Slide OB 13e chapter 012 basic approaches to leadership

Trait Theories of Leadership• Theories that consider personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from nonleaders • Not very useful until matched with

Robbins & Judge

Organizational Behavior

13th Edition

Chapter 12: Basic Approaches to

Leadership

Student Study Slideshow

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.

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

Trait Theories of Leadership

• Theories that consider personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from

nonleaders

• 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

Behavioral Theories of Leadership

• Theories proposing that specific behaviors

differentiate leaders from nonleaders

• 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

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

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

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

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 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

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

Fiedler’s Cognitive Resource Theory

• A refinement of Fielder’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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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