Leadership Chapter 17: Effective Leaders

Chapter 17: Being an Effective Leader

• Who Are Leaders and What is Leadership?
  • Leader: someone who can influence others and holds managerial authority.
  • Leadership: a process of influencing a group to achieve goals.

Leadership Traits

• Research into personal characteristics that differentiate effective leaders from ineffective ones was unsuccessful.
• It proved impossible to identify a set of traits that always distinguish a leader from someone who isn't a leader.

Exhibit 17.1 Ten Traits Associated with Leadership

• Drive: high effort, ambition, energy, persistence, and initiative.
• Desire to lead: strong desire to influence and lead others, willingness to take responsibility.
• Honesty and integrity: building trust through truthfulness, non-deceitfulness, and consistency between words and actions.
• Self-confidence: showing self-confidence to followers to build trust in their goals and decisions.
• Intelligence: ability to gather, synthesize, interpret information, create visions, and solve problems.
• Job-relevant knowledge: in-depth knowledge of the company, industry, and technical matters to make informed decisions.
• Extraversion: being energetic, lively, sociable, assertive, and rarely withdrawn.
• Proneness to guilt: strong sense of responsibility for others, positively related to leadership effectiveness.
• Emotional Intelligence: empathetic – sensing others' needs, listening to followers, and understanding reactions.
• Conscientiousness: disciplined and able to keep commitments, which is beneficial for leadership.

Leadership Behaviors

• Behavioral theories: identify behaviors that differentiate effective leaders.

Exhibit 17.2 Behavioral Theories of Leadership

• University of Iowa: Styles include democratic (involving subordinates), autocratic (dictating methods), and laissez-faire (giving group freedom).
• Ohio State: Focused on consideration (being considerate of followers) and initiating structure (structuring work to meet goals).
• University of Michigan: Studied employee-oriented (interpersonal relationships) and production-oriented (technical aspects).
• Managerial Grid: Emphasizes concern for people (1-9) and concern for production (1-9). High-high (9,9) style with high concern for both production and people is often best.

The Fiedler Model

• Fiedler contingency model: effective group performance depends on matching a leader's style with the situation.
• Least-preferred coworker (LPC) questionnaire: measures if a leader is task-oriented or relationship-oriented.
• Fiedler's situational contingencies:
  • Leader-member relations: degree of trust and respect employees have.
  • Task structure: degree of job formalization.
  • Position power: influence over activities like hiring and firing.

Exhibit 17.3 The Fiedler Model

• Performance graph showing how leader styles align with favorable versus unfavorable situations.

Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory

• Situational leadership theory (SLT) is a contingency theory focused on followers' readiness.
• Readiness: extent to which people have ability and willingness to accomplish a task.

SLT Leadership Styles

• Telling: high task/low relationship (leader defines roles).
• Selling: high task/high relationship (leader provides directive and supportive behavior).
• Participating: low task/high relationship (leader and followers share decisions).
• Delegating: low task/low relationship (leader provides little direction).

Four Stages of Follower Readiness

• R1: followers are unable and unwilling (incompetent and unconfident).
• R2: followers are unable but willing (unskilled but motivated).
• R3: followers are able but unwilling (competent but don't want to participate).
• R4: followers are able and willing (competent and motivated).

Managing Power

• Legitimate power: power from position within organization.
• Coercive power: power to punish or control.
• Reward power: power to give positive rewards.
• Expert power: power from expertise, skills, or knowledge.
• Referent power: power from desirable resources or personal traits.

Developing Trust

• Credibility: degree followers perceive someone as honest, competent, and inspirational.
• Trust: belief in a leader's integrity, character, and ability.
• Five Dimensions of Trust:
  • Integrity: honesty and truthfulness.
  • Competence: technical and interpersonal skills.
  • Consistency: reliability and good judgment.
  • Loyalty: willingness to protect others.
  • Openness: willingness to share ideas.

This quiz focuses on Chapter 17, which explores the concepts of leadership and the characteristics that define effective leaders. Learn about the essential traits of leaders, such as drive, integrity, and self-confidence, and understand their impact on influencing others and achieving goals.