BMAL-590 Business Leadership Exam
Questions and Answers
Leadership - Answers -a process whereby an individual influences a group of
individuals to achieve a common goal
General Personality Traits of Effective Leaders - Answers -Self-confidence, humility,
trustworthiness, sense of humor, authenticity, enthusiasm, optimism, warmth,
assertiveness, and extraversion
Self-Confidence: - Answers -In almost every leadership setting, it is important for the
leader to be realistically self-confident. A leader who is self-assured without being
bombastic or overbearing instills self-confidence in team members. In addition to being
self-confident, the leader must project that self-confidence to the group. Self-confidence
is akin to being calm under pressure.
Humility: - Answers -Being humble at the right times also contributes to leadership
effectiveness. Part of humility is admitting that you don't know everything and admitting
your mistakes to team members and outsiders. A leader, upon receiving a compliment
for an accomplishment, may explain that the group deserves the credit.
Trustworthiness: - Answers -The popular cliché, "Leaders must walk the talk,"
demonstrates a consistency between deeds (walking) and words (talking). In this
context, trust is defined as a person's confidence in another individual's intentions and
motives, and in the sincerity of that individual's word. Also helpful is telling the truth and
conducting yourself in the way that you ask others to conduct themselves. A study
found that 72 percent of employees believe their immediate managers act with honesty
and integrity in their work, but only 56 percent believe that about company leadership.
To build trust, make your behavior consistent with your intentions.
Authenticity: - Answers -Embedded in the trait of being trustworthy is authenticity - being
genuine and honest about your personality, values, and beliefs. This personal integrity
is foundational for an individual to become an authentic leader and demonstrate
authenticity, i.e., be yourself rather than attempting to be a replica of someone else. The
authentic leader can emphasize different values and characteristics to different people
without being phony.
Extraversion: - Answers -It is helpful for leaders to be outgoing in most situations.
Extraversion may be an almost innate personality characteristic, yet most people can
move toward becoming more extraverted by consciously attempting to be more friendly
toward people including smiling and asking questions. Being extraverted contributes to
,leadership effectiveness, and extraverts are more likely to want to assume a leadership
role and participate in group activities.
Assertiveness: - Answers -Letting others know where you stand contributes to
leadership effectiveness, and also contributes to being or appearing extraverted.
Assertiveness refers to being forthright in expressing demands, opinions, feelings, and
attitudes. Being assertive helps leaders perform tasks such as confronting group
members, demanding higher performances, and making legitimate demands on higher
management. An assertive person is reasonably tactful rather than being aggressive.
Enthusiasm, Optimism, and Warmth: - Answers -Group members respond positively to
enthusiasm and it helps build good relationships with team members. Enthusiasm often
takes the form of optimism which helps keep the group in an upbeat mood and hopeful
about attaining goals. Being a warm person and projecting that warmth is part of
enthusiasm and contributes to leadership effectiveness in several ways, including
establishing rapport with group members, projecting charisma, and providing emotional
support.
Sense of Humor: - Answers -The effective use of humor is an important leadership trait
as humor helps dissolve tension and defuse conflict. Self-effacing humor is the choice
of comedians and organizational members alike.
Task-Related Personality Traits of Effective Leaders - Answers -passion, flexibility and
adaptability, emotional intelligence, internal locus of control, and courage
Passion for the Work and the People: - Answers -A dominant characteristic of effective
leaders is their passion for their work and to some extent for the people who help them
accomplish the work. The passion goes beyond enthusiasm and often expresses itself
as an obsession for achieving company goals.
Passion for the work is especially evident in entrepreneurial leaders and small-business
owners who are preoccupied with growing their business.
Being passionate about the nature of the business can be a major success factor in its
survival. One of the ways for an entrepreneur to inject passion into a business is to tell a
creation story that inspires people to understand how the company's product or cause
will make the world a better place.
Flexibility and Adaptability: - Answers -A leader must be flexible and adaptable enough
to cope with change, especially because a leader is someone who facilitates change.
Changes might include technological advances, downsizing, global outsourcing, a
shifting customer base, or a changing work force.
Flexibility, or adjusting to different situations, has long been recognized as an important
leadership characteristic. Without the underlying trait of flexibility, a person could be an
effective leader in only one or two situations.
, Emotional Intelligence: - Answers -Leadership effectiveness is impacted by how well a
person manages his or her emotions and how they respond to those of others.
There are four key factors:
1. self awareness helps you understand your impact on others
2. self-management is the ability to control one's emotions and act with honesty and
integrity in a consistent and adaptable manner
3. social awareness includes having empathy for others and having intuition about
organizational problems
4. relationship management includes the interpersonal skills of communicating clearly
and convincingly, disarming conflicts, and building strong personal bonds.
Internal Locus of Control: - Answers -People with an internal locus of control believe
that they are the primary cause of events happening to them. A leader with an internal
locus is perceived as more powerful than one with external locus because he or she
assumes responsibility for their actions and for events.
Courage: - Answers -Leaders need the courage to take risks and to take initiative.
Courage in the present context refers to behaviors such as prudent risk taking, facing
responsibility, and a willingness to put one's reputation on the line.
Power Motive: \ - Answers -Some leaders have a strong motivation to control. That is, to
control situations, resources and people. They actively exert power, think about how to
influence outcomes and the behavior of others, and care about status.
There are two distinguishable types of power motive.
Those with a personalized power motive mostly seek to further their own interests and
enjoy dominating others.
On the other hand, those with a socialized power motive use power primarily to achieve
societal or organizational goals and a vision. The latter tend to be less defensive, more
willing to accept expert advice, and have longer-range perspectives.
Drive and Achievement Motive: - Answers -Effective leaders are known for the strong
effort they invest in achieving work goals. Drive refers to a propensity to put high energy
into achieving goals and to a persistence in applying that energy.
Achievement motivation refers to finding joy in accomplishment for its own sake.
Entrepreneurs and high-level corporate managers usually have strong achievement
motivation.