In this section there are six reading passages followed by a
total of 20 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your
answers on your coloured answer sheet. TEXT A A large part of effective
leadership is dependent on something called "style". But style is difficult to
teach, and what makes one leader great and another mediocre is not easily
defined. Leadership always implies power, and a broad definition in this context
is that leadership includes the power to influence thoughts and actions of
others in such a way that they achieve higher satisfaction and/or performance.
Over the past century, there have been three major approaches to understanding
leadership. Identifying leadership traits, or the physical and
psychological characteristics of leaders, was the first formal approach, and had
a lot of intuitive appeal. It owed its origins to the turn of the century( about
1904)when trait studies began. At this time most American leaders came from
certain wealthy families, the vast majority were white males, and there were
some social norms about what leaders looked like ( tall, square jaw, well
groomed etc. ). The original assumption that "leaders are born not made" has
been discredited, because there were too many exceptions to the traits to give
them any credibility. Beginning after World War II, in sharp contrast to the
trait approach, the behavioral approach looked at what a leader does, what
behaviors leaders use that set them apart from others. This approach
assumed that leadership could be learned. Virtually all of the studies focused
on classifying behaviors according to whether they fell into a process or
"people approach" (satisfying individual needs) , or a "task approach" ( getting
the job done). The basis for this classification was in the discovery in social
psychology that every group needs someone to fill both these roles in the group
for it to be effective. The earliest of these studies began in Ohio State
University and the University of Michigan in the late 1940s. Many of the early
trait and behavioral writers tried to make their ideas applicable to all
leadership situations. The earliest situational approach to leadership was
developed in 1958. This approach strived to identify characteristics of the
situation that allowed one leader to be effective where another was not. The
trend later developed toward the third approach, understanding the unique
characteristics of a situation and what kind of leadership style best matches
with these. Which of the following questions does the author answer in the first paragraph
A.What is "style" B.Is power the most important aspect of leadership C.How many main historical approaches have there been to leadership7 D.Why is leadership so difficult to define