Leadership & Navigation Competencies

Question 1

Leadership & Navigation Competencies

Answer 1

The leadership and navigation behavioral competency is defined as “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 org, accomplish HR and organizational goals, lead and promote organizational change, navigate the organization, and manage the implementation and execution of HR initiatives”.

Question 2

What critical skills are needed for effective HR leadership?

Answer 2

• 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
  -and to manage initiatives that create measurable and sustainable benefits

Question 3

Which French management theorist defined the functions of management as planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling?

Answer 3

Henri Fayol

Question 4

Daniel Goleman from the HBR did research on different leadership styles that create motivation and engagement in a workplace. The research indicated that leadership style affects:

Answer 4

-Employees’ 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.

Question 5

Six Approaches to Leadership

Answer 5

Coercive Leadership
Authoritative Leadership
Affiliative Leadership
Democratic Leadership
Pacesetting Leadership
Coaching Leadership

Question 6

Coercive Leadership

Answer 6

Coercive leadership: The leader imposes a vision or solution on the team and demands that the team follow this directive.

Suitability:
Effective during crises when immediate and clear action is required.

Ineffective at other times when it can damage employees’ sense of ownership in their work and motivation.

Question 7

Authoritative Leadership

Answer 7

Authoritative leadership: The leader proposes a bold vision or solution and invites the team to join this challenge.

Suitability
Effective at times when there is no clear path forward and when the proposal is compelling and captures the team’s imagination. Team members have a clear goal and understand their roles in the effort. They are encouraged to contribute their own ideas and take risks.

Ineffective when the leader lacks real expertise.

Question 8

Affiliative Leadership

Answer 8

Affiliative leadership: The leader creates strong relationships with and inside the team, encouraging feedback. The team members are motivated by loyalty.

Suitability
Effective at all times but especially when a leader has inherited a dysfunctional and dispirited team that needs to be transformed. Leader must have strong relationship-building and management skills.

Ineffective when used alone. For example, opportunities to correct or improve performance may not be taken because the affiliative leader fears damaging a relationship.

Question 9

Democratic Leadership

Answer 9

Democratic leadership: The leader invites followers to collaborate and commits to acting by consensus.

Suitability
Effective when the leader does not have a clear vision or anticipates strong resistance to a change. Team members must be competent; leaders must have strong communication skills.

Ineffective when time is short, since building consensus takes time and multiple meetings

Question 10

Pacesetting Leadership

Answer 10

Pacesetting leadership: The leader sets a model for high performance standards and challenges followers to meet these expectations.

Suitability
Effective when teams are composed of highly competent and internally motivated employees.

Ineffective when expectations and the pace of work become excessive and employees become tired and discouraged. In the leader’s attempt to set high goals, he or she may focus exclusively on the task and not give enough time to activities that motivate team members, such as feedback, relationship building, and rewards.

Question 11

Coaching Leadership

Answer 11

Coaching leadership: The leader focuses on developing team members’ skills, believing that success comes from aligning the organization’s goals with employees’ personal and professional goals.

Suitability
Effective when leaders are highly skilled in strategic management, communication, and motivation and when they can manage their time to include coaching as a primary activity. Team members must also be receptive to coaching.

Ineffective when employees resist changing their performance.

Question 12

Difference Between Coaching and Mentoring?

Answer 12

Mentoring helps an employee navigate and understand the organization, which can help them determine a career path.

It is an approach to people management that is focused on both character and fostering skills.

When a relationship is based on more than just a future promotion, the mentor can help the mentee invest in/develop their self-awareness, empathy, confidence, respect for others, and relationship building skills.

Mentoring relationships are most effective when the mentor has time to commit and the mentee is after more than just a career advancement.

Question 13

Do effective leaders draw their authority from hierarchal positions and titles or from personal characteristics and skills?

Answer 13

Personal characteristics and skills. They achieve results through their teams and share recognition and opportunities for growth with team members. They aren’t solo leaders who direct everything.

Question 14

Universal Characteristics that Define Leadership

Answer 14

Trustworthy and dependable

Just

Honest

Thinks and plans ahead

Encouraging

Positive

Dynamic

Motivational

Confidence building

Decisive

Committed to excellence

Intelligent and informed

Effective, win-win bargainer

Administratively skilled

Communicative

Organized

Question 15

Universal Characteristics that Detract from Leadership

Answer 15

Asocial (doesn’t value relationships)

Poor at communicating (both sending and receiving messages)

Noncooperative

Irritable

Egocentric

Ruthless

Dictatorial

Question 16

Although leaders’ personal styles may differ, management experts agree about the behaviors that distinguish effective and ineffective leadership in organizations and in the HR function. (Effective vs Ineffective HR Leaders)

Answer 16

EFFECTIVE HR LEADERS:

Develop and coach others.

Build positive relationships.

Model their values and fulfill their promises and commitments.

Have functional expertise.

INEFFECTIVE HR LEADERS:

Focus internally rather than externally, failing to look outside the HR function to the organization’s internal and external stakeholders.

Lack strategic perspective, focusing on short-term objectives and daily tasks.

Do not anticipate or react well to change.

Resist “stretch” goals and act as a drag on the organization’s attempts to innovate.

Question 17

Leadership Theories

Answer 17

-Trait Theory
-Behavioral Theories (Blake Mouton Theory)
-Situational Theories
(Hershey-Blanchard Situational Leadership; Fiedler’s Contingency Theory; Path-Goal Theory)
-Emergent Theory
-Transactional Leadership
-Transformational Leadership
-Leader-Member Exchange Theory
-Servant Leadership

Question 18

Trait Theory

Answer 18

Leaders possess certain innate characteristics that followers do not possess (and probably cannot acquire), such as physical characteristics (for example, strength, stamina) and personality traits (for example, decisiveness, integrity). Sometimes referred to as the “Great Man” theory.

It equates these characteristics and leadership but without evidence.

It may discourage leader development by implying that the ability to lead cannot be acquired with study and practice.

Question 19

Behavioral Theories

Answer 19

Leaders influence group members through certain behaviors.

Question 20

Blake Mouton Theory

Answer 20

Leadership involves managing:

-Tasks (work that must be done to attain goals).
-Employees (relationships based on social and emotional needs).

Five types of managers, only one of which (team leader) is considered a leader:

-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” management 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 example, foster a team environment, and encourage individual and team development.

Question 21

Situational Theories

Answer 21

Building on behavioral theories, situational theories propose that leaders can flex their behaviors to meet the needs of unique situations, employing both task or directive behaviors and relationship or supportive behaviors with employees.

Question 22

Hershey-Blanchard Situational Leadership

Answer 22

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 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.

Question 23

Fiedler’s Contingency Theory

Answer 23

Leaders change the situation to make it more “favorable,” more likely to produce good outcomes.

“Situation favorableness” occurs when:

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

Unfavorable situations must be changed to improve group (and leader) effectiveness. This can include:

-Improving relations between the leader and the team (for example, by building trust).
-Changing aspects of the task (for example, breaking a project down into more manageable pieces, providing more resources for the team).
-Increasing or decreasing the leader’s exercise of power (for example, to increase team involvement in and ownership of ideas, to decrease harmful conflict or resistance to change).

Question 24

Path-Goal Theory

Answer 24

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 toward their goals. This involves addressing different types of employee needs:

-Directive—Help the employee understand the task and its goal.
-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.

Question 25

Emergent Theory

Answer 25

Leaders are not appointed but emerge from the group, which chooses the leader based on interactions.

Question 26

Transactional Leadership

Answer 26

This theory 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 or nurtured. Transactional leadership is more commonly found in the military and large and multinational organizations.

Question 27

Transformational Leadership

Answer 27

This 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, to seek out changes that can add value and growth to the organization. Transformational leaders do not micromanage. They give their employees greater autonomy to make decisions and come up with creative solutions. A leader will also lead by example, exemplifying moral and ethical standards and values, and encourage the same from others. This leadership approach also encourages communication, cooperation, and collaboration with others and can use mentorship to help raise up future transformational leaders.

Question 28

Leader-Member Exchange Theory

Answer 28

This theory focuses on a two-way relationship between leaders and chosen employees. The leader mentors a selected team member (or members) 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 type of relationship can contribute to growth and productivity but can also create in- and out-groups within the team. The in-group may tend to strengthen and support the leader’s decisions and position due to their closer relationship. Members of the out-group may lag in development and productivity if they perceive that they are excluded or neglected.

Question 29

Servant Leadership

Answer 29

The leaders’ goal is to serve the needs of their 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 30

NAVIGATING THE ORGANIZATION

Answer 30

Successful navigation of the organization requires understanding the organization itself and gathering support from influential individuals within the organization.

Question 31

To navigate the organization and lead effectively: HR leaders (especially those new to an organization or leadership position) should

Answer 31

Understand the formal and informal structures of their organization.

Question 32

Ideally the informal organization...

Answer 32

Will be aligned with the formal organization.

Question 33

Formal Organizational Features Include:

Answer 33

-The traditional reporting lines that create the organization’s managerial levels or hierarchy. HR professionals should learn the types of responsibilities individuals have in their positions. -The decision-making process. Is there a formal process with multiple hurdles of required approvals? How is the ultimate decision made—by senior management or by a committee? Whose sign-offs or recommendations are critical to acceptance of a proposal? What type of factual support is most meaningful to the decision makers? -The funding process. Will funding be part of the regular budget, or can a project be funded separately? This will affect the timing of the request. -The organization’s strategy, mission, and values. What does the organization want to achieve? How does it want to be perceived by customers and stakeholders? Aligning requests for support with the organization’s interests will improve the chances for success. -Events that may have shaped or may be shaping decision makers’ assessments. For example, competitive actions, market conditions, or earlier decisions may be contributing to a greater sense of uncertainty or risk. Similar past initiatives that did not deliver promised outcomes may predispose decision makers to say no to current propositions.

Question 34

The formal aspects of an organization are usually...

Answer 34

Documented in organizational charts and policies, in announcements and handbooks, and in organizational reports to stakeholders. They are easier to see and can be slower to change than the elements of an organization's informal structure.

Question 35

Informal Organizational Features

Answer 35

Can be seen in the organization's culture and social dynamics. Values and beliefs are demonstrated through actions (i.e. mutual respect, honesty). Social dynamics include the degree to which members of the organization form relationships with each other across functional lines and hierarchical levels. Includes the way people communicate with each other (i.e. through meetings, e-mails, or group SMS texts) and what they communicate about. The informal structure includes social networks of members that have formed around common interests.

Question 36

The informal organizational structures are more challenging to learn because...

Answer 36

They are often based on interpersonal relationships that are complex and subtle and can change frequently.

Question 36

One of the most valuable tools for discovering the informal organization is:

Answer 36

Observation - watching how people interact in a variety of situations and identifying people who are treated as leaders by others in the org.

Question 36

An HR professional new to the organization can identify the people who influence leaders or who are members of that individual's community of interest/provide access to leaders by:

Answer 36

Looking closely at the people around leaders, once they've been identified. Knowing leaders are usually looked to for advice and comment - they put forth plans and ideas that have histories of success

Question 36

HR professionals can also learn about the organization's informal structure and culture by seeing what types of behaviors...

Answer 36

are rewarded and what types of ideas are accepted.

Question 37

Approval often requires:

Answer 37

building support with other stakeholders who can improve proposals and strengthen value propositions to management. The stakeholders may be HR team members - i.e. experienced staff members who know the org and past HR initiatives or who have worked successfully with a particular decision maker in the past.

Question 38

Effective leaders are good at identifying:

Answer 38

allies and creating mutually beneficial relationships

Question 39

To turn potential allies into partners:

Answer 39

HR leaders must make an effort to understand the needs and goals of potential allies, from both a personal and functional perspective. What motivates them personally? What strategic goals are they pursuing? How can one work with them successfully?

Question 40

Creating allies requires:

Answer 40

Creating allies requires building one's own influence and knowing how to motivate others.

Question 41

INFLUENCING

Answer 41

Effective leaders are able to influence others to engage their support or collaboration or to resolve conflicts.

Question 42

Influence relies on:

Answer 42

Using one's power and/or skills to change others' perceptions or actions.

Question 43

Using power to influence others requires:

Answer 43

understanding types of power and the limitations of each type

Question 44

Who identified five ways which leaders can create power?

Answer 44

John French and Bertram Raven

Question 45

Types of Power

Answer 45

Legitimate, Reward, Expert, Referent, Coercive

Question 46

Legitimate Power

Answer 46

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

Question 47

Reward Power

Answer 47

Created when the leader can offer followers something they value in exchange for their commitment (i.e. promotions, compensation)

Question 48

Expert Power

Answer 48

Created when a leader is recognized as possessing great intelligence, insight or experience

Question 49

Referent Power

Answer 49

created by the force of the leader's personality - the ability to attract admiration, affection, and/or loyalty

Question 50

Coercive Power

Answer 50

Is created when the leader has the power to punish those who don't follow

Question 51

Power can derive from factors that are:

Answer 51

External (legitimate, reward, or coercive power) or internal (referent or expert power) All types of power can be useful in certain situations and limited in usefulness at other times

Question 52

Legitimate power (EU & L)

Answer 52

Effective uses: Can save time in decision making and focus team on the organization’s goals. Limitations: May be insufficient if leader is not also competent and effective at leading.

Question 53

Reward Power (EU & L)

Answer 53

Effective Uses: Can appeal to team members’ individual motivators. Limitations: Is useful only when leader has access to and can extend to team members meaningful rewards.

Question 54

Expert Power (EU & L)

Answer 54

Effective Uses: Can improve a team’s efforts by offering advice and guidance. Can win respect for the team and its work throughout the organization. Limitations: Can create dependency and weaken team members’ initiative or discourage their own contributions. Effect will weaken if the individual is a weak team leader.

Question 55

Referent Power (EU &L)

Answer 55

Effective Uses: Appeals to social needs of individuals, the desire for affiliation. Limitations: Will weaken if leader is not competent, effective, and fair.

Question 56

Coercive Power (EU & L)

Answer 56

Effective Uses: Likely to get immediate results. Limitations: Damages team members’ motivation and self-direction over time.

Question 57

Since coercion can damage ongoing relationships and the ability to reward may be limited effective leaders:

Answer 57

Develop other ways to persuade other to grant their support

Question 58

How can HR leaders persuade others to grant their support?

Answer 58

-The most useful tactic is reasoning, explaining the advantages of one’s view logically, clearly, and with examples. This is most effective when it is combined with knowledge of the other person’s needs and the potential for aligning interests for mutual benefit. -When evidence is unavailable, one can appeal to mutually held visions or values—for example, to a commitment to employees’ welfare and improvement. -HR professionals can also trade for what they want, using their expertise or resources to fulfill another’s needs.

Question 59

Most importantly, influence must be used with:

Answer 59

Honesty and concern It is always possible to manipulate others by misusing emotional appeals (i.e. playing to fears and biases) or networking (i.e. intimidating and bullying - but this type of falseness and manipulation is a sure way to destroy trust.

Question 60

MOTIVATION

Answer 60

Defined as: factors that initiate, direct, and sustain human behavior over time. Understanding why people behave the way they do helps leaders influence behavior by appealing to the right needs in the right way. The perception of the role of motivation in orgs has changed over time - seen as more central to the role of leaders and more complex.

Question 61

Effective HR leaders work to understand what _____ the individuals with whom they work. Each person is unique because of differences in _________ and __________. What motivates one person will not necessarily motivate another, even people in the same ___________, _______________, or ________________.

Answer 61

Drives; heredity and environment; workplace, economic class, or ethnic group.

Question 62

Motivation Theories

Answer 62

Theories of motivation suggest different ways to look at the challenge of motivation - may provide clues about how to reach (or in the case of Theory X, how not to reach) certain types of employees. The theories are: Theory X/Theory Y, Needs Theory (Maslow, Herzberg, McClelland, Self-determination) Expectancy Theory (Vroom) Attribution Theory (Heider, Weiner) Goal-Setting Theory Equity Theory

Question 63

Theory X/Theory Y

Answer 63

Motivation is seen as absolutely irrelevant (Theory X) or absolutely critical (Theory Y) 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 that employees dislike rigid controls and inherently want to accomplish something. Therefore, leaders apply a more participative style that empowers employees. Theory Y is considered more appropriate in today's knowledge-driven workplaces.

Question 64

Needs Theory

Answer 64

Individuals are motivated by a desire to satisfy certain needs. Understanding these needs allows leaders to offer the right incentives and create the most motivational external environments. Common factors are achievement, a desire for social connection, and some degree of control.

Question 65

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Answer 65

Five basic categories of needs must be met in an ascending order: -Physiological (basic needs related to survival) -Safety and security -Belonging and love (the need to belong, to be accepted) -Esteem (both self-esteem and admiration of others) -Self-actualization (the need to fill one’s potential) A lower-level need must be relatively satisfied in order for a higher-level need to emerge or serve to motivate. No need is ever totally satisfied, however. The lower-level needs will always have some influence on behavior.

Question 66

Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory

Answer 66

Behavior is driven by intrinsic factors (innate desires) and extrinsic factors (workplace hygiene). Intrinsic factors: challenging work, meaningful impact of work, recognition Extrinsic factors: job security, pay, conditions Satisfying hygiene factors can remove some areas of discontent that interfere with motivation, but satisfactory workplace conditions are not enough in themselves to create motivation. Motivation is created by appealing to individual desires or needs. In applying Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, it is important to remember 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.

Question 67

McClelland's Needs Theory

Answer 67

Individuals are motivated by three basic desires: Achievement (accomplishment) Affiliation (feeling part of a group) Power (influence or control over others) Employees have all three needs, but the needs’ relative importance may vary among individuals. Effective leaders identify and appeal to each employee’s primary motivators. For example: Give an achievement-oriented employee an assignment that will require and call attention to the employee’s abilities. Incorporate socialization events or opportunities into team schedules for affiliation-oriented employees. Delegate to power-oriented employees tasks that they can control and direct, perhaps ones with high visibility in the organization.

Question 68

Self-Determination

Answer 68

Individuals are motivated by innate needs, such as competence (McClelland’s achievement) and relatedness (McClelland’s affiliation), but also by needs for: Autonomy, or the need to feel that one has control over one’s life. Purpose, or the sense that one’s actions have effects beyond the individual or the workplace.

Question 69

Expectancy Theory

Answer 69

Effort increases in relation to one's confidence that the behavior will result in a positive outcome and reward

Question 70

Vroom

Answer 70

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.

Question 71

Attribution Theory

Answer 71

The way a person interprets the causes for past success or failure is related to the present level of motivation. A leader can help employees attribute results to the correct causes and create opportunities for success.

Question 72

Heider, Weiner

Answer 72

Success or failure can be attributed to internal factors (for example, skills, diligence) or external factors (for example, available resources, market events). Internal factors may be under the employee’s control (for example, the employee can work harder or be more careful), 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 of failure (even though the causes were external to the employee’s control) 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 (and are likely to) succeed.

Question 73

Goal-Setting Theory

Answer 73

Motivation can be increased by providing employees with goals against which they can assess their achievement. Optimally, employees should be involved in designing goals and supported in achieving their goals. Effective goals are: Specific and clear. Important to the individual. This enables greater commitment. Realistic but challenging. Goals that are unrealistically high can harm motivation. Feedback helps employees determine the effectiveness of their effort.

Question 74

Equity Theory

Answer 74

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—that is, they believe they are being compensated and treated fairly—then their motivation will be maintained. If the balance is perceived to be unfair—for example, if they believe someone else is being unfairly promoted ahead of them or being rewarded for inferior work/effort—they can become demotivated.