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8
Chapter

Leadership Behavior

• "Leadership is action, not position."

• ~ Donald H. McGannon, Westinghouse
Broadcasting Corporation

McGraw-Hill/Irwin copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, inc. All Rights Reserved
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Introduction

• One way to differentiate leaders is to look at

results.
• A key distinguisher between an effective
and ineffective leader is their everyday
behavior.
– Leadership behavior can be observed.
– Certain traits, values, or attitudes may
contribute to effective performance of some
leadaership behaviors.
• Two other factors that influence leadership
behavior are the followers and the situation.

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Why Study Leadership Behavior?

• Many leaders either cannot build teams or

get results, or do not realize the negative
impact of their behavior.
• Leadership behaviors are a function of
intelligence, personality traits, emotional
intelligence values, attitudes, interests,
knowledge, and experience.
• Over time, leaders learn and discern the
most appropriate and effective behaviors.
– Individual difference and situational variables
play a pivotal role in a leader’s actions.

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The Building Blocks of Skills

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The Early Studies
• Ohio State University: Developed the Leader
Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ)
and identified two independent dimensions of
behaviors:
– Consideration
– Initiating structure
• These dimensions were independent
continuums.
• University of Michigan: Identified two
dimensions contributing to effective group
performance:
– Job-centered dimensions
– Employee-centered dimension
• These dimensions were at opposite ends of a
single continuum.
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The Early Studies (continued)

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Alternative Conceptualizations of
Leadership Behavior
• Alternative conceptualizations are concerned
with:
– Identifying key leadership behavior.
– Determining if these behaviors have positive
relationships with leadership success.
– Developing those behaviors related to leadership
success.
• Leadership Grid: Profiles leader behavior on
two dimensions:
– Concern for people
– Concern for production
• The most effective leaders are said to have high
concern for both people and for production.
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The Leadership Grid Figure

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Organizational Competency Models

• Every organizational competency model

falls into four major categories:
– Intrapersonal and interpersonal skills.
– Leadership and business skills.
• The Hogan and Warrenfelz model:
– Allows people to see connections between
various competency models.
– Makes predictions concerning level of difficulty in
changing various leadership behaviors and skills.
– Points out what behaviors leader must exhibit to
be effective.

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Leadership Competency Model for
Executives at Waste Management

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Community Leadership

• Community leadership: Process of building

a team of volunteers to accomplish some
important community outcome.
• Community leaders do not have position
power, and they also have fewer resources
and rewards.
• Three competencies needed to successfully
drive community change efforts:
– Framing
– Building social capital
– Mobilization

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The Components of Community
Leadership

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Assessing Leadership Behavior:
Multirater Feedback Instruments
• 360-degree (multi-rater feedback) tools
allow managers to get accurate information
about how others perceived their on-the-job
behaviors.
• Questionnaire construction very important.
• Leaders who received 360-degree feedback
had higher performing work units.
• 360-degree feedback systems can add
tremendous value when used for
development purposes.

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Multirater Feedback Instruments
(continued)
• The key to high observer ratings is to
develop a broad set of leadership skills
that help groups accomplish goals.
• Research shows that it is possible to
change others’ perceptions of a leader’s
skills over time.
– Leaders must set development goals and
commit to a development plan to improve
skills.
• Societal or organizational culture, race, and
gender play key roles in the accuracy and
utility of the 360-degree feedback process.
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Sources for 360-Degree Feedback

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Example of 360-Degree Feedback

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Managerial Derailment

• Managerial derailment: Individuals who

at one time were on the fast track but
now had their careers derailed.
• Patterns of derailment:
– Inability to build relationships.
– Failure to meet business objectives.
– Inability to lead and build a team.
– Inability to adapt.
– Inadequate preparation for promotion.

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Themes in Derailment Research

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Why Change Behavior?

• Changing behavior, especially long-standing

patterns of behavior, can be quite difficult.
• Learning how to change your own and
others’ behaviors is a key leadership skill.
• Knowing how to change and modify
follower’s behaviors is also important.

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Development Planning

• Insight about development needs is important.

• Development plans that address the skills identified
as having the highest payoffs need to be built.
• A written plan seems to aid in the continuance of
development.
• Good development plans capitalize upon on-the-job
experiences to hone needed leadership skills.
• Leaders can build accountability by:
– Having different people provide ongoing feedback on
the action steps taken to develop a skill.
– Periodically reviewing progress on development plans
with the boss.

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The Development Pipeline

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Sample Individual Development Plan

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Coaching

• Coaching: Process of “equipping people

with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities
needed to develop and become more
successful.”
– Informal coaching: Takes place whenever a
leader helps followers to change their
behaviors.
– Formal coaching: Programs provide a
services similar to those of informal coaching
for executives and managers in leadership
positions.

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The Five Steps of Informal Coaching

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What Were the Most Useful Factors
in the Coaching You Received?

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The Power of Coaching

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Mentoring
• Mentoring: Personal relationship in which a
more experienced mentor acts as a guide,
role model, and sponsor of a less
experienced protégé.
– Informal mentoring
– Formal mentoring
• Leadership practitioners should look for
opportunities to build mentoring
relationships with senior leaders whenever
possible.

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Summary
• Leaders can benefit from the leadership
behavior research in several ways.
• Research has helped to identify factors that can
cause high-potential managers to fail.
• Research shows that some managers seem to
be able to change on their own after gaining
insight on how their behavior affects others.
• Leaders can create development plans for
themselves.
• Leaders can also help followers with behavioral
change through coaching and mentoring
programs.

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