Deck 1: Introduction

Question 1

Our enduring human interest in the topic of leadership is based on:

A) Our desire to understand leader qualities
B) The effect of leaders on our lives is omnipresent
C) We are compulsively fascinated by people in leadership positions
D) b and c

Answer 1

b and c

Question 2

The explicit purpose of this text is help the student:

A) Become a better analyst of leadership
B) Become a better practitioner in organizational settings
C) Select the single best style that fits their personality
D) a and b

Answer 2

a and b

Question 3

One way to define leadership is by the kind of "followers" being led. The main focus of this text is on organizational leaders that lead __________.

A) Employees
B) Constituents
C) Adherents
D) Peers

Answer 3

Employees

Question 4

Different types of leadership can be defined by the kind of "followers" being led.
A leader of a social movement typically has:

A) Employees
B) Constituents
C) Adherents
D) All of the above

Question 5

Different types of leadership can be defined by the type of work being done. The type of work includes the following classifications with the exception of:

A) Execution
B) Planning
C) Policy
D) New ideas

Question 6

Organizational leaders work in different situations and those variables are important in analyzing the leadership competencies needed. Which of the following variables impact leadership competencies?

A) Levels in the organization (Executives vs. Frontline)
B) Different fields of practice
C) The maturity of the organization
D) All of the above

Question 7

Leaders need to maintain order, continuity, and political independence preferably through the esteem of the people and fairness, but should be prepared to use guile, threats, and violence as necessary. This guidance was found in:

A) Thomas Carlyle's 1841 essay on heroes
B) Galton's 1869 study of hereditary genius
C) Machiavelli's 1513, The Prince
D) Plato's 380 BCE, Republic

Question 8

Which of the following statements is not true about the trait theory of leadership?

A) Trait test scores are not consistently predictive of leader effectiveness
B) The trait approach provides insight into what the effective leader does on the job.
C) The list of potentially important traits is extensive.
D) Patterns of effective behavior depend largely on the situation.

Question 9

The contingency theories of leadership contained all but which of the following major characteristics?

A) Emphasis on the situational variables
B) Definition of roles and assigned competencies
C) An emphasis on motivation theory
D) An emphasis on bimodal models

Question 10

Transformational leadership was influenced by an era:

A) Influenced by scientific methodologies.
B) Influenced by the rise of human relations theory.
C) Influenced by the loss of American dominance in business, science and finance.
D) Influenced by social sensitivities raised in the 1960s and 1970s.

Question 11

Many studies of managerial performance have found that the most critical skill for beginning managers, and the one most often lacking is:

A) Interpersonal competence
B) Technical competence
C) Communication skills
D) Alignment skills

Question 12

When considering what leaders should focus on, which of the following theorists asserted that "the only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture?"

A) Edgar Schein.
B) Lao Tzu
C) Douglas McGregor
D) Rensis Likert

Question 13

An important set of issues regarding leader style has to do with whether and to what degree, style can be changed. Which theorist took the hardline that changing style is nearly impossible?

A) Fred Fiedler
B) George House
C) Victor Vroom
D) Blake and Mouton

Question 14

The New Public Management School asserts that public administrators:

A) Are qualified to make technical decisions, but refer policy decisions to their political superiors
B) Should focus on administrative responsibility and the appropriate and moderate use of discretion
C) Are uniquely qualified to play a large role as managerial leaders and moral mainstays of the political system
D) Are primary agents of entrepreneurial government reform

Question 15

A __________ approach to leadership assumes that at some level there is an ideal pattern of leadership behavior that fits nearly all situations.

A) Contingency
B) Universal
C) Descriptive
D) Prescriptive

Question 16

__________ studies define and describe the leadership processes, typical behaviors, and contingency factors.

A) Descriptive
B) Prescriptive
C) Contingency
D) Universal

Question 17

The text discusses four levels of leadership analysis: tasks, behaviors/traits/skills, styles and metacategories. __________ refers to a moderate-sized cluster of leader behaviors, primarily used to describe or prescribe actual or ideal leader patterns.

A) Task
B) Behavior/traits/skills
C) Style
D) Metacategory

Question 18

One way to think about leadership is to focus on where it occurs. If the focus is dyadic then the focus is:

A) Between two people
B) At the group level
C) At the organizational level
D) The classroom

Question 19

Using the terms leaders and managers interchangeably is supported by the statement:

A) Managing many things is what executives do, and only one of them is leading followers.
B) Managers rarely have the luxury of focusing only on maintenance or change or focusing only on followers.
C) Great leadership is the seamless blending of the more operational-managerial dimensions with the visionary functions.
D) All of the above.

Question 20

The operational definition of leadership used in the text includes all of the following except?

A) Leadership is a complex process involving numerous fundamentally different types of acts.
B) Leadership involves assessing one's environment and one's leadership constraints.
C) Leadership involves developing numerous leadership traits and skills.
D) Leaders must refine and select one best style for all situations.

Question 21

The purpose of our book is to help the readers become better analysts of leadership and better practitioners in organizational settings.

Question 22

The best example of leaders who focus on execution and implementation are legislators.

Question 23

The maturity of an organization, differences in resources, and the size of an organization should not be relevant when determining basic leadership competencies.

Question 24

The value of the "great man" thesis was that it led to the study of the traits and characteristics leaders have in common.

Question 25

Contingency leadership theory places emphasis on the situational variables with which leaders must deal, especially performance and follower variables.

Question 26

Many studies of managerial performance have found the most important critical skill for beginning managers is technical competence.

Question 27

The real debate about leaders being made or born is about the relative importance of innate abilities, experience, and formal training.

Question 28

Prescriptive studies attempt to define and describe leadership processes, typical behaviors, and contingency factors.

Question 29

A universal approach to leadership assumes that there is an ideal pattern of leadership behavior that fits nearly all situations.

Question 30

Contingency approaches to leadership are generally more powerful than universal approaches for defining the relationships of tasks and behaviors to effectiveness.

Question 31

Discuss the importance of studying leadership.

Question 32

What is the basic thesis of the "great man" notion of leadership? What is (are) the inherent weaknesses?

Question 33

What is the basic assumption of the trait approach to leadership? What were some of its problems?

Question 34

Describe four levels of leadership analysis.

Question 35

What is the difference between descriptive and prescriptive leadership studies?

Question 36

What is the difference between formal and informal leadership?

Question 37

Provide an operational definition of leadership.