Chapter 5: Contemporary views of leadership

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Reading: Leadership theory and practice (7th ed.). Northhouse, P.G (2016). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
- chapter 8: transformational leadership
- chapter 9: authentic leadership
- chapter 10: servant leadership

Charismatic leadership
Charisma: Special gift that certain individuals possess that give them capacity to do extraordinary things

⇒ Weber (1947): special personality characteristics that give a person superhuman or exceptional power and is
reserved for a few, is of divine origin, and results in the person being treated as a leader.

⇒ Charismatic Leader: An enthusiastic, self-confident leader whose personality and actions influence people to
behave in certain ways

Attribution theory of charismatic leadership

1. Characteristics

Have a vision

Highly discrepant from the status quo but still within the latitude of acceptance by followers

Are able to articulate the vision.

Are able to act in unconventional way to achieve the vision

Are willing to make self-sacrifices, take risks and incur high cost to
achieve the vision.

Appear confident about their proposal/decision

Inspire followers with emotional appear

Are sensitive to the environment (see opportunities that other fail to

recognize) and follower needs.

Self concept theory of charismatic leadership

1. Indicators of charisma

House (1977): a charismatic leader has profound and unusual effects on followers. Followers perceive that leader’s
beliefs are correct,

they willing to obey the leader,

they feel affection toward the leader

They are emotionally involved in the mission of the group or organization

They have high performance goal

They believe that they can contribute to the success of the mission.

2. Leader traits and behavior

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 Articulating an appeal vision

Using strong, expressive forms of communication when articulating

the vision

Taking personal risk and making self-sacrifices to attain the vision

Communicating with high expectations

Expressing optimism and confidence in followers

Modeling behaviors consistent with the vision

Managing follower impressions of the leader

Building identification with the group or organization

Empowering followers

💡 How do charismatic leaders influence followers?

Articulate a vision → Create a vision statement → Create a new set of values → Demonstrate the vision

Consequences of charismatic leadership

1. Negative

Being aware of the leader reduces good suggestions by followers

Desire for leader acceptance inhibits criticism by followers

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 Adoration by followers creates delusions of leader infallibility

Excessive confidence and optimism blind the leader to real dangers

Denial of problems and failures reduces organizational learning

Risky, ambitious projects are more likely to fail

Taking complete credit for success isolate some key followers

Dependence on the leader hinders development of competent

successors

2. Positive

For followers: are more likely to experience psychological growth and development of their ability

For organization:

is more likely to adapt to an dynamic environment

Form an “achievement-oriented” culture, a “high-performing

system” and a “hand-on, value-driven” organization

Transformational vs. transactional leadership

Transformational: Leaders who inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests and who are capable of
having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers.

→ EG: a manager who attempts to change his or her company’s corporate values to reflect a more humane standard
of fairness and justice. In the process both the manager and the followers may emerge with a stronger and higher set
of moral values.

Transactional: Leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role
and task requirements. The relationship between leader and follower is based chiefly on exchanges, with an
emphasis on contingent reinforcement.

Transactional leaders
focus on the exchanges that occur btw the leader and their followers (effort by followers exchanged for specific
rewards)

Contigent reward

clarification of the work required to obtain reward

use of incentives and contingent reward to influence motivation

parent negotiating with a child about how much television the child can watch after practicing the piano

Active management by exception

involves: corrective criticism, negative feedback, negative reinforcement

Looking for mistake and enforcing rules to avoid mistake

Passive management by exception

use of contingent punishments and other corrective action in response to deviations from acceptable
standards (without talking about their prior performance)

eg: supervisor who gives an employee a poor performance evaluation without ever talking with the employee
about her or his prior work performance

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 Transformational leaders

inspire followers to transcend their self interest for the good of the organization

Idealized Influence (or called charisma)

Arouses strong followers emotion and identification with the leader

Setting an example of courage and dedication

Make self-sacrifices to benefits followers

→ leaders have high standards of moral + ethical conduct → deeply respected by followers

is measured on 2 components: attributional component: refers to the attribution of leaders made by followers
on perceptions they have of their leaders
behavioral component: refers to follower’s observations of leader behavior

Inspirational Motivation

Communicating appeal vision: inspired followers through motivation

Using symbol to focus subordinate effort

→ team spirit is enhanced

eg: sales manager who motivates members of the sales force to excel in their work through encouraging words
and pep talks that clearly communicate the integral role they play in the future growth of the company.

Intellectual Stimulation

Increases followers awareness of problems

Influence followers to view problems in a new perspective (be innovative)

plant manager who promotes workers’ individual efforts to develop unique ways to solve problems that have
caused slowdowns in production.

Individualized Consideration

Provide support, encouragement and coaching to followers

Leader acts as coaches and advisers, may use delegation to help followers grow through personal challenges

manager who spends time treating each employee in a caring and unique way. To some employees, the leader
may give strong affiliation; to others, the leader may give specific directives with a high degree of structure.

Transformational vs. Transactional

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 Transformational Transactional
Designed for: non-routine, complex, and adaptive Designed for: technical and routine challenges
challenges
focus on systems, process and structure
focus on people, possibilities and the future
based on priorities and problem solving
based on commitment and accountability
tactical, linear and return to full action
strategic, multidimensional and open new pathways
of thought and action
⇒ Result: Improvement
⇒ Result: exceptional performance

Leadership continuum
(from transformational to laisser-faire leadership)

Bass gave more attention to follower’s rather than leader’s needs by suggesting transformational leadership could apply to situations in
which the outcomes were not positive

Bass (1985) argues that transformational leadership motivates followers to do more than expected by

Raising followers’ levels of consciousness about the importance and value of specified and idealized goals

Getting followers transcend their self-interest for the sake of team or organization

Moving followers to address high level of needs

Nonleader factor - laissez-faire

💡 falls at the far right side of the transaction - transformational

represents the absence of leadership: delays decision, gives no feedback, make little effort to satisfy
their followers’ needs

Authentic leadership
Authentic leadership describes individuals who have “achieved high levels of authenticity in that they know who
they are, what they believe and value, and they act upon those values and beliefs while transparently interacting
with others” (Avolio et. al, 2004)

Leading through one’s own personal, genuine style that engenders trust in followers and builds relationships
(Levy, 2017)

intrapersonal (focuses on the leader and the leader’s knowledge, self-regulation, and self-concept) | interpersonal
(collective process, created by leaders and followers together) | development perspective (emphasizes major
compo- nents of authentic leadership that develop over a lifetime and are triggered by major life events)

Approaches to authentic leadership

1. Practical approach: evolved from real life examples and training and development literature → how to

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 2. Theoretical approach: based on findings from social science research

Traits of an authentic leader

self awareness: refers to the personal insights of the leader. Includes reflecting on core values, identity, emotions,
motives, goals + aware and trust your feelings

balance: individual’s ability to analyze information objectively and explore other people’s opinions before making a
decision → avoiding favoritism

transparency: being open and honest in presenting one’s true self to others, occurs when individuals share their
core feelings, motives, and inclinations with others in an appropriate manner

morality: self-regulatory process whereby individuals use their internal moral standards and values to guide their
behavior rather than allow outside pressures to control them

vision

compassionate

reliable

experience

relational transparency: being open and honest in presenting one’s true self to others. Includes individuals
showing both negative + positive aspects of themselves to others

Strengths Criticism
fulfills an expressed need for trust- worthy in the formative stages of development, and a
leadership in society number of questions still need to be addressed

provides broad guidelines for individuals who want moral component of authentic leadership is not fully
to become authentic leaders. explained

has an explicit moral dimension.

emphasizes that authentic values and behaviors can

be developed in leaders over time. Its not attributes

can be measured using the Authentic Leader- ship

Questionnaire (ALQ)

Servant leadership
Leading through personal integrity and driven by a desire to serve other people (Levy, 2017).

Placing the needs of subordinates before one’s own and focusing efforts on helping subordinates to grow into
their potential so as to achieve career success

six important dimensions: (1) empowering and developing people, (2) humility, (3) authenticity, (4) interpersonal
acceptance, (5) providing direction, and (6) stewardship (van Dierendonck, 2010)

Characteristics
1. Listening: communicates by listening first

2. Empathy: truly understand what followers are thinking and feeling

3. Healing: care about personal well-bing, support by helping overcome personal problems

4. Awareness: understanding oneself and the impact one has on others

5. Persuasion: creates change through the use of gentle nonjudgmental argument.

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 6. Conceptualization: individual’s ability to be a visionary for an organization, providing a clear sense of its goals and
direction

7. Foresight: ability to predict what is coming based on what is occur- ring in the present and what has happened in
the past

8. Stewardship: accept the responsibility to carefully manage the people and organization they have been given to
lead

9. Commitment to the growth of people:

10. Building community: build community to provide a place where people can feel safe and connected with others,
but are still allowed to express their own individuality.

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