Philosophy of Leadership ... ?
October 1, 2006
9:26 a.m., MT

Don't remember how I got there, but I wandered into a discussion of some questions that are apparently from a CLEP practice test. It's the typical multiple choice format common on standardized tests, and comes with all the limitations and problems of that format. Even so, I wasn't prepared for this item. Which answer would you choose as the right answer, and why?:

Which one is not true?
A. not all groups require a leader.
B. leadership is coercive power over other people.
C. good leaders are innately qualified to manage people.
D. a groups success or failure depends, ultimately, on its leader.
E. groups prefer to be leaderless rather than be led.

[I'll reveal what was judged to be the correct answer in a couple of days.]

Update 10/4: The correct answer is supposed to be A. For those who didn't click through on the link to learn about CLEP, it's a program for administering and scoring a bunch of tests that purport to measure college-level knowledge. Nearly 3,000 colleges in the USSA use CLEP to give students college course credit. It just gets more and more dismaying, doesn't it?

Sunni

Comments: 8 people have contributed to the conversation

On Sunday, October 1st, at approximately 12:12 p.m. Mountain time, jeffrey smith said:

A and E--sometimes true, but not often enough to make them general rules
B--false all the time
C--as written, false. replace the word manage with the word influence, and it would be true. You might argue about "innate", but I think leadership depends on talents that you either are born with or you don't have--they can't be learned.
D-true only if the group abandons all responsibility to the leader, and since that is dependent on the group, the statement is always false.

Please find out what school uses this test, so we can avoid it like the plague

On Sunday, October 1st, at approximately 4:52 p.m. Mountain time, Shaun said:

Hi Sunni,

B is incorrect
C: leadership (like many qualities) can be taught. So, good leaders are not necessarily 'innately' qualified (whatever that might actually mean)
D A group's performance can be facilitated by a leader, but there are many other factors that can come into play here, so, as written (i.e., very generally), this is also false.
E. Depends on many factors, including group size, and environmental context, and goals of group. So, this could be true or false.

I don't know what a 'CLEP' test is, but (as a psyc, like you) I do have quite a bit of experience with psychometrics, and this question is, quite simply, a crock.

On Sunday, October 1st, at approximately 8:46 p.m. Mountain time, B.W. said:

The interesting thing is apparently the question-writer thought only one of these five statements is not true, when B, C and D are all pretty much not true. Why do I think the "correct" answer is A or E?

On Monday, October 2nd, at approximately 4:52 a.m. Mountain time, Jorge said:

I find all of them to be false. At least some of the time. Like B.w. I suspect the "correct" answer is either A or E.

On Monday, October 2nd, at approximately 8:13 a.m. Mountain time, Dr. Lenny said:

sing with me - childlike voice were following the leader, the leader, the leader, we're following the leader, wherever he may go.

okay, now that we have rid ourselves of the lemming urges, B is just the perfect tool to get the blood pressure rushing on any sane person who knows anything about anything. This question really seems to trigger emotional response for the next several questions - which may lead to getting the types of answers that they want on these standardize pieces of ( ...

multiple choice tests can have several different grading patterns designed for the tester to collectively group the testees. The proper answer is the same you give to the polster - just write anything or say anything that randomly comes to mind and do not, repeat, do not trust any information source that is determined from a selection of the selected.

keep asking questions and test yourself for consistency in the answert along a broad sense of application - the more universal an answer holds, the more likely you have it correct. If something bothers you about an irregularity - pursue the question until you have a satisfying answer. Or have an overriding reason to drop pursuit of the answer like self-preservation
Of course, i'm talking to me when i say you, we need to understand that we can't make rules for everybody else that we don't hold for ourselves. i like thinking with you in the morning - enjoy a sunni day

On Wednesday, October 4th, at approximately 6:50 a.m. Mountain time, Magree said:

I agree with you on most of those points, but i really hope people give up the common misconception of the difference between managers and leaders.

On Wednesday, October 4th, at approximately 11:57 a.m. Mountain time, Sunni said:

CLEP stands for "College Level Examination Program", and apparently it "provides students of any age with the opportunity to demonstrate college-level achievement through a program of exams in undergraduate college courses. There are 2,900 colleges that grant credit and/or advanced standing for CLEP exams."

As my fellow psychologist Shaun said, this question is a crock, and if it's at all typical, these tests are big steaming crocks. But I'm not saying anything revelatory to anyone here ...

On Thursday, October 5th, at approximately 1:35 a.m. Mountain time, Daniel said:

Wow.

They were looking for a false statement, and of the five, I'd have categorized A as the only unequivocally true statement. B, C, and D are unequivocally false, and E's a wobbler -- I think it's false, but it's essentially an empirical claim and I'm disputing it only based on gut feeling and experience.

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