Leadership
Leadership
 What is it?
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Hard to define
We know it when we see it
 General Definition
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Social influence in an organizational setting,
the effects of which are relevant to or have an
impact on the achievement of organizational
goals
Leader Effectiveness
 How can we tell a “good” leader from a “poor”
leader? (What results would we expect to see
from a “good” leader?)
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Performance (the job gets done)
Motivation (followers are energized)
Effort (followers try hard)
Satisfaction (followers are happy)
Focus of Trait Approach
Leader
Personality
Assessments
 Focuses exclusively  Organizations use personality
on leader
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What traits leaders
exhibit
Who has these traits
assessments to find “Right”
people
 Assumption - will increase
organizational effectiveness
 Specify characteristics/traits
for specific positions

Personality assessment
measures for “fit”
Strengths
 Intuitively appealing
 Perception that
leaders are different
in that they possess
special traits
 People “need” to
view leaders as
gifted
 Highlights leadership
 Credibility due to a
 Provides benchmarks for
century of research
support
component in the
leadership process

Deeper level
understanding of how
leader/personality
related to leadership
process
what to look for in a
leader
Criticisms
 Fails to delimit a
definitive list of
leadership traits

Endless lists have
emerged
 Doesn’t take into
account situational
effects

Leaders in one situation
may not be leaders in
another situation
 List of most important
leadership traits is highly
subjective

Much subjective experience &
observations serve as basis
for identified leadership traits
 Research fails to look at
traits in relationship to
leadership outcomes
 Not useful for training &
development
Application
 Provides direction as to which traits
are good to have if one aspires to a
leadership position
 Through various tests and
questionnaires, individuals can
determine whether they have the
select leadership traits and can
pinpoint their strengths and
weaknesses
 Can be used by managers to assess
where they stand within their
organization and what is needed to
strengthen their position
Leadership Traits
• Intelligence
• Self-Confidence
• Determination
• Integrity
• Sociability
•Adaptability
Style Approach Description
Perspective
 Leader-focused
perspective
 Emphasis on
what leaders do
and how they act
Definition
 Comprised of Two
Kinds of Behaviors
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Task behaviors
 Facilitate goal
accomplishment
Relationship
behaviors
 Help subordinates
feel comfortable with
themselves, each
other, and the
situation
Style Approach
Focus
 Primarily a
framework for
assessing
leadership in a
broad way as
behavior with a task
and relationship
dimension
Overall Scope
 Offers a means of
generally assessing the
behaviors of leaders
Strengths
 Style Approach marked a major shift in leadership
research from exclusively trait focused to include
behaviors and actions of leaders
 Broad range of studies on leadership style validates
and gives credibility to the basic tenets of the approach
 At conceptual level, a leader’s style is composed of two
major types of behaviors: task and relationship
 Based on style approach, leaders can assess their
actions and determine how to change to improve their
leadership style
Criticisms
 Research has not adequately demonstrated
how leaders’ styles are associated with
performance outcomes
 No universal style of leadership that could
be effective in most situations
 Implies that the most effective leadership
style is High-High style (i.e., high task/high
relationship); research finding support is
limited
Leadership as Behavior
 100’s of studies examined the effects of leader
behavior on employees.
 Results were mixed, inconclusive (Bass, 1990).

Fleishman and Harris (1962) found that initiating
structure was positively related to employee
grievances and turnover.

House, Filley, and Kerr (1971) found evidence
suggesting initiating structure was positively related to
employee satisfaction.
Leadership as Behavior

The effects of both
traits and behavior on
leader effectiveness
depends on the
situation
0.45
0.40
0.35
Low Consideration
Grievance Rate
 Fleischman & Harris
 The effects of IS on
grievances depends
on Consideration
0.30
0.25
Medium Consideration
High Consideration
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
Low
Medium
High
Amount of Structure
Contingency Theory Approach
“Leaders match their style to the competence and commitment of
subordinates.”
Perspective
 Contingency theory is a leader-
match theory (Fiedler &
Chemers, 1974)

Tries to match leaders to
appropriate situations
 Leader’s effectiveness depends
on how well the leader’s style
fits the context
 Fiedler et al.’s generalizations
about which styles of
leadership are best and worst
are empirically grounded
Definition
 Effective leadership is
contingent on
matching a leader’s
style to the right
setting
Leadership Styles
Definition
 Leadership styles
are described as:
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Task motivated
Relationship
motivated
Dimension Definitions
 Task-motivated leaders -
Concerned primarily with
reaching a goal
 Relationship-motivated leaders Concerned with developing
close interpersonal
relationships
Leader Style Measurement Scale
Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Scale
High = Relationship-motivated leader
Low = Task-motivated leader
Situational Variables
Situational
Factors
Leader-Member
Relations
Task Structure
Position Power
Determine
Favorableness
of Situations
in Organizations
Definition
LMR - Refers to the group
atmosphere and the degree of
confidence, loyalty, and
attraction of followers for leader
TS - Concerns the degree to
which requirements of a task are
clear and spelled out
PP - Designates the amount of
authority a leader has to reward
or punish followers
Contingency Model
LeaderMember
Relations
Task
Structure
High
Low
High
Low
Structure Structure Structure Structure
Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong Weak Strong
Weak
Position
Power Power Power Power Power Power Power Power
Power
Preferred
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Low LPCs
Low
Leadership
High LPCs
Middle LPCs
LPCs
Style
Strengths
 Empirical support. Contingency theory has been tested by many
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researchers and found to be a valid and reliable approach to
explaining how to achieve effective leadership.
Broadened understanding. Contingency theory has broadened the
scope of leadership understanding from a focus on a single, best
type of leadership (e.g., trait approach) to emphasizing the
importance of a leader’s style and the demands of different
situations.
Predictive. Because Contingency theory is predictive, it provides
relevant information regarding the type of leadership that is most
likely to be effective in particular contexts.
Not an all-or-nothing approach. Contingency theory contends that
leaders should not expect to be effective in every situation; thus
companies should strive to place leaders in optimal situations
according to their leadership style.
Leadership profiles. Contingency theory supplies data on
leadership styles that could be useful to organizations in developing
leadership profiles for human resource planning.
Criticisms
 Fails to fully explain why leaders with particular
leadership styles are more effective in some situations
than others (Black Box problem)
 Criticism of LPC scale validity as it does not correlate
well with other standard leadership measures
 Cumbersome to use in real-world settings
 Fails to adequately explain what should be done about
a leader/situation mismatch in the workplace
Path-Goal Theory Approach
Perspective
 Goal - To enhance employee
performance and satisfaction by
focusing on employee motivation
 Premise - Subordinates will be
motivated if they believe: (a) they are
capable of performing their work; (b)
that their efforts will be rewarded;
and (c) that the payoff will be
worthwhile
 Challenge - To use a leadership style
that best meets subordinates’
motivational needs
Definition
 Path-goal theory
centers on how leaders
motivate subordinates
to accomplish
designated goals
Conditions of Leadership Motivation
Leadership generates motivation when:
 It increases the number and kinds
of payoffs
 Path to the goal is clear and easily
traveled with coaching and
direction
 Obstacles and roadblocks are
removed
 The work itself is personally
satisfying
Path-Goal Theory Approach
Focus
Overall Scope
 Path-goal theory is a
complex but also pragmatic  Path-goal theory
provides a set of
approach
assumptions about how
 Leaders should choose a
leadership style that best fits
different leadership
the needs of subordinates
styles will interact with
and their work
subordinate
characteristics and the
work situation to affect
employee motivation
Situational Theories of Leadership
Path-Goal Theory hypothesizes that effects of leader behavior on
employee performance and satisfaction depend on how leader
behavior affects employee motivation.
Directive - Providing guidelines on how to perform tasks..
Supportive - demonstrating concern for subordinates’ well being and must
be supportive of them as individuals.
Participative - leader must solicit ideas and suggestions from subordinates
and directly invite their participation.
Achievement - leader sets challenging goals, emphasizing improvements in
work performance, and encouraging high levels of goal attainment.
Effective leaders need all four of these styles since each produces different
results.
Strengths
 Useful theoretical framework. Path-goal theory is a
useful theoretical framework for understanding how
various leadership behaviors affect the satisfaction of
subordinates and their work performance.
 Integrates motivation. Path-goal theory attempts to
integrate the motivation principles of expectancy theory
into a theory of leadership.
 Practical model. Path-goal theory provides a practical
model that underscores and highlights the important
ways leaders help subordinates.
Criticisms
 Interpreting the meaning of the theory can be confusing because it is so
complex and incorporates so many different aspects of leadership;
consequently, it is difficult to implement.
 Empirical research studies have demonstrated only partial support for
path-goal theory.
 It fails to adequately explain the relationship between leadership behavior
and worker motivation.
 The path-goal theory approach treats leadership as a one-way event in
which the leader affects the subordinate.
Application
 PGT offers valuable insights that can
be applied in ongoing settings to
improve one’s leadership.
 Informs leaders about when to be
directive, supportive, participative, or
achievement oriented
 The principles of PGT can be
employed by leaders at all
organizational levels and for all types
of tasks
Situational Theories of Leadership
 Vroom-Yetton Normative Model
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Leadership as decision making
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Decision-situation model
 Theorized that performance was affected by
the process leaders use to make decisions
Vroom-Yetton Normative Model
 Process used to make decision affects:
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Decision quality
Decision acceptance
 The effectiveness of any decision making
process depends on several situational
factors
Decision Making Example
You are the head of a personnel department which reports to the
company president. The president has asked you to make
recommendations on how to change and update the performance
appraisal system. You are not sure about the approach to take.
Your specialty is selection and you desire more information on
performance appraisal. Fortunately, three members of your staff are
experienced with the various aspects of performance appraisal.
However, they rarely agree with each other on the best way to
achieve something when it comes to performance appraisal.
Fortunately, for this project, these employees will not implement the
recommendations.
Leadership as Power
 Agent exerts more
influence on a target
than a target can resist.
 Possible outcomes of
using power
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Resistance
Compliance
Commitment
 Sources of Power
 Reward
 Coercive
 Legitimate
 Expert
 Referent
Likely Outcomes of Using Power
Base of
Power
Commitment
Type of Outcome
Compliance
Resistance
Referent
Likely
Possible
Possible
Expert
Likely
Possible
Possible
Legitimate
Possible
Likely
Possible
Reward
Possible
Likely
Possible
Coercive
Very Unlikely
Possible
Likely
LMX Theory Approach Description
Perspective
 Development - LMX theory first
described by Dansereau, Graen,
& Haga (1975), Graen & Cashman
(1975), and Graen (1976)
 Revisions - Theory has
undergone a number of revisions
since its inception and continues
to be of interest to researchers
 Assumption - LMX theory
challenges the assumption that
leaders treat followers in a
collective way.
Definition
 LMX theory
conceptualizes
leadership as a
process centered in the
interactions between
leaders and followers.
Later Studies
 Initial research primarily addressed differences between in-groups and
out-groups; later research addressed how LMX theory was related to
organizational effectiveness
 Researchers (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995) found that high-quality leadermember exchanges resulted in:
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Less employee turnover
More positive performance evaluations
Higher frequency of promotions
Greater organizational commitment
More desirable work assignments
Better job attitudes
More attention and support from the leader
Greater participation
Faster career progress
Phases in Leadership Making
Graen & Uhl-Bien (1995)
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Stranger
Acquaintance
Partner
Roles
Scripted
Tested
Negotiated
Influences
One Way
Mixed
Reciprocal
Exchanges
Low Quality
Medium Quality
High Quality
Self
Self / Other
Group
Interests
TIME
Phase 1
Graen & Uhl-Bien (1995)
Phase 1
Stranger
• Interactions rule bound
• Rely on contractual relationships
• Relate to each other within prescribed
organizational roles
• Experience lower quality exchanges
• Subordinate motives directed
toward self-interest
Phase 2
Graen & Uhl-Bien (1995)
Phase 2
Acquaintance
• Offer by leader/subordinate for improved
career-oriented social exchanges
• Testing period of taking on new roles and
leader providing new challenges
• Shift from formalized interactions to
new ways of relating
• Quality of exchanges improve along with
greater trust and respect
• Less focus on self-interest, more on goals of
the group
Phase 3
Graen & Uhl-Bien (1995)
Phase 3
Mature Partnership
• Marked by high-quality LMX exchanges
• Experience high degree of mutual trust,
respect, and obligation toward one another
• Tested relationship that is dependable
• High degree of reciprocity between leader and
subordinate
• May depend on each other for favors and
special assistance
• Highly developed patterns of relating that
produce positive outcomes
LMX Theory Approach
Descriptive
 Essential to recognize
existence of in-groups & outgroups
 Significant differences in
how goals are accomplished
using in-groups vs. outgroups
 Relevant differences in ingroup vs. out-group
behaviors
Prescriptive
 Best understood within the
Leadership Making Model
 Leader forms special
relationship with each
subordinate
 Leader should offer each
subordinate an opportunity
for new
roles/responsibilities
 Leader should nurture
high-quality exchanges
with all subordinates
 Rather than concentrating
on differences, leader
should focus on ways to
build trust
Strengths
 LMX theory validates our experience of how
people within organizations relate to each other
and the leader
 LMX theory is the only leadership approach that
makes the dyadic relationship the centerpiece of
the leadership process
 LMX theory directs our attention to the importance
of communication
 Solid research foundation on how the practice of
LMX theory is related to positive organizational
outcomes
Criticisms
 Inadvertently supports the development of privileged
groups in the workplace; appears unfair and
discriminatory
 The basic theoretical ideas of LMX are not fully
developed
 Because of various scales and levels of analysis,
measurement of leader-member exchanges is being
questioned
Application
 Applicable to all levels of management
and different types of organizations
 Directs managers to assess their
leadership from a relationship
perspective
 Sensitizes managers to how in-groups
and out-groups develop within their
work unit
 Can be used to explain how
individuals create leadership networks
throughout an organization
Model of Transformational Leadership
Bass (1985)
Transformational
Transactional
Laissez-Faire
Leadership
Leadership
Leadership
TL motivates followers beyond the expected by:
 raising consciousness about the value and importance of
specific and idealized goals
 transcending self-interest for the good of the organization
 addressing higher-level needs
Consideration
Factor 3
Intellectual
Stimulation
Factor 2
Inspirational
Motivational
Factor 1
Idealized Influence
Charisma
Factor 6
Mgmt. by Exception
Active & Passive
Corrective Transactions
Factor 5
Contingent Reward
Constructive
Lassiez-Faire
Factor 4
Individualized
Transactional
Transformational
Transformational Leadership Factors
Factor 7
Laissez-Faire
Nontransactional
Transactions
Leaders who exhibit TL:
 have a strong set of values & ideals
 are effective in motivating followers to support
greater good over self-interest
Transformational Leadership Factors
The 4 “I”s
Idealized
Influence
Describes leaders who act as strong role models for followers
Inspirational
Motivation
Leaders who communicate high expectations to followers, inspiring
them through motivation to commitment and engagement in the shared
vision of the organization
Intellectual
Stimulation
Stimulates followers to be creative and innovative; challenges
their own beliefs and values and those of leader and organization
Individualized
Consideration
Leaders who provide a supportive climate in which they listen carefully
to the needs of followers
Transactional Leadership Factors
Contingent
Reward
The exchange process between leaders and followers in which effort by
followers is exchanged for specified rewards
Management by
Exception
Leadership that involves corrective criticism, negative feedback, and
negative reinforcement
• Two forms
• Active - Watches follower closely to identify mistakes/rule violations
• Passive - Intervenes only after standards have not been met or
problems have arisen
Nonleadership Factor
Laissez-Faire
The absence of leadership. A hands-off, let-things-ride
approach. Refers to a leader who abdicates responsibility,
delays decisions, gives no feedback, and makes little effort
to help followers satisfy their needs.
Transformational Leadership Approach
Focus of
Transformational
Leaders
 TLs empower and nurture
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followers
TLs stimulate change by
becoming strong role models
for followers
TLs commonly create a
vision
TLs act as change agents
TLs are social architects
Overall Scope
 Describes how leaders
can initiate, develop, and
carry out significant
changes in organizations
Strengths
 Broadly researched. TL has been widely researched, including
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a large body of qualitative research centering on prominent
leaders and CEOs in major firms.
Intuitive appeal. People are attracted to TL because it makes
sense to them.
Process-focused. TL treats leadership as a process occurring
between followers and leaders.
Expansive leadership view. TL provides a broader view of
leadership that augments other leadership models.
Emphasizes follower. TL emphasizes followers’ needs, values,
and morals.
Effectiveness. Evidence supports that TL is an effective form of
leadership.
Criticisms
 Lacks conceptual clarity
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Dimensions are not clearly delimited
Parameters of TL overlap with similar conceptualizations of leadership
 Measurement questioned
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Validity of MLQ not fully established
Some transformational factors are not unique solely to the
transformational model
 TL treats leadership more as a personality trait or predisposition than
a behavior that can be taught
 TL is elitist and antidemocratic
 Suffers from heroic leadership bias
 TL is based primarily on qualitative data
 Has the potential to be abused
Application
 Provides a general way of thinking about
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leadership that stresses ideals, inspiration,
innovations, and individual concerns
Can be taught to individuals at all levels of
the organization
Able to positively impact a firm’s
performance
May be used as a tool in recruitment,
selection, promotion, and training
development
Can be used to improve team development,
decision-making groups, quality initiatives,
and reorganizations
The MLQ helps leaders to target areas of
leadership improvement