Leadership
CHAPTER 10
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CHAPTER
10
Leadership
I. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading Chapter 10 in the textbook, the student should be able to:
1. Define leadership and be able to explain the differences
between leadership and management for executive roles in
organizations.
pp. 393–397;
405–407
overmanagement.
II. SUGGESTED LECTURE
A. Leadership
Leaders are those who motivate and guide people in organizations to accomplish
a common goal, and at times, to do things they may never have done before
or may not wish to do. Leadership is about the exercising of authority and it
B. Theories of Leadership
1. Trait Theories of Leadership: The trait approach suggests that leaders have
unique characteristics that are distinct from followers, and that leaders are
2. Transactional Theories: After the 1950s it became standard practice to view
leadership as a series of transactions. The theory of transactions fits better
than trait theories, because it explained why the same leader was successful
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II. Suggested Lecture
at times, and not at others. The famous Lewin, Lippitt, and White studies
of transactional leadership identified three types of leaders: authoritarian,
democratic, and laissez-faire. Research results found that the groups led by
3. Contingency Approaches: This approach defines leaders who take their cues
and develop leadership styles from the situation rather than following the
“one best way.” Mary Parker Follett, and Tannenbaum and Schmidt provided
the earliest studies that suggested that leaders need to evaluate the factors of
C. Too Much Leadership
1. Micromanagement: This term has emerged in the last few decades to describe
situations in which leaders supervise too closely and do not delegate. When
this occurs the personal and professional growth of subordinates is stifled.
2. Overmanagement: A variation of micromanagement is overmanagement,
when there are too many managers for the task. As computer-based systems
D. Moral Leadership
A leader should not only be concerned for good outcomes, but should focus on
operations ethics and values that are used as the means to accomplish these ends.
The voluntary acceptance by the workforce of the agency’s values, visions and
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III. ASSESSMENTS
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. The “heroic” style leader:
a. operates with stress and this carries over into the organization as a whole.
b. finds it difficult to delegate authority.
c. has an inherently theatrical style of leadership.
d. all of the above.
p. 400, d
2. Whereas leadership focuses on incremental change, leadership
focuses on radical change.
3. The “born” leader falls into the theory of leadership
a. expert power
b. trait
c. reward power
d. none of the above
p. 398, b
4. The Iron Law of Oligarchy states that:
a. all forms of organizations, regardless of how democratic they may be at
5. Having a manager oversee every task he/she delegates to an employee, even
when this oversight is not needed is:
a. micromanagement.
b. macromanagement.
c. management by objectives.
d. antimanagement.
p. 404, a
6. The trait theory of leadership:
a. argues that leaders have unique characteristics.
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III. Assessments
7. The primary difference between leadership and management is that power–
ful leaders
8. According to Lewin, Lippitt and White, authoritarian leaders have the
following effect(s) on followers:
a. good outcomes on organizational goals.
b. high job satisfaction.
c. a dedicated and participative workforce
d. a. and b.
p. 398, a
9. The “two presidencies phenomenon” as expounded by Aaron Wildavsky
divides the presidency into two different spheres of influence. These are:
10. The five major bases of power suggested by French and Raven are:
a. charismatic power.
b. expert, referent, reward, legitimate, and coercive power.
c. a. and b.
d. all of the above.
p. 395, b
11. The Case study of the US Postal Service promotes another style of leadership—
that of entreneurialism. What best describes how that might apply in the
public sector?
12. The concept of the Rhetorical Leader has changed with the advance of
mass media and now instant communications. Which of the following
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communication methods best exemplifies how a modern leader in a govern-
ment agency should communicate their leadership agenda?
a. Arrange to be seen or talk on the evening news as often as possible
b. Have constant cspan coverage of administration activities
c. Conduct frequent press conferences or media briefings
d. Use internet mediums like twitter, emails, and interactive websites to
interact with the public
p. 406, d
Chapter 10 Student Self Assessment Questions
Q1 What is leadership?
Q2 The proposition that some people have unique leadership characteristics
and qualities that enable them to assume responsibilities not everyone can
execute is advanced by which theory?
Q7 Which leadership-style–oriented transactional approach allows for a leader
to share decision-making powers with subordinates, leave decisions about
assignments up to the group, and participate in group activities while
trying not to monopolize?
Q8 Chester Barnard’s 1938 study was one of the first to emphasize the
importance of top management providing what for organizational
members
Q9 What type of management style can drive employees over the edge into
violence?
Q10 Which doctrine postulates that the presidency is a place of moral
leadership and should employ rhetoric to lead public opinion?
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IV. Activities
Q16 What is the most critical function of the chief executive of an
organization?
Q17 The assumption that leaders could be trained to act appropriately as called
for by their organizations is attributed to which leadership approaches?
Q18 Ralph Stogdill’s assessment of contingency theory was important in
helping understand why some executives were successful and others were
not in certain situations. Which of the following was not a factor in his
assessment of contingency theory?
IV. ACTIVITIES
Critical Thinking: “The So–Called ‘Power’ of the Public Leader”
In the debates for the Presidency in 2012, aspiring Presidential candidates fre-
quently made claims that they would create new and better public policy than
Group Exercise: Thought Piece—“Transforming
the Postal Service”
The twenty-first century has brought new challenges to the US Postal Service. As
a group, brainstorm what some of these might be (e.g., anthrax mailings, the need
to provide e-services, citizen complaints, and need to increase costs of postage). In
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Class Exercise: Public Administration Concepts
You are a human resources specialist in the city government offices for the indus-
trial city of Lamont, Nebraska. You have just graduated with a B.A. in Public
Administration from the University of Nebraska. A complaint has been brought
REPORT
Ms. Beverly Huxtable is the director of administrative services in the city of
Lamont. She has been in this position for the last 6 months. Her prior position
was assistant director of policy and planning, which she held for 2 years. There
were a number of serious problems with her work in that job. Despite these prob-
lems, when the director of administrative services position became available, she
was promoted to this position with the support of her brother-in-law, Michael
Huxtable, the deputy mayor of Lamont. Prior to her assistant director position,
Ms. Huxtable served very successfully over a 10-year period as a budget analyst
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IV. Activities
added ammunition to add to the case for dismissal of Ms. Huxtable.
Instructor’s Note: Most of the concepts derive from this Chapter; however, a few
other public administration concepts are included in this exercise as well. These
include:
Paragraph 1
a. nepotism
b. Peter Principle
Paragraph 2
a. coercive leadership
b. authoritarian transactional leadership
Paragraph 3
a. entrepreneurial leadership
b. reinventing government
c. productivity improvement
Discussion Questions with Instructor’s Notes
1. Explain French and Raven’s bases of leadership power. Giving examples
from your own experience, or from what you know of international affairs,
explain the concept of power.
Instructor’s Note: French and Raven described five bases for leadership
power: 1) Expert power, which is based on the perception that the leader
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5) Coercive power, which is the power that comes from fear of punishment
that can be meted out by the leader.
Students will come up with a variety of examples from their own experi-
2. Would you prefer to work for a leader with an autocratic, democratic, or laissez-
faire style? Are there any conditions where autocratic leadership might be
preferable and more efficient? Are there instances where laissez-faire leader–
ship might be the appropriate style?
Instructor’s Note: Most students will prefer to work for a democratic
3. What legal constraints on public leaders are not imposed as strongly on lead-
ers of private corporations?
Instructor’s Note: There are several obvious constraints on management
and political approaches to public administration. Public administrators in
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IV. Activities
Writing Exercises
Using one of the following key words or phrases of your choice, write a short
analysis linking the word or phrase from the scholarly text to an incident in your
workplace, your daily life, or a media report that you have heard.
Individual Assignment: Biographical Sketch
of Historical or Current “Leader”
A short paper (three pages suggested) assessing their leadership attributes and how
they would “lead change” .
Each student is to select an historical or current individual who is recognized
Outline of the “Leadership Secrets of X” Paper
Four major themes need to be addressed in the paper:
1. Leadership Style & Attributes: How is this leader best characterized in terms
of explaining their leadership successes (or failures). Or explore the question
developmentally and ask—how did this person become an effective leader?
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Web–based Discussion and Writing Assignment
Using the following excerpt from Harvard professor David Gergen and Chapter 10
of the textbook, complete the following using a web-based discussion program.
1. Read the excerpt.
Leadership in the Bush White House
President Bush’s personal identification with a favorite painting by W.H.D. Koerner,
is named “A Charge to Keep,” after a Methodist hymn by Charles Wesley. Bush’s
Bush’s supporters tended to see in Bush what he sees in the painting: a brave,
daring leader riding fearlessly into the unknown, striking out against unseen ene-
mies, pulling his team behind him, seeking, in the words of Wesley’s hymn, “to do
my Master’s will.” They saw him as a straight shooter and a straight talker. They
took comfort in his religious faith and thought that, as president, he led us toward a
president in the past century.
Bush’s leadership in the White House serves as a national Rorschach test.
Depending on our perspective, we are drawn to or repelled by him. Rarely in
modern American history has any president been as polarizing. Scholar George C.
Edwards III pointed out a decade ago that approval ratings for recent presidents
V. ADDITIONAL WEB RESOURCES
Center for Leadership Development and Research
at Stanford University
www.gsb.stanford.edu/cldr/
The center promotes learning and scholarship in the area of organizational leadership based
Center for Creative Leadership
www.ccl.org
OPM Leadership Development and Training
www.leadership.opm.gov
This site from the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management provides an array
NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science
www.ntl.org
NTL Institute (National Training Laboratories Institute) provides organizations, leaders,
effectiveness.
American Management Association
http://www.amanet.org/
Harvard Business Review
www.HBR.org
There are several top business management journals in North America—each with websites