Chapter 4

Leadership Behaviors,
Attitudes, and Styles

Week
8-9
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Chapter 4
Leadership Behaviors,
Attitudes, and Styles
LEADERSHIP: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills
Andrew J. DuBrin, 8th Edition
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Learning Objectives
1. Explain the key leadership dimensions of initiating structure and
consideration.
2. Describe at least five task-oriented leadership behaviors and attitudes.
3. Describe at least five relationship-oriented attitudes and behaviors.
4. Explain how leaders use 360-degree feedback to improve their
performance.
5. Describe the participative and autocratic leadership styles.
6. Present the case for the entrepreneurial style of leadership and for gender
differences in leadership style.
7. Determine how to choose the most appropriate leadership style.
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Leadership Effectiveness
• Leadership Effectiveness means helping group members attain
productivity and job satisfaction.

• Effectiveness is based on two dimensions:

• Objective Data
• Sales, Production, Cost-Cutting

• Subjective Data
• Judgments and perceptions by others about the leader’s
effectiveness 5
Leadership Behaviors

• For leadership to occur, traits and skills must be transformed into behavior.

• Thus, considerable research has focused on leaders’ behaviors and their

impact on group members and employees.

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Dimensions of Leadership Behavior
• Ohio State studies were conducted in the 1950s.

• Researchers surveyed group members regarding their perceptions of their

supervisors (leaders).

• 85% of the leadership behaviors described were focused in two

areas/dimensions:

• Consideration

• Initiating Structure
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Consideration
• Consideration refers to the extent to which the leader creates an environment
of emotional support, warmth, friendliness, and trust.

• The leader is approachable and focuses on the welfare of the group members.

• The leader makes connections with people.

• Being soft-spoken, or not dominating the discussions taking place between

leader and group members, is another aspect of consideration.

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Initiating Structure

• Extent to which relationships are organized and defined by assigning tasks,

specifying procedures to be followed, scheduling work, clarifying
expectations, and establishing realistic goals.

• Leaders clearly define their personal role as well as those of each and every
group member.

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Combining Initiating Structure & Consideration Behaviors

• Both dimensions contribute to an understanding of leadership.

• Consideration – influences satisfaction of group members and the
leader; worker motivation; leader effectiveness
• Initiating Structure – influences job, group, and organization
performance

• Unfavorable attitudes occur when employees don’t receive what they

feel they need from both dimensions.

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Task-Related Attitudes & Behavior
• Focus is more on the task to be performed than on the
interpersonal aspects of leadership:

1. Adaptability to the situation

2. Direction setting
3. High-performance standards
4. Concentrating on strengths of group members
5. Risk-taking with execution of plans
6. Hands-on guidance and feedback
7. Ability to ask tough questions
8. Organizing for collaboration
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Relationship-Oriented Attitudes & Behavior
• Focus is more on interpersonal relationships:

1. Aligning people
2. Openness to worker opinions
3. Creating inspiration and visibility
4. Satisfying higher-level needs
5. Giving emotional support and encouragement
6. Promoting principles and values
7. Being a servant leader
• Focus on serving others – employees, customers, community
• Moral leadership
• Act as role model 13
 Relationship-Oriented Attitudes & Behavior
Task-Related Attitudes & Behavior
Focus is more on interpersonal Focus is more on the task to be
performed than on the
relationships:
interpersonal aspects of
leadership:
1. Aligning people
2. Openness to worker opinions 1. Adaptability to the situation
3. Creating inspiration and visibility 2. Direction setting
4. Satisfying higher-level needs 3. High-performance standards
5. Giving emotional support and 4. Concentrating on strengths of
encouragement group members
5. Risk-taking with execution of
6. Promoting principles and values
plans
7. Being a servant leader 6. Hands-on guidance and
• Focus on serving others – employees, feedback
customers, community 14
7. Ability to ask tough questions
• Moral leadership
8. Organizing for collaboration
• Act as role model
 360-Degree Feedback or Multi-rater Feedback
• A formal evaluation of leaders based on input from people who work both for
and with the leader, including customers and suppliers.
• Best when survey reflects the behaviors and attitudes the organization values
most and connects to:
• How the person receiving feedback should have input on who gives the
feedback
• Competencies associated with organization’s success
• Feedback reflecting leadership functioning
• Workers who are trained on giving & receiving feedback
• Action plans for improvement
• Individual leader having ownership of the feedback received
• Problem is with the anonymous feedback and potential for group member to
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“anonymously strike” at leader.
 Leadership Styles
• A leader’s behavior begins to reveal a consistent, regular, predictable pattern of
dealing with group members.
• This consistency then reveals a pattern of behavior which characterizes the leader’s
actions into one of three styles:

• Participative
• Consultative – Consensus – Democratic

• Autocratic

• Entrepreneurial
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 Participative Leadership
• Share decision making with group members
• Encompasses the team approach as leaders accept suggestions from group members related to
managing the operation
• Divided into three subtypes:
• Consultative
• Leaders confer with group members before making a decision, but the leader retains the
final authority to make decisions.
• Consensus
• Leaders strive for consensus in discussions, and decisions are made reflecting a general
agreement the group members support.
• Democratic
• Leaders confer final authority to group members.
• Do be aware this leadership style can be time-consuming and does result in reducing the power
of the leader. 17
 Autocratic Leadership
• Leaders retain authority and make all decisions assuming group members will
comply.

• Considered task-oriented leaders as their focus is on getting tasks accomplished.

• Typical behaviors include telling, asserting, and serving.

• Is effective in certain situations.

• Does not necessarily imply the leader is impulsive or stubborn.

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Leadership Grid TM

• Framework for specifying the extent of a leader’s concern for production and
for people – see Figure 4.3 in book (page 127)

• Benchmark Leadership GridTM styles include:

• Controlling (9,1)
• Accommodating(1,9)
• Indifferent(1,1)
• Status Quo (5,5)
• Sound(9,9)

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The Leadership Grid

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Entrepreneurial Leadership

1. Strong achievement drive and sensible risk taking

2. High degree of enthusiasm and creativity
3. Typical pattern of being proactive
4. Tendency to act quickly when opportunity arises
5. Visionary perspective combined with tenacity
6. Dislike of hierarchy and bureaucracy
7. Preference for dealing with external customers
8. Eye on the future

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Gender Differences in Leadership Styles

• Women are more likely to exhibit higher levels of people skills than men
AND consequently men and women have different leadership styles.

• However, this naturally draws criticism and controversy due to the

insufficient evidence to draw decisive conclusions.

• INDIVIDUAL differences among women and men are probably far more
important than any relatively small overall average difference between the
two gender groups.

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Gender Differences in Leadership Behaviors

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Selecting the Best Leadership Style

• There is no one best or most effective leadership style.

• Leaders who get the best results do not rely on one style.

• Effective leaders need to focus on BOTH structuring the work (task

behaviors) AND supporting and developing good interpersonal relationships
with and among group members (relationship behaviors).

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Summary
• Two major dimensions of a leader’s behavior are initiating structure and
consideration.
• Many task-related attitudes and behaviors, as well as relationship-related
attitudes and behaviors of effective leaders have been identified.
• Servant leaders are committed to serving others rather than achieving their
own goals.
• 360-degree feedback is commonly used today to provide leaders with
feedback on their attitudes and behaviors.
• There are several distinct leadership styles including participative, autocratic,
and entrepreneurial.
• Gender differences in leadership style have been observed.
• Leader should diagnose the situation and then choose the appropriate 25
leadership style to match.
 Discussion Questions
1. Give an example of a high-consideration behavior that a supervisor of yours showed on
your behalf. What was your reaction to his or her behavior?
2. Why is direction setting still an important leadership behavior in an era of empowerment
and shared leadership?
4. Why do so many CEOs say they want entrepreneurial style leaders in their company even
though the company is essentially a large bureaucracy?
5. Why would being a highly narcissistic person interfere with being an effective servant
leader?
6. Visualize yourself in a leadership position in a field of interest to you. How would you feel
about being described as a hands-on leader by the members of your team?
7. How would you characterize the leadership style of your favorite executive, athletic coach,
or television character who plays a boss?
8. Why is shared or participative leadership likely to be effective with well-educated and
intelligent team members?
9. Which, if any, style differences have you noticed between men and women leaders? 26
LEADERSHIP CASE PROBLEM A Frank Won’t Accept “We Can’t” for an Answer