Leadership - Chapter 12

Trait + Personality Approaches (1920-1950)

*A. Puretrait Approach:* "There are some traits regardless of the situation that can make someone a successful leader." *B. Enlightened Approach:* "Traits matter but so does the situation" Ex: not just "I am a leader". It is complex, who are your followers, what is the situation. All these things matter and determine your success as a leader. *C. 6 Key Traits *1. Drive* - Achievement: Good leaders have achievement motivation *2. Ambition* - Good leaders have ambition. I want to be successful but at the same time you want others to be as well *3. Energy* - Good energy, psychological, mental etc. *4. Tenacity* - When things get tough, they won't give up *5. Initiative* - Good leaders are proactive than reactive. Anticipate rather then react and be on their heels. D. Motivation - Good leaders want to lead. E. Honesty and Integrity - Key leadership trait. F. Self-confidence - Good leaders have self confidence in their own ideas but also know where their limits are. Hire people to do what your not very good at. G. Intelligence (Mental Ability) Knowledge of the Business.

Early Approaches to Leadership

*Trait approach* - enduring personal traits that distinguish leaders from followers, and effective from ineffective leaders. For some traits, it is not clear what comes first: being in a leadership position or possessing the trait in question: People who possess the traits associated with effective leadership may be more likely to become effective leaders than those who do not. But many individuals who possess the appropriate traits often do not become leaders, and many leaders who possess them are not effective! These conflicting results prompted researchers to search for other personal and situational factors that contribute to effective leadership. *Behavior approach* - pioneered by researchers at Ohio State University. main ways in which leaders influence followers is through their personal, day-to-day decisions and behaviors. *The Ohio State Studies* - Leader behavior description questionnaire (LBDQ) very famous scale (LOQ) different. - 2 key dimensions 1. *Consideration* - behavior that shows concern for others. relationship oriented. 2. *Initiating structure* - task focused behavior. developed a list of over 1,800 specific behaviors they thought leaders might engage in—such as setting goals for followers, telling followers what to do, be- ing friendly, and making sure followers are happy. researchers then developed scales to measure these behaviors and administered the scales to thousands of employees. After analyzing their responses, the researchers found that most leader behaviors involved either *consideration* or *initiating structure*, a result that has been replicated in many other studies.

Modern Approaches

*a. Charismatic/Transformational Leaders* -Characteristics/traits: vision, rhetorical skills, image and trust building, personalized leadership. (Martin Luther King) *b. Transactional Leaders:* "Occurs when leaders and followers are in an exchange relationship. -Tends to be transitory

LEADER PUNISHING BEHAVIOR

A leader's negative response to subordinates' undesired behavior.

LEADER REWARD BEHAVIOR

A leader's positive reinforcement of subordinates' desirable behavior.

FORMAL LEADER

A member of an organization who is given authority by the organization to influence other organizational members to achieve organizational goals.

VROOM AND YETTON MODEL

A model that describes the different ways in which leaders can make decisions and guides leaders in determining the extent to which subordinates should participate in decision making. developed in the 1970s by Victor Vroom and Philip Yetton, describes the differ- ent ways in which leaders can make decisions, and it offers guidelines regarding the extent to which subordinates should participate in decision making.3 1. *Autocratic:* The leader makes the decision without input from subordinates. 2. *Consultative:* Subordinates have some input, but the leader makes the decision. 3. *Group:* The group makes the decision; the leader is just another group member. 4. *Delegated:* The leader makes subordinates solely responsible for making the decision.

LEAST PREFERRED CO-EMPLOYEE SCALE (LPC)

A questionnaire that measures leader style by scoring leaders' responses to questions about the co-employee with whom they have the most difficulty working. Each leader was then asked to rate the LPC on a number of dimensions such as the extent to which the LPC was friendly, enthusiastic, and pleasant. *Relationship-oriented leaders* (also called high LPC leaders) described their least preferred co-employee in relatively positive terms and were able to say some good things about the person they had the most difficulty working with. By contrast, *task-oriented leaders* (also called low LPC leaders) described their least preferred co-employee negatively. They believed their LPC had few redeeming qualities and because they could not work with the LPC they had a highly negative overall impression of the person. Fiedler theorized that the way in which leaders described their least preferred co-employee provided insight into their approach to leading. Specifically, relationship-oriented leaders strived to think positively about subordinates—even the LPC—because a positive outlook fosters good work relationships and behaviors. Task-oriented leaders, on the other hand, thought negatively about coworkers who were difficult to work with because their behaviors would hinder task accomplishment, for example, might provoke conflict or lead to process losses.

CHARISMATIC LEADER

A self-confident, enthusiastic leader able to win followers' respect and support for his or her vision of how good things could be. leaders who have a vision of how good things could be in an organization in contrast to how things currently are.55 Charismatic leaders can clearly communicate this vision to their followers, and their excitement and enthusiasm in- duces their followers to enthusiastically support this vision

Path-goal theory

A theory that describes how leaders can motivate their followers to achieve group and organizational goals and the kinds of behaviors leaders can engage in to motivate followers. Robert House, a widely respected leadership researcher, realized that much of what leaders try to do in organizations involves motivating their followers. 1. Determine what outcomes subordinates are trying to obtain in the workplace. For example, what needs are they trying to satisfy, or what goals are they trying to meet? After gaining this information, the leader must have control over those outcomes or over the ability to give or withhold the outcomes to subordinates. 2. Reward subordinates for performing at high levels or achieving their work goals by giving them desired outcomes. 3. Make sure the subordinates believe they can obtain their work goals and perform at high levels. House identified four types of behavior that leaders can engage in to motivate subordinates: 1. *Directive behavior* (similar to initiating structure) lets subordinates know what tasks need to be performed and how they should be performed. 2. *Supportive behavior* (similar to consideration) lets subordinates know their leader cares about their well-being and is looking out for them. 3. *Participative behavior* enables subordinates to be involved in making decisions that affect them. 4. *Achievement-oriented* behavior pushes subordinates to do their best. Such behavior in- cludes setting difficult goals for followers, expecting high performance, and expressing confidence in their capabilities.

LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE THEORY

A theory that describes the different kinds of relationships that may develop between a leader and a follower and what the leader and the follower give to and receive back from the relationship. Subordinates who develop this special kind of relationship with their leader are said to be in the *in-group*. Subordinates who develop impersonal, distant, or cold relationship with their leaders are said to be in the *out-group.*

The Contingency Model

All possible combinations of good and poor leader-member relations, high and low task structure, and high and low position power yield eight leadership situations. Fiedler applied the word octant to each type of situation

LEADER

An individual able to influence group or organizational members to help the group or organization achieve its goals. 1. Leader effectiveness is the extent to which a leader actually does help a group or organization to achieve its goals. 2. An effective leader helps achieve goals; an ineffective leader does not.6

INFORMAL LEADER

An organizational member with no formal authority to influence others who nevertheless is able to exert considerable influence because of special skills or talents.

CONSIDERATION

Behavior indicating that a leader trusts, respects, and values good relationships with his or her followers. CEO of Goodyear Tire Company. he was offered a set of keys for the locked cabinets lining the office walls. Gault indicated that he did not want the keys because he liked to keep things un- locked—showing his followers he trusted them. A leader who engages in consideration also shows followers that he or she cares about their well-being and is concerned about how they feel and what they think.

INITIATING STRUCTURE

Behaviors that a leader engages in to make sure that work gets done and subordinates perform their jobs acceptably. Note that consideration and initiating structure are complementary but independent leader behaviors. They are complementary because leaders can engage in both types of behaviors. They are independent because knowing the extent to which a leader engages in consideration says nothing about the extent to which he or she engages in initiating structure and vice versa.

Contingency Approaches (1960-Present)

Fiedler's contingency theory. (KNOW! Review the handout scale) - 2 key factors 1) Leadership Style 1. Least preferred co-worker scale index (LPC) - used to measure relationship orientation versus task orientation. 2) Situational Favorability 1. Leader-member relations: how well one gets along with employees and how well those employees get along with each other. 2. Task structure 3. Leader position power - how much power do you have. can you reward or punish people. 3) The Contingency (Octant 1 or 8 Questions - situational characteristics chart) 1. Low LPC i) Highly favorable and highly unfavorable situations 2. High LPC i) Moderately favorable situations 4) Social environmental engineering 1. Change situation 2. Put leader in best situation 5) Does it work? 1. Works best for Low LPC. Works, but less well for High LPC. b. Vroom-Yelton Decision-making model (Recall dude from Vroom's expectancy theory)

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Leadership that inspires followers to trust the leader, perform behaviors that contribute to the achievement of organizational goals, and perform at high levels. 1. Transformational leaders increase subordinates' awareness of the importance of their tasks and the importance of performing them well. 2. Transformational leaders make subordinates aware of their needs for personal growth, development, and accomplishment. 3. Transformational leaders motivate their subordinates to work for the good of the organiza- tion rather than exclusively for their own personal gain or benefit.54

TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP

Leadership that motivates followers by exchanging rewards for high performance and noticing and reprimanding subordinates for mistakes and substandard performance.

Relationship oriented

Relationship oriented Wants to be liked by and to get along well with subordinates. First priority: Developing good relationships with sub- ordinates. Second priority: Getting the job done. Moderately favorable for leading (octants IV, V, VI, and VII in Figure 12.2)

LEADERSHIP SUBSTITUTE

Something that acts in place of a formal leader and makes leadership unnecessary. Ex: Jackson does not need a supervisor to push him to write good scripts; his intrinsic motivation and capabilities ensure that he performs at a high level. Jackson's work is also interesting and stimulating is an additional substitute for leadership: it contributes to his high performance and job satisfaction. It is not necessary for Jackson's supervisor to push him to perform, try to keep him happy, or even see him on a regular basis because of these powerful leadership substitutes.

LEADERSHIP NEUTRALIZER

Something that prevents a leader from having any influence over subordinates and negates a leader's efforts; cancels out the leader's efforts and creates a leadership void. The leader has little or no effect on performance, and there is nothing to take the leader's place (there are no substitutes). Ex: a leader not having control over salary. etc

Task oriented

Task oriented Wants subordinates to perform at a high level and accomplish all assigned tasks. First priority: Getting the job done. Second priority: Developing good relationships with subordinates. Very favorable or very unfavorable for leading (octants I, II, III, and VIII in Figure 12.2) Leader member relations - poor in very unfavorable situation good in very favorable situation

Measuring Leader Behaviors

The Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire asks a leader's subordinates to indicate the extent to which their leader or supervisor engages in a number of different consideration and initiating-structure behaviors. The Leadership Opinion Questionnaire, completed by the leaders themselves, asks leaders to indicate which of a variety of consideration and initiating-structure behaviors they think result in good leadership. Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid24 and Hersey and Blanchard's model25 seek to meas- ure the extent to which leaders are concerned about people (consideration) or production (initiat- ing structure).

Behavioral Approaches (1930-Present)

The Ohio State Studies - Leader behavior description questionnaire (LBDQ) very famous scale (LOQ) different. -2 key dimensions 1. Consideration - behavior that shows concern for others. relationship oriented. 2. Initiating structure - task focused behavior.

POSITION POWER

The amount of formal authority a leader has. If a leader has the power to reward and punish subordinates by, for example, granting them pay raises and bonuses or docking their pay, then position power is high. If a leader can do little to reward or punish subordinates, then position power is low. A situation is more favorable for leading when position power is high.

The "Great man" Theory:

The course of history, the nature of society has been shaped by the individual acts of great men. William Churchill, Thomas Jefferson, Moses. Earliest formal theory. Old, sexist.

LEADERSHIP

The exercise of influence by one member of a group or organization over other members to help the group or organization achieve its goals. 1. involves exerting influence over other members of a group or organization. 2. involves helping a group or organization achieve its goals.

TASK STRUCTURE

The extent to which the work to be performed by a group is clearly defined. When a group has specific goals that need to be accomplished, and every group member knows how to go about achieving these goals, task structure is high. When group goals are vague or uncertain, and members are unsure about how to perform the tasks need to achieve these goals, task structure is low.

CONTINGENCY THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

The theory that leader effectiveness is determined by both the per- sonal characteristics of leaders and by the situations in which leaders find themselves.

Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership

The trait and behavior approaches ignore how a specific situation influences a leader's effec- tiveness. Recognizing that effectiveness is determined by both (1) the specific characteristics of individuals and (2) the particular situations in which they find themselves, Fred Fiedler developed the contingency theory of leadership.26 One of the most popular approaches to understanding leadership, Fiedler's theory sheds light on two important issues: (1) Why, in a particular situation, will one leader be more effective than another even though they both have equally good personal credentials? and (2) Why might a specific leader be effective in one particular situation but not in another? *Leader Style* 1. Leaders who are relationship-oriented want to be liked by and get along well with their sub- ordinates. Although they want their subordinates to perform at a high level, the first priority of *relationship-oriented leaders* is to develop good working relationships with their followers. Their second priority is to make sure that the job is done (task accomplishment). 2. Leaders who are *task-oriented* want their subordinates to perform at a high level and accomplish all their assigned tasks to the best of their abilities. Their first priority is task accomplish- ment, and they push subordinates to make sure that the job gets done. Having good relationships with their subordinates is only a second priority. *Situational Characteristics* three characteristics determine how favorable situations are for leading: leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. 1. LEADER-MEMBER RELATIONS 2. TASK STRUCTURE 3. POSITION POWER

Gender and leadership

Women tended to lead in a more democratic style, and men tended to lead in a more autocratic style. 1. women's interpersonal skills (the way they interact with other people) tend to be better than men's. To be democratic or participative, a leader needs to have good interper- sonal skills. 2. women in leadership positions encounter more resistance from subordinates than men in leadership positions women may actually have better leadership skills in some respects. women are better listeners, less autocratic, more participative, more flexible, and more willing to admit they are wrong,

What is missing in the trait and behavior approaches?

the first focuses on what effective leaders are like, the second on what they do—they share something in common: each approach largely ignores the situation in which leadership takes place. the interaction of personal characteristics (such as traits and attitudes) with organizational characteristics (such as the amount of formal authority a manager has or the number or tasks of their subordinates) determines a person's specific behavior (for example, leadership and per- formance) in an organization. *Trait approach* The trait approach focuses on the importance of identifying the personal characteristics of effective leaders but ignores how the situation can affect their ability to be effective leaders. However, the leadership traits that result in effective leadership in some situations may result in ineffective leadership in others. Dominance, for example, may make a football coach an effective leader of a football team. But the same trait in the top research scientist at a medical laboratory might result in ineffective leadership if highly-educated subordinates who like to think and work independently come to perceive they are being manipulated and pressured. premise: Effective leaders possess certain qualities or traits that help a group or an organization achieve its goals. Drawback: Some effective leaders do not possess all of these traits, and some leaders who possess these traits are not effective. The approach ignores the situation in which leadership takes place. *Behavior approach* premise: Effective leaders perform certain behaviors, which may include consider- ation, initiating structure, reward behavior, and punishing behavior. Drawback: The relationship between these behaviors and subordinate performance and satisfaction is not necessarily clear-cut. The behavior approach ignores the situation in which leadership takes place.