Leadership: Research Findings, Practice and Skills 4th Edition, Andrew J.

DuBrin Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company

 Identify general and task-related traits that contribute to leadership effectiveness. Describe how emotional intelligence contributes to leadership effectiveness. Identify key motives that contribute to leadership effectiveness. Describe cognitive factors associated with leadership effectiveness.

 Discuss the heredity versus environment issue in relation to leadership effectiveness. Summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the trait approach to leadership.

 The belief that certain personal characteristics and skills contribute to leadership effectiveness in many situations Three categories:
Personality traits Motives Cognitive factors

 General Personality Traits

Traits observable both within and outside the context of work

Task-Related Personality Traits

Traits closely associated with task accomplishment

 Improves ones performance in a variety of tasks Leaders project self-confidence to the group Refers to a behavior and an interpersonal skill that a person exhibits in a number of situations
Cool under pressure Keeping calm during turmoil

 Part of humility is admitting that you:

Do not know everything Can not do everything Admit your mistakes

Put people in the limelight, not yourself Modest yet determined to accomplish objectives

 Walk the talk is showing consistency between deeds and words A persons confidence in anothers intentions and motives and in the sincerity of their word

 Make behavior consistent with intentions When encountering a problem, move into problem-solving mode instead of looking to blame others Honor confidences Maintain a high level of integrity Tell the truth Make trust pay in terms of receiving rewards

 Helpful for leaders to be outgoing and gregarious in most situations Extraverts are more likely to want to assume leadership roles Analysis of studies shows extraversion to be most consistent personality factor related to:
Leadership effectiveness Leadership emergence

 Forthright in expressing demands, opinions, feelings and attitudes Helps leaders perform many tasks
Confronting group members about mistakes Demanding higher performance Setting higher expectations Making legitimate demands on higher management

 Ability to control emotions to the point that ones emotional response is appropriate for the occasion Effective leaders are generally calm, confident and predictable during a crisis Emotions associated with low emotional stability include:
Anxiety Depression Anger Embarrassment Worry

 People tend to respond positively to enthusiasm

Perceived as a reward for constructive behavior

Helps build good relationships with team members Expressed verbally (Great job!) and non-verbally (making a high five gesture)

 Adds to the approachability and people orientation of a leader Functions in the workplace to relieve tension, boredom and defuse hostility
Helps leaders exert power over the group

 Helps establish rapport with group members Projection of warmth is a key component of charisma Helps provide emotional support to group members Comes with the territory
Cold fish turn people off

 Dominant characteristic of effective leaders

Goes beyond enthusiasm Often expresses itself as an obsession fro achieving organizational goal

Can be a major success factor in an organizations survival

 Ability to:
Understand your own feelings Have empathy for others Regulate your emotions to enhance your quality of life

Generally has to do with the ability to connect with people and understand their emotions

 Self-awareness
Ability to understand your own emotions
Know strengths and limitations Have high self-esteem Measure own moods and understand how they effect others

Self-management
Ability to control your emotions
Act with honesty and integrity Occasional bad moods do not ruin the day

 Social awareness
Having empathy for others
Showing you care Size up political forces involved

Relationship management
Interpersonal skills
Communicate clearly and convincingly Disarm conflicts Build strong personal bonds

 Ability to adjust to different situations Leaders must be flexible enough to cope with change
Technological advances Downsizings Outsourcing Shifting consumer base Changing workforce

 Closely related to self-confidence People with ILC believe they are the prime movers behind events
Role of a take charge person Facilitates self-confidence because of belief that circumstances can be controlled enough for good performance

 Need courage to:

Face the challenges of taking prudent risks Take initiative in general

Comes form the heart Leaders must face responsibility and be willing to put their reputation on the line

 Leaders generally have a strong desire to influence and control others This desire is evident in four needs or motives

 Three dominant characteristics

Act with vigor and determination to exert their power Invest much time in thinking about ways to alter the behavior and thinking of others Care about their personal standing with those around them

 Personalized power motive

Seek power mostly to further their own interest

Socialized power motive

Use power primarily to achieve organizational goals or a vision

 Achieve through their own efforts

Take responsibility for success or failure

Take moderate risks that can be handled through their own efforts Receive feedback on their own level of performance Introduce novel, innovative, or creative solutions Plan and set goals

 Firm belief in the dignity of work

Value hard work

Helps the leader believe that the group task is worthwhile

 Leads to ability to be better at overcoming obstacles Strongly developed sense of purpose and a willful determination to achieve what is wanted Central ingredient of power is purpose

 Leaders must have problem-solving and intellectual skills to effectively gather, process, and store essential information Five cognitive factors related to leadership effectiveness have been identified

 Being very good at solving problems Leaders need to understand how to:
Analyze organizational finances Use advanced software Manage inventory Deal with legal requirement and regulation

 Leaders have to be technically competent in some discipline

Difficult to establish rapport with group when the leader does not know what they are doing Difficult to establish rapport with group when the group does not respect the leaders technical skills

 Arrive at imaginative and original solutions to complex problems Creativity lies on a continuum
Innovative products and services Imaginative but not breakthrough solutions to business problems Standard solutions to organizational problems

 A depth of understanding that requires considerable intuition and common sense

Insight into people and situations involving people helps make the best use of group talents Insight helps leaders perceive trends in the environment

 Farsightedness is the ability to understand the long-range implications of actions and policies
Cannot be oblivious to short-range needs

Conceptual thinking is the ability to see the overall perspective

Makes farsightedness possible Systems thiking

 Positive orientation towards learning Openness to experience leads to a well-developed intellect Traits include:
Being imaginative Cultured Curious Original Broad minded Intelligent Artistically sensitive

 Are leaders born or are they made? Both Individuals inherit a basic capacity to develop personality traits and mental ability that sets an outer limit on how extensively these traits can be developed Environmental influences, in turn, determine how much of an individuals potential will be developed

 Strengths
Serves as a guide to leader selection Can guide individuals in preparing for leadership

Limitations
Does not identify which characteristics are absolutely needed Does not specify how much of a trait or characteristic is needed Can breed an elitist conception of leadership

 The universal theory of leadership asserts that certain personality traits, leader motives, and cognitive factors contribute to leadership effectiveness Personality traits include both general traits and task-related traits Leaders can often be distinguished by their needs or motives

 Mental ability is important for leadership success Traits, motives, and characteristics required for leadership are a combination of heredity and environment Traits do appear to distinguish leaders from nonleaders and effective leaders from lesseffective leaders