Chapter Eleven
Traditional Leadership Approaches
Chapter Overview …………………………………………………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Learning Outcomes …………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Real-World Challenge: Leadership Pinball ……………………………………………………….. 2
Chapter Outline ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
I. THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP ………………………………………………………………. 2
II. EARLY APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP ………………………………………………. 3
Chapter Overview
Recall that our underlying question in this book is what makes managers and organizations effective and
how effectiveness is influenced by performance behaviors, commitment and engagement, citizenship
behaviors, and dysfunctional behaviors. In Part 3, we examined the impact of various forms of social
behaviors on these questions. We discussed groups and teams in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 focused on decision
making and problem solving. We looked at communication in Chapter 9. And in Chapter 10, we
discussed conflict and negotiation in organizations.
management, many unanswered questions remain. Why, then, should we continue to study leadership?
First, leadership is of great practical importance to organizations. Second, in spite of many remaining
mysteries, researchers have isolated and verified some key variables that influence leadership
effectiveness.
Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Characterize the nature of leadership.
4. Describe Vroom’s decision tree approach to leadership.
Real-World Challenge: Leadership Pinball
Summary: A few of corporate America’s veteran leaders have some tips for those who still want to
follow in their increasingly treacherous footsteps. If you think you’re being overworked, odds are you’re
right. Most top corporate leaders work 80 to 100 hours a week, and a lot of them have found regimens
that allow them to refuel and refresh and make it possible for them to keep up the pace.
Chapter Outline
I. THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP
Like several other key organizational behavior terms such as “personality” and “motivation,”
“leadership” is used in a variety of ways.
A. The Meaning of Leadership
We will define leadership in terms of both process and property.
As a property, leadership is the set of characteristics attributed to those who are perceived to
use such influence successfully.
B. Leadership versus Management
From these definitions, it should be clear that leadership and management are related, but they
are not the same.
A person can be a manager, a leader, both, or neither.
II. EARLY APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP
Early studies focused on the traits, or personal characteristics, of leaders. Later research shifted to
examine actual leader behaviors.
A. Trait Approaches to Leadership
Early researchers believed that leaders had some unique set of qualities or traits that
distinguished them from their peers. Moreover, these traits were presumed to be relatively
stable and enduring.
The trait approach also had a significant theoretical problem in that it could neither specify nor
prove how presumed leadership traits are connected to leadership per se.
B. Behavioral Approaches to Leadership
In the late 1940s, most researchers began to shift away from the trait approach and started to
look at leadership as an observable process or activity.
Case Study: Getting on Board with Diversity
Summary: According to Marc H. Morial, CEO of the National Urban League, which promotes economic
empowerment for African Americans, a minority presence on corporate boards is necessary to protect the
interests of minority consumers and other stakeholders: “African American voices and perspectives are
needed on corporate boards to ensure that business decisions affecting Black America are both
responsible and sensitive to the needs of our communities.”
1. The Michigan Studies
The Michigan leadership studies were a program of research conducted at the University
of Michigan.
The goal of this work was to determine the pattern of leadership behaviors that results in
effective group performance. The researchers collected and analyzed descriptions of
supervisory behavior to determine how effective supervisors differed from ineffective ones.
2. The Ohio State Studies
The Ohio State leadership studies were conducted at about the same time as the Michigan
studies, in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Behavioral scientists at Ohio State University developed a questionnaire, which they
administered in both military and industrial settings, to assess subordinates’ perceptions of
their leaders’ behavior.
The Ohio State studies identified several forms of leader behavior but tended to focus on
the two most common ones: consideration and initiating-structure.
3. Leadership Grid
Yet another behavioral approach to leadership is the Leadership Grid (originally called the
Managerial Grid). The Leadership Grid provides a means for evaluating leadership styles
and then training managers to move toward an ideal style of behavior.
The most current version of the Leadership Grid is shown in Figure 11.2.
The horizontal axis represents concern for production and the vertical axis represents
concern for people.
Note the five extremes of leadership behavior:
the 1,1 manager (impoverished management), who exhibits minimal concern for both
III. THE EMERGENCE OF SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODELS
The leader-behavior theories urge us not to be so preoccupied with what properties may be
possessed by leaders (the trait approach) but to instead concentrate on what leaders actually do
(their behaviors).
The goal of a situational theory, then, is to identify key situational factors and to specify how they
interact to determine appropriate leader behavior.
This continuum of behavior ranges from the one extreme of having the manager make the decision
alone to the other extreme of having the employees make the decision with minimal guidance from
the leader.
Each point on the continuum is influenced by characteristics of the manager, subordinates, and the
situation.
IV. THE LPC THEORY OF LEADERSHIP
Fred Fiedler developed the LPC theory of leadership. The LPC theory attempts to explain and
reconcile both the leader’s personality and the complexities of the situation. This theory was
originally called the “contingency theory of leadership.”
A. Task versus Relationship Motivation
Fiedler devised special terms to describe a leader’s basic personality traits in relation to
leadership: “task motivation” versus “relationship motivation.”
The degree of task or relationship motivation in a given leader is measured by the least-
preferred coworker (LPC) scale.
The LPC instructions ask leaders to select their least-preferred coworker and describe this
coworker by marking a series of sixteen scales anchored at each end by a positive or negative
quality or attribute.
B. Situational Favorableness
Fiedler also identified three factors that determine the favorableness of the situation. In order of
importance (from most to least important), these factors are leader–member relations, task
structure, and leader position power.
1. Leader Motivation and Situational Favorableness
Table 11.2 summarizes the results of Fiedler’s studies on relationships among leader
motivation, situational favorableness, and group performance.
the table.
2. Leader–Situation Match
What happens if a person-oriented leader faces a very favorable or very unfavorable
situation or if a task-oriented leader faces a situation of intermediate favorableness? Fiedler
considers these leader–situation combinations a “mismatch.”
C. Evaluation and Implications
The validity of Fiedler’s LPC theory has been heatedly debated because of the inconsistency of
the research results.
V. THE PATH–GOAL THEORY OF LEADERSHIP
Developed jointly by Martin Evans and Robert House, the path–goal theory focuses on the situation
and leader behaviors rather than on fixed traits of the leader.
In contrast to the LPC theory, the path–goal theory suggests that leaders can readily adapt to
different situations.
A. Basic Premises
The path–goal theory has roots in the expectancy theory of motivation discussed in Chapter 5.
Global Issues: The Role of Leaders across Cultures
Summary: “It is important for a manager to have at hand precise answers to most of the questions that
subordinates may raise about their work.” The percentage of workers from six different countries that
1. Leader Behaviors
As Figure 11.4 shows, path–goal theory identifies four kinds of leader behavior: directive,
supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented.
Directive leaders let subordinates know what is expected of them, give specific task
guidance, schedule work to be done, and maintain definitive standards of performance for
subordinates.
2. Situational Factors
The path–goal theory proposes two types of situational factors that influence how leader
behavior relates to subordinate satisfaction: the personal characteristics of the subordinates
and the characteristics of the environment. (See Figure 11.4.)
Two important personal characteristics of subordinates are locus of control and perceived
B. Evaluation and Implications
The intention of the path–goal theorists was to stimulate research on the theory’s major
propositions, not to offer definitive answers.
VI. VROOM’S DECISION TREE APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP
The third major contemporary approach to leadership is Vroom’s decision tree approach. The
earliest version of this model was proposed by Victor Vroom and Philip Yetton, later revised and
expanded by Vroom and Arthur Jago. Most recently, Vroom has developed yet another refinement
of the original model.
A. Basic Premises
Vroom’s decision tree approach assumes that the degree to which subordinates should be
encouraged to participate in decision making depends on the characteristics of the situation. In
other words, no one decision-making process is best for all situations.
After evaluating a variety of problem attributes, the leader determines an appropriate decision
style that specifies the amount of subordinate participation.
The five styles are defined as follows:
• Decide: The manager makes the decision alone and then announces or “sells” it to the
group.
• Delegate: The manager allows the group to define for itself the exact nature and parameters
of the problem and then develop a solution.
• Facilitate: The manager presents the problems to the group at a meeting, defines the
problem and its boundaries, and then facilitates group member discussion as members
make the decision.
B. Evaluation and Implications
Because Vroom’s current approach is relatively new, it has not been fully scientifically tested.
The original model and its subsequent refinement, however, attracted a great deal of attention
and were generally supported by research.
Summary and Application
Leadership is both a process and a property. Leadership and management are related but distinct
phenomena.
Early leadership research primarily attempted to identify important traits and behaviors of leaders. Newer
situational theories of leadership attempt to identify appropriate leadership styles on the basis of the
situation.
Discussion Questions
1. How would you define “leadership”? Compare and contrast your definition with the one given
in this chapter.
The text defines leadership as both a process and a property. A simple definition is that leadership is
2. Cite examples of managers who are not leaders and of leaders who are not managers. What
makes them one and not the other? Also, cite examples of both formal and informal leaders.
As discussed in the textbook, management and leadership are not the same. Management relies on
formal position power to influence people, whereas leadership stems from a social influence process.
3. What traits do you think characterize successful leaders? Do you think the trait approach has
validity?
Students likely will suggest a wide variety of traits, such as charisma, intelligence, self-confidence,
4. Recent evidence suggests that successful managers (defined by organizational rank and salary)
may indeed have some of the same traits originally ascribed to effective leaders (such as an
attractive appearance and a relative height). How might this finding be explained?
Such individuals are hired and promoted partly on the basis of their positive appearance and turn up
5. What other forms of leader behavior besides those cited in the chapter can you identify?
6. Critique Fiedler’s LPC theory. Are other elements of the situation important? Do you think
Fiedler’s assertion about the inflexibility of leader behavior makes sense? Why or why not?
Fiedler identifies three important elements of the situation: leader–member relations, task structure,
7. Do you agree or disagree with Fiedler’s assertion that leadership motivation is basically a
personality trait? Why?
8. Compare and contrast the LPC and path–goal theories of leadership. What are the strengths
and weaknesses of each?
The LPC and path–goal theories are similar in that both maintain a contingency approach to the study
9. Of the three major leadership theories—the LPC theory, the path–goal theory, and Vroom’s
decision tree approach—which is the most comprehensive? Which is the narrowest? Which has
the most practical value?
The most comprehensive leadership theory probably is the path–goal theory. It is a general
10. How realistic do you think it is for managers to attempt to use Vroom’s decision tree approach
as prescribed? Explain.
It is realistic for managers to use Vroom’s decision tree approach as prescribed as long as they use it
Understand Yourself Exercise—What Is Your Leadership Potential?
In this exercise, students distribute 5 points based on how characteristic each of the seven statements is
Group Exercise—Managers and Leaders
Learning Objective: This exercise offers students an opportunity to compare their assumptions and
perspectives on managers and leaders with the assumptions and perspectives of others in their class.
Summary: Students will identify contemporary examples of successful and unsuccessful leaders and then
describe how these leaders differ.
Task:
1. Working alone, each student should list ten characteristics of successful managers and a list of ten
different characteristics of successful leaders.
2. Next, students should share their lists in small groups and discuss the following:
a. Which manager characteristics, if any, appear on different students’ lists?
Video Exercises
Videos and questions can be found in the eBook and MindTap video folder.
City of Greensburg, Kansas: Leadership
Summary: The morning after the powerful EF-5 tornado whipped through the area, everyone knew
Greensburg was gone—perhaps forever. But in a subsequent press conference, Mayor Lonnie McCollum
announced that the town would rebuild as a model green community, and named Steve Hewitt as a full-
time administrator to make the changes. While Mayor McCollum offered a vision for rebuilding
Greensburg, it is Hewitt who stepped up to ensure that the vision became a reality. Hewitt quickly went to
work on a plan for rebuilding. City workers give Hewitt high marks for his handling of the crisis. Like
most good leaders, Hewitt hasn’t been afraid to ruffle feathers as needed.
1. Where does Hewitt’s leadership fall on the Managerial Grid discussed in the chapter? Explain.
City Administrator Steve Hewitt has high concern for production (results) but is also willing to
2. What deficiencies or shortcomings would you identify in Hewitt’s leadership?
Hewitt seems to be doing everything right. He is delegating authority, working with others to achieve
3. Is Hewitt’s leadership style appropriate for Greensburg’s situation? Explain your answer using
insights drawn from Fiedler’s LPC theory.
According to Fiedler’s LPC theory, leadership effectiveness requires a fit between the leader’s style
Now What?
Imagine receiving a performance review from your boss about your leadership capabilities that is less
favorable than you expected. What do you say or do? Go to this chapter’s “Now What?” video, watch the
challenge video, and choose a response. Be sure to also view the outcomes of the two responses you
didn’t choose.
OB Concepts Applied: career management; openness to feedback; developmental openness
Discussion Questions
1. Is Alex an effective manager? Is he an effective leader? Justify your answers for each question.
According to Kotter’s Distinctions between Management and Leadership (Table 11.1), Alex had
2. Does Amy demonstrate effective leadership in the challenge video? In what way is she an
effective or ineffective leader?
3. In addition to the solution you think is best, what would you do as either Amy or Alex to
demonstrate more effective leadership when handling this situation?
Option three is obviously the best solution. Both Amy and Alex are showing signs of leadership in