AU-26

Developing Your Full Range

of Leadership

Leveraging a Transformational Approach

Dr. Fil J. Arenas, Air University

Dr. Daniel A. Connelly, Air University

Maj Michael D. Williams, USAF

Air University Press

Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
Project Editor

Sandi Davis

Cover Art, Book Design and Illustrations

Daniel Armstrong

L. Susan Fair

Composition and Prepress Production

Nedra O. Looney

Print Preparation and Distribution

Diane Clark

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Arenas, Fil J., author. | Air University (U.S.).

 Press, publisher.

Title: Developing your full range of leadership : leveraging

 a transformational approach / Fil J. Arenas.

Description: Maxwell AFB, Alabama : Air University

 Press, 2017. | Includes 

 bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017044790 | ISBN 9781585662746

Subjects: LCSH: Leadership. | Command of troops. | 

 Human behavior.

Classification. LCC UB210. A725 2017 | DDC 

355.3/3041–dc23 | SUDOC D

 301.26/6:L 46/4

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017044790

Published by Air University Press in April 2018

Disclaimer

Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations 

expressed or implied within are solely those of the 

authors and do not necessarily represent the official 

policy or position of the organizations with which 

they are associated or the views of the Air Force 

Research Institute, Air University, United States Air 

Force, Department of Defense, or any other US government agency. This publication is cleared for public 

release and unlimited distribution.

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Director and Publisher

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Air University Press

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Air University Press
iii

Contents

List of Illustrations v

Foreword vii

Acknowledgments ix

Abstract xi

 Introduction 1

 Leadership Theory Evolution 1

 Great Man Theory 2

 Trait Theories 2

 Behavioral Theories 3

 Directive versus Participative Leadership 5

 Contingency Leadership 7

 Least Preferred Coworker Scale 7

 Normative Decision Model 8

 Leadership Continuum Model 8

 Situational Leadership 9

 Path-Goal Theory of Leadership 10

 Situational Leadership Theory 10

 The Full-Range Leadership Model 11

 Laissez-Faire Leadership 13

 Transactional Leadership 15

 Contingent Reward 16

 Management by Exception 19

 Transformational Leadership 23

 Idealized Influence 24

 Inspirational Motivation 27

 Intellectual Stimulation 30

 Individualized Consideration 34

 FRLM in Teams 36

 Bringing Humanity to Leadership 39
 Virtues and Charcter Strengths 46

 Wisdom and Knowledge 47

 Courage 48

 Humanity 49

 Justice 50

 Temperance 50

 Transcendence 51

 Authentic Transformational Leadership 53

 Conclusion 54

 Abbreviations 65

 Bibliography 67

iv
v

Illustrations

Figure

 1 The full-range leadership model 12

 2 Laissez-faire characteristics 13

 3 Transactional leadership behaviors/components 20

 4 Transformational leadership behaviors/components 24

 5 Levels of team development 37

 6 Operation Pacific Angel participants help

 improve Papua New Guinean school 41

 7 Five ethical steps 44

 8 Virtues and character strengths 46

 9 FRLM-character strength mind map 56

Example in History

 Laissez-faire and the charge of the light brigade 14

 Contingent reward and the flying tigers 18

 Management by exception and the great escape 21

 Idealized influence and a secretary at war 26

 Inspirational motivation and the green hornet 29

 Intellectual stimulation and the man who never was 32

 Individualized consideration and the red baron 35

vii

Foreword

The scholarship on leading can appear quite complex, even 

unmanageable—an endless supply of questions with very few 

solid answers. Yet history reveals many brilliant, effective, and 

generous leaders from our past. Something seems missing from 

the analysis. The explanation may be that for as much as we’ve 

learned about leadership, we may have also lost some lessons we 

used to know. Is leadership a moving target that somehow eludes 

clarification or definitive solutions?

Social organization has changed as well. Leaders need followers, 

and followers—along with their expectations and needs—arguably 

have evolved with the cultures to which they belong, and today’s cultures often appear quite different from those of the past. Perhaps part 

of the scramble to produce new and relevant theories of leadership 

stems from the chasing of prevailing social currents—the newly 

dominant needing to erase its rivals lock, stock, and barrel in order to 

declare its reign.

Ancient thinkers had a different view, rooted in enduring topographical features of human nature, and the secrets this landscape 

can reveal via study, reflection, and experience. These scholars emphasized character—the direction of one’s bent toward the practice of 

good and avoidance of evil—and living the virtues, both of these being 

qualities that President Adams, in the early modern period, took for 

granted when he defined leadership.

Today’s scholars have an additional task—sifting through the 

mountains of contemporary data and analysis to uncover valid conclusions and enduring truths capable of surviving the intellectual, 

moral, and cultural climate of the moment, ideas leaders can consider 

and work on across a lifetime of leading others. I offer you a book 

that, remarkably, has synthesized both these essential lines of effort: 

reminding us of the past’s treasure of thinking on human leadership 

and linking it to the best of the last several decades of leadership research and providing readers within these pages a sense of recency, 

the validation that comes from years of intensive empirical investigation and the condensed fruit of centuries of philosophical wisdom.

I commend the authors, Dr. Arenas and Dr. Connelly, both veteran 

Air University faculty, and Major Williams, once a top-rated PME 

instructor at the Squadron Officer College and a superior Air Force 

officer and leader, on this readable, timely, and actionable guide to 
building better, more honorable, and more human leaders. Some say 

that leaders “are born and can’t be made,” and let the matter rest there. 

Others offer emotional and latently dehumanizing lists and slogans, 

under which resides an assumption that other people can’t be trusted 

and must be controlled and acclimatized to accept that control. These 

three men, who have all served as leaders in our great country’s military, instead point to an attainable and worthy summit—the summit 

of excellence in leadership—and ask us to climb. That is a journey I 

can—and have—committed to. Join me.

Gerald V. Goodfellow

Brigadier General, USAF

viii
ix

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express the following acknowledgements:

Dr. Fil Arenas

I would like to thank my beloved wife, who has supported my academic projects for decades, ensuring me the autonomy to reflect and 

create without interruption. I would also like to thank my loyal coauthors 

Dr. Dan Connelly and Maj Mike Williams for their relentless dedication to this project over the last few years. A special thank you goes to 

Dr. John J. Sosik for being a loyal FRLD advisor and friend over the last 

five years and for keeping me honest. Lastly, I want to honor my 

parents for teaching me the significance of an education. 

Dr. Dan Connelly

I would like to thank my wife for her endless encouragement and 

the intellectual inspiration that has supported everything I have done 

academically that is of value and my children for their patience and 

support. I would like to thank my parents for their faith in me. Finally, 

I would like to thank the thousands of students both at Air Command 

and Staff College and Squadron Officer School and two of my academic 

mentors and close friends for their professional example, generosity, 

and integrity—Dr. Fil Arenas and Dr. Mary Bartlett.

Maj Mike Williams

I would like to thank my wife for all of the proofreading and patience 

during the writing phase while balancing her instructor and mom 

duties without killing me, my children for putting up with dad being 

locked away in the study while writing and for the much needed hug 

breaks. To mom and dad, your hard work paid off despite my best 

efforts to prove it was all in vain. Dr. Fil Arenas, I appreciate the opportunity to contribute and try to make this project one that Air Force 

students can relate to. Much of what we teach can be technical or very 

lofty. I appreciate the means to offer a grounded, real-world look at the 

full range leadership model (FRLM) in action. Dr. Matthew Stafford 

really sparked the writing bug for me and was enormously helpful in 

researching the Red Baron. Dr. Patricia Maggard was another source of 

leadership technical expertise and the emotional elements to the FRLM 

model. Lastly, from all of us, we would like to dedicate this text to the 

men and women of the US Armed Forces, international officers, and 

DOD civilian force—future leaders of tomorrow.

xi

Abstract

Leadership is a daunting subject for most developing leaders, but 

eventually all followers will be called upon to lead. Where do we 

start? What model or theory do we utilize? The choices become overwhelming for anyone attempting online searches. Everywhere you 

look are leadership books, programs, degrees, workshops, seminars, 

boot camps, and even mobile apps! Many organizations at Air University 

are utilizing the full range of leadership approach. Initially introduced by James MacGregor Burns in 1978 and Bernard Bass in1985, 

these transformational and transactional leadership styles have sustained nearly four decades. Through (1) idealized transformational 

leader behaviors, one may raise the levels of his or her ethical and 

moral values while committing to “doing the right thing” for himself 

or herself and his or her followers: (2) by using inspirational motivation, leaders learn to articulate a vision to energize followers to 

accomplish more than they ever thought possible; (3) by intellectually 

stimulating followers, leaders will challenge followers to create and 

innovate as they reframe problems with renewed visions; and by 

providing individualized consideration, leaders may learn to incorporate 

each member’s distinct gifts and talents as individual contributors to 

the organizational team. These transformational behaviors can offer 

connections to reaching (4) authentic transformational leadership by 

incorporating not only ethics and values but also, according to John 

Sosik, virtues and character strengths to refine one’s leadership 

acumen, ameliorating leader-follower dynamics.

Introduction

Why has the concept of leadership become so elusive to so many? 

Leadership is a topic that has evolved over the course of humanity. 

Why are there so many theories? What is the best leadership model? 

So many choices, so little time. Air Force leaders typically have a limited window to hone their leadership acumen apart from all of the 

other requisite professional education and qualifications. Where do 

we begin? Our first section, “Leadership Theory Evolution,” will provide a theoretical background for your leadership foundation to help 

you synthesize leadership attributes over the last century. Next, the 

main focus of this primer will center on the “Full-Range Leadership 

Model (FRLM)” section followed by “FRLM in Teams,” which will examine team leadership through the use of FRLM behaviors. The 

“Bringing Humanity to Leadership” section concentrates on a leader’s 

ethical obligations and concludes with the final section, “Virtues and 

Character Strengths”; both key ingredients are missing in most leadership programs today.

Leadership Theory Evolution

He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who 

boards ship without a rudder and a compass and never knows 

where he may cast.

—Leonardo da Vinci

Why theories? In order for developing leaders to fully understand 

the relevance of today’s leadership evolution, it is essential that they 

are familiar with the past theories to ground their leadership growth. 

Because there are more individual leadership theories than we wish 

to cover at this point, we will highlight only eight major leadership 

categories of theories and associated models that have evolved since 

the early twentieth century: great man, trait, behavior, participative, 

situational, contingency, transactional, and transformational theories. 

This leadership theory background will provide a relevant foundation for the main focus of full-range leadership.
2 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

Great Man Theory

You’ve heard the phrase he/she is a born leader? In the early 1900s, 

individual personal traits were studied to determine what made certain 

people great leaders as opposed to ordinary leaders. The theories that 

were developed as a result of these studies were referred to as “great 

man” theories, which focused on analyzing specific innate qualities 

and characteristics present in great social, political, and military leaders 

such as Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and Napoléon Bonaparte.1

The term great man was used because, at the time, leadership was 

thought of primarily as a male quality, especially in terms of military 

leadership. During this period, health, physique, and energy levels 

were recognized as important factors in the emergence of leadership skills. For many of these theorists, history was shaped by leadership of great men. For instance, without Moses the Jews would have 

remained in Egypt; if it were not for Winston Churchill, the British 

would have given up, and Microsoft would never have appeared without the leadership of Bill Gates.2

The Great Man Theory of leadership was created to demonstrate 

how failing organizations could be rejuvenated by business executives 

like Lee Iacocca, military leaders like Gen Douglas MacArthur, and 

political figures like former British prime minister Winston Churchill. 

Earlier theorist William James (1880) believed that certain changes in 

society were due to great men who initiated certain movements taking 

society in new directions of growth and prosperity. Further, he felt that 

the history of the world was created by the accomplishments of great 

men. A variant of the Great Man Theory was referred to as the warrior 

model of leadership, which appeared in several classics such as Sun 

Tzu’s Art of War, Aristotle’s Politics, Machiavelli’s Prince, Gratian’s The 

Art of Worldly Wisdom, and Clausewitz’s On War.

3

 Gen George S. 

Patton exemplified the warrior model during his military career. 

Further, wars are won or lost according to the basis of the following 

theory: taking into account the leadership of the opposition.4

Trait Theories

Following the extensive studies of great leaders throughout history 

under the original leadership approach, the trait theory was the next 

evolution of study. Hundreds of trait studies were conducted in the 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 3

1930s and 1940s to seek the essential qualities needed for leadership 

success. Typically, this approach examined leaders’ attributes such as 

personality, motives, values, and skills. Unfortunately, this massive 

effort failed to find absolute traits to guarantee successful leadership. 

One of the reasons for this unsuccessful approach was the lack of attention of intervening variables in the causation area that explained the 

relationships between traits and delayed outcomes such as group performance or leader advancement. The primary research method attempted 

to examine significant correlations between individual leadership traits 

and a criterion for leader success. Moreover, as research design improved, 

researchers progressed in discovering how leader attributes were related 

to leadership behavior and effectiveness.5

Ralph Stogdill became the first leadership researcher to summarize 

conclusions from these trait studies, eventually he came to two major 

conclusions. The first conclusion was that leaders and followers were 

not qualitatively different. Many followers in these studies were identified as just as tall, smart, outgoing, and ambitious as their leaders. Next, 

characteristics such as intelligence, initiative, stress tolerance, responsibility, friendliness, and dominance had a limited impact on leadership 

success. Further, personnel who were smart, hardworking, conscientious, friendly, and willing to take charge were typically more successful 

at influencing a group. Personnel who were less smart, lazy, impulsive, 

grumpy, or did not prefer to be in charge were less likely to impact any 

group accomplishments. Moreover, having the right traits did not always guarantee leadership success but improved the probability of 

influencing a group toward goal achievement.6

Behavioral Theories

By the late 1940s to early 1950s, leadership researchers began to 

shift their focus from trait theory to examining specifically what 

workers did on the job or their behaviors. Once again researchers 

were interested in determining which leadership style was best by 

studying differences in behavior between effective and ineffective 

leaders. Additionally, a subcategory of this theory focused on the 

management of the work. The goal of behavioral research was to 

search for methods to classify behaviors that would facilitate our understanding of the study of leadership. Further, hundreds of studies 
4 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

sought to find relationships between leadership behavior and factors 

of leadership effectiveness.7

The University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center created the 

“Survey of Organizations” questionnaire under the guidance of Rensis 

Likert. This survey attempted to classify effective and ineffective leaders 

by comparing the behaviors of leaders of high-producing units 

against leaders of low-producing units. This research resulted in the 

University of Michigan Leadership Model, which identified two types 

of leadership styles: job-centered and employee-centered leaders. The 

model was illustrated by a one-dimensional continuum between 

these two leadership styles. The job-centered leadership style included scales measuring two job-oriented behaviors of goal emphasis 

and work facilitation. The focus of the job-centered leadership style 

measured the extent to which the leader directs job completion. The 

leader in this instance monitors the subordinates closely, letting them 

know their roles and guiding them to goal achievement (a transactional approach). The employee-centered leadership style measures 

two employee-oriented behaviors: supportive leadership and interaction 

facilitation. This style of leadership places emphasis on meeting the 

human needs of the employees while fostering relationships. In this 

case, the leader builds trust with followers by showing concern, 

sensitivity, support, and respect through effective communication (a 

transformational approach).8

Under the direction of Stogdill, the Ohio State University Personnel 

Research Board facilitated its own study to determine effective leadership styles during this period. This team created an instrument 

known as the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ).” 

The LBDQ truncated 1,800 leadership functions into 150 leadership 

behaviors centered around two leadership dimensions: initiating 

structure and consideration. The behavior relative to the initiating 

structure dimension is synonymous with the job-centered leadership 

style, which focuses on completing the job, while behavior of the consideration dimension concentrates on developing relationships and 

meeting human needs as in employee-centered leadership. A leader 

may score high or low on initiating structure and/or consideration. 

In this regard, the Ohio State University Leadership Model identifies 

four leadership styles: low structure and high consideration, high 

structure and high consideration, low structure and low consideration, and high structure and low consideration. Leaders with high 

structure and low consideration behavior are usually one-way commu-
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 5

nicators as opposed to leaders with high consideration and low structure 

behavior who tend to be more personable two-way communicators.9

Building on the Ohio State and University of Michigan studies, 

management theorists Robert Blake and Jane Mouton developed and 

published The Managerial Grid in 1964 (updated in 1978, 1985), and in 

1991 it became known as Leadership Dilemmas—Grid Solutions when 

Anne McCanse replaced Mouton following her death. Leadership 

Dilemmas—Grid Solutions was based on the same two previous dimensions, which were renamed “concern for production” and “concern for people.” Leadership Dilemmas—Grid Solutions labels five 

leadership styles: impoverished; authority compliance; country club; 

middle of the road; and team leader. The impoverished leader displays low concern for both production and people. The authoritycompliance leader has a high concern for production and a low 

concern for people. Whereas, the country-club leader has a high concern for people and a low concern for production. The middle-ofthe-road leader has a balanced medium concern for both people and 

production. Finally, the team leader thrives for maximum performance 

and employee satisfaction with a high concern for both people and 

production.10

These behavior models help to define our journey through leadership analyses and make relevant connections to future leadership 

models. Behavioral leadership theories “attempt to explain distinctive 

styles used by effective leaders, or to define the nature of their work.”11

The next section describes fundamental differences between directive 

and participative leadership attributes.

Directive versus Participative Leadership

Typically, most leaders, managers, and supervisors are described 

as both directive and participative, depending on the specific circumstances. According to Robert Tannenbaum and Warren H. Schmidt, 

“Direction and participation are on opposite ends of a leadership 

continuum with many levels in between each style of leadership.”12

This model—the leadership continuum model—will be discussed in 

more detail in the “Contingency Leadership” section. Directive 

leadership is focused on defining roles and clarifying follower expectations in order to achieve specific performance goals. These tasks 

require leaders to guide and structure followers’ activities; define 
6 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

roles and communication patterns; clarify expectations, goals, and 

work methods; plan, schedule, and assign responsibilities; monitor 

and follow-up on assignments; and motivate and convey expertise.13

Directive leadership helps to guide followers through active problem 

solving and decision-making approaches. Typically, directive leaders 

may make decisions, give orders, or make announcements regarding 

their decisions without follower’s consensus.14

Participative leadership includes the use of various decision-making 

approaches that allow followers or relevant others to have some level 

of influence over the leader’s final position or decision. Leadership 

theorists have proposed multiple decision taxonomies, but to date 

there is no agreement on the optimal method. George Strauss points 

out that we must make a distinction between open procedures and 

actual influence. For instance, a manager may solicit ideas from 

followers but choose not to incorporate them in the final decision 

process.15 Participative leadership offers a variety of benefits, but 

these advantages are dependent upon who the participants are, their 

level of influence, and other aspects of the specific decision. Multiple 

studies have indicated that four potential benefits are derived from 

participative leadership. First, participative leadership leads to higher 

decision quality. Multiple participants would increase the quality of the 

decision by offering unknown information to the leader. Second, this 

type of leadership facilitates higher decision acceptance by participants. 

People are more likely to accept a decision that they helped influence. 

Third, there is more satisfaction with the decision process. Most people 

feel satisfied that they are treated with respect when they are allowed to 

express opinions or preferences regarding decisions that may affect 

them. Last, participative leadership encourages more development of 

the decision-making skills. The experience of participating in decisionmaking complexities develops participants.16 Participative leaders 

utilize group processes to increase follower inclusion, ownership, 

involvement, consensus, cooperation, and free and informed choice 

while avoiding unilateral control, hidden agendas, and inhibition of 

expression. Participative leadership encourages group members to 

feel free to participate actively in discussions, problem solving, and 

decision making.17 Next, we will briefly examine several contingency theories.
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 7

Contingency Leadership

Contingency theories were based on the idea that in order for 

leaders to become effective, they must exercise their ability to align 

their leadership styles or behaviors with a specific setting or context. 

Sometimes called leader-match theory, leaders attempt to match 

their leadership behaviors to specific circumstances.18 Although 

closely connected to situational models, contingency theories explain 

leadership effectiveness using situational moderator variables. These 

variables help to examine why the effect of behavior differs across 

situations.19 The next section will describe a contingency scale and 

two noted contingency models: Fred Fiedler’s Least Preferred Coworker 

Scale, Victor Vroom and Philip Yetton’s Normative Decision Model, 

and Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s Leadership Continuum Model.

Least Preferred Coworker Scale

The first researcher who began adopting a contingency approach 

to leadership was Fiedler in 1967. His Least Preferred Coworker 

(LPC) Scale has been declared not only the earliest but also the most 

researched contingency approach in the leadership field.20 The LPC scale 

determines whether members have an affinity toward accomplishing a 

task or fostering relationships. Accordingly, members generating low 

LPC scores rate their least-preferred coworker as incompetent, cold, or 

untrustworthy, and they are considered task motivated. The task-motivated 

leader is motivated by task accomplishment activities and may be 

considered highly punitive when task performance is substandard. 

Conversely, members achieving high LPC scores positively rate their 

least-preferred coworkers as loyal, sincere, or warm, and they are 

considered relationship motivated. In this instance, the relationshipmotivated leader would utilize an interpersonal relations approach to 

foster good relationships with followers.21

The relationship between the LPC score and leader effectiveness is 

dependent on situational vulnerability, sometimes called situational 

control, which determines how much control the leader has over 

followers in a given situation. Three factors are weighted for favorability when considering this control: (1) leader-member relations 

describes the extent of subordinate relations as loyal, friendly, and 

cooperative; (2) position power refers to the leader’s authority to 

evaluate, reward, and punish followers; and (3) task structure measures 
8 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

the use of task standard operating procedures, descriptions, and performance indicators.22 Leader-member relations are assumed to be 

more important than task structure, which is assumed to rate higher 

than position power. Although a number of studies over the years 

have declared the LPC model as overall positive, Gary Yukl posited 

that the LPC scores were more complex than assumed and may not 

be stable over time.23 Interestingly, factors such as relationships, rewards, punishments, and standards have become recurring themes to 

this point in leadership theory evolution. The next two models will 

turn to the decision-making process.

Normative Decision Model

When should the leader take charge? When should the leader allow 

followers to make decisions? These questions were addressed by Vroom 

and Yetton when they developed their first version of the Normative 

Decision Making Model in 1973. This model subsequently expanded 

into four models in 1988 by Vroom and Arthur Jago.24 The new models 

were based on two factors: individual or group decisions and timedriven or developmental-driven decisions for consideration. Finally, in 

1988 Vroom revised once more and published the Leadership and the 

Decision Making Process where he outlined the current normative leadership model. This model is a time-driven and developmental-driven 

decision tree that allows the user to choose between five leadership 

styles (decide, consult individually, consult group, facilitate, and delegate) based on a series of sequential questions. These seven questions 

are answered either high or low in significance (based on the problem 

statement) as the user moves through the model from left to right concluding in a selected leadership style.25 Overall, this model has received 

considerable support from leadership researchers. One study analyzed 

battlefield behavior of 10 commanding generals in six major American 

Civil War battles and found that commanders who acted in accordance 

with the prescriptions of this model had more successful campaigns 

than those who did not. Other critiques of this model focused on complexities, assumptions about leader’s decision-making skills, and abilities 

to execute leadership styles.26

Leadership Continuum Model

Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s Leadership Continuum Model is a 

seven-level continuum that describes leaders as both directive and 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 9

participative based on specific circumstances. Directive leaders fall on 

one extreme end of the continuum (first level) and make the final 

decisions for their followers. At this level, they provide directions and 

orders to their subordinates without explanation. At the second level, 

leaders sell their decisions. A leader’s persuasive approach is supported 

by providing either an explanation or justification with their follower 

expectations. At the third level, leaders actually consult with followers 

before deciding on a course of action, typically soliciting feedback 

from subordinates. Participation by both leaders and followers occurs 

at the fourth level. Leaders define limits and request consensus from 

followers on final decisions. Leaders actually delegate responsibilities 

to followers at the fifth level of the leadership continuum model, minimizing their involvement. The sixth level requires the leaders to establish limits and constraints, but the followers make the final decision 

upon leadership review. The opposite, extreme end (seventh level) of 

the leadership continuum generally empowers followers to make ongoing 

decisions within defined limitations.27

Contingency theories assume that leaders are most effective when 

their behavior is contingent on situational forces, including follower 

characteristics. The aforementioned contingency models have described 

how both internal and external settings impact leader effectiveness.28

As noted earlier, these models are closely related to the situational 

models discussed in the next section.

Situational Leadership

Situational theorists believe that leadership is a matter of situational 

demands or circumstances that would determine the emergence of a 

leader, which was in direct opposition to trait theorists. As Stogdill 

noted in his earlier work, in situationalism the leader is the product of 

a particular situation or circumstance, unlike a self-made leader 

characterized by personality, drive, or unique ability. The controversy 

surrounding this debate has been documented since ancient times as 

described in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives (c. AD 100), whereby connections were drawn between leader emergence in Greece versus Rome, 

while comparing Alexander the Great with Julius Caesar parallels.29

The following sections will briefly describe two of the most popular 

situational leadership models during this period: Robert House’s 
10 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

path-goal theory of leadership and Paul Hersey and Kenneth 

Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model.

Path-Goal Theory of Leadership

The intent of the path-goal theory of leadership was to explain 

how a leader’s behavior could influence a subordinate’s performance. 

House decided to ameliorate the earlier work of Martin G. Evans, 

including additional situational variables for consideration.30 According to House, “The motivational function of the leader consists of 

increasing personal payoffs to subordinates for work-goal attainment 

and making the path to these payoffs easier to travel by clarifying it, 

reducing roadblocks and pitfalls, and increasing the opportunities for 

personal satisfaction en route.”31 Choosing a leadership style that 

considers the characteristics of the group members as well as the 

demands of the assigned task is the leader’s challenge during path-goal 

theory. In situations with a low degree of subordinate task structure, it 

becomes necessary for leadership to initiate more structure to clear up 

any task ambiguity for followers. In a situation with highly structured 

tasks, leadership guidance introducing more structure would be ineffective and may be interpreted as a form of micromanagement. Further, 

in order for leaders to be most effective, they should utilize behaviors 

that will complement their subordinates’ environments in addition to 

their own personal abilities.32

Situational Leadership Theory

The situational leadership theory model developed by Hersey and 

Blanchard in the 1970s was originally referred to as the life cycle theory.

33

Despite criticism for weak theoretical foundations and limited research 

support, this model has been widely used in leadership training within 

the corporate environment as well as many military settings. In fact, 

this leadership model was utilized at the Squadron Officer School 

(from the 1970s through 2008) and across Air University. The basis of 

this model helped popularize the concept of contingency leadership 

during this period. Consideration that different leaders’ behaviors 

would be warranted depending on the work circumstances formed 

the argument that leadership was situational. Further, this model 

proposes that leaders are required to change their leadership behaviors 

based on the followers’ abilities and willingness to accomplish the 

particular task. Various levels of employee maturity were derived 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 11

from this combination of ability and willingness. As discussed with 

previous models, the key behaviors tracked in this model were task 

and relationship. Additionally, these behaviors were combined to create 

four behaviors: telling (high task, low relationship); selling (high task, 

high relationship); participating (low task, high relationship), and 

delegating (low task, low relationship). Moreover, determining which 

of these behaviors to employ would be based on the follower’s maturity 

level. For instance, if the subordinate was willing and able (mature), the 

leader could utilize delegation. Alternately, if the follower was immature 

(not willing and not able), the leader would have to tell the subordinate 

how to accomplish the task.34 In 1985 Blanchard developed Situational 

Leadership II, which was a revised version of the original model with 

new categories. The leader behaviors were updated and categorized into 

situational leadership levels (S1-directing, S2-coaching, S3-supporting, 

and S4-delegating), while the combination of the follower’s commitment 

and competence levels was depicted by developmental levels (D1, D2, 

D3, and D4).35

To become an effective leader, and still relevant for today’s leadership toolbox, is the capacity to recognize your followers’ needs and 

adapt your leadership style to meet their concerns. In order to truly 

understand leadership development, it is imperative that we have a 

foundational background of former theoretical constructs and recognize 

relevant components that are applied today. The goal of this section is 

to provide developing leaders with such a framework to foster connections between the evolutions of past theories from the great man 

archetype to the present full-range leadership approach used throughout Air University since 2010. Many original components of these 

models are still utilized today in various forms, as we draw on seminal 

concepts to develop our followers. The challenge for leaders is to 

learn when to incorporate various leadership styles and behaviors to 

remain effective, thus employing a full range of leadership approach. 

Next, we will turn to our main focus: transactional and transformational leadership theories.

The Full-Range Leadership Model

When we speak of the “full range of leadership,” we are actually 

referring to transformational and transactional leadership theories to 

include laissez faire, the nontransactional approach to leadership. As 
12 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

depicted in figure 1, these three styles of leadership and associated 

behaviors comprise the Full-Range Leadership Model.

Laissez 

Faire

Transactional Transformational

Hands-off 

Leadership

Management by 

Exception (MBE)

Contingent

Reward (CR)

Individual 

Consideration 

(IC)

Intellectual 

Stimulation 

(IS)

Inspirational

Motivation 

(IM)

Idealized 

Influence 

(II)

Passive Active 

Figure 1. The full-range leadership model

Originally, transformational leadership was first described in 1973 

by James Downton; however, it was James MacGregor Burns that introduced this significant leadership approach in his classic text Leadership

in 1978.36 Burns attempted to link leadership and followership roles 

while making a distinction between transformational and transactional properties. Transactional leadership behaviors focused on 

exchanges between leaders and followers as described in many earlier 

leadership models. For instance, leaders would offer incentives for 

performance to drive productivity; teachers would offer grades 

for completed assignments; or managers would reward employees 

for exceeding work goals. In contrast, a transformational approach 

seeks to engage a follower to not only foster a leader-follower relationship but also raise the level of motivation and morality. A transformational leader is attentive to the needs and concerns of followers and 

strives to help them reach their fullest potential.37 According to Bernard 

and Ruth Bass, transformational and transactional leadership approaches 

were not mutually exclusive and empirically proven to be positively 

correlated.38 Additionally, the transformational model is one of the 

current and increasingly popular approaches to leadership today, 

which gained momentum in the early 1980s. In their 2001 study of 

articles published in Leadership Quarterly, Kevin Lowe and William 

Gardner discovered that one-third of leadership research focused on 

the transformational or charismatic perspective.39 Over the last few 

decades, considerable interest has focused on transformational and 

transactional leadership growth. Bernard Bass emphasized a “fullrange leadership” approach that not only included these two styles but 

also incorporated an avoidant laissez-faire (LF) style as well.40 In addition to these three styles of leadership, Bruce Avolio and Bernard Bass 

identified relevant behaviors associated with each leadership style.41
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 13

Laissez-Faire Leadership

The French phrase laissez-faire (or “hands-off ” leadership in this 

case) describes a leader that abdicates responsibility, delays decisions, 

lacks interest in follower’s needs or providing feedback, and does not 

develop followers.42 Typically, when leaders exhibit LF behavior, they 

do not care if their followers maintain standards much less reach any 

performance goals! This type of leader is not engaged with subordinates and avoids taking a stand on any organizational issues. Further, 

the LF leader is often absent from work meetings and other related 

obligations and may avoid the daily work responsibilities altogether.43

To call LF a leadership style or behavior is actually an oxymoron; it is 

actually an approach to nonleadership. Do we exhibit any of the LF 

characteristics listed in figure 2? Absolutely, there are times when we 

do not want to deal with our subordinates, bosses, spouses, or significant others! There are days that we choose to avoid meetings, tasks, or 

deadlines; these are normal behaviors. Our point here is not to choose 

this approach as your style of leadership!

Characteristics Example

Near avoidance or absence of leadership Supervisor is never available for 

followers.

Avoids making decisions Major continually delays

decision to hire contractor.

Abdicates responsibilities Supervisor ignores duties.

Avoids taking a stand on issues Boss does not support follower 

issues.

Does not develop followers Flight commander ignores

subordinate’s PME requirements

Figure 2. Laissez-faire characteristics

The effects of LF leadership have been most pronounced in military commands throughout history. One of the most egregious cases 

of nonleadership was illustrated during the Crimean War (see Example 

in History insert) whereby Lord Raglan, the British commander in 

chief, surrounded by his staff (mostly blood relatives) displayed total 

disregard for his men. Not only was his incompetence matched by his 

leader inactivity but he also actually lost 35 percent of his army 

strength due to exposure, malnutrition, and cholera because he made 

no plans to house or supply his troops.44 Research has indicated 
14 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

that LF leadership has been linked to the lowest levels of subordinate, 

team, and organizational performance. Conflicts often occur between 

workers and leaders since role confusion is usually prevalent within 

organizations under this approach to nonleadership. Eventually, followers become detached from their leaders and begin substituting 

their own knowledge, skills, and abilities to make up for the lack of 

guidance, often seeking support from others. Eventually, these followers become frustrated, leading to dissatisfaction with their 

leader, job, and organization.45 In the military environment, this 

dissatisfaction could manifest into a variety of reactions ranging 

from substandard performance to separation.

Example in History

Lassiez-Faire and the Charge of the Light Brigade

All in the valley of death, rode the six hundred. “Forward, the Light 

Brigade! ‘Charge for the guns!’ he said: ‘Into the valley of death rode 

the six hundred.’ ” Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem summed up the 

charge of the Light Brigade: it was suicide. The order came directly 

from the commander of British forces in Crimea, Lord Raglan. It was 

1854; the Battle of Balaclava raged around them, and Lt Gen George 

Bingham, Earl of Lucan, commander of the British cavalry, sat in 

stunned silence. Charge straight through the valley ahead at entrenched enemy cannons; I can’t see? Madness! The upstart captain 

who brought the message, Louis Nolan, was shouting at him, doing 

little to help the situation. He directed Nolan to pass the order to the 

Light Brigade commander, major general James Thomas Brudenell, 

Earl of Cardigan.46 Cardigan was equally stunned when Nolan 

arrived at his position, shouting orders again. Gritting his teeth in 

disbelief and anger, Cardigan raised his sword and spurred his 661 

men forward, straight at 50 cannons and 20 infantry battalions. 

Cannon to right of them, wrote Tennyson, Cannon to left of them . . . 

volley’d and thunder’d. . . . Boldly they rode and well, into the jaws of 

death, into the mouth of hell. Seconds later, a shell tore through Nolan’s 

chest killing him instantly, the first of more than 290 casualties the 

Light Brigade would suffer that day.47 Nolan remained atop his 

horse for the mile long charge at the incredulous Russian gunners: 

What are the British doing? Are they drunk? Only after the charge 

had stopped did Nolan finally fall to the ground, a grisly reminder of
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 15

the disastrous leadership the British had suffered under Raglan 

since the start of the Crimean campaign. British troops didn’t know 

why they were being deployed or even headed to Crimea.48 Just getting everything off the ships took five days; their allies needed one. 

They even forgot to unload food or water. Earlier, at the battle of 

Alma, he directed his men to lie down for an hour and a half under 

direct artillery fire as he patiently waited for his allies to seize an 

objective.49 He was all over the battlefield, too far away to see or so 

close that his own staff wanted to abandon him.50 Raglan’s all too 

common lack of initiative allowed the Russians to secure the very 

positions the Light Brigade was now charging. Raglan’s effect on his 

officers was no better; insubordination was rife. Cardigan and Lucan, 

despite being brothers-in-law, had detested each other for the last 30 

years. Nolan’s insubordination and, according to Lucan, “most 

disrespectful” manner heightened the tension. The hostility Raglan 

allowed to fester ensured the three men would never discuss the 

ill-fated order or even collaborate on a way to circumvent it.51 By 

the time the Light Brigade began its infamous charge, the British 

were losing more men from Raglan’s incompetence than from the 

enemy. Tennyson would write an appropriate epithet for the men of 

the Light Brigade and their misfortune at the hands of Raglan: 

Someone had blunder’d: Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason 

why, theirs but to do and die.

52

While it is imperative leaders recognize that productivity, cohesiveness, and work satisfaction suffer under LF leadership, knowing that an 

active leadership approach can transform followers into viable productive members once again is equally important. Often confused with 

delegation or empowerment, LF leadership does not seek to develop 

followers. Conversely, empowerment or granting autonomy to organizational members is a transformational approach to developing followers 

into leaders.53 The next section describes a necessary style of leadership 

for our dynamic military environment: transactional leadership.

Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership seeks to maintain organizational stability 

through regular social exchanges leading to goal achievement for 

both leaders and their followers. Typically, the leader enters into an
16 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

agreement with their followers to reach performance goals.54 For 

example, in a military environment, a supervisor may offer various 

incentives to employees to meet scheduled maintenance deadlines. In 

a corporate setting, bonuses or other compensation may be awarded 

to employees for meeting performance expectations. Additionally, 

this approach may focus on monitoring followers’ performance and 

taking corrective actions as necessary. Burns described transactional 

leadership as an exchange relationship between leader and followers 

to satisfy self-interests. Building on this previous work, Bass included 

two relevant components: contingent reward and management by exception. Further, he divided management by exception into active 

and passive approaches and included laissez faire (discussed previously) as an avoidant leadership behavior.55 The following subsections 

will describe these behaviors in more detail.

Contingent reward (CR). Contingent reward is a constructive 

transaction between leaders and followers. What does this mean? It is 

constructive because the leader actually sets expectations for followers 

that describe what must be achieved to meet expected standards of 

performance. This action is also constructive since it utilizes rewards 

to reinforce positive performance. The CR approach has been called 

an effective and powerful method to motivate followers because this 

approach creates consistent expectations between leaders and followers. Further, CR is based on an implied agreement or contract 

that defines the expectations between all parties. In a constructive 

transaction, the leader sets performance goals, provides guidance for 

meeting these expectations, and rewards or supports followers for 

meeting desired outcomes. The follower must meet all performance 

expectations to achieve these mutual goals in order to receive the 

contingent reward.56

For the followers, CR also provides direction or guidance defining 

how to achieve targeted performance goals. When leaders clarify 

such organizational goals and values, members are empowered to accomplish more meaningful outcomes. Additionally, the establishment of 

such mutual expectations helps to create an increased level of trust 

and commitment from followers. Transactional leaders can further 

practice behaviors that guide and reward followers using CR by honing 

four key actions: (1) set goals for and with followers—by allowing 

followers to help set performance goals, they can align their own 

efforts with organizational expectations; (2) suggest pathways to 

meet performance expectations—providing followers with guidance 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 17

on how to achieve their performance goals is an excellent display of 

constructive transaction and ensures success; (3) monitor followers’ 

progress actively and provide supportive feedback—it is critical for 

leaders to proactively monitor their subordinate’s progress in order to 

provide timely feedback, support, and necessary resources; and 

(4) provide rewards when goals are attained—exchanging extrinsic 

rewards and recognition for attaining performance outcomes is the 

key to contingent reward behavior.57

What happens when followers do not meet goals? A relevant 

example of this “agreement” can be seen in the Air Force fitness program. If members achieve a composite score equal to or greater than 

90 on their fitness test, they receive an “excellent” rating and are only 

required to test annually. What a reward! If members achieve a “satisfactory” rating or a 75–89.99 composite score, they must test semiannually. No reward, but they pass! Receiving a composite score of 

less than 75 results in an “unsatisfactory” rating and will require corrective action that is associated with management by exception, 

described in the next section.58

The idea of utilizing CR for motivation is based on a tenet from 

educational psychology that posits people tend to repeat behaviors 

that are rewarded. However, a critical issue involving this approach is 

consistency. In other words, provide the agreed-upon reward in a 

timely manner. Likewise, rewarding for no good reason will confuse 

followers, and they will fail to make the connection between performance and reward. Research has indicated that timing of the 

reinforcement affects the followers’ learning speed and performance as well. Additionally, there are advantages and disadvantages 

associated with CRs. Consider that some people are motivated by 

money more than others, so any extrinsic rewards associated with 

promotions or pay increases may have mixed results. In many industries, monetary rewards may motivate performance quantity but not 

necessarily quality. Further, extrinsic rewards may interfere with or 

possibly lower intrinsic motivation, affecting potential creativity 

and innovation. Extrinsic rewards may also have a temporary effect 

on motivating followers who may feel a sense of entitlement toward 

future reward incentives. The use of CR assumes that followers are 

driven by lower-order needs like food, money, and safety. However, 

many followers are actually motivated by higher-order needs like 

socialization, achievement, and self-actualization. Moreover, CR 

leadership may inhibit teamwork when placing too much emphasis 
18 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

on individual extrinsic gratification.59 It is imperative that leaders 

understand what resources are available relative to offering potential 

extrinsic rewards. Typically, CR is transactional when the reward is 

extrinsic or material (e.g., a bonus or promotion). When the reward 

is psychological (intrinsic) such as praise, this becomes more of a 

transformational approach.60

Example in History

Contingent Reward and the Flying Tigers

Sandy Sandell was running for his life. The Japanese pilot above 

was in a jibaku, or suicide dive, and headed right for him. Just missing 

him, the Zero crashed into his parked P-40 Tomahawk in a giant fireball. Life in 1941 Burma was hell—awful food, diarrhea, and malaria—

and now the Japanese were throwing aircraft at them. Luckily, they 

were paid well, around the equivalent of $11,000 a month in today’s 

purchasing power. Sandy couldn’t help but chuckle: I still don’t think 

it’s enough for all of . . . this. He, like many of his friends, had joined 

the American Volunteer Group (AVG) on promises of combat with 

lucrative pay. In 1939 Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed to send private contractors to assist China’s Chiang Kai-Shek against the Japanese. 

Leading the effort was Claire Chennault, a prior US Army Air Corps 

captain. Roosevelt had been moved by the last line of A. E. Housman’s 

poem “Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries:” [they] saved the sum of 

things for pay.64 “Smart man,” thought Sandy as he crawled out of the 

ditch. That $500 bounty the recruiter offered him had sealed the 

deal.65 But reality was harsh; most were ready to quit their first day in 

Burma until they met Chennault. “Here was a man we could follow,” 

wrote one.66 Chennault had been fighting the Japanese since 1939. 

His advice was blunt: use his tactics and live, don’t and “we’ll be picking up pieces of you all over the jungle.”67 Chennault was also blunt 

about their contract: “perform or go home.”68 Perform they did; 12 

days after Pearl Harbor, the AVG vengefully killed 14 Japanese crews. 

The US Army Air Corps, who balked at the idea of paid mercenaries, 

took notice. Chennault knew AVG life required strong incentives unavailable to “regulars.” For him, raw ability was all that mattered. Men 

who performed well were rewarded and respected, left alone to do 

what they did best—fight. Granted, they did other things pretty well, 

too; but the Air Corps didn’t seem to take too kindly those skills.69
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 19

Chennault didn’t seem to mind anyway; he was gone most of the 

time, but the men knew he had their backs.70 He saw that families 

of fallen pilots received their pay for the rest of their contract.71

When stress and poor living conditions took their toll, he granted 

desk duty with no cut in pay.72 Still, Chennault was a patriot and 

took the men to task when things came to a head during the 

“pilots’ revolt.” Fight, he demanded, or go home as deserters and face 

the draft board. The men retreated, and the matter was never mentioned again. Eventually, the AF moved toward converting the AVG 

into a regular unit. Chennault fought to keep their contract pay and 

the commissions they resigned to join the AVG, and he even secured a few promotions. The rest went home with a $500 bonus. By 

the time the AVG became the 23rd Fighter Group, America loved 

the wild antics of the AVG as much as its impressive combat record. 

Inspired, Walt Disney got involved, penning the name and caricature the unit would carry through history, The Flying Tigers.

76

Management by exception (MBE). Unlike CR, this behavior is 

labeled as a corrective transaction and is usually not as effective as CR 

or transformational behaviors but necessary in high-risk or lifethreatening situations,77 as in the military. Further, MBE may take 

two forms: active (MBE-A) or passive (MBE-P). During the active 

approach, leaders actively monitor followers for deviations from 

standards in the form of mistakes or errors and take corrective action 

as necessary. Utilizing an active approach may become necessary and 

effective in some situations, particularly when safety is a factor. During 

MBE-P or the passive approach, leaders passively take corrective 

action only when they feel they must get involved, which is usually 

too late. Unfortunately, when leaders are supervising large numbers 

of followers, it may be difficult for them to actively monitor all members.78

However, when leaders deliberately wait until a situation is out of 

control before intervening, this is a passive approach. See figure 3 for 

characteristics and examples of these behaviors.
20 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

Behavior/Component Characteristic Example

Contingent reward Reward for

performance

A supervisor rewards 

Airmen with an

afternoon off for task 

completions.

Management by

exception (Active)

Responds to deviations in standards as 

soon as possible

A master sergeant corrects an Airmen for not 

saluting an officer.

Management by

exception (Passive)

Responds to

deviations in

standards only when 

necessary

A captain finally intervenes when two of his 

careless Airmen actually 

cause an accident.

Figure 3. Transactional leadership behaviors/components

In MBE-A followers are monitored and controlled through enforced compliance of rules and regulations along with performance 

expectations. This management philosophy was actually based on 

Frederick Winslow Taylor’s scientific management school. Taylor 

believed that the use of careful observation, detailed instruction, and 

active supervision would improve organizational efficiency. A key tenet 

from this school of thought suggested that leaders should focus on 

noncompliance, mistakes, and poor performance that deviate from 

normal operations. MBE-A utilizes this practice by actively seeking 

and eliminating any such deviations prior to or immediately following noncompliance.79 Is this realistic in the AF environment? It’s 

possible, but there are exceptions. Let us look at one example in the 

maintenance field: a typical maintenance officer may supervise hundreds 

of Airmen, making MBE-A challenging. How much time do we have 

before active turns into passive? If the maintenance officer responds 

as soon as he or she can, then it is active; if he or she delays corrective 

action until something goes awry, this is obviously a passive approach.

Further, MBE-A incorporates a corrective transaction between the 

leader and follower as previously mentioned. This behavior is corrective 

in nature since the leader focuses on the specific deviation from predefined standards. Using MBE-A occasionally or in a critical setting 

would be acceptable, but overuse of this transactional behavior could 

create disharmony. Some leaders may misuse this leadership behavior 

as a means to micromanage or aggressively find fault with their followers, 

an overall negative approach.80
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 21

For MBE-P, the leader typically chooses to wait for problems to 

occur before getting involved and taking any corrective action. When 

leaders choose to intervene only when standards are not met, all focus 

is on negative performance, rarely on positive accomplishments. 

Followers exposed to this approach typically have low trust in their 

leader since they are only confronted for errors or mistakes. For organizations in high-risk settings, such as the military, this approach could 

become a dangerous choice; an active approach would be safer and 

more effective. The leader that espouses this passive approach usually 

ascribes to the cliché “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Followers typically 

react to this behavior with low commitment, identity, and trust for 

their leaders. Additionally, this behavior often promotes fear and 

complacency among followers.81

Example in History

Management by Exception and the Great Escape

They should have shot him before he hit the ground; it would 

have saved the awful headache he was going to give them over the 

next four years. Roger Bushell was ambushed by five German 

Messerschmitt fighters on 23 May 1940. He brought down two before ejecting right into the hands of a waiting German patrol.82 His 

first interrogation was amusing since he was also a trained lawyer. 

“Suavely belligerent,” his friends called him. Two escape attempts 

later, the Germans were done with him. Five thousand troops had 

searched for him, and the Luftwaffe, who oversaw Allied airmen, 

grew tired of saving him from the many attempts by the Gestapo 

(Nazi Germany’s secret police force) to kill him. Apparently, his 

skills as a lawyer did not amuse them either. He was moved to Stalag 

Luft III, a maximum security compound. Undeterred, he set about 

building an escape, or “X” crew. He planned four tunnels codenamed Tom, Dick, Harry, and George. As Big X, he controlled everything: recruitment, construction, and most importantly, security.85

He restricted operations to a dozen of the 800 prisoners at the 

camp.86 Bushell issued a warning: “If any bastard utters the word 

tunnel . . . I’ll have him court-martialed.” Secrecy aside, the sheer 

magnitude of the project—engineering, forging documents, and 

hiding evidence—required detailed planning and ingenuity. Obviously, discussions could go off the rails at times. Once, a heated
22 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

debate started on how to exit Tom—ramp or ladder? Bushell 

stepped in. He didn’t usually engage in technical arguments, but he 

would definitely end them; the ramp was out. Documents required 

such “engagements” as well. One of his forgers spoke up in defense of 

a German sympathizer who had balked at procuring them a camera. 

“We can’t ask him . . . he’s liable to be shot.” Bushell was unmoved: 

“Tell him he’s liable to be shot if he doesn’t.” Another forger complained about handwriting 200 forged passes. “Jesus!” the man 

protested. “Maybe he’ll help you,” replied Bushell, “get it done.” 

Stress was high, then the 4th of July hit. Every Yank in camp pulled 

out bottles of moonshine—hell brew they called it—and paraded 

through camp dressed as Paul Revere. Americans! He still made 

everyone work. Finally, on 25 March 1944, their time came. As expected, they were eventually discovered, but 76 had made it out.92 

Over the next several weeks, 70,000 German troops hunted down 

the men. Hitler was furious and after pleas from Hermann Goring, 

acquiesced to shooting “only” half of the escapees.93 Back at Stalag 

Luft III, the men waited anxiously for news. Their sympathetic 

Luftwaffe guards quietly leaked that most were recaptured and sent 

to other camps. They also provided a list of 50 men who were executed; Bushell’s name was among them.94 Undeterred, they remembered 

his words: “The only reason that God allowed us this extra ration of 

life is so we can make their [the Germans] life hell.”95 True to their 

leader, and the Germans irritation, the men kept escaping, 

branching out even, to concentration camps. 

In the military setting, it is critical that we employ positive forms of 

transactional leadership in order to monitor and meet all standards 

as well as meet all critical performance goals to enable mission accomplishment. However, utilizing a purely transactional approach would 

not fully develop, challenge, or instill the highest moral or ethical 

behaviors within our followers.96 Transactional leaders are vital to the 

military mission, but as we will learn in the next section, transformational leadership has been empirically proven as the most effective form 

of leadership at organizational levels.
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 23

Transformational Leadership

In contrast with transactional leadership, transformational leadership involves creating personal relationships with followers that raise 

their level of motivation and morality. A transformational leader is 

attentive to followers’ needs and strives to help them reach their fullest 

potential. Raising the level of morality in others was a key tenet in 

this style of leadership according to Burns. However, this may become 

complex when defining leaders such as Adolf Hitler or Saddam Hussein, 

who were negatively transforming followers. Bass referred to this 

type of transformation as pseudo transformational leadership. Leaders 

who are self-consumed, exploitive, and power-oriented with a distorted sense of morality fit this classification of leadership. When 

leaders are focused on their own self-interests over the interests of 

others, this is considered a personalized leadership approach.97

Another key component to the transformational approach is addressing the follower’s sense of self-worth. The challenge for all transformational leaders is to motivate their followers to accomplish more 

than they originally intended, realizing their fullest potential. This is 

accomplished by creating challenging expectations, allowing followers 

to achieve higher standards of performance.98 However, transformational leaders go beyond simple exchanges and agreements with followers by employing one or more of the behaviors or components 

identified in the transformational leadership concept. To some 

extent, these four behaviors have evolved through conceptualization 

and measurement of transformational leadership over time. Conceptually, leadership is idealized or charismatic whereby followers identify 

and want to emulate their leader. Effective leaders inspire their followers with persuasion and challenging goals, providing meaning and 

understanding. Leaders intellectually stimulate their members to 

expand their skills and abilities. Finally, leaders are individually considerate as they coach and mentor their followers.99 The following four 

transformational behaviors are discussed in the next sections: idealized 

influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. See figure 4 for characteristics and examples of 

each behavior.
24 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

Behavior/Component Characteristic Example

Idealized Influence Role model

Respected

Admired

High ethical standards

A junior officer

volunteers off-duty 

time to support a 

local charity event 

to raise money for a 

local food bank.

Inspirational Motivation Motivating

Inspiring

Articulating a vision

A colonel inspires an 

organization to regroup and overcome 

adversity.

Intellectual Stimulation Thinking

“outside the box”

Reframing old

problems

Innovative

An Airman finds 

innovative solutions 

to common maintenance issues.

Individual Consideration Coaching

Mentoring

Active listening

Valuing diversity

A captain takes an 

extra hour after the 

normal duty day to 

assist a follower with 

a college course.

Figure 4. Transformational leadership behaviors/components

Idealized influence (II). Transformational leaders exhibiting II 

behavior project themselves as positive role models for followers to 

emulate. Typically, these leaders are respected, admired, and trusted 

completely. When followers are asked to recall past exemplars of 

leadership, they generally select from this category of leader. Followers 

identify with not only the leaders but also their mission or cause, 

often emulating behaviors and actions. In true idealized fashion, this 

type of leader addresses the needs of followers over personal needs. 

Principles and high standards of ethical and moral conduct are upheld by this leader, who is consistently counted on to “do the right 

thing.” 100 Mahatma Gandhi is probably the most celebrated II example 

in history. The reason for this is that he practiced what he preached to 

his followers; his genuine positive approach to leadership while advocating high ethical standards for all gained him the respect of followers 

and admirers. This idea of becoming a role model or leading by 

example is often referred to “walking the talk.” 101

Where does charismatic leadership fit into this model? James G. 

Hunt, Orlando Behling, James M. McFillan, and Robert J. House believe 

that charismatic and transformational leadership are one in the same, 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 25

often citing this area of study as “charismatic/transformational leadership.”102 Additionally, II is measured on two components: behaviors 

and attributes. We can observe a leader’s behaviors or actions based 

on what they say or demonstrate, whereas attributes are characteristics 

that followers perceive of their leaders.103 (For example, trust could be 

a characteristic that a follower may believe his or her leaders personify.) How can a leader earn the trust, respect, and admiration of 

his or her followers? Just as John F. Kennedy, Gandhi, and Martin 

Luther King, Jr. have depicted throughout history, successful transformational leaders place the group’s interests ahead of their own 

personal interests.

In the Air Force, we have core values that fit into this II behavior very 

neatly: integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. Relating to character, integrity has been described as the willingness to do 

what is right even when no one is watching you—often called the “moral 

compass” or the inner voice of reason.104 Accordingly, integrity is related 

to several other moral traits imperative to today’s leader:

• Courage—allows members to do whatever is right, regardless of 

the cost

• Honesty—the hallmark of military professionalism, as in “our 

word is our bond”

• Responsibility—acknowledging one’s duties and executing accordingly

• Accountability—owning up to our mistakes and taking the 

credit for our own work

• Justice—practicing justice toward the right and the wrong

• Openness—promoting a free flow of information and feedback

• Self-respect—learning to respect oneself as a professional

• Humility—the expectation that the practicing of integrity may 

require one to become grounded or humble at times.105

The “service before self ” core value describes a work ethic that 

maintains our military duties take precedence over any personal 

issues. This area is based on following rules for good order and discipline, respecting others regardless of rank, maintaining self-control 

(anger, appetites, and religious tolerance), and having faith in the 
26 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

system to not only support your leaders but also develop your followers. 

The core value “excellence in all we do” ensures that we sustain our 

highest standards of performance and continuous search for a better 

way to do business, to innovate. We may accomplish this goal by integrating excellence in other areas of our daily duties (i.e., by employing 

product and service excellence, personal excellence, community 

excellence, and resource excellence).106 Incorporating the II approach 

embraces the tenets of the Air Force core values creating a paragon 

for ethical leadership.

Example in History

Idealized Influence and a Secretary at War

What the hell am I doing here? I have just walked into a categoryfive S*&# storm!107 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates smiled as he 

reminisced over his confirmation hearing five years ago.108 The 

drive was a welcome respite from the long day on Capitol Hill. He’d 

come a long way from his days as a CIA-sponsored Air Force intelligence officer 40 years ago.108 It seemed like even longer when he 

sat down for his confirmation hearing, carefully explaining his plan 

to manage the massive military enterprise and America’s two wars. 

Although overwhelmingly approved, Gates uttered a warning as 

the hearing concluded. He would serve with all his heart, but what 

was happening in the Middle East would affect generations to 

come, and he believed only collective and collaborative effort would 

get the job done.109 He reminded them that as president of Texas 

A&M University, he had lost 12 graduates and that he was committed to doing what he thought best for the country and its men and 

women in uniform.110 He continued this refrain to the senior levels 

of the Pentagon. Characterized by his rhetoric on Pentagon bureaucracy, in reality he was out to to mend fences and build a cohesive team. He was candid with senior military leaders; he needed 

their insight and wisdom: “I’m a good listener, and I prize candor 

above all. I also will respect [your] experience and views.”111 He 

favored sharp disagreements over consensus and informality and 

tried in vain to mount a coup on the ever-present parade of PowerPoint 

presentations.112 Most importantly, he reiterated that they were a 

team and when the time came, they would speak with one voice. 

At times this mantra was tested, especially after the infamous Rolling 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 27

Stone article incident that detailed negative comments toward the 

president from the staff of his top commander in Afghanistan, Gen 

Stanley McChrystal. Gates stuck by his general, even though he 

knew he was doomed.113 His commitment to the troops was also 

unwavering, fighting to get them equipment they needed despite 

leaders who said they did not need it.114 Gates wanted every man 

and woman in uniform to know just how committed he was to 

them and their mission. He was a visible leader, visiting countless 

bases, writing handwritten notes to families of the fallen, and sitting patiently to hear from the lowest ranks. He took the time to 

hear from family members, like when a 15-year-old girl detailed 

the impact the Army’s new 15-month deployment was having on 

her family.115 Ironically, Gates admitted privately he detested his 

job. The strain and faces of the dead weighed heavily on him. But 

he admitted, “I will do my duty, but I can’t wait to lay down this 

burden.”116 His last visit to Afghanistan was met with hundreds of 

well wishers. The troops he served thanked him for his efforts, detailing their accomplishments and the lives saved because of him. 

In a tearful goodbye, he stated a simple “thank you.”117

Inspirational motivation (IM). There are times when leaders are 

required to enhance team spirit, provide meaning, and challenge their 

followers’ work. Through the use of enthusiasm and optimism, leaders 

inspire and motivate their followers to achieve what they never thought 

was possible. Using this component of transformational leadership, 

they can energize followers to seek or envision attractive future states 

or alternatives not normally considered. A powerful inspirational 

leader motivates followers by what they say and how they act. 118

Various famous speeches in history have inspired ordinary people to 

accomplish seemingly impossible tasks like Henry V of England’s famous 

speech prior to the Battle of Agincourt, whereby an outnumbered army 

of Englishmen defeated a superior French opposition;119 Gen George S. 

Patton’s speech to the Third Army in 1944, motivating hundreds of 

young soldiers;120 or Martin Luther King Jr’s inspiring “I Have a Dream” 

speech during the greatest demonstration for freedom in America’s 

history from Washington, DC, in 1963, which greatly impacted the 

civil rights movement.121 Air Force leaders will inevitably find opportunities that require inspiring followers to accomplish challenging goals, 

a vital leadership skill.
28 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

Further, IM is typically demonstrated in leaders who share high 

expectations with followers, using inspiration to garner commitment 

for a shared vision for the organization. Often leaders promoting IM 

use symbols or emotional appeals to focus group synergy beyond 

original objectives. Team spirit is often associated with this transformational behavior.122 Leaders often describe an optimistic vision for 

followers often “raising the bar,” setting the stage to exceed normal 

expectations. Status quo is not acceptable to most transformational 

leaders; their vision typically raises performance expectations. Additionally, by using IM leaders express confidence in their followers 

and their shared vision. Through this synergy of vision and behavior, 

inspirational leaders energize their followers to exert extra effort during 

future challenges.123 A squadron commander who holds commander’s 

call to motivate the organization prior to an upcoming inspection or 

a flight commander who articulates a vision that inspires followers to 

perform beyond their limits are both great examples of IMs in the Air 

Force. A key ingredient to leadership development is the notion that 

leaders must elevate their followers’ expectations by inspiring collaboration and team efforts toward a challenging vision. In order to 

reach this stage, leaders must appeal to the idealistic drives within 

each follower to release the dormant “greatness” in each follower, employing IM. Transformational leaders exemplifying IM trigger inspiration through three main concepts:

• Motivation—Inspiration provides energy and direction that fuels 

the action of followers.

• Evocation—You cannot force inspiration on someone through 

an act of will; instead, inspiration is evoked from within or 

through significant others (e.g., flight commanders, squadron 

commanders, directors, etc.) and the environment.

• Transcendence—Inspiration moves followers through an appreciation of beauty and excellence that allows them to rise above 

ordinary preoccupations or limitations.124

Today we see such feelings and attitudes typically associated with 

visionary leaders like Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, chairmen, 

chief executive officers, and founders of Facebook and Amazon.com, 

respectively. Obviously these are extreme leadership exemplars; the 

takeaway point here is that Air Force leaders may adapt these concepts with surprisingly similar results. As a visionary leader, one may 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 29

see a brighter future than most, expressing dissatisfaction with the 

status quo and challenging followers. Using effective communication, 

creative metaphors, and colorful rhetoric, a visionary inspires associates, teams, and followers to seek new levels of organizational success. 

125 Both IM and II elicit powerful emotional bonds, trust, and commitment between leaders and followers. Based on this point, IM 

tends to increase followers’ willingness to excel.126

Example in History

Inspirational Motivation and the Green Hornet

We’re all dead. . . . That was the last thought to run through 1st Lt 

Louis “Louie” Zamperini’s mind as their 24,000 pound B-24 Liberator, 

The Green Hornet, crashed into the crystal blue waters of the Pacific 

Ocean.127 It was 27 May 1943, and three of the 11 Airmen onboard 

fought their way to the surface. Louie broke the surface of the 

water, grabbed a nearby life raft, and located two other crewmen, 

their pilot, Capt Russell “Phil” Phillips, and tail gunner Francis 

“Mac” McNamara.128 Louie took stock of their injuries and supplies; the situation was grim. Mac was in shock; Phil had a severe 

head wound, and small fins were knifing their way through the water 

in their direction.129 Louie reassured everyone that they were going 

to make it; their squadron would find them; heck, they would be 

home by nightfall.130 Yet days passed, and the trio drifted aimlessly. 

Mac grew more depressed and, in a delirium-induced nighttime 

binge, ate most of their survival rations.131 Louie remained supportive, 

repeating over and over, “We’re going to make it.” Later Louie managed to catch a sea gull and use it for bait. The food gave the men 

hope. He showed them that if they were persistent and resourceful, 

they could make it.132 Days turned into weeks, and Louie worked to 

keep their spirits up. He started peppering Phil and Mac with questions to keep their minds—if not their bodies—engaged and 

healthy.133 A nonstop quiz show emerged, and Louie encouraged 

everyone to share stories and retell the hilarious practical jokes 

they played on their friends back home. They never discussed the 

crash though; it was still too raw for Phil. Louie knew he needed 

reassurance not blame.134 Louie also started a “meal-time” ritual 

whereby he meticulously described every ingredient in his mother’s 

cooking, walking them through each stage of the cooking process.135
30 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

His vivid imagery fooled their empty stomachs, even if only for a 

brief time. On day 27 they were sighted by a lone fighter in the sky. 

They were ecstatic, until it turned out to be a Japanese Zero. The 

pilot dived at the helpless men, mercilessly strafing their tiny craft. 

Louie was upbeat, declaring that such ineptitude meant America 

was sure to win the war.136 The humor would not last as the sharks 

became bolder, frustrated at the men’s amazing luck. One day they 

began leaping into the raft, and Mac and Louie furiously fought 

back. As the water settled, Louie looked at Mac and told him how 

grateful and proud he was of his efforts that day.137 Mac’s redemption was short lived. On day 33 he passed away, Louie and Phil were 

on their own. The two men held a quiet ceremony for Mac. Louie 

repeated all the good things they knew about Mac, laughing at his 

love of mess hall pie.138 Mac was gone, but they still had a chance. 

On day 46, the salvation they so eagerly sought came upon them in 

the shape of a Japanese patrol boat. In a cruel twist of fate, they were 

safe and now prisoners of war.139

Intellectual stimulation (IS). Leaders that foster creativity and 

innovation for their followers while supporting new approaches to 

organizational challenges exemplify IS behavior. This critical-thinking 

approach encourages followers to develop unique ways to carefully 

solve problems or complex issues within the organization.140 Further, 

leaders employing IS inspire members to become more creative by 

questioning assumptions and reframing problems, while approaching old situations or problems with new methodologies. Followers 

are encouraged to try new approaches; they are not criticized for taking 

risks or disagreeing with leadership. Encouraging this type of stimulation coupled with leadership support is not only a powerful transformational tool but also leads to unexpected innovations such as 

“Scotch Tape” or “Post-it Notes” created by 3M employees who were 

given 15 percent of their work time to pursue any projects that 

interested them.141

How do we encourage our followers to generate good ideas? Leaders 

should support creativity as a risk-free norm without repercussions 

(within reason, of course). There are multiple methods for generating 

good ideas: brainstorming, nominal group techniques, ad hoc 

committees, and so forth. In order for leaders to cultivate an innovative environment, they must not only solicit ideas from all levels of 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 31

the organization but also be willing to support those members regardless of success or failure. Further, the transformational leader 

should concentrate on the “what” pertaining to problems as opposed 

to the “who,” when blame is the focus.142 As leaders create a culture of 

creativity and innovation, followers are less inhibited and more likely 

to exchange a free flow of ideas. Great thinkers throughout history 

such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Aquinas, and Maria Sklodowska-Curie 

were advocates of considering opposing views, rational thinking, and 

analysis to achieve creative problem solving. When followers seek 

different perspectives, reexamine assumptions, look at problems in 

new ways, and encourage nontraditional thinking, they are employing IS 

behaviors. Eventually, these behaviors will instill creativity and innovation within followers that lead to changes in people, processes, 

products, and services for the better.143 John Sosik and Don Jung suggest six key transformational leadership actions that promote IS 

within organizations:

• Reexamine critical assumptions to question whether they are 

appropriate.

• Seek different perspectives when solving problems.

• Get others to look at problems from many different angles.

• Suggest new ways of looking at how to complete assignments.

• Encourage nontraditional thinking to deal with traditional problems.

• Encourage rethinking those ideas that have never been questioned before.144

A final area for consideration when leveraging IS behaviors is the 

removal of roadblocks. Using a strategic approach, leaders must 

consider potential barriers while building trust to prevent negative 

effects on group creativity. The anticipation of these impediments is 

critical to the success of ensuring a productive climate. The sources of 

resistance are the following: organization, leader, followers, problem 

orientation, and yourself. It is imperative that leaders are aware of 

these barriers to IS and understand how to manage or reduce these 

obstacles for followers. Your organization may include the structure, 

policies, procedures, regulations, instructions, and other guidelines 
32 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

that determine its culture. If it is determined that some of these areas 

are inhibiting IS growth within the organization, collaboration 

among colleagues and peers must be achieved to promote innovation 

by recruiting creative personnel, including innovation within strategic 

planning and offering rewards for creative solutions. Your leader may 

include anyone in the chain of command from the immediate supervisor to the commander. If any one of these leaders impedes the climate 

of creativity, others must be involved to help champion innovation by 

generating support for solving organizational problems, testing new 

ideas, and educating leadership on the risks of inhibiting creativity 

and innovation. Your followers may be too reliant on the leader’s abilities to seek new ideas and solutions; they may also be introverted or 

feel they lack creativity. Whatever the case, leaders must ensure that 

followers receive relevant education and training in solving problems, developing creativity, and exploring new methods to generate 

ideas. Your problem orientation involves the way that you perceive 

problem solving or arriving at solutions. If you feel that creative people 

are born—not made—or that there is only one right answer to any 

problem, you may need to become more open-minded. Again, 

courses in creativity and problem solving can help one overcome 

these tendencies. Most universities offer professional development, 

continuing education courses, and credited courses in many of these 

topics. Yourself may address your own blinders to creativity. Many 

people feel that they’re not creative people or that sitting around 

thinking of good ideas is a waste of time and cling to old existing 

solutions for convenience. You may solve this dilemma by becoming 

more flexible and accepting other ideas and solutions from all levels 

of the organization.145 You may need to collaborate with colleagues or 

peers for assistance and take courses in creativity or innovation; do 

whatever is necessary to remove these obstacles for your followers.

Example in History

Intellectual Stimulation and the Man Who Never Was

Royal Navy lieutenant Ewen Montagu was watching a dead man 

being loaded into a submarine and wondered if this wild plan would 

work. It was 1943 and Montagu had to somehow mask the impending 

invasion of Sicily. His answer came from Royal Air Force lieutenant 

Charles Cholmondeley. Cholmondeley had once proposed dropping a
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 33

dead man right into occupied France with a radio to feed misinformation about Allied invasion plans into the eager ears of listening 

Germans. Cholmondeley, a man described politely as “eccentric,” was 

ultimately told his plan was unworkable and unrealistic.146 Montagu, 

however, saw an opportunity and quickly set about building the ground 

work for Operation Mincemeat: depositing a body on the Spanish 

coast to throw German eyes off the Allies invasion plans for Sicily.147

Montagu recruited a colorful team to adapt Cholmondeley’s plan, explaining that lives were at stake and that he needed their expertise and 

ingenuity for the project. Montagu enlisted the services of famed 

pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury to secure an appropriate body for 

their task.148 Spilsbury’s contacts led them to Glyndwr Michael, a Welsh 

homeless man with no next of kin who died after ingesting rat 

poison.149 Spilsbury knew Michael’s manner of death was critical; 

coroners in devoutly Catholic Spain were unlikely to autopsy a man 

with such a benign cause of death.150 Montagu next charged his team 

to create an elaborate yet believable tale about the life of a man who 

never was. Cholmondeley proposed the name Maj William Martin; it 

was relatively common and easily checked by the Germans against 

public navy records. The team eagerly worked to sell the ruse down to 

the smallest detail; Cholmondeley wore the dead man’s uniform to give 

it a well-worn appearance. Montagu encouraged his team to humanize 

Major Martin. They all decided to make him a mildly careless yet trustworthy courier. They asked London’s Lloyd’s Bank general manager to 

draft an angry letter about a small account overdraft and added a 

temporary identification in his wallet to stand in for some lost credentials.151 They included several personal letters with cryptic references to 

Greece and Sardinia, long believed by the Germans to be the Allies’ 

main target.152 Keeping Major Martin “fresh” for his mission led 

them to British intelligence’s chief inventor, Charles Fraser-Smith, 

the inspiration for James Bonds’ master of spy toys, Q.

153 Montagu 

charged Cholmondeley to engage Fraser-Smith for assistance. 

Fraser-Smith was ecstatic and worked closely with Cholmondeley, 

building a capsule filled with dry ice that, as it evaporated, released 

carbon dioxide, forcing out oxygen to ward off decomposition.154

On 19 April Operation Mincemeat was ready, and Major Martin 

was quietly deposited on the Spanish coast. His discovery set history 

in motion, no part in thanks to the man who never was and an unconventional leader with an equally unconventional team.155
34 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

Individualized consideration (IC). Probably the most personal 

leadership behavior that you can offer a follower day to day is individual consideration. On Monday morning when you ask one of your 

followers how his or her weekend went, you are using a form of IC. 

The mistake that many leaders make in disconnecting with their 

members is using the words without meaning or action. Take, for 

example, the time when your supervisor asked the following series of 

questions without even breaking his stride down the hallway or looking 

up from his smart phone: How are you doing? How’s the family? Can 

you meet today’s deadlines? This type of interaction is not considered 

genuine. Does this actually happen in our work environment? Unfortunately, this has become the norm in today’s dynamic military workplace with short-suspense tasks, limited resources, and information 

overload! A typical military leader is distracted, but utilizing the IC 

behavior is not only a powerful transformational instrument but also 

a reminder to all of us what it is to be human! Try this experiment 

over the next eight hours: actually attempt to give your followers 100 

percent of your attention during any interaction. This means to 

ignore all distractions and other communication barriers: vibrating 

cell phones, ringing office phones, being interrupted by others, 

watching aircraft fly by, checking your watch, reading your texts, and 

answering your emails. Believe it or not, this will be tougher than it 

sounds. One reason for such distractions is due to the different rates 

at which we think and speak. The average person is capable of thinking five times faster than the rate at which most of us can speak. This 

difference creates what is referred to as a “physiological barrier” to 

active listening. Although the average person can speak at a rate of 

125 to 150 words per minute, the brain can comprehend between 500 

and 1,000 words per minute, creating an opportunity for our minds 

to wander or lose focus on the current speaker.156 The key to managing 

this “mental noise” is to stay focused on your speaker and block out any 

interruptions, ensuring a two-way exchange in communication.

In addition to active listening and two-way communication, a 

leader leveraging IC considers each individual’s needs for growth 

and achievement by assuming the role of teacher, coach, mentor, 

facilitator, confidant, and counselor. Further, creating new learning 

opportunities along with a supportive climate for learning is critical. 

Leaders must not only recognize individual differences to foster creativity and innovation as described in IS but also understand that 

each follower is motivated by different needs and desires; some may 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 35

require more encouragement, more autonomy, or in some cases, 

firmer standards.157 Moreover, the end goal of transformational leaders 

is to develop followers into effective leaders, so reflect on your own 

development and recall who mentored your career. Utilizing IC 

means being empathetic toward your followers and understanding 

their backgrounds, needs, and aspirations. Using this approach allows 

followers to feel valued, encouraging not only professional but also 

personal growth. Sosik and Jung suggest six actions to enhance individual consideration for your followers:

• Consider individuals as having different needs, abilities, and 

aspirations from others.

• Treat others as individuals rather than a member of a group.

• Listen attentively to others’ concerns.

• Help others develop their strengths.

• Spend time teaching and coaching.

• Promote self-development.158

When leaders display these actions with followers, members become more amenable to personal development, expressing individuality 

as they learn to embrace the concept of continuous personal improvement, ultimately transforming them into leaders.

Example in History

Individualized Consideration and the Red Baron

“How the hell did this happen,” thought British lieutenant Wilfred 

May. My first combat mission and I wind up being chased by the Red 

Baron himself! On his tail was a bright red plane piloted by none 

other than Baron Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen. “I’m dead,” 

thought May as Richthofen began shooting with icy precision. Suddenly, as they crested a ridge, the world erupted around Richthofen 

in a shower of bullets.159 Although wounded before, Richthofen 

knew this time was different. As he watched May make his escape, 

his world grew darker. Enjoying the sudden quiet, he let his mind 

wander back to 1916, the peak of German air superiority over the 

battlefields of World War I. He had watched in horror as his mentor 

and Germany’s celebrated fighter ace, Oswald Boelcke, died in a 
36 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

mid-air collision during training.160 As Germany’s second best 

fighter ace, Boelcke’s legacy and German pride lay squarely on his 

shoulders. The task was daunting, even the Allies admired Boelcke, 

so much so that they dropped memorial wreaths in his honor.161

Adding to the pressure, Richthofen was now in command of Jasta 11, 

an experienced but unbloodied squadron.162 Undaunted, Richthofen 

charged headlong into his new command, meeting individually 

with each pilot to learn all he could about his men. Richthofen was 

a keen judge of ability, yet the two men he selected as having the 

most potential, lieutenants Kurt Wolff and Karl Schäfer, hardly fit 

the bill of an ideal aviator. Wolff was rail thin and suffered from a 

permanently dislocated shoulder, and Schäfer had a crippled leg.163

In time, under Richthofen’s coaching, they would become two of 

Germany’s top aces. Wolff, Schäfer, and the rest of Jasta 11 were 

relentlessly schooled in the tactics or “dicta” Richthofen had learned 

under Boelcke.164 For their graduation, Richthofen led them straight 

into their first engagement. On 23 January, Jasta 11 attacked a formation of British bombers and secured its first aerial victory.165 As 

their combat record grew, Richthofen’s next target lay squarely on 

their so-called advanced fighter, the Albatros. It was a death trap; 

design flaws had caused the deaths of two of his men, prompting 

him into action. Richthofen engaged with Germany’s top engineers 

and together developed the infamous Albatros D III and Fokker 

Dridekker I.166 German fighters were now killing machines, feared 

by Allied aviators and the icons still associated with Richthofen today.167 To keep up morale, Richthofen rewarded his best pilots with 

leadership roles and sponsored parties to celebrate their victories.168

Richthofen’s leadership culminated in 1917 during “Bloody April” in 

which Jasta 11 killed 81 Allied airmen.169 Allied airmen ominously 

dubbed themselves the “Suicide Club,” most survived less than 12 

days after flight school. Yet April would prove to be an ominous 

month for Richthofen. On 17 April 1918, his world went completely 

black as he crashed behind enemy lines. The Allies he had fought 

for more than four years laid him to rest with full military honors. 170

FRLM in Teams

Research has indicated that groups and teams typically enter various 

stages of development, and during these transitions, leadership by 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 37

members may differ at each stage. Additionally, these stages of development are also characterized by different levels of performance as 

described in figure 5. Bruce Tuckman, social psychologist, provided 

the five classic stages of group development: forming, storming, 

norming, performing, and adjourning. In the final column of figure 

5, Avolio correlated FRLM behaviors with each of these development 

stages.171 The following section will describe each of these stages of 

team development as it relates to the FRLM behaviors.

Stage of Development/ 

Performance Level

Tuckman’s Five 

Stages of

Development

Correlated FRLM

Behaviors

Early in group’s life

Lowest level of

performance

Forming Unstructured Group (LF)

Deadline approaching

Low level of performance

Storming Semistructured Group

(MBE-P)

Deadline is imminent

Mediocre performance

Norming Structured Group

(MBE-A and CR)

Due date for team’s task

Performance is high

Performing Team

(IC and IS)

Due date and beyond

Excellent performance

Excelling and 

Adjourning

Highly Developed Team

(II and IM)

Figure 5. Levels of team development. (John J. Sosik and Don I. Junk, 

Full Range Leadership Development: Pathways for People, Profit, and 

Planet [New York: Psychology Press, 2010], 310.)

At the earliest group life stage, group and/or team members assume 

an unstructured “form,” generally experience confusion, excitement, 

and anticipation, mixed with fear and anxiety. They typically ask the 

following or similar questions: Why am I here? Do I want to be part 

of this group? At this point, members cling to their individuality. 

They normally take an LF approach to leadership of the group, exhibiting 

poor performance. As the team’s inevitable deadline approaches for 

completing a specific task, members begin to “storm” through confrontations, particularly over roles and expectations. Members at this 

stage begin to assert their individuality by asking other members of 

the team or group questions relative to their status and position: Who 

are you? Who is in charge? Further, at this stage, members begin 

posturing for positions or roles in the group by arguing among 
38 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

themselves, taking sides, and becoming defensive. Since the team is 

considered semistructured at this point, they assume an MBE-P behavior role with a typically low performance level. As the team task 

deadline becomes imminent, group members become structured 

by establishing “norms” (roles within the group) and rewarding performance. Members ask questions regarding work efficiency: How 

well we will get the work done? The need for interdependence begins 

to outweigh the need for independence, and members begin to integrate knowledge, skills, and abilities. Additionally, they begin to 

compliment and reward each other for meeting performance goals. 

They not only become more cohesive and communicate more effectively but also may become prone to groupthink in this stage.172

Groupthink, as defined by Irving L. Janis, describes a group that 

maintains internal harmony by avoiding open discussion or disagreement; members develop an illusion of invulnerability and are likely to 

overestimate the probability of success for a risky course of action.173

At this stage, members utilize MBE-A and CR behaviors to add structure to their team development. Upon arrival of the task deadline, the 

team takes on the synergy of a “performing” team, exuding confidence 

and cohesion as members interact with effective communication and 

collaboration skills. At this stage, they are using IC and IS transformational behaviors as they are considerate of each member’s contributions 

and individual creativity. Finally, at the “adjourning” stage, members 

are exceeding performance expectations and are driven by a mutual 

vision and are implementing high moral and ethical standards along 

with other idealized choices. At this final stage, team members are 

exemplifying II and IM transformational behaviors.174 Accepting 

Avolio’s correlation, teams develop through the following stages of 

FRLM behaviors: unstructured group (LF), semistructured group 

(MBE-P), structured group (MBE-A and CR), and team (IC and IS), 

culminating into a highly developed team (II and IM). Incorporating 

the FRLM behaviors beyond an individual approach can lead to 

effective team building. How can leaders inculcate this shared 

leadership concept and create high-performing teams? Sosik and 

Jung suggest four effective actions:

• Instill pride in team members for being associated with the 

team.

• Go beyond self-interest for the good of the team.
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 39

• Emphasize the importance of having a collective sense of mission.

• Help team members to develop their strengths.

Traditionally, research has focused on individual leadership capabilities determining team performance. However, as employees 

receive more autonomy and become more empowered and as selfmanaged teams become more prevalent, it is critical that we understand distributed or shared leadership within teams or by teams as 

opposed to leadership “of ” teams.175 The next and final section will 

incorporate an area of leadership that we collectively feel has diminished over the years in most leadership programs—the human side of 

leadership development.

Bringing Humanity to Leadership

Are we discussing ethics adequately in the Air Force? Before you 

answer, consider which topic gets more daily emphasis in your professional lives—ethics or results? Both are important, but multiple 

experts testify that an unhealthy results-oriented focus—one which 

ignores or minimizes ethics—encourages unethical behavior at the 

personal and organizational level.176 Lt Gen Stephen W. Wilson, 

speaking at a press briefing in March 2014 concerning the Malmstrom 

Air Force Base missileer cheating scandal, pointed to this kind of 

unhealthy focus—which he described as “perfection is the standard 

culture”—as a pivotal encouragement to cheat.177

A way to approach the right context for understanding ethics is to 

ask ourselves some questions: Are you actively discussing the rightness or wrongness of actions with your leaders, peers, or followers on 

a day-to-day basis? Have you made a conscious decision to approach 

ethics as a topic worthy of study? Do you expect or demand results 

from your subordinates without explaining and reinforcing to them 

the difference between right and wrong behavior to produce the 

results? Learning to behave ethically requires study, reflection, discussion, and formation of a community that inspires continual 

growth in personal and professional ethics. Experts agree that building a solid intellectual foundation for making ethically sound decisions is a continual, lifelong pursuit.178 How often do we attend to it? 

It is tempting to sidestep this responsibility—are we too busy? If we 

do, we remain guilty of Gen Omar Bradley’s charge that for all of our 
40 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

scientific advancement, “Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical 

infants.”179 Indeed, the key missing ingredient in Air Force leadership 

culture may be that we do not teach, reinforce, and model the consistent daily cultivation of ethical soundness in our decisions. In short, 

we, as a force, can afford to clarify our approach to ethics so that the 

daily practice of ethically sound thinking is common to Air Force life.

What do we do? There are many steps to take toward gaining clarity 

on ethics. First, it is imperative that we realize and emphasize that a 

perfect military record is not the same thing as having perfect 

personal ethics—we are all accountable, and we all can fail in the 

absence of constant self-vigilance. Second, we must recognize that 

the goal of a perfect military record can—if not balanced against 

other goods such as truthfulness, justice, and our core values—lead 

us to commit unethical behavior and that these temptations are present 

from the lowest to the highest ranks. Acknowledging these realities 

will help us to respond with something more productive than shock 

when we receive news of fellow Airmen, many with perfect records, 

who pierced themselves on the point of an ethical failure. Third, we 

need awareness that the success of other leadership behaviors hinges 

on the continual practice of ethical soundness—you have to humbly 

live this one every day. If you get it wrong, you will weaken the impact 

of anything else you do as a leader.180 Moreover, the damage often 

extends far beyond the circumstances that nudged you into wrongdoing. It is unfortunate that one of the biggest challenges in hierarchical organizations is that, as evidence suggests,181 the higher you 

climb the more narcissistic (dominant, self-absorbed, low empathy)182

you are likely to be and the more inclined you may be to commit ethical 

failures.183As we rise in rank and responsibility, our calling, then, is to 

become even more humble and more educated on how to behave 

ethically. How do we develop our ability to practice ethical soundness 

every day? Put simply, we learn to bring our full humanity into every 

act: “A righteous man, a man attached to humanity does not seek life 

at the expense of his humanity.”184 Figure 6 depicts US Air Force, 

Marine Corps, and Army service members participating in humanitarian assistance efforts in a civil-military operation initiative in Papau 

New Guinea to strengthen partnerships with US allies in the Pacific.

Bring our humanity? What? What does this mean exactly? This 

phrase may become clearer if we first reflect on a very personal 

example from our own lives. Consider the difference you have experienced between spending time with people who invest themselves in 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 41

Figure 6. Operation Pacific Angel participants help improve Papua 

New Guinean school. Courtesy of US Air Force. 

the interaction with you (IC) or spending time with others who are 

preoccupied, withdrawn, and cold to you, clearly focused elsewhere. 

Which treatment do you prefer? Similarly, the act of learning to behave 

ethically requires our entire humanity, not merely our intellect. Logical 

thinking alone is not sufficient grounds. If the use of intellect, of our 

reasoning capacity, alone were enough to guide us to a foundation of 

ethical soundness, it is worth reflecting that prior to the rise of the Nazis, 

the democratic Weimar government of Germany headed the most literate country in Europe.185 In 1920, 12 years before the Nazi Party’s 

democratically elected rise to power, highly respected German professionals Judge Karl Binding and medical doctor Alfred Hoche, of their 

own volition, wrote and published their rationally conceived booklet 

On Permitting the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life.

186 From philosophy, 

we can get a clearer handle on the term “humanity.” Plato viewed the 

whole human person in terms of his famous tripartite concept:

• Reason (my ability to study knowledge and make plans)

• Will (the decision-making “I”—what do I care about, and how 

much?)

• Appetites (my bodily desires)
42 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

Plato argued that only a cooperation between reason and the will, 

in which reason guides the will, to desire truth more than the mere 

fulfillment of desires would lead to a proper control of the appetites 

and produce just behavior.187 Clive S. Lewis has a modern take on the 

Platonic view. He emphasized the necessary combination of reason 

and trained emotions, warning that “without the aid of trained emotions the intellect is powerless against the animal organism.”188 Lewis’ 

updating of Plato, in short, concludes as follows: the head (reason) 

rules the belly (appetites) through the chest (will). The key is relative 

to those trained emotions—“emotions organized by trained habit into 

stable sentiments.”189 Without trained emotions, we don’t know how 

to properly weigh our concern for people and things. We can become 

disordered, such as becoming uncaring thinkers who disregard the 

pain of others or gluttons who care way too much about fulfilling our 

own desires. In the end, we may allow our desires to lead us to use 

logic to achieve unethical goals.190

How can one eventually come to use logical thinking to behave 

unethically? Given the ethical failures of gifted and privileged leaders 

in history, this is not only a fair question but also an essential question 

in regard to behaving ethically. Maybe it is “the” question to ask when 

we consider the phrase “bringing your (entire) humanity into every 

act.” It may seem odd at first that logical thinking can get us into 

trouble, but a decent understanding of history can show us the truth 

about ourselves and the fallibility of using logic in isolation.191 One 

can see in the acts of mass brutality littering the last century the consequences of the use of reason without the accompaniment of trained 

emotions. To facilitate the Holocaust, Nazi leaders had to figure out 

logically the most efficient means of killing millions of people. This is 

why literary critic Gilbert K. Chesterton, remarking on the dangers of 

using unaided reason, wrote that “the madman is not the man who 

has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost everything 

except his reason.”192 Philosopher Philippa Foot emphasized that 

virtuous behavior, especially when the welfare of other people is directly 

involved, requires more motivation than simply that the behavior is 

rational.193 Journalist Leon Wieseltier, speaking at the United States 

Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, in 2005, did not 

point to irrationality to explain the Holocaust but instead to an abundance of logical thinking, all directed at the achievement of evil desires.194

Today, we can also review much evidence describing the careful planning behind some of the worst mass murders in recent US history.
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 43

How does the power of this connection of reason and trained 

emotions, as a basis for ethical soundness, contribute to good leadership? Think about this analogy as you ponder the relationship between 

ethics and leadership. In 2009 a RAND study revealed that Air Force 

personnel operate more successfully in foreign cultures when they 

enable their communication by first consciously managing their 

stress levels in unfamiliar surroundings—a skill that can be taught.195

In a similar way, sound personal ethics enable the practice of leadership behaviors. The daily demonstration of ethical soundness creates 

the conditions of trust upon which all leadership influence depends. 

How can a leader who fails to daily demonstrate solid ethics effectively use FRLM behaviors such as IC or II in ways that improve 

others’ performance? We all want to see integrity in our leaders, and 

part of what that means is that we want to see an act of IC as more 

than a momentary fit of concern in an otherwise tyrannical leadership style. We want to see a leader who is not split apart by competing 

motivations and thus unpredictable. How do we best communicate 

our wholeness as a leader, our personal integrity? It begins, and ends, 

with the daily practice of ethical soundness, which reveals your willingness as a leader to act self-sacrificially. If you continually reinforce 

this, you will enjoy the two crucial resources essential to leadership in 

the Air Force: (1) you will have established the conditions for trust to 

grow so that others, for example, will see your use of IC as significant 

and dependable because you are dependable all the time whether it 

helps you personally or not, and (2) you will have shown that your 

behavior consistently encompasses the core values themselves, since 

each one of them depends on your readiness to subordinate your selfinterest when required.

Finally, without developed personal ethics, internalizing one’s 

organizational ethics is impossible! When the reality of the human 

being is acknowledged and honored, we see this is a fact, not a suggestion. It makes no difference when an organization says “service 

before self ” if the members have no experience or investment in what 

that means to them personally. Change or improvement in behavior 

comes from a significant personal reaction with motive force to a 

proposed behavioral goal, not the reading or hearing of words.196 Air 

Force ethics expert James Toner calls for Air Force professionals to be 

men and women who have “learned to reason wisely and well. Such 

people are not produced quickly or easily.” He goes on to call ethics 

training an oxymoron. “Using traditional military training techniques 
44 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

in ethics instruction will not work. . . . We can speak forever about 

‘integrity,’ ‘excellence in all we do,’ and ‘service before self.’ We can put 

those words on calendars, desks, and walls. When we have to apply 

them, what do they mean?”197

This mistaken faith in the power of slogans by themselves comes from 

a shortsighted view of the human person. When people are viewed properly as thinking, breathing moral agents capable of integrity in their behavior, rather than as mere parts of a system, we see that there is no actual 

distinction between one’s off-duty personal ethics and ethics on the job. 

Toner writes that “the officer who is a personal degenerate either is or will 

soon become, a professional degenerate.”198 Your behavior at work is indicative of your personal ethics in your professional setting.

The key for you as a leader, particularly if you aspire to be a transformational leader, is to develop your personal ethics. We describe this development as a process of study and practiced habits that mature your 

ability to integrate your reason and trained emotions. Do well at this 

process and you will enable yourself not only to deeply internalize the 

core values but also be more effective at influencing others to do the 

same! As discussed earlier, the FRLM behavior of II demands the daily 

practice of high ethical standards as pivotal to transforming others. Thus, 

a strong personal ethics is the cornerstone of truly powerful leadership. 

The following five ethical steps (see figure 7) are proposed to help you 

gain mastery of the skill of bringing your entire humanity into your daily 

routine and with each decision you make: (1) learn to handle failure; 

(2) reject the image of perfection as a valid goal; (3) embrace humility 

over arrogance; (4) relearn what it means to be human; and (5) develop 

a personal ethics.

Five Ethical Steps Guidelines

Learn to handle failure Begin to think more deeply about behaving 

ethically.

Reject the image of perfectionStrive for excellence in front of your peers 

versus presenting an image of perfection.

Embrace humility over 

arrogance

Be humble at all levels––with leaders, peers, 

and followers.

Relearn what it means to be 

human

Try journaling and reflection for your introspective development.

Develop your personal 

ethics

Build your library on ethical behavior, including 

case studies, hypothetical

scenarios, and various lessons learned. 

Figure 7. Five ethical steps
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 45

• Learn to handle failure. Many of our lessons purposefully create 

conditions for conflict and the possibility of failure—these are 

valuable experiences that also resemble reality. We can begin to 

think more deeply about behaving ethically when we reflect on 

how well we react to conflict and failure.

• Reject the image of perfection as a valid goal. Our peers have a 

way of seeing through us. Whether the course is several weeks 

or several months long, the veil of appearances is too difficult to 

keep up. As honest relationships grow, striving for excellence in 

front of your peers gains more importance (and is certainly more 

tolerable) than presenting an image of perfection.

• Embrace humility over arrogance. Arrogance wears thin 

quickly in the company of peers. Hopefully we learn neither to 

flaunt it nor applaud it in others. And if our peers help to teach 

us to be humble, why stop with them? All levels—leaders, peers, 

and followers—find humility much more attractive and inspiring!

• Relearn what it means to be human. None of us lives in a universe of one. Most leadership curricula, for example, require 

reflection and discussions on self and team performance. During 

these events, we often hear students experiencing countless 

epiphanies on the larger significance of human life. They have 

the opportunity to see they are unique and part of a community 

and that both of these realities bring obligations, leading to the 

question, How then should I behave?

• Develop a personal ethics. Each program provides a thick suite 

of lessons on ethical behavior, including dozens of case studies, 

hypothetical scenarios, and lessons learned. Only the foolish or extremely arrogant remains unaffected by exposure to such content.

This kind of approach to developing a personal ethics plan can help 

you recognize the inherent dangers in such goals as a “perfect military 

record” or results at “any” cost and to learn to integrate our reason and 

trained emotions. The often heavily peer-driven learning environments of Air Force resident professional military education programs 

present opportune milieus to consider and practice these steps.
46 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

Virtues and Character Strengths

Having a deep understanding of ethical and moral considerations is 

not only enlightening for our own personal development but also vital 

to our leadership growth. Further, to exemplify an authentic transformational leadership approach, it is imperative that we continually build 

on our current signature character strengths while broadening our personal perspectives to include a variety of strengths.199 The following 

section describes how we can continue the human leader experience by 

reflecting on our own virtues and character strengths while considering 

our followers’ proclivities as well.

To help understand how each of us must consider a deeper level of 

character strength applications, Sosik has connected transformational behaviors with the 24 character strengths and high-six virtues 

outlined in Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman’s breakthrough research. Virtues are the core characteristics universally 

valued by moral philosophers and religious thinkers as the pillars for 

good character; they include the following: wisdom and knowledge, 

courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Character 

strengths are the positive traits, sometimes called psychological processes for displaying the virtues. For instance, love of learning is a 

character strength of the virtue wisdom and knowledge.200 Each of 

the high-six virtues and associated character strengths is described in 

the next section and illustrated in figure 8.

Wisdom Courage Humanity

Creativity

Curiosity

Open-mindedness

Love of Learning

Perspective

Bravery

Perseverance

Honesty

Zest

Love

Kindness

Social Intelligence

Justice Temperance Transcendence

Teamwork

Fairness

Leadership

Forgiveness

Humility

Prudence

Self-Regulation

Appreciation of Beauty 

or Excellence

Gratitude

Hope

Humor

Spirituality

Figure 8. Virtues and character strengths. (Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. 

Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues: Handbook and Classification [New York: 

Oxford University Press, 2004], 56–57; and E. P. Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues: 

Handbook and Classification [New York: Oxford University Press, 2004], 56–57.)
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 47

Wisdom and Knowledge

When one exercises good judgment and the appropriate use of intelligence, this describes a core virtue referred to as wisdom and 

knowledge. There are five associated character strengths that fall 

under this virtue: creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of 

learning, and perspective. Creativity is typically characterized by 

someone’s original or ingenuous abilities, displayed by the way he or 

she thinks, talks, or performs. Creativity has often been linked to 

nonconformity, unconventional behavior, flexibility, and risk-taking 

behavior. Creativity allows leaders and organizations to challenge the 

status quo and explore new opportunities and solutions, ensuring inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation for followers.201

Curiosity describes someone who may have many interests, seeks 

novel ideas, or is open to new experiences. Often related to general 

positive feelings and emotions and willingness to challenge stereotypes (or impulsiveness), curiosity is a powerful source of IM and IS 

for followers, while allowing leaders to become more adaptive.202

Open-minded individuals consider alternative viewpoints, examine 

all evidence, and typically do not jump to rash conclusions without 

weighing all of the facts. This leader’s character strength allows followers to develop a sense of ownership within their organizations 

leveraging not only IM and IS but IC as well.203 Those of us who are 

motivated by intrinsic desires to learn new things are exercising our 

“love of learning.” These individuals often experience positive feelings when considering new challenges and high self-efficacy. This 

character strength allows leaders to seek new ideas and trends within 

their industries, leading to new approaches and strategies for their 

organizations while utilizing IM, IS, and IC for follower growth.204

Perspective describes the ability to consider all facets of a situation 

and integrate these views into one understandable solution for all to 

consider. Perspective is one of those key character strengths that can 

help us empathize with followers’ needs. This character strength enables leaders to use multiple lenses to examine organizational challenges, considering both sides of arguments. Utilizing this strength 

energizes your followers to perform beyond their expectations, allowing leaders to exercise IM, IS, and IC.205 The strengths of wisdom and 

knowledge are considered positive traits leading to the use of information in the service for a good life; in psychological language, these 

are cognitive strengths.206
48 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

Courage

Unlike all other virtues, courage has been a fundamental part of 

the military throughout history. Sometimes referred to as “strengths 

of the heart,” these emotional strengths are derived from your will in 

the presence of opposing or dissenting opinions. Peterson and Seligman 

point out that despite disagreement or even danger, persistence in the 

face of significant obstacles, makes courage a core virtue. There are 

four related character strengths that reflect this virtue: bravery, persistence, integrity, and vitality. When someone speaks up for what is 

right—in conflict with opposition—or acts on convictions, regardless 

of how unpopular, these are an examples of “bravery.” Bravery has 

been linked with looking out for, favoring, and feeling connected to 

others, while sustaining high-quality relationships with yet others. 

Bravery allows leaders to act consistently upon their values and beliefs. 

Additionally, leaders can inspire their followers through IM and IS by 

displaying this strength while acting on their passionate ideas.207 

Courageous people learn to persevere despite challenges, obstacles, 

or setbacks; this describes their character strength of “persistence.” In 

the military, we admire our members for “getting things done”; regardless of challenges, we often refer to these skills as execution of 

strategies. This character strength is also a key ingredient to gaining 

trust and loyalty from followers. When leaders persist by demonstrating their beliefs and values, they are demonstrating II and IM 

behaviors to their followers.208 When one remains true to himself or 

herself and acts with honesty and authenticity, we are considering an 

individual’s “integrity.” As described previously under the Air Force 

core values, this character strength has been inculcated among Airmen 

as “doing the right thing” since the beginning of their military 

careers. Further, integrity helps leaders build confidence as they are 

guided by their strong beliefs and as they strive to do the right thing, 

which is the foundation of authentic leadership. When leaders use 

this character strength in this manner, they are displaying II for their 

followers.209 When we say that someone has “zest for life” or displays 

good physical and mental well-being throughout challenges in their 

lives, we call this “vitality.” Because this strength has two components, 

physical and mental, there will be times—due to illness, weakness, or 

fatigue—when we experience lower levels of vitality. This powerful 

character strength may energize your followers through II and IM.210

How we bounce back and recharge ourselves during these chal-
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 49

lenging times defines our levels of vitality. Military history is fraught 

with stories of heroes fighting through harsh physical conditions, 

battle wounds, and mental warfare to meet their missions. The character strength of courage supports the power of “will” to meet goals 

in the face of opposition or other challenges whether external or 

internal.211

Humanity

This virtue is one that we consider when we are defining “strengths 

of others” or, more importantly, interpersonal strengths that we use 

to protect or befriend others in our work environment or personal 

lives—what it means to be “human.” There are three character 

strengths associated with humanity: love, kindness, and social intelligence. Peterson and Seligman refer to love as caring or valuing close 

relationships with others, particularly when sharing or caring are reciprocated. Since a human need is to love and be loved, leaders should 

understand and demonstrate this strength to followers in the appropriate context. There are times when compassion and understanding 

are needed to comfort followers during a crisis (e.g., loss of a family 

member) or during stressful times in their lives. Clearly, this character 

strength demonstrates II and IC for followers.212 Valuing humanity 

while demonstrating generosity, nurturance, and compassion describes “kindness.” This strength has been linked to a variety of helping 

behaviors including volunteerism as it correlates to one’s mental and 

physical health. Displaying genuine kindness to your followers not 

only sets a positive example for them to emulate but also demonstrates through II and IC that you appreciate their unique contributions.213 Leadership includes building confidence, wisdom, and 

camaraderie in followers. When we recognize and control our emotions 

and engage in positive interactions with others, we are exercising the 

strength of “social intelligence.” Social and emotional intelligence 

have been linked with better life decisions, more effective social 

functioning, and more adaptive outcomes, leading to lower levels of 

aggression. When leaders are aware of their own emotions, motives, 

and actions, as well as their followers’ concerns, they are exemplifying II, IM, and IC as they continue to develop followers’ talents.214

Strengths of humanity include positive traits used typically in one-to-one 

relationships on an interpersonal level.215
50 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

Justice

Fostering a sense of fairness and righteousness describes the virtue 

of “justice.” There are three character strengths within this virtue: 

citizenship, fairness, and leadership. When we ensure that we are 

demonstrating a sense of loyalty, social responsibility, and teamwork, 

we are exercising “citizenship.” In many military situations, we must 

work well with other group or team members, display loyalty to our 

teams, and do our part of the workload to ensure harmony. When 

leaders value citizenship, they are demonstrating commitment for 

the common good, ultimately building followers’ trust through II.216

Ensuring that we treat all others the same without personal biases or 

preferences describes “fairness.” This strength has been linked to a 

strong moral identity development fostering trust among others. 

Leaders must be fair in order to be trusted by followers. Leaders that 

value fairness, justice, and principled moral reasoning in their relationships with followers become idealized. Moreover, leaders that 

promote the importance of an individual’s needs, interests, and wellbeing are displaying IC for their followers.217 Peterson and Seligman 

describe a leader as someone that not only encourages a group to 

accomplish a goal but also maintains good relations among the group. 

Justice character strengths are considered broadly interpersonal 

relative to the interaction between the individual and the group. A 

suggested distinction considers strengths of justice among parties; 

whereas under the virtue of humanity, these interactions would be 

typically between individuals.218

Temperance

“Tempeance” is the ability to exercise self-control as described in 

the Air Force core values and ensures that our Airmen consider boundaries and limitations on personal desires and aspirations. There are 

four character strengths associated with this virtue: forgiveness and 

mercy, humility/modesty, prudence, and self-regulation/control. 

One that exercises forgiveness and mercy avoids the human impulse 

to become vengeful in certain situations. Displaying leniency and 

compassion for someone who may be in trouble or at a specific disadvantage highlights this character strength. Additionally, utilizing 

forgiveness at the appropriate times may not only restore positive 

emotions, moods, and attitudes but may also reduce anxieties, anger, 

and depression. When leaders show forgiveness, they are restoring 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 51

trust (or II) with their followers, a critical element for the leaderfollower dyad.219 Remaining humble during one’s achievements and 

not seeking the spotlight or allowing one’s performance to speak for 

his or her workload describes “humility and modesty.” Typically, 

humble individuals are less likely to take risks or make poor decisions 

and are usually excellent mentors. Leaders whose ego overpowers 

their humility are prone to narcissism, usually leading to career derailment, lack of follower trust, and low moral development. Leaders 

displaying humility typically show more concern for their followers’ 

development and less concern for their own personal agendas, demonstrating II and IC.220 Logical decision makers who consider careful, 

thoughtful choices are considered “prudent.” They typically avoid 

taking unnecessary risks and are considered conscientious as they 

demonstrate positive personality traits (agreeableness, extroversion, 

and emotional stability). Leaders who utilize this character strength 

exemplify IM by guiding and leading their followers to higher levels 

of performance.221 Self-regulation and control describe the foundation of temperance as it relates to one’s discipline and regulate one’s 

appetites and emotions. Those leaders with high self-control typically 

inspire better relationships and build trust, fairness, and consistency 

with followers. Leaders who self-regulate their transformational 

behaviors are attuned to their follower’s verbal and nonverbal 

feedback. When leaders use self-regulation, they are serving as role 

models, inspiring their followers (IM), exhibiting high moral conduct (II), and using logic (IS) to reach long-term goals.222 Temperance character strengths protect us from excess. When we consider 

optimal self-regulation of emotions, we are not suggesting suspending our feelings, good or bad, but taking charge or control of them.223

Transcendence

Peterson and Seligman’s final virtue, transcendence, sometimes 

called “strengths of the spirit,” can be described as providing meaning 

to one’s life by making connections to the larger universe or looking 

beyond oneself for relations with others in this world. There are five 

related character strengths associated with this virtue: appreciation of 

beauty or excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, and spirituality. Transcendent individuals are often filled with awe, wonder, and elevation of 

spirit upon recognition of certain extraordinary people or things. These 

individuals learn to “appreciate beauty, excellence,” and the skilled per-
52 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

formance of others. Leaders utilizing this character strength support 

high goals for their followers, often rewarding their followers for 

achieving increased levels of performance. When leaders appreciate 

the best in their followers and appreciate the excellence around them, 

they clarify what is valued by the organization and discover how to 

sustain excellence through II.224 Additionally, transcendent individuals 

are thankful for the good in their lives and take the time to thank those 

that have had positive influences in their lives, exercising “gratitude.”

Gratitude allows leaders the opportunity to recognize that their leadership outcomes are accomplished through their followers, fostering 

positive leader-follower relationships. Leaders that appreciate, value, 

and recognize the accomplishments and contributions of their followers are demonstrating this strength through the behavior of IC.225

Looking to the future with a positive vision or optimistic outlook describes “hope.” Typically, hopeful individuals are high achievers in 

academics, athletics, politics, and other industries. Followers are 

attracted to leaders that are positive and optimistic; hope is a catalyst 

for this approach. Through IM, leaders may shape expectations and 

help guide their members to success.226 Transcendent people often 

use “humor” to not only encourage creativity but also relieve stressful 

situations. Studies have shown that self-deprecating and positive forms 

of humor may promote creativity, reduce stress, improve physical 

health, and promote good moods. When leaders use appropriate forms 

of humor, they promote morale at work while promoting positive 

physiological effects on themselves and their followers through the 

behavior of IS.227 Possessing faith—having beliefs about a higher purpose and meaning of life—or where one fits in the larger scheme describes “spirituality.” Research has shown that spirituality has positive 

influences on interpersonal relationships and social values, while promoting psychological and physical health. Spirituality enables leaders 

to understand their purpose in life and the importance of their work. 

Further, spirituality helps leaders define a moral code that may guide 

their behavior through II, IM, and through the use of IC to continually 

shape and develop their followers.228 Although transcendence describes 

character strengths that may seem varied, the common thread that 

runs through this virtue is the idea that enables individuals to find connections with the larger universe, finding meaning for their lives.229

Developing leaders often focus on the leadership styles and behaviors 

as they relate to accomplishing the mission or meeting specific timelines or goals. In our dynamic and complex military environment, we 
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 53

often fail to consider the human aspects of leadership as well as followership. Utilizing the profound tenets of Peterson and Seligman’s 

breakthrough research and the transformational applications of 

Sosik’s work, we can make more meaningful human connections 

with our superiors, peer groups, and followers, resulting in powerful 

leadership practices.

Authentic Transformational Leadership

Bill George suggested that authentic leaders not only inspire those 

around them but also empower them. According to George, “the 

authentic leader brings people together around a shared purpose 

and empowers them to step up and lead authentically in order to 

create value for all stakeholders.”230 Further, he describes authentic 

leaders as being true to themselves with the ability to engender trust 

and develop genuine connections with others. Additionally, they are 

more concerned with serving others than they are about their own 

individual success. George suggests five dimensions for an authentic 

leader: (1) pursuing a purpose with passion (their passions show the 

way to their leadership), (2) practicing solid values (shaped by their 

personal beliefs and developed through study, introspection, and experience), (3) leading with heart (having passion for their work, compassion and empathy for people they serve, and the courage to make 

difficult decisions), (4) establishing enduring relationships (building 

trust and commitment with followers), and (5) demonstrating selfdiscipline (setting high standards for themselves and expecting the 

same from others).231 According to Bass, “authentic transformational 

leaders align their interests with those of others and may sacrifice 

their own interests for the common good. Their communication can 

be trusted.” Further, this type of leader models high moral standards 

for followers to emulate and is genuinely concerned for his or her followers’ development and overall success.232 Authenticity and trust 

have become essential themes in the theory and research of leadership. Leaders connected with deceit, insincerity, and duplicity 

would make it difficult for followers to trust. A leader seen as one 

who expresses genuine feelings and thoughts would be considered 

trustworthy.233 How important are moral values for transformational leaders? Avolio had concerns that we may be developing 

transformational leaders who may be missing this key ingredient. 
54 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

After years of collaboration and research on the necessary qualities 

of an authentic leader, four critical requirements were consistently 

found as necessary components for an authentic leader:

• Self-awareness

• Relational transparency

• Balanced processing

• Moral perspective

Self-awareness describes a deep understanding of a leader’s selfconcept and helps him or her reflect on the following: What are my 

abilities to derive meaning from my leadership philosophy, and what 

is my impact on my followers? Relational transparency focuses on the 

leader-follower dyad, including the leader’s thoughts, beliefs, and 

emotions while considering the level of openness and transparency. 

Leaders with more open behaviors and interactions with their followers 

would encourage increased openness leading to a more authentic 

leader-follower approach. Balanced processing would consider open, 

outside views that may challenge the leader’s perspectives and convictions before committing to final decisions. Moral perspective, the 

fourth component, ensures leaders are integrating their internal values 

and beliefs to guide their moral views.234 According to Sosik, “When 

what you say is what you do, and you are true to yourself and others, 

then you are an authentic leader.”235 Further, he states that authentic 

transformational leaders are virtuous and should possess a collection 

of “raw material” to include virtues and character strengths, which 

are essentially the foundation for authentic transformational leadership. Additionally, he asserts that transformational behaviors (II, IM, 

IS, and IC) may be leveraged daily by leaders to make meaningful 

connections to relevant character strengths for more effective leaderfollower relationships; the mind map in figure 9 illustrates these links.2

36

Conclusion

What does it mean to be a leader in the US Air Force? It means having 

a theoretical background to ground current leadership approaches to 

important leadership models of the past; inculcating a full range of 

leadership approach within a complex military environment; comprehending vital leadership behaviors for team effectiveness, and incorpo-
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 55

rating personal ethics, virtues, and related character strengths within 

your leadership approach. The concepts underpinning full-range leadership are not particularly complicated. One can learn and promote these 

behaviors in a relatively short period of time. The true challenge for a 

leader is to sustain these concepts to strengthen leadership behaviors—

both in oneself and within followers—and to discern the conditions 

whereby these behaviors would be most effective. This constitutes the 

leadership-development journey that should define your career! 

Utilizing a full range of leadership approach, you can ameliorate your 

leadership acumen immediately! As this theoretical construct approaches its fourth decade of existence, multiple empirical studies have 

shown that leveraging the components of transformational leadership 

results in the most effective style of leadership. Further, transactional 

leadership is a necessary style inherent to all military settings and 

should not be regarded in a negative light. Moreover, the laissez-faire or 

nonleadership approach is not conducive to effective leadership and 

should be avoided. Finally, the human side of leadership is barely discussed in most leadership programs. Have we forgotten who we are 

leading? Human leaders, just as their followers, are fallible; we must 

embrace these shortcomings as opportunities for growth and selfawareness. An authentic transformational leadership approach will not 

only align your leadership behaviors with your ethics, values, and character strengths but also ensure they are virtuous.
Idealized Influence

Inspirational Motivation

Intellectual Stimulation

Individualized Consideration

Transactional

Transformational

Laissez-Faire

MBE-A

MBE-P

Contingent Reward

Non-Leadership

FRLM

P & S Virtues & Character Traits *Wisdom and Knowledge (Prudence) (Fortitude) *Courage Humanity *Justice *Temperance Transcendence

IS

IM

IS

IM

IS

IM

IC

IS

IM

IC

IS

IM

IC

IS

IM

Curiosity

Creativity

Open-Mindedness

Perspective

Love of Learning

Vitality

Integrity

Persistence

Bravery

Kindness

Love

Social Intelligence

Fai

Citizenship

rness

Leadership

Self-Regulation & ControlPrudence

Humility & Modesty

Forgiveness & Mercy

Appreciation of Beauty

& Excellence

Gratitude

Hope

Humor

Spirituality

II II

IM

II

IM

II

IC

II

IC

II

IC II

IS

IM

II

IG

IM

II

IC

II

IC

IM

II

II

II

IM

IM

IS

IC

Figure 9. FRLM-character strength mind map. (Created by Fil J. Arenas , (Adapted from John J. Sosik, Leading with Character, 243–46.)
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 57

Notes

1. Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice (Thousand Oaks, CA: 

Sage Publications, Inc., 2007), 15.

2. Bernard M. Bass, The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research & Managerial 

Applications (New York: Free Press, 2008). 

3. Ibid., 49.

4. Ibid.

5. Gary Yukl, Leadership in Organizations (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson 

Prentice Hall, 2006). 

6. Richard Hughes, Robert Ginnett, and Gordon Curphy, Leadership: Enhancing 

the Lessons of Experience (Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 2006). 

7. Robert N. Lussier and Christopher F. Achua, Leadership: Theory, Application, 

Skill Development (Louiseville, Québec, Canada: Thomson, South-Western, 2007), 18.

8. Ibid., 75–78.

9. Ibid., 78–80.

10. Ibid., 80–81.

11. Ibid., 18.

12. Bass, Bass Handbook of Leadership, 459.

13. Jon P. Howell and Dan L. Costley, Understanding Behaviors for Effective Leadership

(Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006), 96–97.

14. Bass, Bass Handbook of Leadership, 460.

15. Yukl, Leadership in Organizations, 82–83.

16. Ibid., 84–85.

17. Bass, Bass Handbook of Leadership, 461.

18. Northhouse (2007), Leadership: Theory and Practice, 123.

19. Yukl, Leadership in Organizations, 214–15.

20. Afsaneh Nahavandi, The Art and Science of Leadership (Upper Saddle River, 

NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006), 134.

21. Ibid., 134–35.

22. Yukl, Leadership in Organizations, 216.

23. Ibid., 216–17.

24. Lussier and Achua, Leadership, 175.

25. Ibid., 175–77.

26. Howell and Costley, Understanding Behaviors for Effective Leadership, 55–57.

27. Bass, Bass Handbook of Leadership, 459–60.

28. Anthony J. DuBrin, Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills (Mason, 

OH: South-Western, 2013), 142.

29. Ibid., 52.

30. Yukl, Leadership in Organizations, 218.

31. Ibid.

32. DuBrin, Leadership, 147–48.

33. Nahavandi, Art and Science of Leadership, 181.

34. Ibid., 181–82.

35. DuBrin, Leadership, 150–53.

36. Northhouse (2007), Leadership, 176.

37. Ibid.
58 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

38. Bass, The Bass Handbook of Leadership, 618–19.

39. Northhouse, Leadership, 185.

40. Bass, The Bass Handbook of Leadership, 1109.

41. Bruce J. Avolio and Bernard M. Bass, Developing Potential across a Full Range 

of Leadership: Cases on Transactional and Transformational Leadership (New York: 

Psychology Press, 2002), 2–4.

42. Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice (Thousand Oaks, CA: 

Sage Publications, Inc., 2012), 196.

43. John J. Sosik and Don I. Jung, Full Range Leadership Development: Pathways 

for People, Profit, and Planet (New York: Psychology Press, 2010), 272.

44. Bass, Bass Handbook of Leadership, 146.

45. Sosik and Jung, Full Range Leadership Development, 272–73.

46. Orlando Figes, The Crimean War: A History (New York, NY: Picadore, 2011), 248.

47. Ibid., 249–52.

48. Ibid., 200.

49. Ibid., 209.

50. Ibid., 213.

51. Ibid., 248.

52. Ibid., 252.

53. Bass, Bass Handbook of Leadership, 150.

54. Lussier and Achua, Leadership, 383.

55. Ibid., 623.

56. Sosik and Jung, Full Range Leadership Development, 230–31.

57. Ibid., 231–36.

58. Air Force Personnel Center, “Air Force Fitness Program,” 2 June 2014, http://

www.afpc.af.mil/affitnessprogram.

59. Sosik and Jung, Full Range Leadership Development, 248–52.

60. Bernard M. Bass and Ronald E. Riggio, Transformational Leadership

(Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 2006), 8.

61. Daniel Ford, Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 

1941–1942 (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2007), 187.

62. Ibid., 48.

63. Ibid., 10.

64. Ibid., 38.

65. Ibid., 45.

66. Ibid., 70.

67. Ibid., 72.

68. Ibid., 76.

69. Ibid., 199.

70. Ibid., 259.

71. Ibid., 153.

72. Ibid., 76.

73. Ibid., 269.

74. Ibid., 270.

75. Ibid., 303.

76. Ibid., 107.
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 59

77. Bruce J. Avolio, Full Range Leadership Development (Thousand Oaks, CA: 

Sage Publications, Inc., 2011), 64.

78. Bass and Riggio, Transformational Leadership, 8.

79. Sosik and Jung, Full Range Leadership Development, 237–38.

80. Ibid., 238.

81. Ibid., 267.

82. Paul Brickhill, The Great Escape (New York: W. W. Norton and Company Inc., 

1950), 3–4.

83. Ibid., 5.

84. Ibid., 19–21.

85. Ibid., 20.

86. Ibid., 26.

87. Ibid., 33.

88. Ibid., 91.

89. Ibid., 117.

90. Ibid., 23.

91. Ibid., 93.

92. Ibid., 195.

93. Ibid., 209–10.

94. Ibid., 225–29.

95. Ibid., 20.

96. Avolio, Full Range Leadership Development, 49–50.

97. Northhouse (2007), Leadership, 186–87.

98. Bass, Bass Handbook of Leadership, 618.

99. Bass and Riggio, Transformational Leadership, 5.

100. Avolio, Full Range Leadership Development, 60.

101. Sosik and Jung, Full Range Leadership Development, 82–85.

102. Bass, Bass Handbook of Leadership, 581.

103. Northhouse (2007), Leadership, 191.

104. USAF, The Little Blue Book (Randolph Air Force Base, TX: Air Education 

and Training Command Publications, 1997).

105. Ibid.

106. Ibid.

107. Robert M. Gates, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War (New York: Random 

House, 2014).

108. Ibid., 16.

109. Ibid., 18.

110. Ibid., 20.

111. Ibid., 22.

112. Ibid., 84.

113. Ibid., 477–78.

114. Ibid., 120.

115. Ibid., 59.

116. Ibid., 262.

117. Ibid., 562.

118. Bruce J. Avolio, Full Leadership Development: Building the Vital Forces in 

Organizations (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1999), 45.
60 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

119. Folger Shakespeare Library, “The St. Crispin’s Day Speech,” 23 July 2014, 

http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=4373.

120. Charles M. Province, “The Famous Patton Speech,” in The Unknown Patton 

(New York: Hippocrene Books, 1983), part 1, http://www.pattonhq.com/speech.html.

121. Drew D. Hansen, The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That 

Inspired a Nation (New York: Harper Collins, 2003), 177.

122. Northhouse (2013), Leadership, 193.

123. Sosik and Jung, Full Range Leadership Development, 16.

124. Ibid., 119.

125. Ibid., 119–20.

126. Ibid., 16.

127. Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, 

and Redemption (New York: Random House, 2010), 119.

128. Ibid., 120–21.

129. Ibid., 125–26.

130. Ibid., 128.

131. Ibid., 132.

132. Ibid., 143.

133. Ibid., 145.

134. Ibid., 146–47.

135. Ibid., 146.

136. Ibid., 155–56.

137. Ibid., 161.

138. Ibid., 164.

139. Ibid., 170.

140. Northhouse (2013), Leadership, 193.

141. Bass and Riggio, Transformational Leadership, 7, 37.

142. Avolio, Full Range Leadership Development, 61.

143. Sosik and Jung, Full Range Leadership Development, 17.

144. Ibid., 159–71.

145. Ibid., 171–75.

146. Ben Macintyre, Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan 

Fooled the Nazi’s and Assured an Allied Victory (New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 

2011), 16–19.

147. Ibid., 23.

148. Ibid., 44.

149. Ibid., 54.

150. Ibid., 68.

151. Ibid., 69–70.

152. Ibid., 122–26.

153. Ibid., 112.

154. Ibid., 114.

155. Ibid., 193.

156. Susan Fritz et al., Interpersonal Skills for Leadership (Upper Saddle River, NJ: 

Prentice Hall, 2005), 28.

157. Avolio, Full Range Leadership Development, 47.

158. Sosik and Jung, Full Range Leadership Development, 195–208.
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 61

159. William E. Burrows, Richtofen: A True History of the Red Baron (New York: 

Harcourt, Brace and World Inc., 1969), 199.

160. Ibid., 100.

161. Ibid., 101.

162. Ibid., 123.

163. Ibid., 122–23.

164. Ibid., 123.

165. Ibid., 125.

166. Ibid., 124.

167. Ibid., 130.

168. Ibid., 170, 183.

169. Ibid., 143.

170. Ibid., 203.

171. Sosik and Jung, Full Range Leadership Development, 310.

172. Ibid., 311.

173. Yukl, Leadership in Organizations, 339.

174. Sosik and Jung, Full Range Leadership Development, 311.

175. Ibid., 294.

176. James Toner, “Military or Ethics,” Air & Space Power Journal 17, no. 2 (Summer 

2003): 82.

177. Defense Department Press Briefing, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee 

James and Lt Gen Stephen R. Wilson, USAF, subject: Results of the AFGSC Commander Directed Investigation into Allegations of Compromised Test Materials and an 

Update on the Force Improvement Program in the Pentagon Briefing Room, 27 March 

2014, http://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=5398 (accessed 

14 Apr 2014).

178. James Toner, “Mistakes in Teaching Ethics,” Air Power Journal 12, no. 2 (Summer 

1998): 46.

179. Gen Omar Bradley (Armistice Day address, Boston Chamber of Commerce, 

Boston, Massachusetts, 10 November 1948).

180. James Toner, “Leadership, Community, and Virtue,” Joint Forces Quarterly 1, 

no. 11 (Spring 1996): 103.

181. “The Psychology of Power: Absolutely,” Economist, 23 January 2010.

182. Jeffrey Pfeffer, “Petraeus and the Rise of Narcissistic Leaders,” Harvard Business 

Review (blog), 12 November 2012.

183. Quoted in Gloria Fiero, The Humanistic Tradition, vol. 1, Prehistory to the 

Modern World (New York: McGraw Hill, 2006), 162.

184. Ibid.

185. Jacques Maritain, Education at the Crossroads (New Haven, CT: Yale University 

Press, 1943), 103.

186. Dr. Leon Kass (speech, Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC, 17 March 2005).

187. Plato’s Phaedrus, trans. R. Hackforth (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University 

Press, 1952), 69–77.

188. Clive Staples Lewis, The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics (New York: 

Harper Collins, 2002), 703.

189. Ibid., 475.

190. Ibid., 698.
62 │ ARENAS, CONNELLY, AND WILLIAMS

191. James Stockdale, “The World of Epictetus,” Atlantic Monthly 241, no. 4 (April 

1978): 98–106.

192. Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Orthodoxy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1995), 24.

193. Philippa Foot, “Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives,” Philosophical 

Review 81, no. 3 (July 1972): 305–16.

194. Leon Wieseltier, interviewed by Terry Moran, ABC News, 10 February 2005.

195. Chaitra Hardison et al., Cross-Cultural Skills for Deployed Air Force Personnel: 

Defining Cross-Cultural (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2009): 20.

196. Toner, “Mistakes in Teaching Ethics,” 49.

197. Ibid.

198. James Toner, “Temperance and the Profession of Arms” (paper presented at 

the annual meeting of the International Society for Military Ethics [formerly the Joint 

Services Conference on Professional Ethics], Springfield, VA, 14 December 1998), 9.

199. John J. Sosik, Leading with Character: Stories of Valor and Virtue and the Principles 

They Teach (Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc., 2015), 52–53.

200. Ibid., 51–52.

201. Sosik, Leading with Character, 84.

202. Ibid., 85.

203. Ibid., 86.

204. Ibid., 88.

205. Ibid., 89.

206. Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues: 

Handbook and Classification (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 94.

207. Sosik, Leading with Character, 110.

208. Ibid., 111.

209. Ibid., 112.

210. Ibid., 113.

211. Peterson and Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues, 199.

212. Sosik, Leading with Character, 137.

213. Ibid., 138.

214. Ibid., 141.

215. Peterson and Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues, 293.

216. Sosik, Leading with Character, 164.

217. Ibid., 167.

218. Peterson and Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues, 357.

219. Sosik, Leading with Character, 193.

220. Ibid., 194.

221. Ibid., 196.

222. Ibid., 198.

223. Peterson and Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues, 431.

224. Sosik, Leading with Character, 222.

225. Ibid., 223.

226. Ibid., 225.

227. Ibid., 229.

228. Ibid., 232.

229. Peterson and Seligman, Character Strengths and Virtues, 519.
DEVELOPING YOUR FULL RANGE OF LEADERSHIP │ 63

230. Bill George and Peter Sims, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership

(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007), xxxi.

231. Ibid., xxxi-xxxiii.

232. Bass, The Bass Handbook of Leadership, 224.

233. Ibid., 260.

234. Avolio, Full Range Leadership Development, 209–10.

235. Sosik, Leading with Character, 22.

236. Ibid., 45, 52.

Abbreviations

CR contingent reward

FRLM Full Range Leadership Model

IC individual consideration

II idealized influence

IM inspirational motivation

IS intellectual stimulation

LBDQ Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire

LF laissez faire

LPC Least Preferred Coworker Scale

MBE management by exception

MBE-A management by exception active

MBE-P management by exception passive

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