Leadership Behavior Questionnaire Instructions: Read each item carefully and think about how often you (or the person you are evaluating) engage in the described behavior. Indicate your response to each item by circling one of the five numbers to the right of each item. Key:1 = Never 2 - Seldom 3 = Occasionally 4 = Often 5 - Always Tells group members what they are supposed to do. 2 Acts friendly with members of the group. 1 2 5 3. Sets standards of performance for group members. 1 2 A 4. Helps others in the group feel comfortable. 2 4 5 Makes suggestions about how to solve problems. 2 A Responds favorably to suggestions made by others. 2 7 Makes his or her perspective clear to others. 1 2 A 8. Treats others fairly. 9 Develops a plan of action for the group. 2 A 10. Behaves in a predictable manner toward group members. 1 2 11. Defines role responsibilities for each group member. 1 2 12. Communicates actively with group members. 5 13. Clarifies his or her own role within the group. 4 14. Shows concern for the well-being of others. 2 A 15. Provides a plan for how the work is to be done. 2 16. Shows flexibility in making decisions. 1 2 A 17. Provides criteria for what is expected of the group. 1 2 18. Discloses thoughts and feelings to group members. A 19. Encourages group members to do high-quality work. 1 20. Helps group members get along with each other. AScoring The Leadership Behavior Questionnaire is designed to measure two major types of leadership behaviors: task and relationship. Score the questionnaire by doing the following: First, sum the responses on the odd- numbered items. This is your task score. Second, sum the responses on the even-numbered items. This is your relationship score. Total scores Task RelationshipScoring Interpretation 45-50 Very high range 40-44 High range 35-39 Moderately high range 30-34 Moderately low range 25-29 Low range 10-24 Very low range The score you receive for task refers to the degree to which you help others by defining their roles and letting them know what is expected of them. This factor describes your tendencies to be task directed toward others when you are in a leadership position. The score you receive for relationship is a measure of the degree to which you try to make followers feel comfortable with themselves, each other, and the group itself. It represents a measure of how people oriented you are. Your results on the Leadership Behavior Questionnaire give you data about your task orientation and people orientation. What do your scores suggest about your leadership style? Are you more likely to lead with an emphasis on task or with an emphasis on relationship? As you interpret your responses to the Leadership Behavior Questionnaire, ask yourself if there are ways you could change your behavior to shift the emphasis you give to tasks and relationships. To gain more information about your style, you may want to have four or five of your coworkers fill out the questionnaire based on their perceptions of you as a leader. This will give you additional data to compare and contrast to your own scores about yourself.Summary The behavioral approach is strikingly different from the trait and skills approaches to leadership because the behavioral approach focuses on what leaders do rather than who leaders are. It suggests that leaders engage in two primary types of behaviors: cask behaviors and relationship behaviors. How leaders combine these two types of behaviors to influence others is the central focus of the behavioral approach. The behavioral approach originated from three different lines of research: the Ohio State studies, the University of Michigan studies, and the work of Blake and Mouton on the Managerial Grid. Researchers at Ohio State developed a leadership questionnaire called the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ), which identified initiation of structure and consideration as the core leadership behaviors. The Michigan studies provided similar findings but called the leader behaviors production orientation and employee orientation. Using the Ohio State and Michigan studies as a basis, much research has been carried out to find the best way for leaders to combine task and relationship behaviors. The goal has been to find a universal set of leadership behaviors capable of explaining leadership effectiveness in every situation. The results from these efforts have not been conclusive, however. Researchers have had difficulty identifying one best style of leadership. Blake and Mouton developed a practical model for training managers that described leadership behaviors along a grid with two axes: concern for results and concern for people. How leaders combine these orientations results in five major leadership styles: authority- compliance (9,1), country-club management (1,9), impoverished management (1,1), middle-of-the-road management (5,5), and team management (9,9). The behavioral approach has several strengths and weaknesses. On the positive side, it has broadened the scope of leadership research to include the study of the behaviors of leaders rather than only their personal traits or characteristics. Second, it is a reliable approach because it is supported by a wide range of studies. Third, the behavioral approach is valuable because it underscores the importance of the two core dimensions of leadership behavior: task and relationship. Fourth, it has heuristic value in that it provides us with a broad conceptual map that is useful in gaining an understanding of our own leadership behaviors. On the negative side, researchers have not been able to associate the behaviors of leaders (task and relationship) with outcomes such as morale, job satisfaction, and productivity. In addition, researchers from the behavioral approach have not been able to identify a universal set of leadership behaviors that would consistently result in effective leadership. Last, the behavioral approach implies but fails to support fully the idea that the most effective leadership style is a high-high style (i.e., high task and high relationship). 161 Overall, the behavioral approach is not a refined theory that provides a neatly organized set of prescriptions for effective leadership behavior. Rather, the behavioral approach provides a valuable framework for assessing leadership in a broad way as assessing behavior with task and relationship dimensions. Finally, the behavioral approach reminds leaders that their impact on others occurs along both dimensions. Sharpen your skills with SAGE edge at edge.sagepub.comorchousede