CHAPTER 4
Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles
The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader with an understanding of basic leadership behavior
and attitudes, as well as styles (including servant leadership). Some of the information goes back to
gender differences in leadership.
CHAPTER OUTLINE AND LECTURE NOTES
This chapter includes pioneering information about leadership behaviors and attitudes that served as the
basis for studies of leadership styles and contingency theories of leadership. A sampling of these styles is
I. THE CLASSIC DIMENSIONS OF CONSIDERATION AND INITIATING STRUCTURE
The Ohio State studies developed questionnaires about leaders that included self-assessments and
assessments by subordinates. This research became the foundation for most of the future research
about leadership behavior, attitudes, and styles. Two dimensions (as identified by factor analysis)
accounted for 85 percent of the variance in descriptions of leadership behavior. Consideration is
the degree to which the leader creates an environment of emotional support, warmth, friendliness,
and trust. Leaders who score high on the consideration factor typically are friendly, trustful, earn
respect, and have a warm relationship. Making connections with people is part of consideration.
Initiating structure is the degree to which the leader organizes and defines relationships in the
group by activities such as assigning specific tasks, specifying procedures to be followed,
scheduling work, and clarifying expectations with team members.
II. TASK-RELATED ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR
Task-related means that the behavior, attitude, or skill focuses more on the task to be performed
than on the interpersonal aspects of leadership.
1. Adaptability to the situation. Effective leaders adapt to the situation by choosing a tactic
based on the unique circumstances at hand (the contingency approach).
3. High performance standards. Effective leaders consistently hold group members to high
standards of performance. Setting such standards increases productivity, partly because of the
Pygmalion effect (living up the expectations of superiors).
4. Concentrating on the strengths of group members. Making good use of the strengths of group
members rather than concentrating effort on patching up areas for improvement is an
effective tactic. The effective leader helps people improve, yet still capitalizes on strengths.
7. Ability to ask tough questions. Many times leaders can be effective by asking tough questions
rather than providing answers. A tough question is one that makes a person or group stop
and think about why they are doing or not doing something.
III. RELATIONSHIP-ORIENTED ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS
Leadership involves influencing people, so it follows that many effective leadership attitudes,
behaviors, and practices deal with interpersonal relationships.
1. Aligning people. Many people have to be aligned (a state of pulling together) to create
significant change toward a higher purpose. Alignment enables people to have a clear sense
of direction because they are pursuing a vision. Alignment of people also incorporates getting
the group to work together smoothly. Mobilization is easier with an agreed-upon mission.
Chapter 4: Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles
4. Satisfying higher-level needs. Motivation and inspiration energize people by satisfying needs
for achievement, a sense of belonging, recognition, self-esteem, and a feeling of control over
one’s life.
5. Giving emotional support and encouragement. Supportive behavior toward team members
6. Promoting principles and values. A major part of a top leader’s role is to help promote values
7. Reducing task ambiguity. Relationship-oriented leadership can reduce task ambiguity for
IIV. LEADERSHIP STYLES
A leader’s combination of attitudes and behaviors leads to a certain regularity and predictability in
dealing with group members. Leadership style is the relatively consistent pattern of behavior that
characterizes a leader. Most classifications of leadership style are based on the dimensions of
initiating structure and consideration.
A. Participative Leadership
Sharing decision making with group members, and working with them side-by-side, has
become the generally accepted leadership approach. Participative leaders share decision
making with group members. The style encompasses three subtypes: (1) consultative leaders
B. Autocratic Leadership
Chapter 4: Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles
C. The Servant Leadership Style
A style of leadership anchored in the desire to help others has surged in popularity. A servant
leader serves constituents by working on their behalf to help them achieve their goals, not the
leader’s own goals. A study with CEOs found, not surprisingly, that narcissism is negatively
related to servant leadership. A servant leader is a moral leader. Key aspects of servant
leadership include the following:
1. Place service before self-interest.
2. Listen first to express confidence in others.
6. Provide emotional healing (sensitivity to the personal concerns of group members)
7. Act as a role model for other organizational members to emphasize service.
A study conducted in a restaurant chain found that a serving culture was positively
related to the performance of the restaurant as well as individual job performance.
D. Entrepreneurial Leadership
Many entrepreneurs use a similar leadership style that stems from their key personality
characteristics and circumstances. A general picture emerges of a task-oriented and
charismatic leader. Even if it is not a true leadership style, at least there are some traits and
behaviors characteristic of entrepreneurs:
1. Strong achievement drive and sensible risk taking.
2. High degree of enthusiasm and passion.
3. Typical pattern of being proactive
The entrepreneurial personality carried to extreme can lead to addictive behavior, including
substance abuse.
Chapter 4: Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles
E. Gender Differences in Leadership Style
Several researchers and observers argue that women have certain acquired traits and
behaviors that suit them for relations-oriented leadership. Consequently, women leaders
1. The Argument for Male-Female Differences in Leadership Style
Based on self-reports, Rosener found that men tended toward a command-and-control
style. In contrast, women tended toward a transformational style, relying heavily on
relationship-oriented style.
2. Placing Gender Differences in Leadership Style in Perspective
More important than searching for differences is to capitalize on both male and female
F. 360-Degree Feedback for Fine-tuning a Leadership Approach
Many leaders solicit systematic feedback to improve their leadership behavior and attitudes.
360-degree feedback is a formal evaluation of superiors based on input from people who
work for and with them, sometimes including customers and suppliers. 360-degree feedback
G. Selecting the Best Leadership Style
A study with 3,000 executives revealed that leaders who get the best results do not rely on
one style. Instead, they use several different styles in one week, such as being autocratic in
Chapter 4: Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles
V. GUIDELINES FOR ACTION AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT
In choosing between a task orientation and a relationship orientation, several additional factors are
also relevant. Among them are (a) the structure of the organization and the nature of the leader’s
work, (b) the leader’s personality, and (c) the boss’s style and the organization culture.
COMMENTS ON EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 4-1: Feedback Skills
An important feature of this exercise is that it provides an opportunity to practice giving feedback about
Leadership Self-Assessment Quiz 4-1: Task-Oriented Attitudes and
Behaviors
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 4-2: Clarifying Your Interpersonal
Work Values
The importance of this instrument centers around its focus on values. Many observers of leadership
heavily emphasize the contribution of values to leader effectiveness.
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 4-3: Applying Relationship-
Oriented and Task-Oriented Attitudes and Behaviors
Leadership Self–Assessment Quiz 4–2: What Style of Leader Are You
or Would You Be?
Chapter 4: Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles
Leadership Self-Assessment Quiz 4-3: Entrepreneurial Thinking and
Behavior
Although the number of business startups in the last few years has declined, publicity about
when the opportunity arises.”
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 4-4: Entrepreneurial Leadership
The key feature of this exercise is that it gets the role players involved in a high-impact business
activity—selling others on the merits of their business. Our informal research has shown that at least one-
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 4-5: Contrasting Leadership Styles
Leadership Skill-Building Exercise 4-6: My Leadership Portfolio
This leadership portfolio exercise is yet another opportunity for the present or aspiring leader to examine
COMMENTS ON DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
1. Give an example of high consideration behavior that a supervisor of yours showed on your behalf.
What was your reaction to his or her behavior?
Examples of high consideration behavior include giving a worker time off to deal with a personal
consideration behavior on the part of the supervisor.
2. Why is direction setting still an important leadership behavior in an era of empowerment and shared
leadership?
Empowered teams still need direction regarding what activities they should be pursuing. They might
3. How might a manager use email and text messaging to help carry out both task-oriented and
relationship-oriented behaviors?
Chapter 4: Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles
Task-oriented behaviors can be executed via email and texting by sending messages containing
4. Why do so many CEOs say they want entrepreneurial style leaders in their company even though
the company is essentially a large bureaucracy?
Entrepreneurial-style leaders fit into a bureaucracy, and are in demand by CEOs for two primary
being proactive in terms of searching for improvements will usually benefit an organization.
5. Why would being a highly narcissistic, charismatic person interfere with being an effective servant
leader?
6. Why would it be helpful to have a mentor or a coach who is a hands-on leader?
A major reason for having a mentor or coach is to learn new skills, and a hands-on leader is quite
7. How would you characterize the leadership style of your favorite executive, athletic coach, or
television character who plays a boss?
To answer this question effectively, the student must choose a style categorization presented in this
8. Why is shared or participative leadership likely to be effective with well-educated and intelligent
team members?
Well-educated and intelligent team members have a preference for being consulted extensively
9. Which, if any, style differences have you noticed between men and women leaders?
A challenge in providing a good answer to this question is to differentiate between preferences for
10. Several people have commented that this chapter deals with the “nuts and bolts” of leadership. What
makes them say that?
The comment about nuts and bolts is insightful. The day-by-day process of being a leader involves
Chapter 4: Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles
PLAUSIBLE RESPONSES TO CASE QUESTIONS
Leadership Case Problem A: Lola Asks Tough Questions
This case illustrates that although asking tough questions can be an effective leadership technique, it
can also be perceived as uncomfortable, and even rude.
1. How effective does Lola appear to be in her approach to asking tough questions as a
leadership technique?
We will not know for sure how effective Lola is in her approach to asking tough questions until
2. What suggestions can you offer Lola to make her questioning techniques more effective?
3. Which style of leadership does Lola appear to demonstrating when she asks her team, “What
should I be doing to help make our division the best pet–food division in the industry?”
By asking how she can upgrade the effectiveness of her group, Lola is exercising the servant
Associated Role Play
Many students will enjoy this role play because much of the script is already presented, giving them
Leadership Case Problem B: Tricia and Her Facebook Friends and
Twitter Followers
This case illustrates the potential challenges of using social media to build relationships with
subordinates. The leader needs to develop a sensitivity to which type of behavior is appropriate.
1. What would you advise Tricia to do about future posts of a personal nature to the team?
Tricia might be moving too far toward attempting to develop a personal relationship with group
performance evaluation.
2. Which one or two relation-oriented behaviors does Tricia appear to be exagerrating?
Tricia appears to being going too far in offering emotional support and encouragement, such as
Chapter 4: Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles
3. If your team leader sent you a post about his or her team leadership role and your potential
friendship, how would you respond?
The answer to this question depends to a large extent on the student’s perception of the rewards
Associated Role Play
A key behavior to observe in this role play is whether Ken can preserve a good working relationship with