CHAPTER 12
Leadership
Introduction to
Industrial/Organizational
Psychology by Ronald E. Riggio
What is Leadership?

Leadership is the ability to guide a
group toward the achievement of
goals.

Leaders can be formally recognized
by the organization, or individuals can
emerge as informal leaders within
work groups because they have some
characteristic that the group members
value.
Universalist Theories of Leadership

Universalist theories look for the
major characteristics common to all
effective leaders.
Great man/woman theory maintains
that great leaders are born, not made.
 Trait theory attempts to discover the
traits shared by all effective leaders.
 Traits are enduring attributes
associated with an individual’s
personality or makeup.

Universalist Theories of Leadership



Research indicates that extraversion,
conscientiousness, openness to
experience, agreeableness, and emotional
stability, in combination, are associated
with effective leadership (Bono and Judge,
2004 in Riggio 2009).
Possession of flexibility, charisma, and
social intelligence are also important for
leadership (Riggio, 1986).
The major problem with the original trait
approach is that it was too general.
Behavioral Theories of Leadership

Behavioral leadership theories (derived from
Ohio State and University of Michigan studies)
focus on the behaviors common to effective
leaders.
 The Ohio State Leadership Studies
identified two important leader behaviors:
• Initiating structure (defining, organizing,
structuring the work situation).
• Consideration (showing concern for
feelings and needs of followers).
Behavioral Theories of Leadership

The University of Michigan
Leadership Studies also identified
two important leader behaviors.
• In task-orientated behaviors, leader
behaviors focused on the work task.
• In relationship-oriented behaviors,
leader behaviors focused on
maintaining interpersonal relationships
on the job.

Both types of behaviors have been
linked to effective leadership.
Contingency Theories of Leadership

Fiedler’s contingency model
maintains that effective leadership
depends on a match between the
leader’s style and the degree to which
the work situation gives control and
influence to the leader.

According to Fiedler, leaders may be
primarily task-oriented, or primarily
relationship-oriented.
Contingency Theories of Leadership

To assess leaders’ task or relationship
orientation, leaders use the Least
Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale to
rate their most difficult follower.
• Persons who give their least preferred
coworkers very harsh ratings (low LPC
scores) are task-oriented leaders.
• Persons who rate their least preferred
coworker somewhat leniently (higher LPC
scores) are considered to be relationshiporiented.
Contingency Theories of Leadership

In Fiedler’s model, to assess the work
situation, three variables are
examined.
• Leader-member relations refers to the
quality of the relationship between leader
and followers.
• Task structure is an assessment of how
well elements of the work task are
structured.
• Position power is a leader’s authority to
punish or reward.
Contingency Theories of Leadership



According to Fiedler, task-oriented leaders
are successful in very unfavorable situations
(where leader-member relations are poor,
the task is unstructured, and the leader has
weak position power) because of their takecharge style.
Task-oriented leaders are also effective in
very favorable situations because they
encourage high productivity.
Relationship-oriented leaders are most
effective when their situational control and
influence are neither very high nor low.
Contingency Theories of Leadership

The path-goal theory states that a leader’s
job is to help the work group achieve their
desired goals, using one of four categories
of behavior.
• Directive behavior provides instructions and
suggestions for job performance.
• Achievement-oriented behavior
concentrates on particular work outcomes.
• Supportive behavior shows concern for
workers’ well-being.
• Participative behavior encourages
members to assume active roles in planning
and decision making.
Contingency Theories of Leadership

The Decision-making model is a
theory that matches characteristics of
the situation with leader decisionmaking strategies.
The theory provides different decisionmaking strategies.
 The theory predicts proper leader
behavior in making decisions and
gives “prescriptions” for the decision
maker to follow.

Contingency Theories of Leadership

The leader-member exchange model
asserts that effective leadership is
determined by the quality of the interaction
between leaders and particular group
members.


Leader-member exchange can range from
low quality to high quality.
With high quality leader-member exchange,
there is frequent, positive communication
between leaders and members.
Charismatic and Transformational
Leadership Theories

Charismatic leadership theory states that
leaders possess some exceptional
characteristics that cause followers to be
loyal and inspired.



Charismatic leaders communicate shared
group goals and convey confidence in their
own abilities and those of followers.
Charismatic leaders are most effective when
goals are unclear and situational conditions
are unstable.
Some researchers suggest that charismatic
leaders possess exceptionally high-quality
social skills and an ability to inspire followers
at a deep emotional level (Riggio, 1987).
Charismatic and Transformational
Leadership Theories

Transformational leadership focuses on
the leader’s ability to provide shared values
and a vision for the future of the work group.

There are four components of
transformational leadership.
• Idealized influence: the transformational
leader is a positive role model.
• Inspirational motivation: the leader inspires
followers by providing a compelling vision of a
positive future.
• Intellectual stimulation: followers’ curiosity
and creativity are stimulated and challenged.
• Individualized consideration: the leader pays
personal attention to each member’s needs
and concerns.
Applications of Leadership Theories

Leadership training can follow two
general approaches.
Teaching leaders diagnostic skills for
assessing situations to determine
types of leader behaviors that work
best.
 Teaching leaders specific skills or
behaviors that they lack.
 A combination of both approaches is
likely to be most effective.

Applications of Leadership Theories

Research in redesigning jobs indicates that
leaders may be unnecessary in certain
instances, leading to a search for
“substitutes for leadership”. This applies to:



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Job enrichment groups.
Groups where all members have equal
status and high skills/abilties.
Work tasks that are well-structured and
intrinsically satisfying to workers.
Shared leadership, where leadership is
shared among the group members rather
than being centralized in one person.