MANAGING HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN PUBLIC AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

CHAPTER 7 Leadership in Public Organizations a 183

1. Tells group members what they are supposed to do 4 2 3 4
5 I WAYS OF THINKING
2. Acts friendly with members of the group 2 3 4
5
While most of the knowledge we have con•
3. Sets standards of performance for group members 2 3 4 cerning organizational leadership has come
5
from studies of business organizations, a great
4. Helps others to feel comfortable in the group 1 2 3 4 deal has been learned about leadership more
5 no longer is simply what those in leadership
generally from the political and governmental
5. Makes suggestions about how to solve problems 1 2 3 4 realms. In this section, we examine both tra•
5 ditional and contemporary approaches to
6. Responds favorably to suggestions made by others 1 2 3 4 organizational leadership. Then we examine
5 several important studies of leadership in the
public sector. What we find is that some of the
7. Makes his or her perspective clear to others 4 2 3 4
5 most innovative approaches to leadership
today are, in fact, taking place within public
8. Treats others fairly 1 2 3 4 5
organizations. This suggests the opportunity
9. Develops a plan of action for the group f 2 3 4
for students of public administration to be at
5
the forefront of leadership development
10. Behaves in a predictable manner toward 1 2 3 4 during the coming decades.
5 group members
But before reviewing what we know about
11. Defines role responsibilities for each group member 4 2 3 4 leadership and leadership skills, think for a
5 one else, we can say that leadership has occurred
moment about what we mean by the term lead•
12. Communicates actively with group members 1 2 3 4 ership. One review of major studies in leader•
5 ship pointed out that there are nearly as many
13. Clarifies his or her own role within the group 2 3 4 definitions of leadership as there are people
5 trying to define it and that many of the defini•
4 tions are ambiguous (Bass, 1990, p. 11).
14. Shows concern for the personal well-being of others 2 3
5 Moreover, as we noted earlier, the way in which
we think about leadership is changing, meaning
15. Provides a plan for how the work is to be done 2 3 4 5
that the way in which we should define leader•
16. Shows flexibility in making decisions 2 3 4 5 ship is changing as well (Northouse, 2012). In
17. Provides criteria for what is expected of the group 1 2 3 4 the past, students of leadership focused most of
5 their attention on the activities of formal lead•
18. Discloses thoughts and feelings to group members 2 3 4 ers. For the most part, leaders were people
in
5
formal positions of power and authority and
19. Encourages group members to do quality work 2 3 4
5
about the direction that the group should take,
(b) decide on a course of action or a goal to be
accomplished, and (c) exert his or her influence
or control in moving the group in that direction.
But as we have noted, the way in which we
think about leadership is changing. Leadership
positions do. Rather, it refers to a process by
which one individual influences others to pursue
a commonly held objective. Where leadership is
present, something occurs in the dynamics of a
group or organization that results in change. We
might define leadership in this way: Leadership
occurs when one or more members of a group
or organization stimulate others to more clearly
rec• ognize their previously latent needs, desires,
and potentialities and to work together toward
their fulfillment.
Whether leadership comes from someone in
a formal position of "leadership" or from some•
only when the group has been stimulated to
move in a new direction. To move a group in
this way, a person does not necessarily need to
exer• cise power or control. Indeed, power
actually can be destructive to leadership in
the long term. Rather, the potential leader must
under• stand the group or organization and find
ways of stimulating, moving, or, in a word,
energizing it.
Traditional Approaches to Leadership
The Trait Approach
Leadership, of course, has been a subject of

20. Helps group members to get along 1 2 3 4 5

Scoring. The style questionnaire is designed to measure two major types of leadership
behavior: task orientation and relationship orientation. Score the questionnaire by first
summing the responses on the odd-numbered items; this is your task score. Then sum
the responses on the even-numbered items; this is your relationship score. We discuss
the question of leadership style later in the chapter.
 Total scores: Task

Interpretation.

40--50 = High
30-39 = Moderate
10--29 = Low