Chapter 2

Traits, Behaviors, and

Relationships

1
The Trait Approach
Traits: the distinguishing personal
characteristics of a leader, such as
intelligence, honesty, self-confidence,
and appearance

Great Man Approach: a

leadership perspective that sought to
identify the inherited traits leaders
possessed that distinguished them
from people who were not leaders

2
 Ex. 2.1 Personal Characteristics of
Leaders
Personal Characteristics
 Energy
 Physical stamina
Intelligence and Ability
 Intelligence, cognitive ability
 Knowledge
 Judgment, decisiveness
Personality
 Self-confidence
 Honesty and integrity
Social Characteristics
 Sociability, interpersonal skills
 Cooperativeness
 Ability to enlist cooperation
 Tact, diplomacy
Work-Related Characteristics
 Drive, desire to excel
 Responsibility in pursuit of
goals
 Persistence against obstacles,

 Enthusiasm
tenacity
 Desire to lead
Social background
 Education
 Independence
 Mobility

3
 Self-confidence: assurance in one’s own
judgments, decision making, ideas and
capabilities
 Honesty: truthfulness and nondeception
 Integrity: the quality of being whole,
integrated, authentic, and acting in
accordance with solid moral principles that
are shared by your constituents.
 Drive: high motivation that creates a high
effort level by a leader
Behavior Approaches
Autocratic: a leader who tends to
centralize authority and derive power
from position, control of rewards, and
coercion

Democratic: a leader who delegates

authority to others, encourages
participation, relies on subordinates’
knowledge for completion of tasks, and
depends on subordinate respect for
influence

5
Action memo
 Use a democratic style to help followers
develop decision-making skills and
perform well without close supervision
 Adopt an autocratic style when there is
time pressure or followers have low skill
levels and the leader’s expertise is
needed.

6
 Ex. 2.2 Leadership Continuum
Subordinate-Centered
Boss-Centered
Leadership
Leadership

Use of authority by manager

Area of freedom for subordinates

Manager makes Manager presents Manager Manager

decisions and ideas and invites presents permits
announces it questions problems, subordinates
gets sugg. to function
makes within limits
changes defined by
superior
Manager Manager
Manager “sells”
presents tentative defines limits,
decision
decision subject asks group
to change do make
decision

Where do you start with new people or in a new position?

7
Ohio State Studies
Consideration: the extent to which a
leader is sensitive to subordinates,
respects their ideas and feelings, and
establishes mutual trust

Initiating Structure: the extent to

which a leader is task oriented and directs
subordinates’ work activities toward goal
achievement

8
University of Michigan Studies
Employee-centered: a
leadership behavior that displays a
focus on the human needs of
subordinates

Job-centered: leadership behavior in

which leaders direct activities toward
efficiency, cost cutting, and scheduling,
with an emphasis on goals and work
facilitation

9
Ex. 2.3 The Leadership Grid Figure ®

High 1,9 9,9

Country Club Management Team Management
Concern for People

5,5
Middle-of-the-Road
Management

Impoverished Management Authority-Compliance

1,1 Management
9,1

Low

Low Concern for Results High

10
High-High Leader
 Show concern for both tasks and people
 People oriented behavior is related to higher
follower satisfaction and fewer personnel
problems
 Task-oriented behavior is typically associated
with higher productivity
 Address both the social and task
dimensions to succeed as a leader in a
variety of situations

11
 Ex. 2.4 Themes of Leader Behavior
Research
People-Oriented Task-Oriented

Ohio State University Consideration Initiating Structure

University of Michigan Employee-Centered Job-Centered

University of Texas Concern for People Concern for Production

12
Open questions
 Are these 2 dimensions the most
important dimensions of leadership?
 Can people orientation and task
orientation exist together in the same
leader, and how?
 Is the “high-high” leadership style
situational or universal?
 Can people actually change themselves
into leaders high on people and/or task
orientation or both?

13
 Ex. 2.5 Stages of Development of
Individualized Leadership
1. Vertical Dyad Linkage
Leaders’ behaviors and traits have different
impacts across followers, creating in-groups
and out-groups

2. Leader-Member Exchange
Leadership is individualized for each
subordinate. Each dyad involves a unique
exchange independent of other dyads.

3. Partnership Building
Leaders can reach out to create a
positive exchange with every subordinate.
Doing so increases performance.

4. Systems and Networks

Leader dyads can be created in all
directions across levels and boundaries to
build networks that enhance performance.

14
Leader-Member Exchange
An individualized leadership model
that explores how leader-member
relationships develop over time and
how the quality of exchange
relationships impacts outcomes

15
Ex. 2.6 Leader Behavior Toward In-
Group versus Out-Group Members
In-group
 Discusses objectives; gives
employee freedom to use
his or her own approach in
solving problems and
reaching goals
 Listens to employee’s
suggestions and ideas
about how work is done
 Treats mistakes as learning
opportunities
Out-Group
 Gives employee specific
directives for how to
accomplish tasks and
attain goals
 Shows little interest in
employee’s comments and
suggestions
 Criticizes or punishes
mistakes
16
Ex. 2.6 (contd.)
In-Group
 Gives employee interesting
assignments; may allow
employee to choose
assignment
 Sometimes defers to
subordinate’s opinion
 Praises accomplishments
Out-Group
 Assigns primarily routine
jobs and monitors
employee closely
 Usually imposes own views
 Focuses on areas of poor
performance
17
 Build a positive, individualized relationship
with each follower rather than treating
people as members of an in-group or out-
group.
 Forge a unique, constructive partnership
with each person to create an equitable
work environment and provide greater
benefits to yourself, followers, and the
organization.
 Beware of forming in-groups and out-
groups. You will often be self-deceived
into believing that they do NOT exist.