Quiz — Chapter 25: Leadership and Influence

25 questions. Multiple choice unless otherwise noted. Answer key at the end.

1. Warren Bennis's distinction between leadership and management holds that:

a) Managers focus on people; leaders focus on strategy b) Managers do things right; leaders do the right things c) Leadership is for senior executives; management is for frontline supervisors d) Managers use positional authority; leaders use personal authority

2. In Situational Leadership Theory (Hersey & Blanchard), a D2 follower is characterized by:

a) High competence and high commitment — the self-reliant achiever b) High commitment but low competence — the enthusiastic beginner c) Low-to-some competence and low commitment — the disillusioned learner d) Moderate competence with variable commitment — the capable but cautious

3. The appropriate leadership style for a D4 follower (high competence, high commitment) is:

a) S1 — Directing (high task, low relationship) b) S2 — Coaching (high task, high relationship) c) S3 — Supporting (low task, high relationship) d) S4 — Delegating (low task, low relationship)

4. Bernard Bass's "Four I's" of transformational leadership include all of the following EXCEPT:

a) Idealized Influence b) Incremental Innovation c) Inspirational Motivation d) Individualized Consideration

5. Amy Edmondson's research on psychological safety found that the best-performing hospital nursing teams:

a) Made fewer errors than lower-performing teams b) Reported making more errors than lower-performing teams, because safety made error reporting possible c) Showed higher performance primarily due to individual talent and expertise d) Demonstrated higher engagement but not higher safety performance

6. Google's Project Aristotle found that the single most important predictor of team effectiveness was:

a) Individual talent and star-player composition b) Clear goals and role definition c) Psychological safety d) Manager quality and feedback frequency

7. Cialdini's principle of reciprocity describes:

a) The tendency to choose options consistent with prior commitments b) The obligation people feel to return favors c) The influence of others' behavior on our own in uncertain situations d) The preference for options endorsed by authority figures

8. Referent power (French & Raven) is influence based on:

a) The ability to provide rewards the follower values b) Organizational role and legitimate authority c) Identification and admiration of the leader d) Expertise and demonstrated knowledge

9. Heifetz and Linsky's adaptive leadership framework distinguishes adaptive from technical challenges by:

a) Adaptive challenges are larger-scale; technical challenges are smaller-scale b) Technical challenges have known solutions; adaptive challenges require changes in values, beliefs, or behaviors c) Adaptive challenges require more resources; technical challenges can be solved with existing resources d) Technical challenges are urgent; adaptive challenges are important but not urgent

10. The leadership behavior that most directly creates psychological safety is:

a) Providing consistent positive feedback to team members b) Modeling vulnerability — acknowledging uncertainty, admitting mistakes, naming what you don't know c) Maintaining high performance standards and clear accountability d) Creating social cohesion through team-building activities

11. Daniel Goleman's research found that emotional intelligence in leaders predicts:

a) Leadership effectiveness only in interpersonal contexts, not in strategic roles b) Outcomes that cognitive ability alone does not predict, particularly in roles requiring people coordination c) Leadership effectiveness primarily at senior executive levels d) Better decision-making quality but not better team performance

12. The 70-20-10 development model (McCall) suggests that the largest component of leadership development (70%) occurs through:

a) Formal training programs and workshops b) Coaching and mentoring relationships c) Challenging on-the-job experiences d) Self-directed reading and reflection

13. A servant leader's primary question is:

a) How can my team serve my objectives? b) How can I ensure my team meets performance standards? c) How can I serve my team's ability to achieve our shared objectives? d) How can I inspire my team to exceed their current capabilities?

14. The concept of "discretionary effort" refers to:

a) The leader's discretion in assigning tasks to team members b) Effort beyond the minimum required by the employment contract, driven by genuine engagement c) The freedom team members have to prioritize their own work d) The effort required to make difficult decisions with limited information

15. Kotter's 8-step change model identifies the most common reason change efforts fail as:

a) Inadequate resources allocated to the change initiative b) Poor communication of the vision and strategy c) Leaders skipping steps, most commonly rushing past urgency creation and coalition building d) Insufficient senior leadership commitment

16. The ripple effect in organizational psychology (Barsade; Hatfield) refers to:

a) The cascade of consequences when a key leader leaves the organization b) Leaders' emotional states spreading to their teams through unconscious mimicry and social learning c) The expansion of influence as a leader moves up the organizational hierarchy d) The gradual adoption of new practices across a team or organization

17. Which of Cialdini's principles does the following behavior illustrate? "The manager systematically highlights the few team members who have already adopted the new practice in all-hands meetings."

a) Reciprocity b) Authority c) Social proof d) Scarcity

18. Research on leader trust (Dirks & Ferrin) identifies three bases of trust. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

a) Integrity-based trust b) Performance-based trust c) Ability-based trust d) Benevolence-based trust

19. The distinction between accountability culture and blame culture is:

a) Accountability culture holds individuals responsible; blame culture focuses on systemic factors b) Accountability culture uses learning from failure as the norm; blame culture attaches failure to individuals for self-protection c) Accountability culture is appropriate for performance-oriented teams; blame culture is more common in creative organizations d) Accountability culture involves external oversight; blame culture is internally managed

20. In Situational Leadership Theory, managing a D1 follower with an S4 style (high delegation, low direction) would most likely produce:

a) High performance, as the enthusiastic beginner is motivated to succeed b) Rapid development, as the challenge of independence accelerates learning c) Confusion and failure, as the follower lacks the competence to operate independently d) Resentment, as the follower interprets delegation as lack of care

21. Heifetz's recommendation for leaders facing adaptive challenges — "holding the discomfort" — refers to:

a) Absorbing personal discomfort to shield the team from difficult realities b) Tolerating the emotional difficulty of leadership decisions without externalizing it c) Creating a containing environment where the challenge can be worked through rather than prematurely resolved d) Maintaining composure in high-stress situations through emotional regulation

22. The research finding that "the best-performing teams are not the teams with the best individuals" is most directly supported by which framework?

a) Transformational leadership theory b) Google's Project Aristotle (psychological safety as primary predictor) c) Situational leadership theory d) The 70-20-10 development model

23. Specific behavioral feedback differs from general evaluative feedback primarily in that:

a) Specific behavioral feedback is delivered more frequently b) Specific behavioral feedback describes what the person did, making it actionable for behavior change c) General evaluative feedback is more likely to be positively received d) Specific behavioral feedback addresses both strengths and development areas

24. Cialdini's principle of commitment and consistency implies that leaders can build team alignment by:

a) Getting explicit early commitment to values and direction, since people are motivated to remain consistent with prior commitments b) Reducing the number of commitments team members are asked to make c) Publicly acknowledging team members' commitments to each other d) Aligning rewards with demonstrated consistent behavior

25. The chapter's claim that "leadership is something you do, not primarily something you are" is most directly supported by which finding?

a) Trait research showing consistent genetic factors for leadership b) Research showing that trait approaches explained only a small fraction of leadership effectiveness variance, while situational and behavioral factors are primary c) Goleman's emotional intelligence research showing EI matters more than IQ d) Edmondson's psychological safety research showing team factors matter more than leader traits

Answer Key