Northouse, Leadership 8e
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Description
Difficulty Level: Easy
AACSB Standard: Application of knowledge
48. Servant leadership has been called a paradox because ______.
A. it is not a trait but a behavior that can be learned
B. it asks leaders to serve and influence others at the same time
C. it is both a theory and an approach
D. followers grow while being served
49. The opposite of servant leadership is ______.
A. laissez-faire leadership
B. path–goal leadership
C. authentic leadership
D. coercive leadership
50. According to Greenleaf, the best measure of servant leadership is ______.
A. whether the leader has the necessary traits to lead
B. whether the leader is ethical
C. whether followers are willing to support the leader
D. whether followers are nurtured by the leader
51. Which of the following is not a component of Spears’s 10 characteristics of servant
leaders?
A. listening
B. healing
C. sympathy
D. stewardship
52. Which of the following is true of antecedent conditions that have an impact on
servant leadership?
A. Dimensions of culture will influence leadership.
B. Leader attributes are much less important in this model.
C. Servant leadership works when conditions are turbulent.
D. Leaders must first understand followers’ developmental level.
53. According to this leadership approach, leaders should be held accountable for
failing to anticipate future trends and problems in the organization because leaders
should possess foresight.
A. path–goal leadership
B. servant leadership
C. leader–member exchange
D. transformational leadership
54. Under what conditions does servant leadership fail to have a positive impact on
followers?
A. When subordinates are unskilled or uneducated.
B. When the organization rewards coercive leader behavior.
C. When subordinates already exhibit a high level of organizational citizenship behavior.
D. When subordinates don’t want guidance from the leader.
55. The concept that servant leaders care about the personal well-being of their
followers is best expressed by which characteristic of servant leadership?
A. healing
B. stewardship
C. persuasion
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
D. awareness
56. According to the 10 characteristics of servant leadership, stewardship is ______.
A. clear and persistent communication that convinces others to change
B. attempting to see the world from another’s point of view
C. referring to the leader’s ability to see the future
D. taking responsibility for the leadership role
57. Which of the following is not a servant leader behavior?
A. empowering
B. behaving ethically
C. geniality
D. conceptualizing
58. In recent studies, servant leadership has been shown to increase all of the following
except ______.
A. organizational citizenship behavior
B. intrinsic motivation
C. willingness to help coworkers
D. employee turnover
59. Servant leadership works best when ______.
A. there is a balance of power between the leaders and followers
B. leaders are altruistic and have a strong motivation to help others
C. leaders use a task-oriented approach
D. leaders are willing to leave followers to work on their own
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
60. One criticism of servant leadership is ______.
A. researchers have been unable to reach a consensus on a common definition
B. servant leadership makes altruism the central component of the leadership process
C. there is not enough focus on the role of influence and power in leadership
D. a follower’s readiness to receive servant leadership moderates its potential
usefulness
61. Which of the following is not an outcome of servant leadership?
A. follower performance and growth
B. organizational performance
C. societal impact
D. leader empowerment
62. Under servant leadership, followers may become servant leaders themselves. This
is an example of what?
A. organizational performance
B. leadership duplication
C. follower performance and growth
D. societal impact
63. Servant leadership ______ competition in organizations.
64. What makes up the core of the servant leadership process?
A. antecedent conditions
B. characteristics of the leader
C. servant leader behaviors
D. context and culture
65. Ray was chosen by his boss to lead a team of coworkers during a companywide
project. Ray spent a lot of time getting to know each of his individual team members and
fostering intergroup relationships. Throughout the project, the people on Ray’s team
developed a deep sense of unity and relatedness to one another. Which characteristic
of servant leadership best describes Ray’s methods?
A. conceptualization
B. building community
C. stewardship
D. awareness
66. Which three antecedent conditions have an impact on servant leadership?
A. context and culture, societal effect, follower receptivity
B. follower receptivity, emotional healing, creating value for the community
C. follower performance and growth, societal impact, behaving ethically
D. context and culture, leader attributes, follower receptivity
67. Which of the following is not typically involved in servant leadership training?
A. self-assessment exercises
B. educational sessions
C. visualization
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
D. goal setting
68. What makes servant leadership similar to the skills approach and styles approaches
of looking at leadership?
A. It focuses on leadership from the point of view of the leader.
B. It focuses on leadership from the point of view of the follower.
C. It emphasizes the importance of communication in leadership.
D. It accentuates the significance of the leader–follower relationship.
69. Servant leaders do all of the following except ______.
A. put followers first
B. empower followers
C. help followers develop full personal capacities
D. rely on followers to independently initiate growth
70. Helping followers to grow and succeed and creating value for the community are
both behaviors most closely aligned with which type of leadership?
A. transformational leadership
B. servant leadership
C. authentic leadership
D. transactional leadership
71. When servant leadership is practiced, organizational performance is positively
affected because ______.
A. followers become aware of their full potential
B. leaders create more opportunities for subordinates
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
C. subordinates go beyond the basic requirements of their job duties
D. leader–follower communication is mutually respected and enhanced
72. How does servant leadership differ from path–goal theory?
A. focuses on the behaviors leaders should exhibit to put followers first
B. is unconcerned with the way leaders should treat followers
C. focuses on the need for leaders to perfect themselves before helping others
D. makes the need for task completion necessary before relationships can thrive
73. Jackson’s boss is Claire who is described as a servant leader. Claire is very skilled
at using emotional healing which was exemplified when Claire ______.
A. sent Jackson a link to the employee assistance program so he could get help
B. insisted on taking a large share of Jackson’s work when his mother died
C. scored higher than Jackson on tests of emotional intelligence
D. told Jackson to leave his emotions at home so he could be more efficient at work
74. Ming’s boss Benjamin enjoys empowering his followers. Benjamin’s empowerment
skill was best exemplified when he ______.
A. gave Ming a raise for meeting aggressive project deadlines
B. supported Ming in her proposal to work from home after her baby was born
C. encouraged Ming and her team to volunteer for a local charity
D. helped Ming understand a complex problem her team was facing
75. Asha is a regional vice president of a multinational beverage company. She is a
servant leader, known for her ethical behaviors. Asha’s ethical behavior was best
exemplified when she ______.
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
A. was anonymously sent a competitor’s recipe and immediately reported it to the
competitor
B. asked all of her employees to complete an online ethics training module
C. held focus group sessions with each of her regional teams to hear concerns
D. gave 2% of company profits to the various urban community foundations in her
region
76. According to servant leadership, followers will realize their full capabilities when
______.
A. leaders nurture them, help them with personal goals, and give them control
B. leaders reward everyone fairly and ensure diversity across teams
C. leader style is matched closely with each follower’s motivational level
D. followers initiate extra-role behaviors with leaders to enhance the relationship
77. Organizations that adopt a servant leadership culture are typically interested in
______.
A. strengthening their competitive position in the service sector
B. training programs for lower level managers who supervise frontline workers
C. recruiting employees with high levels of agreeableness
D. helping those in need outside the organization
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
78. Martin completed the SLQ and scored in the low range on three factors and in the
moderate range for the other factors. This means ______.
A. Martin’s scores indicate that he does not possess the traits to become a servant
leader
B. Martin is now aware of what he could work on if he wants to become a servant leader
C. Martin scored in the low range on the majority of the SLQ servant leader factors
D. Martin’s scores indicate that he is likely being too hard on himself
79. Which of the following statements is true about servant leadership?
A. The servant leadership approach originated in 1970 but research on it has since
stalled.
B. No consensus exists on a common theoretical framework for servant leadership.
C. Servant leadership is used in nonprofit organizations, not in for-profit companies.
D. Servant leadership models are essentially lists of attributes with no attention to
outcomes.
80. The most likely motto of a servant leader would be ______.
A. know my strengths
B. lead change
C. put others first
D. serve up results
True/False
1. Leader courage and humility are two characteristics consistent across all models of
servant leadership.
2. Servant leadership is not used widely in leadership training programs.
3. Servant leadership can be applied at all levels of management in all types of
organizations.
4. Leaders can both serve and influence their followers at the same time.
5. There is a lack of agreement among researchers on what specific characteristics
define servant leadership.
6. Servant leadership can be effective in any organizational context.
7. Follower receptivity is an outcome of servant leadership.
8. Antecedent conditions refer to the societal trends that enable servant leadership to be
effective.
9. The first step in becoming a servant leader is to aspire to lead.
10. Servant leadership can enhance group performance by clarifying goals and
increasing team potency.
Short Answer
1. Name four of the seven leader behaviors in the servant leadership model advanced
by Liden et al.
2. Give a specific example of putting followers first.
3. State one servant leader behavior that you most identify with and briefly explain why.
4. Think about the main outcomes of a servant leadership approach, according to
Liden’s model. What might be a good metaphor for describing these outcomes?
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
5. Give the words or phrases that best complete the following sentence: Because
servant leaders ______ authority to followers, they exercise ______ institutional power
and control.
Essay
1. How does the power of servanthood relate to concepts from French and Raven’s five
bases of social power?
2. Using servant leader characteristics, how can a leader develop the ability to be a
visionary?
3. Why might some subordinates not want to work with servant leaders?
Northouse, Leadership 8e
SAGE Publications, 2019
4. Defend or refute: Servant leadership should be conceptualized as a behavior rather
than a trait.
5. Explain the process of how servant leadership works.