Leadership and Communication

MGT522
Chapter 1. The Nature and Importance of Leadership
Mini Bio!
 Christina is an Associate Professor in Management at Abu Dhabi University
(ADU), specializing in human resource management, leadership, corporate social
responsibility, developmental/poverty reduction and tourism studies. She holds a
BSc (University of Surrey), an MSc (University of Surrey), a PhD (University of
Brighton), a Postdoctoral Fellowship (ESRC), and she has a Teaching Fellow
status!
 Throughout her career, Christina has worked at various universities worldwide,
served as a university accreditor/evaluator for European institutions, and
undertook research and consultancy projects globally. She has published books
and peer-reviewed journal articles, delivered keynote speeches at international
conferences, and supervised PhD students. Christina has received awards for her
contributions to education and leadership. She also holds visiting positions at
universities in Nigeria, Peru, and India.
 Christina actively supports the Principles for Responsible Management Education
(PRME), by embedding sustainable social and economic development into her
teaching and research. She leads the Professional Development and Anti-Poverty
Solutions initiatives within the PRME Middle East Chapter, represents the College
of Business in the Middle East Business Association for Sustainability (MEBAS),
and heads the Sustainability Society in the College of Business.
The Meaning of Leadership

1. We can define leadership as the ability to inspire confidence and support

among the people who are needed to achieve organizational goals.
2. A process in which an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a
common goal.
3. The influential increment over and above mechanical compliance with
directions and orders.
4. An act that causes others to act or respond in a shared direction.
5. The art of influencing people by persuasion or example to follow a line of
action.
6. Mobilizing people in an organization around common goals to achieve impact.
7. The principal dynamic force that motivates and coordinates the organization in
the accomplishment of its objectives.
8. The exercise of social influence between and among many sources of
leadership (including the leader, follower, and setting), working toward a
common goal by using various mechanisms including the leader’s traits,
behavior, and emotion.
Leadership as Shared Responsibility and Collaboration

 Many leadership theorists and managers agree that the leadership role within
a team is seldom the responsibility of one person. Rather, several individuals
within the team may serve as leaders, both by formal assignment and
informally.
 Leadership may shift, depending on whose expertise is the most relevant at
the moment, such as one member of a marketing team having advanced
expertise in using social media for product promotion.
 “There is a transition occurring from the old paradigm in which leadership
resided in a person or role, to a new one in which leadership is a collective
process that is spread throughout networks of people.”
 A key force driving collaborative leadership is the hyperconnected
organizational world fostered by email and social media, along with
globalization. The collaborative leadership style is well suited to harness the
power of this multitude of connections.
 For example, a head of marketing can readily gather and welcome the input of
thousands of people on broadening the market for a product. In this way, the
head of marketing collaborates with people from afar instead of developing
the strategy alone
Leadership as a Relationship
 Leadership is usually a relationship between the leader and the
people being led.
 Leadership is not a trait or behavior of an individual but rather a
phenomenon generated in the interactions among people acting in a
given setting.
 How leaders build relationships has changed somewhat in the modern
era and its emphasis on interacting with people digitally.
 It is common practice for leaders to give recognition and praise via
email or a posting on the company social media site, or a public
social media site such as Facebook or Twitter.
 The late Steve Jobs, said that leaders should not let communication
technology block them from interacting face-to-face with work
associates. “There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that
ideas can be developed by e-mail and iChat. That’s crazy. Creativity
comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions.”
 In addition to sparking innovation, the face-to-face encounters help
develop relationships.
Leadership Versus Management
To understand leadership, it is important to grasp the difference between
leadership and management.
 Management is: planning, organizing, directing (or leading), and controlling.
 Leading is: a major part of a manager’s job; yet a manager must also plan,
organize, and control.
 Broadly speaking, leadership deals with the interpersonal aspects of a
manager’s job
 Whereas planning, organizing, and controlling deal with the administrative
aspects.
 Leadership deals with change, inspiration, motivation, and influence
 An example of how a company might recognize the difference between
leadership and management took place at the Boston investment firm, GMO
LLC. The company brought on the first chief executive in its thirty-two-year
history, Marc Mayer. His role was to take care of running the company
(management) so that senior officials could focus more on navigating the
treacherous market (strategic leadership)
The Impact of Leadership on
Organizational Performance
Research and Opinion: Leadership Does Make a Difference
A scholarly review of the evidence indicates
that leaders are commonly credited with the
ability to profoundly affect, even control,
significant organizational outcomes.
 Bezos, the founder and chairperson of
[Link], has guided the company from
a startup online book and music store into
perhaps the world’s largest retailer.
 Amazon is also a major provider of
commercial software services, including
cloud computing.
Research and Opinion: Formal Leadership Does Not Make a
Difference

 The anti-leadership argument holds that the impact of the leader on

organizational outcomes is smaller than the impact of forces within the situation.
 To personalize this perspective, imagine yourself appointed as the manager of a
group of highly skilled investment bankers. How well your group performs could
be attributed as much to their talent and to economic conditions as to your
leadership.
Several of the arguments that leadership can be overrated are presented next.
1. Closely knit teams of highly trained individuals. When members of a cohesive,
highly trained group are focused on a goal, they may require almost no leadership
to accomplish their task.
2. Intrinsic satisfaction. Employees who are engaged in work they find strongly self-
motivating, or intrinsically satisfying, require a minimum of leadership. Part of the
reason is that the task itself grabs the worker’s attention and energy. The worker
may require little leadership as long as the task is proceeding smoothly.
3. Professional norms. Workers who incorporate strong professional norms often
require a minimum of supervision and leadership. A group of certified professional
accountants may not need visionary leadership to inspire them to do an honest
job of auditing the books of a client or advising against tax fraud.
Leadership Roles
1. Figurehead. Leaders, particularly high-ranking managers, spend some part
of their time engaging in ceremonial activities, or acting as a figurehead. Four
specific behaviors fit the figurehead role of a leader:
 a. entertaining clients or customers as an official representative of the
organization
 b. making oneself available to outsiders as a representative of the
organization
 c. serving as an official representative of the organization at gatherings
outside the organization
 d. escorting official visitors
2. Spokesperson. When a leader acts as a spokes-person, the emphasis is on
answering letters or inquiries and formally reporting to individuals and groups
outside the manager’s direct organizational unit. As a spokesperson, the
managerial leader keeps five groups of people informed about the unit’s
activities, plans, capabilities, and possibilities (vision): a. upper-level
management b. clients or customers c. other important outsiders such as labor
union d. professional colleagues
Tolerance for Ambiguity

 In recent years, as the world of work has become more

uncertain and rapidly changing, the ability to tolerate
ambiguity as well as to thrive from it has gained in importance
as a trait and behavior for leaders.
 Furthermore, the complexity of problems in the workplace
makes clear-cut answers elusive. Tolerating ambiguity means
being able to accept and profit from vague, uncertain, or
inconsistent information or situations.
 “You manage the gray” because you recognize that tough and
complex decisions are not black and white.
 “Tolerance for ambiguity will be a vital characteristic of leaders
in the years to come. Chief executives cannot afford to bury
their heads in the sands when storms of uncertainty hit,
because these storms will never cease.”
The Satisfactions and Frustrations of Being a Leader
Satisfactions of Leaders

Leaders often experience seven sources of satisfaction.

 1. A feeling of power and prestige. Being a leader automatically
grants you some power. Prestige is forthcoming because many people
think highly of people who are leaders. In a few organizations, top-
level leaders are addressed as Mr., Mrs., or Ms., whereas lower-
ranking people are referred to by their first names. Yet most leaders
encourage others to address them by their first names.
 2. A chance to help others grow and develop. A leader works directly
with people, often teaching them job skills, serving as a mentor, and
listening to personal problems. Part of a leader’s job is to help other
people become managers and leaders. A leader often feels as much
of a people helper as does a human resource manager or a counselor.
 3. High income. Leaders, in general, receive higher pay than team
members, and executive leaders in major business corporations
typically earn several million dollars per year. If money is an
important motivator or satisfier, being a leader has a built-in
satisfaction.
Con./
Satisfactions of Leaders
 4. Respect and status. A leader frequently receives respect from
group members. They also enjoy a higher status than people who are
not occupying a leadership role.
 5. Good opportunities for advancement. Once you become a leader,
your advancement opportunities increase. Obtaining a leadership
position is a vital first step for career advancement in many
organizations.
 6. A feeling of being in on things. A side benefit of being a leader is
that you receive more inside information. For instance, as a manager
you are invited to attend management meetings. In those meetings,
you are given information not passed along to individual contributors.
 7. An opportunity to control money and other resources. A leader is
often in the position of helping to prepare a department budget and
authorize expenses. Even though you cannot spend this money
personally, knowing that your judgment on financial matters is
trusted does provide some satisfaction.
Dissatisfactions and Frustrations of Leaders
These frustrations include the following:
 1. Too much uncompensated overtime. People in leadership jobs are usually
expected to work longer hours than other employees. Such unpaid hours are
called casual overtime. People in organizational leadership positions
typically spend about fifty-five hours per week working.
 2. Too many headaches. A leader is subject to a batch of problems involving
people and things. Many people find that a leadership position is a source of
stress, and many managers experience burnout.
 3. Facing a perform-or-perish mentality. Many leaders face an enormous
amount of pressure to either perform or be fired. These pressures often can
be found in companies owned by private equity (or buyout) firms.
 4. Not enough authority to carry out responsibility. People in managerial
positions complain repeatedly that they are held responsible for things over
which they have little control. As a leader, you might be expected to work
with an ill-performing team member, yet you lack the power to fire that
person Or you might be expected to produce high-quality service with too
small a staff and no authority to become fully staffed.
Cont./
 5. Loneliness. The higher you rise as a leader, the lonelier you will be
in a certain sense. Leadership limits the number of people in whom
you can confide. Some people in leadership positions feel lonely
because they miss being one of the gang.
 6. Too many problems involving people. A major frustration facing a
leader is the number of human resource problems requiring action.
The lower your leadership position, the more such problems you face.
For example, the office supervisor spends more time dealing with
problem employees than does the chief information officer. If you do
not like dealing with people problems, you are not suited for a
leadership or management position.
 7. Too much organizational politics. Political tactics such as forming
alliances and coalitions are a necessary part of a leader’s role.
Another troublesome aspect of organizational politics is that there are
people who seek to discredit you, perhaps even by fabricating
mistakes you have made.
Cont./
 8. The pursuit of conflicting goals. A major challenge facing leaders is to
navigate among conflicting goals. The central theme of these dilemmas is
attempting to grant others the authority to act independently, yet still
getting them aligned or pulling together for a common purpose.
 9. Being perceived as unethical, especially if you are a corporate executive.
The many corporate financial scandals made public in recent years have led
to extreme perceptions that CEOs, in particular, are dishonest, unethical,
and almost criminal in their behavior. Even if 95 percent of corporate leaders
are honest and devoted to their constituents, the leader still has to deal with
the possibility of being perceived as dishonest.
 10. Job fatigue and burnout as a result of the preceding nine problems.
Leaders occupying high-level positions face so many pressures that many of
them experience fatigue and even burnout—in-tense fatigue and resentment
caused by dealing with heavy stress over a prolonged period of time.
 The round-the-clock attention to responsibilities contributes to the excessive
fatigue. Another major contributor to leader burnout is being responsible for
an action that hurts so many people, such as laying off workers.
A Framework for Understanding Leadership
 At the top of the framework, leadership effectiveness refers to
attaining desirable outcomes such as productivity, quality, and
satisfaction in a given situation.
Whether or not the leader is effective depends on the three sets
of variables in the box.(see book)
 The left box, leader characteristics, refers to inner qualities
such as self-confidence and problem-solving ability that help a
leader function effectively in many situations.
 Leader behavior and style refers to the activities engaged in
by the leader, including characteristic approach, that relate to
their effectiveness.
 A leader who frequently coaches group members and
practices participative leadership, for example, might be
effective in many circumstances.
Cont./
 Group member characteristics refers to attributes of the group
members that could have a bearing on how effective the leadership
attempt will be. Intelligent and well-motivated group members, for
example, help the leader do an outstanding job. The internal and
external environment also influences leadership effectiveness.
 A leader in a culturally diverse environment, for example, will need to
have multicultural skills to be effective. All of the topics in this text fit
somewhere into this model, and the fit will be more obvious at some
places than at others.
 A key point of this model is that leadership is a multilevel
phenomenon. The leader interacts with group members one at a
time, and also with the group. At the same time, leadership takes
place in the context of the organization and the external
environment.
Skill Development in Leadership

 Leadership skills are in high demand. Executives

who recruit candidates for high-level management
jobs list leadership skills as the top attributes they
want
 Leadership skills are also sought in candidates for
entry-level professional positions. Two reasons are
that a job candidate with leadership skills is more
likely to be self-reliant and also, they can be placed
in charge of a part of a project.
 Although students of leadership will find this
information encouraging, developing leadership
skills is more complex and ambiguous than
developing a structured skill such as inserting an
additional memory card into a computer.
Followership: Being an Effective
Group Member
 Followership has become so important that some
organizations offer training in the subject.
 Training in followership often focuses on how to take
responsibility for shared goals, being a self-starter,
and providing constructive feedback to leaders
when they make mistakes.
 In some high-risk occupations, such as an airplane
crew member, followership skills are so important
that formal training in this behavior is a
requirement.
Cont./
Types of Followers
 1. Isolates are completely detached and passively support the status quo
by not taking action to bring about changes. They do not care much about
their leaders and just do their job without taking an interest in the overall
organization. Isolates need coaching, yet sometimes firing them is the
only solution.
 2. Bystanders are free riders who are typically detached when it fits their
self-interests. At a meeting, a bystander is more likely to focus on the
refreshments and taking peeks at their personal text messages.
Bystanders have low internal motivation, so the leader has to work hard
to find the right motivators to spark the bystander into action.
 3. Participants show enough engagement to invest some of their own time
and money to make a difference, such as taking the initiative to learn new
technology that would help the group. Participants are sometimes for, and
sometimes against, the leader and the company. The leader has to review
their work and attitudes carefully to determine whether or not the
participant is being constructive.
Cont./
 4. Activists are considerably engaged, heavily invested in people and
processes, and eager to demonstrate their support or opposition.
They feel strongly, either positively or negatively, about their leader
and the organization and act accordingly. An activist might be
enthusiastic about reaching company goals, or so convinced that the
company is doing the wrong thing that the activist blow the whistle
(reports the company to an outside agency). The leader has to stay
aware of whether the activist is for or against the company.
 5. Diehards are super-engaged to the point that they are willing to go
down for their own cause, or willing to oust the leader if they feel the
leader is headed in the wrong direction. Diehards can be an asset or a
liability to the leader. Diehards have an even stronger tendency to be
whistleblowers than do activists. A diehard, for example, might take it
on their own to test the side effects of a weight reduction food
supplement sold by the company. Leaders have to stay in touch with
diehards to see if their energy is being pointed in the service of the
organization.
Types of Followers
 The categorization of followers just presented adds a touch of realism to
understanding the challenging role of a leader. Not everybody in the group is
super-charged and eager to collaborate toward attaining organizational goals.
 Essential Qualities of Effective Followers
 As observed by Robert E. Kelley, effective followers share the following four
essential qualities:
 1. Self-management. The key to being a good follower is to think for oneself and
to work well with-out close supervision. Effective group members see themselves
as being as capable as their leaders.
 2. Commitment. Effective followers are committed to something beyond
themselves, be it a cause, product, department, organization, idea, or value. To a
committed group member, the leader facilitates progress toward achieving a goal.
 3. Competence and focus. Effective followers build their competence and focus
their efforts for maximum impact. Competence centers on mastering skills that
will be useful to the organization. Less-effective group members rarely take the
initiative to engage in training and development.
 4. Courage. Effective followers establish themselves as independent, critical
thinkers, and fight for what they believe is right. A good follower, for ex-ample,
might challenge the company’s policy of taking ninety days to make good on
accounts pay-able, or of recruiting key people almost exclusively from people with
demographic characteristics similar to those of top management
Collaboration Between Leaders and Followers
 Great leaders are made by great groups; every
organizational member needs to contribute
energy and talent to help leaders carry out
their roles successfully.
 We emphasize again that in the modern
organization, leaders and followers often switch
roles, such as a group member being assigned
leadership responsibility for a group task.
 In the words of Petros G. Malakyan, “In reality,
one cannot claim that he or she is a leader or a
follower at all times and in all circumstances.”
Summary

 Leadership is the ability to inspire confidence in and support among the

people who are needed to achieve organizational goals.
 Many people attribute organizational performance to leadership actions.
 Leadership positions often are satisfying because they offer such things
as power, prestige, the opportunity to help others, high income, and the
opportunity to control resources. At other times, being a leader carries
with it a number of frustrations, such as facing a perform-or-perish
mentality, insufficient authority, having to deal with human problems,
and too much organizational politics
 According to the model, leadership can best be understood by examining
its key variables: leader characteristics and traits, leader behavior and
style, group member characteristics, and the internal and external
environment. Leadership effectiveness is dependent on all three sets of
variables. Another point of the model is that leadership is multilevel,
involving the individual, the small group, and the organization
Cont./
 A major challenge facing leaders is that followers differ substantially
in characteristics, including level of engagement, from feeling and
doing nothing to total passion, commitment, and involvement.
 To be an effective leader, one needs good followers with
characteristics such as self-management, commitment, competence
and focus, and courage. A key role for followers is to collaborate with
leaders in achieving organizational goals.
 The post-bureaucratic organization requires a new kind of alliance
between leaders and the led.
Leadership and Communication
MGT522
Chapter 3: Charismatic and Transformational Leadership
Mini Bio!

 Christina is an Associate Professor in Management at Abu Dhabi University (ADU),

specializing in human resource management, leadership, corporate social responsibility,
developmental/poverty reduction and tourism studies. She holds a BSc (University of
Surrey), an MSc (University of Surrey), a PhD (University of Brighton), a Postdoctoral
Fellowship (ESRC), and she has a Teaching Fellow status!
 Throughout her career, Christina has worked at various universities worldwide, served as a
university accreditor/evaluator for European institutions, and undertook research and
consultancy projects globally. She has published books and peer-reviewed journal articles,
delivered keynote speeches at international conferences, and supervised PhD students.
Christina has received awards for her contributions to education and leadership. She also
holds visiting positions at universities in Nigeria, Peru, and India.
 Christina actively supports the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME),
by embedding sustainable social and economic development into her teaching and
research. She leads the Professional Development and Anti-Poverty Solutions initiatives
within the PRME Middle East Chapter, represents the College of Business in the Middle East
Business Association for Sustainability (MEBAS), and heads the Sustainability Society in
the College of Business
Learning Objectives

 3.1 Enumerate the meanings of charisma and three types of

charismatic leaders.
 3.2 Describe many of the traits and behaviors of charismatic leaders.
 3.3 Break down the visionary component of charismatic leadership
 3.4 Describe the communication style of charismatic leaders.
 3.5 Assemble an action plan for developing your charisma.
 3.6 Cite the nature of transformational leadership.
 3.7 Identify several of the impacts of charismatic and
transformational leadership on performance and behavior.
 3.8 Articulate the concerns about charismatic leadership from the
scientific and moral standpoint.
The Meanings of Charisma
Learning Objective 3.1 Enumerate the meanings of
charisma and three types of charismatic leaders

 Charisma is a Greek word meaning “divinely inspired gift.” In the study of

leadership, charisma is a special quality of leaders whose purposes, powers, and
extraordinary determination differentiate them from others.
 Charisma is a positive and compelling quality that makes many others want to
be led by the person that has it. A case in point is the late Steve Jobs of Apple
Inc., whose name surfaces frequently in discussions of charisma.
 Given that charisma is based on perceptions, an important element of
charismatic leadership involves the attributions made by group members about
the characteristics of leaders and the results they achieve.
 According to attribution theory, if people perceive a leader to have a certain
characteristic, such as being visionary, the leader will more likely be perceived
as charismatic.
 Attributions of charisma are important because they lead to other behavioral
outcomes, such as commitment to leaders, self-sacrifice, and high performance.
Charisma: A Relationship Between the Leader, Group
Members, and Other Stakeholders

 It involves a relationship or interaction between the leader and the people

being led. Charismatic leaders use impression management to deliberately
cultivate a certain relationship with group members.
 In other words, they take steps to create a favorable, successful
impression, recognizing that the perceptions of constituents determine
whether they function as charismatic leaders.
 An example is Elon Musk the flamboyant CEO of Tesla
 When charismatic leaders are appealing to a specific emotion to motivate
subordinates, the emotion they display will fit the emotion they are
attempting to elicit.
 Suppose a leader is attempting to appeal to the emotion of joy among
subordinates, the leader will express joy.
 Charisma will be attributed to leaders according to their degree of success
in eliciting emotions from group members.
 Simply put, if your leader frequently triggers emotions in you, particularly
those of a positive nature, you will consider that leader to be charismatic
Three Types of Charismatic Leaders
 Charismatic leaders can be categorized into various types, with the three most
relevant for today described here: socialized charismatics, personalized
charismatics, and celebrities.
 A socialized charismatic is a leader who restrains the use of power in order to
benefit others. This type of leader also attempts to bring group members’
values in line with that person’s values. The socialized charismatic formulates
and pursues goals that fulfill the needs of group members and provide
intellectual stimulation to them. Followers of socialized charismatics are
autonomous, empowered, and responsible.
 A second type of charismatic leader is the personalized charismatic. Such
individuals serve primarily their own interests and so exercise few restraints on
their use of power. Personalized charismatics impose self-serving goals on
constituents, and they offer consideration and support to group members only
when it facilitates their own goals. Followers of personalized charismatics are
typically obedient, submissive, and dependent.
 The celebrity charismatic can be found in organizational life as well as in the
political and entertainment realms. Charismatic people of this type may
overlap with the other types such as being socialized and personalized.
Characteristics of Charismatic Leaders
Learning Objective 3.2 Describe many of the traits and behaviors
of charismatic leaders

 The outstanding characteristic of charismatic leaders is that they can

attract, motivate, or lead others.
 Although they inspire people, they may not bring about major
organizational changes.
 First, charismatic leaders are visionary because offer an exciting
image of where the organization is headed and how to get there.
 Charismatic leaders also possess masterful communication skills. To
inspire people, the charismatic leader uses colorful language and
exciting metaphors and analogies.
 Another key characteristic is the ability to inspire trust.
 Charismatic people are typically tactful in social situations based
partly on their ability to read other people’s emotions (part of
emotional intelligence).
Cont./
 In addition, charismatic leaders demonstrate an energy and action
orientation.
 Emotional expressiveness and warmth are also notable. A key
characteristic of charismatic leaders is the ability to express feelings
openly.
 Another trait of charismatic leaders is that they romanticize risk.
 Another characteristic observed in many charismatic leaders is that
they challenge, prod, and poke. They test your courage and your self-
confidence
 Another major characteristic of charismatic leaders is amalgam of the
ideas already introduced: Being dramatic and unique in significant,
positive ways is a major contributor to charisma
The Narcissism Component of
Charismatic Leadership
 Narcissism is a relatively stable personality trait characterized by a
sense of personal superiority, a desire for power, and a sense of self-
importance. Narcissists have little empathy for others because they
are so focused on themselves.
 Part of being narcissistic is having a self-promoting personality.
Narcissists frequently toot their own horn and allow others to know
how important they are.
 Narcissistic CEOs tend to make riskier decisions, often to attain
dramatic results which enhance their image.
 At their best charismatic leaders who are narcissistic are effective in
their roles. On the positive side, the air of confidence and dominance
so characteristic of narcissism often inspires followers.
The Vision Component of Charismatic Leadership
Learning Objective 3.3 Break down the visionary component of
charismatic leadership.
 A major buzzword in leadership and management is vision, the ability to
imagine different and better future conditions and ways to achieve them.
 An effective leader is supposed to have a vision, whereas an ineffective leader
either lacks a vision or has an unclear one. The most successful charismatic
leaders excel by linking their vision for the organization to change that is
emotionally meaningful to stakeholders.
 Creating a vision is one of the major tasks of top management, yet quite often
vision statements fail to inspire constituents.
 According to Jim Collins, a vision statement is likely to be more inspirational
when it combines three elements:
 1. A reason for being beyond making money
 2. Timeless, unchanging core values
 3. Ambitious but achievable goals
 Vision statements typically relate to the entire organization, yet a leader or
manager responsible for an organizational unit can have a vision about what
they are attempting to accomplish.
Cont./
 Here are seven sample vision statements:
 Tesla Inc.: To create the most compelling car company of the 21st
century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.
 AT&T: Our vision is to design and create in this decade the new global
network, processes, and service platforms that maximize automation,
allowing for a reallocation of human resources to more complex and
productive work.
 Kellogg Company: To enrich and delight the world through foods and
brands that matter.
The Communication Style of Charismatic Leaders
Learning Objective 3.4 Describe the communication
style of charismatic leaders

 Here we describe four related aspects of the communication style of

charismatic leaders:
 leadership by inspiration,
 eye-directed gazing,
 leadership by storytelling,
 and communication via social networking
Using Metaphors and Analogies

 A well-chosen analogy or metaphor appeals to the intellect, to the

imagination, and to values.
 The charismatic Mary Kay Ash (now deceased), founder of the
cosmetics company Mary Kay, Inc., made frequent use of metaphors
during her career.
 To inspire her associates to higher performance, she often said: “You
see, a bee shouldn’t be able to fly; its body is too heavy for its wings.
But the bumblebee doesn’t know that and it flies very well.”
 Mary Kay explained the message of the bumblebee metaphor in
these terms: “Women come to us not knowing they can fly.
 Finally, with help and encouragement, they find their wings—and then
they fly very well indeed”
Gearing Language to Different Audiences

 Metaphors and analogies are inspiring, but effective leaders must

also choose the level of language that will suit their audience.
 This is important because constituents vary widely in verbal
sophistication. One day, for example, a CEO might be attempting to
inspire a group of Wall Street financial analysts, and the next day
they might be attempting to inspire first-level employees to keep
working hard despite limited salary increases.
Leadership by Storytelling

 Leadership by storytelling is the technique of inspiring and instructing

team members by telling fascinating stories related to the
organization.
 The technique is a major contributor to building a strong company
culture. Storytelling also helps bring out the need for organizational
change.
 A Coca-Cola company executive might tell a story about how the
company’s clean-water efforts prevented deaths of thousands of
children in an African village.
 At the same time, the executive might emphasize that Coca-Cola
must move more quickly to help thousands of other people
throughout the world who lack safe drinking water.
Extensive Use of Social Networking

 To help facilitate their interpersonal communication, charismatic

leaders make extensive use of social networks—both in face-to-face
interactions and through social media websites.
 The members of the network are basically contacts with whom the
leader has some kind of relationship.
 The vast majority of managers and professionals also rely on social
networking, yet charismatic leaders are particularly aware of its
relevance for accomplishing their purposes.
Face-to-Face Networks

 Charismatic leaders are aware of the importance of face-to-face

interactions for establishing effective relationships with constituents.
 A charismatic leader is therefore likely to invest time in such activities
as the following: having lunch with group members, visiting group
members at their offices or cubicles, chatting with subordinates in the
parking lot or cafeteria, dropping by break rooms to chat for a few
moments, and attending as many company social functions as
feasible.
Social Networking Sites

 The charismatic leader goes beyond the ordinary use of public social
networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), and
company-special social media sites.
 The ordinary use of these websites would be to post status reports,
present due dates, ask questions, and perhaps post trivial personal
information.
 A more charismatic use of social networking sites would be to post
messages designed to inspire, motivate, and make group members
feel good about themselves and the organization.
The Development of Charisma
Learning Objective 3.5 Assemble an action plan for
developing your charisma.

 A person can increase charisma by developing some of the traits,

characteristics, and behaviors of charismatic people.
 For example, most people can enhance their communication skills,
become more emotionally expressive, take more risks, and become
more self-promoting.
Techniques for Developing Charisma
Create Visions for Others

 Being able to create visions for others will be a major factor in your
being perceived as charismatic. A vision uplifts and attracts others.
 The vision thus sees beyond current realities.
 Another characteristic of an effective vision formulated by the leader
is that it connects with the goals and dreams of constituents.
Be Enthusiastic, Optimistic, and
Energetic
 A major behavior pattern of charismatic people is their combination
of enthusiasm, optimism, and high energy.
 Without a great amount of all three characteristics, a person is
unlikely to be perceived as charismatic by many people.
 A remarkable quality of charismatic people is that they maintain high
enthusiasm, optimism, and energy throughout their entire workday
and beyond
Be Sensibly Persistent
 Closely related to the high energy level of charismatics is their
almost-never-accept-no attitude. I emphasize the word almost
because outstanding leaders and individual contributors also know
when to cut their losses.
 If an idea or a product will not work, the sensible charismatic absorbs
the loss and moves in another, more profitable direction
Remember People’s Names

 Charismatic leaders, as well as other successful people, can usually

remember the names of people they have seen only a few times.
 This ability is partly due to the strong personal interest charismatic
leaders take in other people.
Develop Synchrony with Others

 A subtle, yet defining, aspect of a truly charismatic person is one who

connects well with others.
 Psychology professor Frank Bernieri studies physical signals that
people send to each other, and concludes that being in synch
physically with other people is part of charisma. If someone is in
synchrony with you, you tend to think they are charismatic
Develop a Personal Brand, Including
Making an Impressive Appearance
 A popular career advancement technique is to build a personal brand.
 Understanding your basket of strengths forms the basis for
developing your personal brand.
 Your identity as shown on the Internet, including social networking
sites such as Facebook, is also part of your personal brand. Your
personal brand makes you unique, thereby distinguishing you from
the competition.
 Perhaps your brand will not reach the recognition of Adidas or Rolex,
but it will help develop your reputation. Your personal brand also
helps you attract people to accept your leadership.
Be Candid
 Charismatic people, especially effective leaders, are remarkably
candid with people.
 Although not insensitive, the charismatic person is typically explicit in
giving their assessment of a situation, whether the assessment is
positive or negative.
 Charismatic people speak directly rather than indirectly, so that
people know where they stand.
 Instead of asking a worker, “Are you terribly busy this afternoon?”
the charismatic leader will ask, “I need your help this afternoon. Are
you available?”
Make Adjustments to Project E-Charisma
 Projecting charisma during a videoconference requires some
additional demands than when physically present with others.
 Online has fewer physical cues such as the way the person stands or
moves. Instead, what people are saying takes on more weight, and
facial expressions also count heavily.
 Some of the collective wisdom for projecting e-charisma follows.
Transformational Leadership
Learning Objective 3.6 Cite the nature of transformational leadership.

 Transformational leadership focuses on what the leader accomplishes,

yet it still pays attention to the leader’s personal characteristics and
that individual’s relationship with group members.
 The essence of transformational leadership is developing and
transforming people.
 As a result, the organization is transformed.
 In contrast, the transactional leader focuses on more routine
transactions, rewarding group members for meeting standards
(contingent reinforcement).
How Transformations Take Place

 1. Raising people’s awareness about rewards. The transformational

leader makes group members aware of the importance and values of
certain rewards and how to achieve them.
 2. Helping people look beyond self-interest. The transformational
leader helps group members look to the big picture for the sake of
the team and the organization.
 3. Helping people search for self-fulfillment. The transformational
leader helps people go beyond a focus on minor satisfactions to a
quest for self-fulfillment.
 4. Helping people understand the need for change. The
transformational leader must help group members understand the
need for change both emotionally and intellectually. The problem is
that change involves dislocation and discomfort. An effective
transformational leader recognizes this emotional component to
resisting change and deals with it openly.
Cont./
 5. Investing managers with a sense of urgency. To create the transformation, the leader
assembles a critical mass of managers and imbues in them the urgency of change. The
managers must also share the top leader’s vision of what is both necessary and
achievable. To sell this vision of an improved organization, the transformational leader
must capitalize on available opportunities.
 6. Committing to greatness. Greatness encompasses striving for business effectiveness
such as profits and high stock value, as well as impeccable ethics. An emphasis on
ethical leadership instills a desire for customer service and quality and fosters feelings
of proprietorship and involvement.
 7. Adopting a long-range perspective and at the same time observing organizational
issues from a broad rather than a narrow perspective. Such thinking on the part of the
transformational leader encourages many group members to do like-wise. Unless many
people think with a future orientation, and broadly, an organization cannot be
transformed
 8. Building trust. Another useful process for transforming a firm is to build trust between
leaders and group members, particularly because distrust and suspicion are rampant
during a company revival.
 9. Facilitating proactive behavior. Another way in which transformational leaders bring
about transformations is to facilitate proactive behavior on the part of subordinates. By
being proactive, subordinates take the initiative to bring about positive change.
Cont./
 10. Interacting in person to help bring about necessary changes. In
the high-tech workplace with massive amounts of digital
communication, direct, face-to-face communication can have a
powerful impact. To encourage participation in the transformation, an
effective technique is to listen to group members in one-to-one or
one-to-many situations.
 11. Communicating powerful narratives about the future. To change
the culture and move into new growth areas, the transformational
CEO needs to become the “storyteller in chief.”
 12. Concentrating resources on areas that need the most change. A
practical strategy is to get around limitations on funds, staff, or
equipment by concentrating resources on problem areas that are
most in need of change and have the biggest potential payoff.
Attributes of Transformational
Leaders
Two key personality factors enhancing their charisma are agreeableness
and extraversion, which combine to enhance their interpersonal
relationships. Of these, extraversion had the biggest impact.
 Included in the charisma of transformation leaders are their optimism
and their openness to the viewpoints of others.
 Charismatic, transformational leaders create a vision. By communicating
a vision, they convey a set of values that guide and motivate employees.
 Although transformational leaders are often greatly concerned with
organizational survival, they also take the time to encourage the
personal development of their staff.
 Transformational leaders frequently use empowerment to help develop
group members.
 Innovative thinking, another important characteristic, helps
transformational leaders achieve their goals
The Impact of Transformational and Charismatic Leadership on
Performance and Behavior
Learning Objective 3.7 Identify several of the impacts of
charismatic and transformational leadership on performance and
behavior.
 Transformational leaders appeal to the ideals and values of their
constituents, thereby enhancing commitment to a carefully crafted
vision. Followers are inspired to develop new ways of thinking about
problems.
 Group members become more responsible because they are inspired,
and they engage in more constructive behavior such as
organizational citizenship behavior—or helping out even without the
promise of a reward. Workers who report to transformational leaders
are even more likely to have a positive mood throughout the workday.
 Transformational leadership showed the highest overall relationships
on six criteria: (a) follower job satisfaction, (b) follower leader
satisfaction, (c) follower motivation, (d) leader job performance, (e)
group or organization performance, and (f) rated leader effectiveness.
Concerns About Charismatic and Transformational Leadership
Learning Objective 3.8 Articulate the concerns about charismatic
leadership from the scientific and moral standpoint.

 The topic of charismatic leadership has been challenged from two

major stand-points: the validity of the concept and the misdeeds of
charismatic leaders.
Challenges to the Validity of Charismatic
Leadership

 Some leadership researchers doubt that charisma can be accurately

defined or measured. Conducting research about charisma is akin to
conducting research about high quality: You know it when you see it,
but it is difficult to define in operational terms.
 Furthermore, even when one leader is deemed to be charismatic, that
leader has many detractors. According to the concept of leadership
polarity, leaders are often either respected or vastly unpopular.
 Another problem with the concept of charisma is that it may not be
necessary for leadership effectiveness.
The Dark Side of Charismatic
Leadership
When charismatic leaders are highly narcissistic, organizational
performance may suffer.
 One reason is that the highly narcissistic leader will be disliked and
resented.
 Some charismatic leaders are unethical and lead their organizations
and outsiders toward illegal and immoral ends.
 People are willing to follow the charismatic leader down a quasi-legal
path because of the leader’s personal magnetism.
Summary

 Charisma is a special quality of leaders whose purposes, powers, and

extraordinary determination differentiate them from others. It is also
a positive and compelling quality of a person that makes many others
want to be led by that person.
 Charismatic leaders frequently manage their impressions to cultivate
relationships with group members. Much of the impact of charisma is
based on the positive effect the charismatic leader triggers among
group members.
 Charismatic leaders have characteristics that set them apart from
non-charismatic leaders: They have a vision, masterful
communication skills, the ability to inspire trust, and the ability to
make group members feel capable.
 The idea of vision is closely linked to charisma because charismatic
leaders inspire others with an uplifting and attractive vision.
Cont./
 Charismatic and transformational leaders communicate their visions, goals, and
directives in a colorful, imaginative, and expressive manner. Communication
effectiveness allows for management by inspiration. Two techniques for inspiring
others are to use metaphors and analogies, and to gear languages to different
audiences
 A person can increase personal charisma by developing some of the traits,
characteristics, and behaviors of charismatic people. The suggestions presented
here include creating visions for others; being enthusiastic, optimistic, and
energetic; being sensibly persistent; remembering people’s names; developing
synchrony with others; developing a personal brand and making an impressive
appearance; being candid; and making adjustments to project e-charisma.
 Transformational leaders have characteristics similar to those of other effective
leaders. In addition, they are charismatic, extraverted, create a vision, encourage
personal development of the staff, and give supportive leadership. Emphasis is
also placed on empowerment, innovative thinking, and leading by example.
 Transformational leadership can arouse followers to a higher level of thinking
and to engage in more constructive behavior. One concern about charismatic and
transformational leadership is that the concept is murky.
Leadership and Communication
MGT522
Chapter 4: Leadership Behaviors, Attitudes, and Style
Mini Bio!

 Christina is an Associate Professor in Management at Abu Dhabi University (ADU),

specializing in human resource management, leadership, corporate social responsibility,
developmental/poverty reduction and tourism studies. She holds a BSc (University of
Surrey), an MSc (University of Surrey), a PhD (University of Brighton), a Postdoctoral
Fellowship (ESRC), and she has a Teaching Fellow status!
 Throughout her career, Christina has worked at various universities worldwide, served as a
university accreditor/evaluator for European institutions, and undertook research and
consultancy projects globally. She has published books and peer-reviewed journal articles,
delivered keynote speeches at international conferences, and supervised PhD students.
Christina has received awards for her contributions to education and leadership. She also
holds visiting positions at universities in Nigeria, Peru, and India.
 Christina actively supports the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME),
by embedding sustainable social and economic development into her teaching and
research. She leads the Professional Development and Anti-Poverty Solutions initiatives
within the PRME Middle East Chapter, represents the College of Business in the Middle East
Business Association for Sustainability (MEBAS), and heads the Sustainability Society in
the College of Business
Learning Objectives
 4.1 Characterize the key leadership dimensions of initiating structure
and consideration.
 4.2 Articulate at least five task-oriented leadership behaviors and
attitudes.
 4.3 Describe at least five relationship-oriented attitudes and
behaviors.
 4.4 Compare the participative and autocratic leadership styles. 4.5
Characterize the servant leadership style. 4.6 Present the case for the
entrepreneurial style of leadership and for gender differences in
leadership style.
 4.7 Identify how leaders use 360-degree feedback to improve their
performance.
 4.8 Pinpoint how to choose the most appropriate leadership style
The Classic Dimensions of Consideration and Initiating Structure
Learning Objective 4.1 Characterize the key leadership
dimensions of initiating structure and consideration
 Two leadership dimensions accounted for 85 percent of the descriptions of
leadership behavior: consideration and initiating structure.
 Consideration is the degree to which the leader creates an environment of
emotional support, warmth, friendliness, and trust. The leader creates this
environment by being friendly and approachable, looking out for the
personal welfare of the group, keeping the group abreast of new
developments, and doing small favors for the group.
 Initiating structure means organizing and defining relationships in the
group by engaging in such activities as assigning specific tasks, specifying
procedures to be followed, scheduling work, and clarifying expectations
for team members.
 A team leader who helped group members establish realistic goals would
be engaged in initiating structure. The task-related leadership behaviors
and attitudes described later in this chapter are specific aspects of
initiating structure.
Task-Related Attitudes and Behaviors
Learning Objective 4.2 Articulate at least five task-
oriented leadership behaviors and attitudes.
 1. Adaptability to the situation. Adaptability reflects the contingency
viewpoint: A tactic is chosen based on the unique circumstances at hand.
The adaptive leader also selects an organization structure that is best
suited to the demands of the situation, such as choosing between a
brainstorming group and a committee.
 2. Direction setting. Given that a major responsibility of leadership is to
produce change, the leader must set the direction of that change.
Direction setting is part of creating a vision and a component of strategy.
 3. High performance standards. Effective leaders consistently hold group
members to high standards of performance.
 When performance is measured against high standards, productivity is
likely to increase, since people tend to live up to the expectations of their
superiors. This is called the Pygmalion effect, and it works in a subtle,
almost unconscious way. When a managerial leader believes that a group
member will succeed, the manager communicates this belief without
realizing it.
Cont./
 4. Concentrating on the strengths of group members. An axiom of effective
leadership and management is to make good use of the strengths of group
members rather than concentrating effort on patching up areas for
improvement.
 5. Risk taking and execution of plans. To bring about constructive change,
the leader must take risks and be willing to implement those risky
decisions.
 6. Hands-on guidance and feedback. Technical competence and knowledge
of the business are important leadership characteristics. They enable the
leader to provide group members with hands-on guidance about how to
accomplish important work.
 Too much guidance of this nature, however, can be a symptom of poor
delegation and micromanagement (managing too closely).
 Too little guidance, and macro-management is the result, in which the
manager gives too little or no direction to group members.
Cont./
 7. Ability to ask tough questions. Often, leaders can be effective by
asking tough questions rather than providing answers. A tough
question is one that makes a person or group stop and think about
why they are doing or not doing something.
 8. Organizing for collaboration. A leadership behavior on the
borderline between a task orientation and a relationship orientation is
to demand that workers collaborate with each other to an appropriate
extent.
Relationship-Oriented Attitudes and Behaviors
Learning
Objective 4.3 Describe at least five relationship-oriented attitudes and
behaviors.
 1 Aligning people. Getting people pulling in the same direction and
collaborating smoothly is a major interpersonal challenge. To get
people pulling together, it is necessary to speak to many people. The
target population can involve many different stakeholders.
 2. Openness to worker opinions. When the leader is open in this way,
subordinates perceive that their boss listens to them, is interested in
their ideas, and gives fair consideration to suggestions. Being open to
worker opinions is part of the consideration dimension, and it is also
central to participative leadership.
 3. Creating inspiration and visibility. Inspiring people usually involves
appealing to their emotions and values, such as when the head of a
snowmobile business unit encourages workers to believe that they
are making winters more enjoyable for people who live in regions that
accumulate snow as well as facilitating rescue missions.
Cont./
 4. Satisfying higher-level needs. To inspire people, effective leaders
motivate them by satisfying higher-level needs, such as needs for
achievement, personal growth, a sense of belonging, recognition, self-
esteem, and a feeling of control over one’s life.
 5. Giving emotional support and encouragement. A supportive leader
gives frequent encouragement and praise and also displays caring
and kindness even about nonwork-related matters such as the health
of a worker’s ill family member.
 Emotional support generally improves morale and sometimes
improves productivity. In the long term, emotional support and
encouragement may bolster a person’s self-esteem.
Cont./
 6. Displaying patience. A relationship-oriented behavior that is particularly
effective during turmoil is patience. A leader needs to retain composure in the
face of frustration or adversity to keep others calm. When direct reports show
strain, they need support, not a display of irritation from the leader.
 To build patience, recognize that when a challenge is coming, you need to
become more mindful about staying calm. When turmoil surfaces it is better for
the leader to work at a slow and smooth pace.
 7. Promoting principles and values. This promotion can be classified as
relationship oriented because it deals directly with the emotions and attitudes of
people, and indirectly with the task.
 Leaders who believe in good causes will then espouse principles and values that
lead people toward good deeds in the work place. To encourage managers and all
other employees to conduct their work affairs at a high moral level, many
companies put their values in written form.
 8. Reducing task ambiguity. A useful by-product of relationship-oriented
leadership behaviors is that they reduce ambiguity in the minds of sub-ordinates.
Tolerating ambiguity is essential for leaders. Yet, ambiguity leads to stress for
many workers, so stress is reduced when more structure is provided.
Leadership Styles
 Leadership style is the relatively consistent pattern of behavior that
characterizes a leader. Studying leadership style is an extension of
understanding leadership behaviors and attitudes
 Here, we describe the participative leadership style, the autocratic
leadership style, servant leadership, the entrepreneurial leadership
style, gender differences in leadership style, and choosing the best
style.
 Participative Leadership
Learning Objective 4.4 Compare the
participative and autocratic leadership styles
 Sharing decision making with group members and working with them side
by side has become the generally accepted leadership approach in the
modern organization.
 Participative leaders share decision making with group members. The terms
shared leadership, collaborative leadership, and team leadership all refer to
the same idea as participative leadership. Participative leadership
encompasses so many behaviors that it can be divided into three subtypes:
consultative, consensus, and democratic.
 Consultative leaders consult with group members before making a decision.
However, they retain the final authority to make decisions.
 Consensus leaders strive for consensus. They encourage group discussion
about an issue and then make a decision that reflects general agreement
and that group members will support.
 Democratic leaders confer final authority on the group. They function as
collectors of group opinion and take a vote before making a decision.
Cont./
 The participative style is based on management openness because the leader
accepts suggestions for managing the operation from group members
 The participative style encompasses the teamwork approach
 The participative style is well suited to managing competent people who are
eager to assume responsibility
 Participative leadership does have some problems.
 It often results in extensive and time-consuming team meetings and committee
work.
 Also, consensus and democratic leaders are sometimes accused of providing too
little direction, or being micro-managers.
 Sometimes, participative leadership is carried to extremes. Team members are
consulted about trivial things that management could easily handle
independently.
 If democratic leadership goes one step further, the result is extreme macro-
management, which is referred to as the laissez-faire leadership style.
 As a result, the workers are given too little direction, and workers who have not
learned to tolerate ambiguity perform poorly.
Cont./
Autocratic Leadership
 In contrast to participative leaders are autocratic leaders, who retain
most of the authority.
 They make decisions confidently, assume that group members will
comply, and are not overly concerned with group members’ attitudes
toward a decision.
 Autocratic leaders are considered task oriented because they place
heavy emphasis on getting tasks accomplished.
 Typical autocratic behaviors include telling people what to do,
asserting authority, and serving as a model for team members
The Servant Leadership Style
Learning Objective 4.5 Characterize the servant leadership
style.

 A servant leader serves constituents by working on their behalf to

help them achieve their goals, not the leader’s own goals.
 Serving others, including employees, customers, and community, is
the primary motivation for the servant leader.
 Servant leadership focuses on ethical behavior and constructive
relationships between leader and follower.
 The following are key aspects of servant leadership.
 1. Place service before self-interest. A servant leader is more
concerned with helping others than with acquiring power, prestige,
financial reward, and status.
 2. Listen first to express confidence in others. The servant leader
makes a deep commitment to listening in order to get to know the
concerns, requirements, and problems of group members.
Cont./

 3. It is more concerned about team spirit and harmony than striving for
companywide recognition. The leader would then concentrate more on building
teamwork than searching for ways to increase the visibility of the team.
 3. Inspire trust by being trustworthy. Being trustworthy is a foundation
behavior of the servant leader.
 4. Recognize one’s own limitations. As with all humble leaders, servant leaders
acknowledge their limitations and therefore actively seek the contributions of
others to compensate for these limitations.
 5. Be bold with respect to values, morality, and doing the right thing. Humility
is often associated with being overly modest, passive, and self-facing.
 6. Focus on what is feasible to accomplish. Even though the servant leader is
idealistic, they recognize that one individual cannot accomplish everything.
Therefore, the leader listens carefully to the array of problems facing group
members and then concentrates on a few.
 7. Lend a hand. A servant leader looks for opportunities to play the role of the
Good Samaritan
Cont./
 8. Provide emotional healing. A servant leader shows sensitivity to
the personal concerns of group members, such as a worker being
worried about taking care of a disabled parent.
 9. Act as a role model for other organizational members to emphasize
service. As a result of the behaviors just described, servant leaders
often ignite a cycle of service by acting as a role model servant
behavior.
 10. Focus on employee growth that leads to need satisfaction. The
servant leader’s focus on employee’s development help them satisfy
the psychological needs for autonomy (working independently),
competence, and relatedness (relating to other people)
Entrepreneurial Leadership
Learning Objective 4.6 Present the case for the entrepreneurial
style of leadership and for gender differences in leadership style.

 Many entrepreneurs use a similar leadership style that stems from

their personality characteristics and circumstances.
 Although there are different types and definitions of entrepreneurs; in
general, an entrepreneur is a person who founds and operates an
innovative business.
 Not all business owners, including franchise operators, are therefore
entrepreneurial leaders.
 The general picture that emerges of an entrepreneur is a task-
oriented and charismatic person.
 Entrepreneurs drive themselves and others relentlessly, yet their
personalities also inspire others.
Gender Differences in Leadership Style

The Argument for Male–Female Differences in Leadership Style

 Men tended toward a command-and-control style. In contrast, women
tended toward a transformational style, relying heavily on
interpersonal skills.
 Hormonal differences may account for many of these gender
differences in leadership style
 Findings suggest that women tend to release more oxytocin than
men. As a result, women are more likely to display empathy,
cooperation, and trust when working with subordinates and other
work associates.
 Women would therefore gravitate more naturally to participative
leadership than do men.
Cont./
 As corporate leaders, women tend to place greater emphasis on
forming caring, nurturing relationships with employees.
 Women are also more likely than men to praise group members. And
when an employee falls short of expectations, women are more likely
to buffer criticism by finding something praiseworthy.
 Above all, women are more likely than men to use spoken
communication for building relationships and giving emotional
support.
 Men focus more on disseminating information and demonstrating
competence. Women are therefore more likely to choose a
relationship-oriented leadership style
 The study found that women were rated as excelling in taking
initiative, being resilient, practicing self-development, driving for
results, and displaying high integrity and honesty.
Cont./
Placing Gender Differences in Leadership Style in Perspective
Both men and women leaders differ among themselves in leadership
style. Plenty of male leaders are relationship oriented, and plenty of
women are highly task oriented. Many women believe that women
managers can be more hostile and vindictive than men managers.
To compete in the global marketplace, companies need a diverse
leadership team including men and women. Not recognizing that both
male and female styles are needed can lead to confusion for women
managers.
360-Degree Feedback for Fine-Tuning a Leadership Approach
Learning Objective 4.7 Identify how leaders use 360-degree
feedback to improve their performance

 In particular, 360-degree feedback is a formal evaluation of superiors

based on input from people who work for and with them, sometimes
including customers and suppliers.
 It is also referred to as multi rater feedback. The multiple inputs
become another way of measuring leadership effectiveness. The
specific 360-degree form is often customized to a particular firm’s
needs, but standardized forms are widely used
 Specialists in the field view 360-degree feedback as more suited for
its original purpose of development for a manager or leader than for
administrative purposes, such as performance evaluation and salary
administration.
 When used for development, 360-degree feedback should emphasize
qualitative comments rather than strictly quantitative ratings
Selecting the Best Leadership Style
Learning Objective 4.8 Pinpoint how to choose
the most appropriate leadership style.
 A study of 3,000 executives revealed that leaders who get the best
results do not rely on one style. Instead, they use several different
styles in one week, such as being autocratic in some situations and
democratic in others.
 Another consideration is the national culture in which the leadership
takes place. An effective leadership style for most German workers
would be a high performance (task) orientation and a modest amount
of compassion (consideration).
 Scandinavian workers, however, respond best to a democratic
leadership style. The organizational culture also influences which
leadership style will be tolerated and effective.
Summary

 Effective leadership requires the right behaviors, skills, and attitudes, as emphasized in
the classic Ohio State University studies.
 Two major dimensions of leadership behavior were identified: consideration and
initiating structure.
 Many task-related attitudes and behaviors of effective leaders have been identified.
Among them are (1) adaptability to the situation, (2) direction setting, (3) high
performance standards, (4) concentrating on strengths of group members, (5) risk
taking and execution of plans, (6) hands-on guidance and feedback, (7) ability to ask
tough questions, and (8) organizing for collaboration.
 Many relationship-oriented attitudes and behaviors of leaders have also been identified.
Among them are (1) aligning people, (2) openness to workers’ opinions, (3) creating
inspiration and visibility, (4) satisfying higher-level needs, (5) giving emotional support
and encouragement, (6) displaying patience, (7) promoting principles and values, and
(8) reducing task ambiguity.
 Understanding leadership style is an extension of understanding leadership attitudes
and behavior. Participative leaders share decision making with group members.
 Autocratic leaders retain most of the authority for themselves, and are considered to be
task oriented. Servant leaders are committed to serving others rather than achieving
their own goals.
Cont./
 Another important style of leader is the entrepreneur. The
entrepreneurial style stems from the leader’s personal characteristics
and the circum-stances of self-employment.
 Male–female differences in leadership style have been observed.
Women have a tendency to-ward relationship-oriented leadership,
whereas men tend toward command and control. Perhaps the best
approach to leadership takes advantage of the positive traits of both
men and women. Even if gender differences in leadership style do exist,
a review of the scientific evidence indicates that they do not have a
meaningful impact on leadership effectiveness
 Male–female differences in leadership style have been observed.
Women have a tendency toward relationship-oriented leadership,
whereas men tend toward command and control.
 Many leaders receive extensive feedback on their behaviors and
attitudes in the form of 360-de-gree feedback, whereby people who
work for or with the leader provide feedback on the leader’s
performance.