Questions/Quiz News Great Person Theory Trait Theory Behavior Theory Next week: Lewin’s Autocratic-Democratic Model, Argyris’ Maturity Model, Tannenbaum & Schmidt’s Leadership Continuum Week 3

Leadership Preferences Orientation Delegation & power sharing Crisis Management Style & situation fit Mentoring Worker satisfaction & productivity Leader replacement Identify qualities for selection, coaching, performance eval. Vroom-Jago Normative Model Cognitive Resources Theory McGregor’s X-Y, MBTI Tannenbaum-Wechsler Leader-Member Exchange Vertical Dyad Linkage Fiedler’s Leadership Contingency Hersey-Blanchard situational Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid Argyris Maturity Model Path-Goal Theory Succession theory Substitutes/neutralizers Org. culture Trait Theory Leadership Practices The Leadership Tool Kit : Different theories for different purposes

“A rose by any other name”-- Similarities among leadership theories

Great Person, Trait & Behavior Theories of Leadership

The Great Person Approach to leadership Where does the Great Person approach come from and what are its assumptions? What are some limitations of the “Great Person” approach? What are “traits”? What traits are most related to leadership?

Intelligence (but not too much), scholarship initiative, independence, inventiveness (correlated with age, drops after age 40) Self assurance, confidence, aspiration, perceived occupational level Reflection-- the “helicopter factor" (being able to hover above and reflect on self and team), objectivity Demographic characteristics: good health, above or below average height, upper SES Enthusiasm, sociability, integrity, courage, imagination, decisiveness, determination, energy 40 years of leadership research finds some traits are necessary but not sufficient: Sociability : dependable, responsible, active, socially participate, cooperative, popular Motivation : show initiative and persistence Cognitive ability : intelligent, scholarly, insightful, verbal, adaptable

originality popularity sociability judgment aggressiveness (assertiveness) humor desire to excel cooperativeness liveliness athletic ability age height weight physique energy appearance dominance mood control Correlate High with Leadership Correlate Low with Leadership Leadership Behaviors What behaviors and personal characteristics (traits) do you think would be most and least correlated with leadership?

The Behavioral Approach to Leadership The Behavioral Approach suggests that leaders behave in ways that differentiate themselves from those who are not chosen for leadership. What are some of the behaviors in a team or committee setting that would increase chances of being viewed as a leader? What are behaviors in that setting that would mitigate against being seen as a leader?

high participation and talking comfort and fluency in delivering information forceful and energetic in presentation does not express strong opinions early in group (can later) initiates conversation introduces new themes and topics seeks comments from others (Gatekeeper role) sits at head of table in a position of receiving, dispensing, or coordinating information avoids obviously persuading other to a point of view interacts flexibly with others; changes style as needed but not seen as chameleon promotes identity of group ("we, us, our", etc.) listens accurately to other's contributions demonstrates achievement, goal orientation and task structure low level of participation, involvement or contribution uninformed contribution overly directive comments offensive language (including sexist and profanity) stilted, overly formal language dominates conversation absent from meetings volunteers as secretary or recorder of meetings takes role of joker shows contempt for leadership willing to do as told presents self too strongly early in group discussion Behaviors working for and against leadership selection For-- Against–

How would you evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the trait/behavior approach?

many of these traits are relatively abstract-- how they are defined may refer to different behaviors, and may be too abstract to be adequately measured they may overlap in meaning making them difficult to distinguish or apply hundreds (if not thousands) of traits have been identified-- it's not possible for a leader to have them all there are too many exceptions to the rule-- some people don't have these traits but are successful leaders some traits are actually opposites of each other the trait approach does not view personality asn an integrated whole, but as a collection of features or behaviors. what may be a useful trait in one setting or culture may not be useful in another referring to traits implies relatively fixed or stable qualities, and does not consider how well they are developed, adapted and used reduced to a minimum, traits may be necessary but not sufficient conditions for leadership the trait approach does not consider the role of followers or situational conditions; too much weight is placed on the leader A few problems with the trait approach

Team case discussion Identify a case or leader in which you can apply the leadership behavior approach (e.g., coaching a person to “behave” like a leader). How would you go about coaching or training a person? What are some ethical or practical issues in this approach?