Leader Traits,Behaviors & Relationships Damon Burton University of Idaho

LEADERSHIP THEORIES Trait Approach Behavioral Approach Relationship/Individualized Approach

What are personality traits and how do they influence leadership?

TRAITS DEFINED Traits – are the distinguishing personal characteristics of a leader such as intelligence, honesty, self-confidence and enthusiasm.

“GREAT MAN” APPROACH Great leaders – are born with traits that make them natural leaders. Research – sought to identify the traits leaders possessed that distinguished them from nonleaders. Results found weak relationships between personal traits and leader success

EVOLUTION OF TRAIT APPROACH Trait approach expanded to aptitude and psychological tests. Personality tests focused on traits such as creativity and confidence. Physical traits looked at age and energy level. Abilities such as knowledge and speaking ability.

EVOLUTION OF TRAIT APPROACH 2  Social characteristics such as popularity and sociability.  Work-related characteristics such as desire to excel and persistence against obstacles.  Stogdill’s (1948) review of 100 studies challenged the trait approach.

STOGDILL’S (1948) TRAIT REVIEW Stogdill’s (1948) review of 100+ studies found some traits consistent with effective leadership (e.g., intelligence, initiative, interpersonal skill, confidence, responsibility, & integrity). Importance of traits vary with situation. Conclusion - possessing key traits doesn’t guarantee success.

STOGDILL’S (1970) TRAIT REVIEW Stogdill’s (19708) review of 163 studies confirmed previous traits along with aggressiveness, independence and stress management were consistent with effective leadership. Importance of traits vary with situation. Conclusion - possessing key traits doesn’t guarantee success.

PERSONAL LEADER CHARACTERISTICS

OPTIMISM AND CONFIDENCE Optimism - is the tendency to see the positive side of situations and expect things to turn out well. Top leaders see opportunities where others see problems. Conclusion – optimism helps leaders see past the gloom and develop a vision for a better future. The opposite of a leader is a pessimist.

OPTIMISM AND CONFIDENCE -2 Confidence - is the belief in yourself and your judgments, decisions, ideas and capabilities. Confident leaders foster confidence, motivation and commitment among followers. Conclusion – confidence allows leaders to make good decisions without adequate information and move the organization forward. Confidence allows successful risk- taking.

KNOW-HOW TO BE GREAT LEADER Executive consultant Ram Charan has spent 30 years developing leaders in numerous industries believes leaders can be developed. Learn to judge people accurately. Mold a team of leaders. Manage the social system and develop collaboration and teamwork. Set the right goals. Create a personal leadership development plan.

HONESTY AND INTEGRITY Honesty - is grounded in truthfulness and nondeception as well as openness and transparency. Integrity – means that leaders’ character is integrated and grounded in solid moral principles and they act in accordance with those principles. Conclusion – optimism and confidence are of little value without honesty and integrity. Successful leaders are consistent and trustworthy.

DRIVE Drive - is the high motivation that creates a clear and consistent focus and high effort & persistence to reach valued goals. Ambition – should be focused on setting challenging goals that promote the organization and the initiative to reach them. Conclusion – leaders such as GE CEO Jeff Immelt work hard (i.e., 100 hour weeks for 25 years). Fact – in a study of 600 executives, 75% of successful leaders possessed high confidence and drive.

What is a behavioral approach to leadership and how is it different from a trait approach?

BEHAVIORAL APPROACH DEFINED Behavior Approach – anyone who utilizes appropriate behaviors can be a good leaders. Implication - Leadership is about developing effective skills and behaviors more than possessing key traits.

DEMOCRATIC VERSUS AUTOCRATIC STYLES Democratic Style – delegates authority to others, encourages participation, relies on subordinates’ knowledge to perform needed tasks, and influences based on subordinates’ respect. Autocratic Style – centralizes authority and derives power from position, control of rewards and coercion.

LEWIN RESULTS Autocratic Style – group performed well as long as leader was present to supervise. Members were displeased with the style and feelings of hostility frequently arose. Democratic Style – group performance was almost as good. Members expressed positive feelings toward leadership rather than hostility. Performance declined minimally when leader was absent.

DEMOCRATIC-AUTOCRATIC CONTINUUM

What determines the correct leadership style variation on the democratic-autocratic continuum that is best in a particular situation?

CHOOSING THE BEST LEADERSHIP STYLE Style Choices – boss- versus subordinate- centered style choice depends on organizational circumstances. Under time pressure or with inexperienced followers, an autocratic style is better. When subordinates have good decision-making skills, a democratic style is usually best. The greater the difference in skill between leaders and followers, the more effective an autocratic approach.

OHIO STATE STUDIES Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire – from a study identifying 2000 leader behaviors, the LBDQ selected 150 behaviors to survey employees about their leaders. Two broad categories of leader behaviors were identified: consideration & initiating structure. Consideration – is the extent to which leaders care about subordinates, respect their ideas and feelings and establish mutual trust. Initiating Structure – is the extent to which a leader is task oriented and directs followers’ work activities toward goal achievement.

EXAMPLES Consideration – involves showing appreciation, listening carefully to problems and concerns, and seeking input from subordinates regarding important decisions. Initiating Structure – involves directing tasks, getting people to work hard, planning, providing explicit schedules and deadlines for projects, and ruling with an iron hand. The 2 behavioral dimensions are independent so leaders may be high on one dimension but low on the other, or high or low on both or neither.

TASK/CONSIDERATION RESULTS Consideration leaders – had a more positive impact on subordinate satisfaction (i.e., turnover and grievances) than did task-oriented leaders. When performance criteria (i.e., output or productivity) were used, task-oriented leaders were rated more effective. Studies with aircraft commanders and university department chairs found leaders with high scores on both were rated most effective and low scores on both as least effective.

MICHIGAN STUDIES Using the Survey of Organizations to measure behaviors, 2 types of leadership behaviors were identified: (a) employee-centered and (b) job- centered. Employee-Centered – focuses on the human needs of subordinates. Job-Centered – focuses on directing activities toward efficiency, cost-cutting and scheduling, with an emphasis on goals and task facilitation. The 2 distinct styles are believed to be in opposition to each other.

EMPLOYEE/JOB RESULTS Leaders were identifiable by the behavioral characteristics of one or the other style but not both. Often the behaviors of goal emphasis, task facilitation, support and teamwork can be performed by peers rather than only leaders.

LEADERSHIP GRID Based on a week-long seminar, Blake and Mouton of University of Texas developed the Leadership Grid that rates leaders on: (a) concern for people (b) concern for results. 5 leadership styles emerged, including: (a) team management (9,9), (b) country club management (1,9), (c) authority-compliance management (9,1), (d) middle-of-the-road management (5,5), and (e) impoverished management (1,1).

LEADERSHIP GRID

Team Management (9,9) – considered the most effective style and is recommended because members work together to accomplish team tasks. Country Club Management (1,9) – occurs when primary emphasis is given to people rather than productivity. Authority-Compliance Management (9,1) – occurs when efficiency in operations is the dominant focus.

LEADERSHIP GRID Middle-of-the-Road Management (5,5) – reflects a moderate amount of concern for both people and productivity. Impoverished Management (1,1) – means the absence of a leadership philosophy. Leaders exert little effort toward interpersonal relationships or work productivity.

What are the characteristics of “HIGH-HIGH” leaders?

HIGH-HIGH LEADER QUESTIONS Are task and people orientations the most important leader behaviors. Do task and people orientations exist together in the same leader and how? Is the HIGH-HIGH leadership style universal or situational? Can a HIGH-HIGH leadership style be learned?

INDIVIDUALIZED LEADERSHIP Trait and behavior theories assume that a leader adopts a general leadership style that is used with everyone. Individualized leadership in a more recent approach that looks at the specific relationship between leader and follower. Individualized leadership is based on the idea that a leader develops a unique relationship with each follower that determines how the leader behaves and how the follower responds.

INDIVIDUALIZED LEADERSHIP This approach views leadership as a series of “dyads” or 2-person interactions. Individualized leadership (IL) examines why leaders have more influence over and greater impact on some members than on others. IL focuses on the concept of “exchange,” or what each party gives to and receives from the other. For example, leaders can meet followers’ emotional needs and provide support for their self-worth, while followers provide leaders with commitment and high performance.

VERTICAL DYAD LINKAGE MODEL (VDL)

STAGE 1 - VERTICAL DYAD LINKAGE (VDL) The VDL model argues for the importance of the dyad formed by a leader with each group member. Initial results suggest that followers provide different descriptions of the same leader. High quality relationships are characterized as high for both people and task. Followers are found to be in either an “in-group” or and “out-group” in relation to the leader. In-group versus out-group exchange are qualitatively different and VDL has found great variance in leadership style and impact depending on the follower.

IN-GROUP VERSUS OUT- GROUP LEADER BEHAVIOR

STAGE 2 - LEADER- MEMBER EXCHANGE Leader-member exchange (LMX) influences leader behaviors. LMX has been studied in relation to communication, values, follower characteristics, job satisfaction, performance, climate, and commitment. High quality exchange should lead to higher performance and satisfaction and is higher for in- group than out-group members. LMX identifies 3 stages: (a) initial testing, (b) become acquainted and shape roles, and (c) role maturity where behavior patterns become consistent.

STAGE 3 - PARTNERSHIP BUILDING Can leaders develop positive relationships with a large number of followers? Leaders tend to categorize followers into in-group and out-groups as early as 5 days into relationship. How can leaders work with each follower on a one- on-one basis to develop a partnership. Leaders view each person independently and treat each one different but positively. When leaders offered high-quality relationships to everyone, followers who responded improved performance dramatically.

STAGE 4 - SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS Leader dyads can be expanded to larger systems. Systems level perspective examines how dyadic relationships can be created across traditional boundaries to embrace larger systems. For the leader, the larger network cuts across work units, departments or organizational boundaries. Leaders relationships also include peers, teammates, and other stakeholders. Effectiveness hinges on leaders building networks of one-on-one relationships so a large number of people can be influenced.