Part III Groups in the Organization
CHAPTER 10 - LEADERSHIP AND CREATING TRUST
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Summarize the conclusions of trait theories.
2. Identify the limitations of behavioral theories.
3. Describe Fiedler’s contingency model.
4. Summarize the path-goal theory.
5. List the contingency variables in the leader-participation model.
6. Explain gender differences in leadership styles.
7. Differentiate transformational from transactional leadership.
8. Identify the skills that visionary leaders exhibit.
9. Describe the four specific roles of effective team leaders.
10. Summarize how leaders can build trust.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I.
WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?
A. Defined
1. Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals.
a) This influence may be formal, such as that provided by the possession of managerial
rank in an organization.
b) Nonsanctioned leadership is the ability to influence that arises outside of the formal
structure of the organization.
2. The leadership literature is voluminous, and much of it is confusing and contradictory.
II. TRAIT THEORIES
A. Introduction
1. On the basis of the general connotations in today’s media, one might list qualities such as
intelligence, charisma, decisiveness, enthusiasm, strength, bravery, integrity, selfconfidence, and so on.
2. The search for characteristics (such as those listed) that would differentiate leaders from
nonleaders occupied the early psychologists who studied leadership.
3. Research efforts at isolating these traits resulted in a number of dead ends.
4. However, attempts to identify traits consistently associated with leadership have been
more successful.
5. Six traits on which leaders differ from nonleaders:
a) Drive and ambition.
b) The desire to lead and influence others.
c) Honesty and integrity.
d) Self-confidence.
e) Intelligence.
f) In-depth technical knowledge related to their area of responsibility.
6. Traits alone are not sufficient for explaining leadership.
7. Their primary failing is that they ignore situational factors.
III. BEHAVIORAL THEORIES
A. Introduction
1. The inability to find traits led researchers to look at the behaviors that specific leaders
exhibited.
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2. Researchers hoped the behavioral approach would provide more definitive answers and
have some practical implications quite different from those of the trait approach.
a) If behavioral studies were to turn up critical behavioral determinants of leadership,
we could train people to be leaders.
b) The difference between trait and behavioral theories, in terms of application, lies in
their underlying assumptions.
(1) If trait theories were valid, then leaders were basically born.
(2) If there were specific behaviors that identified leaders, then we could teach
leadership.
3. A number of studies looked at behavioral styles. The two most popular studies are the
Ohio State group and the University of Michigan group.
B. Ohio State Studies
1. The most comprehensive and replicated of the behavioral theories resulted from research
that began at Ohio State University in the late 1940s.
a) Researchers sought to identify independent dimensions of leader behavior.
b) They narrowed over a thousand dimensions into two categories that substantially
accounted for most of the leadership behavior described by subordinates.
(1) initiating structure
(2) consideration
2. Initiating structure refers to the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure
his or her role and those of subordinates in the search for goal attainment.
a) Organize work, work relationships, and goals
3. Consideration is described as the extent to which a person is likely to have job
relationships characterized by mutual trust, respect for subordinates' ideas, and regard for
their feelings.
a) Showing concern for his followers’ comfort, well being, status, and satisfaction
4. Research found that leaders high in initiating structure and consideration tended to
achieve high subordinate performance and satisfaction more frequently than those who
rated low on either initiating structure, consideration, or both.
5. But the high high-style did not always result in positive consequences—it led to greater
rates of grievances, absenteeism, and turnover and lower levels of job satisfaction for
workers performing routine tasks.
6. The Ohio State studies suggested that the high high-style generally resulted in positive
outcomes, but enough exceptions were found to indicate that situational factors needed to
be integrated into the theory.
C. University of Michigan Studies
1. University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center studies were done at about the same
time as those being done at Ohio State with similar research objectives.
2. The Michigan group came up with two dimensions of leadership behavior:
a) employee-oriented
b) production-oriented
3. Leaders who were employee-oriented were described as emphasizing interpersonal
relations; they took a personal interest in the needs of their subordinates and accepted
individual differences among members.
4. The production-oriented leaders, in contrast, tended to emphasize the technical or task
aspects of the job—their main concern was in accomplishing their group’s tasks, and the
group members were a means to that end.
5. Researchers strongly favored the leaders who were employee-oriented in their behavior.
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a) Employee-oriented leaders were associated with higher group productivity and higher
job satisfaction.
b) Production-oriented leaders tended to be associated with low group productivity and
low worker satisfaction.
D. The Managerial Grid
1. Robert Blake and Jane Mouton developed a graphic portrayal of a two-dimensional view
of leadership styles.
2. They proposed a managerial grid based on the styles of “concern for people” and
“concern for production,” which essentially represents the Ohio State dimensions of
consideration and initiating structure or the Michigan dimensions of employee-oriented
and production-oriented.
3. The Grid
a) See Exhibit 10-1.
b) Nine possible positions along each axis.
c) Eighty-one different positions.
d) Shows the factors that dominate a leader’s thinking in regard to getting results.
4. Conclusions
a) Managers perform best under a 9,9 style.
b) The grid offers a better framework for conceptualizing leadership style than for
presenting any tangible new information.
E. Summary of Behavioral Theories
1. There was very little success in identifying consistent relationships between patterns of
leadership behavior and group performance.
2. What was missing was consideration of the situational factors that influence success or
failure.
IV. CONTINGENCY THEORIES
A. Introduction
1. It became increasingly clear that predicting leadership success was more complex than
isolating a few traits or preferable behaviors.
2. The failure to obtain consistent results led to a new focus on situational influences.
3. Three contingency theories have received the bulk of attention: Fiedler, path-goal, and
leader-participation.
4. We also take a look at gender as a contingency variable.
B. The Fiedler Model
1. Fred Fiedler developed the first comprehensive contingency model for leadership.
2. His model proposes that effective group performance depends on the proper match
between the leader’s style of interacting with his or her subordinates and the degree to
which the situation gives control and influence to the leader.
a) Least-preferred co-worker (LPC) questionnaire purports to measure whether a person
is task oriented or relationship oriented.
b) He isolated three situational criteria—leader-member relations, task structure, and
position power—that he believed can be manipulated so as to create the proper match
with the behavioral orientation of the leader.
c) Fiedler went significantly beyond trait and behavioral approaches by attempting to
isolate situations, relating his personality measure to his situational classification, and
then predicting leadership effectiveness as a function of the two.
3. Fiedler Model
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4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
a) An individual’s basic leadership style is a key factor in leadership success.
b) To find the basic style Fiedler created the LPC questionnaire.
(1) It has sixteen contrasting adjectives.
(2) The questionnaire asks the respondent to think of all the co-workers he or she has
ever had and to describe the one person he/she least enjoyed working with by
rating that person on a scale of 1 to 8 for each of the sixteen sets of contrasting
adjectives.
c) Fiedler’s premise was that what you say about others tells more about you than it tells
about the people you’re describing.
(1) If the least-preferred co-worker was described in relatively positive terms (a high
LPC score), then the respondent was primarily interested in good personal
relations with co-workers.
(2) In contrast, if the least-preferred co-worker is seen in relatively unfavorable
terms (a low LPC score), the respondent is primarily interested in productivity
and thus would be labeled task-oriented.
d) Fiedler assumed that an individual’s leadership style is fixed, either relationshiporiented or task-oriented.
e) This assumption means that if a situation requires a task-oriented leader and the person in that leadership position is relationship-oriented, either the situation has to be
modified or the leader replaced.
After an individual’s basic leadership style has been assessed through the LPC, it is
necessary to match the leader with the situation.
The three situational factors, or contingency dimensions, were identified by Fiedler:
a) Leader-member relations are the degree of confidence, trust, and respect subordinates
have in their leader.
b) Task structure is the degree to which the job assignments of subordinates are
structured or unstructured.
c) Position power is the degree of influence a leader has over power variables such as
hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases.
The next step is to evaluate the situation in terms of the three contingency variables.
a) Leader-member relations are either good or poor.
b) Task structure either high or low.
c) Position power either strong or weak.
Fiedler stated that the better the leader-member relations, the more highly structured the
job, and the stronger the position power, the more control or influence the leader had.
By mixing the three contingency variables, there are potentially eight different situations
or categories in which a leader could find himself or herself.
a) With knowledge of an individual’s LPC and an assessment of the three contingency
variables, the Fiedler model proposes matching them up to achieve maximum
leadership effectiveness.
Fiedler studied more than 1,200 groups, comparing relationship vs. task-oriented
leadership styles in each of the eight situational categories.
a) Task-oriented leaders tended to perform better than relationship-oriented leaders in
situations that were very favorable to them and in situations that are very
unfavorable.
b) See Exhibit 10-2.
In recent years Fiedler has condensed these eight situations down to three.
a) Task-oriented leaders perform best in situations with high and low control
b) Relationship-oriented leaders perform best in moderate control situations
Research finds conflicting results depending on the type of studies used.
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a) A generally positive conclusion is that there is considerable evidence to support the
model.
b) But additional variables are probably needed.
(1) There are problems with the LPC and the practical use of the model that need to
be addressed.
(2) Contingency variables are complex and difficult for practitioners to assess.
12. Fiedler has clearly made an important contribution toward understanding leadership
effectiveness.
a) His model has been the object of much controversy and probably will continue to be.
C. Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory
1. LMX argues that leaders establish a special relationship with a small group of their
followers.
a) The leader’s in-group—people whom the leader trusts, who get a disproportionate
amount of his or her time, and who are more likely to receive special privileges.
b) Out-group—other followers who get less of the leader’s time, less of the preferred
rewards that the leader controls, and have leader-follower relations based on formal
authority interactions.
2. Early in the history of the leader-member relationship, the leader implicitly categorizes
the follower as an “in” or an “out” and that the relationship is relatively stable over time.
a) How the leaders choose who falls into each category is unclear.
b) Evidence indicates that leaders tend to choose in-group members because they have
attitude and personality characteristics that are similar to the leader’s or that they
have a higher level of competence than out-group members.
3. Studies confirm several LMX theory predictions:
a) Leaders do differentiate among followers.
b) Disparities are far from random.
c) Followers with in-group status have higher performance ratings, lower turnover
intentions, greater satisfaction with their superiors, and higher overall satisfaction
than those in the out-group.
D. Path-Goal Theory
1. One of the most respected approaches to leadership.
2. Developed by Robert House, a contingency model of leadership that extracts key
elements from the Ohio State leadership research on initiating structure and consideration
and the expectancy theory of motivation.
3. The essence of the theory is that it’s the leader’s job to assist his or her followers in
attaining their goals and to provide the direction or support needed to ensure that their
goals are compatible with the overall objectives of the group or organization.
a) The term path-goal is derived from the belief that effective leaders clarify the path
and reduce roadblocks and pitfalls for their followers.
b) A leader’s behavior is acceptable to subordinates to the degree that they view it as an
immediate source of satisfaction or as a means of future satisfaction.
c) A leader’s behavior is motivational to the degree that it:
(1) Makes subordinate need satisfaction contingent on effective performance.
(2) Provides the coaching, guidance, support, and rewards that are necessary for
effective performance.
4. House-identified Four Leadership Behaviors.
a) The directive leader lets subordinates know what is expected of them, schedules work
to be done, and gives specific guidance on how to accomplish tasks.
(1) Parallels the Ohio State studies’ initiating structure
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5.
6.
7.
8.
b) The supportive leader is friendly and shows concern for the needs of subordinates.
(1) Essentially synonymous with the Ohio State studies’ consideration
c) The participative leader consults with subordinates and uses their suggestions before
making a decision.
d) The achievement-oriented leader sets challenging goals and expects subordinates to
perform at their highest level.
e) House assumes that leaders are flexible; path-goal theory implies that the same leader
can display any or all of these behaviors depending on the situation.
See Exhibit 10-3.
a) Path-goal theory proposes two classes of situational, or contingency variables.
b) Those in the environment are outside the control of the leader (task structure, formal
authority system, and work group).
c) Factors in the second class are part of the personal characteristics of the subordinate
(locus of control, experience, and perceived ability).
The theory proposes that leader behaviors should complement these contingency
variables.
Hypotheses evolving out of path-goal theory.
a) Directive leadership leads to greater satisfaction when tasks are ambiguous or
stressful than when they are highly structured and well laid-out.
b) Supportive leadership results in high employee performance and satisfaction when
subordinates are performing structured tasks (leadership complements environment).
c) Directive leadership is likely to be redundant among subordinates with high ability or
with considerable experience.
d) The clearer and more bureaucratic the formal authority relationships, the more
leaders should exhibit supportive behavior and de-emphasize directive behavior..
e) Directive leadership will lead to higher employee satisfaction when there is
substantive conflict within a work group.
f) Subordinates with an internal locus of control (those who believe they control their
own destiny) will be most satisfied with a participative style.
g) Subordinates with an external locus of control will be most satisfied with a directive
style.
h) Achievement-oriented leadership will increase subordinates’ expectations that effort
will lead to high performance when tasks are ambiguously structured.
The evidence supports the logic underlying the theory.
a) Employee performance and satisfaction are likely to be positively influenced when
the leader compensates for things lacking in either the employee or the work setting.
b) However, when the leader spends time explaining what is already clear or when the
employee has the ability to handle them without help, the leader is seen as redundant
or even insulting.
E. Leader-Participation Model
1. In 1973 Victor Vroom and Phillip Yetton developed a leader-participation model.
2. These researchers argued that leader behavior must adjust to reflect the task structure.
3. Vroom and Yetton’s model was normative—it provided a sequential set of rules that
should be followed in determining the form and amount of participation in decision
making as determined by different types of situations.
4. The model was a decision tree incorporating seven contingencies (whose relevance could
be identified by making "yes" or "no" choices) and five alternative leadership styles.
5. Vroom and Jago revised this model.
a) The new model retains the same five alternative leadership styles but expands the
contingency variables to twelve.
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b) See Exhibit 10-4.
6. Tests of both models have been encouraging.
7. Unfortunately, the model is far too complex for the typical manager.
a) Vroom and Jago have developed a computer program to guide managers through all
the decision branches in the revised model.
F. Gender As a Contingency Variable: Do Males and Females Lead Differently?
1. An extensive review of the literature suggests two conclusions regarding gender and
leadership.
a) The similarities tend to outweigh the differences.
b) Women prefer a democratic leadership style, whereas men feel more comfortable
with a directive style.
2. The similarities among men and women leaders are not surprising.
a) Career self-selection and organization selection lead to similarities.
b) Just as people who choose careers in law enforcement or civil engineering have a lot
in common, so do individuals who choose managerial roles/positions.
c) Similarly, organizations tend to recruit and promote into leadership positions people
who project leadership attributes.
3. Despite the previous conclusion, studies indicate some differences in the inherent
leadership styles of women and men.
a) Women encourage participation, share power and information, and attempt to
enhance followers’ self-worth.
b) They prefer to lead through inclusion and rely on their charisma, expertise, contacts,
and interpersonal skills to influence others.
c) Men, on the other hand, are more likely to use a directive command-and-control
style.
d) They rely on the formal authority of their position for their influence base.
4. These findings need to be qualified.
a) The tendency for female leaders to be more democratic than males declines when
women are in male-dominated jobs.
b) Apparently, group norms and masculine stereotypes of leaders override personal
preferences.
5. It’s tempting to assume that the noted differences between men and women would
automatically work to favor men.
a) It doesn’t.
b) In today’s organizations flexibility, teamwork, trust, and information sharing are
replacing rigid structures, competitive individualism, control, and secrecy.
c) The best managers listen to, motivate, and provide support for their people.
d) The leadership styles women typically use can make them better than men at
negotiating.
V. TRAIT THEORIES UPDATED: CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP
A. Transactional Leaders
1. These people guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by
clarifying role and task requirements.
2. There is another type of leader who inspires followers to transcend their own selfinterests for the good of the organization and who is capable of having a profound and
extraordinary effect on his or her followers.
a) These are charismatic or transformational leaders.
b) Jesse Jackson, Winston Churchill, General Douglas MacArthur, and Franklin D.
Roosevelt are of this latter type.
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c) By the force of their personal abilities, they transform their followers by raising the
sense of the importance and value of their tasks.
B. Characteristics that Differentiate Charismatic Leaders from Noncharismatic Leaders
1. Self-confidence
a) They have complete confidence in their judgment and ability.
2. A vision
a) An idealized goal that proposes a better future than the status quo.
3. Strong convictions in that vision
a) Perceived as willing to take on high personal risk, incur high costs, and engage in
self-sacrifice to achieve their vision.
4. Extraordinary behavior
a) Engage in behavior that is perceived as novel, unconventional, and counter to norms.
5. Image as a change agent
a) Perceived as agents of radical change rather than as caretakers of the status quo.
6. Charismatic leaders impact their followers’ attitudes and behavior.
a) Followers of charismatic leaders were more self-assured, experienced more
meaningfulness in their work, reported more support from their leaders, worked
longer hours, saw their leaders as more dynamic, and had higher performance ratings
than the followers of noncharismatic, but effective, leaders.
b) People working under charismatic leaders were more productive and satisfied than
those working under leaders who relied on the more traditional transactional
behaviors of initiating structure and consideration.
7. These limited studies provide only a limited ability to generalize.
VI. VISIONARY LEADERSHIP
A. Definition
1. Visionary leadership goes beyond charisma.
2. Visionary leadership is 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.
3. A review of various definitions finds that a vision differs from other forms of directionsetting in several ways:
a) A vision has clear and compelling imagery that offers an innovative way to improve,
which recognizes and draws on traditions, and connects to actions that people can
take to realize change.
b) Vision taps people’s emotions and energy.
4. The key properties of a vision seem to be inspirational possibilities that are value
centered, realizable, with superior imagery and articulation.
a) A vision is likely to fail if it doesn’t offer a view of the future that is clearly and
demonstrably better for the organization and its members.
b) Visions that have clear articulation and powerful imagery are more easily grasped
and accepted.
5. Examples
a) Mary Kay Ash’s vision of women as entrepreneurs selling products that improve
their self-image gave impetus to her cosmetics company.
b) John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, is creating a vision of how networks can
transform business firms.
c) Steve Case, CEO of AOL, envisions his firm leading the information revolution by
merging AOL with Time Warner.
6. Skills of visionary leaders.
a) The ability to explain the vision to others.
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b) The ability to express the vision not just verbally but through the leader’s behavior.
c) The ability to extend the vision to different leadership contexts.
VII. TEAM LEADERSHIP
A. Leadership Within a Team Context.
1. Many leaders are not equipped to handle the change to teams.
2. A consultant estimated that:
a) probably 15 percent of managers are natural team leaders.
b) another 15 percent could never lead a team because it runs counter to their
personality.
c) there’s that huge group in the middle that can learn team leadership.
3. Most managers have to learn skills such as the patience to share information, to trust
others, to give up authority, and to understand when to intervene.
4. Effective leaders have mastered the difficult balancing act of knowing when to leave their
teams alone and when to intercede.
5. A study of twenty organizations that had reorganized themselves around teams found
certain common responsibilities that all leaders had to assume.
a) These included coaching, facilitating, handling disciplinary problems, and reviewing
team and individual performance, training, and communicating.
6. A more meaningful way to describe the team leader’s job is to focus on two priorities:
managing the team’s external boundary and facilitating the team process.
7. This is done through four specific roles.
a) Team leaders are liaisons with external constituencies—upper management, other
internal teams, customers, and suppliers.
b) Team leaders are troubleshooters. When the team has problems and asks for
assistance, team leaders sit in on meetings and help try to resolve the problems.
(1) This rarely relates to technical or operation issues.
c) Team leaders are conflict managers. When disagreements surface, they help process
the conflict.
d) Team leaders are coaches.
(1) They clarify expectations and roles, teach, offer support, cheerlead, and do
whatever else is necessary to help team members.
VIII. IS LEADERSHIP ALWAYS RELEVANT?
A. Leadership May Not Always Be Important
1. Numerous studies demonstrate that, in many situations, whatever behaviors leaders
exhibit are irrelevant.
a) Characteristics of subordinates such as their experience, training, professional
orientation, or need for independence can neutralize the effect of leadership.
b) People in jobs that are inherently unambiguous and routine or that are intrinsically
satisfying may have little need for a leader.
c) Organizational characteristics such as explicit formalized goals, rigid rules and
procedures, or cohesive work groups can act in the place of formal leadership.
2. Supporters of the leadership concept have tended to place an undue burden on this
variable for explaining and predicting behavior.
a) It’s too simplistic to consider subordinates as being guided to goal accomplishment
solely on the basis of the behavior of their leader.
b) It’s important, therefore, to recognize explicitly that leadership is merely another
independent variable in explaining organizational behavior.
3. Even charismatic leadership may not be a panacea.
a) Charismatic leaders may be ideal for pulling a group or organization through a crisis,
but they often perform poorly after the crisis subsides and ordinary conditions return.
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b) Charismatic managers are often self-possessed, autocratic, and given to thinking that
their opinions have a greater degree of certainty than they merit.
(1) These behaviors then tend to drive good people away and can lead their
organizations down dangerous paths.
IX. TRUST AND LEADERSHIP
A. What Is Trust?
1. Trust is a positive expectation that another will not through words, actions, or decisions
act opportunistically.
2. The two most important elements of our definition are familiarity and risk.
a) The phrase positive expectation in our definition assumes knowledge and familiarity
about the other party.
(1) Trust is a history-dependent process based on relevant but limited samples of
experience.
(2) It takes time to form, building incrementally and accumulating.
b) The term opportunistic refers to the inherent risk and vulnerability in any trusting
relationship.
(1) Trust involves making oneself vulnerable.
(2) But trust is not taking risk per se; rather it is a willingness to take risk.
3. Key dimensions that underlie the concept of trust. See Exhibit 10-5.
a) Integrity refers to honesty and truthfulness. This one seems to be most critical.
b) Competence encompasses an individual’s technical and interpersonal knowledge and
skills.
(1) Does the person know what he or she is talking about?
c) Consistency relates to an individual’s reliability, predictability, and good judgment in
handling situations.
d) Loyalty is the willingness to protect and save face for another person.
(1) Trust requires that you can depend on someone not to act opportunistically.
e) The final dimension of trust is openness. Can you rely on the person to give you the
full truth?
B. Trust and Leadership
1. Trust appears to be a primary attribute associated with leadership.
a) When followers trust a leader, they are willing to be vulnerable to the leader’s
actions.
2. Honesty, for instance, consistently ranks at the top of most people’s list of characteristics
they admire in their leaders.
C. Three Types of Trust
1. There are three types of trust in organizational relationships: deterrence-based,
knowledge-based, and identification-based.
2. The following analysis assumes two parties are entering into a new relationship. They
have no previous experiences to overcome; they’re uncertain about each other; they
believe they’re vulnerable if they disclose too much too quickly; and they’re uncertain
about the future longevity of the relationship.
3. Deterrence-based trust.
a) The most fragile relationships.
b) One violation or inconsistency can destroy the relationship.
c) This form of trust is based on fear of reprisal if the trust is violated.
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d) Deterrence-based trust will work only to the degree that punishment is possible,
consequences are clear, and the punishment is actually imposed if the trust is
violated.
e) To be sustained, the potential loss of future interaction with the other party must
outweigh the profit potential that comes from violating expectations.
f) Most new relationships begin on a base of deterrence.
4. Knowledge-Based Trust
a) Most organizational relationships are rooted in knowledge-based trust.
b) Trust is based on the behavioral predictability that comes from a history of
interaction.
c) It exists when you have adequate information about someone to understand them
well enough to be able to accurately predict their likely behavior.
d) It relies on information rather than deterrence—of the other party and predictability
of his or her behavior replaces the contracts, penalties, and legal arrangements more
typical of deterrence-based trust.
e) This knowledge develops over time.
f) Trust is not necessarily broken by inconsistent behavior.
(1) If you believe you can adequately explain or understand another’s apparent
violation, you can accept it, forgive the person, and move on in the relationship.
g) Most manager-employee relationships are knowledge-based.
5. Identification-Based Trust
a) The highest level of trust is achieved when there is an emotional connection between
the parties.
b) It allows one party to act as an agent for the other and substitute for that person in
interpersonal transactions.
c) Controls are minimal at this level.
d) The best example of identification-based trust is a long-term, happily married couple.
e) Identification-based trust is seen occasionally in organizations among people who
have worked together for long periods of time and have a depth of experience that
allows them to know each other inside and out.
f) This is also the type of trust that managers ideally seek in teams.
D. How Do You Build Trust?
1. Practice openness. Mistrust comes as much from what people don’t know as from what
they do know. Openness leads to confidence and trust.
2. Be fair. Before making decisions or taking actions, consider how others will perceive
them in terms of objectivity and fairness.
3. Speak your feelings. Managers who convey only hard facts come across as cold and
distant.
4. Tell the truth. If integrity is critical to trust, you must be perceived as someone who tells
the truth.
5. Show consistency. People want predictability. Mistrust comes from not knowing what to
expect.
6. Fulfill your promises. Trust requires that people believe that you are dependable.
7. Maintain confidences You trust people who are discreet and upon whom you can rely. So
if people make themselves vulnerable by telling you something in confidence, they need
to feel assured that you will not discuss it with others or betray that confidence.
8. Demonstrate competence. Develop the admiration and respect of others by demonstrating
technical and professional ability.
X. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS
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1. Let’s try to identify commonalties among the leadership theories and attempt to
determine what, if any, practical value the theories hold for managers.
2. Careful examination discloses that the concepts of task and people often expressed in
more elaborate terms that hold substantially the same meaning—permeate most of the
theories. The task dimension is called just that by Fiedler, but it goes by the name of
“initiating structure” for the Ohio State group, “directive” by path-goal supporters,
“production orientation” by the Michigan researchers, and “concern for production” by
Blake and Mouton. The people dimension gets similar treatment, going under such
aliases as “consideration,” “supportive,” and “employee-oriented” or “relationshiporiented” leadership. Clearly, leadership behavior can be shrunk down to two
dimensions—task and people—but researchers continue to differ as to whether the
orientations are two ends of a single continuum or two independent dimensions.
3. Some traits have shown, over time, to be modest predictors of leadership effectiveness.
But the fact that a manager possessed intelligence, drive, self-confidence, or the like
would by no means assure us that his or her subordinates would be productive and
satisfied employees. The ability of these traits to predict leadership success is just not that
strong.
4. The early task—people approaches (the Ohio State, Michigan, and managerial grid
theories) also offer us little substance. The strongest statement one can make on the basis
of these theories is that leaders who rate high in people orientation should end up with
satisfied employees. The research is too mixed to make predictions regarding employee
productivity or the effect of a task orientation on productivity and satisfaction.
5. Controlled laboratory studies designed to test the Fiedler model, in aggregate, have
generally supported the theory. But field studies provide more limited support. We
suggest that only category II, V, VII, and VIII situations warrant the use of the LPC
instrument to assess whether this is a leader—situation match and the use of that
information to predict employee productivity and satisfaction.
6. The path-goal model provides a framework for explaining and predicting leadership
effectiveness that has developed a solid, empirical foundation. It recognizes that a
leader’s success depends on adjusting his or her style to the environment and to the
individual characteristics of followers.
7. In spite of the leader-participation model’s complexity, efforts to validate it have been
encouraging. One investigation, for example, found that leaders who were high in
agreement with the model had subordinates with higher productivity and higher
satisfaction than those leaders who were low in agreement with the model. For our
purposes, its greatest contribution is in identifying a set of contingency variables that you
should consider before choosing a leadership style.
8. Finally, we discussed the role that trust plays in leadership. Effective managers today
must develop trusting relationships with those they seek to lead. Why? Because as
organizations have become less stable and predictable, strong bonds of trust are replacing
bureaucratic rules in defining expectations and relationships.
SUMMARY
1. Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals. This influence may be
formal, such as that provided by the possession of managerial rank in an organization.
2. The search for characteristics (such as those listed) that would differentiate leaders from nonleaders
occupied the early psychologists who studied leadership.
3. The inability to find traits led researchers to look at the behaviors that specific leaders exhibited. The
two most popular studies are the Ohio State group and the University of Michigan group. The Ohio
State University studies narrowed over a thousand dimensions into two categories: initiating structure
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Part III Groups in the Organization
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
and consideration. The University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center studies came up with two
dimensions of leadership behavior: employee-oriented and production-oriented.
Robert Blake and Jane Mouton proposed a managerial grid based on the styles of “concern for
people” and “concern for production,” which essentially represent the Ohio State dimensions of
consideration and initiating structure or the Michigan dimensions of employee-oriented and
production-oriented.
There was very little success in identifying consistent relationships between patterns of leadership
behavior and group performance. What was missing was consideration of the situational factors that
influence success or failure.
The failure to obtain consistent results led to a new focus on situational influences. Three contingency
theories have received the bulk of attention: Fiedler, path-goal, and leader-participation. Fred
Fiedler’s model proposes that effective group performance depends on the proper match between the
leader’s style of interacting with his or her subordinates and the degree to which the situation gives
control and influence to the leader.
The leader-member exchange (LMX) theory argues that leaders establish a special relationship with a
small group of their followers (in-group). Studies confirm several LMX theory predictions: Leaders
do differentiate among followers; these disparities are far from random; and followers with in-group
status have higher performance ratings, lower turnover intentions, greater satisfaction with their
superiors, and higher overall satisfaction than those in the out-group.
Path-goal theory is one of the most respected approaches to leadership. Developed by Robert House,
the essence of the theory is that it’s the leader’s job to assist his or her followers in attaining their
goals and to provide the direction or support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the
overall objectives of the group or organization.
Another contingency model is the leader-participation model developed in 1973 by Victor Vroom and
Phillip Yetton. These researchers argued that leader behavior must adjust to reflect the task structure.
Unfortunately, the model is far too complex for the typical manager. Vroom and Jago have developed
a computer program to guide managers through all the decision branches in the revised model.
An extensive review of the literature suggests two conclusions regarding gender and leadership. 1)
The similarities tend to outweigh the differences. 2) Women prefer a democratic leadership style,
whereas men feel more comfortable with a directive style. Studies also indicate some differences in
the inherent leadership styles of women and men. Women encourage participation, share power and
information, and attempt to enhance followers’ self-worth. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to
use a directive command-and-control style.
The transactional leaders guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by
clarifying role and task requirements. Transformational leaders inspire followers to transcend their
own self-interests for the good of the organization and who is capable of having a profound and
extraordinary effect on his or her followers.
Another type of leader is the visionary leader. Visionary leadership is 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.
While a great deal is written about leadership, it may not always be important. Numerous studies
demonstrate that, in many situations, whatever behaviors leaders exhibit are irrelevant.
Team leadership is becoming increasingly important to organizations and for managers to learn.
Many leaders are not equipped to handle the change to teams. Most managers have to learn skills
such as the patience to share information, to trust others, to give up authority, and to understand when
to intervene.
Trust is critical to a manager’s effectiveness. It is a positive expectation that another will not—
through words, actions, or decisions—act opportunistically. The text outlines the key elements of
trust in Exhibit 10-5. Trust appears to be a primary attribute associated with leadership. Trust and
trust-worthiness modulate the leader’s access to knowledge and cooperation. There are three types of
trust in organizational relationships: deterrence-based, knowledge-based, and identification-based.
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Chapter 10 Leadership and Creating Trust
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