LeadershipChapter Four

Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Styles

… is one who helps group members attain productivity, including high quality and customer satisfaction.

An Effective Leader

Research on Leadership Styles

• Many research studies could be categorized under the heading of style approach, only a few strongly represent the idea– Ohio state

– University of Michigan

– Studies by Blake and Mouton

Behavioral Approaches

In the late 1940s, researchers began to explore In the late 1940s, researchers began to explore the notion that how a person acts determines the notion that how a person acts determines

that person’s leadership effectiveness. Instead that person’s leadership effectiveness. Instead of searching for traits, these researchers of searching for traits, these researchers

examined leader behaviors and their impact examined leader behaviors and their impact on the performance and satisfaction of on the performance and satisfaction of

followers.followers.

The Michigan Studies

• The Michigan Studies were conducted to determine the pattern of leadership behavior that result in effective group performance.

University of Michigan Studies

• Studied leaders’ behaviors performance on small group performance

• Two behaviors identified:– Employee orientation

• Leaders approach with strong human relations emphasis

– Production orientation• Leadership behaviors that stress technological

advancement and production aspects of the job

The Michigan Studies

Job-Centered Leader Job-Centered Leader BehaviorBehavior

Employee-Centered Employee-Centered Leader BehaviorLeader Behavior

Attempts to build work Attempts to build work group performance by group performance by paying attention to the paying attention to the efficient completion of efficient completion of

the task. Primary the task. Primary emphasis is on the task.emphasis is on the task.

Attempts to build work Attempts to build work group performance by group performance by paying attention to the paying attention to the human aspects of the human aspects of the

group. Primary emphasis group. Primary emphasis is on the person.is on the person.

The studies suggested that a leader could exhibit either The studies suggested that a leader could exhibit either behavior, but not both at the same time.behavior, but not both at the same time.

The Ohio State Studies

• The Ohio State Studies were conducted at about the same time as the Michigan Studies.

• The Ohio State Studies found that leaders engaged in two separate sets of leadership behaviors, referred to as consideration and initiating structure.

Ohio State Studies

• Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LDBQ)

• Administered to hundreds of individuals in various fields

• Two general types of leader behaviors – Initiating structure (Task)

– Consideration (Relational)

The Ohio State Studies

ConsiderationConsideration Initiating StructureInitiating Structure

Involves being concerned Involves being concerned with subordinates’ with subordinates’

feelings and respecting feelings and respecting subordinates’ ideas.subordinates’ ideas.

Involves clearly defining Involves clearly defining the leader-subordinate the leader-subordinate

roles so that subordinates roles so that subordinates know what is expected of know what is expected of

them.them.

Unlike the Michigan Studies variables, consideration and initiating Unlike the Michigan Studies variables, consideration and initiating structure were not thought to be on the same continuum. Instead, structure were not thought to be on the same continuum. Instead, they were seen as independent dimensions of leadership behavior.they were seen as independent dimensions of leadership behavior.

Initiating Structure

• Organizing and defining relationships in the group by engaging in such activities as assigning specific tasks, specifying procedures to be followed, scheduling work, and clarifying expectations for team members

• Also referred to as production emphasis, task orientation, and task motivation

Consideration

• The degree to which the leader creates an environment of emotional support, warmth, friendliness, and trust

• Involves being friendly and approachable, looking out for the personal welfare of the group, keeping the group abreast of new developments, and doing small favors for the group

Four Combinations of Initiating Structure and Consideration

Results

• Behaviors viewed as distinct and independent (two different continua)

• The degree to which a leader exhibited one behavior was not related to the degree to which he or she exhibited the other behavior

• When two behaviors were treated as independent orientations, leaders were seen as being able to be oriented to both

• Determining how a leader optimally mixed task and relationship behaviors has been the central task for research in style approach

Why Trait and Behavior Approaches Fall Short

Behavioral approaches attemptto specify which kinds of

leader behaviors are necessaryfor effective leadership.

Behavioral approaches attemptto specify which kinds of

leader behaviors are necessaryfor effective leadership.

Trait approaches consider personal characteristics of the leader that may be important

in achieving success in a leadership role.

Trait approaches consider personal characteristics of the leader that may be important

in achieving success in a leadership role.

A shortcoming of bothof these approaches

is that they fail to takeinto account the

interaction betweenpeople, tasks, and

environment.

A shortcoming of bothof these approaches

is that they fail to takeinto account the

interaction betweenpeople, tasks, and

environment.

Style Approach

• Emphasizes the behavior of the leader

• Focuses exclusively on what leaders do and how they act

• Explains how leaders combine two kinds of behaviors to influence subordinates in efforts to reach a goal

Task-Related LeadershipAttitudes and Behaviors

• Adaptability to the situation

• Direction setting

• High performance standards

• Risk taking and a bias for action

• Hands-on guidance and feedback

• Stability of performance

• Ability to ask tough questions

Task Behaviors vs. Relational Behaviors

• Task Behaviors– Facilitates goal accomplishment

• Relationship Behaviors– Help subordinates feel comfortable with

themselves, with each other, and with the groups situation

Relationship-OrientedAttitudes and Behaviors

• Aligning and mobilizing people• Concert building• Creating inspiration and visibility• Satisfying higher-level needs• Giving emotional support and

encouragement• Promoting principles and values• Being a servant leader

Servant Leadership

• Place service before self-interest

• Listen first to express confidence in others

• Inspire trust by being trustworthy

• Focus on what is feasible to accomplish

• Lend a hand

• Provide tools

360-Degree Feedback

• A formal evaluation of superiors based on input from people who work for and with them

• Often referred to as multisource feedback or multirater feedback

• Most often used for leadership and management development

A 360-Degree Feedback Chart

Leadership Style

• The relatively consistent pattern of behavior that characterizes a leader

• Often based on the dimensions of initiating structure and consideration

• Examples: “He’s a real command-and-control type,” “she’s a consensus leader.”

Participative Leadership

• Participative leaders share decision making with group members

• Three subtypes:– Consultative leaders confer with group

members– Consensus leaders strive for consensus

among group members– Democratic leaders confer final authority to the

group

Autocratic Leadership

• Autocratic leaders retain most of the authority for themselves

• Autocratic leaders make decisions confidently, assume that group members will comply, and are not overly concerned with group members’ attitudes toward a decision

Leadership Grid Styles

• The Leadership Grid simultaneously specifies concern for production and concern for people

• Leadership Grid styles include:– Authority-Compliance– Country Club Management– Impoverished Management– Middle-of-the-Road Management– Team Management

Blake and Mouton’s Leadership Grid of Style Approach

• Most well-known model of leader behavior

• Explains how leaders help organizations to reach their purposes through two factors:

– Concern for production• How a leader is concerned with achieving

organizational tasks– Concern for people

• How a leader attends to the people with the organization who are trying to achieve its goals.

Blake and Mouton’s Leadership Grid of Style Approach

• Joins concern for production and concern for people on two intersecting axes– X axis = concern for results– Y axis = concern for people

• Portrays five major leadership styles:– Authority-Compliance (9,1)– Country Club management (1,9)– Impoverished management (1,1)– Middle-of-the-Road management (5,5)– Team management (9,9)

Authority-Compliance Management

• Places heavy emphasis on task and job requirements

• Less emphasis on people

• Communication under-emphasized

• Leadership is controlling, demanding, and overpowering

Country Club Management

• Low concern for task accomplishment

• High concern for interpersonal relationships

• De-emphasis on production

• Leadership characterized as agreeable, eager to help, comforting, and uncontroversial

Impoverished Management

• No concern for task, as well as interpersonal relationships

• Going through the motions with lack of involvement

• Leaderships described as indifferent, noncommittal, resigned, and apathetic

Middle-of-the-Road Management

• Leaders are compromisers

• Immediate concern for task and interpersonal relationship

• Leader avoids conflict and emphasizes moderate levels of production and relations with others to establish equilibrium

• Leaders are described as one who is expedient, soft-pedals disagreement, and is interested in group progress over their own convictions

Team Management

• Places strong emphasis on both tasks and interpersonal relationships

• Promotes high degree of participation and teamwork

• Satisfies a basic need in employees to be involved and committed to their work

• Leaders characterized as clear, open-minded, determined, and one who stimulates participation

Combined Styles

• Blake and his colleagues have identified two styles that incorporate multiple aspects of the grid

– Paternalism/Maternalism• Leaders uses both (1,9) and (9,1) styles but does

not integrate the two

– Opportunistic• Leader uses any combination of the basic five styles

for purpose of personal advancement

How does the Style Approach work?

• Provides framework for assessing leadership behaviors in a broad way and general way

• Gives leaders a way to look at their behavior by sub-dividing it into the two dimensions

• Reminds leaders that their impact occurs through both the task they perform and the relationship they create.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Style Approach

• Strengths• Easily applied• Studies on leadership style validates and gives credibility to

the approach• Provides core of the leadership process• Can be used as a heuristic (cognitive map)• Approach applies to everything a leader does

• Weaknesses • Hasn’t adequately shown how leaders’ styles are associated

with performance outcomes• There is no universal leadership style• Implies that the most effective leadership style is the Team

Management style (9,9)

Entrepreneurial Leadership

• Strong achievement drive and sensible risk-taking

• High degrees of enthusiasm and creativity• Tendency to act quickly when opportunity

arises• Constant hurry combined with impatience• Visionary perspective

Entrepreneurial Leadership

• Dislike of hierarchy and bureaucracy

• Preference for dealing with external customers

• Eye on the future

Gender Differences in Leadership Style

• One researcher concluded that men tended toward a command-and-control style. In contrast, women tended toward a transformational style, relying heavily on interpersonal skills.

• While researchers found leadership style differences between men and women, on the dimension of overall effectiveness, the sexes were perceived the same.