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Chapter 17
Being an Effective Leader
Leaders in organizations make things happen. But what makes leaders different
from nonleaders? What’s the most appropriate style of leadership? What can you
do to be seen as a leader? Those are just a few of the questions we’ll try to
answer in this chapter. Focus on the following learning objectives as you read
and study this chapter.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Define leader and leadership.
3. Describe the three major contingency theories of leadership.
• Develop your skill at choosing an effective leadership style.
5. Discuss contemporary issues affecting leadership.
IT’S YOUR CAREER
I’m a Leader: Now What?
You’ve been promoted to a supervisory position. Or you’ve been asked to head
up a temporary taskforce. Or your team asks you to lead them on a new project.
What now? Sometime during your work career, you’re likely to be asked to step
1. Assess the leadership situation by looking at these three variables:
a. Assess the individual capabilities of your group members.
2. Build trust. Trust is so critically important. People tend to not follow
those they don’t trust.
4. Engage your team members. Leaders are successful when they have
the buy-in and commitment of their people.
6. Be adaptable. Leading others isn’t a one-size fits-all scenario.
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17.1. WHO ARE LEADERS AND WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?
17.2. EARLY LEADERSHIP THEORIES
Researchers began to study leadership in the early twentieth century and
1. Research in the 1920s and 1930s focused on the traits of
the leader, with the intent to isolate characteristics that
might by used to differentiate leaders from nonleaders.
2. Identifying a set of traits consistently associated with the
3. Six traits associated with effective leadership are described
1. Researchers began to hope that a behavioral theories’
2. Four main leader behavior studies are summarized in
Exhibit 17-2.
a. University of Iowa Studies. Kurt Lewin and his
associates explored three leadership styles:
3. Predicting leadership success involved more than isolating
a few leader traits or behavior. The lack of success in
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attaining consistent results led to a focus on situational
influences.
17.3. CONTINGENCY THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
A. The Fielder Model. The Fiedler contingency model, developed
1. Fiedler developed the least-preferred coworker (LPC)
questionnaire, which measures whether a person is task
or relationship oriented. This questionnaire contained 18
2. Fiedler also isolated three situational criteria that he
believed could be manipulated to create the proper match
with the behavioral orientation of the leader:
a. Leader-member relations described the degree of
confidence, trust, and respect subordinates have in
their leader.
3. Next, Fiedler used the above variables to evaluate the
4. The Fiedler model proposes matching an individual’s LPC
and an assessment of the three contingency variables to
achieve maximum leadership effectiveness.
5. Fiedler concluded that task oriented leaders tend to
6. He concluded that relationship oriented leaders perform
better in moderately favorable situations.
7. Fiedler believed that an individual’s leadership style was
fixed; he concluded that leader effectiveness could be
8. Research has generally supported the validity of Fiedler’s
model. However, some drawbacks are associated with the
model.
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1. Hersey and Blanchard propose that successful leadership
3. SLT uses the same leadership dimensions identified by
Fiedler: task and relationship behaviors.
4. Each of the two leadership dimensions is considered either
5. Research efforts to test and support this theory generally
have been disappointing, possibly because of internal
ambiguities or inconsistencies in the model itself.
1. Four leadership behaviors were identified by House:
a. The directive leader lets subordinates know what is
expected of them, schedules work to be done, and
gives specific guidance on how to accomplish
tasks.
b. The supportive leader is friendly and shows
concern for subordinates’ needs.
c. The participative leader consults with subordinates
and uses their suggestions before making a
2. The path-goal theory proposes two classes of situational or
contingency variables that moderate the leadership
3. The following hypotheses have evolved from path-goal
theory:
a. Directive leadership leads to greater satisfaction
when tasks are ambiguous or stressful, than when
they are highly structured and well laid out.
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b. Supportive leadership results in high employee
performance and satisfaction when subordinates
are performing structured tasks.
c. Directive leadership leads to higher employee
satisfaction when there is substantive conflict within
e. Subordinates with an external locus of control will
be more satisfied with a directive style.
f. Achievement-oriented leadership will increase
subordinates’ expectations that effort will lead to
high performance when tasks are ambiguously
structured.
4. Although not every research finding has been positive, the
majority of the evidence supports the following logic
underlying path-goal theory:
a. Employee performance and satisfaction are likely to
be positively influenced when the leader
compensates for shortcomings in either the
17.4. CONTEMPORARY VIEWS ON LEADERSHIP
The most current approaches to looking at leadership are discussed in
1. The leader will categorize a follower as an “in” or an “out.”
Both leader and follower must “invest” in the relationship.
2. The leader does the choosing, but the follower’s
characteristics drive the decision.
3. Research is supportive of the LMX theory.
B. Transformational-Transactional Leadership.
What is the difference between transactional and transformational
leaders?
2. Transformational leaders are leaders who stimulate and
inspire (transform) followers to achieve extraordinary
outcomes. Evidence supporting the superiority of
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transformational leadership over transactional leadership is
overwhelmingly impressive.
LEADER MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Dr. Delos “Toby” Cosgrove became CEO of the Cleveland Clinic in 2004. Since
then, the organization has experienced tremendous growth both in the United
States and abroad. Cosgrove, who has been with the Cleveland Clinic since
1975, has focused on improving patient satisfaction and overall clinical
outcomes. Cosgrove believes that learning is an on-going process, and that
important skills for a leader include humility, listening skills, and respect for
others.
What can you learn from this leader who made a difference?
C. Charismatic-Visionary Leadership.
1. A charismatic leader is an enthusiastic, self-confident
leader whose personality and actions influence people to
behave in certain ways.
a. Five personal characteristics of charismatic leaders
2. Visionary leadership is the ability to create and articulate
a realistic, credible, and attractive vision of the future that
improves upon the present situation.
a. If the vision is properly selected and implemented,
it can energize individuals to use their skills, talents,
and resources to fulfill the vision.
b. An organization’s vision should tap into people’s
emotions and inspire enthusiasm. Visions that are
clearly communicated are generally more accepted.
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1. The existence of work teams necessitates that
managers learn how to become effective team leaders.
2. Skillful team leaders master the difficult balancing act
b. Facilitating the team process
4. These two priorities can be broken down into four
specific leadership roles (see Exhibit 17-5):
17.5. LEADERSHIP ISSUES IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
The concept of leadership is continually being refined. This section of the
2. Coercive power is the power a leader has because of his
or her ability to punish or control.
3. Reward power is the power a leader has because of his or
her ability to give positive benefits or rewards.
4. Expert power is influence that is based on expertise,
special skills, or knowledge.
6. Most effective leaders rely on several different bases of
1. Credibility is the degree to which followers perceive
someone as honest, competent, and able to inspire.
2. Trust is the belief in the integrity, character, and ability of a
leader.
3. Research has identified five dimensions that make up the
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4. Given the fact that many organizations have moved to self-
5. Some suggestions for leaders to use in building trust are
found in Exhibit 17-6.
1. The increased use of empowerment is being driven by two
considerations:
a. Quick decisions often need to be made by the
1. Findings from research are provided in Exhibit 17-7.
2. The GLOBE research program (introduced in Chapter 4)
identifies universal aspects, including vision, foresight,
1. Leadership training takes many different forms, however,
2. Substitutes for Leadership. Certain individual, job, and
organizational variables can act as “substitutes for
leadership,” negating the importance of having an
individual leader. Possible variables of this type include
characteristics of followers (e.g., experience, training,
professional orientation, or the need to be independent).
a. Routine, unambiguous, or intrinsically satisfying
jobs may require little leadership.
b. Cohesive work groups, explicit formal goals, and/or
rigid rules and procedures may serve as substitutes
for leadership.
FUTURE VISION: Flexible Leadership
As organizations become flatter (that is, fewer hierarchical levels) and more
globally and technologically interconnected, old leadership models will become
outdated. Successful leaders in tomorrow’s workplaces will need to be more like
chameleons, adapting to complex and dynamic environments. Under these
circumstances, leaders can do three things: (1) share responsibility and
accountability by empowering employees; (2) keep calm and stay focused in the
midst of the fast pace and the uncertainty; and (3) be a leader who listens,
encourages participation, recognizes that others’ needs are as important as your
own, encourages and supports collaboration in achieving common goals—that is,
a leader who puts people first.
The following discussion questions are posed:
Talk About It 1: Why are old leadership models becoming outdated?
Talk About It 2: Without people, leaders are nothing. What does this mean?
ANSWERS TO REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
17-1. What does each of the four theories on leadership behavior say about
leadership?
17-2. Explain Fiedler’s contingency model of leadership.
Fiedler’s model proposed that group performance was based upon the leader’s
style and the amount of control in a given situation. After a leader’s style is
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17-3. How do situational leadership theory and path-goal theory each explain
leadership?
17-4. What is leader-member exchange theory and what does it say about
leadership?
17-5. Differentiate between transactional and transformational leaders and
between charismatic and visionary leaders.
A transactional leader guides and influences followers by exchanging rewards for
17-6. What are the five sources of a leader’s power?
17-7. Do you think that most managers in real life use a contingency approach to
increase their leadership effectiveness? Explain.
17-8. Why is trust between leaders and employees important? How can a leader
build trust?
Trust refers to a belief in the integrity, character, and ability of a leader. When an
employee trusts his or her leader, he or she is willing to be vulnerable to the
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ETHICS DILEMMA
This ethics dilemma explores the potential problems exposed in the show
Undercover Boss. According to their Web site, the show follows a different
executive as they leave the comfort of their corner office for an undercover
mission to examine the inner workings of their companies. While working
While potentially entertaining, is this candid camera approach fair to employees?
17-11. What do you think? Is it ethical for a leader to go undercover in his or her
organization? Why or why not?
17-12. What ethical issues could arise? How could managers deal with those
issues?
(LO: 1, Define leader and leadership, AACSB: Ethical understanding and
reasoning)
SKILLS EXERCISE: DEVELOPING YOUR CHOOSING AN EFFECTIVE
LEADERSHIP STYLE SKILL
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experiences and observations. (LO: 4, Describe contemporary views of
leadership, AACSB: Written and oral communication)
WORKING TOGETHER: TEAM EXERCISE
MY TURN TO BE A MANAGER
• Think of the different organizations to which you belong. Note the different
styles of leadership used by the leaders in those organizations. Write a
paper describing these individuals’ styles of leading (no names, please)
and evaluate the styles being used. (LO: 4, Describe contemporary views
of leadership, AACSB: Reflective thinking)
• Think about the times that you have had to lead. Describe what you think
your own personal leadership style is. What could you do to improve your
leadership style? Come up with an action plan of steps that you can take.
Put all this information into a brief paper. (LO: 4, Describe contemporary
views of leadership, AACSB: Reflective thinking)
• Here’s a list of leadership skills. Choose two and develop a training
exercise that will help develop or improve that skill: building employee
communities, building teams, coaching and motivating others,
communicating with impact, confidence and energy, leading by example,
leading change, making decisions, providing direction and focus, and
valuing diversity. (LO: 5, Discuss contemporary issues affecting
leadership, AACSB: Analytical thinking)
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to cite your sources. (LO: 5, Discuss contemporary issues affecting
leadership, AACSB: Analytical thinking)
ANSWERS TO CASE APPLICATION 1
QUESTIONS
Growing Leaders
17-13. What do you think about Buckley’s statement that leaders and managers
differ? Do you agree? Why or why not?
17-14. What leadership models/theories/issues do you see in this case? List and
17-15. Take each of the six leadership attributes that the company feels is
important. Explain what you think each one involves. Then discuss how those
attributes might be developed and measured.
17-16. What did this case teach you about leadership?
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
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ANSWERS TO CASE APPLICATION 2
QUESTIONS
Student answers to these questions will vary.
Leadership Development at L’Oréal
17-17. Why do you think L’Oréal invests so much in leadership development?
17-18. What role does a mentor play in leadership development?
17-19. Why is cross-cultural awareness important for leaders at a company such
as L’Oréal?
17-20. Do you think a management training program would be a good way to
start a career with a company? Why or why not?
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