Deck 15: Leadership Development and Succession

Question 1

No matter what business a company is in, its real business is building leaders.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Two key leadership dimensions between which a leader should form a firm stance are forceful leadership vs. _____ leadership.

A) assertive
B) operational
C) strategy
D) enabling

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Leaders who score high on the personality dimension of emotional stability might become more effective in their interpersonal relationships with the benefit of psychotherapy.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Conceptual knowledge is very important because it alerts the leader to information that will make a difference in leadership.

Question 5

A person's mentor can sometimes be a staff professional or a coworker.

Question 6

Shadowing is directly observing the work activities of the mentor by following the person around for a stated period of time.

Question 7

The emotional aspects of leadership succession are ignored when a business founder is replaced by another leader.

Question 8

Success is a special type of challenging experience that contributes enormously to reaching one's leadership potential.

Question 9

Assigning managers to cross-functional teams to work on other disciplines has become a useful form of leadership development.

Question 10

Leadership development can take place by using one's immediate superior as a positive or negative model of effective leadership.

Question 11

​In a typical simulation, participants observe a model of appropriate behavior and then imitate the behavior and gather feedback.

Question 12

A typical approach to online mentoring is to access a company's database that describes the problems, weaknesses, and performance evaluations of the company's mentors.

Question 13

Succession planning is vital to the long-term health of an organization and therefore an important responsibility of senior leadership.

Question 14

After receiving negative feedback about her company, a CEO showed double-loop learning by saying, _____

A) "Maybe we are not in the right business."
B) "You cannot please everybody."
C) "I must tell the customer service department about this problem."
D) "This feedback is so important, it's worth hearing twice."

Question 15

A feedback-intensive program of leadership development helps participants identify the reasons for their behaviors.

Question 16

Education is concerned with the immediate application of knowledge.

Question 17

A leader who engages in double-loop learning questions the efficacy of his or her leadership.

Question 18

Self-help is an important part of leadership development.

Question 19

A corporate environment characterized by survival of the fittest tends to best contribute toward leadership development.

Question 20

According to two specialists in leadership assessment, many big mistakes in careers and organizations result from _____.

A) gaps in self-awareness
B) excessive self-discipline
C) lack of education
D) lack of relevant experience

Question 21

A major purpose of assigning managers to cross-functional teams is to _____.

A) broaden their job roles and prepare them for bigger tasks
B) keep them thinking in terms of functional silos
C) inculcate the quality of humility in them
D) give them experience in working with other disciplines

Question 22

_____ leaders typically are emotionally involved in their firms and find it difficult to look on while somebody else operates the firm.

A) Authoritarian
B) Entrepreneurial
C) Laissez-faire
D) Transactional

Question 23

A feedback-intensive management development program _____.

A) is free of cost to almost all participants of the program
B) focuses on learning how to apply knowledge
C) provides program participants with the right amount of challenge
D) helps leaders find more constructive ways of achieving their goals

Question 24

Executive coaching is beneficial because _____.

A) management is really a team sport
B) most managers have severe emotional problems
C) most coaches are former CEOs
D) managers receive advice and encouragement about leadership skills

Question 25

_____ are used to give managers the opportunity to work on problems that approximate those faced by the company.

A) Simulations
B) Crucibles
C) Feedback intensive programs
D) Skill-based programs

Question 26

An important way for leaders to capitalize on challenging experiences is for them to be given _____.

A) leeway in choosing how to resolve the problem
B) careful guidance in how to resolve the problem
C) the opportunity to delegate the problem to someone else
D) a policy and procedure manual for resolving the problem

Question 27

Online mentoring works by essentially _____.

A) having frequent face-to-face contact between mentors and mentored employees
B) holding video conferences with potential mentors
C) using search engines to find mentors in other companies
D) matching mentors and mentored employees via websites

Question 28

A directly practical approach to leadership development, where leaders and potential leaders work together in groups to solve organizational problems outside their usual sphere of influence is called a(n) _____.

A) feedback-intensive program
B) evaluation program
C) socialization program
D) action learning program

Question 29

Succession planning is vital to the long-term health of an organization and therefore an important responsibility of _____.

A) lower-level employees
B) the logistics team
C) future employees
D) senior leadership

Question 30

Based on the four kinds of lopsided leaders, a heroic leader would be _____.

A) too forceful and operational
B) too forceful and strategic
C) too strategic and enabling
D) too operational and enabling

Question 31

According to Richard Branson, a top executive at Virgin Atlantic, a special type of challenging experience that contributes enormously to reaching one's leadership potential is _____.

A) partaking in social causes
B) victory
C) failure
D) taking calculated risks

Question 32

A distinguishing characteristic of a mentoring relationship is that _____.

A) the mentor recommends the protégé for promotion
B) an emotional tie exists between the mentor and the protégé
C) the protégé can avoid training if he or she is being mentored
D) the protégé gets groomed to replace the mentor

Question 33

Which of the following is a major aim of socializing programs?

A) It helps employees understand and accept the company's vision and values.
B) It gives participants the opportunity to work on a problem that simulates a real organization.
C) It alerts the leader to information that will make a difference in leadership.
D) It enables improvement in an area that is blocking one's progress as a leader.

Question 34

Self-discipline plays an important role in leadership development because _____.

A) most leaders have a tendency to be undisciplined
B) it involves many aspects of personal development
C) most leaders have the need to punish themselves from time to time
D) most forms of leadership development require double-loop learning

Question 35

The purpose of psychotherapy in leadership development is to _____.

A) decrease sources of stress that reduce productivity
B) help managers become more charismatic
C) overcome emotional problems
D) help company leaders be more ethical

Question 36

A key element of behavioral role modeling is _____.

A) reading about the accomplishments of great leaders
B) participating in simulations of company problems
C) essaying behaviors that a learner has observed
D) showing behavioral characteristics of an underdog in a particular situation

Question 37

Struggling as a leader is most likely to transform into leadership development if, over time, the leader:

A) receives coaching and guidance about the lessons to be derived.
B) is left to fail on her own until figuring out the correct path.
C) engages in single-loop learning.
D) had ample education before becoming a leader at the organization.

Question 38

In the shadowing approach to mentoring, the protégé _____.

A) follows the mentor around for a stated period of time
B) stays out of the spotlight so he or she can learn
C) keeps others in the dark about his or her developmental opportunities
D) alternates between two or three mentors for a defined time period

Question 39

When the successor is an outsider, boards consistently use _____ to locate one or several candidates.

A) campus recruitment
B) their social circle
C) recruitment
D) executive search firms

Question 40

Which of the following is an advantage of coaching?

A) It alerts the leader to information that will make a difference in leadership.
B) It helps in acclimatizing to the company and accepting its vision and values.
C) It helps leaders overcome emotional problems hindering their leadership effectiveness.
D) It helps a person improve in an area that is preventing him or her from becoming a leader.

Question 41

​Lynn is a charismatic woman, and she displays the same characteristics as a leader. She believes in including all her team members in the decision-making process. She introspects and questions her own actions to evaluate the efficacy of her approaches. In relation to self-awareness, which of the following types of learning does Lynn follow?

A) ​Episodic learning
B) ​Double-loop learning
C) ​Single-loop learning
D) ​Rote learning

Question 42

​Which of the following is a challenge of being a new leader?

A) ​Developing a pool of successors
B) ​Flourishing in the socialization programs conducted by the organization
C) ​Overcoming the need to be liked by everybody
D) ​Achieving a formal education that compliments the current role

Question 43

​Alice works with Lee. She spends two days every month observing Lee's work activities, attending important meetings with him, and discussing important tactics. Lee conducts debriefing sessions with Alice where they discuss what she has learned and why it is necessary to use certain tactics at certain times. In this case, Lee is mentoring Alice using the approach known as _____.

A) ​sowing
B) blended mentoring
C) ​shadowing
D) ​reverse mentoring

Question 44

Cindy is hired to replace a well-liked leader. As a result Cindy is likely to _____.

A) be well accepted immediately
B) experience lower turnover in the group
C) have some difficulty exerting authority
D) experience higher productivity

Question 45

Derek is Paul's reporting manager. Paul is efficient at his work. Since Derek will be transferring to another department soon, the management has decided that Paul will become the next manager. Although Paul has been a good employee, he has never had the chance to develop leadership qualities. Therefore, Derek has been instructed to train Paul and help him develop effective managerial skills. What are the best avenues that Derek could use to train Paul given that they already know each other, and that Derek will be transferred in two months?

Question 46

An organization is in the process of assessing a group of potential leaders based on their personality traits. A few of the group members did not fare well in the test. They displayed symptoms of emotional instability while role playing and when they were made to participate in simulations. Some of the behaviors exhibited included belittling other employees, swearing, and unduly pressuring subordinates. In order to help these employees display more appropriate behavior and deal better with emotional instability, the organization could use _____.

A) psychotherapy
B) action learning programs
C) conceptual knowledge programs
D) reverse mentoring

Question 47

Samson has been the CEO of his company for the past six years. His tenure has almost come to an end, and he will be retiring in a few years. Currently, his major concern is to identify a budding leader who can take up his role after him. Samson has already identified Max as his potential successor. However, succession management goes far beyond succession planning. If Max is to be the next CEO, what steps should Samson take pertaining to succession management?

Question 48

The board of directors at Veerz Inc. is looking to hire a new CEO for their firm. They have decided that their new CEO should be someone from outside the organization with ample experience in the industry and leadership capabilities. The board has decided to follow the general procedure for selection. Potential candidates will be thoroughly screened, background checks will be performed, and previous employers or business partners will be contacted to ensure one's candidature. However, the organization must conduct this process in a formal manner and use intermediaries to do the job for them. In this case, which of the following methods is the board likely to use?

A) They would display an attractive advertisement in the top business magazines.
B) The board members would individually select people from their personal contact list.
C) They would hire an executive search firm to locate the desired candidate.
D) They would conduct an organization sponsored social event to try and lure top management from other firms.

Question 49

Which of the following is a major disadvantage of having an outsider hired for a leadership position?

A) The outsider does not understand the industry or how to bring about change in the company.
B) The outsider does not clearly see the need for a radical change.
C) The outsider may have several political ties that prevent him or her from making personal shifts.
D) The outsider is more likely to fire his or her successors from within the company.

Question 50

Wyatt has an MBA degree from a reputed university in the U.K. He has been working with Linocco Inc. for over two years, and he expects to be promoted as branch manager shortly. Sunny took-up a diploma course in management after he finished high school. He was never really interested in increasing his qualifications, but he has also been working at Linocco Inc. for over five years. Sunny expects to become the branch manager as well. However, the organization decides to promote Wyatt and not Sunny. Which of the following could be a reason for Wyatt being promoted and not Sunny?

A) There is a direct relationship between educational institutions and the length of work experience.
B) There is a negative relationship between the amount of formal education and the level of leadership position attained.
C) There is an inverse relationship between education and number of previous employers.
D) There is a positive relationship between the amount of formal education and the level of leadership position attained.

Question 51

One of the major challenges faced by a new leader is _____.

A) trying to break through informal groups at the workplace
B) deciding how to get rid of the people who are potential threats
C) deciding how much time to spend leading versus doing individual tasks
D) preparing to accomplish more than required everyday

Question 52

George is the team leader for a group of six people. He has a habit of making impulsive decisions without consulting all his team members, and he tries to ignore any feedback or clues that might point against his actions. George is extremely defensive. George is a(n) _____ learner.

A) double-loop
B) episodic
C) single-loop
D) rote

Question 53

Ingrid is seen as a potential senior line manager in her organization. She is currently being trained by her superiors, and she's partaking in several developmental programs to upgrade her skills. However, during the developmental program activities, it has been identified that Ingrid has particular weaknesses: she seems negligent about how her subordinates might perceive her, and if her daily activities prove to be excessively taxing, she often neglects aspects of her personal development. In this case, what must Ingrid do in order to augment leadership self-development?

Question 54

Developing a pool of leadership successors combines evaluating potential with giving high-potential candidates the _____.

A) compensation they need to feel like executives
B) right type of developmental experiences
C) right type of opportunities for failure
D) right amount of stock options they need to stay motivated

Question 55

Ali works in Chicago and is looking out for a mentor in his field of electrical and electronic engineering. He finds his mentor in Sweden. His mentor is very experienced in the same field and is willing to coach Ali in relation to his job and research studies. However, Ali and his mentor have no previous connections. They do not live in the same continent. They are linked together using profiling software. Which of the following coaching methods is most likely being used in this scenario?

A) Behavioral role modeling
B) Shadowing
C) Action learning program
D) Online mentoring

Question 56

The main reason companies evaluate their leadership development programs is to _____.

A) identify universal training needs
B) see if they are cost effective
C) assign people to programs based on preference
D) grade people based on their performance

Question 57

​An important contribution of double-loop learning is that it _____.

A) disallows leaders to make any mistakes
B) ​enables the leader to learn and profit from setbacks
C) ​enables leaders to seek minimum feedback
D) ignores ​critical events and experiences that more often reflect failure

Question 58

​Mary, a line manager, is interested in pursuing self-help to develop leadership capabilities and interpersonal skills. Which of the following is a form of self-help that Mary could pursue?

A) ​Modeling the behavior of one of the effective leader's in her organization
B) ​Asking for constant feedback from her colleagues
C) ​Enrolling in an executive coaching program
D) ​Increasing her qualification through short-term courses

Question 59

Which of the following is an example of an action learning program for leadership development?

A) Barry, a production manager, has been assigned a project from the corporate social responsibility division of his company.
B) Swayne is a project lead who has been asked to take his team out for an on-site program.
C) Mary Ann is new to her organization and is observing the daily work activities of all her seniors to get acquainted with their roles.
D) Sharon has been working at her organization for two years and has decided to pursue higher education.

Question 60

Susan is the proud owner of an apparel boutique. She has a few branches and has decided to focus on one particular branch where the business does not seem to be doing well. The branch has been incurring losses and has affected the overall business strategy planned by Susan. However, Susan has decided to take on the challenge and rebuild her brand name. Because Susan has never dealt with such a challenge, she could be said to be _____.

A) stepping outside of her comfort zone
B) setting herself up for failure
C) missing an opportunity for development
D) not letting her business strategy pan out