Leadership Theories Chapter 12

Learning Objectives

• Chapter 12 covers leadership theories, including trait, behavioral, contingency, contemporary, ethical, and challenges to understanding leadership.
• Learning Objective 12.1: Summarize conclusions of trait theories of leadership.
• Learning Objective 12.2: Identify central tenets and limitations of behavioral theories.
• Learning Objective 12.3: Contrast contingency theories of leadership.
• Learning Objective 12.4: Describe contemporary theories of leadership and their relationship to foundational theories.
• Learning Objective 12.5: Discuss roles of leaders in creating ethical organizations.
• Learning Objective 12.6: Describe how leaders can positively impact organizations through trust and mentoring.
• Learning Objective 12.7: Identify challenges to understanding leadership.

Summarize the Conclusions of Trait Theories of Leadership

• Leadership is the ability to influence a group towards achieving goals.
• Not all leaders are managers, and not all managers are leaders.
• Unsanctioned leadership is often just as important as formal influence.
• Trait theories of leadership focus on personal qualities and characteristics.
• The search for different attributes between leaders and non-leaders is an early aspect of leadership research.
• Extraversion is the trait most predictive of effective leaders, but it's more strongly related to emerging than effectiveness.
• Conscientiousness and openness to experience also strongly correlate with leadership, but not as strongly as extraversion.
• Good leaders are able to assert themselves (extraverted), are disciplined and able to keep commitments (conscientious), and are generally adept at leadership roles.
• Emotional intelligence (EI) is another trait that can indicate effective leadership, with empathy being a core component.
• People high in EI are more likely to emerge as leaders, even after accounting for cognitive ability and personality.
• Traits can predict leadership, but are better at predicting emergence versus distinguishing between effective and ineffective leadership.

Central Tenets and Main Limitations of Behavioral Theories

• Behavioral theories imply leadership can be taught.
• Ohio State Studies identified two key leadership behaviors: initiating structure and consideration.
• The GLOBE study found international differences in preferences for initiating structure and consideration.
• Leaders high in consideration tend to excel in cultures that do not favor unilateral decision-making.
• Leaders possessing certain traits and displaying culturally appropriate consideration and structure are more effective.
• Traits and behaviors do not guarantee success; context matters as well.

Contrast Contingency Theories of Leadership

• Fiedler's contingency model suggests effective group performance depends on the match between a leader's style and the situation's control given to the leader.
• Fiedler's model uses the least preferred coworker (LPC) questionnaire to evaluate leaders.
• The LPC questionnaire categorizes leaders as task- or relationship-oriented.
• Leadership style is assumed fixed in Fiedler's model.
• Situational Dimensions to consider are leader-member relations, task structure, and position power.
• Situational leadership theory (SLT) is a contingency model focused on followers and successful leadership selection of leadership styles depending on the followers' readiness.
• Path-goal theory extracts elements from the Ohio State leadership research—initiating structure and consideration, and expectancy theory of motivation.
• Path-goal theory posits effective leaders clarify the path to help followers achieve work goals.
• The leader-participation model relates leadership behavior to decision-making participation, with leader behavior adjusting to reflect the task structure.

Contemporary Theories of Leadership

• Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory suggests that leaders develop different relationships with different subordinates (ingroups and outgroups).
• Charismatic leaders articulate an appealing vision, take on personal risk, are sensitive to followers, and act unconventionally.
• Charismatic leadership is often born and sometimes developed or taught.
• Charismatic leaders inspire followers by expressing passion, using strong body language and creating personal connections.
• Effective charismatic leadership often depends on the situation, potentially succeeding more in times of crisis or stress.
• Some negative aspects of charismatic leadership exist; some leaders may not act in organizations' best interest. Many may prioritize personal goals above the company's. Some with narcissistic tendencies have leadership traits that can be problematic.
• Transformational leaders provide a vision, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Transformational leads is strongly associated with positive workplace outcomes.
• Transformational versus charismatic leadership focuses on how leaders communicate (passion and dynamics) and what they communicate (compelling vision). Both aim to inspire followers, but Transformational is more focused on the message.
• The full range of leadership model encompasses transactional and transformational styles. The full range model shows a continuum of active and passive leadership behaviors. Active is generally more effective.
• How transformational leadership works involves creativity, decentralization, propensity to take risks, compensation geared to longer-term results, and greater agreement on overall company goals.
• Evaluations of transformational leadership show support across varying job levels and occupations but are not effective in all situations—particularly less impactful in larger and complex organizations.

Role of Leaders in Creating Ethical Organizations

• Authentic leadership is defined by knowing one's values and beliefs, and acting on them openly.
• Ethical leadership combines ethical and charismatic leadership into the concept of socialized charismatic leadership.
• Socialized charismatic leadership leads by modeling ethical conduct and conveys other-centered values.
• Abusive supervision refers to a supervisor acting verbally and nonverbally in a hostile manner. It negatively affects health (depression, job tension, exhaustion), organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and perceived organizational support. It can be linked to increased work-family conflict, negatively influencing employee performance and other employee behaviors.
• Servant leadership prioritizes the growth and development of followers, and characteristic behaviors include empathy, listening, persuading, accepting stewardship, and developing the potential of followers.

Positive Leadership

• Trust is a psychological state where individuals agree to vulnerability with another because they have positive expectations of outcomes.
• Trust is a key leadership attribute, positively influencing a group's performance—lack of trust has negative effects on group performance.

Challenges to our Understanding of Leadership

• An organization's success or failure is often due to factors outside of leadership control; sometimes, success or failure simply depends on external factors.
• The attribution theory suggests that leadership is how people attribute others' actions to external and internal factors.
• Selecting leaders requires reviewing specific position requirements and considering personality traits; a candidate's experience is also situation-specific, and leaders may need to plan for leadership changes.
• Training leaders can be more effective with high self-monitors. Training in areas including implementation skills, trust-building, mentoring & situational analysis, modeling, and review after key organizational events can be crucial components to success.

Implications for Managers

• Make leadership style match work dynamics and culture.
• Hire candidates with transformative qualities who have demonstrated success working through others.
• Hire trustworthy individuals for leadership roles; train current managers in ethical standards and guidelines.
• Focus on developing trusting relationships; trust replacement bureaucratic rules to define expectations, relations to other stakeholders.
• Consider leadership training (formal courses, workshops, and mentoring opportunities).

This quiz focuses on Chapter 12 of leadership theories, exploring various approaches such as trait, behavioral, contingency, and contemporary theories. Participants will review key concepts, ethical considerations, and the impact of leaders on organizations. Test your understanding of the pivotal aspects that define effective leadership.