Comprehensive Exam Study Guide Leadership (2010) by Peter G. Northouse Ch. 1: Introduction Leadership: process whereby an individual influences a of individuals to achieve a common goal (3). Involves influence Occurs in groups Includes attention to common goals Trait vs. Process (qualities vs. interactions; Assigned vs. Emergent (formal position within an organization vs. group members responding to someone) Leadership and Power (7): Referent Power – based on followers’ affection for leader (personal power) Expert Power – based on perception of leader’s competence (personal power) Legitimate – associated with job authority (position power) Reward Power – derived from capacity to reward (position power) Coercive Power – derived from capacity to punish (position power) Leadership (establishing direction, aligning people, motivating and inspiring); and Management (planning/budgeting, organizing/staffing, controlling/problem solving): Similarities: influence; working with people; concerned with goals Differences: leadership was studied since Aristotle; management at turn of 20th c, to reduce chaos in organizations Ch. 2: Trait Approach Origin – Man” theories of early 20th c. Stogdill (1948, 1974): surveyed and identified leadership traits: drive for responsibility, persistence in pursuing goals, risk-taking, drive in social situations, self-confidence, ability to influence others and absorb stress and other (17) Mann (1959) adds intelligence, masculinity, extroversion, conservatism, dominance 1990s – Focus centers on “social intelligence” Definition – organizations will work better if managers have designated leadership profiles, singled out by personality assessments. The “right people” with the “right traits” will lead better. “Big 5” Personality Factors: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness have been correlated to leadership ability (especially extraversion) Strengths and Criticisms of Theory Strengths : intuitive appeal; a century of research; highlights the leader; provides benchmarks Criticisms: no definitive definition of traits; fails to consider situations; subjective; not useful for training and developing leaders Ch. 3: Skills Approach
Origin: Perspective existed for years, but received impetus from: Robert Katz’s “Skills of an Effective Leader” (1955) in Harvard Business Review placed emphasis on developable skills and abilities, advocated “Three-Skill Approach” 1990s studies emphasized leader’s ability to solve complex organizational problems Katz’s “Three-Skill Approach” proposes that leaders should have all 3 skills: top management needs less technical skill; middle management needs all 3 equally; supervisory management needs less conceptual skill Technical Skill – competence in a specialized area (e.g. software programming) Human Skill – working with people Conceptual Skill – working with ideas and concepts Mumford, et.al. (2000): Capability Model examines relationship between leader’s knowledge/skills and performance Leadership capabilities can be developed over time through education and experience Many people have leadership potential 5 components: competencies (problem solving skills, social judgment skills knowledge), individual attributes (general cognitive ability, which is innate, crystallized cognitive ability, which is acquired, motivation, and personality) leadership outcomes and performance), career experience, environmental influences Model works by providing a map for how to achieve effective leadership in an organization Strengths and Criticisms: Strengths: leadership-centered and focuses on ability to develop skills; intuitive appeal; expansively inclusive of many components; provides a structure consistent with curricula of leadership programs Criticisms: breadth extends beyond boundary of leadership; weak in predictive value; inclusive of traits while claiming not to be a trait model Ch. 4: Style Approach Emphasizes behavior of leader: task-behaviors (initiating structure) and relationship behaviors (consideration) are the Origin: Ohio Studies (late 1940s): based on Stogdill (1948) developed Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) found that the two behaviors (task and relationship) were distinct, on two different continua: the degree to which a leader exhibits one behavior is not the degree to which s/he exhibits the other University of Michigan Studies focused on impact of leader’s behavior on performance of small groups: identified as key employee orientation (strong human relation emphasis) and production orientation (focus on production; sees workers as means to end)