Respond to…

The behavior approach, unlike the attribute and skills approach, is focused on two types of leadership behaviors: task and relationship behaviors. Essentially the behavior approach focuses on what a leader does and how they do it.  Generally speaking, the task behaviors are the behaviors a leaders exhibits in an effort to help subordinates meet their goals and key performance indicators. Whereas, relationship behaviors are the behaviors a leaders uses to help employees manage the relationships  coworkers, the environment they are working in and their manager.  The managers behaviors for relationship based activities typically surround helping employees create trust, respect, collaboration and communication with the environment and the people with . According to Northouse (2018), “The central purpose of the behavioral approach is to explain how leaders combine these two kinds of behaviors to influence followers in their efforts to reach a goal” (section 4.1, para. 2). The key to a strong and effective leader that utilizes the behavioral approach is the knowing when to employ task based behaviors and when to use relationship based behaviors. In order to make the appropriate decision, when to use the task based behaviors and when to use the relationship based behaviors,  the leader must have a comprehensive understanding of his or her department, the staff within the department and the business.  Relationship based behaviors are centered around the needs of each employee versus task based behaviors are centered around the data produced by the department and the working being completed.

Resource

Northouse, P. (2018). Leadership theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Respond to…

“The behavioral approach emphasizes the behavior of the leader (Northouse, 2018). The behavioral approach takes me back to, actions count more than words, since it focuses on what a leader does and how they do it. Task behavior and relationship behavior are the two general types that are discussed in our texts. The central purpose of the behavior approach is to enable a leader to influence his or her followers to reach their common goal (Northouse, 2018). If leaders focus on their behavior and how it affects their followers, it can tell them how they are doing as a leader and how tom improve or changes that should be made.

Reference:

Northouse, P. (2018). Leadership theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.