CSM Leadership Principles & Styles 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A leader who focuses on inspiring a shared vision and challenging the process is demonstrating which of Kouzes and Posner's Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership?
- Enabling others to act
- Modeling the way
- Inspiring a shared vision (Correct answer)
- Encouraging the heart
Correct answer: Inspiring a shared vision
Inspiring a shared vision involves enlisting others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.
Question 2: Which leadership style is most appropriate when followers have high competence but low commitment?
- Directing (S1)
- Coaching (S2)
- Supporting (S3) (Correct answer)
- Delegating (S4)
Correct answer: Supporting (S3)
Supporting (S3) in Situational Leadership is used when followers are competent but lack motivation or confidence.
Question 3: The concept of 'psychological safety' in teams, as studied by Amy Edmondson, is most closely associated with which leadership outcome?
- Higher individual performance bonuses
- Reduced team turnover rates
- Team members feeling safe to take interpersonal risks (Correct answer)
- Strict adherence to hierarchical structures
Correct answer: Team members feeling safe to take interpersonal risks
Psychological safety describes a team climate where members believe they won't be punished for speaking up, making mistakes, or raising concerns.
Question 4: A strategic manager consistently gives employees credit for successes while personally accepting blame for failures. This behavior reflects which leadership principle?
- Autocratic authority
- Servant leadership accountability (Correct answer)
- Laissez-faire detachment
- Transactional contingent reward
Correct answer: Servant leadership accountability
Servant leaders prioritize others' growth and well-being, which includes deflecting credit and absorbing blame to protect their teams.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes 'adaptive leadership' as defined by Ronald Heifetz?
- Applying proven technical solutions to recurring problems
- Mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges that require changes in values and behavior (Correct answer)
- Delegating all decision-making to experienced subordinates
- Maintaining stability by avoiding organizational change
Correct answer: Mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges that require changes in values and behavior
Adaptive leadership distinguishes between technical problems (with known solutions) and adaptive challenges that require changes in attitudes and behavior.
Question 6: In the Full Range Leadership Model, which behavior involves a leader recognizing and rewarding followers for meeting agreed-upon performance targets?
- Inspirational motivation
- Contingent reward (Correct answer)
- Management by exception (active)
- Idealized influence
Correct answer: Contingent reward
Contingent reward is a transactional leadership behavior where the leader clarifies expectations and provides rewards for meeting them.
Question 7: A CEO champions diversity initiatives primarily because it improves organizational innovation and financial performance. This motivation aligns with which ethical framework?
- Deontological ethics
- Virtue ethics
- Utilitarian ethics (Correct answer)
- Care ethics
Correct answer: Utilitarian ethics
Utilitarian ethics focuses on actions that produce the greatest good or benefit for the greatest number, including organizational outcomes.
CSM Leadership Principles & Styles 2
A leader who focuses on inspiring a shared vision and challenging the process is demonstrating which of Kouzes and Posner's Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership?