Leadership Theories

Leadership is the process whereby an individual influence a group of

individuals to achieve a common goals.
Great Leaders are born, not made? According to the point of view,
great

leaders

are

simply

born

with

the

necessary

intrinsic

characteristics such as charisma, confidence, intelligence, and social

skills that make them natural-born leaders. People often describe
prominent leaders having right qualities/ traits for the position implying
by inherent characteristics which make them effective leaders.
Researcher criticized that leadership is based on hereditary factor, they
believed to remake society because great leaders were only made
cause of the atmosphere and society around them.
Traits Theory believes that People are born with inherited traits and
have the right amalgamation of traits. Emotional stability, admitting
error, Good interpersonal skills and Intellectual breadth are primary
traits are benchmarks for what we need to look for if we want to be
leader. Limitations that no universal traits that can predict leadership
in all situations.
Behavioral theory attempts to describe leadership in terms of what
leaders do? People can learn to become leaders through teaching and
observation. Managerial Grid is based on five leadership styles under
two dimensions: Concern of production; achieving organizations tasks
and Concern of people; relationship with team members. A leader who
uses role-playing acting out in a way that is representative of any
specific social position in the society. Role-playing helps in resolution
of conflict and explaining social positions in the community. Role
conflict occur when leaders have different ideas about what they should be
do and what are the expectations from them.

Contingency theories focus on particular variables related to the

environment that might determine which particular style of leadership
is best suited for the situation. Fiedler's contingency theory specify
how situational factors interact with leader traits and behavior to
influence

leadership

effectiveness.

The

theory

based

on

the

"favorability" of the situation determines the effectiveness of task and

relationship oriented behavior of the leader. There are three factors
are identified: Leader-member relations, Task structure and Leader
position power.
Hersey and Blanchard suggest leaders should adapt and develop
leadership style (maturity), which is on based on how willingly the
follower is to perform required tasks. Four leadership styles are:
Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating based on development
level of the follower. Vroom-Yetton Model of Leadership focuses upon
decision

making

as

how

successful

leadership

emerges

and

progresses by using parameters shaping a decision which are quality,

commitment of group or organization members, and time restrictions.
There are five types of leader decision-making styles, which are
labeled AI, AII, CI, CII, and GII, ranging from strongly autocratic (AI), to
strongly democratic or group-based (GII).
Path-goal theory proposes that characteristics of subordinates and the
work environment determine which leader behaviors will be more
effective. These characteristics of subordinate are locus of control,
work experience, ability, and the need for affiliation. The theory
includes four different leader behaviors, which include directive
leadership,

supportive

leadership,

achievement-oriented leadership.

participative

leadership,

and

Tannenbaum and Schmidt Model shows the relationship between the

level of freedom that a manager chooses to give to a team, and the
level of authority used by the manager.
Transactional leadership is a style of leadership in which the leader
promotes compliance of the followers through both rewards and
punishments. Leader-Member Exchange Theory describe how leaders
in groups maintain their position through a series of tacit exchange
agreements with their members. The LMX process follows three
stages: Role taking, Role Making and Routinization. Theory suggest
that it is important to recognize the existence of in-group and outgroup within organization.
Leadership Skills Strataplex captures the stratified and complex
nature of leadership skills requirement and their relationship with level
of organization. There are four skills requirement: Cognitive Skills,
Interpersonal Skills, Business Skills and Strategic Skills.