Leadership Terminologies

A
Achievement motivation Finding joy in accomplishment for its own sake.

Assertiveness Forthrightness in expressing demands, opinions,

feelings, and attitudes

Attributions The judgments we make about the behavior and

attitudes of others

Attribution theory The process of attributing causality to events.

Autocratic leader A person in charge who retains most of the authority

for himself or herself

B
Bandwagon Technique A manipulative approach emphasizing that
“everybody else is doing it".

Behavior modification An attempt to change behavior by manipulating

rewards and punishment.

Behavior shaping Rewarding any response in the right direction and

then rewarding only the closest approximation.

Blemish A simple game in which the manager always finds a

flaw in a group member’s work.

C
Casual time orientation The view that time is an unlimited and unending
resource, leading toward extreme patience.

Centrality The extent to which a unit’s activities are linked into

the system of organized activities.

Charisma A special quality of leaders whose purposes, powers,

and extraordinary determination differentiate them
from others.

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Coalition A specific arrangement of parties working together to

combine their power.

Coercive power The power to punish for noncompliance; power based

on fear.

Cognitive factors Problem-solving and intellectual skills.

Cognitive resource theory An explanation of leadership emphasizing that stress

plays a key role in determining how a leader’s
intelligence is related to group performance.

Collectivisim A belief that the group and society should receive top
priority.

Commitment The most successful outcome of a leader’s influence

tactic: The person makes a full effort.

Compliance Partial success of an influence attempt by a leader:

The person makes a modest effort.

Concern for others In Hofstede’s research, an emphasis on personal

relationships concern for others
relationships, others, and a high quality of
life. (Also known as femininity.)

Concert building A conception of the leader’s role that involves both

aligning and mobilizing.

Congruence The matching of verbal and nonverbal

communication to what the sender is thinking and
feeling.

Conjunctive communication Communication that is linked logically to previous

messages, thus enhancing communication.

Consensus leader The person in charge who encourages group

discussion about an issue and then makes a decision
that reflects general agreement and will be supported
by group members.

Consideration of others Creating an environment of emotional support,

warmth, friendliness, and trust.

Consultative leader A person in charge who confers with group members

before making a decision.

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Contingency approach to leadership The contention that leaders are most effective when
they make their behavior contingent upon situational
forces, including group member characteristics.

Cooperation theory A belief in cooperation and collaboration rather than

competitiveness as a strategy for building teamwork.

Crisis leadership The process of leading group members through a

sudden and largely unanticipated, intensely negative
and emotionally draining circumstance.

Creativity The production of novel and useful ideas.

Cultural sensitivity An awareness of and a willingness to investigate the

reasons why people of another culture act as they do.

D
Debasement The act of demeaning or insulting oneself to control
the behavior of another person.

Delegation The assignment of formal authority and responsibility

for accomplishing a specific task to another person.

Democratic leader A person in charge who confers final authority on the

group.

Disjunctive communication Communication that is not linked to the preceding

messages, resulting in impaired communication.

Diversity training A learning experience designed to bring about

workplace harmony by teaching people how to get
along better with diverse work associates.

Domains of impact Areas of possible change in leadership development

programs.

Double-loop learning An in-depth style of learning that occurs when people

use feedback to confront the validity of the goal or the
values implicit in the situation.

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Drive A propensity to put forth high energy into achieving

goals, and persistence in applying that energy.

E
Effective leader One whose actions facilitate group members’
attainment of productivity, quality, and satisfaction.

Emotional intelligence Qualities such as understanding one’s feelings,

empathy for others, and the regulation of emotions to
enhance living.

Emotional stability The ability to control emotions to the point that one’s
emotional responses are appropriate to the occasion.

Employee network group A group of employees throughout the company who

affiliate on the basis of a group characteristic such as
race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, or physical
ability status.

Empowerment Passing decision-making authority and responsibility

from managers to group members.

Ethics The study of moral obligations, or separating right

from wrong.

Executive coach (or business coach) An outside or inside specialist who advises a person
about personal improvement and behavioral change.

Expectancy An individual’s assessment of the probability that

effort will lead to correct performance of the task.

Expectancy theory A theory of motivation based on the premise that the

amount of effort people expend depends on how
much reward they can expect in return.

Experience of flow An experience so engrossing and enjoyable that the

task becomes worth doing for its own sake
regardless of the external consequences.

Expert power The ability to influence others because of one’s

specialized knowledge, skills, or abilities.

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Expertise approach A belief that the leader’s most important responsibility

is providing an area of expertise that will be a source
of competitive advantage.

F
Farsightedness The ability to understand the long-range implications
of actions and policies.

Feedback-intensive development program A learning experience that helps leaders develop by

see- ing more clearly their patterns of behaviors, the
reasons for such behaviors, and the impact of these
behaviors and attitudes on their effectiveness.

Flexibility The ability to adjust to different situations.

Forced-association technique A method of releasing creativity in which individuals

or groups solve a problem by making associations
between the properties of two objects.

Formality The attachment of considerable importance to

tradition, ceremony, social rules, and rank.

G
Game A repeated series of exchanges between people that
seems plausible but has a hidden agenda or purpose.

Goal What a person is trying to accomplish.

Groupthink A deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing,

and moral judgment in the interest of group solidarity.

H
Hands-on leader A leader who gets directly involved in the details and
process of operations.

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High tolerance for frustration The ability to cope with a hindrance to goal
attainment.

I
Individualism A mental set in which people see themselves first as
individuals and believe their own interests and values
take priority.

Influence The ability to affect the behavior of others in a

particular direction.

Informality A casual attitude toward tradition, ceremony, social

rules, and rank.

Information power Power stemming from formal control over the

information people need to do their work.

Initiating structure Organizing and defining relationships in the group by

activities such as assigning specific tasks, specifying
procedures to be followed, scheduling work, and
clarifying expectations of team members.

Innovation The process of creating new ideas and putting them

into action.

Insight A depth of understanding that requires considerable

intuition and common sense.

Instrumentality An individual’s assessment of the probability that

performance will lead to certain outcomes.

Integrity Loyalty to rational principles, thereby practicing what

one preaches, regardless of emotional or social
pressure.

Internal locus of control The belief that one is the primary cause of events
happening to oneself.

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K
Knowledge management (KM) The systematic sharing of information to achieve
goals such as innovation, nonduplication of effort,
and competitive advantage.

L
Lateral thinking A thinking process that spreads out to find many
different solutions to a problem.

Leader-member exchange model (LMX) An explanation of leadership proposing that leaders

develop unique working relationships with group
members.

Leadership The ability to inspire confidence and support among

the people who are needed to achieve organizational
goals.

Leadership diversity The presence of a culturally heterogeneous cadre of

leaders.

Leadership effectiveness Attaining desirable outcomes such as productivity,

quality, and satisfaction in a given situation.

Leadership Grid A framework for specifying the concern for the

production and people dimensions of leadership
simultaneously.

Leadership pipeline A model of leadership development that tightly links

leadership development with management
responsibilities at each level of the organization.

Leadership polarity The disparity in views of leaders: They are revered or

vastly unpopular, but people rarely feel neutral.

Leadership style The relatively consistent pattern of behavior that

characterizes a leader.

Leadership succession An orderly process of identifying and grooming

people to replace executives.

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Leading by example Influencing others by acting as a positive role model.

Lead user An organization or individual that is well ahead of

market trends.

Learning organization An organization that is skilled at creating, acquiring,

and transferring knowledge, and at modifying
behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights.

Legitimate power The lawful right to make a decision and expect

compliance.

Linguistic style A person’s characteristic speaking pattern.

Long-term orientation A long-range perspective by workers, who thus are

thrifty and do not demand quick returns on
investments.

M
Machiavellians People in the workplace who ruthlessly manipulate
others.

Management by anecdote The technique of inspiring and instructing group

members by telling fascinating stories.

Materialism In Hofstede’s research, an emphasis on

assertiveness and the acquisition of money and
material objects, and a deemphasis on caring for
others.

Mentor A more experienced person who develops a

protégé’s abilities through tutoring, coaching,
guidance, and emotional support.

Micromanagement The close monitoring of most aspects of group

member activities by the manager or leader.

Morals An individual’s determination of what is right or wrong

influenced by his or her values.

Multicultural leader A leader with the skills and attitudes to relate

effectively to and motivate people across race,
gender, age, social attitudes, and lifestyles.

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Multicultural organization A firm that values cultural diversity and is willing to

encourage and even capitalize on such diversity.

Multicultural worker A worker who is convinced that all cultures are

equally good and enjoys learning about other
cultures.

Multifunctional managerial development An organization’s intentional efforts to enhance the

effectiveness of managers by giving them experience
in multiple functions within the organization.

N
Normative decision model A view of leadership as a decision-making process in
which the leader examines certain factors within the
situation to determine which decision-making style
will be the most effective.

O
Open-book management An approach to management in which every
employee is trained, empowered, and motivated to
understand and pursue the company’s business
goals.

Organizational creativity The creation of novel and useful ideas and products
that pertain to the workplace.

Organizational politics Informal approaches to gaining power through means

other than merit or luck.

Outcome Anything that might stem from performance, such as

a reward.

P
Participative leader A person in charge who shares decision making with
group members.

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Partnership A relationship between leaders and group members

in which power is approximately balanced.

Path-Goal theory An explanation of leadership effectiveness that

specifies what the leader must do to achieve high
productivity and morale in a given situation.

Personal magnetism A captivating, inspiring personality with charm and

charismatic-like qualities.

Personal power Power derived from the person rather than from the
organization.

Personalized charismatic One who exercises few restraints on the use of

power, in order to best serve his or her own interests.

Persuade package A small, standard set of influence tactics that leads

the target to behave in a particular way.

Pet-peeve technique A method of brainstorming in which a group identifies

all the possible complaints others might have about
the group’s
group s organizational unit
unit.

Power The potential or ability to influence decisions and

control resources.

Power distance The extent to which employees accept the idea that
the members of an organization have different levels
of power.

Prestige power The power stemming from one’s status and

reputation.

Pygmalion effect The situation that occurs when a managerial leader

believes that a group member will succeed, and
communicates this belief without realizing it.

R
Readiness In situational leadership, the extent to which a group
member has the ability and willingness to accomplish
a specific task.

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Referent power The ability to influence others that stems from the
leader’s desirable traits and characteristics.

Relationship behavior The extent to which the leader engages in two-way or

multiway communication.

Resistance The state that occurs when an influence attempt by a

leader is unsuccessful: The target is opposed to
carrying out the request.

Resource dependence perspective The view that an organization requires a continuing

flow of human resources, money, customers and
clients, technological inputs, and materials to
continue to function.

Reward power The authority to give employees rewards for

compliance.

S
Self-awareness Insightfully processing feedback about oneself to
improve personal effectiveness.

Self-discipline The ability to mobilize one’s efforts to stay focused on

attaining an important goal.

Self-efficacy The confidence in your ability to carry out a specific

task.

Servant leader One who serves constituents by working on their

behalf to help them achieve their goals, not the
leader’s own goals.

Shadowing An approach to mentoring in which the trainee follows

the mentor around for a stated period of time.

Short-term orientation A focus by workers on immediate results, and a

propensity not to save.

Silent treatment A means of influence characterized by saying

nothing, sulking, or engaging in other forms of
passivity.

Single-loop learning A situation in which learners seek minimum feedback

that might substantially confront their basic ideas or
actions.

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Situational leadership model A model that explains how to match leadership style
to the readiness of the group members.

Socialized charismatic A leader who restrains the use of power in order to

benefit others.

Social loafing Shirking individual responsibility in a group setting.

Social responsibility The idea that organizations have an obligation to

groups in society other than owners or stockholders
and beyond that prescribed by law or union contract.

Stewardship theory An explanation of leadership that depicts group

members (or followers) as being pro-organizational,
collectivists, and trustworthy.

Strategic contingency theory An explanation of sources of power suggesting that

units best able to cope with the firm’s critical
problems and uncertainties acquire relatively large
amounts of power.

Strategic leadership The process of providing the direction and inspiration

necessary to create, provide direction to, or sustain
an organization.

Strategic management The process of ensuring a competitive fit between the

organization and its environment.

Strategic planning Those activities that lead to the statement of goals

and objectives and the choice of strategies to achieve
them.

Strategy An integrated, overall concept of how the firm will

achieve its objectives.

Substitutes for leadership Factors in the work environment that provide

guidance and incentives to perform, making the
leader’s role almost superfluous.

Supportive communication A communication style that delivers the message

accurately and that supports or enhances the
relationship between the two parties.

SWOT analysis A method of considering strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, and threats in a given situation.

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T
Task behavior The extent to which the leader spells out the duties
and responsibilities of an individual or group.

Team A work group that must rely on collaboration if each

member is to experience the optimum success and
achievement.

Teamwork Work done with an understanding and commitment to

group goals on the part of all team members.

Territorial games Also referred to as turf wars, political tactics that

involve protecting and hoarding resources that give
one power, such as information, relationships, and
decision-making authority.

Total quality management (TQM) A management system for improving performance

throughout the firm by maximizing customer
satisfaction and making continuous improvements
based on extensive employee involvement.

Tough question One that makes a person or group stop and think
about why they are doing or not doing something.

Traditional mental set A conventional way of looking at things and placing

them in familiar categories.

Transformational leader A leader who brings about positive, major changes in

an organization.

Trust A person’s confidence in another individual’s

intentions and motives and in the sincerity of that
individual’s word.

U
Uncertainty avoidance A dislike of—and evasion of—the unknown.

Universal theory of leadership The belief that certain personal characteristics and
skills contribute to leadership effectiveness in many
situations.

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Upward appeal A means of influence in which the leader enlists a

person with more formal authority to do the
influencing.

Urgent time organization A view of time as a scarce resource, leading to

impatience.

V
Valence The worth or attractiveness of an outcome.

Vertical thinking An analytical, logical process that results in few

answers.

Virtual office A situation in which employees work together as if

they were part of a single office despite being
physically separated.

Virtuous cycle The idea that corporate social performance and

corporate financial performance feed and reinforce
each other.

Vision The ability to imagine different and better conditions

and the ways to achieve them.

W
Whistleblower An employee who discloses organizational wrong-
doing to parties who can take action.

Will to lead A determination to accomplish important goals for the

good of others.

Win-win approach to conflict resolution The belief that after con- flict has been resolved, both
sides should gain something of value.

Work ethic A firm belief in the dignity of work.

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