Chapter 15 discussion questions - Essay Example

Role clarity amongst followers is influenced by leader role-modeling, and such role clarity can improve a leader’s performance and behavior. Thus, intervening and situational variables are important points of convergence in the study of leader power, behavior and traits. Question 2 The research finds that leaders must develop a pattern of necessity interactions to meet the constant demands of subordinates, their own bosses, and the demands of a changing environment. These patterns of necessity interactions are determined by: the nature of the work, dependencies and role expectations of different parties and competing demands communicated by followers.

They are also determined by the leader’s level of authority, the type of unit being led, external and internal rules of the corporation(i.e.: policies, budget), and by the nature of the group situation(i.e.: demoralized vs. well-organized followers). Leaders must develop a mental agenda of short-term and long-term strategies to conduct their necessity interactions. These include: task-oriented, relations-oriented and change-oriented behaviors. These behaviors deal with getting the job done, building followers’ commitment to getting the job done, and adapting to changes in the external environment.

Research has also found that the most effective leaders use inspirational influence, have skills in both referent and expert types of power, and use power in a ethical way. Leaders with high cognitive, interpersonal and technical skills have been found to be most effective, as are leaders with a socialized power orientation. Another finding is that skills are more important than personality traits for effective leadership. Question 3 The conceptualization of heroic leadership consists of a charismatic leader who exerts a unidirectional influence on his followers.

This assumption causes the research to be designed to show causality as coming only from the leader’s influence on organizational events. Shared leadership perspective asserts that leadership is a shared process between different leaders at different levels of the organization, between leaders and their superiors, followers and between leader, followers and institutional and intervening variables. The research designed using this perspective must take into account the reciprocal influence of situational and intervening variables on leader behavior, as well as the dynamics of the society in which the organization exists.

Question 4 There are limitations to the dyadic perspective. The heroic leader/individual follower concept is in part a result of cultural influences, including the “Lone Hero” mythology of American individualism. In addition, it is easier in terms of human cognition to understand a single Hero/single Follower construct. But this doesn’t take into account the fact that leadership occurs within an organization, a team and a society. It does not explain the reciprocal processes at work in the systems that exist within an organization.

The open-systems theory asserts that organizations are created to do work that an individual on his own cannot. It takes into account that leadership consists of influencing group processes, including determining the purpose(of a job), how to attain the purpose, membership criteria, and the strictures of the society. In dyadic research, the causal path from leader behavior to follower outcome is usually direct, and does