PSYC 3014 INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Lecture 8– Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13 Leadership
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading and studying chapter 12, students should be able to:
Define leadership and describe its role in work groups and organizations.
Discuss the various universalist theories of leadership, and their respective strengths and
weaknesses.
Discuss the various behavioral theories of leadership, and their respective strengths and
weaknesses.
Discuss the various contingency theories of leadership, and their respective strengths and
weaknesses.
Define and evaluate the transformational and charismatic theories of leadership.
Compare and contrast the various types of leadership theories and their applicability to
leadership training.
Discuss and evaluate the various strategies used in leadership training.
Discuss the concept of shared leadership and other substitutes for leadership.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Leadership is the ability to direct a group toward the attainment of goals. Leadership theories can
be divided into three categories: universalist theories, behavioral theories, and contingency
theories. The great man/woman theory, a universalist theory, holds that some people are natural,
born leaders. The trait theory specifies certain personality traits, or characteristics that are
common to all effective leaders. These universalist theories suffer from the facts that they are
simplistic and that they focus on individual leader characteristics.
The behavioral theories of leadership are typified by studies conducted at Ohio State and
University of Michigan that looked directly at leader behavior, rather than at inferred leader
characteristics. Two dimensions of leader behavior emerged: initiating structure (also called
task-oriented behaviors), which focuses on work task production, and consideration (also known
as relationship-oriented behaviors), which emphasizes interpersonal relationships among
workers. The Leadership Grid is an application of the findings from the behavioral theories--a
program that stresses both task-oriented and relationship-oriented behaviors as the keys to leader
success.
Next to emerge were the contingency theories of leadership. Fiedler's contingency model states
that effective leadership depends on a match between the leader's style and the favorableness of
the work situation. Leader style is assessed through the least preferred co-worker (LPC)
measure. Task-oriented leaders are most effective in either very favorable or very unfavorable
situations, while relationship-oriented leaders do better in moderately favorable situations. The
favorability of situations in Fiedler's model is determined by three variables: leader-member
relations, task structure, and the leader's position power. The path-goal theory asserts that the
leader is a facilitator who chooses the type of behavior that will most help the work group to
achieve their goals. According to the path-goal theory, the leader can adopt four types of leader
behavior: directive, achievement-oriented, supportive, or participative.
The decision making model sees the leader's main role as making work-related decisions. This
prescriptive model contains a decision tree framework for the leader to follow to decide the
appropriate decision-making strategy (ranging from autocratic to democratic) to use in a
particular situation. The leader-member exchange model examines the quality of the relationship
between the leader and each subordinate, which leads to a more precise determination of work
outcomes. Finally, transformational and charismatic leadership theories focus on exceptional
characteristics or qualities that leaders possess that inspire loyalty in followers and motivate
them to achieve extraordinary goals.
The application of leadership theories involves one of two strategies: instituting leadership
training programs or redesigning the job to fit the leader. The majority of the theories advocate
leadership training, either by teaching specific leader behaviors (for example, task-oriented or
relationship-oriented) or by training leaders to diagnose situations that call for task-oriented or
relationship-oriented behaviors. Job redesign usually involves changing characteristics of the
situation to fit the leader's typical style or orientation. However, work situations that are
amenable to such job redesigns may be limited. In other situations, particularly where roles and
procedures are well-defined, substitutes for leadership, such as self-managing work teams or
shared leadership, may be appropriate.
CHAPTER 12 Leadership
What is Leadership?
Leadership is the ability to guide a group toward the achievement of goals.
Leaders can be formally recognized by the organization, or individuals can
emerge as informal leaders within work groups because they have some
characteristic that the group members value.
Universalist Theories of Leadership
Universalist theories look for the major characteristics common to all effective leaders.
Great man/woman theory maintains that great leaders are born, not made.
Trait theory attempts to discover the traits shared by all effective leaders.
Traits are enduring attributes associated with an individual’s personality or
makeup.
Universalist Theories of Leadership
Research indicates that extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience,
agreeableness, and emotional stability, in combination, are associated with
effective leadership (Bono and Judge, 2004).
Possession of flexibility, charisma, and social intelligence are also important for
leadership (Riggio, 1986).
The major problem with the original trait approach is that it was too general.
Behavioral Theories of Leadership
Behavioral leadership theories (derived from Ohio State and University of Michigan
studies) focus on the behaviors common to effective leaders.
The Ohio State Leadership Studies identified two important leader behaviors:
• Initiating structure (defining, organizing, structuring the work situation).
• Consideration (showing concern for feelings and needs of followers).
Behavioral Theories of Leadership
The University of Michigan Leadership Studies also identified two important
leader behaviors.
• In task-orientated behaviors, leader behaviors focused on the work task.
• In relationship-oriented behaviors, leader behaviors focused on
maintaining interpersonal relationships on the job.
Both types of behaviors have been linked to effective leadership.
Contingency Theories of Leadership
Fiedler’s contingency model maintains that effective leadership depends on a match
between the leader’s style and the degree to which the work situation gives control and
influence to the leader.
According to Fiedler, leaders may be primarily task-oriented, or primarily
relationship-oriented.
Contingency Theories of Leadership
To assess leaders’ task or relationship orientation, leaders use the Least
Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale to rate their most difficult follower.
• Persons who give their least preferred coworkers very harsh ratings (low
LPC scores) are task-oriented leaders.
• Persons who rate their least preferred coworker somewhat leniently
(higher LPC scores) are considered to be relationship-oriented.
Contingency Theories of Leadership
In Fiedler’s model, to assess the work situation, three variables are examined.
• Leader-member relations refers to the quality of the relationship
between leader and followers.
• Task structure is an assessment of how well elements of the work task
are structured.
• Position power is a leader’s authority to punish or reward.
Contingency Theories of Leadership
According to Fiedler, task-oriented leaders are successful in very unfavorable
situations (where leader-member relations are poor, the task is unstructured, and
the leader has weak position power) because of their take-charge style.
Task-oriented leaders are also effective in very favorable situations because they
encourage high productivity.
Relationship-oriented leaders are most effective when their situational control and
influence are neither very high nor low.
Contingency Theories of Leadership
The path-goal theory states that a leader’s job is to help the work group achieve their
desired goals, using one of four categories of behavior.
• Directive behavior provides instructions and suggestions for job
performance.
• Achievement-oriented behavior concentrates on particular work
outcomes.
• Supportive behavior shows concern for workers’ well-being.
• Participative behavior encourages members to assume active roles in
planning and decision making.
Contingency Theories of Leadership
The Decision-making model is a theory that matches characteristics of the situation with
leader decision-making strategies.
The theory provides different decision-making strategies.
The theory predicts proper leader behavior in making decisions and gives
“prescriptions” for the decision maker to follow.
Contingency Theories of Leadership
The leader-member exchange model asserts that effective leadership is determined by
the quality of the interaction between leaders and particular group members.
Leader-member exchange can range from low quality to high quality.
With high quality leader-member exchange, there is frequent, positive
communication between leaders and members.
Charismatic and Transformational Leadership Theories
Charismatic leadership theory states that leaders possess some exceptional
characteristics that cause followers to be loyal and inspired.
Charismatic leaders communicate shared group goals and convey confidence in
their own abilities and those of followers.
Charismatic leaders are most effective when goals are unclear and situational
conditions are unstable.
Some researchers suggest that charismatic leaders possess exceptionally high-
quality social skills and an ability to inspire followers at a deep emotional level
(Riggio, 1987).
Charismatic and Transformational Leadership Theories
Transformational leadership focuses on the leader’s ability to provide shared values
and a vision for the future of the work group.
There are four components of transformational leadership.
• Idealized influence: the transformational leader is a positive role model.
• Inspirational motivation: the leader inspires followers by providing a
compelling vision of a positive future.
• Intellectual stimulation: followers’ curiosity and creativity are stimulated
and challenged.
• Individualized consideration: the leader pays personal attention to each
member’s needs and concerns.
Applications of Leadership Theories
Leadership training can follow two general approaches.
Teaching leaders diagnostic skills for assessing situations to determine types of
leader behaviors that work best.
Teaching leaders specific skills or behaviors that they lack.
A combination of both approaches is likely to be most effective.
Applications of Leadership Theories
Research in redesigning jobs indicates that leaders may be unnecessary in certain
instances, leading to a search for “substitutes for leadership”. This applies to:
Job enrichment groups.
Groups where all members have equal status and high skills/abilties.
Work tasks that are well-structured and intrinsically satisfying to workers.
Shared leadership, where leadership is shared among the group members rather
than being centralized in one person.
