Instructor Resource
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
1
Class Activities
Chapter 5: Attending to Tasks and Relationships
Guide to the Class Activities
Each activity is designed based on Fink’s Learning Taxonomy and is tagged with the following
tags under the taxonomy’s learning and assessment structure:
1. Foundational Knowledge (F)
2. Application (A)
4. Human Dimension (H)
6. Learning How to Learn (L)
These activities may be used in either small-group or large-group settings, depending on class
size and time available. Some may also be suitable as homework.
Activities
Password (F)
The rules for this game are explained in the Class Activities for chapter 4. This is a fun exercise
with which to begin class. It helps students learn the terms from the chapter and how to explain
them to someone else. Terms:
Concern for people
Concern for production
Consideration behavior
Employee orientation
Initiating structure
Personal styles
Production orientation
Mixed Media Match Up (F, I)
As a different way of experiencing and learning about leader behaviors, assign this homework:
Have students create a poster, using pictures, words, quotes, news articles, headlines, symbols, or
decorative materials to illustrate one of the three leadership behaviors: task, relational, change.
Instructor Resource
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
2
And the Winner Is… (F, A)
Divide the class into high task score and high relationships score small groups.
• Option 1: In the groups have members share how well this style works for them. What
types of jobs are they good at? What kind of work do they enjoy? Allow several minutes
for discussion.
• Option 2: Show the class a picture of a famous building (Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, etc.)
Give each group a bag of gum drops and a box of toothpicks and ask them to construct a
Class Debate (A, I, H)
Using whatever format you prefer, structure a class debate around the following statements:
Happy Thanksgiving (H, C)
In class, watch the 3 minute presentation by Dr. Laura Trice on saying “thank you” at TED talks
(www.ted.com/talks).
• In small groups discuss: How hard is it for you to give praise to another? Receive praise
from another? What would happen if you “trued your wheels?”
• In small groups ask members to practice offering genuine thanks, praise or
acknowledgement for each student in the group.
What Kind of Leader Do Your Followers Need? (A, L)
In chapter five we learn that “different followers and situations demand different amounts of task
and relationship leadership.” In class, brainstorm as many ways as possible to determine what
type of leadership a group needs. Write suggestions on sheets of newsprint and post them around
Instructor Resource
Northouse, Introduction to Leadership, 4e
3
Writing Assignments
Sketch-noting (F, A, I)
Sketch-noting is introduced in the Class Activities of chapter 1. It is a way to think visually about
an issue. Making sketch notes is not about drawing, or artistry, but about making marks on paper
(or a white board) to help oneself think. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Everyone will
do it differently.
Ask students to sketch out (on paper you provide, or a page of their own) how they envision the
three leadership styles interacting – task, relationship, and change. Do they see them as a
Integration Paper (A, I)
Have students write a 2-3 page paper synthesizing how a person’s traits and underlying
assumptions about people and the nature of work correlate with that person’s leadership style.
One Minute Paper Topics (F, A, I)
I would rather work for a task-oriented (or relationship-oriented) leader because…