Chapter 12

Leadership

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
S T E P H E N P. R O B B I N S
What Is Leadership?

Leadership
The ability to influence a group toward the
achievement of a vision or a set of goals.

Sources of Influence
•Managerial-Rank/Formal/Sanctioned

Use of authority inherent in designated formal

rank to obtain compliance from organizational
members.
•Non Managerial/Informal/Non-sanctioned

The ability to influence that arises outside the

formal structure of the organization.
 Trait Theories

Traits Theories of
Leadership. (1950s) Leadership Traits:
• Ambition and energy
Theories that consider
personality (personality • The desire to lead
traits), social, physical, or • Honest and integrity
intellectual traits to
differentiate leaders from • Self-confidence/efficacy
non-leaders. • Intelligence (EI)
• High self-monitoring
• Job-relevant knowledge
 Trait Theories

Big Five Personality and Leadership

Leaders who like being around people and are
able to assert themselves (extraverted), who are
disciplined and able to keep commitments they
make (conscientious), and who are creative and
flexible (open to experience) do have an
apparent advantage when it comes to leadership,
suggesting good leaders do have key traits in
common.
Trait Theories

Limitations:
• No universal traits found that predict
leadership in all situations.
• Unclear evidence of the cause and effect of
relationship of leadership and traits.
• Better predictor of the appearance of
leadership than distinguishing effective and
ineffective leaders.
Behavioral Theories

O
NO
 Behavioral Theories

Behavioral Theories of Leadership

Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate
leaders from non-leaders.
Difference:
• Trait theory
•

• leadership is inherent, so we must identify the leader

based on his or her traits.
• Leaders are born, not made.
• Behavioral theory
•

• Leadership is a skill set and can be taught to anyone

Ohio State Studies

Initiating Structure
The extent to which a leader is likely to define and
structure his or her role and those of sub-ordinates
in the search for goal attainment. Standards, deadlines

Consideration
The extent to which a leader is likely to have job
relationships characterized by mutual trust, respect
for subordinate’s ideas, and regard for their feelings.
Appreciate and support
University of Michigan Studies
Employee-Oriented Leader
Emphasizing interpersonal relations; taking a
personal interest in the needs of employees and
accepting individual differences among members.

Product/Task-Oriented Leader
One who emphasizes technical or task aspects of
the job.
 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
Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid
Concern for People

Concern for Production

Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid
 Trait Theories and Behavioral Theories

Leaders who have certain traits and who display

consideration and structuring behaviors do appear to
be more effective. Perhaps you’re wondering whether
conscientious leaders (trait) are more likely to be
structuring (behavior) and extraverted leaders (trait) to
be considerate (behavior). Future research is needed to
integrate these approaches.
Some leaders may have the right
traits or display the right behaviors
and still fail. As important as traits
and behaviors are in identifying
effective or ineffective leaders, they
do not guarantee success. The
context/situation matters, too.
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
 Leader-Member Exchange Theory
Contingency Theories
1. Fiedler’s Contingency Model
The theory that effective groups depend on a proper
match between a leader’s style of interacting with
subordinates and the degree to which the
situation gives control and influence to the
leader.

Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Questionnaire

An instrument that purports to measure whether a
person is task or relationship oriented.
Fiedler’s Model: Limitations

Fiedler assumes an individual’s leadership

style is fixed. This means if a situation
requires a task oriented leader and the
person in the leadership positioned is
relationship oriented, either the situation has
to be modified or the leader has to be
replaced to achieve optimal effectiveness.
 Contingency Theories

2. Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational Leadership

Theory (SLT)
Successful leadership depends on selecting the right
leadership style depending on the followers’
readiness (ability + willingness).
• “Readiness” is the extent to which people have the
ability and willingness to accomplish a task.
• Effectiveness depends on the followers’ response to
the leader’s actions.
• Followers can accept or reject the leader.
• Leaders can display multiple leadership types.
Contingency Theories

2. Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational Leadership

Theory (SLT)
Focuses on followers’ readiness (ability and
willingness)
Unable and Unable but Able and Able and
Unwilling Willing Unwilling Willing

Follower readiness:
ability and willingness

Leader: decreasing need

for support and supervision

Directive High Task and Relationship Supportive Monitoring

Orientations Participative
SLT - Leadership Styles and Follower Readiness

Follower Unwilling Willing

Readiness

Able Supportive
Monitoring
Participative

Leadership
Styles
High Task
Unable Directive and
Relationship
Orientations
Leader–Member Exchange Theory

A response to the failing of contingency theories to

account for followers and heterogeneous leadership
approaches to individual workers.
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory
Leaders create in-groups and out-groups, and
subordinates with in-group status will have higher
performance ratings, less turnover, and greater job
satisfaction.
Outcomes of LMX
•Out-group employees. L-LMX - “Hired Hands”
•In-group employees. H-LMX - “Trusted Employees”
Leader–Member Exchange Theory

LMX - Process
Leadership Styles

1. Charismatic Leadership. Max Weber defined

charisma (from the Greek for “gift”) more than
a century ago as “a certain quality of an
individual personality, by virtue of which he or
she is set apart from ordinary people and
treated as endowed with supernatural,
superhuman, or at least specifically
exceptional powers or qualities. These are not
accessible to the ordinary person and are
regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary,
and on the basis of them the individual
concerned is treated as a leader.”
Leadership Styles

2. Transformational leadership.
Inspire followers to transcend their self-
interests for the good of the organization
and can have an extraordinary effect on
their followers. They pay attention to the
concerns and needs of individual
followers; they change followers’
awareness of issues by helping them
look at old problems in new ways; and
they excite and inspire followers to put
out extra effort to achieve group goals.
Leadership Styles

3. Authentic leadership. The leaders

who know who they are, know what they
believe in and value, and act on those
values and beliefs openly and candidly.
Their followers consider them ethical
people. The primary quality produced by
authentic leadership, therefore, is trust.
Authentic leaders share information,
encourage open communication, and
stick to their ideals. The result: people
come to have faith in them.
Leadership Styles

3. Servant Leadership. Servant leaders

go beyond their own self-interest and focus on
opportunities to help followers grow and
develop. They don’t use power to achieve
ends; they emphasize persuasion.
Characteristic behaviors include listening,
empathizing, persuading, accepting
stewardship, and actively developing followers’
potential. Because servant leadership focuses
on serving the needs of others, research has
focused on its outcomes for the well-being of
followers.
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
 zz
zz
izz
Qu
1. Leadership is best defined as _____.
a. the ability to influence a group
in goal achievement
b. keeping order and consistency
in the midst of change
c. implementing the vision and
strategy provided by
management
d. coordinating and staffing the
organization and handling day-
to-day problems
e. not a relevant variable in
modern organizations
2. According to a comprehensive
review of the leadership literature, what
are the most important traits of effective
leaders?

a. conscientiousness
b. openness
c. extraversion
d. agreeableness
e. emotional stability
3. If trait theories of leadership are
valid, then leaders are _____.

a. trained
b. born
c. authoritarian
d. educated
e. grown
4. If behavioral leadership theories are
correct, then _____.
a. leadership behaviors are
consistent
b. leaders are born with
leadership behaviors
c. leaders’ behavior should
be altered
d. leadership can be taught
e. women generally make
better leaders than men
5. The two dimensions of leadership
behavior explained in the Ohio State
studies are _____.

a. coercion and motivation

b. concern for people & concern for
production
c. employee-oriented & production-
oriented
d. initiating structure & consideration
e. operant conditioning & classical
conditioning
6. The two dimensions of leadership
behavior identified in the University of
Michigan studies are ___.

a.coercion and motivation

b.emotional and rational
c.employee-oriented & production-
oriented
d.Initiating structure & consideration
e.Initiation and completion
7. In Fiedler’s model, if a respondent
describes his or her least preferred co-
worker in relatively positive terms, then
the respondent is considered to be
_____.
a. relationship-oriented
b. people-oriented
c. consensus-building
d. consideration-focused
e. unrealistic
8. Transformational leaders are _____.

a. Inspire followers to transcend

their self-interests
b. Supernatural, superhuman
c. know who they are, know
what they believe
9. Based on the contingency theory, if
the leadership style does not match
the situation, you should _____.
a. Change the leader to fit the
situation
b. Change the situation to fit the
leader
c. Accept this circumstance as
unchangeable
d. either a or b
e. retrain the leader in a more
appropriate style
10. Which of the following theories
argues that leaders establish a special
relationship with a small group of their
subordinates?

a. managerial grid
b. leader-member exchange
c. path-goal
d. expectancy
e. contingency
1. Leadership is best defined as _____.
a. the ability to influence a group
in goal achievement
b. keeping order and consistency
in the midst of change
c. implementing the vision and
strategy provided by
management
d. coordinating and staffing the
organization and handling day-
to-day problems
2. According to a comprehensive
review of the leadership literature, what
are the most important traits of effective
leaders?

a. conscientiousness
b. openness
c. extraversion
d. agreeableness
e. emotional stability
3. If trait theories of leadership are
valid, then leaders are _____.

a. trained
b. born
c. authoritarian
d. educated
e. grown
4. If behavioral leadership theories are
correct, then _____.
a. leadership behaviors are
consistent
b. leaders are born with
leadership behaviors
c. leaders’ behavior should
be altered
d. leadership can be taught
e. women generally make
better leaders than men
5. The two dimensions of leadership
behavior explained in the Ohio State
studies are _____.

a. coercion and motivation

b. concern for people & concern for
production
c. employee-oriented & production-
oriented
d. initiating structure & consideration
e. operant conditioning & classical
conditioning
6. The two dimensions of leadership
behavior identified in the University of
Michigan studies are ___.

a.coercion and motivation

b.emotional and rational
c.employee-oriented & production-
oriented
d.Initiating structure & consideration
e.Initiation and completion
7. In Fiedler’s model, if a respondent
describes his or her least preferred co-
worker in relatively positive terms, then
the respondent is considered to be
_____.
a. relationship-oriented
b. people-oriented
c. consensus-building
d. consideration-focused
e. unrealistic
8. Transformational leaders are _____.

a. Inspire followers to transcend

their self-interests
b. Supernatural, superhuman
c. know who they are, know
what they believe
9. Based on the contingency theory, if
the leadership style does not match
the situation, you should _____.
a. Change the leader to fit the
situation
b. Change the situation to fit the
leader
c. Accept this circumstance as
unchangeable
d. either a or b
e. retrain the leader in a more
appropriate style
10. Which of the following theories
argues that leaders establish a special
relationship with a small group of their
subordinates?

a. managerial grid
b. leader-member exchange
c. path-goal
d. expectancy
e. contingency
48