Exam 11: Leadership Communication in the New Workplace

Alexa has been a camp counselor with Mason Leadership Camps (MLC) for the last seven years. During that time, the organization has changed directors three times, entirely re-branded itself twice, and moved to two different locations. Other than the current director, Alexa is the only person who has been with MLC for this many years; the others couldn't adapt to all of the changes, left with their favorite director(s), or just dropped away in the upheaval. Alexa has just kind of plugged away this whole time, riding out the storm by taking on little projects under the radar but never staking a great deal of claim in any of the new changes. Which kind of followership does Alexa most likely perform at MLC?

Most of the leadership traits that have been studied are desirable however the trait leadership approach is not a useful tool for assessing leadership because ______.

Followership research generally assumes that leaders and followers exist in a(n) ______ relationship.

At a staff retreat, Ingrid tells a story about employees being fired for misuse of company technology and makes specific reference to former employees who used company computers to process orders for their online business. Ingrid's story helps to ______.

Dave was a switchboard operator at a power company in a small Pennsylvania town. In the 1970s, there was a massive blackout in New York City. Without the instant communication we have today, the blackout spread quickly because the power companies couldn't speak to one another quickly enough for them to shut down their breakers (which would actually stop further damage). Dave started to notice some strange surges in the far reaches of his company's power grid and made an instant (and unauthorized) decision to "shut it all down." They threw all the breakers and, by opening all of the circuits, basically stopped the blackout from causing damage to power grids all over the company. Dave became an "everyday hero" in power companies across the Northeast for his action. His careful attention and quick decision saved the company a lot of money (and a lot of people a lot of hassle). His quick rise to "hero" status illustrates ______.

D'Shawn recently read a new book on leadership studies and now believes that the idea of leadership rests almost entirely on followers; her influence only really comes from the extent to which organizational members interact with one another and "construct" her as the leader. Which approach to leadership studies did the author most likely take?

We know leaders when we see them because leadership has clearly identifiable features and leaders have clearly identifiable characteristics.

Alvesson and Spicer look at leadership as something that is used in different ways by different people, referring to this as a(n) ______ approach.

Charismatic leadership and transformational leadership are basically the same kind of process, using different names.

Stories about low-level employees saving corporations, standing up to CEOs, or displaying exemplary service or dedication are often examples of ______.

Fiedler asserts that leadership is a(n)______.

Which of the following of Blake and Mouton's managerial styles shows high concern for production, yet low concern for people?

Management scholar Simon Western claims that packaging leadership ideas into simple solutions are easier to sell in the "leadership industry," what is his argument?

For years, John witnessed employees assembling auto parts with the wrong screws (the screws were a surplus that the company did not want to waste). He contemplated telling someone but was afraid of being labeled a whistle-blower. After an incident on the assembly line, John realized he needed to say something. Two middle-level managers were demoted, the company implemented new policies to address the assembly problem, and the company issued a national recall to replace the screws. John's actions were a form of ______.

The notion that business schools should focus on training enlightened followers stems from the fact that more of us are ______ than leaders.

The use of 360-degree feedback evaluation and Meyers-Briggs Type Indicators (which measures personality and decision-making style) enables people to "see" themselves through their own and others' eyes by constructing a huge body of knowledge about one's own communication and leadership in an organization. Melvin has a lot of past, successful leadership experience in organizations, yet his results from these tests show that he has some areas for potential growth. He is nervous that when he applies for his first job, potential employers might use this information against him (instead of paying attention to all of the good things he's already done). This could be an example of ______.

______ is a critical approach to leadership studies that disconnects leadership from management and looks, instead, at the ways in which leadership is a political act that contributes to the wellbeing of a community.

Transformational leadership and neo-charismatic leadership signal the return of the heroic "great leader," but different organizational contexts.

Tall, handsome, white, and privileged, Robert was also, from a young age, very intelligent. His mother told him he almost had "all the right stuff," but needed to work on becoming more extroverted and social. His teachers thought that he needed to bolster his self-confidence and, occasionally, learn how to explain concepts more simply so that his classmates wouldn't perceive that there was too much of a difference between him and them. What assumptions about leadership did these adults most likely have?

______ is an approach to leadership that distinguishes between managers and leaders - leaders promote shared meanings about the organization and how it will develop while managers concern themselves primarily with the here and now of the organization.