Abstract
Theories of leadership have not fared too well in their attempts to explain the role of intellectual abilities in team or organizational performance. In fact, most theories of leadership have ignored intellectual ability altogether (Campbell, 1977). And yet, intelligence must play an important part in determining the performance of leaders and their groups or organizations. This is clear when we consider the essentially intellectual nature of such critical leadership functions as planning, decision making, and coordinating the work of others. Not surprisingly, most organizations prefer to hire bright rather than stupid managers. Why then, do we find such low correlations between leader intelligence and organizational performance? I shall trace the development of a new leadership theory that attempts to deal with this intriguing question.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bales, R. F. (1950). Interaction process analysis. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Barnes, V. E., Potter, E. H., Fiedler, F. E. (1983). The effect of interpersonal stress on the prediction of academic performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 686–697.
Bass, B. M. (1981). Stogdill’s handbook of leadership: A survey of theory and research. New York: The Free Press.
Blades, J. W., Fiedler, F. E. (1976). The influence of intelligence, task ability, and motivation on group performance. Seattle: Organizational Research, University of Washington.
Blake, R. R, Mouton, J. S. (1964). The management grid. Houston: Gulf.
Bons, P. M., Fiedler, F. E. (1976). Changes in organizational leadership and the behavior of relationship and task-motivated leaders. Administrative Science Quarterly. 21, 433–472.
Borden, D. F. (1980). Leader-boss stress, personality, job satisfaction, and performance: Another look at the inter-relationship of some old constructs in the modern large bureaucracy. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Washington, Seattle.
Bray, D. W., Campbell, R. J., Grant, D. L. (1974). Formative years in business. A long-term AT&T study of managerial lives, New York: Wiley-Interscience.
Byham, W. C. (1970). Assessment centers for spotting future managers. Harvard Business Review, 48, 150–160.
Campbell, J. (1977). The cutting edge of leadership: An overview. In J. G. Hunt, L. L. Larson (Eds.), Leadership: The cutting edge. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Fiedler, F. E. (1964). A contingency model of leadership effectiveness. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. New York: Academic Press.
Fiedler, F. E. (1967). A theory of leadership effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Fiedler, F. E. (1970). Leadership experience and leader performance—Another hypothesis shot to hell. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 5, 1–14.
Fiedler, F. E. (1972). The effects of leadership training and experience: a contingency model interpretation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 77, 453–470.
Fiedler, F. E., Jobs, S. M., Borden, D. F. (1984). Downward transmission of stress and its effects on the performance of motivated and unmotivated leaders. (Tech. Rep. No. 84 −2 ). Seattle: University of Washington.
Fiedler, F. E., Leister, A F. (1977). Leader intelligence and task performance: A test of a multiple-screen model. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 20, 1–14.
Fiedler, F. E., Meuwese, W., and Oonk, S. (1961). An exploratory study of group creativity in laboratory task. Acta Psychologica, 18, 100–119.
Fiedler, F. E., Meuwese, W. A T. (1963). The leader’s contribution to task performance in cohesive and uncohesive groups. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 83–87.
Fiedler, F. E., O’Brien, G. E., Ilgen, D. R (1969). The effect of leadership style upon the performance and adjustment of volunteer teams operating in a stressful foreign environment. Human Relations, 22, 503–514.
Fiedler, F. E, Potter, E. H. Ill, Zais, M. M., Knowlton, W. Jr. (1979). Organizational stress and the use and misuse of managerial intelligence and experience. Journal of Applied Psychology, 64(6), 635–647.
Fox, W. M. (1954). An experimental study of group reaction to two types of conference leadership. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, Columbus.
French, J. R P. Jr., Israel, J., As, D. (1960). An experiment on participation in social power. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.
Frost, D. (1983). Role perceptions and behavior of the immediate superior: Moderating effects on the prediction of leadership effectiveness. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 31, 123–142.
Ghiselli, E. E. (1966). The validity of occupational aptitude tests. New York: Wiley.
Hersey, P., Blanchard, K. H. (1969). Life cycle theory of leadership. Training and Development Journal, 23, 26–34.
House, R. J. (1971). A path goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 16, 321–338.
Korman, A K. (1966). “Consideration,” “Initiation of Structure” and organizational criteria. Personnel Psychology, 18, 349–360.
Larson, L. L., Rowland, K. (1973). Leadership style, stress, and behavior in task performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 9, 407–421.
Lewin, K., Lippitt, R., White, R K. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally produced social climates. Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 271–301.
Likert, R (1967). The human organization: Its management and value. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Mann, R D. (1959). A review of the relationships between personality and performance in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 241–270.
Maslow, A H. (1965). Eupsychian management: A journal Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.
McGregor, D. (1967). The human side of the enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill.
McNamara, V. D. (1968). Leadership, staff, and school effectiveness. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Alberta, Edmonton.
Meuwese, W. A (1964). The effect of the leader’s ability and interpersonal attitudes on group creativity under varying conditions of stress. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Amsterdam.
Meuwese, W., Fiedler, F. E. (1965). Leadership and group creativity under varying conditions of stress. Urbana, IL: Group Effectiveness Research Laboratory, University of Illinois.
Morse, N. C., Reimer, E. (1956). The experimental change of a major organizational variable. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 52, 120–129.
Potter, E. H., Fiedler, F. E. (1981). The utilization of staff member intelligence and experience under high and low stress. Academy of Management Journal, 24(2), 361–376.
Sample, J. A, Wilson, T. R. (1965). Leader behavior, group productivity, and rating of least, preferred coworker. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1, 266–270.
Sarason, I. G. (1972). Experimental approaches to test anxiety: Attention and the uses of information. In C. D. Spielberger (Ed.), Anxiety: Current trends in theory and research (Vol. 2 ). New York: Academic Press.
Shartle, C. L. (1956). Executive performance and leadership. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Spielberger, C. D. (1972). Anxiety as an emotional state. In C. D. Spielberger, (Ed.), Anxiety: Current trends in theory and research (Vol. 1 ). New York: Academic Press.
Stogdill, R. M. (1948). Personal factors associated with leadership: A survey of the literature. Journal of Psychology, 25, 35–71.
Stogdill, R. M. (1974). Handbook of leadership. New York: Free Press.
Terman, L. M. (1904). A preliminary study of the psychology and pedagogy of leadership. Pediatric Seminars, 77, 413–451.
Vroom, V. H., Yetton, P. W. (1973). Leadership and decision-making. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fiedler, F.E. (1986). The Contribution of Cognitive Resources and Behavior to Leadership Performance. In: Graumann, C.F., Moscovici, S. (eds) Changing Conceptions of Leadership. Springer Series in Social Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4876-7_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4876-7_7
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9342-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-4876-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive