Chapter 11: Basic Approaches to

Leadership
 What is Leadership?
The ability to influence a group toward the achievement of
goals.
 Leadership plays a central part in understanding group
behavior.
 There are many definitions of leadership and various
theories have been proposed
 Is "Management" the same as "Leadership"? What does a
manager do? What does a leader do? Why is “coping”
important according to Kotter?

1
 Trait Theories
•• Theories
Theoriesthat
thatconsider
considerpersonal
personalqualities
qualitiesand
and
characteristics
characteristicsthat
thatdifferentiate
differentiateleaders
leadersfrom
fromnon-
non-
leaders.
leaders.
• • Some
Sometraits
traitsincrease
increasethethelikelihood
likelihoodof
of success
successas
asaa
leader,
leader,but
butnone
noneof ofthem
themguarantee
guaranteesuccess.
success.
• • Traits
Traitspredict
predictbehavior
behaviorbetter
betterinin“weak”
“weak”than
than“strong”
“strong”
situations.
situations.
• • Unclear
Unclearevidence
evidenceofofthe
thecause
causeand
andeffect
effectof
of
relationship
relationshipof
ofleadership
leadershipand
andtraits.
traits.
• • Better
Betterpredictor
predictorof
ofthe
theappearance
appearanceofofleadership
leadershipthan
than
distinguishing
distinguishingeffective
effectiveand
andineffective
ineffectiveleaders.
leaders.

2
Behavioral Theories

•• Trait
Traittheory:
theory:
Leaders
Leadersare
areborn,
born,not
notmade.
made.
•• Behavioral
Behavioraltheory:
theory:
Leadership
Leadershiptraits
traitscan
canbe
betaught.
taught.

3
 Behavioral Theories
 Ohio State Studies
Initiating structure vs. Consideration
 University of Michigan Studies
Employee oriented vs. production oriented
 The Managerial Grid
Concern for people vs. concern for production (i.e. 81
different styles on which a leader's behavior may fall)
 Scandinavian Studies
Effective leaders display “development- oriented
behavior” (value experimentation, seeks new ideas, and
generates and implements change)

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 Contingency Theories
 Fiedler Model
Effective group performance depends upon the proper match
between the leader's style of interacting with subordinates and
the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to
the leader.  Assumes an individual's leadership style is fixed.
 Identify style via the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale

                Leader-member relations

                Task structure    
                Position power
 Match leaders and situations

5
 Hersey and Blanchard’s
Situational Leadership Theory

e ss
ngn
illi
w
d
y an
li it
: ab
ess
d in
a
r re
w e
l lo
Fo
Leader: decreasing need for support and supervision

6
Leader–Member Exchange
Theory

7
 Path-Goal Theory and Leader-
Participation Model
Path-Goal Theory
 A leader's behavior is acceptable to subordinates insofar as they
view it as a source of either immediate or future satisfaction.
 Directive vs. supportive leadership

Leader-Participation Model
 Provides a set of rules to determine the form and amount of
participative decision making in different situations.  There are
now 12 contingency variables in the latest revision of this model.
 This model is often too complicated for managers/leaders to
actually put into place in organizations.

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 Implications for Managers
 Leaders usually are the members of an organization who
provide the direction toward goal attainment.

 Re: Traits - Generally speaking, individuals who are

ambitious; have high energy, a desire to lead, self-confidence,
intelligence, and are flexible are more likely to succeed as
leaders than those without these traits.

 No particular style (behavioral theories) is effective in all

situations

 Contingency models help us better understand leadership.

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Chapter 12: Contemporary Issues in
Leadership
Trust
 A positive expectation that another will not act
opportunistically
 Competence, consistency, loyalty and openness are
dimensions of trust
 You cannot lead others who do not trust you! 
Reengineering, downsizing, and the use of 'temps' have
undermined employee trust in management

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 Three Types of Trust
 Deterrence Based Trust
(based on fear)
 Knowledge Based Trust
(based on predictability
over time)
 Identification Based Trust
(based on mutual
understanding of wants
and needs)

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Leaders as Shapers of Meaning:
Framing Issues

Leaders
Leadersuse
useframing
framing
(selectively
(selectivelyincluding
including
or
orexcluding
excludingfacts)
facts)to
to
influence
influencehow
howothers
others
see
seeand
andinterpret
interpret
reality.
reality.

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 Charismatic and
Transformational Leadership
 Charismatic Leadership
Followers make attributions of
heroic or extraordinary leadership
abilities when they observe
certain behaviors (ex - Martin
Luther King and JFK)

Are charismatic leaders born or

made?
Can charisma be a liability?

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 Transactional vs. Transformational
Leadership

Transactional - leaders who guide or motivate their

followers in the direction of established goals by
clarifying role and task requirements

Transformational - leaders who inspire followers who

transcend their own self-interests and who are capable
of having a profound and extraordinary effect on
followers.

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Visionary Leadership and Emotional
Intelligence
 Visionary Leadership
The ability to create and
articulate a realistic, credible,
attractive vision of the future
for an organization or
organizational unit that grows
out of and improves upon the
present.

 Key Skills: The ability to explain the

vision to others, the ability to express
the vision not just verbally but
through the leader’s behavior, and the
ability to extend the vision to different
leadership contexts.

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 Emotional Intelligence
 Emotional Intelligence (EI) & Leadership Effectiveness

EI has 5 key components - which "great" leaders demonstrate:

 self-awareness

 self-management

 self-motivation

 empathy

 social skills

 EI may be added to our list of "traits" of effective leaders

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 Contemporary Leadership Roles
 Providing Team Leadership
Many leaders are not equipped to handle the change to
teams.
 New skills such as the patience to share information, trust
others, give up authority, and knowing when to intervene are
paramount.
 Team leaders are liaisons with external constituencies,
troubleshooters, conflict managers, and coaches

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 Mentoring & Self-Leadership
 Mentoring: A senior employee
who sponsors and supports a
less-experienced employee.

 Self-Leadership: A set of
processes through which
individuals control their own
behavior.

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 Online Leadership
Most research has been conducted with “face-to-face” and “verbal”
leadership situations.
What about online leadership?
There is no “non-verbal” component (you often cannot “read”
the other person via email).

 Instead, the structure of words in digital communications can

influence reactions: full sentences, phrases, USING ALL CAPS,
formality, importance/urgency, style (emoticons, jargon,
abbreviations, etc). Messages can convey trust, status, task
directives, or emotional warmth.

 Writings skills are likely to become an extension of interpersonal

skills in the future.

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 Challenges to Leadership
 Leadership as an Attribution
Is leadership merely an attribution that people make about
other individuals?
 Substitutes and Neutralizers to Leadership
 Some argue that sometimes leaders are not even needed!
Sometimes individual, job, and organizational variables can act
as substitutes for leadership or neutralize the leader's effect to
influence followers (ex = a highly structured task)
 Finding and Creating Leaders
Can we use selection to help? (personality tests, interviews – match
to situation)
Training (can we train leadership? E.g. trust building, mentoring,
situation-analysis skills)

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 Implications for Managers
 Trust is important - as organizations are less stable, personal
trust is key in defining relationships and defining
expectations

 Transformational leaders are in demand. Organizations want

leaders with vision and charisma to carry out the visions.

 Invest in leadership selection and training (and follow up

with assessment centers, courses, workshops, rotating job
responsibilities, coaching, and mentoring)

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