1. Leadership: Power & Leadership Theories
Professor:
Zvi Aronson

2. Leaders vs. Managers Leader’s Manager’s role Increase people’s
commitment and
effort toward
the mission
and strategy
Establish
organizational
Mission & Vision
(focus on change)
Implement
Mission & Strategy
by directing others.
Formulate
strategy for
implementing
that mission
Leader’s
role
Manager’s

3. Some examples from film..
40 Top Leader Speeches from Movies in 2 minutes:  

4. Power

5. Power
Refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B does something he or she would not otherwise do

6. Bases of Power Formal Coercive Reward Legitimate Information Personal
Referent
Expert
Charismatic

7. Coercive power - One reacts to this power out of fear of the negative results that might occur if one failed to comply

8. Reward power - People comply with the wishes or directives of another because doing so produces positive benefits
Legitimate power - represents the formal authority to control and use organizational resources

9. Legitimate power – fun example

10. Information power - comes from access to and control over information

11. Expert power - influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge
Referent power - based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits

12. Charismatic power - extension of referent power stemming from an individual’s personality and interpersonal style

13. Leadership Theories

14. Leadership Theories Trait Theories Behavioral Theories
Ohio State Studies
U. of Michigan Studies
Contingency Theories
Fiedler
Path-Goal
Leader Participation
Charismatic Leadership
Visionary Leadership

15. Trait Theories
Early work on trait theories resulted in a number of dead ends.
More success has come from looking at Big 5 personality traits.
Strong leadership has been linked to extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness.
Recent studies have offered Emotional Intelligence as another important leadership trait.

16. Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.
However, later attempts to identify traits consistently associated with leadership (the process, not the person) were more successful. The seven traits shown to be associated with effective leadership are described briefly in Exhibit 11-1
Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.
11-5

17. Behavioral Theories Examines behaviors of leaders
Assumes people can be trained to lead, and provides the basis of design for training programs
2 notable behavioral theories are the Ohio State & Michigan State studies.

18. Behavioral Theories Examines behaviors of leaders
Assumes people can be trained to lead, and provides the basis of design for training programs
2 notable behavioral theories are the Ohio State & Michigan State studies.

19. Leadership Behaviors Autocratic Style Democratic Style
A leader who centralizes authority, dictates work methods, makes unilateral decisions, and limits employee participation
Democratic Style
A leader who involves employees in decision making, delegates authority, encourages participation in deciding work methods, and uses feedback to coach employees
Laissez-Faire Style
A leader who generally gives employees complete freedom to make decisions and to complete their work however they see fit
One of the first studies of leadership behavior was done by Kurt Lewin and his associates at
the University of Iowa. Researchers explored three leadership behaviors
or styles: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire.
An autocratic style is that of a leader who typically tends to centralize authority, dictate work methods, make unilateral decisions,
and limit employee participation.
A leader with a democratic style tends to involve employees in decision making, delegates authority, encourages participation in deciding
work methods and goals, and uses feedback as an opportunity to coach employees

20. Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.
Tannenbaum and Schmidt developed a continuum of leader behaviors (see Exhibit 11-2). The continuum illustrates that a range of leadership behaviors, all the way from boss centered (autocratic) on the left side of the model to employee centered (laissez-faire) on the right side
of the model, is possible.
Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.
11-10

21. Fiedler Contingency Model
Leadership theory that proposes that effective group performance depends on the proper match between a leader’s style and the degree to which the situation allowed the leader to control and influence
Least-Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) Questionnaire
A questionnaire that measures whether a leader was task or relationship oriented
The first comprehensive contingency model for leadership was developed by Fred Fiedler. The Fiedler contingency model proposed that effective group performance depended upon properly matching the leader’s style and the amount of control and influence in the situation.
To measure a leader’s style, Fiedler developed the least-preferred co-worker (LPC) questionnaire
Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.
11-14

22. Three Contingency Dimensions
Leader-member relations
the degree of confidence, trust, and respect employees had for their leader
Task structure
the degree to which job assignments were formalized and structured
Position power
the degree of influence a leader had over activities such as hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases
Fiedler’s research uncovered three contingency dimensions that defined the key situational factors in leader effectiveness

23. Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.
Because Fiedler treated an individual’s leadership style as fixed, there were only two ways to improve leader effectiveness. First, you could bring in a new leader whose style better fit the situation. The second alternative was to change the situation to fit the leader.
Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.
11-16

24. Path-Goal Theory
A leadership theory that says the leader’s job is to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide direction or support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the organization’s or group’s goals
Currently, one of the most respected approaches to understanding leadership is path-goal theory, which states that the leader’s job is to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide direction or support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the
goals of the group or organization.

25. How Do Charismatic and Visionary Leaders Differ?
Charismatic Leaders
Enthusiastic, self-confident leaders whose personalities and actions influence people to behave in certain ways
Visionary Leadership
The ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, and attractive vision of the future that improves on the present situation
Although the term vision is often linked with charismatic leadership, visionary leadership is different since it’s the ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, and attractive vision of the future that improves upon the present situation. This vision, if properly selected and implemented, is so energizing that it “in effect jump-starts the future by calling forth the skills, talents, and resources to make it happen.