Chapter 7

Leadership
Leadership

Guidance of others in the pursuit of i

ndividual and collective goals, often
by directing, coordinating,
motivating, supporting, and unifying t
heir efforts; also,
the ability to lead others.
Two-factor model of leadersh
ip

A descriptive model
of leadership, which maintai
s that most leadership behav
ors can be classified as eit
er performance maintenance
or relationship maintenance.
Task leadership focuses on the group’s work
and its goals. To facilitate the achievement
of group
goals, the leader initiates structure, sets
standards
and objectives, identifies roles and assigns
members to those roles, develops standard op
erating
procedures, defines responsibilities, establ
ishes
communication networks, gives evaluative fee
dback, plans activities, coordinates activit
ies, proposes solutions, monitors compliance
with
procedures, and stresses the need for effici
ency
and productivity (Lord, 1977; Yukl, 2013).
Relationship leadership

focuses on the interperson

al relations within the group. To
increase socioemotional satisfacti
on and teamwork in
the group, the leader boosts moral
e, gives support and encouragement
, reduces interpersonal conflict,
helps members to release negative
tensions, establishes rapport, and
shows
concern and consideration for the
group and its
members (Lord, 1977; Yukl, 2013).
Romance of leadership

The tendency to overestima

te
the amount of influence an
d control leaders exert on
their groups and their gro
ups’ outcomes.
Leadership substitutes t
heory A conceptual analy
sis of
the factors that reduce
or eliminate the need fo
r a leader
(substitutes) or prevent
the leader from dispatch
ing his or
her responsibilities (ne
utralizers).
Great leader theory A view
of leadership, attributed
to
historian Thomas Carlyle,
which states that successf
ul leaders possess certain
characteristics that mark
them for greatness and tha
t such great leaders shape
the course of history.
Dark Triad (DT) The set o
f three socially aversive
personality qualities comp
rised of Machiavellianism,
narcissism, and psychopath
y.
Zeitgeist theory A view o
f leadership, attributed
to Leo
Tolstoy, which states tha
t history is determined p
rimarily
by the “spirit of the ti
mes” rather than by the
actions and
choices of great leaders.
Machiavellianism: Machia
vellians endorse using ma
nipulative tactics in dea
ling with other
people and espouse a cyni
cal view of human
nature.
Narcissism: Narcissists h
ave inflated views of
their self-worth; they te
nd to exaggerate their ac
hievements, block critici
sm, refuse to
compromise, and seek out
attention and
recognition from others.
Psychopathy: Psychopaths lack
concern for both
other people as well as for so
cial regulatory
mechanisms, so they tend to ac
t impulsively
without full consideration of
the consequences
of their choices
Emotional intelligence The
component of social intell
igence that relates to on
e’s capacity to accuratel
y perceive emotions, to us
e information about emotio
ns
when making decisions, and
to monitor and control
one’s own and others’ em
otional reactions.
Babble effect The tendenc
y for group members who
talk at a high rate in th
e group to emerge as lead
ers,
even if the information t
hey share with the group
is of
low quality
Implicit leadership theor
ies Group members’ taken
for-granted assumptions a
bout the traits, characte
ristics,
and qualities that distin
guish leaders from the pe
ople
they lead; also known as
leader prototypes.
Shared Conceptions of Lead
rs Identified by the GLOBE
Study of 62 Different
Countries
Social role theory A concep
tual analysis of sex differ
ences that recognizes men a
nd women take on different
types of roles in many soci
eties and that these role e
xpectations generate gender
stereotypes and differences
in the
behavior of women and men
(proposed by Alice Eagly).
Terror management theory
(TMT) A conceptual
analysis of the implicit
psychological processes t
hought
to defend individuals fro
m the emotionally terrify
ing
knowledge that they are m
ortal and will someday di
e.
The task-oriented leader stre
ssed setting difficult
but achievable goals, strateg
ic planning, and
initiating structure.

The relationship-oriented lea

der communicated
compassion, respect, trust, a
nd confidence in others.
Evolutionary theory does not consi
der leadership to be the same as a
dominance contest, where the stron
gest member of the group most like
ly a male bests all others in the
group through force. Leadership be
nefited both those who led and tho
se who followed, for in scarce res
ource environments competition amo
ng members, struggles for dominanc
e, and uncoordinated defensive and
domestic activities
were deadly to all
Mismatch Hypothesis
Evolutionary theory
maintains that the adapti
ve advantages of leadersh
ip
are achieved only if the
group selects the most qu
alified individual to lea
d.
Leadership Grid A theory o
f management and leadership
assuming that people vary i
n their concern for results
and their concern for peopl
e and that individuals who
are
high on both dimensions (9,
9) are the best leaders (de
veloped by Robert Blake and
Jane Mouton).
Situational leadership th
eory A theory of leadersh
ip
suggesting that groups be
nefit from leadership tha
t
meshes with a group’s st
age of development (devel
oped
by Paul Hersey and Kennet
h Blanchard).
Contingency theory Any theory that
suggests a leader’s effectiveness
is contingent on situational facto
rs; usually used in reference to F
iedler’s conceptual analysis of l
eadership, which posits that a lea
der’s success is determined by hi
s or her leadership style and the
favorability of the group situatio
n; more generally, any analysis of
leadership that suggests that the
effectiveness of leaders depends o
n the interaction of their persona
l characteristics and the
group situation.
Least Preferred Coworker
Scale (LPC) An indirect
measure of the tendency t
o lead by stressing the t
ask (low
LPC) or relationships (hi
gh LPC) (developed by Fre
d
Fiedler).
Leader–member exchange theory
A dyadic, relational approach t
o leadership assuming that lead
ers develop exchange relationsh
ips with each of their subordin
ates and that the quality of th
ese leader–member exchange (LM
X) relationships influences sub
ordinates’ responsibility, dec
ision
influence, access to resources,
and performance.
Autocratic versus Democratic
Leadership
Kurt Lewin and his colleagues R
onald Lippitt and Ralph White c
onducted one of the earliest la
boratory studies of interacting
groups to determine the relativ
e effectiveness of a democratic
, group-centered approach to le
adership versus an autocratic,
leader-centered
approach
The authoritarian, or autocr
atic, leader took no input f
rom the members in making dec
isions
about group activities, did n
ot discuss the long range goa
ls of the group, emphasized h
is authority, dictated who wo
uld work on specific projects
, and arbitrarily paired the
boys
with their work partners.
The democratic leader ma
de certain that all activ
ities were first discusse
d by the entire group. He
allowed the group members
to make their own decisio
ns about work projects
or partners and encourage
d the development of an e
galitarian atmosphere.
The laissez-faire leader
rarely intervened in the
group activities. Groups
with this type of atmosph
ere made all decisions on
their own without any sup
ervision, and their so-ca
lled leader functioned pr
imarily as a source of
technical information.
Followership Theory
If leadership is not conce
ntrated in a single person
but shared across the
group, then knowing who is
in the group becomes
as important as knowing wh
o leads it.
Conformist followers (yes
people) are active and en
ergized, but they are dev
oted to the leader; they
do not think to question
the leader’s directions
and will defend him or he
r vigorously.
Passive followers (sheep)
follow the lead of others,
but without great enthusia
sm or commitment. They put
time into the group and wi
ll eventually finish their
assignments, but they must
be continually monitored o
r they
will simply stop contribut
ing.
Pragmatic followers are t
he rank-and-file members
of the group; they are no
t clearly active, passive
, conforming, or independ
ent, but make up the grou
p’s basic, and essential
, workforce.
Alienated followers are not commit
ted to the group or its goals, in
part because they steadfastly main
tain their independence from other
s’ influence. They are often sull
enly silent, but when they speak t
hey are critical of their fellow m
embers for remaining true to the g
roup, and they question the leade
r’s choices. They often think of
themselves as the rightful leader
of the group and refuse to invest
in the group or its activities unt
il they are accorded their rightfu
l position.
Exemplary followers (stars) are
actively engaged in the group, b
ut they do not simply do what th
ey are told. If they have issues
with the leader’s position, the
y express their dissent openly,
but constructively. The leader c
an delegate responsibilities to
them, and they can be trusted to
complete the task with an enthus
iasm that springs from their con
cern for the group’s
interests.
Transactional leadership
A traditional form of lea
dership that involves con
tributing time, effort, a
nd other resources in the
pursuit of collaborative
goals in
exchange for desired outc
omes.
Transformational leadership
An inspirational method
of leading others that invol
ves elevating one’s followe
rs’
motivation, confidence, and
satisfaction, by uniting the
m
in the pursuit of shared, ch
allenging goals and changing
their beliefs, values, and n
eeds.