Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved.

No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 16-1
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter
16

Skills for Optimizing

Leadership as
Situations Change

16-2
Introduction

Advanced leadership skills are needed in specific

situations and when situations change. This chapter
will cover the following topics.
• Creating a compelling vision
• Managing conflict
• Negotiation
• Diagnosing performance problems in individuals,
groups, and organizations
• Team building at the top
• Punishment

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Creating a Compelling Vision

• Leaders often struggle to give a compelling

description of how they add value and to get
anyone excited to become part of their team.

• The vision should be a short, concise, personal

statement that answers several questions.
– Where is the team going, and how will it get there?
– How does the team win, and how does it contribute to the
broader organization’s success?
– How does the speaker define leadership?
– What gets the speaker excited about being a leader?
– What are the speaker’s key values?

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Creating a Compelling Vision
(continued)

Figure 16.1: The Four Components of a Leadership Vision

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Managing Conflict
• Conflict occurs when opposing parties have
interests or goals that appear to be incompatible,
such as when team members:
– Have strong differences in values, beliefs, or goals.
– Have high levels of task or lateral interdependence.
– Are competing for scarce resources or rewards.
– Are under high levels of stress.
– Face uncertain or incompatible demands.
• Conflict also occurs when leaders’ actions are
inconsistent with their stated goals and vision.
• Breakdowns in communication are the most
important source of conflict.
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Managing Conflict (continued)

The conflict resolution process is affected by several

factors.

• The nature of the conflict

– The size of an issue
– The extent to which the problem is defined egocentrically
– The existence of hidden agendas
• Seeing a conflict situation in win–lose or zero-sum
terms
• Perceiving the conflict as unresolvable

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Conflict Resolution Strategies

• Thomas described five conflict management

approaches based on dimensions of
cooperativeness vs. uncooperativeness and
assertiveness vs. unassertiveness.

– Competition reflects a desire to achieve one’s own ends

at the expense of someone else. This is domination, also
known as a win–lose orientation.

– Accommodation reflects a mirror image of competition—

entirely giving in to someone else’s concerns without
making any effort to achieve one’s own ends. This is a
tactic of appeasement.

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Conflict Resolution Strategies
(continued)

– Sharing is an approach that represents a compromise

between domination and appeasement. Both parties give
up something, yet both parties get something.

– Collaboration reflects an effort to fully satisfy both parties.

This is a problem-solving approach that requires the
integration of each party’s concerns.

– Avoidance involves indifference to the concerns of both

parties. It reflects a withdrawal from or neglect of any
party’s interests.

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Conflict Resolution Strategies
(continued)

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Team Building at the Top
Executive teams are similar to other types of teams but
different in two ways.
1.Most top teams never function as a whole, so when a
situation arises, team members must use their individual
skills and high-performance teamwork.
– Leaders must have the diagnostic skills to discern
whether a challenge involves an individual situation or a
team situation.
– Leaders must “stay the course” when a team situation is
present.
2.Executive teams have an opportunity to enhance
teamwork throughout the organization, and only
executive teams can change organizational systems.
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Punishment

• Punishment is the provision of an undesirable

consequence or the withdrawal of a desirable
consequence, which in turn decreases the
likelihood that a particular behavior will be
repeated.

• Arvey and Ivancevich reviewed three myths about

punishment.
– Punishment results in undesirable emotional side effects
on the part of the recipient.
– Punishment is unethical and inhumane.
– Punishment rarely works anyway.

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Administering Punishment

To make punishment effective, leaders should:

• Recognize their bias toward internal attributions.

• Gather as many facts as possible before deciding

whether to administer punishment.

• Focus on the act, not the person.

• Be consistent across both behaviors and leaders.

• Clarify the rationale and identify the future

consequences of misbehavior.

• Provide guidance about how to improve.

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