4

The Leader as an Individual

Chapter Objectives

Identify major personality dimensions and understand how personality influences leadership and relationships within organizations.

Clarify your instrumental and end values, and recognize how values guide thoughts and behavior.

Define attitudes and explain their relationship to leader behavior.

Recognize individual differences in cognitive style and broaden your own thinking style to expand leadership potential.

Chapter Objectives (contd.)

Practice aspects of charismatic leadership by pursuing a vision or idea that you care deeply about and want to share with others.

Apply the concepts that distinguish transformational from transactional leadership.

Personality

The set of unseen characteristics and processes that underlie a relatively stable pattern of behavior in response to ideas, objects, and people in the environment

Ex. 4.1 The Big Five Personality Dimensions

Low Extroversion High

Low Agreeableness High

Low Conscientiousness High

Low Emotional Stability High

Low Openness to Experience High

Quiet, withdrawn, unassertive

Aloof, easily irritated

Impulsive, carefree

Moody, tense, lower self-confidence

Narrow field of interests,

likes the tried-and-true

Outgoing, energetic, gregarious

Warm, considerate, good-natured

Responsible, dependable , goal-oriented

Stable, confident

Imaginative, curious, open to

new ideas

The Big Five Personality Dimensions

Could have a low, moderate or high of each dimension

Researchers have found that 4 of the 5 dimensions are (usually) related to leadership – extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness & emotional stability

Personality Traits

Locus of Control Defines whether a person places the primary

responsibility for what happens to him or her within himself/herself or on outside forces (ie, a high internal locus of control)

Usually high internal relates to self-motivation, more actively seeking info, etc.

Authoritarianism The belief that power and status differences should

exist in an organization High authoritarianism related to traditional/rational

approach, whereas low related to new leadership paradigm

Values

Fundamental beliefs that an individual considers to be important, that are relatively stable over time, and that have an impact on attitudes and behavior.

End Values Sometimes called terminal values, these are

beliefs about the kind of goals or outcomes that are worth trying to pursue.

Instrumental Values Beliefs about the types of behavior that are

appropriate for reaching goals.

Values

A leader’s values affect his perception of a situation,

Affect the way leaders relate to others

Guide a leader’s choices and actions

Attitude

An evaluation (either positive or negative) about people, events, or things – a reflection of values

Self-Concept The collection of attitudes we have about

ourselves; includes self-esteem and whether a person generally has a positive or negative feeling about him/herself.

A leader’s style is largely based on attitudes about people in general – hence Theory X and Theory Y (McGregor believed that Theory Y is more realistic and productive)

Theory X and Theory Y

Theory X: the assumption that people are basically lazy and not motivated to work and that they have a natural tendency to avoid responsibility

Theory Y: the assumption that people do not inherently dislike work and will commit themselves willingly to work that they care about

Cognitive Style

How a person perceives, processes, interprets, and uses information

Ex. 4.4 Hermann’s Whole Brain Model

LogicalAnalytical

Fact-basedQuantitative

HolisticIntuitiveIntegratingSynthesizing

OrganizedSequential

PlannedDetailed

InterpersonalFeeling-basedKinestheticEmotional

AUpper

left

BLower

left

CLowerright

DUpperright

Hermann’s Whole Brain Model

Generally leaders need to be balanced

Like all the other concepts discussed in this chapter, leaders need to know where they stand so that they can extend/develop other styles

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Personality test that measures how individuals differ in gathering and evaluating information for solving problems and making decisions

Ex. 4.5 Distinguishing Characteristics of Charismatic and Noncharismatic

Leaders

Idealized vision that is highly discrepant from status quo

Limited goals not too discrepant from status quo

Future goals

Creates atmosphere of change

Tries to maintain status quo

Relation to status quo

Passionate advocacy by incurring great personal risk and cost

Disinterested advocacy in persuasion attempts

Trustworthiness

Shared perspective and idealized vision make leader likable and an honorable hero worthy of identification and imitation

Shared perspective makes leader likable

Likableness

Charismatic LeadersNoncharismatic Leaders

Ex. 4.5 (contd.)

Transcends position; personal power based on expertise and respect and admiration for the leader

Primarily authority of position and rewards

Influence

Unconventional, counter-normative

Conventional, conform to norms

Behavior

Uses conventional means to transcend the existing order

Uses available means to achieve goals within framework of the existing order

Competence

Strong and inspirational articulation of vision and motivation to lead

Weak articulation of goals and motivation to lead

Articulation

Charismatic LeadersNoncharismatic Leaders

Charisma

Such leaders have the ability to inspire/motivate people more than they would normally do, despite obstacles

They have an emotional impact – they appeal to heart and mind

Usually comes from the leader pursuing activities that he loves

Making them energetic, enthusiastic and attractive

Can be bad – Hitler, etc

Transactional versus Transformational Leadership

Transactional leadershipa transaction or exchange process between leaders and followers

Transformational Leadershipleadership characterized by the ability to bring about significant change in followers and the organization

Transactional/Transformational Leader

Transactional leader recognises followers’ needs/desires and clarifies these

Transformational on the other hand, is characterised by the ability to lead changes in organisation’s vision, strategy and culture, a well as innovation (see pg 154)