Introduction to leadership

1. The Nature of Leadership No topic is probably more important to organizational success  today than leadership. Leadership matters. In most situations, a team, military unit, or volunteer organization is only  as good as its leader. Consider the situation in Iraq,  as U.S.  military advisors strive to build Iraqi forces that can take over

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Behavioral Approaches of leadership

The inability to define effective leadership based solely on traits led to an interest in look- ing at the behavior of leaders and how it might contribute to leadership success or failure. Perhaps any leader can adopt the correct behavior with appropriate training. Two basic leadership behaviors identified as important for leadership  are task-oriented

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Contingency Approaches

Several models of leadership explain the relationship between leadership styles and specific sit- uations. They are termed contingency approaches and include  the situational theory of Hersey and Blanchard, the leadership model developed by Fiedler and his associates, the path– goal theory presented by Evans and House, and the substitutes-for-leadership concept. 1. HERSEY AND BLANCHARD’S

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Leading Change

In Chapter 1, we defined management to include the functions of leading, planning, orga- nizing, and controlling. But recent work on leadership has begun to distinguish leadership as something more: a quality that inspires and motivates people beyond their normal levels of performance. We are living in an era when leadership is needed  more

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Power and Influence of leadership

Recall our definition of leadership, which is the ability to influence people to achieve goals. Particularly for leaders in- volved in major change initiatives,  the effective and appro- priate  use of power is crucial. One way to understand how leaders get things done is to look at the sources of leader power and the

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Enduring Leadership Approaches

To close our chapter, let’s look at two timeless leadership approaches that are gaining re- newed attention in today’s environment of ethical scandals and weakened employee trust. Characteristics of servant leadership and moral leadership can be successfully used by lead- ers in all situations to make a positive difference. 1. SERVANT  LEADERSHIP Some leaders

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Introduction to motivation at work

1. The Concept of Motivation Most of us get up in the morning, go to school or work, and behave in ways that are predictably  our own. We respond to our environment and the people in it with little thought as to why we work hard, enjoy certain classes, or find some recreational activities

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Content Perspectives on Motivation

Content theories emphasize the needs that motivate  people. At any point in time, people have basic needs such as those for monetary reward, achievement, or recognition. These needs translate  into an internal drive that motivates specific behaviors in an attempt to fulfill the needs. In other words, our needs are like a hidden  catalog

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Process Perspectives on Motivation

Process theories explain  how people select behavioral  actions to meet their needs and determine whether their choices were successful. The two basic process theories are equity theory and expectancy theory. 1. EQUITY THEORY Equity theory focuses on individuals’ perceptions of how fairly they are treated comp- ared with others. Developed by J. Stacy Adams,

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Reinforcement Perspective on Motivation

The reinforcement  approach to employee motivation sidesteps the issues of employee needs and thinking processes described in the content and process theories. Reinforcement theory simply looks at the relationship between behavior and its consequences. It focuses on changing or modifying employees’ on-the-job behavior through the appropriate use of immediate rewards and punishments. 1. REINFORCEMENT 

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Job Design for Motivation

A job in an organization  is a unit of work that a single employee is responsible for perform- ing. A job could include writing tickets for parking violators in New York City, performing MRIs at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, reading meters for Pacific Gas and Electric, or doing long-range planning for The WB

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Innovative Ideas for Motivating

Despite the controversy over carrot-and-stick  motivational practices discussed in the Spot- light on Skills box earlier in this chapter, organizations are increasingly using various types of incentive compensation as a way to motivate employees to higher levels of performance. Exhibit 12.9 summarizes several popular  methods  of incentive pay. Variable compensation and forms of “at

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Communication and the Manager’s Job

How important is communication? Consider this: Managers spend at least 80 percent of every working day in direct communication with others. In other words, 48 minutes of every hour is spent in meetings, on the telephone, communicating online, or talking informally while walking around. The other 20 percent of a typical manager’s time is

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Communicating Among People

The communication model in Exhibit 13.2 illustrates the components of effective communi- cation. Communications can break down if sender and receiver do not encode or decode lan- guage in the same way.9  We all know how difficult it is to communicate with someone who does not speak our language, and today’s managers are often

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Organizational Communication

Another aspect of management communication  concerns the organization   as a whole. Organization-wide  communications typically flow in three directions—downward, up- ward, and horizontally.  Managers are responsible for establishing and maintaining  formal channels of communication in these three directions.  Managers also use informal channels, which  means they get out of their offices and mingle with employees.

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Communicating During Turbulent Times

During turbulent times, communication becomes even more important. To build trust and promote learning and problem solving, managers incorporate ideas such as open commu- nication,  dialogue, and feedback and learning. In addition,  they develop crisis communica- tion skills for communicating with both employees and the public in exceptionally chal- lenging or frightening circumstances. 1.

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Managing Organizational Communication

Many of the ideas described in this chapter pertain to barriers to communication and how to overcome them. Exhibit 13.9 lists some of the major barriers to communication, along with some techniques for overcoming them. 1. BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION Barriers  can be categorized  as those that exist at the individual  level and those that

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Teams at Work

Some organizations  have had great suc- cess with teams, including  increased pro- ductivity, quality improvements, greater innovation, and higher employee satis- faction. FedEx, for example, cut service problems  such as incorrect  bills and lost packages by 13 percent by using teams. At Xerox, production plants using teams reported  a 30 percent increase in produc-

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Types of Teams

Many types of teams can exist within organizations. The easiest way to classify teams is in terms of those created as part of the organization’s formal structure and those created to increase employee participation. 1. FORMAL TEAMS Formal teams are created by the organization as part  of the formal organization structure. Two common types

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Team Characteristics

The next issue of concern to managers is designing the team for greatest effectiveness. One factor is team characteristics, which can affect team dynamics and performance. Character- istics of particular concern are team size, diversity, and member roles. 1. SIZE More than 30 years ago, psychologist  Ivan Steiner examined what happened each time the

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