OB Leadership Prep

Leadership

A process of social influence to achieve goals.

Leader-Member Exchange

Quality of the dyadic relationship between leader and follower.

Trait Theory

Leadership is linked to stable individual traits such as intelligence, extraversion, and confidence.

Behavioral Theory

Effective leadership stems from specific behaviors, especially task-oriented and relationship-oriented styles.

Contingency Theory

Leadership effectiveness depends on matching a leader's style with the degree of situational control.

Path–Goal Theory

Leaders enhance follower performance by clarifying paths to goals and removing obstacles; style should adapt to follower and task needs.

Leader–Member Exchange LMX Theory

Leadership quality varies across dyadic relationships, with high-quality exchanges producing better outcomes.

Transformational Leadership

Leaders inspire, intellectually stimulate, and attend to individual needs, elevating follower motivation and performance.

Transactional Leadership

Leadership is based on contingent reward and management-by-exception; focused on exchange and performance monitoring.

Servant Leadership

Leaders serve others by prioritizing follower development and community well-being; emphasizes humility and ethics.

Authentic Leadership

Leaders act in alignment with core values, transparency, and self-awareness, fostering trust and follower authenticity.

OhioStateStudies50s

behavioral theories citation

Fiedler67

contingency theory citation

Bass85

Transformational vs. transactional citation

GraenUhl-Bien95

LMX theory citation

Judge+04

Leadership trait transform/transact meta-analysis citation

JudgePiccolo04

Transformational leadership is generalizable across contexts and valid but it's effects are difficult to distinguish from similar effects of transactional leadership styles; transformational leadership did not predict leader performance - citation

Lord+17

leadership review defines 3 waves of leadership research citaiton

DeRue+11

leadership theories meta/validity massive meta analysis on leader traits and behaviors; agreeableness is important predictor for leader satisfaction; traits -> behaviors -> performance outcomes; conscientiousness most important trait predictor, transformational leadership most important behavioral predictor of leader effectiveness - citation

Wang+11

“transformational leadership is positively related to performance across criterion types and levels of analysis ” - citation