Leadership in
Organizations
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Eighth Edition
Leadership in
Organizations
Gary Yukl
University of Albany
State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Yukl, Gary A.
Leadership in organizations / Gary Yukl. — 8th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-13-277186-3
1. Leadership. 2. Decision making. 3. Organization. I. Title.
HD57.7.Y85 2013
303.3'4—dc23
2011046801
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 10: 0-13-277186-1
ISBN 13: 978-0-13-277186-3
For her love and support this book is dedicated to Maureen.
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BRIEF CONTENTS
Preface xv
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Introduction: The Nature of Leadership 1
Nature of Managerial Work 23
Effective Leadership Behavior 48
Leading Change and Innovation 76
Participative Leadership and Empowerment 105
Leadership Traits and Skills 135
Contingency Theories and Adaptive Leadership 162
Power and Influence Tactics 185
Dyadic Relations and Followers 221
Leadership in Teams and Decision Groups 247
Strategic Leadership in Organizations 276
Charismatic and Transformational Leadership 309
Ethical, Servant, Spiritual, and Authentic Leadership 340
Cross-cultural Leadership and Diversity 360
Developing Leadership Skills 381
Overview and Integration 404
References 424
Author Index 483
Subject Index 499
vii
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
xv
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION: THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP 1
Definitions of Leadership 2
Indicators of Leadership Effectiveness 8
Major Perspectives in Leadership Theory and Research 10
Level of Conceptualization for Leadership Theories 14
Other Bases for Comparing Leadership Theories 18
Organization of the Book 20
Summary 20
Review and Discussion Questions 21
Chapter 2 NATURE OF MANAGERIAL WORK 23
Activity Patterns for Managers 24
Decision Making and Planning by Managers 26
Managerial Roles 29
Demands, Constraints, and Choices 31
Other Determinants of Managerial Work 34
Limitations of the Descriptive Research 39
Guidelines for Managers 40
Summary 44
Review and Discussion Questions 45
CASE: Acme Manufacturing Company 45
CHAPTER 3 EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR 48
Ways for Describing Leadership Behavior 48
Major Types of Leadership Behavior 50
Methods for Studying the Effects of Leader Behavior 53
Effects of Task and Relations Behaviors 56
Planning Work Activities 58
Clarifying Roles and Objectives 59
Monitoring Operations and Performance 61
Supportive Leadership 63
Developing Subordinate Skills 65
ix
x
Table of Contents
Providing Praise and Recognition 68
Summary 71
Review and Discussion Questions 72
CASE: Consolidated Products 73
CASE: Air Force Supply Squadron 74
CHAPTER 4 LEADING CHANGE AND INNOVATION
76
Types of Change in Teams and Organizations 77
Change Processes 78
Reasons for Accepting or Rejecting Change 80
Implementing Change 81
Guidelines for Implementing Change 84
How Visions Influence Change 89
Collective Learning and Innovation 94
Guidelines for Enhancing Learning and Innovation 98
Summary 101
Review and Discussion Questions 102
CASE: Ultimate Office Products 102
CHAPTER 5 PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT 105
Nature of Participative Leadership 106
Research on Effects of Participative Leadership 109
Normative Decision Model 111
Guidelines for Participative Leadership 115
Delegation 118
Guidelines for Delegating 122
Perceived Empowerment 126
Empowerment Programs 128
Summary 130
Review and Discussion Questions 131
CASE: Echo Electronics 132
CASE: Alvis Corporation 133
CHAPTER 6 LEADERSHIP TRAITS AND SKILLS 135
Introduction to the Trait Approach 135
Personality Traits and Effective Leadership 138
Table of Contents
Skills and Effective Leadership 148
Managerial Competencies 151
Situational Relevance of Skills 153
Evaluation of the Trait Approach 156
Guidelines for Managers 157
Summary 159
Review and Discussion Questions 159
CASE: National Products 160
CHAPTER 7 CONTINGENCY THEORIES AND ADAPTIVE
LEADERSHIP 162
General Description of Contingency Theories 163
Early Contingency Theories 164
Multiple-linkage Model 167
Conceptual Weaknesses in Contingency Theories 173
Research on Contingency Theories 174
Comparative Evaluation of Contingency Theories 175
Guidelines for Adaptive Leadership 177
Guidelines for Managing Immediate Crises 179
Summary 180
Review and Discussion Questions 181
CASE: Foreign Auto Shop 182
CHAPTER 8 POWER AND INFLUENCE TACTICS 185
Power and Influence Concepts 185
Power Sources 188
How Power Is Gained or Lost 193
Consequences of Power 195
Guidelines for Using Power 197
Proactive Influence Tactics 201
Effectiveness of Proactive Tactics 206
Guidelines for Specific Tactics 210
Power and Influence Behavior 215
Summary 216
Review and Discussion Questions 217
CASE: Restview Hospital 218
CASE: Sporting Goods Store 219
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 9 DYADIC RELATIONS AND FOLLOWERS 221
Leader-Member Exchange Theory 222
Leader Attributions About Subordinates 225
Leader Influence on Follower Emotions 227
Guidelines for Correcting Performance Deficiencies 227
Follower Attributions and Implicit Theories 231
Impression Management by Leaders and Followers 234
Follower Contributions to Effective Leadership 236
Self-Management 237
Guidelines for Followers 239
Summary 243
Review and Discussion Questions 243
CASE: Cromwell Electronics 244
CASE: American Financial Corporation 245
CHAPTER 10 LEADERSHIP IN TEAMS AND DECISION
GROUPS 247
Determinants of Team Performance 248
Functional Work Teams 254
Cross-functional Teams 255
Self-managed Work Teams 258
Virtual Teams 261
Guidelines for Leading Teams 262
Leading Decision Groups 265
Guidelines for Leading Meetings 268
Summary 272
Review and Discussion Questions 273
CASE: Southwest Engineering Services 273
CHAPTER 11 STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS 276
Determinants of Organizational Performance 277
How Leaders Influence Organizational Performance 281
Situations Affecting Strategic Leadership 284
Organizational Culture 286
Research on Effects of Strategic Leadership 289
Table of Contents
Executive Teams 291
Emerging Conceptions of Organizational Leadership 294
Two Key Responsibilities for Top Executives 297
Guidelines for Strategic Leadership 299
Summary 302
Review and Discussion Questions 303
CASE: Costco 303
CASE: Turnaround at Nissan 306
CHAPTER 12 CHARISMATIC AND TRANSFORMATIONAL
LEADERSHIP 309
Attribution Theory of Charismatic Leadership 310
Self-Concept Theory of Charismatic Leadership 312
Other Conceptions of Charisma 314
Consequences of Charismatic Leadership 317
Transformational Leadership 321
Research on Charismatic and Transformational
Leadership 324
Comparison of Charismatic and Transformational Leadership 328
Evaluation of the Theories 330
Guidelines for Inspirational Leadership 332
Summary 335
Review and Discussion Questions 336
CASE: Astro Airlines 336
CHAPTER 13 ETHICAL, SERVANT, SPIRITUAL, AND AUTHENTIC
LEADERSHIP 340
Conceptions of Ethical Leadership 341
Dilemmas in Assessing Ethical Leadership 342
Determinants and Consequences of Ethical Leadership 344
Theories of Ethical Leadership 347
Evaluation of Ethical Leadership Theories 352
Guidelines for Ethical Leadership 354
Summary 357
Review and Discussion Questions 358
CASE: Unethical Leadership at Enron 358
xiii
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 14 CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP AND DIVERSITY 360
Introduction to Cross-cultural Leadership 361
Cultural Value Dimensions and Leadership 365
Evaluation of Cross-cultural Research 368
Gender and Leadership 370
Managing Diversity 376
Summary 378
Review and Discussion Questions 379
CASE: Madison, Jones, and Conklin 379
CHAPTER 15 DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP SKILLS 381
Leadership Training Programs 382
Learning from Experience 384
Developmental Activities 385
Facilitating Conditions for Leadership Development 396
Systems Perspective on Leadership Development 398
Summary 401
Review and Discussion Questions 402
CASE: Federated Industries 402
CHAPTER 16 OVERVIEW AND INTEGRATION 404
Major Findings About Effective Leadership 404
Multilevel Explanatory Processes 408
Toward an Integrating Conceptual Framework 415
Limitations in Leadership Research 417
Concluding Thoughts 421
Review and Discussion Questions 423
References 424
Author Index 483
Subject Index 499
PREFACE
This book is about leadership in organizations. Its primary focus is on managerial leadership as
opposed to parliamentary leadership, leadership of social movements, or emergent leadership in
informal groups. The book presents a broad survey of theory and research on leadership in formal organizations. Topics of special interest are the determinants of leadership effectiveness and
how leadership can be improved.
In this 8th edition, the following improvements were made to make the book easier to understand and more useful to most readers:
• Most chapters were revised for clarity and understanding (including Chapters 2, 3, 4, 6, 7,
9, 10, 12, 15, and 16).
• The order of Chapters 4 to 12 was modified to improve explanation of related topics.
• Several new examples of effective and ineffective leadership were added to Chapters 4, 6,
11, 13, and 14.
• More practical guidelines for effective leadership were added to Chapters 3, 6, 7, and 8.
• Several new examples were used in Chapters 3, 11, 12, and 14 to explain how research is
conducted.
• Over 100 citations to recent research were added throughout.
The basic structure of most chapters remains the same, but the order of some chapters was
changed and a few topics were moved to a different chapter. Citations to relevant recent literature
were updated, but given the increasing volume of studies on leadership, the citations are still selective rather than comprehensive. Since the book is not intended to be a history of leadership, it
seemed appropriate to reduce the amount of detail about early research programs and old theories
that are no longer popular, and focus more closely on what we now know about effective leadership.
The content of the book still reflects a dual concern for theory and practice. I have attempted
to satisfy two different audiences with somewhat different preferences. Most academics prefer a
book that explains and evaluates major theories and relevant empirical research. They are more
interested in how well the research was done, what was found, and what additional research is
needed than in the practical applications. Academics tend to be skeptical about the value of prescriptions and guidelines for practitioners and consider them premature in the absence of further
research. In contrast, most practitioners want some immediate answers about what to do and how
to do it in order to be more effective as leaders. They need to deal with the current challenges of
their job and cannot wait for decades until the academics resolve their theoretical disputes and obtain definitive answers. Practitioners are more interested in finding helpful remedies and prescriptions than in finding out how this knowledge was discovered. Readers who desire to improve their
leadership effectiveness will find this edition of the book is even more useful than previous editions.
These different preferences are a one of the reasons for the much-lamented gulf between
scientists and practitioners in management and industrial-organizational psychology. I believe it
is important for managers and administrators to understand the complexity of effective leadership, the source of our knowledge about leadership in organizations, and the limitations of
this knowledge. Likewise, I believe it is important for academics to think more about how their
theories and research can be used to improve the practice of management. Too much of our
leadership research is designed to examine narrow, esoteric questions that only interest a few
other scholars who publish in the same journals.
xv
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Preface
Academics will be pleased to find that major theories are explained and evaluated, findings
in empirical research on leadership are summarized, and many references are provided to help
readers find sources of additional information about topics of special interest. The field of leadership is still in a state of ferment, with many continuing controversies about conceptual and
methodological issues. The book addresses these issues whenever feasible. However, the literature review was intended to be incisive, not comprehensive. Rather than detailing an endless
series of studies like most handbooks of leadership, the book describes major findings about effective leadership. The current edition reflects significant progress in our understanding of leadership since the first edition was published in 1981.
For practitioners and students who desire to become effective managers, I attempted to
convey a better appreciation of the complexity of managerial leadership, the importance of having theoretical knowledge about leadership, and the need to be flexible and pragmatic in applying
this knowledge. The current edition provides many guidelines and recommendations for improving managerial effectiveness, but it is not a “practitioner’s manual” of simple techniques and
secret recipes that guarantee instant success. The purpose of the guidelines is to help the reader
understand the practical implications of the leadership theory and research, not to prescribe exactly how things must be done by a leader. Most of the guidelines are based on a limited amount
of research and they are not infallible or relevant for all situations. Being a flexible, adaptive
leader includes determining which guidelines are relevent for each unique situation.
Most chapters have one or two short cases designed to help the reader gain a better understanding of the theories, concepts, and guidelines presented in the chapter. The cases describe
events that occurred in real organizations, but some of the cases were modified to make them
more useful for learning basic concepts and effective practices. For most of the cases, the names
of organizations and individuals were changed to keep the analysis focused on the events that occurred in a defined time period, not on recent events that may involve different leaders and a new
context. The cases ask a reader to analyze behavioral processes, identify examples of effective
and ineffective behavior, and suggest effective ways to handle the situation that is depicted.
An instructor’s manual is available with detailed analyses of the cases and suggestions on
how to use them. The instructor’s manual also includes additional cases, exercises for use in class
(e.g., role plays), and some out-of-class activities that help students to understand how they can
apply the theory and guidelines. Finally, a test bank is available with multiple-choice items on the
major points in each chapter.
The book is widely used in many different countries, and some editions have been translated
into other languages, including Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Spanish, Greek, Croatian, and
Swedish. With its focus on effective leadership in organizations, the book is especially relevant for
people who expect to become a manager or administrator in the near future, for people who will be
responsible for training or coaching leaders, and for people who will be teaching courses or workshops that include leadership as one of the key topics. The book is appropriate for use as the primary
text in an undergraduate or graduate course in leadership. Such courses are found in many different
schools or departments, including business, psychology, sociology, educational administration, public
administration, and health care administration. The book is on the list of required or recommended
readings for students in many doctoral programs in leadership, management, and industrialorganizational psychology. Finally, the book is also useful for practicing managers and consultants
who are looking for something more than superficial answers to difficult questions about leadership.
Gary Yukl
Albany, New York
June, 2011
Chapter 1
Introduction: The Nature
of Leadership
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
■
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Understand the different ways leadership has been defined.
Understand the controversy about differences between leadership and management.
Understand why it is so difficult to assess leadership effectiveness.
Understand the different indicators used to assess leadership effectiveness.
Understand what aspects of leadership have been studied the most during the past 50 years.
Understand the organization of this book.
Leadership is a subject that has long excited interest among people. The term connotes images
of powerful, dynamic individuals who command victorious armies, direct corporate empires
from atop gleaming skyscrapers, or shape the course of nations. The exploits of brave and clever
leaders are the essence of many legends and myths. Much of our description of history is the
story of military, political, religious, and social leaders who are credited or blamed for important
historical events, even though we do not understand very well how the events were caused or
how much influence the leader really had. The widespread fascination with leadership may
be because it is such a mysterious process, as well as one that touches everyone’s life. Why did
certain leaders (e.g., Gandhi, Mohammed, Mao Tse-tung) inspire such intense fervor and dedication? How did certain leaders (e.g., Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great) build great empires?
Why did some rather undistinguished people (e.g., Adolf Hitler, Claudius Caesar) rise to positions of great power? Why were certain leaders (e.g., Winston Churchill, Indira Gandhi) suddenly deposed, despite their apparent power and record of successful accomplishments? Why
do some leaders have loyal followers who are willing to sacrifice their lives, whereas other leaders are so despised that subordinates conspire to murder them?
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
Questions about leadership have long been a subject of speculation, but scientific research on leadership did not begin until the twentieth century. The focus
of much of the research has been on the determinants of leadership effectiveness.
Social scientists have attempted to discover what traits, abilities, behaviors, sources of power, or
aspects of the situation determine how well a leader is able to influence followers and accomplish
task objectives. There is also a growing interest in understanding leadership as a shared process in a team or organization and the reasons why this process is effective or ineffective. Other
important questions include the reasons why some people emerge as leaders, and the determinants of a leader’s actions, but the predominant concern has been leadership effectiveness.
Some progress has been made in probing the mysteries surrounding leadership, but many
questions remain unanswered. In this book, major theories and research findings on leadership effectiveness will be reviewed, with particular emphasis on managerial leadership in formal
organizations such as business corporations, government agencies, hospitals, and universities. This chapter introduces the subject by considering different conceptions of leadership, different ways of evaluating its effectiveness, and different approaches for studying leadership. The
chapter also provides an overview of the book and explains how subjects are organized.
Definitions of Leadership
The term leadership is a word taken from the common vocabulary and incorporated
into the technical vocabulary of a scientific discipline without being precisely redefined. As
a consequence, it carries extraneous connotations that create ambiguity of meaning (Janda,
1960). Additional confusion is caused by the use of other imprecise terms such as power, authority, management, administration, control, and supervision to describe similar phenomena. An
observation by Bennis (1959, p. 259) is as true today as when he made it many years ago:
Always, it seems, the concept of leadership eludes us or turns up in another form to taunt us
again with its slipperiness and complexity. So we have invented an endless proliferation of
terms to deal with it . . . and still the concept is not sufficiently defined.
Researchers usually define leadership according to their individual perspectives and the aspects of the phenomenon of most interest to them. After a comprehensive review of the leadership
literature, Stogdill (1974, p. 259) concluded that “there are almost as many definitions of leadership
as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept.” The stream of new definitions has
continued unabated since Stogdill made his observation. Leadership has been defined in terms of
traits, behaviors, influence, interaction patterns, role relationships, and occupation of an administrative position. Table 1-1 shows some representative definitions presented over the past 50 years.
Most definitions of leadership reflect the assumption that it involves a process whereby intentional influence is exerted over other people to guide, structure, and facilitate activities and relationships in a group or organization. The numerous definitions of leadership appear to have little
else in common. They differ in many respects, including who exerts influence, the intended purpose of the influence, the manner in which influence is exerted, and the outcome of the influence
attempt. The differences are not just a case of scholarly nit-picking; they reflect deep disagreement
about identification of leaders and leadership processes. Researchers who differ in their conception of leadership select different phenomena to investigate and interpret the results in different
ways. Researchers who have a very narrow definition of leadership are less likely to discover things
that are unrelated to or inconsistent with their initial assumptions about effective leadership.
Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
TABLE 1-1
Definitions of Leadership
• Leadership is “the behavior of an individual . . . directing the activities of a group toward a
shared goal” (Hemphill & Coons, 1957, p. 7).
• Leadership is “the influential increment over and above mechanical compliance with the
routine directives of the organization” (Katz & Kahn, 1978, p. 528).
• Leadership is “the process of influencing the activities of an organized group toward goal
achievement” (Rauch & Behling, 1984, p. 46).
• “Leadership is about articulating visions, embodying values, and creating the environment
within which things can be accomplished” (Richards & Engle, 1986, p. 206).
• “Leadership is a process of giving purpose (meaningful direction) to collective effort, and
causing willing effort to be expended to achieve purpose” (Jacobs & Jaques, 1990, p. 281).
• Leadership “is the ability to step outside the culture . . . to start evolutionary change processes
that are more adaptive” (Schein, 1992, p. 2).
• “Leadership is the process of making sense of what people are doing together so that people
will understand and be committed” (Drath & Palus, 1994, p. 4).
• Leadership is “the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute
toward the effectiveness and success of the organization . . .” (House et al., 1999, p. 184).
Because leadership has so many different meanings to people, some theorists question
whether it is even useful as a scientific construct (e.g., Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2003; Miner,
1975). Nevertheless, most behavioral scientists and practitioners seem to believe leadership is a real
phenomenon that is important for the effectiveness of organizations. Interest in the subject continues to increase, and the deluge of articles and books about leadership shows no sign of abating.
Specialized Role or Shared Influence Process?
A major controversy involves the issue of whether leadership should be viewed as a specialized role or as a shared influence process. One view is that all groups have role specialization, and
the leadership role has responsibilities and functions that cannot be shared too widely without
jeopardizing the effectiveness of the group. The person with primary responsibility to perform
the specialized leadership role is designated as the “leader.” Other members are called “followers”
even though some of them may assist the primary leader in carrying out leadership functions. The
distinction between leader and follower roles does not mean that a person cannot perform both
roles at the same time. For example, a department manager who is the leader of department
employees is also a follower of higher-level managers in the organization. Researchers who view
leadership as a specialized role are likely to pay more attention to the attributes that determine
selection of designated leaders, the typical behavior of designated leaders, and the effects of this
behavior on other members of the group or organization.
Another way to view leadership is in terms of an influence process that occurs naturally
within a social system and is diffused among the members. Writers with this perspective believe
it is more useful to study “leadership” as a social process or pattern of relationships rather than as
a specialized role. According to this view, various leadership functions may be carried out by different people who influence what the group does, how it is done, and the way people in the group
relate to each other. Leadership may be exhibited both by formally selected leaders and by informal leaders. Important decisions about what to do and how to do it are made through the use
of an interactive process involving many different people who influence each other. Researchers
who view leadership as a shared, diffuse process, are likely to pay more attention to the complex
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
influence processes that occur among members, the context and conditions that determine when
and how they occur, the processes involved in the emergence of informal leaders, and the consequences for the group or organization.
Type of Influence Process
Controversy about the definition of leadership involves not only who exercises influence,
but also what type of influence is exercised and the outcome. Some theorists would limit the
definition of leadership to the exercise of influence resulting in enthusiastic commitment by followers, as opposed to indifferent compliance or reluctant obedience. These theorists argue that
the use of control over rewards and punishments to manipulate or coerce followers is not really
“leading” and may involve the unethical use of power.
An opposing view is that this definition is too restrictive because it excludes some influence processes that are important for understanding why a leader is effective or ineffective in a
given situation. How leadership is defined should not predetermine the answer to the research
question of what makes a leader effective. The same outcome can be accomplished with different influence methods, and the same type of influence attempt can result in different outcomes,
depending on the nature of the situation. Even people who are forced or manipulated into doing
something may become committed to it if they subsequently discover that it really is the best option for them and the organization. The ethical use of power is a legitimate concern for leadership scholars, but it should not limit the definition of leadership or the type of influence processes
that are studied.
Purpose of Influence Attempts
Another controversy about which influence attempts are part of leadership involves their
purpose and outcome. One viewpoint is that leadership occurs only when people are influenced
to do what is ethical and beneficial for the organization and themselves. This definition of leadership does not include influence attempts that are irrelevant or detrimental to followers, such as
a leader’s attempts to gain personal benefits at the follower’s expense.
An opposing view would include all attempts to influence the attitudes and behavior of followers in an organizational context, regardless of the intended purpose or actual beneficiary. Acts
of leadership often have multiple motives, and it is seldom possible to determine the extent to
which they are selfless rather than selfish. The outcomes of leader actions usually include a mix
of costs and benefits, some of which are unintended, making it difficult to infer purpose. Despite
good intentions, the actions of a leader are sometimes more detrimental than beneficial for followers. Conversely, actions motivated solely by a leader’s personal needs sometimes result in unintended benefits for followers and the organization. Thus, the domain of leadership processes to
study should not be limited by the leader’s intended purpose.
Influence Based on Reason or Emotions
Most of the leadership definitions listed earlier emphasize rational, cognitive processes. For
many years, it was common to view leadership as a process wherein leaders influence followers to
believe it is in their best interest to cooperate in achieving a shared task objective. Until the 1980s,
few conceptions of leadership recognized the importance of emotions as a basis for influence.
In contrast, some recent conceptions of leadership emphasize the emotional aspects of influence much more than reason. According to this view, only the emotional, value-based aspects
of leadership influence can account for the exceptional achievements of groups and organizations.
Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
Leaders inspire followers to willingly sacrifice their selfish interests for a higher cause. For example, leaders can motivate soldiers to risk their lives for an important mission or to protect their
comrades. The relative importance of rational and emotional processes and how they interact
are issues to be resolved by empirical research, and the conceptualization of leadership should not
exclude either type of process.
Direct and Indirect Leadership
Most theories about effective leadership focus on behaviors used to directly influence
immediate subordinates, but a leader can also influence other people inside the organization,
including peers, bosses, and people at lower levels who do not report to the leader. Some theorists make a distinction between direct and indirect forms of leadership to help explain how a
leader can influence people when there is no direct interaction with them (Hunt, 1991; Lord &
Maher, 1991; Yammarino, 1994).
A chief executive officer (CEO) has many ways to influence people at lower levels in the organization. Direct forms of leadership involve attempts to influence followers when interacting
with them or using communication media to send messages to them. Examples include sending memos or reports to employees, sending e-mail messages, presenting speeches on television,
holding meetings with small groups of employees, and participating in activities involving employees (e.g., attending orientation or training sessions, company picnics). Most of these forms
of influence can be classified as direct leadership.
Indirect leadership has been used to describe how a chief executive can influence people
at lower levels in the organization who do not interact directly with the leader (Bass, Waldman,
Avolio, & Bebb, 1987; Waldman & Yammarino, 1999; Yammarino, 1994). One form of indirect
leadership by a CEO is called “cascading.” It occurs when the direct influence of the CEO is transmitted down the authority hierarchy of an organization from the CEO to middle managers, to lowerlevel managers, to regular employees. The influence can involve changes in employee attitudes,
beliefs, values, or behaviors. For example, a CEO who sets a good example of ethical and supportive behavior may influence similar behavior by employees at lower levels in the organization.
Another form of indirect leadership involves influence over formal programs, management
systems, and structural forms (Hunt, 1991; Lord & Maher, 1991; Yukl & Lepsinger, 2004). Many
large organizations have programs or management systems intended to influence the attitudes,
skills, behavior, and performance of employees. Examples include programs for recruitment,
selection, and promotion of employees. Structural forms and various types of programs can be
used to increase control, coordination, efficiency, and innovation. Examples include formal rules
and procedures, specialized subunits, decentralized product divisions, standardized facilities, and
self-managed teams. In most organizations only top executives have sufficient authority to implement new programs or change the structural forms (see Chapter 11).
A third form of indirect leadership involves leader influence over the organization culture, which is defined as the shared beliefs and values of members (Schein, 1992; Trice & Beyer,
1991). Leaders may attempt either to strengthen existing cultural beliefs and values or to change
them. There are many ways for leaders to influence an organization’s culture. Some ways involve
direct influence (e.g., communicating a compelling vision or leading by example), and some involve forms of indirect influence, such as changing the organizational structure, reward systems,
and management programs (see Chapter 11). For example, a CEO can implement programs to recruit, select, and promote people who share the same values (Giberson, Resick, & Dickson, 2005).
The interest in indirect leadership is useful to remind scholars that leadership influence is
not limited to the types of observable behavior emphasized in many leadership theories. However,
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
it is important to remember that a simple dichotomy does not capture the complexity involved in
these influence processes. Some forms of influence are not easily classified as either direct or
indirect leadership. Moreover, direct and indirect forms of influence are not mutually exclusive,
and when used together in a consistent way, it is possible to magnify their effects (see Chapter 11).
Leadership or Management
There is a continuing controversy about the difference between leadership and management. It is obvious that a person can be a leader without being a manager (e.g., an informal leader),
and a person can be a manager without leading. Indeed, some people with the job title “manager”
do not have any subordinates (e.g., a manager of financial accounts). Nobody has proposed that
managing and leading are equivalent, but the degree of overlap is a point of sharp disagreement.
Some writers contend that leadership and management are qualitatively different and mutually exclusive (e.g., Bennis & Nanus, 1985; Zaleznik, 1977). The most extreme distinction assumes
that management and leadership cannot occur in the same person. For these writers, leaders and
managers differ with regard to their values and personalities. Managers value stability, order, and efficiency, and they are impersonal, risk-averse, and focused on short-term results. Leaders value flexibility, innovation, and adaptation; they care about people as well as economic outcomes, and they
have a longer-term perspective with regard to objectives and strategies. Managers are concerned
about how things get done, and they try to get people to perform better. Leaders are concerned with
what things mean to people, and they try to get people to agree about the most important things to
be done. Bennis and Nanus (1985, p. 21) proposed that “managers are people who do things right,
and leaders are people who do the right thing.” However, the empirical research does not support
the assumption that people can be sorted neatly into these two extreme stereotypes. Moreover, the
stereotypes imply that managers are generally ineffective. The term manager is an occupational title
for a large number of people, and it is insensitive to denigrate them with a negative stereotype.
Other scholars view leading and managing as distinct processes or roles, but they do not assume that leaders and managers are different types of people (Bass, 1990; Hickman, 1990; Kotter,
1988; Mintzberg, 1973; Rost, 1991). How the two processes are defined varies somewhat, depending on the scholar. For example, Mintzberg (1973) described leadership as one of the 10
managerial roles (see Chapter 2). Leadership includes motivating subordinates and creating favorable conditions for doing the work. The other nine roles (e.g., resource allocator, negotiator)
involve distinct managing responsibilities, but leadership is viewed as an essential managerial
role that pervades the other roles.
Kotter (1990) proposed that managing seeks to produce predictability and order, whereas leading seeks to produce organizational change. Both roles are necessary, but problems can
occur if an appropriate balance is not maintained. Too much emphasis on the managing role can
discourage risk taking and create a bureaucracy without a clear purpose. Too much emphasis on
the leadership role can disrupt order and create change that is impractical. According to Kotter,
the importance of leading and managing depends in part on the situation. As an organization
becomes larger and more complex, managing becomes more important. As the external environment becomes more dynamic and uncertain, leadership becomes more important. Both roles
are important for executives in large organizations with a dynamic environment. When Kotter
surveyed major large companies in a dynamic environment, he found very few had executives
who were able to carry out both roles effectively.
Rost (1991) defined management as an authority relationship that exists between a manager and subordinates to produce and sell goods and services. He defined leadership as a
Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
multidirectional influence relationship between a leader and followers with the mutual purpose
of accomplishing real change. Leaders and followers influence each other as they interact in noncoercive ways to decide what changes they want to make. Managers may be leaders, but only if
they have this type of influence relationship. Rost proposed that leading was not necessary for a
manager to be effective in producing and selling goods and services. However, leading is essential when major changes must be implemented in an organization, because authority is seldom a
sufficient basis for gaining commitment from subordinates or for influencing other people whose
cooperation is necessary, such as peers and outsiders.
Defining managing and leading as distinct roles, processes, or relationships may obscure
more than it reveals if it encourages simplistic theories about effective leadership. Most scholars
seem to agree that success as a manager or administrator in modern organizations also involves
leading. How to integrate the two processes has emerged as a complex and important issue in
organizational literature (Yukl & Lepsinger, 2005). The answer will not come from debates about
ideal definitions. Questions about what to include in the domain of essential leadership processes should be explored with empirical research, not predetermined by subjective judgments.
A Working Definition of Key Terms
It is neither feasible nor desirable at this point in the development of the discipline to
attempt to resolve the controversies over the appropriate definition of leadership. Like all constructs in social science, the definition of leadership is arbitrary and subjective. Some definitions
are more useful than others, but there is no single “correct” definition that captures the essence of
leadership. For the time being, it is better to use the various conceptions of leadership as a source
of different perspectives on a complex, multifaceted phenomenon.
In research, the operational definition of leadership depends to a great extent on the purpose of the researcher (Campbell, 1977). The purpose may be to identify leaders, to determine
how they are selected, to discover what they do, to discover why they are effective, or to determine whether they are necessary. As Karmel (1978, p. 476) notes, “It is consequently very difficult to settle on a single definition of leadership that is general enough to accommodate these
many meanings and specific enough to serve as an operationalization of the variable.” Whenever
feasible, leadership research should be designed to provide information relevant to a wide range
of definitions, so that over time it will be possible to compare the utility of different conceptions
and arrive at some consensus on the matter.
In this book, leadership is defined broadly in a way that takes into account several things
that determine the success of a collective effort by members of a group or organization to accomplish meaningful tasks. The following definition is used:
Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to
be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to
accomplish shared objectives.
The definition includes efforts not only to influence and facilitate the current work of the
group or organization, but also to ensure that it is prepared to meet future challenges. Both direct and indirect forms of influence are included. The influence process may involve only a single leader or it may involve many leaders. Table 1-2 shows the wide variety of ways leaders can
influence the effectiveness of a group or organization.
In this book, leadership is treated as both a specialized role and a social influence process.
More than one individual can perform the role (i.e., leadership can be shared or distributed), but
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
TABLE 1-2
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What Leaders Can Influence
The choice of objectives and strategies to pursue.
The motivation of members to achieve the objectives.
The mutual trust and cooperation of members.
The organization and coordination of work activities.
The allocation of resources to activities and objectives.
The development of member skills and confidence.
The learning and sharing of new knowledge by members.
The enlistment of support and cooperation from outsiders.
The design of formal structure, programs, and systems.
The shared beliefs and values of members.
some role differentiation is assumed to occur in any group or organization. Both rational and emotional processes are viewed as essential aspects of leadership. No assumptions are made about the
actual outcome of the influence processes, because the evaluation of outcomes is difficult and subjective. Thus, the definition of leadership is not limited to processes that necessarily result in “successful” outcomes. How leadership processes affect outcomes is a central research question that
should not be biased by the definition of leadership. The focus is clearly on the process, not the person, and they are not assumed to be equivalent. Thus, the terms leader, manager, and boss are used
interchangeably in this book to indicate people who occupy positions in which they are expected
to perform the leadership role, but without any assumptions about their actual behavior or success.
The terms subordinate and direct report are used interchangeably to denote someone whose
primary work activities are directed and evaluated by the focal leader. Some writers use the term
staff as a substitute for subordinate, but this practice creates unnecessary confusion. The term connotes a special type of advisory position, and most subordinates are not staff advisors. Moreover,
the term staff is used both as a singular and plural noun, which creates a lot of unnecessary confusion. The term associate has become popular in business organizations as another substitute
for subordinate, because it conveys a relationship in which employees are valued and supposedly
empowered. However, this vague term fails to differentiate between a direct authority relationship
and other types of formal relationships (e.g., peers, partners). To clarify communication, this text
continues to use the term subordinate to denote the existence of a formal authority relationship.
The term follower is used to describe a person who acknowledges the focal leader as
the primary source of guidance about the work, regardless of how much formal authority the
leader actually has over the person. Unlike the term subordinate, the term follower does not preclude leadership processes that can occur even in the absence of a formal authority relationship. Followers may include people who are not direct reports (e.g., coworkers, team members,
partners, outsiders). However, the term follower is not used to describe members of an organization who completely reject the formal leader and seek to remove the person from office; such
people are more appropriately called “rebels” or “insurgents.”
Indicators of Leadership Effectiveness
Like definitions of leadership, conceptions of leader effectiveness differ from one writer to
another. The criteria selected to evaluate leadership effectiveness reflect a researcher’s explicit or
implicit conception of leadership. Most researchers evaluate leadership effectiveness in terms of
the consequences of influence on a single individual, a team or group, or an organization.
Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
One very relevant indicator of leadership effectiveness is the extent to which the performance of the team or organization is enhanced and the attainment of goals is facilitated (Bass,
2008; Kaiser, Hogan & Craig, 2008). Examples of objective measures of performance include
sales, net profits, profit margin, market share, return on investment, return on assets, productivity, cost per unit of output, costs in relation to budgeted expenditures, and change in the value of
corporate stock. Subjective measures of effectiveness include ratings obtained from the leader’s
superiors, peers, or subordinates.
Follower attitudes and perceptions of the leader are another common indicator of leader
effectiveness, and they are usually measured with questionnaires or interviews. How well does
the leader satisfy the needs and expectations of followers? Do they like, respect, and admire the
leader? Do they trust the leader and perceive him or her to have high integrity? Are they strongly
committed to carrying out the leader’s requests, or will they resist, ignore, or subvert them? Does
the leader improve the quality of work life, build the self-confidence of followers, increase their
skills, and contribute to their psychological growth and development? Follower attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs also provide an indirect indicator of dissatisfaction and hostility toward the
leader. Examples of such indicators include absenteeism, voluntary turnover, grievances, complaints to higher management, requests for transfer, work slowdowns, and deliberate sabotage of
equipment and facilities.
Leader effectiveness is occasionally measured in terms of the leader’s contribution to the
quality of group processes, as perceived by followers or by outside observers. Does the leader enhance group cohesiveness, member cooperation, member commitment, and member confidence
that the group can achieve its objectives? Does the leader enhance problem solving and decision
making by the group, and help to resolve disagreements and conflicts in a constructive way? Does
the leader contribute to the efficiency of role specialization, the organization of activities, the accumulation of resources, and the readiness of the group to deal with change and crises?
A final type of criterion for leadership effectiveness is the extent to which a person has a
successful career as a leader. Is the person promoted rapidly to positions of higher authority?
Does the person serve a full term in a leadership position, or is he or she removed or forced to
resign? For elected positions in organizations, is a leader who seeks reelection successful?
It is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of a leader when there are so many alternative
measures of effectiveness, and it is not clear which measure is most relevant. Some researchers attempt to combine several measures into a single, composite criterion, but this approach
requires subjective judgments about how to assign a weight to each measure. Multiple criteria
are especially troublesome when they are negatively correlated. A negative correlation means
that trade-offs occur among criteria, such that as one increases, others decrease. For example,
increasing sales and market share (e.g., by reducing price and increasing advertising) may result
in lower profits. Likewise, an increase in production output (e.g., by inducing people to work
faster) may reduce product quality or employee satisfaction.
Immediate and Delayed Outcomes
Some outcomes are more immediate than others. For example, the immediate result of an
influence attempt is whether followers are willing to do what the leader asks, but a delayed effect
is how well followers actually perform the assignment. The effects of a leader can be viewed as
a causal chain of variables, with each “mediating variable” explaining the effects of the preceding
one on the next one. An example is provided in Figure 1-1. The farther along in the causal chain,
the longer it takes for the effect to occur. For criteria at the end of the causal chain, there is a considerable delay (months or years) before the effects of the leader’s actions are evident. Moreover,
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
Inspiring
vision
Follower
effort
Quality +
Productivity
Training +
Coaching
Unit
profits
Follower
skills
FIGURE 1-1 Causal Chain of Effects from Two Types of Leader Behavior
these end-result criteria are more likely to be influenced by extraneous events (e.g., the economy,
market conditions). When the delay is long and there is considerable “contamination” of endresult criteria by extraneous events, then these criteria may be less useful for assessing leadership
effectiveness than more immediate outcomes.
In many cases, a leader has both immediate and delayed effects on the same criterion. The
two types of effects may be consistent or inconsistent. When they are inconsistent, the immediate outcome may be very different from the delayed outcomes. For example, profits may be
increased in the short run by eliminating costly activities that have a delayed effect on profits,
such as equipment maintenance, research and development, investments in new technology, and
employee skill training. In the long run, the net effect of cutting these essential activities is likely
to be lower profits because the negative consequences slowly increase and eventually outweigh
any benefits. The converse is also true: increased investment in these activities is likely to reduce
immediate profits but increase long-term profits.
What Criteria to Use?
There is no simple answer to the question of how to evaluate leadership effectiveness. The
selection of appropriate criteria depends on the objectives and values of the person making the
evaluation, and people have different values. For example, top management may prefer different
criteria than other employees, customers, or shareholders. To cope with the problems of incompatible criteria, delayed effects, and the preferences of different stakeholders, it is usually best to include
a variety of criteria in research on leadership effectiveness and to examine the impact of the leader
on each criterion over an extended period of time. Multiple conceptions of effectiveness, like multiple conceptions of leadership, serve to broaden our perspective and enlarge the scope of inquiry.
Major Perspectives in Leadership Theory and Research
The attraction of leadership as a subject of research and the many different conceptions
of leadership have created a vast and bewildering literature. Attempts to organize the literature
according to major approaches or perspectives show only partial success. One of the more useful ways to classify leadership theory and research is according to the type of variable that is
emphasized the most. Three types of variables that are relevant for understanding leadership
effectiveness include (1) characteristics of leaders, (2) characteristics of followers, and (3) characteristics of the situation. Examples of key variables within each category are shown in Table 1-3.
Figure 1-2 depicts likely causal relationships among the variables.
Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
TABLE 1-3
Key Variables in Leadership Theories
Characteristics of the Leader
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Traits (motives, personality)
Values, integrity, and moral development
Confidence and optimism
Skills and expertise
Leadership behavior
Influence tactics
Attributions about followers
Mental models (beliefs and assumptions)
Characteristics of the Followers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Traits (needs, values, self-concepts)
Confidence and optimism
Skills and expertise
Attributions about the leader
Identification with the leader
Task commitment and effort
Satisfaction with job and leader
Cooperation and mutual trust
Characteristics of the Situation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Type of organizational unit
Size of organizational unit
Position power and authority of leader
Task structure and complexity
Organizational culture
Environmental uncertainty and change
External dependencies and constraints
National cultural values
Leader traits
and skills
Leader
behavior
Influence
processes
Follower
attitudes and
behavior
Performance
outcomes
Situational
variables
FIGURE 1-2 Causal Relationships Among the Primary Types of Leadership Variables
Most leadership theories emphasize one category more than the others as the primary
basis for explaining effective leadership, and leader characteristics have been emphasized most
often over the past half-century. Another common practice is to limit the focus to one type of
leader characteristic, namely traits, behavior, or power. To be consistent with most of the leadership literature, the theories and empirical research reviewed in this book are classified into the
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
following five approaches: (1) the trait approach, (2) the behavior approach, (3) the power-influence approach, (4) the situational approach, and (5) the integrative approach. Each approach is
described briefly in the following sections.
Trait Approach
One of the earliest approaches for studying leadership was the trait approach. This
approach emphasizes attributes of leaders such as personality, motives, values, and
skills. Underlying this approach was the assumption that some people are natural leaders,
endowed with certain traits not possessed by other people. Early leadership theories attributed managerial success to extraordinary abilities such as tireless energy, penetrating intuition,
uncanny foresight, and irresistible persuasive powers. Hundreds of trait studies conducted
during the 1930s and 1940s sought to discover these elusive qualities, but this massive research
effort failed to find any traits that would guarantee leadership success. One reason for the
failure was a lack of attention to mediating variables in the causal chain that could explain how
traits could affect a delayed outcome such as group performance or leader advancement. The
predominant research method was to look for a significant correlation between individual
leader attributes and a criterion of leader success, without examining any explanatory processes. However, as evidence from better designed research slowly accumulated over the years,
researchers made progress in discovering how leader attributes are related to leadership behavior and effectiveness. A more recent trait approach examines leader values that are relevant for
explaining ethical leadership.
Behavior Approach
The behavior approach began in the early 1950s after many researchers became discouraged with the trait approach and began to pay closer attention to what managers actually do
on the job. One line of research examines how managers spend their time and the typical pattern of activities, responsibilities, and functions for managerial jobs. Some of the research
also investigates how managers cope with demands, constraints, and role conflicts in their
jobs. Most research on managerial work uses descriptive methods of data collection such as
direct observation, diaries, job description questionnaires, and anecdotes obtained from interviews. Although this research was not designed to directly assess effective leadership, it provides
useful insights into this subject. Leadership effectiveness depends in part on how well a manager
resolves role conflicts, copes with demands, recognizes opportunities, and overcomes constraints.
Another subcategory of the behavior approach focuses on identifying leader actions or decisions with observable aspects and relating them to indicators of effective leadership. The preferred research method involves a survey field study with a behavior description
questionnaire. In the past 50 years, hundreds of survey studies examined the correlation between
leadership behavior and various indicators of leadership effectiveness. A much smaller number
of studies used laboratory experiments, field experiments, or critical incidents to determine how
effective leaders differ in behavior from ineffective leaders.
Power-Influence Approach
Power-influence research examines influence processes between leaders and other
people. Like most research on traits and behavior, some of the power-influence research takes a
leader-centered perspective with an implicit assumption that causality is unidirectional (leaders
Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
act and followers react). This research seeks to explain leadership effectiveness in terms of the
amount and type of power possessed by a leader and how power is exercised. Power is viewed
as important not only for influencing subordinates, but also for influencing peers, superiors, and
people outside the organization, such as clients and suppliers. The favorite methodology has
been the use of survey questionnaires to relate leader power to various measures of leadership
effectiveness.
Other power-influence research used questionnaires and descriptive incidents to determine
how leaders influence the attitudes and behavior of followers. The study of influence tactics can
be viewed as a bridge linking the power-influence approach and the behavior approach. The use
of different influence tactics is compared in terms of their relative effectiveness for getting people
to do what the leader wants.
Participative leadership is concerned with power sharing and empowerment of followers,
but it is firmly rooted in the tradition of behavior research as well. Many studies used questionnaires to correlate subordinate perceptions of participative leadership with the criteria of leadership effectiveness such as subordinate satisfaction, effort, and performance. Laboratory and field
experiments compared autocratic and participative leadership styles. Finally, descriptive case
studies of effective managers examined how they use consultation and delegation to give people
a sense of ownership for decisions.
Situational Approach
The situational approach emphasizes the importance of contextual factors that influence
leadership processes. Major situational variables include the characteristics of followers, the
nature of the work performed by the leader’s unit, the type of organization, and the nature of
the external environment. This approach has two major subcategories. One line of research is
an attempt to discover the extent to which leadership processes are the same or unique across
different types of organizations, levels of management, and cultures. The primary research
method is a comparative study of two or more situations. The dependent variables may be
managerial perceptions and attitudes, managerial activities and behavior patterns, or influence
processes.
The other subcategory of situational research attempts to identify aspects of the situation
that “moderate” the relationship of leader attributes (e.g., traits, skills, behavior) to leadership effectiveness. The assumption is that different attributes will be effective in different situations, and
that the same attribute is not optimal in all situations. Theories describing this relationship are
sometimes called “contingency theories” of leadership. A more extreme form of situational theory
(“leadership substitutes”) identifies the conditions that can make hierarchical leadership redundant
and unnecessary.
Integrative Approach
An integrative approach involves more than one type of leadership variable. In recent
years, it has become more common for researchers to include two or more types of leadership
variables in the same study, but it is still rare to find a theory that includes all of them (i.e., traits,
behavior, influence processes, situational variables, and outcomes). An example of the integrative approach is the self-concept theory of charismatic leadership, which attempts to explain why
the followers of some leaders are willing to exert exceptional effort and make personal sacrifices
to accomplish the group objective or mission.
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
Level of Conceptualization for Leadership Theories
Another way to classify leadership theories is in terms of the “level of conceptualization” or type of constructs used to describe leaders and their influence on others. Leadership
can be described as (1) an intra-individual process, (2) a dyadic process, (3) a group process, or
(4) an organizational process. The levels can be viewed as a hierarchy, as depicted in Figure 1-3.
What level is emphasized will depend on the primary research question, the type of criterion variables used to evaluate leadership effectiveness, and the type of mediating processes used to explain
leadership influence. Typical research questions for each level are listed in Table 1-4. The four
levels of conceptualization, and their relative advantages and disadvantages, are described next.
Intra-Individual Processes
Because most definitions of leadership involve influence processes between individuals, leadership theories that describe only leader attributes are rare. Nevertheless, a number of
researchers used psychological theories of personality traits, values, skills, motivation, and cognition to explain the decisions and behavior of an individual leader. Roles, behaviors, or decision
styles are also used for describing and comparing leaders. Examples can be found in theories
about the nature of managerial work and the requirements for different types of leadership positions (see Chapter 2). Individual traits and skills are also used to explain a person’s motivation to
seek power and positions of authority (see Chapter 6), and individual values are used to explain
ethical leadership and the altruistic use of power (see Chapter 13).
Knowledge of intra-individual processes and taxonomies of leadership roles, behaviors,
and traits provide insights that are helpful for developing better theories of effective leadership. However, the potential contribution of the intra-individual approach to leadership is limited, because it does not explicitly include what most theorists consider to be the essential process
of leadership, namely influencing others such as subordinates, peers, bosses, and outsiders.
Dyadic Processes
The dyadic approach focuses on the relationship between a leader and another individual
who is usually a subordinate or another type of follower. The need to influence direct reports
is shared by leaders at all levels of authority from chief executives to department managers
Organization
Group
Dyadic
Individual
FIGURE 1-3 Levels of Conceptualization for Leadership Processes
Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
TABLE 1-4
Research Questions at Different Levels of Conceptualization
Intra-Individual Theories
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
How leader traits and values influence leadership behavior
How leader skills are related to leader behavior
How leaders make decisions
How leaders manage their time
How leaders are influenced by role expectations and constraints
How leaders react to feedback and learn from experience
How leaders can use self-development techniques
Dyadic Theories
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
How a leader influences subordinate motivation and task commitment
How a leader facilitates the work of a subordinate
How a leader interprets information about a subordinate
How a leader develops a subordinate’s skills and confidence
How a leader influences subordinate loyalty and trust
How a leader uses influence tactics with a subordinate, peer, or boss
How a leader and a subordinate influence each other
How a leader develops a cooperative exchange relationship with a subordinate
Group-Level Theories
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
How different leader-member relations affect each other and team performance
How leadership is shared in the group or team
How leaders organize and coordinate the activities of team members
How leaders influence cooperation and resolve disagreements in the team or unit
How leaders influence collective efficacy and optimism for the team or unit
How leaders influence collective learning and innovation in the team or unit
How leaders influence collective identification of members with the team or unit
How unit leaders obtain resources and support from the organization and other units
Organizational-Level Theories
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
How top executives influence members at other levels
How leaders are selected at each level (and implications of the process for the firm)
How leaders influence organizational culture
How leaders influence the efficiency and the cost of internal operations
How leaders influence human relations and human capital in the organization
How leaders make decisions about competitive strategy and external initiatives
How conflicts among leaders are resolved in an organization
How leaders influence innovation and major change in an organization
and work crew supervisors. The explanation of leader influence is usually in terms of how the
leader causes the subordinate to be more motivated and more capable of accomplishing task
assignments. These theories usually focus on leadership behavior as the source of influence,
and on changes in the attitudes, motivation, and behavior of an individual subordinate as the
influence process. Reciprocal influence between the leader and follower may be included in
the theory, but it is usually less important than the explanation of leader influence over the
follower.
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
An example of a dyadic leadership theory is the leader-member exchange (LMX) theory
described in Chapter 9, which describes how dyadic relationships evolve over time and take different forms, ranging from a casual exchange to a cooperative alliance with shared objectives and
mutual trust. Although the LMX theory recognizes that the leader has multiple dyadic relationships, the focus is clearly on what happens within a single relationship. Much of the research on
power and influence tactics (see Chapter 8) is also conceptualized in terms of dyadic processes. Most
theories of transformational and charismatic leadership were initially conceptualized primarily at
the dyadic level (see Chapter 12).
Since real leaders seldom have only a single subordinate, some assumptions are necessary
to make dyadic explanations relevant for explaining a leader’s influence on the performance of
a group or work unit. One assumption is that subordinates have work roles that are similar and
independent. Subordinates may not be homogeneous with regard to skills and motives, but they
have similar jobs. There is little potential for subordinates to affect each other’s job performance,
and group performance is the sum of the performances by individuals. An example of minimum interdependence is a district sales unit in which sales representatives work separately and
independently of each other and sell the same product in different locations or to different customers. However, when there is high interdependence among group members, a high need for
collective learning, and strong external dependencies, a group-level theory is needed to explain
how leadership can influence group performance.
The dyadic theories do not include some leadership behaviors that are necessary to facilitate collective performance by a team or organization. Moreover, some of the dyadic behaviors
that are effective in terms of dyadic influence will be ineffective with regard to team performance or organizational performance. For example, attempts to develop a closer relationship
with one subordinate (e.g., by providing more benefits) may be dysfunctional if they create perceptions of inequity by other subordinates. Efforts to empower individual subordinates may
create problems when it is necessary to have a high degree of coordination among all of the
subordinates. The extra time needed by a leader to maximize performance by an individual
subordinate (e.g., providing intensive coaching) may be more effectively used to deal with problems that involve the team or work group (e.g., obtaining necessary resources, facilitating cooperation and coordination).
Another limitation of most dyadic theories is inadequate attention to the context. In most
dyadic theories of effective leadership, aspects of the situation are likely to be treated as moderator variables that constrain or enhance leader influence on individual subordinates. The dyadic
theories underestimate the importance of the context for determining what type of leadership is
necessary to enhance collective performance by multiple subordinates.
Group Processes
When effective leadership is viewed from a group-level perspective, the focus is on the
influence of leaders on collective processes that determine team performance. The explanatory
influence processes include determinants of group effectiveness that can be influenced by leaders,
and they usually involve all members of a group or team, not only a single subordinate. Examples
of these collective explanatory processes include how well the work is organized to utilize personnel and resources, how committed members are to perform their work roles effectively, how
confident members are that the task can be accomplished successfully (“potency”), and the extent
to which members trust each other and cooperate in accomplishing task objectives. The leadership behaviors identified in dyadic theories are still relevant for leadership in teams, but other
behaviors are also important.
Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
Behavioral theories describing leadership processes in various types of groups and teams
are discussed in Chapter 10, and leadership in executive teams is discussed in Chapter 11. Much
of a manager’s time is spent in formal and informal meetings, and the leadership processes that
make group meetings more effective are also described in Chapter 10. Another key research
question in the group approach is to explain why some members are more influential than others,
and how leaders are selected. An example of a theory dealing with these questions is the “social
exchange theory” discussed in Chapter 8.
As compared to the dyadic theories, most group-level theories provide a much better explanation of effective leadership in teams with interactive members, but these theories also have
limitations. The need to describe leader influence on member motivation is usually recognized,
but the theory may not include psychological processes that are useful for explaining this influence. The need to influence people and processes outside of the team is usually recognized, but
external relationships are usually viewed from the perspective of the team. The focus is on the
efforts of leaders to improve team performance (e.g., by getting more resources), but the implications of leader actions for other subunits or the larger organization are seldom explicitly considered. Shared leadership is more likely to be included in a group-level theory than in a dyadic
theory, but distributed leadership by multiple formal leaders is seldom explicitly included, even
though it is common in some types of teams (e.g., military combat units with a commander and
an executive officer).
Organizational Processes
The group approach provides a better understanding of leadership effectiveness than dyadic
or intra-individual approaches, but it has some important limitations. A group usually exists in
a larger social system, and its effectiveness cannot be understood if the focus of the research is
limited to the group’s internal processes. The organizational level of analysis describes leadership
as a process that occurs in a larger “open system” in which groups are subsystems (Fleishman
et al., 1991; Katz & Kahn, 1978; Mumford, 1986).
The survival and prosperity of an organization depends on adaptation to the environment
and the acquisition of necessary resources. A business organization must be able to market its
products and services successfully. Adaptation is improved by anticipating consumer needs and
desires, assessing the actions and plans of competitors, evaluating likely constraints and threats
(e.g., government regulation, input scarcity, hostile actions by enemies), and identifying marketable products and services that the organization has unique capabilities to provide. Some examples of activities relevant for adaptation include gathering and interpreting information about the
environment, identifying threats and opportunities, developing an effective strategy for adapting
to the environment, negotiating agreements that are favorable to the organization, influencing
outsiders to have a favorable impression of the organization and its products, and gaining cooperation and support from outsiders upon whom the organization is dependent. These activities
are aspects of “strategic leadership.”
Survival and prosperity also depend on the efficiency of the transformation process used
by the organization to produce its products and services. Efficiency is increased by finding
more rational ways to organize and perform the work, and by deciding how to make the best use
of available technology, resources, and personnel. Some examples of leadership responsibilities
include designing an appropriate organizational structure, determining authority relationships,
and coordinating operations across specialized subunits of the organization. Strategic leadership in organizations is described in Chapter 11.
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
As compared to dyadic or group-level theories of leadership, organization-level theories
usually provide a better explanation of financial performance. Distributed leadership is less
likely to be ignored in an organization-level theory, because it is obvious that an organization
has many designated leaders whose actions must be coordinated. Management practices and
systems (e.g., human resource management, operations management, strategic management)
are also ignored or downplayed in dyadic and team leadership theories, but in theories of organizational leadership the need to integrate leading and managing is more obvious (Yukl &
Lepsinger, 2004). More attention is likely for subjects such as organizational structure and culture, organizational change, executive succession, and influence processes between the CEO and
the top management team or board of directors. A limitation of most theories of organizational
leadership is that they do not explain influence processes for individual leaders (except sometimes for the chief executive), or influence processes within teams (except in some cases the
top-management team).
Multi-level Theories
Multi-level theories include constructs from more than one level of explanation (Klein,
Dansereau, & Hall, 1994; Rousseau, 1985). For example, the independent and dependent variables are at the same level of conceptualization, but moderator variables are at a different level. An
even more complex type of multi-level theory may include leader influence on explanatory processes at more than one level and reciprocal causality among some of the variables. Multi-level
theories of effective leadership provide a way to overcome the limitations of single-level theories,
but it is very difficult to develop a multi-level theory that is parsimonious and easy to apply. The
level of conceptualization has implications for the measures and methods of analysis used to
test a theory, and multi-level theories are usually more difficult to test than single-level theories
(Yammarino, Dionne, Chun, & Dansereau, 2005). Despite the difficulties, there is growing interest in developing and testing multi-level theories of leadership. Efforts to develop multi-level
theories, similarities in explanatory processes at different levels, and approaches for multi-level
analysis are described in Chapter 16.
Other Bases for Comparing Leadership Theories
Key variables and level of conceptualization are not the only ways to compare leadership theories. This section briefly describes three other types of distinctions commonly used
in the leadership literature: (1) leader-centered versus follower-centered theory, (2) universal versus contingency theory, and (3) descriptive versus prescriptive theory. Each type of distinction
is better viewed as a continuum along which a theory can be located, rather than as a sharp
dichotomy. For example, it is possible for a theory to have some descriptive elements as well as
some prescriptive elements, some universal elements as well as some contingency elements, and
an equal focus on leaders and followers.
Leader-Centered or Follower-Centered Theory
The extent to which a theory is focused on either the leader or followers is another useful way to classify leadership theories. Most leadership theories emphasize the characteristics
and actions of the leader without much concern for follower characteristics. The leader-focus is
strongest in theory and research that identifies traits, skills, or behaviors that contribute to leader
Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
effectiveness. Most of the contingency theories (in Chapter 7) also emphasize leader characteristics more than follower characteristics.
Only a small amount of research and theory emphasizes characteristics of the followers. Empowerment theory describes how followers view their ability to influence important events
(see Chapter 5). Attribution theory describes how followers view a leader’s influence on events and
outcomes (see Chapter 9), and other theories in the same chapter explain how followers can actively influence their work role and relationship with the leader, rather than being passive recipients of
leader influence. The leader substitutes theory (see Chapter 7) describes aspects of the situation
and follower attributes that make a hierarchical leader less important. The emotional contagion
theory of charisma (see Chapter 12) describes how followers influence each other. Finally, theories
of self-managed groups emphasize sharing of leadership functions among the members of a group;
in this approach, the followers are also the leaders (see Chapter 10).
Theories that focus almost exclusively on either the leader or the follower are less useful
than theories that offer a more balanced explanation, such as some of the theories in Chapters 7
9, 10, 11, and 12. Most theories of leader power (Chapter 8) emphasize that influence over followers depends on follower perceptions of the leader as well as on objective conditions and the
leader’s influence behavior.
Descriptive or Prescriptive Theory
Another important distinction among leadership theories is the extent to which they are
descriptive or prescriptive. Descriptive theories explain leadership processes, describe the typical
activities of leaders, and explain why certain behaviors occur in particular situations. Prescriptive
theories specify what leaders must do to become effective, and they identify any necessary conditions for using a particular type of behavior effectively.
The two perspectives are not mutually exclusive, and a theory can have both types of elements. For example, a theory that explains why a particular pattern of behavior is typical for leaders
(descriptive) may also explain which aspects of behavior are most effective (prescriptive). However,
the two perspectives are not always consistent. For example, the typical pattern of behavior for
leaders is not always the optimal one. A prescriptive theory is especially useful when a wide discrepancy exists between what leaders typically do and what they should do to be most effective.
Universal or Contingency Theory
A universal theory describes some aspect of leadership that applies to all types of situations,
and the theory can be either descriptive or prescriptive. A descriptive universal theory may
describe typical functions performed to some extent by all types of leaders, whereas a prescriptive
universal theory may specify functions all leaders must perform to be effective.
A contingency theory describes some aspect of leadership that applies to some situations
but not to others, and these theories can also be either descriptive or prescriptive. A descriptive contingency theory may explain how leader behavior varies from one situation to another,
whereas a prescriptive contingency theory describes effective behavior in a specific situation.
The distinction between universal and contingency theories is a matter of degree, not a sharp
dichotomy. Some theories include both universal and situational aspects. For example, a prescriptive theory may specify that a particular type of leadership is always effective but is more effective
in some situations than in others. Even when a leadership theory is initially proposed as a universal
theory, limiting and facilitating conditions are usually found in later research on the theory.
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
Organization of the Book
The diversity and complexity of the relevant literature make it difficult to organize a survey
book on leadership. No single way of classifying the literature captures all of the important distinctions. The primary basis for organizing chapters is according to type of leadership variable
studied. The behavior approach is reviewed first (Chapters 2, 3, and 4), then the trait approach
(Chapter 6), and the situational approach (Chapter 7), then the power-influence approach
(Chapter 8). Important lines of research that cut across the primary variables are treated in separate chapters whenever possible. Participative leadership, which involves both the behavior and
power-influence approaches, is covered in Chapter 5. The major theories of charismatic and
transformational leadership are usually classified as “integrative” because they involve more than
one approach, and these theories are covered in Chapter 12. Other ways of integrating the literature are briefly described in Chapters 7, 11, and 16.
Level of conceptualization is used as a secondary basis for organizing the material.
Chapter 6 describes leader skills and personality traits that are conceptualized primarily at the individual level. Chapter 9 includes both dyadic and some individual level theories. Group-based
approaches are described in Chapters 10 and 11.
The concepts in other chapters usually span multiple levels. The leader roles and behaviors described in Chapters 2 and 3 can be used in theories at any level but are most often used in
dyadic theories. Participative leadership and empowerment described in Chapter 5 are primarily
dyadic and group-level theories, but leaders can also influence empowerment for a large organization. The early contingency theories described in Chapter 7 are conceptualized primarily at
the dyadic or group level. The transformational and charismatic theories in Chapter 12 are also
primarily dyadic, but they are sometimes extended to include some group-level and organization-level elements. Chapter 13 describes ethical leadership theories (including transforming
leadership, servant leadership, spiritual leadership, and authentic leadership); leader values are
conceptualized at the individual level, but ethical leadership has implications for dyads, groups,
and the overall organization. Chapter 14 deals with some special issues that have implications
for different levels, including gender and leadership, cross-cultural differences in leadership, and
management of diversity. Leadership development is a topic that cuts across levels of analysis,
and it is discussed in Chapter 15. Chapter 16 provides an overview that includes a summary of
major findings about effective leadership and some concluding ideas about the essence of leadership at any level of analysis.
Summary
Leadership has been defined in many different ways, but most definitions share the
assumption that it involves an influence process for facilitating the performance of a collective
task. Otherwise, the definitions differ in many respects, such as who exerts the influence, the
intended beneficiary of the influence, the manner in which the influence is exerted, and the outcome of the influence attempt. Some theorists advocate treating leading and managing as separate roles or processes, but the proposed definitions do not resolve important questions about the
scope of each process and how they are interrelated. No single, “correct” definition of leadership
covers all situations. What matters most is how useful the definition is for increasing our understanding of effective leadership.
Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
Most researchers evaluate leadership effectiveness in terms of the consequences for followers and other organization stakeholders, but the choice of outcome variables has differed
considerably from researcher to researcher. Criteria differ in many important respects, including
how immediate they are, and whether they have subjective or objective measures. When evaluating leadership effectiveness, multiple criteria should be considered to deal with these complexities and the different preferences of various stakeholders.
Leadership has been studied in different ways, depending on the researcher’s methodological preferences and definition of leadership. Most researchers deal only with a narrow aspect of
leadership, and most empirical studies fall into distinct lines of research such as the trait, behavior, power, and situational approaches. In recent years, there has been an increased effort to cut
across and integrate these approaches.
Level of analysis is another basis for classifying leadership theory and research. The levels
include intra-individual, dyadic, group, and organizational. Each level provides some unique
insights, but more research is needed on group and organizational processes, and more integration across levels is needed.
Another basis for differentiating theories is the relative focus on leader or follower. For
many years, the research focused on leader characteristics and followers were studied only as
the object of leader influence. A more balanced approach is needed, and some progress is being
made in that direction.
Leadership theories can be classified as prescriptive versus descriptive, according to the
emphasis on “what should be” rather than on “what occurs now.” A final basis for differentiation (universal versus contingency) is the extent to which a theory describes leadership processes and relationships that are similar in all situations or that vary in specified ways across
situations.
Review and Discussion Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
What are some similarities and differences in the way leadership has been defined?
What are the arguments for and against making a distinction between leaders and managers?
Why is it so difficult to measure leadership effectiveness?
What criteria have been used to evaluate leadership effectiveness, and are some criteria more useful
than others?
What are the trait, behavior, and power-influence approaches, and what unique insights does each
approach provide about effective leadership?
Is leadership described as an intra-individual, dyadic, group, or organizational process in most leadership theories and research?
Compare descriptive and prescriptive theories of leadership, and explain why both types of theory are
useful.
Compare universal and contingency theories. Is it possible to have a theory with both universal and
contingent aspects?
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Chapter 1 • Introduction: The Nature of Leadership
Key Terms
behavior approach
contingency theories
criteria of leadership
effectiveness
delayed effects
descriptive theory
dyadic processes
follower-centered theory
integrative approach
leader-centered theory
level of conceptualization
mediating variable
power-influence approach
prescriptive theory
shared influence process
situational approach
specialized leadership role
trait approach
Chapter 2 2
Nature of Managerial Work
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
■
■
■
■
■
■
Understand the different roles and activities commonly required for managers.
Understand how managerial roles and activities are affected by aspects of the situation.
Understand how managers cope with demands, constraints, and choices confronting them.
Understand the importance of external activities and networking for managers.
Understand how managers solve problems and make decisions.
Understand how managers can make effective use of their time.
Leadership is an important role requirement for managers and a major reason why managerial
jobs exist. This chapter examines findings from research on the nature of managerial work. The
research involves analysis of data from a variety of sources, including observation of managers,
diaries in which managers describe their own activities, interviews with managers who explain
what they do and why they do it, and job description questionnaires in which managers rate the
importance of different types of managerial activities. One major purpose of this research has
been to identify patterns of activity that are common to all types of managers. Another major purpose has been to compare activity patterns for different types of managers, or managers in different
situations. These “comparative” studies examine the extent to which the behavior of a manager is
influenced by the unique role requirements of the situation.
Most descriptive research on managerial activities was not designed to determine how
activities are related to effective leadership, but the research provides some insights about the
subject. One important skill is time management. The final section of the chapter describes
guidelines to help managers use their time wisely, cope with demands, and handle role conflicts.
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Chapter 2 • Nature of Managerial Work
Activity Patterns for Managers
To discover what managers do and how they spend their time, researchers used descriptive methods such as direct observation, diaries, and interviews. The researcher attempted to
find answers to questions such as how much time managers spend alone or interacting with
different people (e.g., subordinates, peers, superiors, outsiders), how often managers use different
forms of interaction (e.g., telephone, scheduled meetings, unscheduled meetings, written messages), where the interactions occur, how long they last, and who initiated them. Reviews of this
research find some consistent activity patterns for most types of managerial positions (Hales,
1986; McCall, Morrison, & Hannan, 1978; Mintzberg, 1973). This section of the chapter reviews
major findings about the nature of managerial work.
Pace of Work Is Hectic and Unrelenting
The typical manager works long hours, and many managers take work home. In part, this
workload can be traced to the preferences of people in managerial positions. Having trained
their minds to search for and analyze new information continually, most managers do this type
of searching automatically and find it difficult to forget about their jobs when at home or on
vacation. The typical manager’s day seldom includes a break in the workload. Managers receive
almost continuous requests for information, assistance, direction, and authorization from a
large number of people, such as subordinates, peers, superiors, and people outside the organization. The research on managerial activities contradicts the popular conception of managers as
people who carefully plan and orchestrate events, and then sit in their office waiting for the occasional exception to normal operations that may require their attention.
Content of Work Is Varied and Fragmented
Managers typically engage in a variety of activities each day, and many of them are brief
in duration. Mintzberg’s (1973, p. 33) observations of executives found that “half of the activities were completed in less than 9 minutes, and only one-tenth took more than an hour.” The
activities of managers tend to be fragmented as well as varied. Interruptions occur frequently,
conversations are disjointed, and important activities are interspersed with trivial ones, requiring
rapid shifts of mood. A manager may go from a budget meeting to decide millions of dollars in
spending to a discussion about how to fix a broken water fountain (Sayles, 1979).
Many Activities Are Reactive
The fragmented nature of managerial activity reflects the fact that many interactions are initiated by others, and much of a manager’s behavior is reactive rather than proactive in nature. A
common stereotype of managers is that they spend a considerable part of their time in careful
analysis of business problems and development of elaborate plans to deal with them. However,
the descriptive studies find that most managers devote little time to reflective planning. The fragmented activities and continual heavy demands characteristic of managerial work make it difficult for managers to find the long periods of unallocated time necessary for this type of activity.
Reflective planning and other activities that require large blocks of time, such as team building
and training subordinates in complex skills, are usually preempted by “fire fighting” activities
involving immediate operational problems. What little time managers spend alone in the office
is typically used to read correspondence, check and send e-mail messages, handle administrative
paperwork, write reports or memos, and scan journals or technical publications. Most managers
Chapter 2 • Nature of Managerial Work
gravitate toward the active aspects of their jobs, and they tend to focus on specific, immediate
problems rather than general issues or long-term strategies.
Problems occur in a mostly random order, and managers choose to react to some problems
as they become aware of them, while others are ignored or postponed. There are more problems
than a manager can handle at any given time, and only a few of them will get immediate attention. The importance of a problem is a major determinant of whether it will be recognized and
handled, but it is often unclear how important a problem really is.
A manager is more likely to respond to a problem when there is pressure for immediate
action due to a crisis, deadline, or expectations of progress by someone important, such as the
manager’s boss or an external client (McCall & Kaplan, 1985). In the absence of such pressure,
a problem is more likely to get action when it is perceived to be similar to other problems that a
manager has solved successfully in the past, when the problem is perceived to be clearly within
the manager’s domain of responsibility, and when the manager perceives that the actions and
resources necessary to solve the problem are available. Managers are likely to ignore a problem
or postpone dealing with a problem when there is no external pressure for action, it is fuzzy and
difficult to diagnose, it is the primary responsibility of other managers or subunits, or it cannot be
solved without additional resources and support that would be difficult or impossible to obtain.
Interactions Often Involve Peers and Outsiders
Although much of the leadership literature focuses on the relationship between leader
and subordinates, the descriptive research has found that managers typically spend considerable time with persons other than direct subordinates or the manager’s boss. These contacts
may involve subordinates of subordinates, superiors of the boss, lateral peers, subordinates of
lateral peers, and superiors of lateral peers. In addition, many managers spend considerable
time with people outside the organization, such as customers, clients, suppliers, subcontractors,
people in government agencies, important people in the community, and managers from other
organizations. Kotter (1982) found that the network of relationships for general managers often
consisted of hundreds of people insi...
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