1.

Finding and Creating Effective Leaders

Exam Q: How can organizations select and develop effective leader?
Discuss.
The organizations select and develop effective leaders by:
A. Selection
B. Training
A. Selection
The entire process that organizations go through to fill management
positions is essentially an exercise in trying to identify individuals who will
be effective leaders.
The search might begin by reviewing the specific requirement for the
position to be filed that is knowledge, skills, and abilities that are needed
to do the job effectively.
Use tests that identify personal traits associated with leadership, measure
self-monitoring, and assess emotional intelligence.
Testing is useful for identifying and selecting leaders.
Personality tests can be used to look for traits associated with leadership
extroversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.
Testing to find a leadership candidates score on self-monitoring also makes
sense.
High self-monitors are likely to outperform their low-scoring counterparts
because the former is better at reading situations and adjusting his or her
behavior accordingly.
You can also asses candidates for emotional intelligence (EI).
Candidates with a high EI should have an advantage especially in situations
requiring transformational leadership given the importance of social skills
to managerial effectiveness.
Conduct personal interviews to determine candidates fitness with the
job.
Interviews also provide an opportunity to evaluate leadership candidates.
For instances, we know that experience is a poor predictor of leader
effectiveness, but situation-specific experience is relevant.
The interview performance can be used to determine if a candidates prior
experience fits with the situation required to be filled.

Chapter # 1 Exam Notes

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 Similarly, the interview is a reasonable good vehicle for identifying the

degree to which a candidate has leadership traits such as extroversion, selfconfidence, vision, verbal skills to frame issues, or a charismatic physical
presence.
B. Training
The knowledge of importance of situational factors in leadership success
should be used to match leaders to situations.
If the situation requires a change transformational qualities in the leader
are required to focus on the changed situation. If not, look for transactional
qualities.
They may be situational factors that substitute for or neutralize leadership.
If there are, then the leadership essentially performs a figurehead or
symbolic role, and the importance of selecting the right person is not
particularly crucial.
Organizations, in aggregate, spend billions of dollars, yen, and Euros on
leadership training and development.
Recognize that all people are not equally trainable.
Teach skills that are necessary for employees to become effective leaders.
Provide behavioral training to increase the development potential of
nascent (potential, growing) charismatic employees
The concerned authority or selection committee should try to analyze the
situation in order to find candidates who will make a proper match.

Chapter # 1 Exam Notes

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