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Explain the merits and disadvantages of situational leadership styles. Is it a good idea to shift leadership approaches or not?
What are some of the characteristics of a leader who implements the transformational theory into the workplace? UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE
Leadership Ideas and Leadership Approaches
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Recommend ways to motivate employees by applying a human behavior theory, a leadership
theory, and a leadership style.
6. Identify the impact of different types of leadership on organizational behavior.
Reading Assignment
In order to access the following resource(s), click the link(s) below:
Allred, R. C. (2015). Delegation: The essential leadership skill. Accounting Today, 29(5), 12. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=oran9510
8&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA412099055&asid=9f945f90b8d28ce1db915b8f9cf1fb0b
Benson, D. (2015). The five fundamental tasks of a transformational leader. Physician Leadership Journal,
2(5), 58–62. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=oran9510
8&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA431445071&asid=e5932b254c6458cfd8952d03cf09a2e6
Chalofsky, N. (2014). Chapter 4: Management and leadership in HRD. In Handbook of human resource
development (pp. 62–79). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Retrieved from
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/columbiasu/detail.action?docID=10952056&p00=handbook+human+resourc
e+development
Ghasabeh, M. S., Reaiche, C., & Soosay, C. (2015). The emerging role of transformational leadership.
Journal of Developing Areas, 49(6), 459–467. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=a9h&AN=108548264&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Zareen, M., Razzaq, K., & Mujtaba, B. (2015). Impact of transactional, transformational and laissez-faire
leadership styles on motivation: A quantitative study of banking employees in Pakistan. 15(4),
531-549. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://libraryresources.colu
mbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=1
10861179&site=ehost-live&scope=site
BBA 3602, Principles of Management
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Unit Lesson
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
YouTube Video for Unit IV
Click here to view the video for Unit IV (1m 32s).
Click here to access a PDF of the video transcript.
John M. Schofield was a famous major general in the Civil War. In August of 1879, he gave a speech to the
Corps of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point. This is what he had to say about leadership and
discipline:
The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh
or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy than to make an
army. It is possible to impart instruction and to give commands in such a manner and such a tone of
voice to inspire in the soldier no feeling but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and
tone of voice cannot fail to excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the
other of dealing with subordinates springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the commander.
He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them regard for himself, while
he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward others, especially his inferiors, cannot fail to
inspire hatred against himself. (as cited by Wilson, 2012, para. 1)
Leadership is so old it predates written documents of ancient eras and may predate language. Even so, the
challenges of leadership seem both timeless and unchanged. For example, how can we inspire others to act
for an agreed or authorized goal? Compulsion by force has been tried, including owning other humans in
slavery. It has been tried by consent and contract in terms of indentured service to gain passage to North or
Spanish America with the promise of eventual freedom. The early 19th-century years of the Industrial Era
were marked with progress built on tight control and harsh treatment of business employees—hence the
material used by Charles Dickens for his period novels. Obviously, evolving law and practice reflect a change
in leadership styles and approaches over the centuries to better match democracies and capitalism for a free
society. History teaches us what does not work, but what are the leadership styles and approaches that do?
BBA 3602, Principles of Management
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Steve Jobs was both innovative and demanding at Apple, and his achievements
transformed
information
UNIT
x STUDY the
GUIDE
technology industry. Lee Iacocca exerted the efforts himself to work with the U.S.
TitleGovernment and Chrysler
stakeholders to reshape the auto company’s approach to manufacturing and sales, including his innovation of
introducing minivans to U.S. customers. Ed
Whitacre, Jr. did much the same for Chrysler’s
competitor, General Motors, but with less publicity
and dramatic effect. Isaac Perlmutter employed
acquisition, merger, and focused budgeting to
restore Marvel to viability and popularity in an age
when fewer youth read printed comic books but
more would go to a Marvel storyline movie or buy
licensed products. Dan Hesse rescued Sprint by
pursuing up-to-date policies in recent changing
times—in particular, better plan rates and entry
into the prepaid market.
Terry Semel led Yahoo through the aftermath of
the dot-com bust, mostly by refocusing on news
General Motors Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre addresses the
and other media channeling. Richard Teerlink led
gathering after the first Chevrolet Volt battery came off the line
Harley-Davidson to a marketing comeback by
at the GM Brownstown Battery plant in Brownstown Township,
leveraging its strength in producing quality and
Michigan.
coveted motorcycles with high quality service for
(Fecht, 2010)
customers. Doug Conant moved from Nabisco to
Campbell’s, restoring the company’s stability by reversing its products’ rising prices and removing many of the
legacy leaders. Richard Clark rescued pharmaceutical company Merck when it was facing a product scandal
and related suits. He did so by restructuring the company to make it leaner and investing in new and
promising drugs to provide Merck sustainability. Gordon Bethune reversed Continental Airlines’ decline by
ending unprofitable routes, restructuring debt to buy time, and implementing incentive plans to improve
efficiency. Time has proven that these leaders made very successful decisions, but how did they lead others
to succeed? The specific answers lie in their individual stories, but the elements of what they practiced may
be recognized in descriptions of leadership theories and styles.
In the required reading for Unit IV, Chalofsky (2014) shows us the progress of leadership thought since
practitioners in the Industrial Age started to focus on how to lead and manage more effectively and
compassionately. Leadership and management practice before the present day was a form of apprenticeship:
Watch me, and then you try it. While this is a proven method, scholars and practitioners in the past century
have wanted to discover the nature of leadership. What works and what does not in management? How can
we tell successful managers from unsuccessful ones?
From the Chalofsky (2014) reading, you can distinguish the following styles:
Two-factor theory: These studies pursued two lines of thought: how to manage tasks better and how
to establish more mutually rewarding relationships with a manager’s employees or subordinates. This
mirrors the “Mission First: Soldiers Always” motto of the U.S. armed forces and other large
organizations and the associated dilemma: We have the job at hand to do, but to sustainably do it we
have to set the conditions so our people are satisfied that their managers are watching out for their
welfare.
Situational leadership: This is a series of theories that acknowledges what we practitioners
instinctively know, which is that a single approach to one’s day or all people will likely not fit any given
situation. Instead, the manager must choose demeanors and approaches based on the situation.
Whether an employee is experienced or new, the situation is routine or urgent, the stakes small or
large, these are factors leaders intuitively consider—especially after some trial-and-error experience
where they made mistakes or achieved good results.
Transactional leadership: This theory is often linked to managers of people and projects/processes
who are charged with synchronizing the best potential of both. Many managers who use a
transactional approach act as if people and materials were close in relative importance to each other.
Without a regard for people as being the first priority, work proceeds under transactional managers in
a relatively cold and businesslike way. The narrative to subordinates would be, “If you do X, Y will
happen to you,” which can be either a long-desired award or a dreaded consequence, depending on
the tone of the dialog. To other stakeholders, the transactional manager, when approached for
BBA 3602, Principles of Management
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assistance or approval of a proposal, may pose the challenge, “What UNIT
have you
done for
me lately?”
x STUDY
GUIDE
The key dynamic in transactional leadership is the exchange or transaction.
Title Little in terms of
desirable items or processes is given outright by such managers but is always accumulated instead in
a form of “banked” assets; other stakeholders must give something to the transactional manager to
receive just enough to continue to function. Organizational work is getting done, but in a way that
does not foster much of a sense of teamwork.
Transformational leadership: This is a more recently developed theory that provides a promising
leadership approach that benefits everyone. Transformational leadership inspires with charisma, but
managers must be careful as charisma alone is not enough. Despicable leaders have been
charismatic, which is partly how they were able to inflict so much damage on others. Rather than stop
at the attraction of being charismatic, transformational leaders pursue a short list of attributes that are
ethics- and values-based in addition to charisma: working to be inspirational to subordinates,
stimulating their intellectual potential, and looking out for everyone’s welfare as individuals.
Transformational leaders do not posture to make others (especially their superiors) believe they are
managers for the people, but they actually are because they share their vision of what the
organization can be, assume hardships themselves first, set an example, foster enthusiasm, and
challenge aspects of the organization that could be working better.
Given these theories, what leadership styles are available to managers? For the most part, these theories are
also leadership styles. A manager adopts one or more leadership styles by practicing the method of leading
offered in the theories. There are many variations as a search for leadership articles in any database or
search engine will show. For example, servant leadership is closely linked to transformational leadership and
predates the latter’s description. Servant leadership, though, or the practice of serving others as their
conscientious leader, can be followed to a fault by
someone serving others when he or she should be
showing more leadership, and in any case servant
leadership does not address other areas managers
need to address to succeed (Benson, 2015).
Can human behavior theories be of assistance to
managers? Some may fit an individual manager
more than others, and there may be no better way to
take advantage of published ideas than to explore
them in the literature. Human behavior theories
follow leadership theories and styles closely by
description as leadership is often framed by the
reaction of people to these theories and styles in
practice. For example, a task-oriented, relationshiporiented, or combination task-and-relationshipSecretary of the Air Force Michael Donley (left)
oriented behavioral theory will match the same
congratulates Maj. Laura
(Varhegyi, 2012)
leadership theory description (Ghasabeh, Reaiche, &
Soosay, 2015). Managers assessing the situation to
help decide how to act, practicing a situational leadership style, may find themselves combining many
previously described leadership and human behavior theories. To make a manager’s job efficient and
bearable, a manager may delegate work, but by clearly describing the work, expressing support and
confidence in the subordinate, allowing leeway to decide how to do the work, and outwardly showing
optimism over time, the manager is using some combination of transformational, two-factor, and situational
styles (Alfred, 2015). As published scholars and practitioners can only recommend theories and styles, the
beginning manager studying their literature may well realize what more experienced managers know: In the
end, the responsibility for becoming a good leader is an individual one held by all managers along with the
power to reflect on their abilities and change their methods.
References
Allred, R. C. (2015). Delegation: The essential leadership skill. Accounting Today, 29(5), 12.
Benson, D. (2015). The five fundamental tasks of a transformational leader. Physician Leadership Journal,
2(5), 58–62.
BBA 3602, Principles of Management
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Chalofsky, N. (2014). Handbook of human resource development. Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley.
UNIT
x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Fecht, S. (2010). ChevyVoltFirstBattery02 (4267809958) [Image]. Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ChevyVoltFirstBattery02_%284267809958%29.jpg
Ghasabeh, M. S., Reaiche, C., & Soosay, C. (2015). The emerging role of transformational leadership.
Journal of Developing Areas, 49(6), 459–467.
Varhegyi, M. (2012). Lance P. Sijan USAF Leadership Award 120406-F-FC975-346 [Image]. Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lance_P._Sijan_USAF_Leadership_Award_120406-FFC975-346.jpg
Wilson, D. R. (2012, February 23). Command performance leadership: A blog discussing military & corporate
leadership competencies. Retrieved from
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