OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTER 14 ( POWER, INFLUENCES AND

LEADERSHIP)

14.1 The Nature of Leadership: The Role of Power and Influence

Leadership skills are needed to create and communicate a company’s vision,
strategies, and goals as well as to execute on these plans and goals. This section
highlights the way successful managers use power and influence to achieve these ends
and describes five sources of power and nine influence tactics they use to lead others.
Leaders use the power of persuasion to get others to follow them. Five approaches to
leadership are described in the next five sections.

Section 14.1 Key Concepts:

Leadership and Power
● Leadership is the ability to influence employees to voluntarily pursue organizational
goals.
● Leadership coaching is about enhancing a person’s abilities and skills to lead and to
help the organization meet its operational objectives.
● Authority comes with a job, and it is the right to perform or command.

Managerial Leadership: Can You Be Both a Manager and a Leader?

 Managerial leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree
about what needs to be done and the process of facilitating individual and collective
efforts to accomplish shared objectives.
 Management is about coping with complexity.
 Leadership is about coping with change.
Five Sources of Power
● Power is the ability to marshal human, informational, and other resources to get
something done.
● Power is the extent to which a person is able to influence others so they respond to
orders.
o Personalized power is power directed at helping oneself.
o Socialized power is power directed at helping others.
● Legitimate power is power that results from managers’ formal positions within the
organization.
o All managers have legitimate power over their employees, deriving from their
position.
o This power may be exerted both positively and negatively.
 ● Reward power is power that results from managers’ authority to reward their
subordinates.
o Rewards can range from praise to pay raises, from recognition to promotions.
● Coercive power results from managers’ authority to punish their subordinates.
o Punishment can range from verbal or written reprimands to demotions and/or
terminations.
o Coercive power has to be used judiciously because a manager who is seen as
being constantly negative will produce resentment among employees.
● Expert power results from one’s specialized information or expertise.
o Expertise can be mundane (knowing work schedules of subordinates) or
sophisticated (medical knowledge).
● Referent power derives from one’s personal attraction.
o This power characterizes strong, visionary leaders who are able to persuade
their followers as a result of their personalities, attitudes, or background.
o Referent power may be associated with managers, but it is more likely to be
characteristic of leaders.
Common Influence Tactics
● Influence tactics are conscious efforts to affect and change behaviors in others.
● Table 14.2 describes nine tactics for trying to influence others, ranked from most-used
to least-used:
o Rational persuasion: trying to convince somebody by using reason, logic, or
facts.
o Inspirational appeals: trying to build enthusiasm or confidence by appealing to
others’ emotions, ideals, or values.
o Consultation: getting others to participate in planning, making decisions, and
changes.
o Ingratiating tactics: getting someone in a good mood prior to making a
request.
o Personal appeals: referring to friendship and loyalty when making a request.
o Exchange tactics: making explicit or implied promises and trading favors.
o Coalition tactics: getting others to support your effort to persuade someone.
o Pressure tactics: demanding compliance or using intimidation or threats.
o Legitimating tactics: basing a request on one’s authority or right,
organizational rules or policies, or explicit/implied support from superiors.
● These influence tactics are considered generic because they can be applied in all
directions—up, down, and laterally within the organization.
● The first five influence tactics are considered “soft” tactics because they are
considered friendlier than the last four “hard” or pressure tactics which exert more
overt pressure.
14.2 Trait Approaches: Do Leaders Have Distinctive Traits and Personal
Characteristics?
Trait approaches attempt to identify distinctive characteristics that account for the
effectiveness of leaders. We describe (1) positive task-oriented traits and
positive/negative interpersonal attributes (narcissism, Machiavellianism,
psychopathy) and (2) some results of gender studies.

Section 14.2 Key Concepts:

Trait Theories of Leadership
● Trait approaches to leadership attempt to identify distinctive characteristics that
account for the effectiveness of leaders.
● Table 14.3 presents a list of positive and negative interpersonal attributes often found
in leaders.
● Three negative or “dark side” traits of some leaders are: narcissism,
Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.
o Narcissism is defined as having a self-centered perspective, feelings of
superiority, and a drive for personal power and glory.
o Machiavellianism displays a cynical view of human nature, and condones
opportunistic and unethical ways of manipulating people, putting results over
principles.
o Psychopathy is characterized by lack of concern for others, impulsive
behavior, and a dearth of remorse when the psychopath’s actions harm others.
● The expression of “dark side” traits tends to result in career derailment—being
demoted or fired.
Do Women and Men Display Similar Leadership Traits?
● The increase of women in the workforce has generated much interest in understanding
the similarities and differences in female and male leaders.
● Research reveals the following conclusions:
o Men and women were seen as displaying more task and relationship
leadership, respectively.
o Women used a more democratic or participative style than men, and men used
a more autocratic and directive style than women.
o Female leadership was associated with more cohesion, cooperative learning,
and participative communication among team members.
o Peers, managers, direct reports, and judges/trained observers rated women
executives as more effective than men.
o Men rated themselves as more effective than women evaluated themselves.
Important Knowledge and Skills
● A team of researchers identified four basic skills needed by leaders.
● As described in Table 14.4, these skills include cognitive abilities, interpersonal skills,
business skills, and strategic skills.
o Cognitive abilities are used to identify problems and their causes in rapidly
changing situations.
o Interpersonal skills are used to influence and persuade others.
o Business skills can maximize the use of organizational assets.
o Strategic skills are used to draft an organization’s mission, vision, strategies,
and implementation plans.
Conclusions from Trait Theory
● Traits play a central role in how we perceive leaders, and they ultimately impact
leadership effectiveness. Therefore, we cannot ignore the implications of leadership
traits.
● The list of positive traits and “dark triad” traits shown in Table 14.2 provides
guidance regarding the leadership traits you should attempt to cultivate and avoid if
you want to assume a leadership role in the future.
● Organizations may want to include personality and trait assessments in their selection
and evaluation processes.
● A global mindset, the belief in one’s ability to influence dissimilar others in a global
context, is an increasingly valued task-oriented trait.

14.3 Behavioral Approaches: Do Leaders Show Distinctive Patterns of Behavior?

Behavioral leadership approaches try to determine unique behaviors displayed by
effective leaders. These approaches can be divided into four categories, the first three
of which are discussed in this section: (1) task-oriented behavior, (2) relationship-
oriented behavior, (3) passive behavior, and (4) transformational behavior
(discussed in Section 14.5).

Section 14.3 Key Concepts:

Behavioral Leadership Approaches
● Behavioral leadership approaches attempt to determine the unique behaviors
displayed by effective leaders.
● Behavioral approaches can be divided into four categories: task-oriented behavior,
relationship-oriented behavior, passive leadership, and transformational leadership.
Task-Oriented Leader Behavior
● The primary purpose of task-oriented leadership behaviors is to ensure that people,
equipment, and other resources are used in an efficient way to accomplish the mission
of a group or organization.
 ● Examples of task-oriented behaviors are planning, clarifying, monitoring, and
problem solving.
● Two kinds of task-oriented behaviors are particularly important: (1) initiating-
structure leadership and (2) transactional leadership.
o Initiating-structure leadership is leader behavior that organizes and defines
what employees should be doing to maximize output.
o Transactional leadership focuses on clarifying employees’ roles and task
requirements and providing rewards and punishments contingent on
performance.
Relationship-Oriented Leader Behavior
● Relationship-oriented leadership is primarily concerned with the leader’s interactions
with his or her people.
● The emphasis is on enhancing employees’ skills and creating positive work
relationships among coworkers and between the leader and the led.
● There are four kinds of relationship-oriented behaviors: consideration, empowerment,
ethical leadership, and servant-leadership.
● Consideration
o Consideration is leader behavior that is concerned with group members’ needs
and desires and that is directed at creating mutual respect or trust.
o Consideration promotes social interactions and identification with the team
and leader.
o Considerate leader behavior has a moderately strong positive relationship with
measures of leadership effectiveness.
● Empowering Leadership
o Empowering leadership is the extent to which a leader creates
perceptions of psychological empowerment in others.
o Psychological empowerment is employees’ belief that they
have control over their work.
o Increasing employee psychological empowerment requires four
kinds of behaviors: leading for (1) meaningfulness, (2) self-determination, (3)
competence, and (4) progress.
▪ Managers lead for meaningfulness by inspiring
their employees and modeling desired behaviors.
▪ Managers lead for self-determination by
delegating meaningful tasks.
▪ Managers lead for competence by supporting
and coaching employees and by making sure employees have the
knowledge needed to successfully perform their jobs.
▪ Managers lead for progress by monitoring and
rewarding others.
● Ethical Leadership
 o Ethical leadership represents normatively appropriate behavior
that focuses on being a moral role model.
o Ethical leadership includes communicating ethical values to
others, rewarding ethical behavior, and treating followers with care and
concern.
o Ethical leadership is driven by personal factors related to our
beliefs and values, and it has a reciprocal relationship with an organization’s
culture and climate.
Ethical leadership has many positive benefits.

14.4 Situational Approaches: Does Leadership Vary with the Situation?

Effective leadership behavior depends on the situation at hand, say believers in two
contingency approaches: Fiedler’s contingency leadership model and House’s
path–goal leadership model.

Section 14.4 Key Concepts:

Situational Approaches
● According to the situational approach to leadership, effective leadership behavior
depends on the situation at hand.
● As situations change, different leadership styles become appropriate.
● Two contingency approaches are Fiedler’s contingency leadership model and House’s
path–goal leadership model.
Fiedler’s Contingency Model
● The contingency leadership model developed by Fred Fiedler determines if a leader’s
style is task-oriented or relationship-oriented and if that style is effective for the
situation at hand.
● The tool used to determine one’s leadership orientation is a questionnaire known as
the “least preferred coworker” or LPC scale.
● The higher the score, the more relationship-oriented the respondent is determined to
be; the lower the score, the more task-oriented.
● Dimensions of Situational Control
o Situational control refers to the amount of control and influence the leader has
in her or his immediate work environment.
o There are three dimensions of situational control: leader–member relations,
task structure, and position power.
▪ Leader-member relations is the extent to which the leader has the
support, loyalty, and trust of the work group.
▪ Task structure is the extent to which tasks are routine, unambiguous,
and easily understood.
▪ Position power is how much power a leader has to make work
assignments and reward and punish.
 o As shown in Figure 14.2, the dimensions of situational control vary
independently, forming eight combinations of situational control that vary
from high to low.
o High control implies that the leader’s decisions will produce predictable
results because the leader has the ability to influence work outcomes, while
low control implies that the leader doesn’t have that kind of predictability or
influence.
● When Is Each Style Most Effective?
o Neither the task-oriented nor the relationship-oriented leadership style is
effective in all situations.
o Task-oriented leadership should be most effective in either high-control or
low-control situations.
o Relationship-oriented leadership should be most effective in situations of
moderate control.
o If a leader’s orientation does not match the situation, Fiedler says it is better to
try to move leaders into suitable situations rather than try to alter their
personalities to fit the situations.
House’s Path-Goal Theory
● The path-goal leadership model holds that an effective leader makes available to
followers desirable rewards in the workplace and increases their motivation by
clarifying the paths or behavior that will help them achieve those goals, and by
providing them with support.
● Successful leaders tie meaningful rewards to goal accomplishment, reduce barriers,
and provide support.
● Numerous studies testing predictions from the original theory provided mixed results,
and as a consequence, House proposed a new model presented in Figure 14.3.
o Figure 14.3 shows that two contingency factors—employee characteristics and
environmental factors—are expected to cause different leadership behaviors to
be more effective than others.
o Five important employee characteristics are locus of control, task ability, need
for achievement, experience, and need for clarity.
o Two relevant environmental factors are task structure (independent versus
interdependent tasks) and work group dynamics.
o The eight categories of leader behavior for the revised path-goal theory are
described in Table 14.6.
o House’s revision puts more emphasis on the need for leaders to foster intrinsic
motivation through empowerment.
o It also stresses the concept of shared leadership, the idea that employees do not
have to be supervisors or managers to engage in leader behavior but rather
may share leadership among all employees of the organization.
● Managerial Implications of Path-Goal Theory
o Effective leaders use multiple types of leader behavior.
 o Leaders are encouraged to clarify the paths to goal accomplishment and to
remove any obstacles that may impair an employee’s ability to achieve his or
her goals.
o Leadership styles should be modified to fit various employee and
environmental characteristics.

14.5 The Uses of Transformational Leadership

Four key behaviors of transformational leaders in affecting employees are: They
inspire motivation and trust, encourage excellence, and stimulate them intellectually.

Section 14.5 Key Concepts:

Transformational Leaders
● Full-range leadership suggests that leadership behavior varies along a full range of
leadership styles, from take-no-responsibility (laissez-faire) leadership at one extreme
through transactional leadership to transformational leadership at the other extreme.
● Transformational leadership transforms employees to pursue organizational goals
over self-interests.
● Whereas transactional leaders try to get people to do ordinary things, transformational
leaders encourage people to do exceptional things.
● Transformational leaders are influenced by two factors: individual characteristics and
organizational culture.
o Transformational leaders tend to be extroverted, agreeable, proactive, and
open to change.
o Adaptable, flexible cultures are more likely than rigid bureaucratic cultures to
foster transformational leadership.
● The best leaders learn to display both transactional and transformational styles of
leadership to some degree.
● Transformational leadership leads to superior performance when it “augments” or
adds to transactional leadership.

Four Key Behaviors of Transformational Leaders

● There are four key behaviors of transformational leaders: inspirational motivation,
idealized influence, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation.
● Inspirational Motivation
o Transformational leaders have charisma, a form of interpersonal attraction
that inspires acceptance and support.
o Charismatic leadership was once viewed as a category of its own, but now it
is considered part of transformational leadership.
o Someone with charisma is presumed to be more able to persuade and influence
people than someone without charisma.
 o A transformational leader inspires motivation by offering a vision for the
organization.
● Idealized Influence
o Transformational leaders inspire trust by being consistent, single-minded, and
persistent in the pursuit of their goal.
o They display high ethical standards, act as models of desirable values, and
make sacrifices for the good of the group.
● Individualized Consideration
o Transformational leaders actively encourage followers to grow and excel by
giving them challenging work, more responsibility, empowerment, and one-
on-one mentoring.
o They empower their people with enormous freedom to be creative and excel.
● Intellectual Stimulation
o These leaders are gifted at communicating the organization’s strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats so that subordinates develop a new
sense of purpose.
o Employees take responsibility for overcoming problems and seeking creative
solutions.

14.6 Three Additional Perspectives

Two other kinds of leadership are the leader–member exchange model, which
emphasizes that leaders have different sorts of relationships with different
subordinates, and leading with humility, grounded in the belief that something exists
that is greater than ourselves. A third perspective is the role of followers in the leader-
ship process.

Section 14.6 Key Concepts:

Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Model of Leadership
● The leader-member exchange (LMX) model of leadership emphasizes that leaders
have different sorts of relationships with different subordinates.
● It focuses on the quality of relationships between managers and subordinates and
assumes that each manager/subordinate relationship is unique.
● This unique relationship, which results from the leader’s attempt to delegate and
assign work roles, can produce two types of leader-member exchange interactions:
o An in-group exchange is characterized by mutual trust, respect and liking, and
a sense of common fates.
o An out-group exchange is characterized by lack of mutual trust and respect.
The Power of Humility
● Humility is a relatively stable trait grounded in the belief that something greater than
the self exists.
● Humble leaders tend to display five key qualities valued by employees: high self-
awareness, openness to feedback, appreciation of others, low self-focus, and
appreciation of the greater good.
● Managers should try to be humbler by changing the focus of their accomplishment
from “me” to “we.”
● A humble style is better than an arrogant or complacent one.
● An organization’s culture can promote humility.
The Role of Followers in the Leadership Process
● The quality of leadership appears to be dependent on the qualities of the followers
being led.
● Leaders and followers need each other, and the quality of the relationship determines
how we behave as followers.
What Followers and Leaders Want
● Research shows that followers seek and admire leaders who create feelings of:
o Significance: what one does at work is important and meaningful.
o Community: a sense of unity that encourages followers to treat others with
respect and to work together in pursuit of organizational goals.
o Excitement: people are engaged and feel energized at work.
● Followers vary in their level of compliance with a leader.
o Helpers are the most compliant, showing deference to their leaders.
o Independents are less compliant, distancing themselves.
o Rebels are the least compliant, showing divergence.
● Leaders clearly benefit from having helpers and, to some extent, independents.
● Leaders want followers who are productive, reliable, honest, cooperative, proactive,
and flexible.
● They do not want followers who are reluctant to take the lead on projects, fail to
generate ideas, are unwilling to collaborate, withhold information, provide inaccurate
feedback, or hide the truth.