and Situations

Leadership style in Fiedler’s model is measured using the least-preferred co-worker scale, known as the LPC scale, which can be found as the end-of-chapter self-assessment. It describes tendencies to behave either as a task-motivated leader (low LPC score) or relationship-motivated leader (high LPC score).

The least-preferred co-worker scale, LPC, is used in Fiedler’s contingency model to measure leadership style.

Leadership situations in Fiedler’s model are assessed according to the amount of control they offer the leader. Three contingency variables measure situational control. The quality of leader–member relations (good or poor) measures the degree to which the group supports the leader. The degree of task structure (high or low) measures the extent to which task goals, procedures, and guidelines are clearly spelled out. The amount of position power (strong or weak) measures the degree to which the position gives the leader power to reward and punish subordinates.

Figure 14.3 shows eight leadership situations that result from different combinations of these contingency variables. They range from the most favorable situation of high control (good leader–member relations, high task structure, strong in position power) to the least favorable situation of low control (poor leader–member relations, low task structure, weak in position power).

FIGURE 14.3 Predictions on style–situation fit from Fiedler’s contingency leadership model.

Matching Leadership Style and Situation

Fiedler’s research showed that neither the task-oriented nor the relationship-oriented leadership style was effective all the time. Instead, as summarized here and shown in Figure 14.3 , each style seemed to work best when used in the right situation.

· Task-motivated style—This leader will be most successful in either very favorable high-control situations or very unfavorable low-control situations.

· Relationship-motivated style—This leader will be most successful in situations of moderate control.

Consider some examples. Assume you are the leader of a team of market researchers. The researchers seem highly supportive of you, and their job is clearly defined regarding what needs to be done. You have the authority to evaluate their performance and to make pay and promotion recommendations. This is a high-control situation consisting of good leader–member relations, high task structure, and high position power. Figure 14.3 shows that a task-motivated leader would be most effective in this situation.

Suppose now that you are the faculty chairperson of a committee asked to improve student–faculty relationships in a university. Although the goal is clear, no one can say for sure how to accomplish it, and task structure is low. Because the committee is voluntary and members are free to quit any time, the chairperson has little position power. Because student members thought that the chair should be a student rather than a faculty member, leader–member relations are mixed. According to the figure, this low-control situation also calls for a task-motivated leader.

Finally, assume that you are the new head of a fashion section in a large department store. Because you were selected over one of the popular sales associates you now supervise, leader–member relations are poor. Task structure is high because the associate’s job is well defined. Your position power is low because associates work under a seniority system and fixed wage schedule. From Figure 14.3 , you can see that Fiedler identifies a relationship-motivated leader as the best fit for this moderate-control situation.

Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model

Question—How should leaders adjust their leadership styles according to the task readiness of followers?

In contrast to Fiedler’s notion that leadership style is hard to change, the Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership model suggests that successful leaders do adjust their styles. But they do so wisely and based on the task readiness, or task maturity, of followers. 32 “Readiness,” in this sense, refers to how able and willing or confident followers are performing required tasks. The four leadership styles to choose from are shown in Figure 14.4 as:

· Delegating—allowing the group to take responsibility for task decisions; a low-task, low-relationship style.

· Participating—emphasizing shared ideas and participative decisions on task directions; a low-task, high-relationship style.

· Selling—explaining task directions in a supportive and persuasive way; a high-task, high-relationship style.

· Telling—giving specific task directions and closely supervising work; a high-task, low-relationship style.

The delegating style works best in high-readiness situations with able, willing, and confident followers. The telling style works best at the other extreme of low readiness, where followers are unable and unwilling, or insecure. The participating style is recommended for low-to-moderate-readiness followers—able but unwilling, or insecure. Finally, the selling style is most effective for moderate-to-high-readiness followers—unable, but willing or confident.

FIGURE 14.4 Leadership implications of the Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership model.

ethics> KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG

> The boss expects you to spend part of your workday on one of her community fundraising activities.

A Step over the Line into Community Service

What if your company’s CEO is active in a local community group? It sounds great and she gets a lot of press for philanthropy and leadership in the local Red Cross, homeless shelter, food bank, and more. The company’s reputation for social responsibility also gains from her outreach efforts. But, first thing this morning she appeared in your office and asked you to spend a good part of the workweek helping organize a fundraising event for one of her local charities. Caught off guard, you’ve given her a weak “okay.”

Now that you’ve had time to think a bit more about it, you’re not sure you should comply. After all, you’ve already got a lot of top priority work on your desk, there’s no direct connection between the charity and the firm’s business, and the charity isn’t one that you personally support.

Helping your boss with this request will obviously be good for her. You’ll also probably benefit from increased goodwill in your relationship with her. However, the organization could actually end up being worse off as your regular work slips behind schedule, affecting not only you but client activities that depend on you. Sure, you’re getting paid to do what she asks—but who benefits?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Is it ethical to help your manager in the situation just described? Are you doing a disservice to the organization’s other stakeholders if you go along with this request? Is it acceptable for a manager or team leader or top executive to ask others to help them with tasks and activities that are not directly tied to work? Just where would you draw the line on requests like these?

Hersey and Blanchard also believed that leadership styles should be adjusted as followers change over time. If the correct styles are used in lower-readiness situations, followers will “mature” and grow in ability, willingness, and confidence. This allows leaders to become less directive and more participative as followers mature. Although the Hersey-Blanchard model is intuitively appealing, limited research has been accomplished on it to date. 33

House’s Path–Goal Leadership Theory

Question—How can leaders use alternative leadership styles to add value in different types of situations?

The path–goal theory advanced by Robert House seeks the right fit between leadership style and situation. 34 Unlike Fiedler, House believed that a leader can use all of the following leadership styles and actually shift back and forth among them:

Path-goal leadership styles

· Directive leadership—letting followers know what is expected; giving directions on what to do and how; scheduling work to be done; maintaining definite performance standards; clarifying the leader’s role in the group.

· Supportive leadership—doing things to make work more pleasant; treating team members as equals; being friendly and approachable; showing concern for the well-being of subordinates.

· Achievement-oriented leadership—setting challenging goals; expecting the highest levels of performance; emphasizing continuous performance improvement; displaying confidence in meeting high standards.

· Participative leadership—involving team members in decision making; consulting with them and asking for suggestions; using these suggestions when making decisions.

Path–Goal Contingencies

House’s path–goal theory suggests that the key task of any leader is to “add value” to a situation. They do this by shifting among the four leadership styles in ways that contribute something that is missing or needs strengthening. They avoid redundancy by not trying to do things that are already taken care of. When team members are already expert and competent at their tasks, for example, it is unnecessary and even dysfunctional for the leader to tell them how to do things.

There is a variety of research-based guidance on how to contingently match path–goal leadership styles with situational characteristics. When job assignments are unclear, directive leadership helps to clarify task objectives and expected rewards. When worker self-confidence is low, supportive leadership can increase confidence by emphasizing individual abilities and offering needed assistance. When task challenge is insufficient in a job, achievement-oriented leadership helps to set goals and raise performance aspirations. When performance incentives are poor, participative leadership might clarify individual needs and identify appropriate rewards. 35

Four Leadership Styles in House’s Path–goal Theory

1. Directive leader—lets others know what is expected; gives directions, maintains standards

2. Supportive leader—makes work more pleasant; treats others as equals, acts friendly, shows concern

3. Achievement-oriented leader—sets challenging goals; expects high performance, shows confidence

4. Participative leader—involves others in decision making; asks for and uses suggestions

Substitutes for Leadership

Path–goal theory contributed to the recognition of what we call substitutes for leadership. 36 These are aspects of the work setting and the people involved that reduce the need for active leader involvement. In effect, substitutes provide leadership from within the situation and thus make leadership from the outside unnecessary.

Substitutes for leadership are factors in the work setting that direct work efforts without the involvement of a leader.

Possible substitutes for leadership include follower characteristics such as ability, experience, and independence; task characteristics such as the presence or absence of routine and the availability of feedback; and organizational characteristics such as clarity of plans and formalization of rules and procedures. When these substitutes for leadership are present, managers are advised in true path–goal fashion to avoid duplicating them. Instead, they should concentrate on making other and more important leadership contributions.

Leader–Member Exchange Theory

Question—How do in-group and out-group dynamics influence leader–follower relationships?

One of the things you may have noticed is the tendency of leaders to develop “special” relationships with some team members, even to the point where not everyone is always treated in the same way. This notion is central to leader–member exchange theory, or LMX theory as it is often called. 37

Described in Figure 14.5 , LMX theory recognizes that not everyone is treated the same by leaders. People fall into “in-groups” and “out-groups,” and the group you are in can make a big difference in your experience with the leader. 38 In-group members enjoy special and trusted high-exchange relationships with leaders and often get special rewards, assignments, privileges, and access to information. For a follower in the leader’s in-group, it’s motivating and satisfying to receive such favorable treatment. Out-group members have a low-quality exchange relationship and may be marginalized, ignored, and receive fewer benefits than in-group members with higher-quality exchange relationships. For out-group members, it can be frustrating to receive fewer rewards, less information, and little or no special attention.

FIGURE 14.5 Elements of leader–member exchange (LMX) theory.

Just look around. You’re likely to see examples of this in classroom situations between instructors and certain students, and in work teams between leaders and certain team members. The notion of leader in-groups and out-groups seems to make sense and corresponds to working realities experienced by many people. Interestingly, research shows that members of leaders’ in-groups get more positive performance evaluations and report higher levels of job satisfaction. They also are more loyal followers and are less prone to turnover than are out-group members. 39

Leader-Participation Model

Question—How should leaders make decisions in different types of problem situations?

The Vroom-Jago leader-participation model links leadership success with the use of decision-making methods that best fit problem situations.40 An authority decision is made by the leader and then communicated to the team. A consultative decision is made by the leader after gathering information from team members either individually or as a group. A group or team decision is made by the team either on its own or with the leader’s participation as a contributing member. 41

An authority decision is made by the leader and then communicated to the group.

A consultative decision is made by a leader after receiving information, advice, or opinions from group members.

A group or team decision is made by team members.

Figure 14.6 shows that a leader’s choice among alternative decision-making methods is governed by three factors: (1) Decision quality—based on who has the information needed for problem solving; (2) Decision acceptance—based on the importance of follower acceptance to the decision’s eventual implementation; and (3)Decision time—based on the time available to make and implement the decision. Each decision method has advantages and disadvantages with respect to these factors. As a consequence, effective leaders continually shift among the methods as they deal with daily problems and opportunities.

Authority decisions work best when leaders have the expertise needed to solve problems and are confident acting alone. They also work best when followers are likely to accept and implement leader’s decisions, and when there is little or no time available for group discussion. Consultative and group decisions work best when the leader lacks the expertise or information needed to solve a problem. They also work best when the problem is unclear, follower acceptance is uncertain but necessary for implementation, and adequate time is available.

Vroom and Jago believed that consultative and group decisions offer special benefits. 42 Participation helps improve decision quality by bringing more information to bear on the problem. It helps improve decision acceptance as participants gain understanding and commitment. It also contributes to leadership development by allowing others to gain experience in the problem-solving process. Of course, the lost efficiency of consultative and group decisions is a potential negative. Participative decision making is time consuming and leaders don’t always have time available to involve group members in the process. When problems must be resolved immediately, an authority decision may be the only option. 43

FIGURE 14.6 Leadership implications of Vroom-Jago leader-participation model.

Learning Check 3

TAKEAWAYQUESTION 3 What are the contingency approaches to leadership?

BE SURE YOU CAN • contrast the leader-behavior and contingency leadership approaches • explain Fiedler’s contingency model • identify the four leadership styles in the Hersey-Blanchard situational model • explain House’s path–goal theory • define substitutes for leadership • explain LMX theory • contrast the authority, consultative, and group decisions in the Vroom-Jago model

Personal Leadership Development

TAKEAWAY 4 What are the challenges of personal leadership development?

LEARN MORE ABOUT |

Charismatic and transformational leadership Emotional intelligence and leadership • Gender and leadership Moral leadership • Drucker’s “good old-fashioned” leadership

There is no one answer to the question of what makes a particular person—say you—an effective leader. And, there is always room to grow. Personal leadership development is best viewed as a goal that you are more likely to reach if you know key leadership concepts and scholarly models. But, success in personal leadership development also requires lots of self-awareness and a commitment to continuous learning as you move from one practical experience to the next.

Charismatic and Transformational Leadership

It is popular to talk about “superleaders,” people whose vision and strong personality have an extraordinary impact on others. 44 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in August 1963 on the Washington Mall is a good example. Some call people like King charismatic leaders because of their ability to inspire others in exceptional ways. We used to think charisma was limited to only a few lucky people. It’s now considered one of several personal qualities—including honesty, credibility, and competence—that can be developed with foresight and practice.

A charismatic leader inspires followers in extraordinary ways.

Leadership scholars James MacGregor Burns and Bernard Bass link charismatic qualities like enthusiasm and inspiration with something called transformational leadership. 45 They describe transformational leaders as using their personalities, character, and insight to inspire followers. These leaders get others so excited about their jobs and organizational goals that these followers strive for extraordinary performance accomplishments. Indeed, the easiest way to spot a truly transformational leader is through his or her followers. They are likely to be enthusiastic about the leader, loyal, devoted to his or her ideas, and willing to work exceptionally hard to achieve the leader’s vision.

Transformational leadership is inspirational and arouses extraordinary effort and performance.

insight> LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF

> Our personal character gets revealed by how we treat those with no power.

Whether you call it ethical leadership or moral leadership, the lesson is the same: Respect flows toward leaders who behave with integrity. If you have integrity, you’ll be honest, credible, and consistent in all that you do. This seems obvious. “This is what we have been taught since we were kids,” you might say.

So, why are there so many well-publicized examples of leaders who act without integrity? Where, so to speak, does integrity go when some people find themselves in positions of leadership? CEO coach Kenny Moore says that our personal character gets “revealed by how we treat those with no power.” Look closely at how people in leadership positions treat everyday workers—servers, technicians, custodians, and clerks, for example. Moore says that the ways we deal with people who are powerless “brings out our real dispositions.”

The “integrity line” in the figure marks the difference between where we should and should not be. Below the line are leaders who lie, blame others for personal mistakes, want others to fail, and take credit for others’ ideas. They’re conceited, and they’re also selfish. Above the integrity line are honest, consistent, humble, and selfless leaders. Some call such leaders “servants” of the organization and its members.

GET TO KNOW YOURSELF BETTER

Why is it that in the news and in everyday experience we so often end up wondering where leadership integrity has gone? Ask: How often have I worked for someone who behaved below the “integrity line”? How did I feel about it, and what did I do? Write a set of notes on your behavior in situations where your own leadership integrity could be questioned. What are some of the lessons available from this experience? Who are your leadership exemplars, the ones you most admire and would like to emulate? At this point in your life, who is the real leader in you?

The pathway to transformational leadership starts with the willingness to bring real emotion to the leader–follower relationship. It involves acting with integrity and living up to the trust of others. It requires both having a compelling vision of the future and the ability to communicate that vision in ways that influence others to work hard together to achieve it. Transformational leaders excel in part because of their strong sense of high aspiration, confidence, and contagious enthusiasm.

Emotional Intelligence and Leadership

The role of personality in transformational leadership relates to another area of inquiry in leadership development—emotional intelligence. Popularized by the work of Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence, or EI for short, is the ability to understand emotions in yourself and others and use this understanding to handle social relationships effectively. 46 “Great leaders move us,” say Goleman and his colleagues. “Great leadership works through emotions.” 47

Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage our emotions in social relationships.

Emotional intelligence shows up in research as an important influence on leadership success, particularly in more senior management positions. In Goleman’s words: “the higher the rank of the person considered to be a star performer, the more emotional intelligence capabilities showed up as the reason for his or her effectiveness.” 48 This is a pretty strong endorsement for Goleman’s position that not only is EI a key leadership asset; it is one that we can each develop.

Consider the four emotional intelligence competencies shown in the figure. 49 A leader strong in emotional intelligence possesses self-awareness. This is the ability to understand one’s own moods and emotions, and to understand their impact on one’s own work and on others’ work. Emotionally intelligent leaders are good at self-management, or self-regulation. This is the ability to think before acting and to control otherwise disruptive impulses. Emotional intelligence in leadership involvesmotivation and persistence in being willing to work hard for reasons other than money and status. Leaders who are high in emotional intelligence display social awareness, or empathy. They have the ability to understand the emotions of others and to use this understanding to relate to them more effectively. A leader high in emotional intelligence is good at relationship management. This is the ability to establish rapport with others and to build social capital through relationships and informal social networks.

Gender and Leadership

When Sara Levinson was president of NFL Properties, Inc., she asked the all-male members of her NFL management team this question: “Is my leadership style different from a man’s?” “Yes,” they replied, and even suggested that the very fact that she was asking the question was evidence of the difference. They said her leadership style emphasized communication as well as gathering ideas and opinions from others. When Levinson probed further by asking “Is this a distinctly ‘female’ trait?”, the men said they thought it was. 50

Are there gender differences in leadership? In pondering this question, three background points deserve highlighting. First, social science research largely supports thegender similarities hypothesis. That is, males and females are very similar to one another in terms of psychological properties. 51 Second, research leaves no doubt that both women and men can be equally effective as leaders. 52 Third, research does show that men and women are sometimes perceived as using different styles, and perhaps arriving at leadership success from different angles. 53

The gender similarities hypothesis holds that males and females have similar psychological properties.

When men and women are perceived differently as leaders, the perceptions tend to fit traditional stereotypes. 54 Men may be expected to act as “take-charge” leaders who are task-oriented, directive, and assertive while trying to get things done in traditional command-and-control ways. Women may be expected to act as “take-care” leaders who behave in supportive and nurturing ways. These stereotyped expectations can create what has been called a leadership double bind for women. In this situation a female leader gets criticized when displaying stereotypical male leadership characteristics and also gets criticized for showing female ones. In other words, the female leader can’t win when either breaking or conforming to stereotyped expectations. 55

In the leadership double bind, women get criticized for displaying stereotypical male leadership characteristics and also for displaying stereotypical female leadership characteristics.

Studies also report favorable perceptions of female leaders. Harvard scholar Rosabeth Moss Kanter says that “Women get high ratings on exactly those skills required to succeed in the global information age, where teamwork and partnering are so important.” 56 For example, female leaders have been rated by peers, subordinates, and supervisors as more participative than male leaders and as strong on motivating others, emotional intelligence, persuading, fostering communication, listening to others, mentoring, and supporting high-quality work. 57 In research using 360-degree assessments, female managers were rated more highly than male managers in all but one area of leadership—visioning. The possible explanation was that because women are less directive as leaders, they aren’t perceived as visionaries. 58

The pattern of positive leader behaviors sometimes attributed to women is called interactive leadership. 59 Interactive leaders are democratic, participative, connecting, and inclusive. They approach problems and decisions through collaboration and teamwork, show respect for others, and use connections to share power and information. They build good interpersonal relations through communication and involvement and have the confidence to seek consensus. 60 They also tend to get things done more through personal power and good interpersonal relationships than through command-and-control use of position power. 61

Interactive leaders are strong communicators and act in democratic and participative ways with followers.

One of the risks in any discussion of gender and leadership is falling prey to stereotypes that place individual men and women into leadership boxes in which they don’t necessarily belong. 62 Perhaps it would be most appropriate to set gender issues aside, accept the gender similarities hypothesis, and focus instead on the notion of interactive leadership. The likelihood is that an interactive leader is likely to be a very good fit with the needs of today’s organizations and their members. There also is no reason why men and women can’t adopt this style equally well. 63

choices> THINK BEFORE YOU ACT

> Sooner or later someone in “authority” is going to ask us to do something that seems odd or incorrect, or just plain suspicious.

Sometimes “No” May Be Your Best Answer

Masterfile

McDonald’s Restaurant—A telephone caller claiming to be a police officer and having “corporate” on the line, directs the assistant store manager to take a female employee into the back room and interrogate her while he is on the line. The assistant manager does so for over three hours and follows “Officer Scott’s” instructions to the point where the 18-year-old employee is naked and doing jumping jacks. The hoax was discovered only when the assistant manager called her boss to check out the story. The caller was later arrested and found to have tried similar tricks at over 70 McDonald’s restaurants.

Managers are supposed to make decisions, and employees are supposed to follow their lead. Although that is certainly the conventional wisdom, sometimes saying “Yes” to an authority figure isn’t the correct thing to do. There may be times when it’s best to disobey. Sooner or later someone in “authority” is going to ask for something that seems odd or incorrect or just plain suspicious. If what’s asked is wrong, but you still comply with the request, you’ll share the blame. Blind followership can’t be excused with the claim: “I was just following orders.” But, who’s prepared for the unexpected?

YOUR TAKE?

If obedience isn’t always the right choice, how can you know when it’s time to disobey? Should students get more training on both spotting bad directives and learning how to say “No”? Do management courses have enough to say about tendencies to obey, how to double-check decisions to make sure obedience to a manager’s request is justified, and even about the price of disobedience? Is it possible to educate and train students to be “principled” followers who don’t always follow orders and sometimes question them?

Moral Leadership

As highlighted in the chapter opener on integrity, society expects organizations to be run with moral leadership. This is leadership with ethical standards that clearly meet the test of being “good” and “correct.” 64 Strength in moral leadership begins with personal integrity, a concept fundamental to the notion of transformational leadership. People who lead with integrity act in an honest, credible, and consistent way to put their values into action. A leader with integrity earns the trust of followers. When followers believe leaders are trustworthy, they try to behave in ways that live up to their leader’s expectations.

Moral leadership is always “good” and “right” by ethical standards.

Leaders show integrity by acting with honesty, credibility, and consistency in putting values into action.

If moral leadership is the goal, why don’t we see more of it? Are you surprised by a Business Week survey that found just 14% of top executives at large U.S. firms rated “having strong ethical values” as a top leadership characteristic? 65 How about a Harris poll that found only 37% of U.S. adults in a survey described their top managers as acting with “integrity and morality”? 66 One of the risks we face in living up to the expectations of moral leadership is moral overconfidence, falling prey to an overly positive view of one’s strength of character. 67 Leaders with moral overconfidence may act unethically without realizing it or while using inappropriate rationalizations to justify their behavior. “I’m a good person, so I can’t be wrong,” might just be a signal of a leader’s moral overconfidence. 68

Moral overconfidence is an overly positive view of one’s strength of character.

The concept of servant leadership fits with the concept of a moral leader. So, too, does the notion of authentic leadership. Fred Luthans and Bruce Avolio describe an authentic leader as one with a high level of self-awareness and a clear understanding of his or her personal values. 69 An authentic leader acts in ways that are consistent with those values, being honest and avoiding self-deception. Because of this approach, an authentic leader is perceived by followers as genuine, gains their respect, and develops a capacity to positively influence their behaviors. 70 The values and actions of authentic leaders create a positive ethical climate in their organizations. 71

Authentic leadership activates positive psychological states to achieve self-awareness and positive self-regulation.

Drucker’s “Good Old-Fashioned” Leadership

The late and widely respected consultant Peter Drucker took a time-tested and very pragmatic view of leadership. His many books and articles remind us that leadership effectiveness must have strong foundations, something he refers to as the “good old-fashioned” hard work of a successful leader. 72

Drucker believed that the basic building block for success as a leader is defining and establishing a sense of mission. A good leader sets the goals, priorities, and standards. And, a good leader keeps them always clear and visible. As Drucker put it, “The leader’s first task is to be the trumpet that sounds a clear sound.” 73 Drucker also believed that leadership should be accepted as a responsibility rather than a rank. He pointed out that good leaders surround themselves with talented people, aren’t afraid to develop strong and capable followers, don’t blame others when things go wrong, and accept the adage that has become a hallmark of leadership—“The buck stops here.”

Finally, Drucker also stressed the importance of earning and keeping others’ trust. The key is the leader’s personal integrity, the point on which the chapter began. Followers of good leaders trust in their leadership. They believe the leader means what he or she says, and know that his or her actions will be consistent with what is said. “Effective leadership is not based on being clever,” says Drucker, “it is based primarily on being consistent.” 74

Peter Drucker’s Straight Talk on Leadership

· Define and communicate a clear vision.

· Accept leadership as a responsibility, not a rank.

· Surround yourself with talented people.

· Don’t blame others when things go wrong.

· Keep your integrity; earn the trust of others.

· Don’t be clever, be consistent.

Learning Check 4

TAKEAWAYQUESTION 4 What are the challenges of personal leadership development?

BE SURE YOU CAN • define transformational leadership • explain how emotional intelligence contributes to leadership success • discuss research insights on the relationship between gender and leadership • define interactive leadership • discuss integrity as a foundation for moral leadership • list Drucker’s essentials of good old-fashioned leadership

Management Learning Review

Get Prepared for Quizzes and Exams

Summary

TAKEAWAYQUESTION 1

What is the nature of leadership?

· Leadership is the process of inspiring others to work hard to accomplish important tasks.

· The ability to communicate a vision—a clear sense of the future—is essential for effective leadership.

· Power is the ability to get others to do what you want them to do through leadership.

· Sources of position power include rewards, coercion, and legitimacy or formal authority; sources of personal power include expertise, referent, and information and networking power.

· Servant leadership is follower-centered and focused on empowering others and helping them to fully utilize their talents.

· Followership is the act of joining with a leader to accomplish tasks and goals.

· There is a tendency to give credit to leaders—the romance of leadership, and overlook the contributions of followers—the subordination of followership.

FOR DISCUSSION When is a leader justified in using coercive power?

TAKEAWAYQUESTION 2

What are the important leadership traits and behaviors?

· Traits that seem to have a positive impact on leadership include drive, integrity, and self-confidence.

· Research on leader behaviors has focused on alternative leadership styles based on concerns for tasks and concerns for people.

· One suggestion of leader-behavior researchers is that effective leaders are team-based and participative, showing both high task and people concerns.

FOR DISCUSSION Are any personal traits indispensable “must haves” for success in leadership?

TAKEAWAYQUESTION 3

What are the contingency approaches to leadership?

· Contingency leadership approaches point out that no one leadership style always works best; the best style is one that properly matches the demands of each unique situation.

· Fiedler’s contingency model matches leadership styles with situational differences in task structure, position power, and leader–member relations.

· The Hersey-Blanchard situational model recommends using task-oriented and people-oriented behaviors, depending on the “maturity” levels of followers.

· House’s path–goal theory points out that leaders add value to situations by using supportive, directive, achievement-oriented, or participative styles.

· The Vroom-Jago leader-participation model advises leaders to choose decision-making methods—individual, consultative, group—that best fit the problems to be solved.

FOR DISCUSSION What are the career development implications of Fiedler’s contingency model of leadership?

TAKEAWAYQUESTION 4

What are the challenges of personal leadership development?

· Transformational leaders use charisma and emotion to inspire others toward extraordinary efforts and performance excellence.

· Emotional intelligence—the ability to manage our relationships and ourselves effectively—is an important leadership capability.

· The interactive leadership style emphasizes communication, involvement, and interpersonal respect.

· Managers are expected to be moral leaders who communicate high ethical standards and show personal integrity in all dealings with other people.

FOR DISCUSSION Is transformational leadership always moral leadership?

Self-Test 14

Multiple-ChoiceQuestions

1. Someone with a clear sense of the future and the actions needed to get there is considered a __________ leader.

a. task-oriented

b. people-oriented

c. transactional

d. visionary

2. Leader power = __________ power + __________ power.

a. reward, punishment

b. reward, expert

c. legitimate, position

d. position, personal

3. A manager who says “Because I am the boss, you must do what I ask” is relying on __________ power.

a. reward

b. legitimate

c. expert

d. referent

4. When a leader assumes that others will do as she asks because they want to positively identify with her, she is relying on __________ power to influence their behavior.

a. expert

b. referent

c. legitimate

d. reward

5. The personal traits now considered important for managerial success include __________.

a. self-confidence

b. gender

c. age

d. height

6. In the leader-behavior approaches to leadership, someone who does a very good job of planning work, setting standards, and monitoring results would be considered a(n) __________ leader.

a. task-oriented

b. control-oriented

c. achievement-oriented

d. employee-centered

7. When leader behavior researchers concluded that “high-high” was the pathway to leadership success, what were they referring to?

a. High initiating structure and high integrity.

b. High concern for task and high concern for people.

c. High emotional intelligence and high charisma.

d. High job stress and high task goals.

8. A leader whose actions indicate an attitude of “do as you want, and don’t bother me” would be described as having a(n) __________ leadership style.

a. autocratic

b. country club

c. democratic

d. laissez-faire

9. In Fiedler’s contingency model, both highly favorable and highly unfavorable leadership situations are best dealt with by a __________ leader.

a. task-motivated

b. laissez-faire

c. participative

d. relationship-motivated

10. __________ leadership model suggests that leadership style is strongly anchored in personality and therefore hard to change.

a. Trait

b. Fiedler’s

c. Transformational

d. Path-goal

11. House’s __________ theory of leadership says that successful leaders find ways to add value to leadership situations.

a. trait

b. path–goal

c. transformational

d. life-cycle

12. A leader who __________ would be described as achievement-oriented in the path–goal theory.

a. sets challenging goals for others

b. works hard to achieve high performance

c. gives directions and monitors results

d. builds commitment through participation

13. The critical contingency variable in the Hersey-Blanchard situational model of leadership is __________.

a. followers’ maturity

b. LPC

c. task structure

d. LMX

14. Vision, charisma, integrity, and symbolism are all on the list of attributes typically associated with __________ leaders.

a. contingency

b. informal

c. transformational

d. transactional

15. The interactive leadership style, sometimes associated with women, is characterized by __________.

a. inclusion and information sharing

b. use of rewards and punishments

c. command and control

d. emphasis on position power

Short-ResponseQuestions

16. Why does a person need both position power and personal power to achieve long-term managerial effectiveness?

17. What is the major insight of the Vroom-Jago leader-participation model?

18. What are the three variables that Fiedler’s contingency model uses to diagnose the favorability of leadership situations, and what does each mean?

19. How does Peter Drucker’s view of “good old-fashioned leadership” differ from the popular concept of transformational leadership?

EssayQuestion

20. When Marcel Henry took over as leader of a new product development team, he was both excited and apprehensive. “I wonder,” he said to himself on the first day in his new assignment, “if I can meet the challenges of leadership.” Later that day, Marcel shared this concern with you during a coffee break. Based on the insights offered in this chapter, how would you describe the implications of current thinking on transformational leadership and moral leadership for his personal leadership development?

ManagementSkills& Competencies Make yourself valuable!

Evaluate Career Situations

What Would You Do?

1. Autocratic Boss

Some might say it was bad luck. Others will tell you it’s life and you’d better get used to it. You’ve just gotten a new team leader, and within the first week it was clear to everyone that she is as “autocratic” as can be. The previous leader was very “democratic,” and so is the higher-level manager, with whom you’ve always had a good working relationship. Is there anything you and your co-workers can do to remedy this situation without causing anyone, including the new boss, to lose their jobs?

2. New to the Team

You’ve just been hired as a visual effects artist by a top movie studio. The team you are joining has already been together for about two months. There’s obviously an in-group when it comes to team leader and team member relationships. This job is important to you; the movie is going to be great résumé material. But you’re worried about the leadership dynamics and your role as a newcomer to the team. What can you do to get on board as soon as possible, work well with the team leader, and be valued by other team members?

3. Out of Comfort Zone

Okay, it’s important to be “interactive” in leadership. By personality, though, you tend to be a bit withdrawn. If you could do things by yourself, that’s the way you would approach your work. That’s your comfort zone. Yet you are talented and ambitious. Career growth in your field requires taking on management responsibilities. So, here you are agreeing to take over as a team leader in your first upward career move. Can you succeed by leading within your comfort zone? If not, what can you do to “stretch” your capabilities into new leadership territories?

Reflect on the Self-Assessment

Least-Preferred Co-Worker Scale

Instructions

Think of all the different people with whom you have ever worked—in jobs, in social clubs, in student projects, or other areas of your life. Next think of the one person with whom you could work least well—that is, the person with whom you had the most difficulty getting a job done. This is the one person—a peer, boss, or subordinate—with whom you would least want to work. Describe this person by circling numbers at the appropriate points on each of the following pairs of bipolar adjectives. Work fast. There are no right or wrong answers. 75

Pleasant	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	Unpleasant
Friendly	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	Unfriendly
Rejecting	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Accepting
Tense	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Relaxed
Distant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Close
Cold	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Warm
Supportive	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	Hostile
Boring	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Interesting
Quarrelsome	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Harmonious
Gloomy	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Cheerful
Open	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	Guarded
Backbiting	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Loyal
Untrustworthy	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Trustworthy
Considerate	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	Inconsiderate
Nasty	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Nice
Agreeable	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	Disagreeable
Insincere	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Sincere
Kind	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	Unkind

Self-Assessment Scoring

Compute your “least-preferred co-worker” (LPC) score by totaling all the numbers you circled; enter that score here [LPC ____________].

Interpretation

The LPC scale is used by Fred Fiedler to identify a person’s dominant leadership style. He believes that this style is a relatively fixed part of our personality and is therefore difficult to change. Thus, he suggests the key to leadership success is finding (or creating) good “matches” between style and situation. If your score is 73 or above, Fiedler considers you a “relationship-motivated” leader. If your score is 64 or below, he considers you a “task-motivated” leader. If your score is between 65 and 72, Fiedler leaves it up to you to determine which leadership style is most like yours.

Contribute to the Class Exercise

Most Needed Leadership Skills

Instructions

1. Work individually to make a list of the leadership skills you believe you need to develop further in order to be ready for success in your next full-time job.

2. Share your list with teammates, discuss the rationale for your choices, and listen to what they have to say about the list of skills.

3. Prepare a master list of the five leadership skills that your team believes are most important for further development.

4. For each skill on the team list prepare a justification that describes what the skill involves, why it is important to leadership success, and why it is still a candidate for further skills development among your teammates.

5. Present your leadership skills development list along with justifications to the whole class for discussion.

Manage a Critical Incident

Playing Favorites as a Team Leader

One of your colleagues just returned from a leadership training session at which the instructor presented the LMX, or leader-member exchange, theory. Listening to her talk about the training prompted thoughts about your own leader behaviors, and you came to a somewhat startling conclusion: You may be playing “favorites.” In fact, the last person you recommended for promotion was a good friend and a member of your bi-weekly poker night club. Of course he was competent and is doing a good job in the new position. But as you think more about it, there were also two others on the team who may well have been equally good choices. Did you give them a fair chance when preparing your promotion recommendation, or did you short-change them in favor of your friend?

Questions

Well, it’s a new day for the team, and basically the start of the rest of your leadership career. What can you do as a team leader to make sure that tendencies toward favoritism don’t disadvantage some members? What warning signs can you watch for to spot when and if you are playing favorites?

Collaborate on the Team Activity

Leadership Believe-It-or-Not

You would think leaders would spend lots of time talking with the people who make products and deliver services, trying to understand problems and asking for advice. But Business Week reports a survey showing that quite the opposite is true. Persons with a high school education or less are asked for advice by only 24% of their bosses; for those with a college degree, the number jumps to 54%.

Question

What stories do your friends, acquaintances, family members, and you tell about their bosses that are truly hard to believe?

Instructions

1. Listen to others and ask others to talk about the leaders they have had in the past or currently do have. What strange-but-true stories are they telling?

2. Create a journal that can be shared with class members that summarizes, role-plays, or otherwise communicates the real-life experiences of people whose bosses sometimes behave in ways that are hard to believe.

3. For each of the situations in your report, try to explain the boss’s behaviors.

4. For each of the situations, assume that you observed or heard about it as the boss’s supervisor. Describe how you would “coach” or “counsel” the boss to turn the situation into a “learning moment” for positive leadership development.

Go to Management Cases for Critical Thinking at the end of the book to find this case.