BIO

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

AJAY KUMAR
(MBA05114)

Fiedler’s Least Preferred Co-worker

The leadership style of the leader, thus, fixed and measured by what he calls the least
preferred co-worker (LPC) scale, an instrument for measuring an individual's leadership
orientation. The LPC scale asks a leader to think of all the people with whom they have ever
worked and then describe the person with whom they have worked least well, using a
series of bipolar scales of 1 to 8, such as the following:

Unfriendly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Friendly
Uncooperative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cooperative
Hostile 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Supportive
.... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ....
Guarded 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Open

A high LPC score suggests that the leader has a "human relations orientation", while a low
LPC score indicates a "task orientation". Fiedler assumes that everybody's least preferred
coworker, in fact, is on average about equally unpleasant. But people who are indeed
relationship motivated, tend to describe their least preferred coworkers in a more positive
manner, e.g., more pleasant and more efficient. Therefore, they receive higher LPC scores.
People who are task motivated, on the other hand, tend to rate their least preferred
coworkers in a more negative manner. Therefore, they receive lower LPC scores. So, the
Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale is actually not about the least preferred worker at all,
instead, it is about the person who takes the test; it is about that person's motivation type.
This is so, because, individuals who rate their least preferred coworker in relatively
favorable light on these scales derive satisfaction out of interpersonal relationships, and
those who rate the coworker in a relatively unfavorable light get satisfaction out of
successful task performance. This method reveals an individual's emotional reaction to
people they cannot work with. Critics point out that this is not always an accurate
measurement of leadership effectiveness.

A task motivated person is expected to have low LPC score below 57 and a relationship
motivated person is expected to have high LPC score above 64 and a person with score 58
to 63 is expected to be socially independent and self-directed who is not overly concerned
with the task or with how others view them.
My LPC score is 63 which conveys I am self-directed and act more independent than low or
high LPC score people. I can be a moderate leader in most situations as per LPC score
where task-oriented people and relationship-oriented people lead well at times of crises
and wellness of good running firms. But it’s impossible to compare LPC score with actual
performance in real life.

The class average score is 69.84 which shows majority of people in our class are
relationship-oriented.

Dark Triad Scale

According to my Dark triad results, I have low percentiles in all three traits with a
maximum in Machiavellianism (1.7).

Machiavellianism in psychology refers to a personality trait that sees a person so focused

on their own interests they will manipulate, deceive, and exploit others to achieve their
goals. It is one of the traits in what is called the ‘Dark Triad’, the other two being narcissism
and psychopathy.

Signs of Machiavellianism

Someone with the trait of Machiavellianism will tend to have many of the following
tendencies:

 only focused on their own ambition and interests

 prioritize money and power over relationships
 come across as charming and confident
 exploit and manipulate others to get ahead
 lie and deceive when required
 use flattery often
 lacking in principles and values
 can come across as aloof or hard to really get to know
 cynical of goodness and morality
 capable of causing others harm to achieve their means
 low levels of empathy
 often avoid commitment and emotional attachments
 can be very patient due to calculating nature
 rarely reveal their true intentions
 prone to casual sex encounters
 can be good at reading social situations and others
 lack of warmth in social interactions
 not always aware of the consequences of their actions
 might struggle to identify their own emotions

But as per my inputs I can say that I don’t really have any major resemblance to any of
the traits in dark triad as my maximum percentile being only 14%.