Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

B-10 APPENDIX B Industrial/Organizational PsychologyWhat Makes a Leader? At 23 he wasworth $1 million, at 24 it was $10 million,by 25 it was over $100 million, and by30 years of age his board of directors firedhim from the company he started. Who ishe? Steve Jobs, of course. When he andSteve Wozniak began building computersin his parents’ garage, neither one imaginedwhat the future held: the multinationalcompany Apple Inc. Fortune creditsJobs with changing the world throughcomputers, phones, music, retailing, andmovies. In 2008, Fortune chose Jobs as“#1 Most Powerful Business Person” andlabeled Apple a “Most Admired Company.”Jobs’s leadership style wasn’t always ideal,as he acknowledges when discussing hispast. Fortunately for his many Apple employees,he has learned from his leadershipmistakes. Victor Vroom, professor at theYale School of Management, considers Jobsa transformational leader who “stands forhigher order values. . . . [H]e has causedpeople to do things they might never havedone before” (George, 2006).are characterized by mutual trust, respect,and liking. These relationshipshave numerous benefits, including higherjob satisfaction, goal commitment, improvedwork climate, and lower turnoverrates (Gerstner & Day, 1997). Negativeleader–member relationships show a lackof trust, respect, and liking. These relationshipslead to decreased job satisfactionand job performance, among otherconsequences (Gomez & Rosen, 2001).This research shows that effective leadersmanage to establish positive relationshipsby setting high expectations andmaking an effort to build trust and reciprocalrespect.More recently, leadership researchhas focused on topics such as transformationalversus transactional leadership,charismatic leadership, shared leadership, and servant leadership, which is highlightedin the In Focus box “Servant Leadership: When It’s Not All About You.”Although they’ve yet to find the formula for a perfect leader, researchers have sheda bright light on the optimal conditions for leadership development.IN FOCUSServant Leadership: When It’s Not All About YouWhat do Jeffrey Skilling, Bernard Ebbers, and Dennis Kozlowskihave in common? They were all entrusted with leadership positionsfor corporate giants such as Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco.They also failed miserably in their posts as leaders. Ebbers, formerCEO of WorldCom, was convicted of fraud and conspiracyand is said to have been personally responsible for the$11 billion loss to WorldCom investors. Formerly CEO of thenow-defunct Enron, Jeffrey Skilling is in federal prison after havingbeen found guilty of fraud and insider trading in oneof America’s most notorious cases of corporate corruption.Kozlowski, too, is in prison, convicted of misappropriating $400million of his company’s funds while he was CEO of Tyco.All three of these individuals are what some researchers callnarcissistic leaders. Research on selfish leadership demonstratesthat narcissistic leaders display certain behaviors that make themmore likely to take self-serving risks, inconsiderate of the role ofstewardship placed upon them as leaders. One study found thatsuch CEOs focus on themselves at the expense of organizationalawareness (Chatterjee & Hambrick, 2007). By featuring their pictures,their names, and their stories on organizational literature,these CEOs demand all the attention, instead of sharing the spotlightwith the hardworking “stagehands” behind the scenes.If you’ve ever known a highly narcissistic individual, it wasprobably not by choice. As employees, we like to receive recognitionand at least some acknowledgement that what we do isvalued. Selfish leaders are unable to fill our needs becauseof their own need to have their egos stroked on a constant basis.Their belief system includes self-promoting ideas such as, “Iam, by far, the most valuable person in this organization,” or“Leadership is a solo endeavor, not a group activity” (Chatterjee& Hambrick, 2007).Enter the servant leader. In 1970, Robert Greenleaf, a retiredAT&T corporate executive, was the first to use the term servantleader. He defined a servant leader as one who makes service toothers, including one’s employees, the foremost leadershipobjective. Greenleaf believed that servant leaders are successfulbecause of their sincere commitment to helping their followerssucceed. They invert the organizational chart, placing employeeneeds above their own (Zandy, 2007). Employee centeredness,where the leader’s focus is on employee concerns, allows leadersto roll up their sleeves during crunch times. Most important,servant leaders’ humility allows them to recognize their employeesas emerging leaders who need organizational support toreach their potential. Humility is the servant leader’s most prominenttrait, unlike the narcissistic leader.Warren Buffet, “The Oracle of Omaha” and richest man in theworld (Miller, 2008), exemplifies servant leadership. Buffetrecently decided that he would donate the majority of his$40 billion fortune to charity. He did this quietly and strategically,typical of his humble demeanor. His generosity of spirit, littleknown to the public, is often masked by his financial success. Asa leader, he values the development of his staff and colleagues,often acknowledging his own mistakes before announcing theirsuccesses. His ethical transparency allows everything to be disclosed.Buffet says, “You don’t need to play outside the lines.You can make a lot of money hitting the ball down the middle”(George, 2006). If only Skilling, Ebbers, and Kozlowski had followedhis lead.