Deck 2: Traits, Motives, and Characteristics of Leaders

Question 1

Finance manager Sharon has the reputation of "walking the talk," so she most likely scores high on the trait of

A)humility.
B)trustworthiness.
C)extraversion.
D)sense of humor.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The achievement motive refers to

A)a desire to surpass productivity quotas.
B)finding joy in accomplishment for its own sake.
C)putting high energy into achieving work goals.
D)sustaining a high level of energy for work.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Self-confidence is an important leadership characteristic

A)primarily among executives.
B)primarily among supervisors.
C)in almost every leadership setting.
D)for male leaders more than for female leaders.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Kent is an enthusiastic leader, so his enthusiasm is likely to

A)be perceived as an annoyance by group members.
B)help him build relationships with the group.
C)be perceived as somewhat of a phony by group members.
D)make it difficult for him to advance further.

Question 5

Leadership effectiveness tends to be higher when the leader's intelligence is

A)about the same as that of the average group member.
B)a little higher than that of the average group member.
C)considerably higher than that of the average group member.
D)considerably lower than that of the average group member.

Question 6

The most effective type of humor for an organizational leader to use is directed at

A)the competition.
B)group members.
C)other departments.
D)himself or herself.

Question 7

Leaders who have the "right stuff" have

A)the necessary traits and characteristics to lead effectively.
B)made the right connections to become leaders.
C)intellectual characteristics associated with effective leadership.
D)inborn charismatic behaviors.

Question 8

Which one of the following actions on the part of a leader would most likely contribute to a reputation of trustworthiness?

A)Being highly diplomatic so as not to offend anyone
B)Doing what she or he thinks is right in spite of the political consequences
C)Behaving in a manner differently than he or she expects others to behave
D)Making his or her behavior inconsistent with his or her intentions

Question 9

Tenacity is considered to be an important leadership characteristic because

A)leaders have such limited power over group members.
B)it requires tenacity to keep a job during an era of downsizing.
C)it often takes so long to implement a new program.
D)leaders are so often under attack from group members.

Question 10

A key part of a leader having humility is to

A)insult the group performance, including that of your own.
B)put group members in the limelight, rather than oneself.
C)make forecasts about the group not making standards.
D)ask the group to lead itself so he or she can do analytical work.

Question 11

A hands on and deeply engaged leader is most likely to be strong on which one of the following traits or characteristics?

A)knowledge of the business
B)emotionally supportiveness
C)humility
D)sense of humor

Question 12

A survey about employee trust suggested that employees trust

A)their immediate manager more than company leaders.
B)company leaders more than their immediate manager.
C)the janitorial staff more than members of the executive suite.
D)members of the executive suite more than the janitorial staff.

Question 13

Research about emotional intelligence and leadership concludes that

A)emotional intelligence alone leads to career success.
B)emotional intelligence combined with ambition accounts for 90 percent of career success.
C)general intelligence and technical skills are the most important for top-level leaders.
D)a leader's mood and associated behaviors affect bottom-line performance.

Question 14

A leader with an internal locus of control

A)is often low in self-confidence.
B)is often interpreted by group members as being weak.
C)sees environmental factors as causing most events.
D)takes responsibility for events happening.

Question 15

Passion for the work on the part of a leader often expresses itself as a(n)

A)obsession for achieving company goals.
B)distrust of employees who are calm and relaxed.
C)obsession for surfing the Internet during working hours.
D)tendency to engage in ruthless cost cutting.

Question 16

Donald Trump is seen as a leader with a

A)high standing on humility.
B)personalized power motive.
C)socialized power motive.
D)low achievement drive.

Question 17

An important part of being assertive is to

A)not tolerate differences of opinion.
B)express feelings and opinions forthrightly.
C)behave aggressively toward people when necessary.
D)be obnoxious when necessary.

Question 18

An authentic leader would most likely

A)imitate the behavior of the company CEO.
B)engage in excessive organizational politics.
C)expect more of workers than himself or herself.
D)practice his or her values consistently.

Question 19

A person with high emotional intelligence is likely to

A)become overly enthusiastic during a meeting.
B)build strong personal bonds with people.
C)be particularly well suited for performing analytical work.
D)avoid stressful situations involving people.

Question 20

"Knowledge of the business" as a leadership characteristic is closely related to the leadership trait of

A)tenacity.
B)creativity.
C)cognitive ability.
D)drive and motivation.

Question 21

An important strength of the trait approach to leadership is that it

A)can help with leadership selection and development.
B)specifies how much of a given trait is important for leadership.
C)specifies which traits are needed for leadership in a given situation.
D)helps in analyzing the situational demands.

Question 22

A key point of the WICS model of leadership is that the effective leader

A)successfully utilizes intelligence.
B)makes optimum use of self-confidence.
C)combines charisma with computational skills.
D)shares power with competent group members.

Question 23

A synthesis of research studies suggests that when workers trust their supervisor, work satisfaction tends to be higher.

Question 24

The balance of opinion suggests that the contributors to leadership effectiveness are

A)virtually unknown.
B)about 90 percent nature and 10 percent nurture.
C)about 90 percent nurture and 10 percent nature.
D)a combination of nature and nurture.

Question 25

According to the WICS model of leadership, an effective leader synthesizes

A)wishful thinking, imagination, and criticalness.
B)willingness, courage, and self-confidence.
C)wherewithal, interest, and crisis management.
D)wisdom, intelligence, and creativity.

Question 26

An assertive leader finds the right balance between being pushy and being passive.

Question 27

Creativity among leaders tends to be distributed

A)along a continuum from low to high.
B)into being creative versus not creative.
C)between old and young leaders.
D)between planners versus implementers.

Question 28

A systems thinker would be especially good at

A)exploiting short-range benefits.
B)understanding how the external environment influences the organization.
C)sizing up people.
D)managing his or her emotions to advantage.

Question 29

The trait approach to leadership is based on the idea that effective leaders are made of the "right stuff."

Question 30

A study of authentic leaders found that although they are effective in the short range, authenticity interferes with achieving long-term business results.

Question 31

With respect to leadership effectiveness, the higher the level of self-confidence the better.

Question 32

According to one authority cited in the leadership text, humility adds value to leadership.

Question 33

Executive vice president Jerry is a Level 5 leader, so he accomplishes his objectives and brags quite a bit about what he accomplishes.

Question 34

An important application of insight for executive leaders is to

A)study technological developments.
B)avoid being frustrated by the demands of group members and customers.
C)predict the direction of environmental forces.
D)memorize product information.

Question 35

Telling the truth consistently is considered an important trust builder for leaders.

Question 36

With respect to heredity and environment, leadership effectiveness appears to be

A)mostly due to heredity.
B)the combined influence of heredity and environment.
C)mostly due to the environment.
D)four-fifths heredity and one-fifth environment.

Question 37

A key part of being an authentic leader is to be passionate about your purpose.

Question 38

Understanding the traits of leaders is more useful when more than one trait is integrated with another.

Question 39

Emotional intelligence tends to

A)peak at an early career stage.
B)be closely associated with technical skill.
C)improve with experience.
D)decrease substantially during middle age.

Question 40

Jane is a farsighted leader, so she

A)tends to delay taking action.
B)avoids planning her unit's activities.
C)sees the long-range implications of her actions.
D)focuses on the short-rang implications of her actions.

Question 41

Courage by the leader usually means taking major risks and then hoping for a positive outcome.

Question 42

Knowledge of the business has become less important as a leadership characteristic because so many competent staff specialists are found in organizations.

Question 43

A problem noted with optimistic leaders is that they might fail to develop contingency plans to deal with events that do not go as planned.

Question 44

A recommended way of building passion into a business is for the leader to tell a story about is creation.

Question 45

A resonant leader is one who scores low on emotional intelligence.

Question 46

Entrepreneurial leaders are known for their passion for their work.

Question 47

The trait of flexibility is especially important for leadership because it facilitates a leader's ability to adapt to various leadership situations.

Question 48

Leaders with a socialized power motive use power primarily to achieve organizational goals or vision.

Question 49

Group members tend to prefer a leader with an internal locus of control rather than an external one.

Question 50

A leader with a strong power motive is likely to have the attitude, "Why bother altering the behavior and attitudes of others? Live and let live."

Question 51

Part of relationship management in emotional intelligence is building bonds with other people.

Question 52

A strong achievement drive is an important contributor to innovative thinking in the workplace.

Question 53

An effective form of humor by the leader is to poke fun at the problems and limitations of group members.

Question 54

A leader with a strong internal locus of control readily looks toward environmental forces as the cause of his or her successes and failures.

Question 55

Wisdom in the WICS model of leadership refers to a type of common sense that most people achieve by the time they attain adulthood.

Question 56

According to the theory of emotional intelligence, a person with a high degree of self-management would be well organized and helpful in making plans for others.

Question 57

Leaders are likely to acquire more power if they use humor to build themselves up.

Question 58

Cranky and ruthless leaders tend to elevate performance because they skillfully inject the fear factor into employees.

Question 59

Research about emotional intelligence suggests that leadership is much more controlled by heredity than by environment.

Question 60

Minimizing the influence of feelings and emotion in the workplace is a key aspect of the emotionally intelligent leader.