Management Chapter 1 Homework Level Leader Described The Text Describe Their

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CHAPTER 1

What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?

Chapter Outline

The Need for Leadership

The New Reality for Leaders

How Leadership Differs from Management

Evolving Theories of Leadership

Leadership Can Be Learned

Mastering the Art and Science of Leadership

Organization of This Book

In the Lead

Summary and Interpretation

This chapter introduces the concept of leadership and explains how individuals can grow as

leaders. Leadership is defined as an influence relationship among leaders and followers who

intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes. Thus leadership involves

people in a relationship, influence, change, a shared purpose, and taking personal responsibility

to make things happen. Most of us are aware of famous leaders, but most leadership that changes

the world starts small and may begin with personal frustrations about events that prompt people

to initiate change and inspire others to follow them. Your leadership may be expressed in the

classroom, at work, or in your neighborhood, religious community, or volunteer organizations.

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The “soft” skills of leadership complement the “hard” skills of management, and both are needed

to effectively guide organizations. Although leadership is often equated with good management,

leadership and management are different processes. Management strives to maintain stability and

improve efficiency. Leadership, on the other hand, is about creating a vision for the future,

designing social architecture that shapes culture and values, inspiring and motivating followers,

Your Leadership Challenge

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• Understand the full meaning of leadership and see the leadership potential in yourself and

others.

• Recognize and facilitate the six fundamental transformations in today’s organizations and

leaders.

• Identify the primary reasons for leadership derailment and the new paradigm skills that can

help you avoid it.

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leadership today.

Key Terms and Concepts

Leadership: an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and

outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.

Paradigm: a shared mind-set that represents a fundamental way of thinking about, perceiving,

and understanding the world.

Management: the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner

through planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling organizational resources.

Introduction

As a young politician, Abraham Lincoln once provoked an opponent to tears by using his expert

communication skills to mimic and ridicule his rival. Soon afterward, the man who would later

become the 16th president of the United States felt disappointed and ashamed of his own

behavior and sought out his opponent to offer an apology. Lincoln took this as a valuable lesson

about channeling his emotions, practicing empathy, and using his abilities to promote good.

From then on, Lincoln applied his superb leadership and communication skills to serve the

higher interests of the American people rather than his own goals and ego.

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Annotated lecture/outline

Leadership Challenge #1: Understand the full meaning of leadership and see the leadership

potential in yourself and others.

I. The Need for Leadership

Scholars and other writers have offered hundreds of definitions of the term leadership,

prompting James McGregor Burns to conclude that leadership “is one of the most observed and

least understood phenomena on earth.” Defining leadership has been a complex and elusive

problem because the nature of leadership itself is complex. Some have even suggested that

leadership is nothing more than a romantic myth, perhaps based on the false hope that someone

A. Leadership Defined

Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes

and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.

Exhibit 1.1: What Leadership Involves

Leadership involves influence; it occurs among people; those people intentionally desire

significant changes; and the changes reflect purposes shared by leaders and followers.

Influence means that the relationship among people is not passive; however, also inherent in

this definition is the concept that influence is multidirectional and noncoercive. Leadership is

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reciprocal. In most organizations, superiors influence subordinates, but subordinates also

influence superiors. The people involved in the relationship want substantive changes—

leadership involves creating change, not maintaining the status quo. In addition, the changes

sought are not dictated by leaders but reflect purposes leaders and followers share. An

important aspect of leadership is influencing others to come together around a common

vision.

Leadership is a people activity and is distinct from administrative paperwork or planning

activities. Leadership occurs among people; it is not something done to people. Since

leadership involves people, there must be followers. Good leaders know how to follow and set

B. Everyday Leadership

When we stop equating leadership with greatness and public visibility, it becomes easier to

see our own opportunities for leadership and recognize the leadership of people we interact

with every day. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and many true leaders are working

behind the scenes.

• Clinical psychologist Barbara Van Dahlen was working primarily with children in the

Washington, D.C., area when she became concerned about the effects of the wars in

Iraq and Afghanistan on the mental health of U.S. soldiers, veterans, and their families.

Van Dahlen founded Give an Hour in 2005 to provide free services that give help and

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New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can recognize opportunities for leadership and act

to influence others and bring about changes for a better future.

There are opportunities for leadership all around us that involve influence and change toward

a desired goal or outcome. The leaders of tomorrow’s organizations will come from anywhere

Discussion Question #3: Of the elements in the leadership definition in Exhibit 1.1, which is the

easiest for you? Which is hardest? Explain.

Notes_________________________________________________________________________

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Leadership Challenge #2: Recognize and facilitate the six fundamental transformations in

today’s organizations and leaders.

II. The New Reality for Leaders

Massive changes in the world mean today’s leaders are facing challenges they couldn’t even

imagine just a few years ago. Social connectedness and mobility are becoming central aspects of

every leader’s job.

Exhibit 1.2: The New Reality for Leaders

Some historians and other scholars believe our world is undergoing a transformation more

profound and far-reaching than any experienced since the dawn of the modern age and the

Industrial Revolution more than 500 years ago. This transformation requires a transition from a

A. From Stabilizer to Change Manager

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Today’s world is in constant motion and nothing seems certain anymore. If leaders still had an

illusion of stability at the dawn of the twenty-first century, it is surely shattered by now.

Consider the following events:

• A powerful earthquake in Japan in 2011 triggered massive tsunami waves that damaged

the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and led to the shutdown of

numerous companies, creating supply chain disruptions for manufacturers around the

world.

Discussion Question #2: What do you consider your own strengths and weaknesses for

leadership? Discuss your answer with another student.

Notes_________________________________________________________________________

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B. From Controller to Facilitator

Leaders in powerful positions once believed strict control was needed for the organization to

function efficiently and effectively. Rigid organizational hierarchies, structured jobs and work

processes, and detailed, inviolate procedures let everyone know that those at the top had

power and those at the bottom had none.

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In the Lead: Vineet Nayar, HCL Technologies

HCL Technologies is a leading global IT services and software development company and

India’s fourth largest IT services exporter. When Vineet Nayar became CEO in 2005, HCL was

losing ground—and some of its best employees—to competitors. Nayar recalls that HCL “was in

a tough spot and we had to do something fast or we were in danger of being out of the race

altogether.”

What Nayar did was revolutionary: He organized the company on the principle of “employees

first, customers second” (EFCS). He had to start by building trust. He decided to share financial

information with everyone in the company. Then, he took a bold step by creating an open online

forum where employees could post questions and leaders would answer. This could expose

Discussion Question #5: Describe the best leader you have known. How did this leader acquire

his or her capability?

Notes_________________________________________________________________________

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C. From Competitor to Collaborator

In a hyperconnected, networked age, collaboration becomes more important than competition.

Successful leaders harness and make the most of ideas, talent, and resources from across

boundaries of all kinds. Although some companies still encourage internal competition and

aggressiveness, most successful leaders stress teamwork, compromise, and cooperation. Self-

directed teams and other forms of horizontal collaboration spread knowledge and information

throughout the organization.

New Leader Action Memo: Go to Leader’s Self-Insight 1.1 to learn about your own

“intelligence” for dealing with collaboration and with the other new realities facing

organizations.

Discussion Question #4: How might the paradigm shift from competition to collaboration make

the job of a leader more difficult? Could it also make the leader’s job easier? Discuss.

Notes_________________________________________________________________________

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D. From Diversity Avoider to Diversity Promoter

Many of today’s organizations were built on assumptions of uniformity, separation, and

specialization. People who think alike, act alike, and have similar jobs skills are grouped into

a department, such as accounting or manufacturing, separate from other departments.

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E. From Hero to Humble

Another shift is the move from celebrating the “leader–as–hero” to recognizing the hard–

working behind-the-scenes leader who quietly builds a strong enduring company by

supporting and developing others rather than touting his or her own abilities and successes.

One reason for the shift from hero to humble is that it is less and less realistic for an

Consider This: Should Leaders Live by the Cowboy Code?

• A cowboy never takes unfair advantage—even of an enemy.

• A cowboy never goes back on his word or betrays a trust.

• A cowboy always tells the truth.

• A cowboy is kind and gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.

These leaders are characterized by an almost complete lack of ego, coupled with a fierce

resolve to do what is best for the organization. They accept full responsibility for mistakes,

poor results, or failures, but they typically give credit for successes to other people.

New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can respond to the reality of change and crisis, the

need for empowerment, collaboration, and diversity, and the importance of a higher, ethical

Discussion Question #1: Look through recent magazines and newspapers and identify one

leader who seems to illustrate the “leader-as-hero” mindset and one who seems more typical of

the humble Level 5 leader described in the text. Describe their differing characteristics. Which

was easier to find?

Notes_________________________________________________________________________

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Discussion Question #7: Discuss some recent events and societal changes that might have

contributed to a shift “from hero to humble.” Do you agree or disagree that humility is

important for good leadership?

Notes_________________________________________________________________________

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Leadership Challenge #4: Recognize the traditional functions of management and the

fundamental differences between leadership and management.

III. How Leadership Differs from Management

Management can be defined as the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and

efficient manner through planning organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling organizational

resources. Managers and leaders are not inherently different types of people. Managers and

New Leader Action Memo: You can evaluate your own leadership potential by completing the

quiz in Leader’s Self-Insight 1.2.

Exhibit 1.3: Comparing Management and Leadership

Exhibit 1.3 compares management to leadership in five areas crucial to organizational

performance—providing direction, aligning followers, building relationships, developing

personal qualities, and creating leader outcomes.

Leadership Challenge #5: Appreciate the crucial importance of providing direction, alignment,

relationships, personal qualities, and outcomes.

A. Providing Direction

Both leadership and management are concerned with providing direction for the organization,

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but there are differences. Management focuses on establishing detailed plans and schedules

for achieving results, then allocating resources to accomplish the plan. Leadership calls for

B. Aligning Followers

Management entails organizing a structure to accomplish the plan; staffing the structure with

employees; and developing policies, procedures, and systems to direct employees and monitor

C. Building Relationships

In terms of relationships, management focuses on getting the most results out of people so

that production goals are achieved and goods and services are provided to customers in a

timely manner. Leadership, on the other hand, focuses on investing more in people so they are

energized and inspired to accomplish goals.

D. Developing Personal Leadership Qualities

Leadership is more than a set of skills; it relies on a number of subtle personal qualities that

are hard to see but that are very powerful. These include things like enthusiasm, integrity,

courage, and humility. Good leadership springs from genuine caring for the work and genuine

concern for other people. The process of management generally encourages emotional

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New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can awaken your leadership qualities of

enthusiasm, integrity, courage, and moral commitment. You can make emotional connections

with followers to increase your leadership effectiveness.

True leaders tend to have open minds that welcome new ideas rather than closed minds that

criticize new ideas. Leaders listen and discern what people want and need. Leaders are willing

to be nonconformists, to disagree and say no when it serves the larger good.

E. Creating Outcomes

The differences between management and leadership create two different outcomes:

• Management maintains stability, predictability, and order through a culture of

efficiency.

• Leadership, on the other hand, creates change, often radical change, within a culture of

agility and integrity that helps the organization thrive over the long haul by promoting

Discussion Question #6: Why do you think there are so few people who succeed at both

management and leadership? Is it reasonable to believe someone can be good at both? Discuss.

Notes_________________________________________________________________________

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Leadership Challenge #6: Explain how leadership has evolved and how historical approaches

apply to the practice of leadership today.

IV. Evolving Theories of Leadership

To understand leadership as it is viewed and practiced today, it is important to recognize that the

A. Historical Overview of Major Approaches

The various leadership theories can be categorized into six basic approaches. Many of these

ideas are still applicable to leadership studies today.

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Great Man Theories

The earliest studies of leadership adopted the belief that leaders were born with certain

heroic leadership traits and natural abilities of power and influence. In organizations, social

Trait Theories

Beginning in the 1920s, researchers looked to see if leaders had particular traits or

characteristics, such as intelligence height, or energy, that distinguished them from non-

Behavior Theories

The failure to identify a universal set of leadership traits led researchers in the early 1950s,

to begin looking at what a leader does rather than who he or she is. One line of research

Contingency Theories

Researchers next began to consider the contextual and situational variables that influence

what leadership behaviors will be effective. Contingency theories, sometimes called

Influence Theories

These theories examine influence between leaders and followers. One primary topic of

study is charismatic leadership, which refers to leadership influence based not on position

Relational Theories

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Since the late 1970s, many ideas of leadership have focused on the relational aspect, that

is, how leaders and followers interact and influence one another. Rather than being seen as

something a leader does to a follower, leadership is viewed as a relational process that

B. A Model of Leadership Evolution

Exhibit 1.4: Leadership Evolution

Exhibit 1.4 provides a framework for examining the evolution of leadership from the early

Great Man theories to today’s relational theories.

Leadership Era 1

This era may be conceptualized as pre-industrial and pre-bureaucratic. Most organizations

were small and were run by a single individual who many times hired workers because

they were friends or relatives, not necessarily because of their skills or qualifications. This

is the era of Great Man leadership and the emphasis on personal traits of leaders.

Leadership Era 2

In Era 2, we see the emergence of hierarchy and bureaucracy. Although the world remains

Leadership Era 3

This is the era of the team leader and the change leader. This era sees the emergence of

knowledge work, an emphasis on horizontal collaboration, and a shift to influence theories.

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Rather than conceiving of leadership as one person always being firmly “in charge,”

leadership is often shared among team leaders and members, shifting to the person with the

most knowledge or expertise in the matter at hand.

New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can use the leadership skills that fit the correct era

for your organization. You can use influence and relational aspects as appropriate for your

organization.

Leadership Era 4

Enter the digital, mobile, social-media age. It seems that everything is changing, and

changing fast. Era 4 is the era of the agile leader who has made the leap to giving up

control in the traditional sense. Leaders emphasize relationships and networks, and they

Implications

The flow from Great Man leadership to rational management to team leadership to learning

leadership illustrates trends in the larger world. The implication is that leadership reflects

Discussion Question #8: “Leadership is more concerned with people than is management.” Do

you agree? Discuss.

Notes_________________________________________________________________________

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Leadership Challenge #3: Identify the primary reasons for leadership derailment and the new

paradigm skills that can help you avoid it.

V. Leadership Can Be Learned

Many leaders are caught in the transition between the practices and principles that defined the

industrial era and the new reality of the twenty-first century. Attempts to achieve collaboration,

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New Leader Action Memo: Leader’s Self-Insight 1.3 gives you a chance to test your own

people skills and see if there are areas you need to work on.

A. Leader Fatal Flaws

One of the most important aspects of shifting to the new paradigm of leadership is

intentionally using soft, interpersonal skills to build a culture of performance, trust, and

collaboration. A few clues about the importance of acquiring new leadership skills are

brought to light by studies that look at what causes managers to “derail” in their careers.

Exhibit 1.5: Five Fatal Flaws That Causes Derailment

Researchers at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina, have been

looking at what causes manager derailment for two decades. They conclude that there are five

top flaws that cause managers to derail, as shown in Exhibit 1.5. Unsuccessful managers fail

B. Leader Good Behaviors

The best leaders, at all levels, are those who are genuinely interested in other people and find

ways to bring out the best in them. Successful organizations pay attention to developing

leaders in the soft skills needed to effectively lead technical people in a changing

environment.

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In the Lead: Google

In 2013, Google was named the best company to work for by Fortune magazine for the fourth

year in a row. Being a great place to work didn’t happen by accident. Google’s human resources

department, called People Operations—or POPS for short—monitors employees’ happiness and

well-being to an incredible degree, using data to track everything and learn where improvements

are needed.

One thing it discovered is that good leaders make a tremendous difference. Google looked at

what successful leaders—those who have lower attrition rates and get better performance from

Google’s Eight Rules for Good Leader Behavior

• Be a good coach.

• Empower your team and don’t micromanage.

• Express interest in team members’ success and personal well-being.

• Don’t be a sissy. Be productive and results-oriented.

Today’s successful leaders intentionally value change over stability, empowerment over control,

collaboration over competition, diversity over uniformity, and integrity over self-interest. The

Discussion Question #9: What personal capacities should a person develop to be a good leader

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versus those developed to be a good manager?

Notes_________________________________________________________________________

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VI. Mastering the Art and Science of Leadership

Leadership can be learned, but it is important to remember that leadership is both an art and a

science. It is an art because many leadership skills and qualities cannot be learned from a

textbook. Leadership takes practice and hands-on experience, as well as intense personal

Exhibit 1.6:

Studying leadership gives us skills that we can apply to the practice of leadership in our

everyday life. Exhibit 1.6 gives some tips for how one can begin honing one’s leadership skills.

Discussion Question #10: Why is leadership considered both an art and a science?

Notes_________________________________________________________________________

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VII. Organization of This Book

Exhibit 1.7: Framework for the Book

Part 1 introduces leadership, its importance, and the transition to a new leadership paradigm. Part

2 explores basic research perspectives that evolved during a more stable time when rational

management approaches were effective. These basic perspectives, including the Great Man and

trait theories, behavior theories, and contingency theories, are relevant to dealing with specific

tasks and individuals and are based on a premise that leaders can predict and control various

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aspects of the environment to keep the organization running smoothly.

Discussion Questions

1. Look through recent magazines and newspapers and identify one leader who seems to

illustrate the “leader-as-hero” mindset and one who seems more typical of the humble

Level 5 leader described in the text. Describe their differing characteristics. Which was

easier to find?

Students’ answers will vary. An example of a “leader–as–hero” mindset is Jeff Bezos, the e–

commerce pioneer who started Amazon.com to sell books, and expanded into just about

everything else. Bezos is one of the founding fathers of e-commerce, and part of a select

group of entrepreneurs in that field who managed to survive the dot-com bubble without