Theories of leadership

• Leadership is the process of channelising the energy of an individual or a group toward the accomplishment of certain aims, objectives, and visions.
• Theories of Management
• Many outstanding academics, researchers, and scholars have undertaken many studies and investigations throughout the years to identify the elements that go into good leadership. The following conceptions of leadership have developed throughout this process:
• The Great Man Theory was put out by Thomas Carlyle in the 1840s. It basically holds that a person is born with the ability to lead and will demonstrate their leadership abilities when a significant situation calls for it. To put it another way, leadership is a heroic endeavour and certain individuals are born to be leaders. Criticism: For the following reasons, this idea has been questioned or criticised:
• It was a male-centric strategy in light of the fact that women have excelled as leaders as well.
• According to this notion, leadership is an innate quality that cannot be acquired or taught.
• This notion is not supported by any scientific evidence.
• The situational and contextual elements that influence the leadership process were disregarded.
• The Trait Theory: In the late 1940s, Ralph M. Stogdill introduced the concept of the trait theory of leadership. According to this theory, a person needs certain essential personality traits and attributes in order to be a successful leader, and these traits are innate.
• According to this view, a few essential leadership qualities fall into the following categories:
• Physiological characteristics include things like height, weight, structure, colour, look, and more.
• Gender, religion, marital status, age, employment, literacy, and income are examples of socioeconomic characteristics.
• Extraversion, self-assurance, patience, agreeableness, dependability, honesty, and drive for leadership are examples of personality qualities.
• Intellectual characteristics include emotional intelligence, knowledge, capacity to make decisions, and intellect.
• Task-related characteristics include business acumen, achievement drive, commitment, initiative, and resolve.
• Social traits: gregarious, cooperative, and socially engaged.
• The other qualities are charm, flexibility, inventiveness, and individuality.
• This approach has drawn criticism for ignoring environmental elements that could change over time. The list of qualities is quite long and is constantly evolving. Even while it had some of the characteristics listed in the theory, it was unable to explain failures. Furthermore, training and education may be used to acquire any of the listed attributes.
• The theory of behaviour The 1950s saw the development of the behavioural theory of leadership. The researchers were interested in learning what leaders do to become into successful leaders after realising that a leader’s personal qualities are crucial for good leadership.
• As a result, they shifted their attention from attributes to the leader’s behaviour. Two prominent research programs—the University of Michigan Studies and the Ohio State Leadership Studies—were established by two distinct colleges to investigate the behaviour of leaders.
• The Studies at Ohio State University: To find out how followers perceive their leaders’ real actions, a team of Ohio State University academics created a poll to be administered in both military and corporate settings. The researchers distinguished two main kinds of leader behaviour based on their findings:
• Thought: The leaders cultivate a strong inter-personal connection with their subordinates by paying close attention to them. They are very kind and helpful. This was described as “behaviour geared toward others.”
• Establishing Structure: The leaders prioritise goal attainment and plan and organise their activities appropriately. These leaders see their followers as resources that must be used to their fullest potential. It was said that this was “task-oriented behaviour.”
• The Studies at the University of Michigan: This research is predicated on the relationship between group performance and the behaviour of the leader. Researchers compared the behaviours of ineffective and successful managers, finding that discrimination could be established between them based on the former’s focus on the task and the latter’s on the organization’s members.
• The investigation also produced the following four behaviours, which are necessary for good leadership and should be shown by leaders:
• Support
• Goal priority
• Facilitation of Work
• Facilitation of Interaction
• Blake and Mouton’s Grid for Leadership: The Leadership/Managerial Grid Theory was presented by Robert R. Blake and Jane S. Mouton, who identified the five distinct leadership philosophies by classifying managers into 81 potential configurations based on the combination of rating based on two variables: concern for people and concern for results.
• According to this concept, the different leadership styles are as follows:
• Indifferent: This kind of leadership is the least successful as it shows little concern for the task at hand or the workers.
• What counts is the welfare of the employees, not controlling or the country club.
• Task-oriented or accommodating: Output and productivity are the only things that count.
• Status quo or balance: Work and employee wellbeing are given about equal weight and consideration.
• Sound: The most successful leadership style demonstrates a great degree of care for both the personnel and the output.
• Theory of Contingencies: According to contingency theories of leadership, all three components—traits, behaviour, and situation—are necessary for successful leadership. A leader acts differently depending on the circumstance. Many models were created to support this idea of leadership, and many investigations were carried out in this area. The contingency theory models are as follows:
• Fred Fiedler’s Model of Contingency: Dr. Fred E. Fiedler made an effort to clarify that a group’s or team’s success depends on both the leadership style and the happy and unpleasant circumstances they face.
• A tool that may be used to evaluate leadership style is the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale. This is a strategy where a leader is asked to rank a person on several bipolar scales according to who they would least want to work with.
• For instance: Cooperative-uncooperative, efficient-inefficient, friendly-unfriendly, etc.
• Fiedler’s conclusions:
• Characteristics of a Leader: A leader’s style of leadership may be assessed using the LPC Scale. A leader that receives a high score on the LPC scale is extremely relational and shows generous treatment of even their least favourite coworker. A task-oriented leader that prioritises work and performance is one who receives a low score on the LPC scale.
• Situational factor: When circumstances are favourable, leaders are able to execute well. In these circumstances, individuals believe they are in charge of and have command over the group of workers.
• Situation Matches: Fiedler presented a Contingency Model called Leader Situation Matches, in which he clarified that, depending on how favourable the circumstances were, a leader’s style might be either task- or people-oriented.
• Situational Theory of Hersey Blanchard: According to the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Theory, a leader’s style is determined by how mature their subordinates are. For this reason, four distinct styles of leadership have been developed:
• Telling: A new hire must be informed of everything upon entering the company. This includes providing training and orientation to help the new hire grasp the tasks at hand.
• Selling: A leader persuades their group members to do their best work by offering them emotional and social support.
• When it comes to delegating, the leaders care the least and seldom get in the way of the work being done. Even the problems and concerns of their subordinates don’t even bother them.
• In a democratic setting, subordinates are permitted to take part in the decision-making process. In this case, the leader is less concerned with achieving the goals.
• House and Evans Theory of Path-Goal: In the 1970s, Robert J. House and Martin Evans put out the Path-Goal Theory.
• This hypothesis established a connection between a leader’s apparent behaviour and the environment in which he operates. Managers should either match the leader’s behaviour to the circumstance or modify the leader’s behaviour to fit the situation in order to boost the effectiveness of the organisation. This idea concentrated on the need of adaptability while using various leadership stances in various contexts.
• The organisational environment and the qualities of the subordinates are the situational elements at play. This approach highlighted four distinct leadership behaviours:
• Directive\sSupportive\sParticipative\sAchievement-Oriented
• Vroom-Yetton-Jago Decision-Making Model: According to this model, a leader’s style of leadership changes depending on their capacity for making decisions in various circumstances. Employee participation and contribution levels in the decision-making process were the only factors considered for determining a leader’s style.
• Decision quality, acceptability, and speed were among the factors that were taken into account. The Leadership Styles that this model yielded are as follows:
• Autocratic (AI): The ruler makes all of the decisions based only on the facts at hand.
• Autocratic (AII): This is a strict autocratic leadership style in which the group’s members are consulted for further information, but the leader may or may not share the final decision with them.
• Consultative (CI): The group’s leaders solicit feedback from the members but ultimately make the final decision.
• Consultative (CII): The group leaders solicit feedback and discuss ideas with the members, but they ultimately make the final decision.
• Collaborative (GII): The group’s leader supports the process while letting the group make its own choices as a whole.
• The Cognitive Resource Theory states that while an intellectual leader works well in less stressful settings, an experienced leader may function well even in high-stress scenarios.
• tactical backups Idea: According to this theory, a leader’s efficacy is based on his capacity for handling difficult circumstances, coming to good judgments, and solving problems. A person who is more adept at addressing problems may hold onto his job and is difficult to replace.
• Charismatic Leadership Idea: According to this theory, a leader has to have some remarkable and exceptional traits in order to be a successful leader. These leaders lead by example.
• Seeing/Envisioning: Leaders anticipate opportunities in the future and develop a vision that reflects those possibilities, often with lofty goals and aspirations.
• Energizing/Empowering: Leaders have a strong sense of initiative, enthusiasm, and self-assurance as they strive for success.
• Enabling/Guiding: Leaders exhibit compassion, trust, and unwavering support to their followers. These leaders have a strong sense of purpose and dedication to achieving their objectives.
• Theory of Transactional Leadership: The realisation of a desired goal is emphasised by transactional leadership theory. By using a reward system—that is, rewarding high performers and penalising bad performers—leaders may inspire their people.
• According to the notion, in order to achieve organisational objectives, leaders and followers must cooperate and maintain a friendly connection.
• Idea of Transformational Leadership: According to this theory, a leader can only be successful if he is able to influence the beliefs, actions, and expectations of his followers and guide them toward a shared objective that will enable the leader to realise his or her vision. These leaders possess an engaging and powerful demeanour.
• The essential components of transformational leadership are as follows:
• Psychological transformation: Bring about a shift in the follower’s perspective and state of mind.
• Influential: Has a significant effect on those who follow them.
• Inspirational: Instills optimism in those who follow.
• Inspirational: Motivates people to accomplish a goal.
• Individual influence: Has a significant impact on followers’ perceptions and behaviours..