leadership theories

• Leadership theories seek to explain how and why certain people become leaders
• Early debates on the psychology of leadership suggested that leadership skills were abilities people were born with
• Some recent theories propose that possessing certain traits may help make people natural leaders, but experience and situational variables also play a critical role
• Interest in the psychology of leadership has increased over the last 100 years, leading to the introduction of different leadership theories
• Great Man Theory of Leadership:

  • Suggests that the capacity for leadership is innate
  • Leaders are either natural-born or not
  • History of the theory dates back to the 19th century
  • Examples of famous leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Julius Caesar contributed to this theory
  • Arguments against the theory include the idea that not all people with natural leadership qualities become great leaders
• Trait Theories of Leadership:

  • Focus on identifying personality traits linked to successful leadership
  • Based on the idea that certain traits produce consistent patterns of behavior
  • Leadership traits are believed to be inherent
  • Leadership traits include adaptability, assertiveness, capacity to motivate people, courage, resolution, and creativity
• Key traits of great leaders:

  • Creativity
  • Decisiveness
  • Eagerness to accept responsibility
  • Emotional stability
  • Intelligence and action-oriented judgment
  • Need for achievement
  • People skills
  • Perseverance
  • Self-confidence
  • Task competence
  • Trustworthiness
  • Understanding their followers and their needs
• Controversy on the Trait Theory:

  • Early studies focused on differences between leaders and followers
  • Few traits distinguish between leaders and followers
  • Leaders tend to be great communicators, extroverted, self-confident, and tall
  • Trait-based theory has flaws as possessing traits doesn't always lead to leadership
• Contingency:

  • Focuses on variables related to the environment determining the best leadership style
  • Effective leadership is about balancing behaviors, needs, and context
  • Success depends on leadership style, follower qualities, and situational aspects
• Situational Leadership:

  • Developed by Hersey and Blanchard
  • Four primary leadership styles: Telling, Selling, Participating, Delegating
  • Leadership style depends on the maturity level of individuals or group
  • Four maturity levels: M1, M2, M3, M4
  • Matching leadership styles with maturity levels for effectiveness
• Situational Leadership II:

  • Developed by Kenneth Blanchard
  • Effective leaders base behavior on the developmental level of group members for specific tasks
  • Competence and commitment are crucial for effective leadership
• Developmental levels in SLII theory:

  • Enthusiastic beginner (D1): High commitment, low competence
  • Disillusioned learner (D2): Some competence, low commitment due to setbacks
  • Capable but cautious performer (D3): Competence growing, commitment varies
  • Self-reliant achiever (D4): High competence and commitment
• SLII Leadership Styles:

  • Directing (S1): High on directing behaviors, low on supporting behaviors
  • Coaching (S2): High on both directing and supporting behaviors
  • Supporting (S3): Low on directing behavior, high on supporting behaviors
  • Delegating (S4): Low on both directing and supporting behaviors
• Main point of SLII theory:

  • Effective leaders match their behavior to the developmental skill of each subordinate for the task at hand
• Key contextual factors for leaders:

  • Consider the relationship between leaders and group members
  • Consider the task complexity
  • Consider the leader's level of authority over group members
  • Consider the level of maturity of each individual group member
• Behavioral Theories:

  • Great leaders are made, not born
  • Rooted in behaviorism, focusing on actions of leaders
  • People can learn to become leaders through teaching and observation
• Path-Goal Leadership Theory:

  • Based on specifying a leader's style that best fits the employee and work environment to achieve a goal
  • Focus on motivational factors to increase employees' motivation, empowerment, and satisfaction
  • Leader adjusts behavior to employee and task characteristics for employee motivation
• Leadership styles:

  • Directive: leader makes decisions without consulting followers, effective in challenging situations
  • Participative: leader consults with followers before making decisions, effective when subordinates are highly trained and involved in their work
  • Achievement: leader sets challenging goals, expects high performance, and shows confidence in followers' abilities, effective in professional work environments
• Leaders' behavior is not fixed, other leadership styles may be used depending on the situation
• Path-Goal Theory:

  • Assumes leaders can change their behavior depending on the situation
  • Nature (genes) guides us, nurture (experience) influences our actions
• Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX):

  • Also known as Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory
  • Focuses on relationships between managers and team members
  • All relationships go through three stages: Role-Taking, Role-Making, Routinization
• Role-Taking:

  • Occurs when team members join the group
  • Managers assess new members' skills and abilities
• Role-Making:

  • New team members work on projects and tasks
  • Managers sort members into In-Group (loyal, skilled) and Out-Group (untrustworthy, incompetent)
• Routinization:

  • Routines between team members and managers are established
  • In-Group members work hard to maintain good opinion, receive more opportunities
  • Out-Group members may dislike managers, have limited opportunities for growth
• Using the Theory:

  • Identify Out-Group members and reasons for distrust
  • Reestablish relationships with Out-Group members to improve morale and productivity
  • Discover what motivates team members and provide support and opportunities for growth
• Leader-Member Exchange Theory:

  • Analyzes the relationship between managers and team members
  • Team members go through three phases: Role-Taking, Role-Making, and Routinization
  • In-Group team members receive more attention, support, and opportunities from managers
  • Out-Group members receive little face time and few opportunities
  • Use the theory to identify and validate perceptions of team members
• Transactional Leadership:

  • Focuses on rewards and punishments to motivate workers
  • People perform best when the chain of command is clear
  • Subordinates must obey instructions and commands
  • Leaders monitor followers to ensure expectations are met
  • Rewards and punishments are contingent upon follower performance
  • Rules, procedures, and standards are essential
  • Effective in simple and clearly defined problem situations or crisis scenarios
• Participative Leadership Theories:

  • Ideal leadership style considers input from others
  • Encourages participation and contributions from group members
  • Leader retains the right to allow input from others
• Management Theories:

  • Also known as transactional theories
  • Focus on supervision, organization, and group performance
  • Base leadership on a system of rewards and punishments
  • Used in business settings
• Relationship Theories:

  • Also known as transformational theories
  • Focus on connections formed between leaders and followers
  • Transformational leaders motivate and inspire by helping group members see the importance and higher good of tasks
• Transformational leaders motivate and inspire people by helping group members see the importance and higher good of the task
• Transformational leaders are focused on the performance of group members
• Transformational leaders want every person to fulfill their potential
• Leaders with this style often have high ethical and moral standards
• Transformational leadership can inspire positive changes in those who follow
• Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate
• Transformational leaders are focused on helping every member of the group succeed
• Transformational leadership was introduced by James MacGregor Burns
• Transformational leadership can be seen when leaders and followers make each other advance to a higher level of moral and motivation
• Bernard M. Bass expanded upon Burns's ideas to develop Bass's Transformational Leadership Theory