Leadership & Navigation

Question 1

Democratic Leadership Approach

Answer 1

Leadership approach in which the leader invites followers to collaborate and commits to acting by consensus.

Question 2

Leadership & Navigation

Answer 2

The knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) needed to create a compelling vision and mission for HR that aligns with the strategic direction and culture of the organization, accomplish HR and organizational goals, lead and promote organizational change, navigate the organization, and manage the implementation and execution of HR initiatives.

Question 3

Six Leadership approaches

Answer 3

1. Coercive
2. Authoritative
3. Affiliative
4. Democratic
5. Pacesetting
6. Coaching

Question 4

Coercive

Answer 4

A leadership approach where the leader imposes a vision or solution on the team and demands the team follow this directive

• Effective during a crisis
• Ineffective at other times, as it can damage the sense of ownership.

Question 5

Authoritative

Answer 5

A leadership approach in which the leadership proposes a bold vision or solution and invites the team to join this challenge.

• Effective at times when there is no clear path forward and when the proposal is compelling and captures the team’s imagination.
• Ineffective when the leader lacks real expertise

Question 6

Affiliative

Answer 6

A leadership approach in which the leader creates strong relationships with and inside the team, encouraging feedback. The team members are motivated by loyalty.

• Effective at all times but especially when a leader has inherited a dysfunctional and dispirited team that needs to be transformed. Leaders must have strong relationship-building and management skills.
• Ineffective when used alone. For example, opportunities to correct or improve may not be taken because the affiliative leader fears damaging the relationship.

Question 7

Democratic

Answer 7

A leadership approach in which the leader invites followers to collaborate and commits to acting by consensus.

• Effective when the leader does not have a clear vision or anticipates strong resistance to a change. Team members must be competent.
• Ineffective when time is short

Question 8

Pacesetting

Answer 8

A leadership approach in which the leader sets a model for high-performance standards and challenges followers to meet those expectations.

• Effective when teams are composed of highly competent and internally motivated employees.
• Ineffective when expectations and the pace of work becomes excessive

Question 9

Coaching

Answer 9

A 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.

• Effective when leaders are highly skilled in strategic management, communication, and motivation. Coaching is their primary activity.
• Ineffective when employees resist changing their performance.

Question 10

Trait Theory

Answer 10

A leadership theory in which:

• Leaders possess certain innate characteristics that followers do not possess, and probably cannot acquire such as physical characteristics and personality traits.
• The “Great Man Theory”
• It equates characteristics and leadership but without evidence.
• It may discourage leader development because you “either have it or your dont”

Question 11

Behavioral Trait Theories

Answer 11

Behavioral trait theories believe that leaders influence group members through certain behaviors. This includes Blake - Mouton Theory

Question 12

Blake-Mouton Theory

Answer 12

A leadership theory that believes leadership involves managing tasks (work that must be done to attain goals) and employees (relationships based on social and emotional needs).

Five types of managers, but only one is considered a leader:

1. Country club manager
2. Impoverished manager
3. Authoritarian Manager
4. Middle-of-the-road manager
5. Team Leader

Question 13

Country Club Manager

Answer 13

One of the five managers in the Blake-Mouton Theory

• Low task, High relationship
• Create a secure atmosphere and trust individuals to accomplish goals, avoiding punitive actions so as not to jeopardize relationships.

Question 14

Impoverish Manager

Answer 14

One of the Blake-Mouton managers.

• Low task, and low relationship.
• Uses “delegate and disappear” management style

Question 15

Authoritarian Manager

Answer 15

One of the five types of managers in Blake-Mouton’s Theory

• high task, low relationship
• Expect people to do what they are told without questions and tend not to foster collaboration
• Do not foster collaboration

Question 16

Middle-of-the-road manager

Answer 16

One of Blake Mouton’s five types of managers.

• the midpoint of both tasks and relationships
• get the work done but are not considered leaders

Question 17

Team Leaders

Answer 17

One of the Blake-Mounton type of leaders

• high tasks and high relationship
• lead by positive example, foster a team environment, and encourage individual and team development.

Question 18

Situational Theories

Answer 18

A leadership theory that builds on behavioral theory, situational theories propose that leaders can flex their behaviors to meet the needs of unique situations, employing both tasks or directive behaviors and relationships or supportive behaviors with employees.
Includes: Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership, Fiedler’s Contingency Theory and Path-Goal Theory.

Question 19

Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory

Answer 19

A situational leadership theory that believes leaders adapt their behaviors to meet the evolving needs of team members. Like Blake-Mouton, the behaviors involve tasks and relationships.

As team members grow the leader supplies either:

1. Telling - when the employee is not yet motivated or competent
2. Selling - when the increasingly competent employee still needs focus and motivation
3. Participating - when competent workers can be included in problem solving and coached on higher skills
4. Delegating - when very competent team members can benefit from greater levels of autonomy and self-direction.

Question 20

Fiedler’s Contingency Theory

Answer 20

A situational leadership theory believes leaders can change the situation to make it more favorable, and more likely to produce good outcomes.

Situational favorableness can occur when:

1. Leader-member relationships are strong
2. Task structure and requirements are clear
3. The leader can exert the necessary power to reach the group’s goal

Unfavorable situations must be changed to improve group effectiveness. This can include:

1. Improving relationships between the leader and the team
2. Changing aspects of the task
3. Increasing or decreasing the leader’s exercise of power

Question 21

Path-Goal Theory

Answer 21

A situational leadership theory that emphasizes the leader’s role in coaching and developing followers’ competencies. The leader performs the behavior needed to help employees stay on track toward their goals. This involves addressing different types of employee needs:

1. Directive - help the employee to understand the task and its goal
2. Supportive - Try to fulfill employee’s relationship needs
3. Achievement - Motivate by setting challenging goals
4. Participative - Provide more control over work and leverage group expertise through participative decision making

Question 22

Emergent Theory

Answer 22

A leadership theory is that leaders are not appointed by emerging from the group, which chooses the leader based on interactions.

Question 23

Transactional Leadership

Answer 23

A leadership theory that emphasizes a leader’s preference for order and structure. It focuses on control and short-term planning

• Employees and subordinates are expected to follow orders from above.
• Employees and subordinates are motivated by rewards and consequences.
• Employees and subordinates are closely monitored to ensure that work is done properly and on time.
• Creativity and inventiveness are not typically encouraged

This leadership style is more commonly found in the military and large multinational organizations.

Question 24

Transformational Leadership

Answer 24

This leadership theory emphasizes a leader’s ability to inspire employees to embrace change. Transformational leaders are able to encourage and motivate their employees to innovate in their work, and to seek out changes that can add value and growth.

These leaders do not micromanage. They give their employees greater autonomy to make decisions and come up with creative solutions.

Encourages communication, cooperation, and collaboration with others and can use mentorship to help raise future leaders.

Question 25

Leader-Member Exchange Theory

Answer 25

This theory focuses on a two-way relationship between leaders and chosen employees. The leader mentors a selected team member and gives them access to more information and resources in order to strengthen levels of trust and support. This mentorship is intended to maintain the leader’s position through the development of different two-way relationships.

This relationship can contribute to growth and productivity but can also create an in-group or out-group.

Question 26

Servant Leadership

Answer 26

A leadership theory where the goal is to serve the needs of the employees. This theory emphasizes the sharing of power. Leaders should work to help their employees develop and perform to the highest possible level, and this will generate benefits within and without the organization. It is a way of inverting the organizational/leadership norm of bottom-up service.

Servant leaders tend to be more empathetic and more trusted by employees. This can lead to greater innovation, collaboration, performance, and participation. This approach to leadership can be more resource-intensive and can take longer to produce results.

Question 27

Formal Aspects of an organization

Answer 27

Easier to see and can be slower to change
usually documented in org charts and policies
Include
- reporting lines that create managerial levels or hierarchy
- the decision-making process.
- The funding process
- Organization strategy, mission, and values.
- Events that may have shaped or may be shaping decision maker’s assessments.

Question 28

Informal Organizational Features

Answer 28

More challenging to learn because they are often based on interpersonal relationships that are complex and subtle and can change frequently.

What types of behaviors are rewarded and what types of ideas are accepted?

Question 29

Five Types of Power

Answer 29

1. Legitimate
2. Reward
3. Expert
4. Referent
5. Coercive

Question 30

Legitimate Power

Answer 30

When power is created formally - through a title or a position in the hierarchy that is associated with the rights of leadership.

Can save time with decision making
May be insufficient if leaders is not also competent and effective

Question 31

Reward Power

Answer 31

A type of power that is created when the leader can offer followers something they value in exchange for their commitment (promotions or compensation)

Can appeal to member’s individual motivators
Is useful only when the leader has access to and can extend to team members meaningful rewards

Question 32

Expert Power

Answer 32

A type of power that is created when a leader is recognized as possessing great intelligence, insight or experience.

Can improve a team’s efforts by offering advice and guidance. Can win respect for the team and its work throughout the org.

Can create dependency and weaken initiative or discourage their own contributions.

Question 33

Referent power

Answer 33

A type of power that is created by the force of the leader’s personality - the ability to attract admiration, affection, and loyalty.

Appeals to the social needs of individuals

Is weak if the leader is not competent, effective and fair.

Question 34

Coercive Power

Answer 34

A type of power that is created when the leaders had the power to punish those who do not follow.

Likely to get immediate results

Damages team members’ motivation and self-direction over time.

Question 35

Motivation

Answer 35

Factors that initiate, direct, and sustain human behavior over time

Question 36

Theory X/Theory Y

Answer 36

Motivation is seen as absolutely irrelevant (Theory X) or absolutely critical (Theory Y) in the workplace.

Theory X leaders:
- micromanage and coerce team members because they believe people do not like to work and must be strictly controlled and forced to work.

Theory Y leaders:

• believe employees dislike rigid controls and inherently want to accomplish something.
• Considered more appropriate in today’s knowledge driven workplace.

Question 36

Theory X/Theory Y

Answer 36

Motivation is seen as absolutely irrelevant (Theory X) or absolutely critical (Theory Y) in the workplace.

Theory X leaders:
- micromanage and coerce team members because they believe people do not like to work and must be strictly controlled and forced to work.

Theory Y leaders:

• believe employees dislike rigid controls and inherently want to accomplish something.
• Considered more appropriate in today’s knowledge driven workplace.

Question 37

Needs Theory

Answer 37

A motivational theory in which individuals are motivated by a desire to satisfy needs.

Understanding these needs allows leaders to offer the right incentives and create the most motivational external environments.

Includes - Maslow, Herzberg, and McClelland

Question 38

Maslow

Answer 38

A motivational theory in which five basic categories must be met in ascending order:

1. Physiological
2. Safety & Security
3. Belonging and love
4. Esteem
5. Self-actualization

Question 39

Herzberg

Answer 39

A motivational theory that believes behavior is driven by intrinsic values and extrinsic values

Intrinsic - challenging work, meaningful impact, and recognition.
Extrinsic - job security, pay and conditions

Satisfying hygiene factors can remove some areas of discontent that interfere with motivation, but satisfactory workplace conditions are not enough to create motivation. Motivation is created by appealing to individual desires or needs

Unacceptable working conditions will lead to job dissatisfaction.

Question 40

McClelland

Answer 40

The motivational theory believes individuals are motivated by three basic desires:

1. Achievement (accomplishment)
2. Affiliation (feeling part of a group)
3. Power (influence or control over others)

Employees have all three needs, but the needs’ relative importance varies among individuals. Effective leaders identify and appeal to each employee’s primary motivators.

Question 41

Self-determination

Answer 41

A motivational theory that believes individuals are motivated by innate needs such as competence, and relatedness but also the needs for autonomy and purpose

Question 42

Expectancy Theory

Answer 42

A motivational theory that believes effort increases in relation to one’s confidence that the behavior will result in a positive outcome and reward. Includes VROOM theory

Question 43

VROOM Theory

Answer 43

A motivational theory that believes the level of effort depends on expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. All three factors must be addresses to create motivated employees.

Question 44

Attribution Theory

Answer 44

A motivational theory that believes the way a person interprets the cause for past success or failure is related to the present level of motivation. This include Heider, Weiner theory

Question 45

Heider, Wiener

Answer 45

A motivational theory that believes success of failure can be attributed to internal factors or external factors. Internal factors may be under the employee’s control, but external factors are not.

A track record of success can create empowered and resilient employees. while a track record of failure can create “learned helplessness”.

More challenging assignments are given to employees who believe they can succeed.

Question 46

Goal-Setting Theory

Answer 46

A motivational theory in which motivation can be increased by providing examples with goals against which they can assess their achievement.

Optimally employees should be involved in designing goals and supported in achieving their goals.

Question 47

Equity Theory

Answer 47

A motivational theory in which motivation is based on an employee’s sense of fairness. An individual compares their perceived value with that of others in similar roles and makes a calculation based on their inputs and outputs.

Inputs - skills, training, effort, education, experience
Outputs - salary, bonuses, raises, promotions.

When an employee considers the balance between inputs and outputs to be fair - then their motivation will be maintained.