A Review of Northouse and Reflection Questions from Oxford
“Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal”[1] This is the definition that Peter Northouse gives after discussing the previous 120 years of defining leadership and concluding that leadership scholars really cannot “come up with a common definition for leadership.”[2] Northouse said his definition consists of the central components conceptualizing leadership.
Where does one start when writing a post about a textbook on leadership? When I wrote this last month, I considered picking a theory or two, completing the leadership instrument and discussing my results. Instead, I decided to start by giving my personal review of the textbook and then reminding us of some reflections questions that were posed to us in Oxford last year.
I have not given many reviews of the books we have read thus far in the program. As both a student and instructor I thought it might be appropriate to give a review of a textbook. I found this book to be brilliant in both its content and its format. You can see Northouse’s expertise in communication throughout the book. The formatting of this book was exceptional. Chapters begin by describing the theory in easy-to-understand language, including applicable models; Northouse then discusses how the theory works, including settings and situations for which the theory is ideal. For example, “Servant leadership works best when leaders are altruistic and have a strong motivation and deep-seated interest in helping others. In addition, for successful servant leadership to occur, it is important that followers are open and receptive to servant leaders who want to empower them and help them grow.”[3] Northouse then discusses strengths and criticism of each theory, allowing readers to consider the presence or lack of empirical and other evidence that exists for each theory. Next, the application section goes beyond how it works and describes how to put it into practice for example in the Path-Goal Theory chapter Northouse writes “For instance the theory suggests that leaders should be directive when tasks are complex and that leaders should give support when tasks are dull.”[4] Having taught communications for over thirty years, Northouse knows the importance of how to structure various forms of communication (i.e. this textbook) to keep the audience’s interest.[5] These various sections alone are ideal in helping people understand the various models of leadership and determine whether it might be the best style for them and/or their organization. However, Northouse adds icing on the cake. Chapters contain case studies involving real people from a variety of different occupational sectors and questions to encourage critical thinking about the case study’s application to the leadership theory. Each chapter contains a Leadership Instrument for readers to take to determine how they fit within that chapter’s theory. Finally, each concludes with a short summary, ideal for doing an inspectional reading of the various theories. Besides traditional leadership models, Northouse dives into other related areas, such as followers, gender, and ethics describing how they impact leadership. I really appreciated his chapter on followership. Before reading this book, I did not give much thought to the various types of followers and how that impacts a person’s ability to lead. I appreciate what Northouse wrote. “Until more research is done on the intricacies of followership, our understanding of leadership will be incomplete.”[6] Overall, if I were picking a textbook on leadership for my students to read, I would have no issues with adopting this as a course text.
In his chapter on Leadership ethics, Northouse discusses “The Darkside of Leadership.”[7] Northouse discusses, Padilla, Hogan and Kaiser’s “The Toxic Triangle,” that includes destructive leaders, susceptible followers including conformers and colluders, and conducive environments.[8] As soon as I saw the diagram, I immediately thought about Jo Nelson’s “Leadership Derailment” lecture given in Oxford where she referenced the toxic triangle[9]. I took out my notes and reviewed her lecture. Some memorable quotes from her lecture include “Leadership is hard,” leadership “can be extremely lonely.” “two-thirds of managers are insufferable.”[10] Just as Northouse’s chapters end with leadership questionnaires or inventories, Nelson ended her talk with a series of reflection questions that I thought would be worthwhile to revisit.
- Are there wrong beliefs I have that may be impacting how I lead?
- How am I at my best and my worst?
- What are my triggers?
- When do I feel like I am not being the leader I know I can be or perhaps displaying unhelpful behaviors, such as tiredness, criticism, boredom?
- What do I do when I am feeling the pressure?
- How can I stay healthy in my leadership?
Being a first-year student, Oxford was a little overwhelming; I wrote these questions down, but honestly, forgot about them. However, these are some great questions and while I don’t necessarily have the space to answer each of them right now, I do believe that they are questions that we should take time to process. I also believe that this program has provided us resources to help us answer each of these through the various books that we have read and the lectures we have listened to over the past three semesters. This would include, but definitely not limited to, Bobby Duffy’s Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything, Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve, Simon Walker’s The Undefended Leader, and Carol Dweck’s Mindset. My hope is that I can make time to fully process and answer these questions.
[1] Peter. G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory & Practice 9th Edition, (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2022), 6
[2] Northouse, 5.
[3] Northouse, 267.
[4] Northouse, 144.
[5] Northouse, xxii.
[6] Northouse, 393.
[7] Northouse, 431-433.
[8] Northouse, 432.
[9] Jo Nelson, “Leadership Derailment,” (lecture, Portland Seminary, Oxford Town Hall, September 23, 2023).
[10] Nelson, lecture.
About the Author
Jeff Styer
Jeff Styer lives in Northeast Ohio's Amish Country. He has degrees in Social Work and Psychology and currently works as a professor of social work at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Jeff is married to his wife, Veronica, 25+ years. Together they have 4 beautiful children (to be honest, Jeff has 4 kids, Veronica says she is raising 5). Jeff loves the outdoors, including biking, hiking, camping, birding, and recently picked up disc golf.16 responses to “A Review of Northouse and Reflection Questions from Oxford”
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Jeff, Thank you for your great review! I, too, really liked the practical approach. Thank you for tying in Jo Nelson’s evaluation questions. I want to spend some time during Christmas break reflecting on these. I am curious, what resonated most with you as you read through the different leadership topics and styles?
Kari,
First, I would say that I previously did not take time to consider all the different styles of leadership, so that jumped out at me. I also never considered how important it is to consider followership. It makes sense, in order to be effective in leading you have to have followers who are on board, and they must be willing to accept the power differential that exists. Also in the introduction, question 10 after the case study also resonated with me. In case you didn’t read the case study it was about a new offensive coordinator (OC) for a college football team who was asked by the college newspaper who he would most like to have dinner with. One of the person’s that was listed was Adolf Hitler. The OC noted that Hitler had the wrong motives but was a great leader. Within a few days of the story running the OC had to resign. Question 10 asks if the OC would have been safe to say IU’s basketball coach, Bobby Knight, famous for throwing chairs across the court as someone to have dinner with. Knight was mentioned in Dweck’s Mindset book (p. 206-209). It resonates with me because I have wrestled with that question since I read it. Coach Knight grew up and went to high school 20 minutes from my house, Orrville, OH (famous for Smucker’s jelly and jams). He was a hero to that town (died Nov 2023). Yet he was verbally abusive to his players. Why would it be okay to learn leadership from someone who was verbally abusive but not someone who commanded thousands of people with immoral intentions?
Hi Jeff, I echo Kari’s comment. Thank you for revisiting Jo Nelson’s questions. I can relate to you. I remember feeling overwhelmed in Oxford, and if it wasn’t for you, those questions would have remained hidden in the dark abyss of my long-term memory storage. Now that we are nearly halfway through this program and taking all we have learned, which of Jo’s questions is the most impactful for you in this season of your leadership journey?
Elysse,
Great question. I think the first one, “are there wrong beliefs I have that may be impacting how I lead?” I enjoyed the challenging topics we dove into this semester. I have been challenged by the books, cohort members, speakers and Dr. Clark. I question whether my beliefs regarding some of today’s hot topics are impacting not only how I lead but possibly my spiritual walk as well. I still wrestle with the Middle East Crisis. Do I hold the appropriate beliefs regarding LGBTQ issues? If I discuss these topics with students, am I doing it in the best way?
Hi Jeff, Thanks for the review of the book. I like that it was systematic & included different aspects of the book. As you look at personal application of leadership styles, was there one that stood out as being a good fit for your context?
Diane,
While I love the concept of Servant Leadership and do believe that I try to demonstrate that, I feel Adaptive Leadership sounds a bit like counseling and social work. In the Summary on page 320, Northouse writes “Central is awareness of the need for creating a holding environment, and skill in creating holding environments when needed. A holding environment is a space created and maintained by adaptive leaders where people feel secure as they confront and resolve difficult situations life challenges.”
In the University setting I am continually trying to “encourage learning, creativity and adaptations” from my students. (p.320).
Jeff, I appreciate your insights on Northouse’s approach, mainly your focus on case studies and critical thinking questions. You highlighted the importance of reflection questions from Jo Nelson’s lecture, such as recognizing triggers and promoting well-being in leadership. How might integrating these reflective tools into leadership education enhance the practical application of theories? Have you seen effective examples of this integration?
Chad,
Great question. I think these questions can help ensure that leaders are maintaining the right motives for the type of leadership they are exhibiting. When I read these questions, what comes to mind is the Emotional Triangles mentioned in Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve. I’m also thinking of the psychological terms of transference and countertransference. For example, when you have a leader exhibiting servant or adaptive leadership is their motive truly bettering their followers or is it an emotional benefit they get from the success of their followers? So, as we train leaders, we need to ensure they choose their style of leadership with the right motives in mind.
I am not aware of any examples of this integration right now in leadership. But some of these would be standard questions for those in the helping professions.
This may not be what you had in mind when asking the question, but on a Friday night, it’s where my mind is at.
Thanks for this review Jeff! My question: If you had to choose one of the questions you list near the end of the article, which one would it be and how would you answer it?
Question 4 – When do I feel like I am not being the leader I know I can be or perhaps displaying unhelpful behaviors, such as tiredness, criticism, boredom?
This is one that I am continually working on. To answer the question, what do I do, I would say I try to evaluate and learn from the situation. I now know that I will not teach a class at 7:50 AM. Between my tiredness and the students, the course did not go as well as it could have. I have also learned that I and students are tired by 6 PM on Thursday and a 6 – 9 PM class Thursday evenings is not beneficial to anyone. We as a department are changing that starting next year. Those both focus on tiredness which at this stage is what is preventing me from being the best leader I can be.
Jeff,
Good job connecting this to Jo’s session in Oxford. I have certainly forgotten this as well. I was going to ask the same as Debbie, but I wonder what you do to stay healthy in the work you are doing?
Adam,
Thanks for the question. To stay healthy, I make sure that I take at least an hour to go outside, enjoy daylight, and engage in some type of exercise. I typically bike ride, disc golf, or go on a walk. I find myself processing my day during this time, such as what do I need to do next, if my morning was bad, what could I have done differently. I probably get some dopamine and other pleasurable neurotransmitters flowing through my body. Most importantly, I start my day off before breakfast with reading some scripture and a daily devotional, which helps set me mind on God. I also don’t do any homework or employment work on Sundays.
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for reflecting on Jo’s session in Oxford. What aspects of Northouse’s book did you find most valuable for your own understanding of leadership?
Shela,
I really appreciated learning about the many different style of leadership. I had never considered there to be so many different styles of leadership. I appreciated his chapter on Followership. I never considered the role of a follower and that there are different types of followers which impact a leader’s ability to lead. I also really like the Case Studies. I appreciate how they bring in examples from so many different sectors of leadership.
Hey Jeff! I really enjoyed your review. Here is my question, how do you plan to integrate the insights from Northouse’s “Toxic Triangle” and the reflective questions posed by Jo Nelson into your personal leadership practices to mitigate potential pitfalls and foster ethical leadership?
Daren,
So sorry to delay responding to you, it’s been a week of grading papers, dealing with students using AI to write their papers and go over each course assignment to ensure I didn’t miss entering a grade.
You pose a great question and one I don’t have a complete answer for you. Regarding ethical leadership, I think the University has a good system of checks and balances to ensure we don’t engage in destructive behaviors. Course evaluations, yearly evaluations, and knowing that our students are quick to have their parents call the Board of Trustees or President if we go too far off center. However, in looking at Jo’s questions, that is where I need more assistance. Maybe I could have my supervisor or find another faculty member to periodically ask me those questions. I can tell you this semester was rough and I know I was not at my best. Being confronted with these questions earlier on may have helped.