Theories of Leadership

Interest in leadership increased during the early part of the twentieth century. Early leadership theories focused on what qualities distinguished between leaders and followers, while subsequent theories looked at other variables such as situational factors and skill levels. While many different leadership theories have emerged, most can be classified as one of this types:

 

1. "Great Man" Theories:

Great man theories assume that the capacity for leadership is inherent – that great leaders are born, not made. These theories often portray great leaders as heroic, mythic and destined to rise to leadership when needed. The term "Great Man" was used because, at the time, leadership was thought of primarily as a male quality, especially in terms of military leadership. Learn more about the great man theory of leadership.

 

2. Trait Theories:

Similar in some ways to "Great Man" theories, trait theories assume that people inherit certain qualities and traits that make them better suited to leadership. Trait theories often identify particular personality or behavioral characteristics shared by leaders. If particular traits are key features of leadership, then how do we explain people who possess those qualities but are not leaders? This question is one of the difficulties in using trait theories to explain leadership.

 

3. Contingency Theories:

Contingency theories of leadership focus on particular variables related to the environment that might determine which particular style of leadership is best suited for the situation. According to this theory, no leadership style is best in all situations. Success depends upon a number of variables, including the leadership style, qualities of the followers and aspects of the situation.

 

4. Situational Theories:

Situational theories propose that leaders choose the best course of action based upon situational variables. Different styles of leadership may be more appropriate for certain types of decision-making.

 

5. Behavioral Theories:

Behavioral theories of leadership are based upon the belief that great leaders are made, not born. Rooted in behaviorism, this leadership theory focuses on the actions of leaders not on mental qualities or internal states. According to this theory, people can learn to become leaders through teaching and observation.

 

6. Participative Theories:

Participative leadership theories suggest that the ideal leadership style is one that takes the input of others into account. These leaders encourage participation and contributions from group members and help group members feel more relevant and committed to the decision-making process. In participative theories, however, the leader retains the right to allow the input of others.

 

7. Management Theories:

Management theories, also known as transactional theories, focus on the role of supervision, organization and group performance. These theories base leadership on a system of rewards and punishments. Managerial theories are often used in business; when employees are successful, they are rewarded; when they fail, they are reprimanded or punished. Learn more about theories of transactional leadership.

 

8. Relationship Theories:

Relationship theories, also known as transformational theories, focus upon the connections formed between leaders and followers. Transformational leaders motivate and inspire people by helping group members see the importance and higher good of the task. These leaders are focused on the performance of group members, but also want each person to fulfill his or her potential. Leaders with this style often have high ethical and moral standards.

9. Process Theory of Leadership

The Process Theory of leadership, also known as the Reciprocal Theory is based around the Social Change Model of Leadership, Relational Leadership Model, Transformational Leadership and the Servant Leadership Theory. This leadership theory has been around since the nineteen seventies and continues to be used to the present day. 

Looking through the Social Change Model of leadership we can infer that leadership, in this case, is a process by which individuals and groups work toward the common goal of improving the quality of life for all. They intend to do this by developing and promoting seven basic values. These seven values include:

Individual

-Consciousness of Self: This is where the individual is aware of the values, emotions, attitudes, and beliefs that drive them to action.

-Congruence: The concept of thinking, feeling, and behaving with consistency, genuineness, honesty and authenticity.

-Commitment: Said to be the drive of leaders, linking them to values and respect from others.

Group

-Collaboration: This is the primary means of empowering others through trust.

-Common Purpose: Is to work with shared aims and values.

-Controversy with Civility: This sheds life on differences in viewpoints and the importance of accepting them civilly.

Community

-Citizenship: This is the description of the self respectively connected with the environment and community. Involves individual rights and responsibilities.

This is an inclusive view to leadership, rather than a process. This form of leadership promotes values of equity, social justice, self-knowledge, personal empowerment, citizenship and service. These are all aspects that relate to my everyday life, as I volunteer or engage in helping others around me. The next model of leadership discussed was the Relational Leadership Model, which involves a process. This process illustrates the purpose as being the center, with concepts of inclusion, empowerment and ethics to surround this purpose. A good way to sum this up is with the following statement, “A relational and ethical process of people together attempting to accomplish positive change.” Overviews of the five concepts within this model of leadership are:

1.   Inclusive- a sense of we, diverse points

2.   Empowering- of others through personal interactions

3.   Ethical- makes moral decisions

4.   Purposeful- establish a shared vision, commitment

5.   Process- the way the group establishes itself.

Along with these principals are the following three dimensions:

·      Knowing: Having knowledge and understanding of the principal. (Education, Information, Experience)

·      Being: Having attitudes and beliefs related to the principal. (Who you are, Aspiration)

·      Doing: Acting in accordance with the principal. (Skills, Action, Techniques)

Each of the theories we have interpreted can evoke pros and cons in any given situation where leadership is being implemented or applied. As we can gather from previous blog posts, it is determined on the effort and ability the leader uses to engage these methods of leadership.

 

Principles of Leadership

To help you be, know, and do, follow these eleven principles of leadership. The later chapters in this Leadership guide expand on these principles and provide tools for implementing them:

1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement - In order to know yourself, you have to understand your be, know, and do, attributes. Seeking self-improvement means continually strengthening your attributes. This can be accomplished through self-study, formal classes, reflection, and interacting with others.
2. Be technically proficient - As a leader, you must know your job and have a solid familiarity with your employees' tasks.
3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions - Search for ways to guide your organization to new heights. And when things go wrong, they always do sooner or later — do not blame others. Analyze the situation, take corrective action, and move on to the next challenge.
4. Make sound and timely decisions - Use good problem solving, decision making, and planning tools.
5. Set the example - Be a good role model for your employees. They must not only hear what they are expected to do, but also see. We must become the change we want to see.
6. Know your people and look out for their well-being - Know human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for your workers.
7. Keep your workers informed - Know how to communicate with not only them, but also seniors and other key people.
8. Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers - Help to develop good character traits that will help them carry out their professional responsibilities.
9. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished - Communication is the key to this responsibility.
10. Train as a team - Although many so called leaders call their organization, department, section, etc. a team; they are not really teams...they are just a group of people doing their jobs.
11. Use the full capabilities of your organization - By developing a team spirit, you will be able to employ your organization, department, section, etc. to its fullest capabilities.

Attributes of Leadership

If you are a leader who can be trusted, then those around you will grow to respect you. To be such a leader, there is a Leadership Framework to guide you:

 

BE KNOW DO

BE a professional. Examples: Be loyal to the organization, perform selfless service, take personal responsibility.
BE a professional who possess good character traits. Examples: Honesty, competence, candor, commitment, integrity, courage, straightforwardness, imagination.
KNOW the four factors of leadership-follower, leader, communication, situation.
KNOW yourself. Examples: strengths and weakness of your character, knowledge, and skills.
KNOW human nature. Examples: Human needs, emotions, and how people respond to stress.
KNOW your job. Examples: be proficient and be able to train others in their tasks.
KNOW your organization. Examples: where to go for help, its climate and culture, who the unofficial leaders are.
DO provide direction. Examples: goal setting, problem solving, decision making, planning.
DO implement. Examples: communicating, coordinating, supervising, evaluating.
DO motivate. Examples: develop morale and esprit de corps in the organization, train, coach, counsel.

Environment

Every organization has a particular work environment, which dictates to a considerable degree how its leaders respond to problems and opportunities. This is brought about by its heritage of past leaders and its present leaders.

Goals, Values, and Concepts
Leaders exert influence on the environment via three types of actions:

1. The goals and performance standards they establish.
2. The values they establish for the organization.
3. The business and people concepts they establish.

Successful organizations have leaders who set high standards and goals across the entire spectrum, such as strategies, market leadership, plans, meetings and presentations, productivity, quality, and reliability.
Values reflect the concern the organization has for its employees, customers, investors, vendors, and surrounding community. These values define the manner in how business will be conducted.
Concepts define what products or services the organization will offer and the methods and processes for conducting business.
These goals, values, and concepts make up the organization's personality or how the organization is observed by both outsiders and insiders. This personality defines the roles, relationships, rewards, and rites that take place.

 

Roles and Relationships

Roles are the positions that are defined by a set of expectations about behavior of any job incumbent. Each role has a set of tasks and responsibilities that may or may not be spelled out. Roles have a powerful effect on behavior for several reasons, to include money being paid for the performance of the role, there is prestige attached to a role, and a sense of accomplishment or challenge.
Relationships are determined by a role's tasks. While some tasks are performed alone, most are carried out in relationship with others. The tasks will determine who the role-holder is required to interact with, how often, and towards what end. Also, normally the greater the interaction, the greater the liking. This in turn leads to more frequent interaction. In human behavior, its hard to like someone whom we have no contact with, and we tend to seek out those we like. People tend to do what they are rewarded for, and friendship is a powerful reward. Many tasks and behaviors that are associated with a role are brought about by these relationships. That is, new task and behaviors are expected of the present role-holder because a strong relationship was developed in the past, either by that role-holder or a prior role-holder.

 

Culture and Climate

There are two distinct forces that dictate how to act within an organization: culture and climate.
Each organization has its own distinctive culture. It is a combination of the founders, past leadership, current leadership, crises, events, history, and size. This results in rites: the routines, rituals, and the “way we do things.” These rites impact individual behavior on what it takes to be in good standing (the norm) and directs the appropriate behavior for each circumstance.
The climate is the feel of the organization, the individual and shared perceptions and attitudes of the organization's members. While the culture is the deeply rooted nature of the organization that is a result of long-held formal and informal systems, rules, traditions, and customs; climate is a short-term phenomenon created by the current leadership. Climate represents the beliefs about the “feel of the organization” by its members. This individual perception of the “feel of the organization” comes from what the people believe about the activities that occur in the organization. These activities influence both individual and team motivation and satisfaction, such as:

• How well does the leader clarify the priorities and goals of the organization? What is expected of us?
• What is the system of recognition, rewards, and punishments in the organization?
• How competent are the leaders?
• Are leaders free to make decisions?
• What will happen if I make a mistake?

Organizational climate is directly related to the leadership and management style of the leader, based on the values, attributes, skills, and actions, as well as the priorities of the leader. Compare this to “ethical climate” — the feel of the organization about the activities that have ethical content or those aspects of the work environment that constitute ethical behavior. The ethical climate is the feel about whether we do things right; or the feel of whether we behave the way we ought to behave. The behavior (character) of the leader is the most important factor that impacts the climate.
On the other hand, culture is a long-term, complex phenomenon. Culture represents the shared expectations and self-image of the organization. The mature values that create tradition or the “way we do things here.” Things are done differently in every organization. The collective vision and common folklore that define the institution are a reflection of culture. Individual leaders, cannot easily create or change culture because culture is a part of the organization. Culture influences the characteristics of the climate by its effect on the actions and thought processes of the leader. But, everything you do as a leader will affect the climate of the organization.

The Process of Great Leadership

The road to great leadership that is common to successful leaders:

• Challenge the process - First, find a process that you believe needs to be improved the most.
• Inspire a shared vision - Next, share your vision in words that can be understood by your followers.
• Enable others to act - Give them the tools and methods to solve the problem.
• Model the way - When the process gets tough, get your hands dirty. A boss tells others what to do, a leader shows that it can be done.
• Encourage the heart - Share the glory with your followers' hearts, while keeping the pains within your own.

Concepts of Leadership

Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. This guide will help you through that process.

To inspire your workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do. These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills; they are NOT resting on their laurels.

Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership knowledge and skills. This is called Process Leadership. However, we know that we have traits that can influence our actions. This is called Trait Leadership, in that it was once common to believe that leaders were born rather than made. These two leadership types are shown in the chart below (Northouse, 2007, p5):

While leadership is learned, the skills and knowledge processed by the leader can be influenced by his or hers attributes or traits, such as beliefs, values, ethics, and character. Knowledge and skills contribute directly to the process of leadership, while the other attributes give the leader certain characteristics that make him or her unique. Skills, knowledge, and attributes make the Leader, which is one of the

Four Factors of Leadership

There are four major factors in leadership  viz:

• Leader
• Followers
• Communication
• Situation.

Leader

You must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know, and what you can do. Also, note that it is the followers, not the leader or someone else who determines if the leader is successful. If they do not trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful you have to convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed.

 

Followers

Different people require different styles of leadership. For example, a new hire requires more supervision than an experienced employee. A person who lacks motivation requires a different approach than one with a high degree of motivation. You must know your people! The fundamental starting point is having a good understanding of human nature, such as needs, emotions, and motivation. You must come to know your employees' be, know, and do attributes.

Communication

You lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance, when you “set the example,” that communicates to your people that you would not ask them to perform anything that you would not be willing to do. What and how you communicate either builds or harms the relationship between you and your employees.

 

Situation 

All situations are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another. You must use your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behavior, but if the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective.

Also note that the situation normally has a greater effect on a leader's action than his or her traits. This is because while traits may have an impressive stability over a period of time, they have little consistency across situations. This is why a number of leadership scholars think the Process Theory of Leadership is a more accurate than the Trait Theory of Leadership.
Various forces will affect these four factors. Examples of forces are your relationship with your seniors, the skill of your followers, the informal leaders within your organization, and how your organization is organized.

Two Most Important Keys to Effective Leadership:

• Trust and confidence in top leadership was the single most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organization.
• Effective communication by leadership in three critical areas was the key to winning organizational trust and confidence.

 So - you must be trustworthy and you have to be able to communicate a vision of where the organization
needs to go. "Principles of Leadership", ties in closely with this key concept.

Understand Leadership

When you understand the definition of leadership, you will understand why leadership is everything.
In this article, we will define leadership in several ways and highlight how it plays out in practice. Let's begin with the simplest definition of leadership.
So, what is leadership?
Leadership is the ability to command acceptance by a group of people and thus, get them to do what the leader wants. The person providing this direction and commanding acceptance is called the leader.
From this definition of leadership, it is obvious that the leader is the person whom others accept to show them the way.
However, you probably are aware that a leader can be imposed on a group of people against their will. For example, a military coup can bring a leader to power. This leader was not voted for or accepted by his people. But he ascended the leadership seat by virtue of military might or military intrigues.
You may ask, can this military dictatorship be referred to as a form of leadership over the people?
Of course, yes.
Obviously, this indicates that our definition of leadership above is not all-inclusive. Something is missing. So, let's define leadership again.
What is leadership?
Leadership is the ability to provide direction to a group of people and influence those people to follow the direction and act accordingly.
This seems like a better definition. But it still does not take into cognizance the fact that a leader may not necessarily influence his people in the accepted sense of the word.
The word 'influence' suggests that the leader motivated people to follow his direction. Influence can also be defined as the ability of an individual or group of individuals to get others to conform to their expectations or requirements. Either way, it implies willing acceptance to follow the instructions or directions of the leader for whatever reason the individuals decide to do so.
But when the leader has to compel, force, or coerce people to do what he says, it is no longer influence. Nevertheless, the person who uses coercion, brute force or some other unethical means to get others to do as he says is still a leader.
That brings us to the realm of Leadership Styles.
A leader can be...
A charismatic leader
An autocratic leader:
A dictator:
... or whatever other leadership style he wishes to adopt.
Whatever his approach to leadership, he is still a leader.
Now that we have established that, let's refine our definition. Let's define leadership again in a manner that is all-encompassing.
I ask the question again: what is leadership?
Here's the simple answer.
Leadership is the ability to influence other people to act in line with your expectations willingly or otherwise.
Everything or anything the leader does to accomplish the goal of gaining followership merely defines the style of leadership. It does not define the concept of leadership.
Understand the true meaning of leadership. Understand how this affects you. Understand why people often say everything rises and falls on leadership. Then plug yourself in to reap the benefits of effective leadership.
Leadership is about results. It's about managing followers in such a way that you deliver on set objectives.
A leader may not achieve set objectives. A leader may be terribly disappointing and shallow but is he still the leader?
Well, if he is the man in charge, he is the leader.
So, there is good leadership and bad leadership dependent on the Leadership Skills of the leader. Leadership Development calls for a planned and repetitive practice to build or develop leadership skills and traits so as to enhance the quality of the results achieved.
Want to be a good leader?
Understand leadership and... get results!