Leadership Competency Flashcards
Motivation
Factors that initiate, direct, and sustain human behavior
over time.
Coercive leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader imposes a
vision or solution on the team and demands that the
team follow this directive.
Authoritative leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader proposes a
bold vision or solution and invites the team to join this
challenge.
Affiliative leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader creates
strong relationships with and inside the team; team
members are motivated by loyalty.
Democratic leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader invites
followers to collaborate and commits to acting by
consensus.
Pacesetting leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader sets a model
for high performance standards and challenges
followers to meet these expectations.
Coaching leadership approach
Leadership approach in which the leader focuses on
developing team members’ skills, believing that
success comes from aligning the organization’s goals
with employees’ personal and professional goals.
Trait theory
Leadership theory that states that leaders possess
certain innate characteristics that followers do not
possess (and probably cannot acquire), such as physical
characteristics and personality traits.
May discourage leader development by implying that the ability to lead cannot be acquired with study and practice
Behavioral theories
Category of leadership theories that states that leaders
influence group members through certain behaviors;
includes Blake-Mouton theory.
Situational theories
Category of leadership theories that states that leaders
can flex their behaviors to meet the needs of unique
situations, employing both task or directive behaviors
and relationship or supportive behaviors; includes
Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership, Fiedler’s
contingency theory, and path-goal theory.
Emergent theory
Leadership theory that states that leaders are not
appointed but emerge from the group, which chooses
the leader based on interactions.
Transactional leadership
Leadership theory that emphasizes a leader’s
preference for order and structure; focuses on control
and short-term planning.
Transformational leadership
Leadership theory that emphasizes a leader’s ability
to inspire employees to embrace change; leaders
encourage and motivate employees to innovate and
seek out changes that can add value and growth to
the organization.
Leader-member exchange theory
Leadership theory that focuses on a two-way
relationship between leaders and chosen employees;
the leader mentors selected team members and gives
them access to more information and resources in order
to strengthen levels of trust and support.
Servant leadership
Leadership theory in which the leaders’ goal is to serve
the needs of their employees; emphasizes the sharing of
power.
Legitimate power
Power that is created formally, through a title or position
in the hierarchy that is associated with the rights of
leadership
Reward power
Power that is created when the leader can offer followers
something they value in exchange for their commitment.
Expert power
Power that is created when a leader is recognized as
possessing great intelligence, insight, or experience.
Referent power
Power that is created by the force of the leader’s
personality.
Coercive power
Power that is created when the leader can punish
those who do not follow.
Theory X/Theory Y
Motivation theories dealing with the amount of control in
the workplace; motivation is seen as either absolutely
irrelevant or absolutely critical.
Needs theory
Motivation theory that states that individuals are
motivated by a desire to satisfy certain needs and that
understanding these needs allows leaders to offer the
right incentives and create the most motivational
external environments; includes self-determination and
theories of Maslow, Herzberg, and McClelland.
Expectancy theory
Motivation theory that states that effort increases in
relation to one’s confidence that the behavior will result
in a positive outcome and reward; includes Vroom’s
theory.
Attribution theory
Motivation theory that states that the way a person
interprets the causes for past success or failure is related
to the present level of motivation; includes theories of
Heider and Weiner.
The way individuals envision success or failure of their own behavior or the behavior of others.
Goal-setting theory
Theory that states that motivation can be increased by
providing employees with goals against which they can
assess their achievement
Equity theory
Theory that states that motivation is based on an
employee’s sense of fairness; the individual compares
their perceived value with that of others in similar roles
and makes a calculation based on their inputs and
outputs.
What are the critical skills of effective HR leadership?
- The ability to see opportunities and problems
- To envision a different future and design a path toward it
- To rally necessary support within the organization
- To manage initiatives that create measurable and sustainable benefits
What are the functions of management as defined by Henry Fayol?
Planning
Organizing
Staffing
Directing
Controlling
According to Daniel Goleman, what are the things that leadership style affects?
- Employee’s ability to make decisions that affect their work
- Employees’ sense of responsibility to the organization or team
- The standards employees seek to meet or exceed
- Employees’ belief that they will be rewarded for their work
- An understood mission and shared values
- A feeling of commitment to a shared goal.
True or False: There is one single effective approach to leaderships
False
What is the main difference between management and leadership?
Management maintains order while leadership produces and manages change.
Universal Characteristics that Define Leaderships
- Trustworthy and dependable
- Just
- Honest
- Thinks and plans ahead
- Encouraging
- Positive
- Dynamic
- Motivational
- Confidence buildling
- Decisive
- Committed to excellence
- Intelligent and informed
- Effective, win-win bargainer
- Administratively skilled
- Communicative
- Organized
Blake-Mouton leadership theory
- Leadership involves managing tasks and employees
- Five types of managers, only one of which is considered a leader
What are the 5 types of managers in the Blake-Mouton leadership theory
- Country club managers - low task, high relationship - create a secure atmosphere and trust individuals to accomplish goals, avoiding punitive actions so as not to jeopardize relationships
- Impoverished managers (low task, low relationship) - use a delegate-and-disappear managemet style. They detach themselves, often creating power struggles
- Authoritarian Managers (high task, low relationship) - expect people to do what they are told without question and tend not to foster collaboration
- Middle-of-the-road managers (midpoint on both task and relationship) get the work done but are not considered leaders
- Team leaders (high task, high relationship) - lead by positive examle, foster a team environment, and encourage individual and team development
Hershey-Blanchard Situational Leadership
Leaders adapt their behaviors to meet the evolving needs of team members. Like Blake-Mouton, the behaviors involve tasks and relationships.
As team members grwo in skill and experience, leaders supply the appropriate behavior:
* Telling when the employee is not yet motivated or competent
* Selling when the increasingly competent employee still needs focus and motivation (why are we doing this)
* Participating when competent workers can be included in problem solving and coached on higher skills
* Delegating when very competent team members can benefit from greater levels of autonomy and self-direction
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
Leaders change the situation to make it more favorable, more likely to produce good outcomes
How can the situation be changed to improve the effectiveness of both leader and employee
Create situational favorableness
Unfavorable situations must be changed to improve group and leader effectiveness
According to Fiedler’s Contingency Theory when does “situational favorableness” occur?
- Leader-member relationships are strong
- Task structure and requirements are clear
- The leader can exert the necessary power to reach the group’s goal
Path-Goal Theory
This theory emphasizes the leader’s role in coaching and developing followers’ competencies. The leader performs the behavior needed to help employees stay on track towards their goals
According to the Path-Goal Theory, what are the different types of employee needs?
- Directive - help the employee understand the task and its goals
- Supportive - try to fulfill employee’s relationship needs
- Achievement - Motivate by setting challenging goals
- Participative - provide more control over work and leverage group expertise through participative decision making
What are the features of a formal organization?
- Traditional reporting lines that create teh organizatin’s managerial levels or hierarchy
- the decision making process
- The funding process
- The organization’s strategy, Mission, Values
- Events that may have shaped or maybe shaping decision-makers’ assessments
What is the most valuable tool for discovering the informal organization?
Observation
What are the features of the Informal Organization?
- More challenging to learn
- Based on interpersonal relationships that are complex and subtle and can change frequently
- Can be seen in teh organization’s culture and social dynamics
According to John French and Bertram Raven, what are the five ways in which leaders can create power?
Legitimate Power
Reward Power
Expert Power
Referent Power
Coercive Power
What are the 5 levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- Physiological
- Safety and Security
- Belonging and love
- Esteem
- Self-Actualization
Describe Herzberg’s theory of motivation
Behavior is driven by intrinsic factors (innate desires) and extrinsic factors (workplace hygiene)
Satisfying hygience factors can remove some areas of discontent that itnerfere with motivation, but satisfactory workplace conditions are not enough in thesmelves to create motivation
Motivation is created by appealing to individual desires or needs
It is important to rememer that while good workplace conditions do not positively affect motivation, unacceptable conditions will lead to job dissatisfaction and can make a motivated employee look for another job. Hygiene factor levels must be acceptable in order for the motivation factors to become operative.
What are the intrinsic and extrinsic factors of Herzberg’s motivational theory
Intrinsic: challenging work, meaningful impact of work, recognition
Extrinsic: job security, pay conditions
Describe McClellands motivational theory
Individuals are motivated by three basic desires: Achievement, Affiliation, Power
Employees have all thre needs, but the needs’ relative importanct may vary among individuals. Effective leaders identiyf and appeal to each employee’s primary motivators.
Describe the Self-determination motivational theory
Individuals are motivated by innate needs, such as competence and relatedness
They also have needs for Autonomy, or teh need to feel that one has control over one’s life, as well as purpose, or the sense that oen’s actions ahve effects beyond the individual or the workplace.
Describe the Vroom motivational theory
Level of Effort depends on:
* Expectancy - with reasonable effort, the employee can succeed.
* Instrumentality - success will result in a reward
* Valence - The reward is meaningful to the employee
All three factors must be addressed to create motivated employees
The employee must believe the task is achievable in order to put in the effort.
Heider, Weiner attribution theory
Success or failure can be attributed to internal factors or external factors. Internal factors may be under the employee’s control, but external factors are probably beyond the employee’s control
A track record of success can create empowered and resilient employees, while a track record o failure can create learned helplessness and even aggression or hostility in the workplace
Leaders create opportunities for success for less-experienced employees, perhaps by providing more resources, coaching, and guidance. More-challenging assignments are given to employees who believe they can succeed.
Individuals are motivated to engage in learning due to a personal need to develop new attributions
What are the four personal leadership qualities
A leader should be both self-motivated and self disciplined
A leader should be or become comfortable with risk-taking
A leader should be committed to continuous learning
A leader should embody a growth mindset
An HR team member was recently promoted to a team leader position. He is anxious about making the transition. What should the employee focus on in this new role?
Encouraging lack of conflict within the team
Clarifying his authority with all team members
Developing and coaching team members
Promoting office social gatherings
Developing and coaching team members
An effective leader accomplishes strategic goals and objectives through the work of the leader’s team. The leader and the team benefit most when the leader focuses on coaching and developing team members: The leader benefits from a team that is more productive and competent, and team members improve their job skills. Effective leaders do not rely on personal likeability or power, and they strive to understand and resolve conflict, not avoid it.
A manager uses his skill with people to smooth over problems and to make his employees feel secure in their positions. According to the Blake-Mouton theory, what leadership style is the manager using?
Impoverished management
Team management
Country club management
Authoritarian management
Country Club Managers
Managers who exhibit low task, high people (country club) leadership styles avoid using their authority because they fear that it will jeopardize relationships with employees. They try to create a supportive atmosphere and trust that employees will respond positively. An authoritarian leader emphasizes task. An impoverished leader neglects both task and people. A team leader attends to needs related to both tasks and people.
A new HR manager is eager to win support for her idea for a new employee benefit. Which colleague would be a good ally in this situation?
HR manager known for a number of successful initiatives and marked for promotion
Head of HR, who is also new and wants to make a strong impression on senior leadership
HR staff member who is expert in the organization’s benefits program
Experienced HR manager familiar with how decisions are made and with connections in other areas in the company
Experienced HR manager familiar with how decisions are made and with connections in other areas in the company
The best ally in this situation is the experienced manager who can educate the new professional on organizational politics, preferences, and decision-making styles. The head of HR and the up-and-coming HR manager may be unreliable allies because of their own goals. The expert may be invested in the status quo of the benefits program.
A new HR staff member wants to win support for her idea for a new employee benefit. The HR director has agreed to meet with her to discuss the idea briefly. How should the HR staff member prepare?
Gather testimonial feedback from employees who want the new benefit added.
Think about what might be motivating the HR director in his job.
Research the director’s professional resume.
Complete a detailed business case in support of the idea.
Think about what might be motivating the HR director in his job
The staff member is in an early stage of winning support. It may help to understand the director’s goals (perhaps by observing decisions and statements) so that she can show how the benefit idea could advance those goals. It is too soon for a business case or testimonials. The resume will probably not provide an accurate sense of what motivates the director.
An HR business partner (HRBP) knows that HR is struggling to improve its relationship with the operations function. The HRBP receives an e-mail from an operations supervisor who refuses to implement a disciplinary action that the HRBP has recommended. What should the HRBP do?
Let the supervisor take the lead on this in the interest of improving the relationship.
Implement the corrective action on her own authority.
Go to the head of HR and escalate the issue to the senior management team.
Meet with the supervisor and explain the rationale for taking disciplinary action.
Meet with the supervisor and explain the rationale for taking disciplinary action
The HRBP needs to ensure that policies are followed. The best way to do that here is to use her expertise in HR to show the rationale for the policy and consistency in enforcing it. This may help enhance HR’s professionalism in the eyes of operations. Escalating the issue shows a lack of leadership, as does avoiding the issue. Implementing the discipline against operation’s wishes may further damage the relationship between the functions.
An HR manager derives his authority from his extensive background in HRM. What type of power is he using?
Referent
Legitimate
Affiliation
Expert
Expert
According to John French and Bertram Raven, the manager is using expert power, which influences others’ behavior on the strength of the leader’s deep knowledge and experience. Legitimate power derives from position in the organization’s hierarchy. Referent power comes from the strength of personal relationships with team members. Affiliation is actually a need that can motivate team members-the need to be part of a group.
An HR manager is careful never to promise a staff member a reward that he may not be able to deliver. What motivation theory does this reflect?
Goal setting
Maslow
Vroom
Herzberg
Vroom
Vroom’s theory proposes that employees are most motivated when they believe that successfully performing their assignments will result in promised rewards.
An HR manager conducts a market salary survey to make sure that team members are being adequately compensated and do not seek other employment. Which level of needs in Maslow’s hierarchy is she attempting to address?
Physical needs
Safety and security
Self-esteem and respect for others
Belonging and love
Safety and Security
The safety and security level includes personal, emotional, and financial security along with health and well being.
What are the three situational characteristics according to Fiedler’s contingency theory.
The three situation characteristics are leader-member relations, task structure, and leader’s position power. Leader-member relations are based on the amount of confidence the workers have in the leader. Task structure is based on how well a leader explains tasks to workers. A leader’s position power is based on how much inherent power a leader has.
What are the basic assumptions of contingency theories of leadership?
The basic assumptions of contingency theories of leadership are that a leader’s effectiveness depends on the leadership style required by the situation. The theory is that a leader can be effective in one situation and ineffective in another, depending on what the situation requires. Each situation has to be assessed, the leader then has to be assessed, and the right one is chosen based on the situation.
What are the aspects of contingency theory?
There are two aspects of contingency theory in leadership. The first is relationship-orientated, which is focused on building a good relationship with employees. The second is task-orientated, which is focused on organization and achieving goals.
How is leadership style determined
By rating a leader’s least preferred co-worker on the Least Preferred Co-worker scale
What areas are employees ranked on the Least Preferred Co-Worker Scale
Unfriendly/friendly
Uncooperative/cooperative
Hostile/supportive
Open/guarded
Examples of Leadership Traits
