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Chapter 4
Leadership: An Initial Perspective
Chapter Overview
The major attribute that differentiates successful from unsuccessful organizations is
dynamic and effective leadership. There are several approaches for examining leadership.
This chapter concentrates on the Trait and Attitudinal Approaches.
In this chapter we define leadership, discuss the Vision into Performance and the
Chapter Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, each student should be able to:
1. Describe and explain the Vision into Performance Model and the challenges
leaders face moving through the model
2. Describe and explain the ACHIEVE model of performance
3. Describe the historical schools of organizational theory such as the scientific
management movement and the human relations movement
Key Terms and Concepts
.
Vision into Performance
Effective performance is the result of predictable, planned actions that can be learned and
applied by almost anyone in any organization. To be successful in achieving one’s
purpose, leaders must first know where they are going; they must be visionaries.
Key words that describe the drivers of tomorrow’s success are: vision, change,
implementation, and results. These terms are fundamental to the Vision into Performance
model, which is composed of: vision, business idea-organizational environment, strategy-
culture, goal-teams, task-people, and results. Vision creates the potential for success and
turns potential into actual performance.
Focusing on the model, in the top left we identify a strategic vision because every
Level one: implementing business ideas in the internal and external environment is
affected by the stakeholders – those persons, key players, or factors whose helping or
hindering roles determine success or failure to the organization.
Level two: strategic initiatives are carried out within the corporate culture. Essentially,
The business issues along the right side of the model represent a decision process spelling
out the “what” and “how” looking down and defining the “why” and “what” looking up.
The human issues along the top of the model represent the influence process of leading
the organization, regardless of level, toward accomplishment of the left side.
The leadership challenges at each level as we move diagonally from left (vision) to right,
top to bottom (performance) are:
1. Establishing, refining, and monitoring the stated vision to the synchronization of
stakeholders and key players with the business ideas and purpose of the
organization.
2. Defining, shaping (publicizing), and energizing the stated vision to the
The ACHIEVE Model
Paul Hersey and Marshall Goldsmith designed the ACHIEVE model to assist managers
not only in determining why performance problems may have occurred but also in
developing change strategies aimed at solving those problems. There are two goals to
Ability (Knowledge and Skills)
Ability refers to the follower’s knowledge, experience, and skill – the ability to complete
Clarity (Understanding or Role Perception)
Clarity refers to an understanding and acceptance of what to do, when to do it, and how
to do it. To have a thorough understanding of the job, the follower needs to understand
Help (Organizational Support)
Help refers to the organizational help, or support, that the follower needs to effectively
complete the task. Some organizational support factors include adequate budget and
Incentive (Motivation or Willingness)
Incentive refers to the follower’s task-relevant incentive – the motivation to complete the
specific task under analysis in a successful manner. In evaluating incentive, one must
remember that people are not equally motivated to complete all tasks.
Evaluation (Coaching and Performance Feedback)
Evaluation refers to informal day-to-day performance feedback as well as formal periodic
reviews. An effective feedback process lets followers know, on a regular basis, not only
how well they are doing the job but also attempts to assist and guide them in planning
how to improve their performance.
Validity (Procedures, Practices, Rules, and Regulations)
Validity refers to the appropriateness and legality of human resource decisions made by
the manager. Managers need to make sure that decisions about people are appropriate in
Environment (Environmental Fit)
Environment refers to the external factors that can influence performance even if the
individual has all the ability, clarity, help, and incentive needed to do the job. Key
Schools of Organizational Theory
The two major leadership concerns are accomplishment of the task and human
relationships. These concerns are a reflection of two of the earliest schools of thought in
organizational theory.
Scientific Management
Frederick Winslow Taylor developed his technologically based Scientific Management
Human Relations Movement
Elton Mayo and his associates (Hawthorne studies) initiated the Human Relations
Movement in the 1920s and early 1930s. Mayo believed that the real power centers in
Trait Approach to Leadership
Prior to 1945, the most common approach to studying leadership was to look at the
personal characteristics (e.g, energy, charisma, friendliness) of successful leaders. The
assumption was that there were certain traits essential for effective leadership and that
following: uninformed, non-participatory, or rigid. McCall and Lombardo also noted that
of managers who seemed headed to the top but failed to make it all the way, there seemed
to be a list of fatal flaws, and each had at least one of them. The most commonly cited
flaw was insensitivity to others, but the one mentioned as unforgivable was a betrayal of
trust.
Attitudinal Approaches of Leadership
Attitudinal approaches to leadership concentrate on the relationship between leader
behaviors, follower performance, and satisfaction.
Ohio State Leadership Studies
In these studies, initiated in 1945, the description of leader behavior was focused on two
dimensions: Initiating Structure and Consideration.
• Initiating Structure refers to the leader’s structuring of the superior-subordinate
Michigan Leadership Studies
The University of Michigan studies began by attempting to locate clusters of
characteristics that seemed related both to each other and to various indicators of
Group Dynamics Studies
A number of studies conducted at the Research Center for Group Dynamics, at the
University of Michigan established that the objectives of groups fall into two categories:
(1) the achievement of some specific group goal, or (2) the maintenance or strengthening
of the group itself.
Rensis Likert’s Management Systems
Likert’s work, based on the early Michigan studies, indicated that high producing work
sections were most likely to be managed by supervisors who engaged in general rather
than close supervision of subordinates. These supervisors also tended to communicate
clearly to their people what the objectives were and what needed to be accomplished to
reach these objectives. In his studies, Likert found that styles of organizations can be
depicted on a continuum from System One through System Four.
System One – Management is seen as having no trust in subordinates; most decisions are
made at the top and issued down the chain of command. Fear, coercion, and occasional
System Three – Management has substantial but not complete trust in subordinates.
Broad decisions are made at the top with more specific issues handled at lower levels.
Information flows both up and down the hierarchy and superiors and subordinates
interact with greater frequency, often in a relatively trusting and confident manner. An
The Leadership Grid
The Leadership Grid®, formerly the Management Grid® created by Blake and Mouton,
establishes five types of leadership that are based on concern for production (task) and
Suggested Teaching Approaches
In-Class Activities
1. Have students come up with 5 characteristics that are the most critical to an
organization’s success.
2. Vision into Performance (VIP): Have the students form groups. What are 2 or 3
challenges of linking Vision into Performance to make sure that the two are in
Discussion Questions
Are there traits that have been identified with successful leaders? Have students do
research in popular business periodicals and identify traits that seem to be associated with
Exam Questions
1. Compare and contrast Scientific Management and the Human Relations
Movement.
Answer:
Scientific Management considered workers as tools for the achievement of
organizational goals. Frederick W. Taylor believed that with the aid of time and
2. Discuss three out of the seven factors that together make up the ACHIEVE model.
How can a manager use these factors to approach problems?
Answer:
Ability (Knowledge and Skills) refers to the follower’s knowledge, experience and
skill – the ability to complete the specific task successfully. Key components of
ability include education, experience, and skills relevant to the task.
Evaluation (Coaching and Performance Feedback) refers to informal day-to-day
performance feedback as well as formal periodic reviews. An effective feedback
process lets followers know, on a regular basis, not only how well they are doing
the job but also endeavors to assist and guide them in planning how to improve
that performance.
Validity (Procedures, Practices, Rules, and Regulations) refers to the
3. What were the general conclusions of the trait approach to leadership?
Answer:
In general, the trait approach could not find a set of traits that clearly predicts
Warren Bennis isolated four common traits that were shared by each of ninety
outstanding leaders he studied:
• Management of Attention – the ability to communicate a sense of
outcome, goal, or direction to followers
4. Discuss the similarities and the differences in the findings of the Ohio State
Leadership Studies and the Michigan Leadership Studies.
Answer:
In the Ohio State Leadership Studies, the descriptors of leader behavior were
focused on two dimensions: Initiating Structure and Consideration.
• Initiating Structure concerns the leader’s ability to communicate the
5. Consider Rensis Likert’s Management Systems. What were the general
conclusions?
Answer:
Likert’s work indicated that in a System One management system subordinates
saw management as lacking in trust with the decision making occurring at the top.
System One is a coercive, fear-based system which has the tendency to generate
informal organizations of employees opposed to the formal goals of the
organization.
System Four is one in which management has complete trust in subordinates.
Decision making is dispersed throughout the organization. Employees participate
in goal setting, developing economic rewards, improving methods and appraising
progress. The informal organization is often synonymous with the formal
organization with both sharing identical goals.
