Theories of Leadership

Situational Leadership Model(Hersey and

Blanchard)
• These models were developed in the late
1970’s and early 1980’s.
• It states that there is no single best style of
leadership
• Effective leadership is all about setting high
expectations and working towards it with
team and group of people they are leading
 Situational leadership Model
• This theory has two elementary concepts:
1. Leadership style
2. Individual or group’s maturity level
 Situational leadership model
• Leadership styles:
1. Telling- authoritative leaders
2. Selling- provide more directions and
information
3. Participating- works with the team
4. Delegating- pass the responsibility onto the
group`
 Situational leadership model
• Maturity levels:
1. M1- people lack knowledge, skills and
confidence
2. M2- lack of appropriate skills but are desirous
to work on the task
3. M3- have more skills but lack of confidence
4. M4- high confidence and strong skills and
they are dedicated to the task.
 Trait Theory
• These theories revolve around the characteristics of
successful and unsuccessful leaders
• Leaders are rated on these characteristics to assess the
probability of their success and failure
• Experts conducted study across following dimensions:
1. Physiological
2. Demographic
3. Character
4. Intellect
5. Work aspect
6. Communal characteristics
 Trait Theory
• Successful leaders have interests, abilities and personality traits
that are different from those of less effective leaders
• The core trait identified are:
1. Achievement drive
2. Leadership motivation
3. Honesty and integrity
4. Self confidence
5. Cognitive ability
6. Knowledge of business
7. Emotional maturity
8. others
 Advantages of Trait Theory
• It is a valid theory as it is based upon research
• It act as a benchmark against which the
leadership traits of an individual can be
assessed
• It gives a detailed knowledge and
understanding of the leader
 Limitations of trait Theory
• Based on subjective judgment
• List of traits tend to be very long
• There is disagreement has to which trait is more
important
• It attempts to relate physical traits such as
height and weight to effective leadership . Most
of these factors relate to situational factors
• This theory is very complex
 Implications of trait theory
• Applicable to all people
• Applicable to all organizations
• Leaders get detailed understanding of their
own identity and personality
• This theory help managers to inculcate
leadership qualities
 Behavioral Theory
• It encourages participative decision making
and focuses on people
• It concentrates on the action plan set by
leader rather than on what qualities they
possess
 Advantages of Behavioral theory
• It encourages values of leadership styles with
focus on collaboration
• It promotes participative decision making and
team development
• It help managers to evaluate their own style
and its impact on team
 Criticism of leadership theory
• It provides very less guidance on effective
leadership in different situations
• Researches carried out by various experts
were different each time, leading to
inconsistencies
• Leadership styles are dependent on situations,
environment etc
 Transformational Leadership Theory
• Transformational leaders motivate followers to change
outlook, insight to work towards common goals
• It has four components:
1. Intellectual stimulation- encourage followers
2. Individualized consideration- proper communication
between the members and leader
3. Inspirational motivation- communicate passion, dedication
and motivation to followers
4. Idealized influence- followers are impressed by their
decision making styles, handling issues and traet their
leaders as idols
 Transactional leadership Theory
• This style focuses on the functions of
management that is controlling, organizing and
planning
• The authority and level of responsibility for the
transactional leader are very high and followers
have to obey the instructions of the leaders.
• The concept of reward and punishment was
introduced
•
Four dimensions of Transactional leadership

• Contingent Rewards- rewards are based on the

achievement of mutually agreed goals
• Active management by exception- monitoring,
checking deviations and take corrective actions
• Passive management by exception- they use
punishment for unacceptable performance
• Laissez Faire- leaders start avoiding making
decisions on their own and the group start
lacking direction
 Assumptions of transactional theory

• Employee motivation happens through

rewards and punishments
• There is a strict superior subordinate
relationship
• The leaders monitor the performance of
subordinates
 Implications of theory
• More focus on short term goals, rules and
procedures
• No importance to team members creativity
and ideas
• Suitable for simple organizations
• Focus on monetary benefits
• Focus on increasing productivity
 MCQ
• In which leadership style employees play no
role in decision making?
1. Autocratic style
2. Participative style
3. Free rein style
4. None of the above
• In which type of leadership, leaders take
opinions from the group members before
coming to the final decision?
1. Autocratic style
2. Participative style
3. Free rein style
4. None of the above
• In which style of leadership entire authority
lies with the group?
1. Autocratic
2. Democratic
3. Participative
4. free rein
• In which of these leaders encourage followers
to come up with new ideas and explore new
ways and opportunities?
1. Intellectual stimulation
2. Individualized consideration
3. Inspirational motivation
4. Idealized influence