Chapter 7

Leadership Behavior

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 Chapter Outline
• Introduction
• Studies of leadership behavior
• The leadership pipeline
• Community leadership
• Assessing leadership behaviors: Multirater feedback
instruments
 Leadership Behavior
The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to
do. The hard part is doing it.
• Norman Schwartzkopf, former United States Army general
 Studying Leadership Behavior
Many people in positions of authority either cannot build and
motivate teams or do not realize the negative impact of their
behavior

Leadership behaviors are a function of intelligence, personality

traits, emotional intelligence values, attitudes, interests,
knowledge, and experience
• Over time, leaders learn and discern the most appropriate
and effective behaviors
• Individual differences, followers, and situational variables play
a pivotal role in a leader’s actions
Figure 7.1: The Building Blocks of Skills

Jump to Figure 7.1: The Building Blocks of Skills

 The Early Studies, 1
Ohio State University developed the Leader Behavior
Description Questionnaire, or L B D Q, and identified the
following independent dimensions of behaviors:

• Consideration: How friendly and supportive a leader is toward

subordinates
• Initiating structure: How much a leader emphasizes meeting work
goals and accomplishing tasks

Other leadership questionnaires created by Ohio State University

• Supervisory Behavior Description Questionnaire, or S B D Q
• Leadership Opinion Questionnaire, or L O Q
• L B D Q-12
 The Early Studies, 2
University of Michigan identified categories of leadership
behaviors that contribute to effective group performance
• Leader support, interaction facilitation, goal emphasis, and work
facilitation
• Goal emphasis and work facilitation are job-centered dimensions
similar to the L B D Q initiating structure behaviors
• Leader support and interaction facilitation are employee-centered
dimensions similar to the L B D Q consideration dimensions
• Job-centered and employee-centered behaviors are at opposite ends
of a single continuum
• Developed the Survey of Organizations questionnaire to assess the
degree to which leaders exhibit the four dimensions of leadership
behaviors

Findings of both university studies suggest that no universal set

of leader behaviors is always associated with leadership success
 The Leadership Grid
Profiles leader behavior on two dimensions: concern for people
and concern for production
• “Concern” reflects how a leader’s underlying assumptions about
people at work and the importance of the bottom line affect
leadership style

The most effective leaders are said to have high concern for both
people and production
 Figure 7.2: The Leadership Grid

Jump to Figure 7.2: The Leadership Grid, Appendix

Source: Robert R. Blake and Anne Adams McCanse, Leadership Dilemmas—Grid Solutions (Houston: Gulf Publishing, 1991), p. 29. Copyright 1991. Reprinted with permission of Grid International
 Competency Models, 1
Describe the behaviors and skills needed for organizational
success
• All organizational competency models fall into one of the following
categories:
• Intrapersonal skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Leadership skills
• Business skills
 Competency Models, 2
• The Hogan and Warrenfelz domain model of leadership:

• Allows people to see connections between models

• Makes predictions about the ease or difficulty of changing leadership
behaviors and skills
• Points out what behaviors leaders must exhibit to be effective
 Figure 7.3: Leadership Competency Model, 1
Competency
Analyzing problems and making decisions
Thinking strategically
Financial and technical savvy
Planning and organizing
Managing execution
Inspiring aligned purpose
Driving change
Building the talent base
Fostering teamwork
Creating open communications
Building relationships
Customer focus

Source: G. J. Curphy, K. Louiselle, and S. Bridges, Talent Assessment Overview: 360-Degree Feedback Report (Eagan, MN: Advantis Research & Consulting, 2003).
 Figure 7.3: Leadership Competency Model, 2
Competency

Credibility

Personal drive

Adaptability

Learning approach

Source: G. J. Curphy, K. Louiselle, and S. Bridges, Talent Assessment Overview: 360-Degree Feedback Report (Eagan, MN: Advantis Research & Consulting, 2003).
 The Leadership Pipeline Model, 1
Shows where leaders should spend time, what behaviors they
need to exhibit, and what challenges are likely at different
organizational levels

Offers a roadmap for individuals wanting to occupy the top

leadership positions in any organization

Provides potential explanations for why some people fail to

advance
 The Leadership Pipeline Model, 2
Implications
• People who fail to demonstrate the competencies, work values, and
time applications commensurate with their positions will struggle
with building teams and getting results through others
• Intelligence and certain personality traits have been found to
improve the odds of getting promoted and successfully transitioning
to new leadership levels
• It is critically important that organizations offer on-boarding programs
to help external hires transition into new roles
• People who skip organizational levels often turn out to be
ineffective leaders
 Table 7.2: The Leadership Pipeline, 1
Organizational Competency Requirements Time Applicants Work Values
Level
Individual • Technically proficient • Meet personal due • Get results through
contributor • Use company tools dates personal proficiency
• Build relationships with • Arrive or depart on • High-quality work
team members time • Accept company
values
First-line • Plan projects • Annual budget plan • Get results through
supervisor • Delegate work • Make time available others,
• Coach and provide for followers • Success of followers
feedback • Set priorities for • Success of the team
• Monitor performance team
Midlevel • Select, train, and manage • Monitor • Appreciate
manager first-line supervisors performance of each managerial versus
• Manage boundaries and team technical work
deploy resources to teams • Make time to coach • Develop first-line
first-line supervisors supervisors

Source: R. Charan, S. Drotter, and J. Noel, The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership-Powered Company (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001).
 Table 7.2: The Leadership Pipeline, 2
Organizational Competency Requirements Time Applicants Work Values
Level
Functional • Manage the whole function • Determine three-year • Clarify how the
leader • Communicate with and listen vision for the function function supports
to everyone in the function • Interact with business the business
• Make subfunction trade-offs unit leader’s team • Value all
• Interact with other functions subfunctions
Business unit • Build cross-functional • Develop three-year • Value all staff
leader leadership team vision for the business functions
• Financial acumen unit • Value organizational
• Balance future goals with • Monitor financial culture and
short-term business needs results employee
• Effectively manage time engagement

Source: R. Charan, S. Drotter, and J. Noel, The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership-Powered Company (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001).
 Table 7.2: The Leadership Pipeline, 3
Organizational Competency Requirements Time Applicants Work Values
Level
Group manager • Manage business portfolio • Develop strategies for • Value the success of
• Allocate capital to maximize multiple business units all the business units
business success • Monitor financial • Interact with internal
• Develop business unit results for multiple and external
leaders businesses stakeholders
• Interact with C E O’s
team
CEO or • Analyze and critique strategy • Manage external • Value a limited set of
enterprise • Manage the entire company stakeholders key long-term
leader and multiple constituencies • Spend significant time objectives
• Deliver predictable business reviewing financial • Value advice from
results results board of directors
• Set company direction • Spend significant time • Value inputs from a
• Create company culture doing strategic planning wide variety of
• Manage the board of stakeholders
directors

Source: R. Charan, S. Drotter, and J. Noel, The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership-Powered Company (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001).
 Community Leadership
Process of building a team of volunteers to accomplish an
important community outcome
• Represents an alternative conceptualization of leadership behavior
• Community leaders do not have position power and have fewer
resources and rewards

Competencies required to drive community change efforts

successfully
• Framing: Helping a group or community recognize and define its
opportunities and issues
• Building social capital: Developing and maintaining relationships
• Mobilization: Engaging a critical mass to take action and achieve a
specific outcome or a set of outcomes
 Figure 7.4: The Components of Community
Leadership

Source: J. Krile, G. Curphy, and D. Lund, The Community Leadership Handbook: Framing Ideas, Building Relationships, and Mobilizing Resources (St. Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance, 2006)
Jump to Figure 7.4: The Components of Community
Leadership, Appendix
 Assessing Leadership Behaviors: Multirater
Feedback Instruments, 1
360-degree, or multirater, feedback tools show that direct
reports, peers, and superiors can provide different perceptions
of a leader’s behavior
• Perspectives can paint a more accurate picture of the leader’s
strengths and development needs
• Have become an integral part of the training, coaching, succession
planning, and performance management components of a
comprehensive leadership talent management system
 Assessing Leadership Behaviors: Multirater
Feedback Instruments, 2
Types of 360-degree feedback processes
• Competency-based 360-degree questionnaires: Help organizations:

• Identify the behaviors leaders need to exhibit, and build

questionnaires that reflect these behaviors
• Administer the questionnaires to target individuals, and generate
feedback reports that reflect the consolidated rating results
• Leadership versatility approach: Superiors, peers, and direct
reports provide ratings on the extent to which target individuals
demonstrate strategic, operations, enabling, or forcing leadership
behavior
 Assessing Leadership Behaviors: Multirater
Feedback Instruments, 3
• Verbal 360-degree technique: Superiors, peers, and direct reports
are asked to share a target individual’s strengths and areas of
improvement as a leader in phone or face-to-face interviews

Construction of questionnaires is highly important

• Poorly conceived competency models and ill-designed
questionnaire items can lead to spurious feedback results

Leaders who received 360-degree feedback had higher

performing work units
• 360-degree systems should tell leaders about their own strengths
and development needs rather than make comparisons between
people
 Assessing Leadership Behaviors: Multirater
Feedback Instruments, 4
Developing a broad set of leadership skills that will help groups
accomplish goals is the key to high observer ratings

Research shows that it is possible to change others’ perceptions

of a leader’s skills over time
• Leaders must set development goals and commit to a development
plan to improve skills

Some cultural, racial, and gender issues are associated with 360-
degree feedback, and practitioners should be aware of these
issues before implementing any 360-degree feedback process

May be affected by the contagion effect or rater bias

 Figure 7.5: Sources for 360-Degree Feedback

Source: J. Krile, G. Curphy, and D. Lund, The Community Leadership Handbook: Framing Ideas, Building Relationships, and Mobilizing Resources (St. Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance, 2006)
Jump to Figure 7.5: Sources for 360 degree
feedback, Appendix
 Summary
• There does not appear to be a universal set of leadership
behaviors that guarantees success across many or all
situations
• Research has helped identify factors that can cause high-
potential managers to fail
• Values and attributes play critical roles in how leaders go
about engaging followers, building teams, and achieving
results through others
• Organizational levels and competency models can help
leaders determine the specific types of behaviors required to
build teams and get results through others for the position in
question