Chapter 16 – Leadership
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Leadership
LEARNING OJBECTIVES
See Slides 16-2, 16-3
When you finish studying the material in this chapter, you should be able to:
• Define the term leadership, and explain the difference between leading and
managing.
• Review trait theory research and the takeaways from this theoretical perspective.
• Explain behavioral styles theory and its takeaways.
• Explain, according to Fiedler’s contingency model, how leadership style interacts
with situational control, and discuss the takeaways from this model.
• Discuss House’s revised path-goal theory and its practical takeaways.
• Describe the difference between laissez-faire, transactional, and transformational
leadership.
• Discuss how transformational leadership transforms followers and work groups.
• Explain the leader–member exchange model of leadership.
• Review the concept of shared leadership and the principles of servant-
leadership.
• Describe the follower’s role in the leadership process.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Chapter 16 defines leadership and discusses various theories of leadership. Trait
theories of leadership sought to identify the personal traits that differentiate leaders from
followers, while behavioral theories of leadership, including the Ohio State Studies and
the University of Michigan Studies, sought to identify the kinds of leader behaviors that
result in higher work-group performance. Situational theories of leadership propose that
the effectiveness of a particular style of leader behavior depends on the situation.
Fiedler’s contingency model and the path-goal theory are examples of situational
theories of leadership described in this chapter. The full-range model of leadership,
which contends that leadership behavior varies along a continuum ranging from laissez–
faire leadership to transactional leadership to transformational leadership, is also
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described in this chapter. Finally, additional perspectives of leadership, including
leader-member exchange, shared leadership, servant leadership and the follower
perspective are explained.
Leadership is defined as process whereby an individual influences others to achieve a
common goal. Table 16-1 describes the approaches to studying leadership which are
described in the chapter, including trait, behavioral, contingency, transformational, and
emerging approaches. There are differences between leadership and management.
Managers typically perform functions associated with planning, investigating, organizing
and control while leaders deal with the interpersonal aspects of a manager’s job. Table
16-2 further explores what being a leader means versus what being a manager means.
The oldest approach to leadership, trait theories, focused on identifying leader traits, a
physical or personality trait that differentiated leaders from followers. Stogdill concluded
that five traits tended to differentiate leaders from followers: intelligence, dominance,
self-confidence, level of energy, and task-relevant knowledge. Implicit leadership theory
is based on the idea that people have beliefs about how leaders should behave and
what they should do for their followers. These beliefs are summarized in what is called
a leadership prototype. A leadership prototype is a mental representation of the traits
and behaviors that people believe are possessed by leaders. A leader’s credibility is a
critical leadership trait. More research is needed to determine if emotional intelligence
is significantly associated with leadership effectiveness. Research has determined that
elements of the Big Five personality traits and intelligence are related to leadership
emergence and effectiveness. Judge and his colleagues concluded that personality is
more important than intelligence when selecting leaders. Kellerman’s research focused
on the traits of bad leaders, which include being incompetent, rigid, intemperate,
callous, corrupt, insular, and evil. Gender differences do exist in leadership styles. A
key takeaway from trait research is that traits play a central role in how we perceive
leaders, and they ultimately impact leadership effectiveness. Table 16-3 describes key
positive leadership traits.
Behavioral styles theories assume that leadership effectiveness is related to patterns of
behavior called leadership styles. Furthermore, this approach contends that leaders are
made, not born. A series of studies from Ohio State yielded two independent
dimensions of leader behavior: consideration and initiating structure. Consideration
involves creating mutual respect and trust with followers. Initiating structure is leader
behavior that organizes and defines what group members should be doing to maximize
output. These dimensions generate four leadership styles. It initially was hypothesized
that a high-structure–high-consideration style would be the one best style of leadership,
but research results do not support the idea that there is one best style of leadership.
Research at the University of Michigan identified two different styles of leadership—
employee centered and job centered. Key takeaways from behavioral styles theory are
that leaders are made, not born and there is no one best style of leadership.
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Situational theories propose that the effectiveness of a particular style of leader
behavior depends on the situation. Two key situational theories are Fiedler’s
contingency model and path-goal theory. The premise of Fiedler’s contingency model is
that leader effectiveness is contingent upon an appropriate match between the leader’s
style (i.e., task motivated versus relationship motivated) and the degree to which he or
she controls the situation. Situational control refers to the amount of control the leader
has over the immediate work environment. Situational control has three dimensions:
leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. The model yields the
following conclusion: task-oriented leaders are more effective in extreme situations of
either high or low control, but relationship-oriented leaders tend to be more effective in
moderate-control situations. Key takeaways from Fielder’s model are that leadership
effectiveness goes beyond traits and behaviors; this model can explain why some
people are successful in some situations and not in others; and leaders need to modify
their style to fit a situation.
Path-goal theory describes how leadership effectiveness is influenced by the interaction
between leadership styles and a variety of contingency factors. The model originally
proposed four leadership styles (i.e., directive, supportive, participative, and
achievement oriented) but was later reformulated to include eight, as described in Table
16-5. Contingency factors are situational variables that cause one style of leadership to
be more effective than another. Path-goal theory contains two groups of contingency
variables: employee characteristics and environmental factors. Key takeaways from
House’s model are that effective leaders possess and use more than one style of
leadership; the theory offers specific suggestions for how leaders can help employees;
and small set of employee characteristics and environmental factors are relevant
contingency factors.
To apply situational theories, managers can use the following five-step process: (1)
identify important outcomes; (2) identify relevant leadership types/behaviors; (3) identify
situational conditions; (4) match leadership to the conditions at hand; and (5) determine
how to make the match. There can be unintended negative consequences when
managers use a situational approach with members from a team. Treating group
members differently can result in some employees feeling that they are not among the
leader’s “in–group” and this can have a counterproductive effect on employees’ self–
efficacy and subsequent group performance.
The full-range theory of leadership proposes that leadership behavior varies along a
continuum of laissez-faire leadership to transactional leadership to transformational
leadership. Laissez-faire leadership is a general failure to take responsibility for leading
and the style should be avoided. Transactional leadership focuses on clarifying
employees’ role and task requirements and providing followers with positive and
negative rewards contingent on performance. Transformational leaders engender trust,
seek to develop leadership in others, exhibit self-sacrifice and serve as moral agents,
focusing themselves and followers on objectives that transcend the more immediate
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needs of the work group. Figure 16-4 presents a model of how leaders use
transformational leadership. Transformational leaders engage in four key sets of leader
behavior: inspirational motivation, idealized influence, individualized consideration and
intellectual stimulation. Research results indicated that transformational leadership was
positively associated with measures of leadership effectiveness and followers’ job
satisfaction, and transformational leadership was positively correlated with
organizational measures of effectiveness. Managerial implications of transformation
leadership include the need to establish a positive vision of the future; that the best
leaders are both transactional and transformational; transformational leadership affects
individual as well as group-level outcomes; transformational leadership works virtually;
employees can be trained to be more transformational; and transformational leaders
can be ethical or unethical.
The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) model is based on the idea that leaders develop
unique one-to-one relationships with each follower and they do not treat all employees
in the same way. This model predicts that one of two distinct types of leader-member
exchange will occur. The in-group exchange is a partnership characterized by mutual
trust, respect, and liking. An out-group exchange is characterized by a lack of mutual
trust, respect, and liking. Research shows there are significant relationships between
the type of leader-member exchange and job-related outcomes.
The notion of shared leadership is based on the idea that people need to share
information and collaborate to get things done at work. Shared leadership is a
simultaneous, ongoing, mutual influence process in which individuals share
responsibility for leading regardless of formal roles and titles. Shared leadership is most
likely needed when people work in teams, when they are involved in complex projects,
and when people are doing knowledge work. Table 16-6 describes issues managers
should consider when determining how they can develop shared leadership.
Servant-leadership is a philosophy that contends that great leaders act as servants,
putting the needs of others, including employees, customers, and community, as their
first priority. Servant-leadership focuses on increased service to others rather than to
oneself. Characteristics of servant-leaders are described in Table 16-7. Servant-
leadership is positively associated with employees’ performance, organizational
commitment, job satisfaction, creativity, organizational citizenship behaviors, and
perceptions of justice while it is negatively related to counterproductive work behavior.
A new perspective on leadership focuses on the role of followers. You cannot lead
without having followers, and you cannot follow without having leaders and the quality of
the relationship between the two is important. Followers vary in terms of the extent to
which they commit, comply, and resist a leader’s influence attempts. Followers seek,
admire, and respect leaders who foster three emotional responses in others:
significance, community and excitement. In managing the leader-follower relationship,
individuals need to understand their boss, need to understand their own style, must
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appreciate any gaps in the understanding between the follower and leader, and finally
work to build on mutual strengths and adjust to accommodate the leader’s divergent
style.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. What Does Leadership Involve?
i) Leadership Defined
(1) Leadership involves a complex interaction among the leader, the
followers, and the situation.
(2) There are four commonalities among the many definitions of leadership:
(a) Leadership is a process between a leader and followers.
(b) Leadership involves social influence.
(c) Leadership occurs at multiple levels in an organization, including
individual, group and organizational levels.
(d) Leadership focuses on goal accomplishment.
(3) Leadership: process whereby an individual influences others to achieve a
common goal. See Slide 16-4
(4) Leadership is not a moral concept.
(5) Research on leadership has begun to recognize that the expectations,
attitudes, and behavior of followers also affect how well the presumed
leader can lead.
ii) Approaches to Leadership
(1) Several different approaches or perspectives have guided leadership
research and knowledge of each one provides a better understanding of
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how the leadership process unfolds.
(2) Table 16-1: Approaches to Studying Leadership describes the different
leadership approaches profiled in the chapter. See Slide 16-5
(3) The study of leadership began by focusing on traits associated with
leadership effectiveness.
(4) This approach was followed by attempts to examine the behaviors or
styles exhibited by effective leaders.
(5) This approach was followed by the contingency approaches that focused
on the types of leadership behaviors that are most effective in different
settings.
(6) The transformational approach is the most popular perspective for
studying leadership today but several emerging perspectives examine
leadership from new or novel points of view.
iii) Leading versus Managing
(1) Management involves performing functions such as planning and
controlling, whereas leading involves inspiring others, providing emotional
support, etc.
(2) Table 16-2: Characteristics of Being a Leader and a Manager
summarizes the key characteristics associated with being a leader and a
manager. See Slide 16-6
(3) Effective leadership requires effective managerial skills.
(4) Good leaders are not necessarily good managers, and good managers
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are not necessarily good leaders.
II. Trait and Behavioral Theories of Leadership
i) Trait Theory
(1) Trait Theory Overview
(a) Trait theory of leadership focused on identifying the personal traits that
differentiated leaders from followers.
(b) Leader trait: a physical or personality characteristic that can be used
to differentiate leaders from followers. See Slide 16-7
(2) What Are the Core Traits Leaders Possess? See Slide 16-8
(a) Early research demonstrated that five traits tended to differentiate
leaders from average followers: (1) intelligence, (2) dominance, (3)
self-confidence, (4) level of energy and activity, and (5) task-relevant
knowledge.
(b) Research by Richard Mann found that intelligence was the best
predictor of leadership.
(3) Do People Possess Prototypes about Preferred Leadership Traits?
See Slide 16-9
(a) Implicit leadership theory: people have beliefs about how leaders
should behave and what they should do for their followers.
(b) Leadership prototype: mental representation of the traits and
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behaviors possessed by leaders.
(c) We tend to perceive that someone is a leader when he or she exhibits
traits or behaviors that are consistent with our prototypes.
(4) Is Honesty a Critical Leadership Trait?
(a) Research by James Kouzes and Barry Posner attempting to identify
key leadership traits found that the top four traits included honesty,
forward-looking, inspiring, and competent.
(b) This research suggests that people want their leaders to be credible
and to have a sense of direction.
(c) The Real World/Real People: Tyson CEO, Donnie Smith, Believes
in Behaving with Honesty and Integrity profiles one executive’s
views on ethics.
(5) Is Emotional Intelligence a Key Leadership Trait?
(a) Even though emotional intelligence is predicted to be associated with
leadership effectiveness and many consultants contend that they have
evidence to support this conclusion, there is little published research
demonstrating that emotional intelligence is significantly associated
with leadership effectiveness.
(6) Is Personality More Important Than Intelligence?
(a) Two meta-analytic studies shed light on which traits are associated
with leadership effectiveness.
(i) One meta-analysis looked at the relationship between the Big Five
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personality traits and leadership emergence and effectiveness.
1. Extraversion was most consistently and positively related to
both leadership emergence and effectiveness.
2. Conscientiousness and openness to experience also were
positively correlated with leadership effectiveness.
(ii) In the second meta-analysis, intelligence was modestly related to
leadership effectiveness.
(iii)The researchers concluded that for selecting leaders, personality is
more important than intelligence.
(7) What Traits Are Possessed by Bad Leaders? See Slide 16–10
(a) Valuable insights can be gained by examining ineffective leaders.
(b) Barbara Kellerman identified seven key traits possessed by bad
leaders:
(i) Incompetent.
(ii) Rigid.
(iii)Intemperate.
(iv)Callous.
(v) Corrupt.
(vi)Insular.
(vii) Evil.
(c) Additional negative traits of bad leaders include insensitivity to others,
inability to get along with others, overemphasizing personal goals at
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the expense of others’ success, arrogance, or hubris, focusing on self–
promotion rather than on promotion of others, high need for control,
building an empire by hoarding resources, making abrupt decisions
without asking for input, and micromanaging others.
(8) Gender and Leadership See Slide 16–11
(a) The increase of women in the workforce has generated much interest
in understanding the similarities and differences in female and male
leaders.
(b) Three separate meta-analyses and a series of studies conducted by
consultants across the country uncovered the following differences:
(i) Men and women were seen as displaying more task and social
leadership, respectively.
(ii) Women used a more democratic or participative style than men,
and men used a more autocratic and directive style than women.
(iii)Men and women were equally assertive.
(iv)Women executives, when rated by their peers, managers, and
direct reports, scored higher than their male counterparts on a
variety of effectiveness criteria.
(9) What are the Takeaways from Trait Theory? See Slide 16-13
(a) Traits play a central role in how we perceive leaders, and a central role
in determining the characteristics of effective leaders.
(b) Table 16-3: Key Positive Leadership Traits identifies the leadership
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traits that people should attempt to cultivate through a personal
development plan if they want to be in a leadership role. See
Slide 16-12
(c) There are two organizational applications of trait theory:
(i) Organizations may want to include personality and trait
assessments in their selection and promotion processes.
(ii) Management development programs can be used to build a
pipeline of leadership talent.
ii) Behavioral Styles Theory
(1) Behavioral Styles Theory Overview
(a) Behavioral leadership research emerged as an outgrowth of two
events: the seeming inability of trait theory to explain leadership
effectiveness and the human relations movement.
(b) The early behavioral leadership theory shifted the focus from traits to
the way leaders behave, on the assumption that leader behavior
directly affects work-group effectiveness.
(c) Researchers looked for patterns of behavior (called leadership styles)
that enabled leaders to effectively influence others.
(2) The Ohio State Studies See Slide 16-14
(a) Researchers at Ohio State University identified two critical,
independent dimensions of leader behavior:
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(i) Consideration: creating mutual respect and trust with followers.
(ii) Initiating structure: organizing and defining what group members
should be doing.
(b) Figure 16-1: Four Leadership Styles Derived from the Ohio State
Studies describes the four behavioral styles of leadership of the Ohio
State studies. See Slide 16–15
(c) A high structure-high consideration approach was hypothesized to be
the one best style of leadership, but research has demonstrated there
is not one best style of leadership.
(3) University of Michigan Studies
(a) As in the Ohio State studies, this research sought to identify behavioral
differences between effective and ineffective leaders.
(b) Researchers identified two leadership styles which were similar to the
Ohio State studies: employee centered and job centered.
(4) What are the Takeaways from Behavioral Styles Theory? See
Slide 16-17
(a) By emphasizing leader behavior, something that is learned, the
behavioral style approach makes it clear that leaders are made, not
born.
(b) Leader behaviors can be systematically improved and developed.
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(c) There is no one best style of leadership.
(d) The Table 16-4: Peter Drucker’s Tips for Improving Leadership
Effectiveness identifies nine behaviors managers can focus on to
improve their leadership effectiveness. See Slide 16–18
III. Situational Theories
i) Situational Theories Overview
(1) Situational leadership theories grew out of an attempt to explain the
inconsistent findings about traits and styles.
(2) Situational theories: propose that the effectiveness of a particular style
of leader behavior depends on the situation. See Slide 16-19
(3) As situations change, different styles become appropriate.
ii) Fiedler’s Contingency Model See Slide 16–20
(1) Leadership Styles
(a) Leaders are either task motivated or relationship motivated and their
one dominant leadership style is resistant to change.
(b) High scores on the least preferred coworker (LPC) scale indicate that
an individual is relationship-motivated, and low scores (low LPC)
suggest a task-motivated style.
(2) Situational Control See Slide 16–21
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(a) Situational control is the amount of control and influence the leader has
in her or his immediate work environment.
(b) Dimensions of situational control: See Slide 16–22
(i) Leader member relations: the extent to which the leader has the
group’s support, loyalty, and trust.
(ii) Task structure: the amount of structure contained within tasks
performed by the workgroup.
(iii) Position power: the degree to which the leader has formal power
to reward, punish, or otherwise obtain compliance from employees.
(c) Figure 16-2: Representation of Fiedler’s Contingency Model
identifies the eight combinations of situational control. See Slide
16–23
(3) Linking Leadership Motivation and Situational Control
(a) Each of the eight different leadership situations represents a unique
combination of leader-member relations, task structure, and position
power.
(b) Situations I, II, III represent high control situations. Task-motivated
leaders are expected to be most effective in situations of high control.
(c) Under conditions of moderate control (situations IV, V, VI and VII)
relationship-motivated leaders are expected to be more effective.
(d) The results orientation of task-motivated leaders is predicted to be
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more effective under the condition of very low control (situation VIII).
(e) The Real World/Real People: Carol Bartz Uses Task-Motivated
Leadership to Turn around Yahoo illustrates how one executive
used task-motivated leadership.
(4) Takeaways from Fiedler’s Model
(a) Leadership effectiveness goes beyond traits and behaviors and it is a
function of the fit between a leader’s style and the situational demands
at hand.
(b) This model explains why some people are successful in some
situations and not in others.
(c) Leaders need to modify their style to fit a situation because leadership
styles are not universally effective.
iii) Path-Goal Theory
(1) Path-Goal Theory Overview See Slide 16–25
(a) The path-goal theory, originally proposed by Robert House in the
1970s, describes how leadership effectiveness is influenced by the
interaction between four leadership styles (directive, supportive,
participative, and achievement-oriented) and a variety of contingency
factors.
(b) The Real World/Real People: Cascade Engineering Uses the
Principles of Path-Goal Theory to Help People Transition from
Welfare to a Career illustrates how one firm uses the basic principles