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Chapter 14 - Developing Leadership Skills
14-1
CHAPTER 14
Developing Leadership Skills
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Define leadership.
2. Describe three basic styles of leadership.
3. Define supportive and directive leaders.
4. Explain transactional and transformational leadership.
5. Explain servant leadership.
6. Describe emotional intelligence.
7. Define leadership characteristics.
8. Describe leader attitudes—Theory X and Theory Y.
9. Discuss the Managerial Grid.
10. Explain the situational approach to leadership.
SUGGESTIONS FOR PRESENTATION
Consider the emergence of group leaders in the classroom.
If you used the exercises suggested in Chapter 10, how does the material in Chapter 10 enhance
the understanding of why certain people have emerged as leaders of the discussion group? If it
wasn’t used, it could be used here with the same questions.
Have the students lead a group in a problem solving project.
This role-play involves getting a group to come to some agreement, even though they have
different individual agendas. Select a supervisor and three subordinates. Give each a copy of the
layout which follows one of the four roles.
1. Supervisor:
A fourth machine is being brought into the work area, and the present machines must be
rearranged to make room for it. There is adequate square footage, and materials flow is not a
problem. All machines are movable to any location, and work in process is also completely
flexible. The break area should be near the vending machines which can’t be moved, due to
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plumbing and wiring.
Three people work on each machine at a time, and there are two shifts. One person has been
elected from among the six assigned to each machine. These three elected representatives are
meeting with you now to make the decision.
One of the things you’d like to do is get out of the pathway between the entrance and the boss’
office. He and his visitors are always walking by your machine. It would be nice to get closer to
the break areas and the windows, too, but those are not major concerns.
nice view from the windows, they’re hidden from the boss’ office, and there’s plenty of room
behind them.
4. Machine C representative:
Questions for the observer:
Did the leader effectively set the parameters, or did (s)he leave it too much to the agenda of the
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LECTURE OUTLINE
Supervision Dilemma
John notices that Marlin’s employees seem to trust him completely and never hesitate to follow
his lead, but his own employees seem much more reluctant.
I. Defining Leadership
• Leadership is the ability to influence people to willingly follow one’s guidance or adhere
to one’s decisions.
II. Formal versus Informal Leaders
• Supervisors are formal leaders in the sense that they are formally appointed by the
organization.
o Informal leaders generally emerge because they are viewed by the group as filling its
needs. A group’s informal leader may change as the group’s needs change.
• Successful supervisors do not try to overpower or eliminate informal leaders. Rather, they
recognize them and learn to work through them to everyone’s benefit.
III. Basic Styles of Leadership
• While there are numerous variations, there are three basic styles of leadership—autocratic,
democratic, and laissez-faire. The main differences among these styles concern how
decisions are made and who makes them.
• A more detailed description of each of the three leadership styles is given in Figure 14.1.
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A. Supportive or Directive Leadership?
• Supportive leaders are genuinely interested in the well-being of group members.
o Such a leader is sensitive to the employees as human beings
o The supportive leader is usually very concerned about maintaining good
personal relationships with the employees.
• Directive leaders focus primarily on successfully performing the work.
o The emphasis is on getting the job done.
B. Transformational and Transactional Leaders
• Transactional leadership takes the approach that leaders engage in a bargaining
relationship with their followers. Under this approach the leader (manager):
o Tells employees what they need to do to obtain rewards.
o Takes corrective action only when employees fail to meet performance
objectives.
• Transformational leadership involves cultivating employee acceptance of the
group mission.
o Transformational leaders go beyond transacting with their followers and
transform not only the situation but also the followers.
C. Servant Leadership
• Servant leadership is based on the belief that the leader exists to meet the needs of
the people who he or she nominally leads.
D Emotional Intelligence
• Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to generate, recognize, express,
understand, and evaluate the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups.
o It is a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor our own
and others’ emotions and to use the information to guide our thinking and
actions.
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IV. Leadership Characteristics
• No single set of personality traits or set of physical characteristics can be used to pinpoint a
leader from a nonleader. At the same time, however, it is recognized that certain
characteristics are desirable in most leadership situations.
A. Self-Confidence
• Self-confidence stems from having precise knowledge and knowing how to use it.
B. Mental and Physical Endurance
• The ability to control his or her temper and to be coolheaded can be very
advantageous to the leader.
o Mental and emotional stress can be physically exhausting. Therefore, leaders
should have enough physical endurance to withstand hardships and
disappointments that might arise.
C. Enthusiasm
• Enthusiasm of the leader is contagious.
• It is easy for group members to get excited about their work if the leader is excited
about the work.
o No one wants to work for a dull and negative leader.
D. Sense of Responsibility
• Leaders who actively seek responsibility are admired by most followers.
E. Empathy and Good Human Relations
• Successful leaders are able to empathize with their followers.
• A leader must be able to work with followers and understand their problems.
V. Leader Attitudes and Expectations
• Supervisors can have two divergent assumptions concerning the basic nature of people.
o Theory X—the average employee dislikes works and will do whatever is possible to
avoid it.
o Theory Y—people like work and it comes as naturally as rest and play.
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• The relationship between a leader’s expectations and the resulting performance of
subordinates has received much attention from researchers.
o Generally, it has been found that if a manager’s expectations are high, productivity is
likely to be high. On the other hand, if the manager’s expectations are low,
productivity is likely to be poor. McGregor called this phenomenon the self-fulfilling
prophecy.
A. Managerial Grid
• The Managerial Grid uses a two-dimensional grid to identify and relate different
styles of leadership.
o The Managerial Grid is intended to serve as a framework that enables
supervisors to learn what their leadership style is and to develop a plan for
moving toward a team-management style of leadership. Refer to Figure 14.4
for more details.
VI. Choosing the Best Style
• Practice and research both have shown that no leadership style works best in all situations.
A. Situational Approach to Leadership
• The situational approach to leadership attempts to identify the particular styles of
leadership that are appropriate for particular situations.
• Three dimensions of the situation have an impact on the leader’s effectiveness:
o Leader-member relations
o Task structure
o Position power
• Using the three dimensions, different situations can be classified as to the
favorableness for the leader.
• Figure 14.5 shows classification of situations. Using this scheme, the following
relationships exist:
o When the situation is either highly favorable or highly unfavorable to the
leader, directive leadership tends to result in the most effective group
performance.
o When the situation is moderately favorable to the leader, supportive leadership
tends to result in the most effective group performance.
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VII. Leadership and Morale
• The group’s morale or team spirit is greatly affected by the type of leadership style
employed. There are things that the leader can do to raise the morale of the group.
o Be a good communicator.
o Set a good example.
VIII. Implications for Today’s Supervisors
• The following points can be made concerning effective leadership:
o A combination of high-supportive and high-directive styles is often a successful
leadership style.
o Under emergency or high-pressure situations, emphasis on the work is desirable and
often preferred by employees.
o Since the supervisor is frequently the only information source for employees
regarding their work, they often expect the supervisor to structure their behavior.
Solution to the Supervision Dilemma
Supervision Illustrations
14-1: Creating Community Leaders
14-2: Jerry Garcia, a Transformational Leader?
14-3: What harm can a Few Nasty or Incompetent Employees do?
14-4: Do Accountants Need Leadership Skills?
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REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is leadership?
2. Describe the following leadership styles.
a. Autocratic.
b. Democratic.
c. Laissez-faire.
b. Democratic: Democratic leaders want the followers to share in making decisions. This
3. Compare and contrast a supportive leader with a directive leader.
The supportive leader is concerned about the well-being of the group members, while the
4. Explain transactional and transformational leadership.
5. Explain servant leadership.
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6. Discuss the importance of emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to generate, recognize, express, understand,
vision. [p. 284, 285]
7. Describe Theory X and Theory Y.
Supervisors can have two assumptions concerning the basic nature of people termed as
8. What is the Managerial Grid?
9. Describe the situational approach to leadership.
10. List seven things that a leader can do to improve group morale.
A leader can do the following to improve group morale:
• Be a good communicator.
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SKILL BUILDING QUESTIONS
1. What do you think of the leader who says, “Do what I say, not what I do”?
2. Discuss the following statement: “Leaders are born, not developed.”
Students’ answers may vary. While certain people do seem to have natural personality
3. How can you explain the fact that leaders who employ entirely different leadership styles
may enjoy equal success? For example, two football coaches who use very different
leadership styles may both be very successful.
4. Support or refute the following statement: “If a leader thinks that a certain follower is
going to fail, then that follower will fail.”
Students’ answers may vary. Supervisors or leaders, basically, can have two assumptions
The relationship between a leader’s expectations and the resulting performance of
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subordinates has received much attention from researchers. Generally, it has been found
REFERENCES
ADDITIONAL READINGS
SKILL BUILDING APPLICATIONS
Incident 14-1: Jealousy at the Bank
This case illustrates how leadership style may need to be matched up to the situation.
1. Do you think that giving the employees a pay raise will win them over?
2. How might you handle the situation now after learning about different styles of leadership?
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Incident 14-2: Promises You Can’t Keep
This case illustrates the temptation leaders face to tell their subordinates only what the
subordinates want to hear.
1. What do you think of Roy’s leadership style?
2. Why do you think that someone might resort to Roy’s style of leadership?
3. What would you do if you were David?
Incident 14-3: Does the Congregation Care?
This case focuses on some of the difficulties associated with being a leader.
1. Analyze and explain the situation using any of the theories of leadership discussed in this
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2. What would you recommend the young pastor do?
Exercise 14-1: Insubordination?
1. You are “rubbing his nose in it” by pulling rank at this point. You may have to do this
2. This is a desirable approach, even though some people would see it as unnecessary. (“The
3. The simple authoritarian approach will probably get results, but it will do nothing to build
4. While it is correct to remind him that this is an important part of his job, it does not go far
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Exercise 14-2: Situational Approach to Leadership
This exercise is designed to help students understand the situational approach to leadership, and
Exercise 14-3: Test Your Leadership Style
SUPERVISORY ANECDOTES
Wherever there is a superior-subordinate relationship, the subordinate will tend to delay or forfeit
The new managerial role requires managers to stop being caretakers and policemen and start
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