5 | Leadership

Question 1

What are some limiting notions of leadership?

Answer 1

• that “leaders are born, not made”
• leaders are naturally charismatic and power-seeking

Question 2

What is leader attribution error?

Answer 2

Attributing all success of a company to the leader, both positively and negatively (Hackman & Wageman, 2007)

E.g. Mark Zuckerberg

Question 3

What is fundamental attribution error?

Answer 3

tendency for people to emphasise internal characteristics in other people but to interpret their own bhv in relation to situation in which they find themselves (Jones and Harris 1967)

e.g. if you’ve ever chastised a “lazy employee” for being late to a meeting and then proceeded to make an excuse for being late yourself that same day

Question 4

What are trait theories of leadership?

Answer 4

• Popular until 1940s
• trying to answer ‘what personality traits distinguish a leader from a follower?’
• Underlying assumption that leadership is innate cannot be learned
• researchers could not identify universal traits that differentiated effective leaders from followers
• Contextual factors not taken into account

Question 5

What are behavioural theories?

Answer 5

• Popular around 50s and 60s
• look at WHAT LEADERS DO, opposed to personality traits
• Identification of ‘leadership style’:
  —> ‘results orientation’ vs. ‘people-orientation’
  —> decision making style: democratic/ participative, autocratic, laissez-faire

Stopped being effective bc researchers could not identity a universal leadership style that was effective across all situations

Question 6

What do situational/contingency theories propose?

Answer 6

popular from ’60s

Argument: There is no ‘best’ leadership approach
–> Effective leadership is dependent on task/situation and abilities and motivations of those being led

• Fieldler (1964) : leaders with particular styles should be matched to situations where their style is most appropriate.
  –> This is not very practical. Also assumes that leadership style is fixed.
• Hersey and Blanchard (1969): a leader should flexibily adapt their style based on the needs of their subordinates —> look at a subordinates competence and commitment

*[includes Hersey and Blanchard’s theory, and LMX Theory]

Question 7

What are the different styles that leaders should adapt according to Blanchard and Hersey’s Situational leadership theory?

Answer 7

Directive if: employees has HIGH COMMITMENT but LOW COMPETENCE (maybe at begininng stage of developing)

Coaching: LOW COMMITMENT, SOME COMPETENCE

Supportive: VARIABLE COMMITMENT, HIGH COMPETENCE

Delegate = HIGHLY COMMITTED + COMPETENT

Question 8

What is leader-Member Exchange theory (LMX)?

Answer 8

• Leaders can have differentiated rels with their employees

High quality LMX rel: mutual liking, trust and respect. Sense of
obligation and loyalty

Low quality LMX rel: low levels of trust, liking and respect.

Question 9

Advantage of LMX Theory

Answer 9

High quality LMX relationships can make both followers and leaders go above and beyond their job description

Question 10

Disadvantage of LMX Theory

Answer 10

can create in group and out group –> leader and high LMX member form an in group
- can undermine people’s sense o fairness in the organization if they perceive others are getting more support from the leader

Question 11

What are Charismatic and Inspirational Leadership Theories?

Answer 11

• Leadership theories of 50s, 60s, 70s
• Focused on improving organisational efficiency
• After 1973 oil crisis, increasing global competition, and the increasing pace of change => rise to new models of leadership - focused on leaders ability to cope with ambiguity, lead change, have a vision, and charisma to mobilise followers (behind a vision)

*[Transformational Leadership Theory (Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978), Transactional Leadership]

Question 12

What is Transformational Leadership Theory (Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978)?

Answer 12

Focus on a vision and align everyone with that vision –> so encourages people to transcend self-interest - focus on what is best for the company

Outcome: increasing intrinsic motivation of followers, increases performance and creativity, higher levels of commitment to org change efforts

Question 13

What are the tools for Transformational Leadership?

Answer 13

1. Idealised influence (Charisma) - behaviours that create confidence in, commitment to, and admiration for the leader. Leader is mission oriented and acts as a role model.
2. Inspriational motivation - Communicates the vision and builds commitment to them. Energizes followers to act
3. Intellectual stimulation - challenge org norms and the status quo, encourage employees to think creatively
4. Individualized consideration - shows care/concern for well-being of followers, tries to create opportunities for development

Question 14

What is Transactional Leadership?

Answer 14

• Treats leaders-follower real as a transaction –> exchanges rewards for efforts
• Provides structure –> employees know what will happen when they do/do not get their work done
• Ensures that followers exhibit the correct bhvs

Question 15

What are the tools for Transactional Leadership?

Answer 15

1. Contingent Rewards: rewarding employees for their accomplishments
2. Active management by exception: let employees do their jobs without interference, but ensure problems are proactively prevented
3. Passive management by exception: leave employees to do their job and ONLY interfere when something goes wrong before coming to the rescue

Question 16

what is the most influential leadership theory?

Answer 16

Transformational leadership has been found to have more powerful influence over leader effectiveness and employee satisfaction
it also increases intrinsic motivation of followers - why? because trust is built

Question 17

What are Values-based approaches to leadership?

Answer 17

• After various corporate scandals (e.g. Theranos, Lehman Bros..) people wanted to be able to trust business leaders again
  So values-based leadership theories came about as a way of responding to that ^

*[Authentic leadership, Servant leadership]

Question 18

What is authentic leadership?

Answer 18

• openness, transparent in bhvs, share info w stakeholders, accept inputs, provide constructive feedback, take accountability
• integrity - walks the talk
• these leaders are self reflective - aware of strengths & weaknesses and try develop them into better leaders
• lead with purpose, value, meaning

Question 19

What is servant leadership?

Answer 19

• serving the needs of others
• feel an obligation to employees, customers and the larger community
• outcome: pos effects on employee commitment, sense of fairness, increases interpersonal helping and citizenship behaviour

example: Colleen Barrett, President of Southwest Airlines —the first woman to become president of a major u.s. airline in 2001, and many other accolades

Question 20

What are the different levels of ledership in an organization?

Answer 20

leadership is needed at evry level of the org, and leaderhip bhvs can change at these diff levels

• leading individuals
• middle managers as leaders
• organizational leadership

Question 21

What do leading individuals do?

Answer 21

• manage direct reports through situational leadership and adjusting leadership bhvs based on their subordinates’ needs
• goal setting
• At lower levels of the org, leaders need to set SMART goals to direct people, understand how to motivate people

Question 22

when are goals most effective?

Answer 22

• when people are committed to the goal - a sense of mission, or, they value the outcomes (expectancy theory)
• if they are set in a collaborarive fashion
• feedback is given
• when people have a sense of self-efficacy - when the goal is in line with employees’ skills set
• challengiing goals, yet realistic

Question 23

when are goals most effective?

Answer 23

• when people are committed to the goal - a sense of mission, or, they value the outcomes (expectancy theory)
• if they are set in a collaborarive fashion
• feedback is given
• when people have a sense of self-efficacy - when the goal is in line with employees’ skills set
• challengiing goals, yet realistic

Question 24

What do middle managers do as leaders?

Answer 24

• set agenda for people they don’t necessarily work with
• goal-setting to coordinate bhv among their teams
• Middle managers need to compete for scarce resources in the organization
• Often also competing to move up the organizational hierarchy
• need to understand and utilise their power bases compared to othr organizational players
• manage UP and DOWN

Question 25

What do leaders at the top of the org do (org leaders)?

Answer 25

set direction and strategy

strategy refers to:
–> How the organization is going to compete against other organizations
–> How the organization is going to position itself in its market/sector/industry
–> How the organization is going to survive in the future

Question 26

What is the difference between leadership and management, according to Kotter (2001)?

Answer 26

MANAGEMENT is about coping with COMPLEXITY
–> management brings order and consistency to everyday operations

LEADERSHIP is about coping with CHANGE

Question 27

What are management activities (according to Kotter)?

Answer 27

• Planning & budgeting –> set goals, estalish plan to achieve goals, allocate resources accordingly
• Organising and staffing –> develop human capacity and an organizational structure to accomplish plans
• Exercising control and solving problems –> create in/formal systems to monitor results

Question 28

What are leadership activities (according to Kotter)?

Answer 28

Setting direction –> Setting the direction of change involves searching for patterns & relationships. Setting direction results in a vision and an overarching strategy for realizing the vision (it does not produce detailed plans)

Aligning people –> Communicating the new direction in a way that resonates with potential allies.

Motivating and inspiring –> leaders attempt to touch people at their deepest levels— by appealing to their values and emotions