Chapter 4
The Leader as an
Individual
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Skills and Abilities
General Mental Ability (GMA)
– Defined as an individual’s innate
cognitive intelligence.
– Single best predictor of work
performance across many
occupations studied both in the
U.S. and across many different
cultures.
– What are the implications of this
“fact”?
2
Pfeffer & Sutton (2006) on talent
• Treat talent as something almost
everyone can earn, not that just a few
people own. Talent isn’t fixed unless
you believe it is.
• The law of crappy systems trumps the
law of crappy people
• Wisdom, not intelligence, is probably
the most important talent for sustaining
organizational performance
• Encourage people to be noisy and nosy
– it promotes wisdom
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Pfeffer & Sutton (2006) on talent
Wisdom
Acting with knowledge (??) while
doubting what you know
Antithesis
Acting without knowledge or without
doubting; also inaction combined with
endless analysis or, worse yet, no effort
to learn what to do
Understanding and acknowledging the
limits of your knowledge
Acting like a know-it-all, not seeming
to understand, accept, or acknowledge
the limits of your knowledge
Having humility about your knowledge
Being arrogant or insecure about your
knowledge
Asking for and accepting help from
others
Not asking for, or refusing, help from
others
Giving help
Not giving help, even when people
clearly need your knowledge and skill
Being curious – asking questions,
listening, constantly striving to learn
new things from the events, information,
and people around you
Lacking curiosity about people, things,
and ideas; answering questions and
talking only to show people how smart
you are, without learning anything from
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them
Pfeffer & Sutton (2006) The talents of wisdom:
people who sustain organizational learning
• Noisy complainers: Repair problems right
away and then let every relevant person know
that the system failed
• Noisy troublemakers: always point out
others’ mistakes, but do so to help them and
the system learn, not to point fingers
(purposeful vs. egocentric)
• Mindful error-makers: Tell managers about
their own mistakes, so that others can avoid
making them too. When others spot their
errors, they communicate learning – not making
the best impression – is their goal.
• Disruptive questioners: won’t leave well
enough alone. They constantly ask why things
are done the way they are done. Is there a
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better way of doing things?
Definition of Personality
• A set of relatively stable
characteristics that lead to
consistent patterns of behavior
• As a manager, how can you know
or assess an individual’s
personality? Why would you want
to do this?
6
• Value of understanding personality is
primarily to help leaders understand
their own basic personality
dimensions, and then to learn to
emphasize the positive and mitigate
the negative aspects of their own
style.
• Also helps you understand others to
know something about their
personality – knowledge that you can
use to guide YOUR behavior.
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Ex. 4.1 The Big Five Personality Dimensions
Quiet,
withdrawn,
unassertive
Low
Extroversion
High
Outgoing,
energetic,
gregarious
Warm,
considerate,
good-natured
Aloof, easily
irritated
Low
Agreeableness
High
Impulsive,
carefree
Low
Conscientiousness
High
Moody, tense,
lower selfconfidence
Narrow field
of interests,
likes the triedand-true
Low
Low
Emotional Stability
Openness to Experience
High
High
Responsible,
dependable ,
goal-oriented
Stable,
confident
Imaginative,
curious, open to
new ideas
• Some evidence that people who are
high on extroversion, agreeableness,
conscientiousness, and emotional
stability are more successful leaders.
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Personality Traits
• Authoritarianism
– The belief that power and status differences
should exist in an organization
– Dogmatism: receptiveness to others’ ideas and
opinions. Highly dogmatic people are close
minded and not receptive to others’ ideas.
• Locus of Control
– Defines whether a person places the primary
responsibility for what happens to him or her
within himself/herself or on outside forces
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Locus of control
• Generalized belief about self control vs.
control by the situation or others
• Internals have higher job satisfaction, are
more likely to assume managerial positions,
prefer participative management, have
higher work motivation, hold stronger belief
that efforts lead to performance, receive
higher salaries, and display less anxiety than
externals. Will not react well to being
closely supervised.
• Externals prefer more structured work
setting and may be more reluctant to
participate in decision making.
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Self-monitoring
• The extent to which people base their
behavior on cues from other people
and situations
• High SM pay attention to what is
appropriate in particular situations and
to the behavior of other people, and
they behave accordingly
• Low SM are not as vigilant to
situational cues and act from internal
states rather than paying attention to
the situation
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Self Monitoring
• High self monitors
– flexible: adjust
behavior according to
the situation and the
behavior of others
– can appear
unpredictable &
inconsistent
– Good in teams
– Accept feedback well
• Low self monitors
– act from internal states
rather than from
situational cues
– Consistent, but may
also be resistant to
change
– less likely to respond
to work group norms
or supervisory
feedback
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Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism - A personality
characteristic indicating one’s willingness to
do whatever it takes to get one’s own way.
Strong influence on perception of ethical
behavior.
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Machiavellianism
 A personality trait involving willingness to
manipulate others for one’s own (selfish)
purposes.
 Machiavellian tactics:
 Neglecting to share important information
(e.g., claiming to “forget” to tell you about
key meetings and assignments).
 Finding subtle ways of making you look bad
to management (e.g., damning you with
faint praise).
 Failing to meet obligations (e.g., not holding
up their end on joint projects, thereby
causing you to look bad).
 Spreading false rumors about you (e.g.,
making up things about you that embarrass
you in front of others).
15
Lynndie England and Charles Graner in
Abu Ghraib prison, Iraq
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Values
• Fundamental beliefs that an individual
considers to be important, that are
relatively stable over time, and that have
an impact on attitudes and behavior.
• End Values
– Sometimes called terminal values, these are
beliefs about the kind of goals or outcomes
that are worth trying to pursue (happiness,
prosperity, freedom, equality, salvation).
• Instrumental Values
– Beliefs about the types of behavior that are
appropriate for reaching goals (e.g. honesty,
politeness, courage).
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• Values affect your perception of
situations. Perception is the process
people use to make sense of the
world by selecting, organizing, and
interpreting information.
• Affect how leaders relate to others
• Guide leaders’ choices and actions.
• http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstr
eet/2007/10/10/take-your-kids-towork-day-every-day/
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Perceptual distortions:
Stereotypes
• Psychological representations of the
characteristics of people that belong to
particular groups. It is a categorization
process.
– Aids to explanation. Help the perceiver make
sense of a situation.
– Energy saving devices
– Shared group beliefs.
• Categorization is the cognitive process
by which we detect differences and
similarities between groups.
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Perceptual distortions
• Halo effect: perceiver develops and
overall impression of a person or situation
based on one characteristic, either
favorable or unfavorable
• Projection: tendency of perceivers to see
their own personal traits in others
• Perceptual defense: tendency of
perceivers to protect themselves against
ideas, objects, or people that are
threatening. People develop blind spots
in the perceptual process so that negative
sensory data do not hurt them
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Attitude
• An evaluation (either positive or negative)
about people, events, or things.
• Self-Concept
– The collection of attitudes we have about
ourselves; includes self-esteem and whether a
person generally has a positive or negative
feeling about him/herself.
Should poor performance be blamed on a “bad attitude”?
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ABC Model of an Attitude
Component
Measured by
Example
A ffect
Physiological indicators I don’t like my
Verbal statements
boss.
about feelings
B ehavioral
Observed behavior
Verbal statements
about intentions
Attitude scales
Verbal statements
about beliefs
intentions
C ognition
I want to transfer
to another dept.
I believe my
boss plays
favorites.
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Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X: the assumption that
people are basically lazy and not
motivated to work and that they
have a natural tendency to avoid
responsibility
Theory Y: the assumption that
people do not inherently dislike
work and will commit themselves
willingly to work that they care
about
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Management Assumptions
Theory X
Theory Y
• Dislike work
• View work as natural
• Must be threatened
with punishment
• Self-directed
• Avoid responsibilities
• Seek formal direction
• Require security
• Exercise self-control
• Accept responsibility
• Seek responsibility
• Little ambition
• Make innovative
decisions
• Workers are costs
• Workers are assets
How do you explain “lazy” behavior?
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Work Attitudes: Job Satisfaction
Job Satisfaction - a pleasurable or positive
emotional state resulting from the appraisal
of one’s job or job experience
Organizational Citizenship Behavior
– Behavior that is above and beyond duty
– Related to job satisfaction
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Task Performance
• The relationship between satisfaction
and task performance is positive, but it
is not very strong.
• Job satisfaction and performance may
not be directly linked. Any direct
relationship between them may stem
from the fact that both are related to
other factors – receipt of various
rewards and organizational
commitment.
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Organizational Citizenship
Behavior
• Behavior that is above and beyond
the call of duty. Things that affect
OCB may be:
– Job Satisfaction
– Procedural justice
• Helps explain why individual level job
satisfaction is related to
organizational performance.
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Work Attitudes: Organizational
Commitment
Organizational
Commitment
The strength of an
individual’s
identification with
an organization
Affective Commitment
Desire to remain
Continuance Commitment
Cannot afford to leave
Normative Commitment
Perceived obligation to remain
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Commitment
• Conditions that enhance:
–
–
–
–
Job satisfaction (strong, positive relationship)
Participation
Job security
Job characteristics (autonomy, responsibility,
interesting work)
• Advantages:
– Lower absenteeism, lower turnover, higher
quality, higher productivity, higher
performance
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Overall Job Attitude
•Satisfaction
•Commitment
Individual Effectiveness
(engagement)
•Task performance
•Extra-role performance (OCB)
•Lateness
•Absenteeism
•Turnover
Conclusion: A sound measurement of overall job attitude is one of the
most useful pieces of information an organization can have about
its employees
Harrison, D.A., Newman, D.A., Roth, P.L. 2006. How important are job attitudes?
30
Organizational Justice
Distributive Justicefairness of the outcomes
that individuals receive
in an organization
Procedural Justicefairness by which the
outcomes are allocated
in an organization
Ex. Companies
in Danger
vs.
CEO
Salaries
Ex. Competence vs. Race and
and Skill
Gender
• Procedural Justice: perceived
fairness of process (rules and
procedures) used to make a decision
– Perceived fairness of procedures
used to allocate pay raises is a
better predictor of satisfaction than
the absolute amount of the pay raise
received.
– Affects trust in management,
intention to leave, evaluation of
supervisor, job satisfaction, and
employee theft, layoff survivors.
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The significance of attitudes
• If you can identify a specific
attitude in an employee (s), then you
can take specific actions to attempt
to change that attitude. You make
changes to things you control as a
manager (policies, procedures,
resources, schedules, etc.) – you
don’t change attitudes with a request
or an ultimatum.
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Cognitive Style
How a person perceives,
processes, interprets, and
uses information
34
Ex. 4.4 Hermann’s Whole Brain
Model
A
Upper
left
B
Lower
left
Logical
Analytical
Fact-based
Quantitative
Organized
Sequential
Planned
Detailed
Holistic
Intuitive
Integrating
Synthesizing
Interpersonal
Feeling-based
Kinesthetic
Emotional
D
Upper
right
C
Lower
right
There is a reason why people think (and act) differently than you
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Action memo
• Strive for “whole-brain” thinking to deal
effectively with a wide variety of people
and complex issues.
• Be aware of your natural thinking patterns
and engage in activities that help develop
a wider range of styles.
• When possible, tailor your
communications and leadership approach
to the thinking styles of followers.
36
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI)
Personality test that measures
how individuals differ in
gathering and evaluating
information for solving problems
and making decisions
37
MBTI Preferences
(see page 124 for more)
Preferences
E/I Extraversion Introversion
S/N
Sensing
Intuiting
T/F
Thinking
Feeling
J/P
Judging
Perceiving
Represents
How one
re-energizes
How one gathers
information
How one makes
decisions
How one orients to the
outer world
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MBTI
• All individuals have some development of both
sides of each pair of functions/attitudes.
• Each type has advantages and pitfalls. No
type is better than another.
• Accepting and understanding type helps
individuals be more effective.
• Understanding the full range of types helps an
individual to communicate and work effectively
with others.
• Pitfalls: labeling or excuse for behavior
39
Variables Influencing
Individual Behavior
P
The Person
• Skills & abilities
• Personality
• Perceptions
• Attitudes
•Values
• Ethics
E
The Environment
• Organization
• Work group
• Job
• Personal life
B
Behavior
B = f(P,E)
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Total
Process
materials
methods
supervision
measurement
equipment
15%
training
staffing
Individual
effort
WSJ Article on Bowling
• Why did we read this article? What
principle does it illustrate?
42
Attribution in Organizations
Attribution Theory – Explanations of behavior in
others
Consensus - the extent to which peers in the
same situation behave the same way
Distinctiveness - degree to which the person
behaves the same way in other situations
Consistency - the frequency of a particular
behavior over time
43
The Attribution Process
Antecedents-factors internal
to the perceiver
•Information
•Beliefs
•Motivation
Attributions made by the perceiver
•Perceived external
or internal causes
of behavior
Consequences for the perceiver
•Behavior
•Feelings
•Expectations
44
Attributions of Internal and External
Causes of Behavior (in others)
Consistency is low
Distinctiveness is high
Consensus is high
Attribution of
external causes
Consistency is high
Distinctiveness is low
Consensus is low
Attribution of
internal causes
Consistency is low
Attribution of
either external or
internal causes
45
Information Cues &
Attributions
Customer has complained
about John
There are no complaints
about other employees
(low consensus)
John has received similar
complaints in the past
(low distinctiveness)
Complaints about John
have been coming in steady
(high consistency)
Internal attribution
(John's behavior stems
mainly from internal causes)
46
Information Cues &
Attributions
Mary has performed
poorly on collections
Other employees are
performing poorly
on collections
(high consensus)
Mary only performs
poorly on this task
(high distinctiveness)
Most of the time
Mary handles collections well
(low consistency)
External attribution
(Mary's behavior stems
mainly from external causes)
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Attributions (explanations) of the
causes of behavior in yourself.
• Internal
–Ability and effort
• External
–Task difficulty and luck
– Change potential
–Stable or unstable
48
Causal Attributions Of Your Behavior
(Success and Failure)
Stable
Internal
Unstable
S = esteem, efficacy
F = depression
S = luck
External
F = frustration
F = hope/optimism
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Attributional biases
• Two types of attribution errors
– Fundamental attribution error: tendency to make
attributions to internal causes when focusing on
someone else’s behavior
– Self-serving bias
– Prevents individuals from accurately assessing their
own performance and abilities and makes more
difficult determining real cause of failure
– Tendency to blame others for a person’s own
failures associated with poor performance and an
inability to establish satisfying interpersonal
relationships at work and other social settings
• When problems occur at work, managers and employees
often make different attributions about the causes.
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Advice for managers when problems occur at work
• Avoid the fundamental attribution error (stop blaming)
• Anticipate the employee’s self-serving bias and be
proactive. Know that the employee will attribute
causes of failure to (blame) the environment,
including management. Account for the impact of the
environment, including your own behavior, on the
employee’s behavior. Look inside first. Eliminate all
other causes as much as possible before you blame
employees. Employees that see you doing this will
credit you with procedural justice.
• If the environment is a major cause, it will be affecting
others as well. Fix the system and stop blaming.
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