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Chapter 3

The Foundations of Modern

Leadership

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 Learning Objectives

• Identify the three major eras in the study of

leadership and their contributions to modern
leadership
• Present and be able to evaluation the contributions of
the early theories of leadership including the following
– Fiedler’s Contingency Model
– The Normative Decision Model
– Path-Goal Theory
– Substitutes for Leadership
– Leader-Member Exchange

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 The Leadership
Question

Do you think some people are born leaders

and can rise to the top no matter what the
situation? What key characteristics do they
possess?

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 Eras of Modern Leadership

• The trait era: 1800s to mid-1940s

– Focus on leader personality
• The behavior era: mid-1940s to 1970s
– Focus on leader behavior
• The contingency era: early 1960s to
present
– Focus on understanding both the leader and
the leadership situation

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 The Trait Era—Assumptions
and Findings
Assumptions Findings
• Leaders are born • No single trait or
• Leaders have set of traits clearly
special define leaders
characteristics and • Traits play a
traits minimal role
• Leaders and • Traits are not the
followers have dominant factor in
different traits leadership
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 The Behavior Era—
Assumptions and Findings
Assumptions Findings
• Behaviors rather • Key behaviors are
than traits matter task-structuring and
relationships-
• Behaviors are consideration
observable and • Behaviors alone do
measureable not determine
• Behaviors can be effective leadership
taught • No clear findings as to
which behaviors are
most effective

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 Examples of Major
Leadership Behaviors
Task-structuring Relationships-
• Set goals consideration
• Clarify expectations • Show empathy and
• Set schedules and understanding
timelines • Be friendly and
• Assign tasks approachable
• Allow participation
• Nurture followers

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 The Contingency Era—
Assumptions

• No one best way to lead

• Simple traits or behaviors alone do
not explain or predict leadership
• Understanding both leader trait/
behavior and situation is needed
• Personal and situational factors
affect leadership effectiveness

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Fiedler’s Contingency Model

• Leadership effectiveness is a function of

the match or fit between leader’s style
and the leadership situation
• The leader’s style has a traitlike quality
and cannot be changed from one
situation to another
• The leader must change the situation to
fit his or her style

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 Elements of Fiedler’s
Contingency Model

• The leader’s style

– Task or relationship motivation measured by
the LPC scale

• Situational control
– Leader-member relations
– Task structure
– Position power

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 Task and Relationship—
Motivated Leaders
Task motivated (Low- • Relationship
LPC) motivated (High-LPC)
• Draws self-esteem • Draws self-esteem
from task completion from interpersonal
• Focuses on task first relationships
• Can be harsh with • Focuses on people
failing followers first
• Considers • Likes to please others
competence a key • Considers loyalty to
follower trait be key follower trait
• Enjoys details • Gets bored with
details

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 Fiedler’s Contingency Model
G
R
O High Low-LPC
U High-LPC
P

P
E
R
F
O
R
M
A
N
C Low
E
Leader-member
GOOD BAD
relations

Task structure HIGH LOW HIGH LOW

Position power HIGH HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH LOW HIGH

HIGH MODERATE LOW

SITUATIONAL CONTROL

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 Practical Implications of
Fiedler’s Contingency Model

• Leaders must understand their own style

and their leadership situation
• Leaders should focus on changing their
leadership situation to match their style
rather than try to change their style
• A good relationship with followers is key to
a leader’s ability to lead
• Leaders can seek training to compensate
for lack of task structure

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 The Normative Decision
Model
• Leaders are effective when they use
decision styles that match the situation
• Leaders can learn to change and use
different decision styles
• Understanding the leadership situation
is essential to effectiveness

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 Elements of the Normative
Decision Model
• The leader’s decision style
– Autocratic
– Consultative
– Group/delegation
• Situational contingency factors
– Quality of the decision
– Acceptance of decision by
subordinates
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 Contingency Factors in the
Normative Decision Model
• Quality requirements (QR)
• Commitment requirement (CR)
• Leader information (LI)
• Structure of the problem (ST)
• Commitment probability (CP)
• Goal congruence (GC)
• Employee conflict (CO)
• Subordinate information (SI)

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Practical Implications of the
Normative Decision Model
• Leaders must understand their
leadership situation
• Leaders must learn different decision
styles
• Participation is not always desirable
• Leaders must pay attention to their
followers’ needs and reactions when
making decisions

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 Path-Goal Theory

• The leade’s primary role is to

motivate followers to complete their
task by removing obstacles

• The leader must change his or her

behaviors based on needs of the
followers

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 Path-Goal Theory

Leaders’ actions:
Focus on obstacle
removal
Effectiveness:
Become comfortable
employee
with both task and
satisfaction and
consideration behaviors
motivation
Understand followers’
Situational
perception
contingencies:
task structure,
employee need
for autonomy

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 Practical Implications of
Path-Goal Theory
• Leaders must understand their followers’
perception of the task
• Leaders must take their followers’ need for
challenge and autonomy into consideration
• When followers need challenge or the task is
challenging, leaders must avoid being directive
• When the task is routine, boring, or stressful,
leaders must be supportive

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 Substitutes for Leadership
Model (SLM)
• There are some situations where
leaders are not needed
• Various factors can substitute for
leadership behaviors or neutralize the
leader’s actions
• Leaders must learn to recognize
situations and use appropriate
behaviors

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 SML: Follower
Characteristics

• Experience and training substitute for

leader structuring
• Follower professionalism substitute for
leader consideration and structuring
• Lack of value for goals neutralizes
leader consideration and structuring

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 SLM: Task Characteristics

• Unambiguous tasks substitute for

leader structuring
• Direct feedback from task substitute for
leader structuring and consideration
• Challenging tasks substitute for leader
consideration

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 SLM: Organizational
Characteristics
• A cohesive team substitute for leader
structuring and consideration
• Leaders’ lack of power neutralizes
structuring and consideration
• Standardization and formalization substitute
for leader structuring
• Organizational rigidity neutralizes leader
structuring
• Physical distance from followers neutralizes
structuring and consideration

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Practical Implications of the
SLM
• Leaders can use various substitutes to
free up their time or to empower and
develop followers
• Technology can support the
development of substitutes
• Teams and autonomous work groups
can use substitutes positively

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 Leader-Member Exchange
Model (LMX)
• Leadership is a personal relationship between
leaders and each of their followers
• Leaders do not treat every follower the same
• Every follower does not experience leadership
the same
• Leaders have closer and richer relationships
with followers in their in-group than with those
who are in out-group

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 LMX

F Follower/
subordinate
In-group F
Out-group 3
F
1 Leader F
F 4
F F
2 F
5
F F
F
F F
F

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 Stages of LMX

Creation of
emotional bond

Development of
trust

Testing and
assessment

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 Practical Implications of
LMX
• Avoid highly differentiated groups
• Keep membership fluid and dynamic
• Maintain different in-groups for different
activities
• Base in-group membership on performance
and potential
• Review criteria for in-group membership
regularly
• Consider culture when determining
membership
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 The Leadership
Question Revisited
• A leader is much more than a collection of traits.
• Leaders are not born. They are made from
experience and from the interaction of individual
and many contextual factors.
• There are no traits that guarantee that someone
will be an effective leader.
• Most leaders succeed when they find themselves
in the right situation that they can mold, or when
they can adapt their style to the situation.

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 What Do You Do?

You have been promoted to a new managerial

position and your team members are missing in
action most of time. Their performance is by and
large excellent, but getting them together is proving
challenging. They are away on various jobs, and
although friendly, don’t seem to need you much.
You feel like you should establish your authority.

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Leadership Challenge

• India is a vertical collectivistic culture

where group membership determines
one’s worth
• Office manager is acting in accordance
with his or her culture
• Carefully evaluate the consequences of
not hiring the “cousin”
• In-groups are formed differently in different
cultures
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 Leading Change:
Goodnight

• Challenging work, flexible hours, and

many benefits keep employees happy
• Goodnight believes in removing obstacles
to let employees do their job
• He provides opportunities for challenge
and performance
• The role of the leader at SAS is to facilitate
employee performance

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 Leadership in Action:
The Caring Dictator

• Highly successful leader and organization

• Hartnett is autocratic and nonparticipative
• Hartnett provides clear goals and rules
• Caring father figure
• Careful selection of managers and
employees who fit the organization
• Leadership works because it fits the
situation

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