Lesson 3.

3 Basic Approaches to
Leadrship

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 Chapter Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Define leadership and contrast leadership and
management.
Summarize the conclusions of trait theories.
Identify the central tenets and main limitations of
behavioral theories.
Assess contingency theories of leadership by their level of
support.
Contrast the interactive theories (path-goal and leader-
member exchange).
Identify the situational variables in the leader-
participation model.
Show how U.S. managers might need to adjust their
leadership approaches in Brazil, France, Egypt, and China.

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 What Is Leadership?
Leadership
The ability to influence a group toward the
achievement of goals
Management
Use of authority inherent in designated
formal rank to obtain compliance from
organizational members
Both are necessary for organizational
success

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 Trait Theories of Leadership
Theories that consider personality, social,
physical, or intellectual traits to differentiate
leaders from non-leaders
Not very useful until matched with the Big Five
Personality Framework
Leadership Traits
Extroversion
Conscientiousness
Openness
Emotional Intelligence (Qualified)
Traits can predict leadership, but they are better
at predicting leader emergence than
effectiveness
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 Behavioral Theories of
Leadership
Theories proposing that specific behaviors
differentiate leaders from non-leaders
Differences between theories of leadership:
Trait theory: leadership is inherent, so we must
identify the leader based on his or her traits
Behavioral theory: leadership is a skill set and can
be taught to anyone, so we must identify the
proper behaviors to teach potential leaders

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 Important Behavioral Studies
Ohio State University
Found two key dimensions of leader behavior:
 Initiating structure – the defining and structuring of roles
 Consideration – job relationships that reflect trust and
respect
 Both are important
University of Michigan
Also found two key dimensions of leader behavior:
 Employee-oriented – emphasize interpersonal relationships
and is the most powerful dimension
 Production-oriented – emphasize the technical aspects of
the job
The dimensions of the two studies are very similar

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 Blake and Mouton’s Managerial
Grid®
Draws on both studies to assess leadership style
“Concern for People” is Consideration and
Employee-Orientation
“Concern for Production” is Initiating Structure and
Production-Orientation
Style is determined by position on the graph

Exhibit 12-1

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 Contingency Theories
While trait and behavior theories do help us
understand leadership, an important
component is missing: the environment in
which the leader exists.
Contingency Theory deals with this additional
aspect of leadership effectiveness studies.
Three key theories:
Fielder’s Model
Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership
Theory
Path-Goal Theory

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 Fiedler Model
Effective group performance depends on the proper
match between leadership style and the situation
Assumes that leadership style (based on orientation
revealed in LPC- list preferred coworker questionnaire) is
fixed
Considers Three Situational Factors:
Leader-member relations: degree of confidence and trust
in the leader
Task structure: degree of structure in the jobs
Position power: leader’s ability to hire, fire, and reward
For effective leadership: must change to a leader
who fits the situation or change the situational
variables to fit the current leader
Exhibit 12-2

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 Assessment of Fiedler’s
Model
Positives:
Considerable evidence supports the model,
especially if the original eight situations are
grouped into three
Problems:
The logic behind the LPC scale is not well
understood
LPC scores are not stable
Contingency variables are complex and hard to
determine

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Fiedler’s Cognitive Resource Theory
A refinement of Fiedler’s original model:
Focuses on stress as the enemy of rationality and
creator of unfavorable conditions
A leader’s intelligence and experience influence his
or her reaction to that stress
Stress Levels:
Low Stress: Intellectual abilities are effective
High Stress: Leader experiences are effective
Research is supporting the theory

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 Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational
Leadership
A model that focuses on follower “readiness”
Followers can accept or reject the leader
Effectiveness depends on the followers’ response to the
leader’s actions
“Readiness” is the extent to which people have the
ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task
A paternal model:
As the child matures, the adult releases more and more
control over the situation
As the workers become more ready, the leader becomes
more laissez-faire
An intuitive model that does not get much support
from the research findings

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 House’s Path-Goal Theory
Builds from the Ohio State studies and the expectancy
theory of motivation
The Theory:
Leaders provide followers with information, support, and
resources to help them achieve their goals
Leaders help clarify the “path” to the worker’s goals
Leaders can display multiple leadership types
Four types of leaders:
Directive: focuses on the work to be done
Supportive: focuses on the well-being of the worker
Participative: consults with employees in decision-making
Achievement-Oriented: sets challenging goals

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 Path-Goal Model
Two classes of contingency variables:
Environmental are outside of employee
control
Subordinate factors are internal to employee
Mixed support in the research findings

Exhibit 12-4

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 Leader-Member Exchange (LMX)
Theory
A response to the failing of contingency theories to
account for followers and heterogeneous leadership
approaches to individual workers
LMX Premise:
Because of time pressures, leaders form a special
relationship with a small group of followers: the “in-group”
This in-group is trusted and gets more time and attention
from the leader (more “exchanges”)
All other followers are in the “out-group” and get less of
the leader’s attention and tend to have formal
relationships with the leader (fewer “exchanges”)
Leaders pick group members early in the relationship

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 LMX Model
How groups are assigned is unclear
Follower characteristics determine group
membership
Leaders control by keeping favorites close

Research has been generally supportive

Exhibit 12-3

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 Yroom & Yetton’s Leader-
Participation Model
How a leader makes decisions is as important
as what is decided
Premise:
Leader behaviors must adjust to reflect task
structure
“Normative” model: tells leaders how participative
to be in their decision-making of a decision tree
 Five leadership styles
 Twelve contingency variables

Research testing for both original and modified

models has not been encouraging
Model is overly complex
Exhibit 12-5

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 Global Implications
These leadership theories are primarily studied in
English-speaking countries
GLOBE does have some country-specific insights
Brazilian teams prefer leaders who are high in
consideration, participative, and have high LPC scores
French workers want a leader who is high on initiating
structure and task-oriented
Egyptian employees value team-oriented, participative
leadership while keeping a high-power distance
Chinese workers may favor a moderately participative
style
Leaders should take culture into account

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 Summary and Managerial
Implications
Leadership is central to understanding group
behavior as the leader provides the direction
Extroversion, conscientiousness, and
openness all show consistent relationships to
leadership
Behavioral approaches have narrowed
leadership down into two usable dimensions
Need to take into account the situational
variables, especially the impact of followers

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