1.The Trait Theory of leadership contends that leaders are both born and made. What does this mean and what does the research suggest regarding how many of our leadership skills are innate and how many are learned?

1.The Trait Theory of leadership contends that leaders are both born and made. What does this mean and what does the research suggest regarding how many of our leadership skills are innate and how many are learned?

2.The Skills Model of leadership outlines three “skills” needed for top management, middle management and supervisory management. Describe the three skills and explain when they are needed in the three levels of management.

3.In your own words, describe two strengths and two weaknesses of the Skills Approach to leadership.

4.The Style Theory is also referred to as the Behavioral theory. Why?

5.Explain the meaning of the leadership “grid”.

6.What is the overall premise of the situational theory/model?

7.In the Situational Leadership Model, what are the four leadership styles and the four developmental levels. Briefly describe what they mean.

8.What is path-goal leadership and how does it differ from others? What other theory is similar to path-goal leadership?

9.The LMX (Leader Member Exchange Theory) contends that subordinates fall in to either the in-group or the out-group. This is obviously not about a popularity contest. What does this concept mean when relating to the LMX theory?

10. Explain the four transformational factors associated with the transformational leadership model. 

There are 10 essay questions and you have 2 1/2 hours to complete the exam. You are expected to have 75-100 words for each answer. You should NOT have any quoted material. Any answers provided with fewer than 75 words will have content deductions. Use your own words.

Please refer to the lessons each week within the classroom and the required reading materials but do not copy from them to create your answer.

Your exam will be manually graded by your instructor. Until graded you will be a temporary zero in the gradebook

ANSWER

Midterm: Management Questions

Question 1

Trait theory portrays leaders as both born and made. The meaning of this is that leaders are defined by their personality traits rather than whether one was born a leader or developed leadership skills. Leadership can be nurtured into an individual, making him or her an effective leader. The theory guides the development of leadership skills by stating that some skills are innate such as having self-drive and being sharp in learning while many of the skills are learned such as acquiring a sense of responsibility, motivation, and experience. Some people are born with skills that set them apart from others and these attributes/traits are responsible for..

Question 2

The three types of skills that are critical for an effective management process include human/interpersonal management skills, technical skills, and conceptual skills. Human skills focus on leaders’ ability and knowledge to work with people. The leader should show the willingness to listen and resolve conflicting points of view. Human skills also enable leaders to motivate followers for better accomplishments. Technical skills ensure that managers have the relevant knowledge to perform tasks using specific tools and techniques. The managers have job knowledge and understand how processes work in terms of the company output and can advise departments and individuals on how to solve day-to-day problems. Conceptual skills, on the other hand, focus on the manager’s ability to have abstract thinking and predict the future of the business. Conceptual …

Human skills are required in middle management in order to develop a hospitable working environment. Technical skills are required in supervisory management to oversee tasks while conceptual skills are required…

Question 3

One of the main benefits of Skills Approach to leadership is that it acknowledges that anyone can become a leader because a person need only to develop the needed skills of a good leader. The second benefit is that Skills Approach to leadership makes it possible to select a leader with the necessary skills and competence in the critical departments and areas. Individual’s …

On the other hand, the approach has a number of weaknesses such as neglect of working conditions and overemphasis on skills empowerment rather than results. The weaknesses illustrate that the approach cannot be applied in a procedure and result intensive scenarios.  Secondly, the skills model also fails to explain why and how biological traits affect leadership…