3. Leadership

Question 1

Define steer and mobilise

Answer 1

Steer: find a direction

Mobilise: convince a group of people to move in that direction

Question 2

What is the difference between managers and leaders

Answer 2

A leader should demonstrate to people that they are capable of achieving more than they think they can achieve.
On the other hand, a manager is task-oriented and organises the group.
In organisations, both managers and leaders often overlap, but not always

Question 3

What is episodic leadership?

Answer 3

Episodes of work life that require leadership behaviour

Question 4

What are two types of leadership?

Answer 4

Transactional and transformational

Question 5

What is transactional leadership?

Answer 5

Carrot and stick approach: make it clear to followers what behavior pattern will be rewarded

Monitoring results and rewarding desired behavior

Using punishment and other corrective action in response to deviations from acceptable performance standards

Question 6

What is transformational leadership?

Answer 6

Impressing on followers the importance and implications of the tasks they are performing

Persuading followers to concentrate on the goals of the work group or organization

Appealing to higher-order needs such as making a contribution

Question 7

Which leadership approach is favoured? (Transactional vs transformational)

Answer 7

Transactional leadership may be seen as the ‘easy way out’. Some research suggests this method is dominant in managers. True leaders take a transformational approach.

Question 8

What is the Michael Jordan effect?

Answer 8

People that are promoted due to technical skills alone usually fail due to lack of leadership skills

Question 9

What are characteristics of managers who derail?

Answer 9

Rigidity: they were unable to adapt their style to changes in the organizational culture. They couldn’t listen or learn.

Poor relationships: being too harshly critical, insensitive, or demanding, so that they alienated those they work with

Question 10

What % of leader emergence accounted for by heritability?

Answer 10

30%

Question 11

Where is leadership learned? (percentages)

Answer 11

70% through experience
20% through others
10% through structured courses and programs

10% is important as it allows us to accelerate our skills through reflection

Question 12

What is developmental readiness?

Answer 12

The ability and motivation to attend to, make meaning of, and appropriate new knowledge into one‘s long-term memory structures

Question 13

Summarise the evolution of leadership research and approaches

Answer 13

1. TRAIT Approach (1920-1950)
2. BEHAVIOURAL Approaches (1950-1970): Specific leadership styles or leader behaviours affect follower performance and satisfaction. (task-orientated vs relationship-orientated)
3. CONTINGENCY Approach (1970-present): The effectiveness of any leadership style or behaviour depends on the situation. The interaction between people, tasks, and environment is crucial.

Question 14

What are the two types of behaviours within the behavioural approach (1950-1970)?

Answer 14

1. Task-oriented behaviours: goal-setting, organizing, setting deadlines, controlling, etc. (“initiating structure”)
2. Relationship-oriented behaviours: communicating, giving support, providing feedback, etc. (“consideration”)

Question 15

Describe the trait approach to leadership

Answer 15

Attempts to show that leaders possess certain characteristics that non-leaders did not

Started with “Great Man” approach: historians searching for clues on admirable traits differentiating leaders from others - assumed “great men are born, not made”

Characteristics include self-confidence, initiative, ambition, drive, integrity, concern for others, communication skills, resilience, emotional intelligence etc. (led to nature/nurture debate: are leaders born or made?)

However, thought to be poor correlation with leadership effectiveness

Question 16

Summarise the limitations of the trait approach

Answer 16

1. Extroverts rise to the top, however, correlation does not equal causality - they may not actually be the best leaders
2. Depends on situation: success of the extroverted leader depended on how proactive subordinates were (field + lab studies)
3. Stores where employees weren‘t very proactive extroverted leadership was associated with 15% higher profits than average. Stores where employees were very proactive and offered ideas – extroverted leadership was associated with 14% lower profits (different leadership styles may be effective depending on situation e.g. type of followers, organization, industry)

Question 17

What are three key leadership myths?

Answer 17

1. Everyone can be a leader: becoming a leader requires a high degree of self-knowledge; individuals must also want to be leaders: not everybody is interested in taking that responsibility
2. People who get to the top are leaders: people who make it to the top may have done it for other reasons than leadership quality; by definition, leaders are simply people who have followers (not related to rank)
3. Leaders deliver business results: Not always; some well-led businesses do not necessarily produce results, particularly in the short-term

Question 18

What did managers say was the most common cause of poor performance by employees?

Answer 18

Lack of effort (49%)
Lack of ability (30%)
Lack of support (21%)

Question 19

What did managers say was the most common cause of poor performance by themselves?

Answer 19

Lack of support (90%)
Lack of effort (8%)
Lack of ability (2%)

Question 20

What did Frankl suggest leaders should do?

Answer 20

There is discussion about whether boss’s behaviour causes subordinate performance, or vice versa.

Frankl (learning from others) suggests leaders should appear to overestimate others, encouraging them to strive higher than the target. Then, they will reach the target.

Question 21

What is the Pygmalion effect?

Answer 21

Positive self-fulfilling prophecy

When assigning subordinates according to potential: if assigned to high potential, leaders provided more help, career advice, and feedback; Mistakes; opportunities for teaching and learning

If assigned to low potential: Performance decreased sharply although the assignment as “low potential” had been arbitrary

Question 22

What is ‘set up to fail syndrome’?

Answer 22

Essentially opposite of the Pygmalion theory

With weaker performers, bosses tend to: focus on what needs to be done/how, set targets/deadlines, make clear action plans and check points, focus on operational issues, limit open ended contact and provide more routine assignments and projects.

Therefore, with weaker performers, FREEDOM and INTRINSIC MOTIVATORS are reduced, which increases chance of failure.

Question 23

How ‘set up to fail syndrome’ be overcome?

Answer 23

1. Manage your own expectations and biases
2. Joint Exploration: “I want to discuss your performance … because I may be part of the problem”
   NB: - You may be wrong about your performance judgment, you may be right but there may be reasons, you may be one of the reasons
3. Shared Diagnosis
4. Agreement on Cures: (changes that the subordinate will make, changes that the boss will make, contracting on how much and what type of supervision, progress reviews)

Question 24

Describe diminshers

Answer 24

Need to be the smartest

Limited to their own opinion and inner circle, under-utilising intelligence around them.

Question 25

Describe multipliers

Answer 25

Make the best leaders

Use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them

Look for talent everywhere: appreciating all types of genius and ignoring boundaries

Find people‘s native genius: appreciate uniqueness

Remove the blockers: remove prima donnas, as well as accidental diminishers

Question 26

What qualities should you have to become a multiplier?

Answer 26

Have a genuine interest and belief in the potential of employees

Engage in actions that support others and communicate that belief

Believe in own ability to develop others (success does not measure a human being, effort does!)