CHAPTER 9 (a)

Traditional Leadership
Approaches

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 Chapter Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Characterize the nature of leadership.
2. Trace the early approaches to leadership.
3. Discuss the emergence of situational theories and models of leadership
including the LPC and path–goal theories.
4. Describe Vroom’s decision tree approach to leadership.

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 The Nature of Leadership

• Leadership is both a process and a property

– As a process: the use of noncoercive influence to direct and coordinate
the activities of group members to meet a goal
– As a property: the set of characteristics attributed to those perceived to
use influence successfully
– Influence: the ability to affect the perceptions, beliefs, attitudes,
motivation, and/or behavior of others

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Table 11.1 Kotter’s Distinctions Between
Management and Leadership
Activity Management
CREATING AN Planning and budgeting. Establishing detailed
AGENDA steps and timetables for achieving needed results;
allocating the resources necessary to make those
needed results happen
DEVELOPING A Organizing and staffing. Establishing some
HUMAN NETWORK structure for accomplishing plan requirements,
FOR ACHIEVING THE staffing that structure with individuals, delegating
AGENDA responsibility and authority for carrying out the plan,
providing policies and procedures to help guide
people, and creating methods or systems to monitor
implementation
EXECUTING PLANS Controlling and problem solving. Monitoring
results vs. plan in some detail, identifying deviations,
and then planning and organizing to solve these
problems
OUTCOMES Produces a degree of predictability and order and
has the potential to consistently produce major
results expected by various stakeholders (e.g., for
customers, always being on time; for stockholders,
being on budget)
Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Leadership
Establishing direction. Developing a vision of the
future, often the distant future, and strategies for
producing the changes needed to achieve that
vision
Aligning people. Communicating the direction by
words and deeds to all those whose cooperation
may be needed to influence the creation of teams
and coalitions that understand the vision and
strategies and accept their validity
Motivating and inspiring. Energizing people to
overcome major political, bureaucratic, and
resource barriers to change by satisfying very
basic, but often unfulfilled, human needs
Produces change, often to a dramatic degree, and
has the potential to produce extremely useful
change (e.g., new products that customers want,
new approaches to labor relations that help make
a firm more competitive)
 Early Approaches to Leadership (1 of 4)

• Trait approaches to leadership

– Attempt to identify stable and enduring character traits that differentiate
effective leaders from nonleaders, focusing on:
▪ Identifying leadership traits
▪ Developing methods for measuring leadership traits
▪ Using methods to identify and select leaders
– Currently accepted limited set of leadership traits
▪ Emotional intelligence, drive, motivation, honesty and integrity, self-
confidence, cognitive ability, knowledge of the business, and charisma

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Early Approaches to Leadership (2 of 4)

• Behavioral approaches
– Michigan leadership studies: defined job-centered and employee-centered
leadership as opposite ends of a single leadership dimension
▪ Job-centered behavior: involves paying close attention to the work of
subordinates, explaining work procedures, and demonstrating a strong
interest in performance
▪ Employee-centered behavior: involves attempting to build effective work
groups with high performance goals

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Early Approaches to Leadership (3 of 4)

– Ohio State leadership studies: defined leader consideration and initiating-

structure behaviors as independent dimensions of leadership
▪ Consideration behavior: involves being concerned with subordinates’
feelings and respecting subordinates’ ideas
▪ Initiating-structure behavior: involves clearly defining leader subordinate
roles so that subordinates know what’s expected of them

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Early Behavioral Approaches to Leadership

Figure 11.1
Two of the first behavioral approaches to
leadership were the Michigan and Ohio State
studies. The results of the Michigan studies
suggested that there are two fundamental types
of leader behavior, job centered and employee
centered, which were presumed to be at
opposite ends of a single continuum. The Ohio
State studies also found two kinds of leadership
behavior, “consideration” and “initiating-
structure.” These behaviors are somewhat
parallel to those found in the Michigan studies
but this research suggested that these two types
of behavior were actually independent
dimensions.

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 The Michigan leadership studies
1. A program of research conducted at the University of Michigan. The goal of this work was
to determine the pattern of leadership behaviors that result in effective group performance.
2. From interviews with supervisors and subordinates of high- and low-productivity groups in
several organizations, the researchers collected and analyzed descriptions of supervisory
behavior to determine how effective supervisors differed from ineffective ones.
3. Two basic forms of leader behavior were identified—job-centered and employee-centered.
4. The leader who exhibits job-centered leader behavior pays close attention to the work of
subordinates, explains work procedures, and is mainly interested in performance.
5. The leader who engages in employee-centered leader behavior attempts to build effective
work groups with high performance goals.

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 The Ohio State leadership studies
1. During this program of research, behavioral scientists at Ohio State University developed a
questionnaire, which they administered in both military and industrial settings, to assess
subordinates’ perceptions of their leaders’ behavior.
2. The Ohio State studies identified several forms of leader behavior but tended to focus on the two
most common ones: consideration and initiating-structure.
3. When engaging in consideration behavior, the leader is concerned with the subordinates’ feelings
and respects subordinates’ ideas. The leader–subordinate relationship is characterized by mutual
trust, respect, and two-way communication.
4. When using initiating-structure behavior, on the other hand, the leader clearly defines the leader–
subordinate roles so that subordinates know what is expected of them.
5. The leader also establishes channels of communication and determines the methods for
accomplishing the group’s task

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Early Approaches to Leadership (4 of 4)

• The leadership grid (originally managerial grid)

– Provides a means for evaluating leadership styles and then training
managers to move toward an ideal style of behavior
– Two axes
▪ Horizontal axis represents concern for production
▪ Vertical axis represents concern for people
▪ Five management styles identified

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 The Leadership Grid

Figure 11.2
The Leadership Grid is a method of evaluating
leadership styles. The overall objective of an
organization using the Grid is to train its
managers using organizational development
techniques so that they are simultaneously more
concerned for both people and production (9,9
style on the Grid).

Source: Blake, R. R., & McCanse, A. A. The Leadership Grid Figure from Leadership Dilemmas—Grid Solutions (p. 29).
Houston: Gulf Publishing Company. (Formerly The Managerial Grid by Robert R. Blake and Jane S. Mouton.) Copyright
©1997 by Grid International, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Grid International, Inc.

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
The Emergence of Situational Leadership Models
• Situational models
– Differ from traits models and behavior models
– Assume that appropriate leader behavior varies from one situation to
another situation
– Seek to identify how key situational factors interact to determine
appropriate leader behavior
• The leadership continuum model
– The model of Robert Tannenbaum and Warren H. Schmidt that laid the
foundation for research in this field

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s Leadership
Continuum
Figure 11.3
The Tannenbaum and Schmidt leadership continuum was an important precursor to modern
situational approaches to leadership. The continuum identifies seven levels of leadership,
which range between the extremes of boss-centered and subordinate-centered leadership.

Source: Based on an exhibit from “How to Choose a Leadership Pattern” by Robert Tannenbaum and Warren
Schmidt (May–June 1973).
Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 The LPC Theory of Leadership (1 of 2)
• LPC theory of leadership (Fiedler)
– Tries to reconcile and explain a leader’s personality and the complexity of
a situation
– Assumes a task or relationship focus for leaders
– Uses the LPC scale (least preferred coworkers) to measure leader
motivation
▪ High LPC leaders are more concerned with interpersonal relationships
▪ Low LPC leaders are more concerned with task relevant problems

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 The LPC Theory of Leadership (2 of 2)
– Three factors measure situational favorableness to help determine proper
leadership focus
▪ Leader–member relations (high importance)
▪ Task structure (moderate importance)
▪ Leader position power (low importance)

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Table 11.2 The LPC Theory of Leadership

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 The Path–Goal Theory of Leadership (1 of 2)
• Path–goal theory (Evans and House)
– Focuses on the situation and leader behaviors in suggesting that
leaders can readily adapt to different situations
– Assumes that leaders affect subordinates’ performance by clarifying the
behaviors (paths) that will lead to desired rewards (goals)
– Defines types of leader path–goal behaviors
▪ Directive
▪ Supportive
▪ Participative
▪ Achievement-oriented

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 The Path–Goal Theory…
• Situational factors affecting the leader behavior choice
– Personal characteristics of subordinates
▪ Locus of control
▪ Perceived ability
– Environmental characteristics that cause uncertainty
▪ Task structure
▪ The formal authority system
▪ The primary work group
– Leader behavior will motivate subordinates if it helps them cope with
environmental uncertainty

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 The Path–Goal Theory of Leadership (2 of 2)
Figure 11.4
The path-goal theory of leadership specifies four kinds of leader behavior: directive, supportive,
participative, and achievement-oriented. Leaders are advised to vary their behaviors in response to
such situational factors as personal characteristics of subordinates and environmental
characteristics.

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Vroom’s Decision Tree Approach (1 of 2)
• Decision tree approach to leadership (Vroom, Yetton, and Jago)
– Attempts to prescribe how much participation subordinates should be
allowed in making decisions
– Premises
▪ Situational characteristics determine the degree to which subordinates
should be encouraged to participate in decision making
▪ Managers can choose between two decision trees
▪ Managers can adopt the endpoint decision styles

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Vroom’s Decision Tree Approach (2 of 2)
• Decision tree choices
– Time-driven decisions must be made on a timely basis
– Development-driven decisions can be used to improve/develop
subordinates’ decision-making skills
• Endpoint decision styles for managers
– Decide
– Delegate
– Consult (individually)
– Consult (group)
– Facilitate

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Vroom’s Time-Driven Decision Tree
Figure 11.5
This matrix is recommended for situations in
which time is of the highest importance in
making a decision. The matrix operates like a
funnel. You start at the left with a specific
decision problem in mind. The column headings
denote situational factors that may or may not
be present in that problem. You progress by
selecting High or Low (H or L) for each relevant
situational factor. Proceed down from the funnel,
judging only those situational factors for which a
judgment is called for, until you reach the
recommended process.

Source: Victor H. Vroom’s Time-Driven Model from A Model of Leadership Style, copyright 1998.
Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Vroom’s Development-Driven Decision Tree
Figure 11.6
This matrix is to be used when the
leader is more interested in developing
employees than in making the decision
as quickly as possible. Just as with the
time-driven tree shown in Figure 11.5,
the leader assesses up to seven
situational factors. These factors, in
turn, funnel the leader to a
recommended process for making the
decision.22

Source: Victor H. Vroom’s Time-Driven Model from A Model of Leadership Style, copyright 1998.
Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
 Organizational Behavior in Action
• After reading the chapter:
– What traits do you think characterize successful leaders? Do you think the
trait approach has validity?
– Do you agree or disagree with Fiedler’s assertion that leadership
motivation is basically a personality trait?
– How realistic do you think it is for managers to attempt to use Vroom’s
decision tree approach as prescribed?

Ricky W. Griffin/Jean M. Phillips/Stanley M. Gully, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations, Thirteenth Edition. © 2020 Cengage. All Rights Reserved.
May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.