MBA Leadership 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which leadership concept describes a leader's ability to influence others beyond formal authority by leveraging relationships and personal credibility?
- Span of control
- Informal leadership (Correct answer)
- Management by objectives
- Scalar chain
Correct answer: Informal leadership
Informal leadership refers to influence exerted without formal positional authority, relying on expertise, relationships, and credibility instead.
Question 2: Research on gender and leadership suggests that women leaders are more often described as using which style?
- Authoritative and directive
- Transactional with strong coercive power
- Transformational and participative (Correct answer)
- Laissez-faire with low structure
Correct answer: Transformational and participative
Meta-analyses consistently find women leaders are rated higher on transformational behaviors and participative decision-making than their male counterparts.
Question 3: A startup CEO pivots strategy three times in one year based on market data. Critics call this inconsistent; supporters call it adaptive. Which leadership framework BEST justifies the adaptive view?
- Great Man Theory
- Trait Theory
- Adaptive Leadership (Heifetz) (Correct answer)
- Path-Goal Theory
Correct answer: Adaptive Leadership (Heifetz)
Heifetz's Adaptive Leadership framework argues effective leaders help organizations continually adapt to changing environments rather than applying fixed solutions.
Question 4: The 'dark triad' of leadership personality traits includes narcissism, Machiavellianism, and:
- Neuroticism
- Psychopathy (Correct answer)
- Authoritarianism
- Introversion
Correct answer: Psychopathy
The dark triad consists of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy — all associated with manipulative, self-serving leadership behaviors.
Question 5: During a major organizational restructuring, employees feel anxious and uncertain. Which leadership behavior is MOST critical at this stage?
- Increasing performance incentives immediately
- Communicating a clear vision and providing emotional support (Correct answer)
- Reducing meeting frequency to minimize disruption
- Delegating all change-management decisions to HR
Correct answer: Communicating a clear vision and providing emotional support
In times of uncertainty, Kotter's change model and emotional intelligence research both underscore the importance of clear vision communication and empathetic support.
Question 6: What is the PRIMARY distinction between a 'manager' and a 'leader' in the Kotter framework?
- Managers have higher compensation; leaders have higher status
- Managers cope with complexity; leaders cope with change (Correct answer)
- Managers motivate people; leaders control processes
- Managers make strategic decisions; leaders make operational ones
Correct answer: Managers cope with complexity; leaders cope with change
Kotter argues managers bring order and consistency by planning, budgeting, and controlling, while leaders drive change by setting direction, aligning people, and motivating.
Question 7: Which bias causes leaders to overweight early information when evaluating a subordinate's overall performance?
- Recency bias
- Halo effect
- Anchoring bias (Correct answer)
- Attribution error
Correct answer: Anchoring bias
Anchoring bias leads evaluators to rely too heavily on the first piece of information (e.g., first impression or early performance data) when making judgments.
MBA Leadership 4
Which leadership concept describes a leader's ability to influence others beyond formal authority by leveraging relationships and personal credibility?