Deck 11: Leadership

Question 1

The ability to influence others towards the accomplishment of common objectives without using formal authority is called:

A) management.
B) leadership.
C) charisma.
D) power.

Answer 1

leadership.

Question 2

Which one of the following is considered to be a central function in the role of a manager?

A) Influencing staff to get tasks accomplished.
B) Punishing staff when the wrong tasks are accomplished.
C) Keeping a database of staff activities.
D) Explaining the best way to achieve tasks at every opportunity.

Answer 2

Influencing staff to get tasks accomplished.

Question 3

'Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary activities' is the stated view of:

A) Kotter.
B) Taylor.
C) Gates.
D) Bennis.

Answer 3

Kotter.

Question 4

Which one of the following is true regarding the essential differences between leaders and managers?

A) Managers have a long-term perspective while leaders have a short-term perspective.
B) Leaders mobilise resources while managers are constrained by the given resources.
C) Managers have a primary focus on people while leaders have a primary focus on task.
D) Leaders rely on positional power while managers rely on personal, persuasive power.

Question 5

If a change in work behaviour is brought about by invigorating people into better performance on an existing task, this is best defined as:

A) good management.
B) transformational leadership.
C) behavioural leadership.
D) transactional leadership.

Question 6

If a change in work behaviour is brought about through new visions, values, strategies and practices, this is best defined as:

A) good management.
B) transformational leadership.
C) behavioural leadership.
D) transactional leadership.

Question 7

The research on leader-managers has highlighted:

A) the people factor in management.
B) that financial responsibilities are shared by leaders and managers.
C) the fact that both answer to a superior.
D) that leaders are born while managers are made.

Question 8

Which one of the options below is not listed as a function of a leader-manager (transformational)?

A) Technical, human relations and conceptual
B) Envisioning goals/missions
C) Managing
D) Communicating

Question 9

Which one of the options below is not listed as a function of a 'leader-manager' (transactional)?

A) Giving/seeking information
B) Making decisions
C) Sharing decision-making
D) Building relationships

Question 10

Once new goals and compatible values are in place and commitment secured for them, the remaining tasks of the leader are:

A) to continue to inspire through vision.
B) to focus on reward and punishment.
C) more extrinsic than intrinsic.
D) more of a managerial nature.

Question 11

The Zeitgeist theory of leadership proposes:

A) leadership was developed by the Germans.
B) the power of the spirit of the times can create a leader out of any available person.
C) leadership is underpinned by psychoanalytic theory.
D) leadership is a function of a set of traits.

Question 12

The contingency theory of leadership:

A) states that you must have a backup plan for when things go wrong.
B) proposes that leadership must be motivated by rewards.
C) states that leadership must be shared with followers.
D) proposes that leadership is a function of the fit between a person's qualities and the requirements of the situation.

Question 13

Leadership-in-charge is based on:

A) the character of the leader.
B) the permission of followers.
C) centralised resources, formal authority and hierarchy.
D) informal networks and heterarchy.

Question 14

The great person theory of leadership is:

A) a Zeitgeist theory.
B) a contingency theory.
C) a behavioural theory.
D) a trait theory.

Question 15

The theories which hold that leadership effectiveness is a function of the fit between the person's characteristics and the situation's requirements are best classified as:

A) trait theories.
B) Zeitgeist theories.
C) contingency theories.
D) behavioural theories.

Question 16

The view that suggests the leader should operate invisibly through the followers he or she inspires best defines:

A) quiet leader organisations.
B) leaderless organisations.
C) aimless organisations.
D) invisible organisations.

Question 17

Who made the following statement about leaderless organisations? 'A leader is best when people barely know that he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worst when they despise him. If you fail to honour people, they will fail to honour you. But of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say, "We did this ourselves".'

A) Lao Tzu
B) Bill Gates
C) Henry Mintzberg
D) Frederick Taylor

Question 18

Perhaps, the most effective method of developing leaderless organisations is:

A) creating appropriate organisational systems.
B) ensuring a strong leader is at the helm.
C) implementing work teams with a very diverse membership.
D) having very formal procedures for communication.

Question 19

Which situational theory of leadership involves the leader, the situation and the motivation of the people within its variables?

A) The situational leadership model
B) Fiedler's contingency model
C) The Blake and Mouton managerial grid
D) Path-goal theory

Question 20

Misuse of power:

A) is of little relevance to studies of leadership.
B) is important mainly because it can cause inefficiencies in an organisation.
C) is not logical because people tend not to want positions of power.
D) is an ethical issue of great relevance to contemporary leadership.

Question 21

Do you think management and leadership are the same functions? Or are they different?

Question 22

Define transformational and transactional leadership and discuss the principal differences.

Question 23

As a transformative leader, discuss any two leadership styles that may be used by you and also include the respective circumstances in which they would be used.

Question 24

What is a leaderless organisation? Discuss with an example.

Question 25

Although the trait approach to leadership studies has been around for a very long time, and there are many published typologies, discuss the limitations to the trait approach.

Question 26

Briefly discuss the two board leadership axis of the managerial grid.

Question 27

The situational approach to leadership has emerged from the observation that different behavioural styles produced differential impacts in different situations. Select two of the models discussed in your text and describe how they address differences in situations and leaders.

Question 28

While explaining the path-goal leadership theory, briefly discuss its four leadership styles.

Question 29

What are the two categories of moral leadership?

Question 30

Compare and contrast leadership as attribution and leadership as framing.