Definition Of Leadership And Leadership Theories

There are many theories when it comes to leadership. Many of these date back hundreds of years to military styles of leadership. The 1990 's saw the emergence of a new theory in terms of leadership, Complexity Theory, which has since developed further and has been implemented in some of the most successful companies in the world.

Leadership is an influential factor in the success and failure. If an organization is failing, look at the leader, not the economy; not the market; look at the leader. The movements and influence of a leader determines the fate of those under her or him. The importance of leadership cannot be underestimated. The importance of leadership has constantly been debated and a part argumentative discussion. There is no one approach to leadership, however leadership theories try to make sense of various approaches to leadership. James G. Clawson is considered an authority in leadership theories. His Level III leadership theory is about managing energy, first in leader, and then in those around the leader.

Leadership theory, or the scientific approach to understanding leadership, is a vast group of theories that try to explain what makes, or constitutes a great leader. There are many schools of thought on this subject and many pull from existing psychological theories, like Behavioral Theory, Developmental Theory, Personality Theory and Learning theory (Myers, 2014). There are three main leadership theories: trait theory, which suggests that some are born with certain traits that make them an effective leader, while behavioral theory focuses on how leader behave, while contingency theory addresses how the situation influences leadership.

These leadership theories are grouped in trait theories, behavioral theories, contingency theories, and power and influence theories. Trait theories focus on the traits and skills that successful leaders must have. Initially, these theories state that these skills are innate, but research shows that individuals can also develop such skills and become leaders. Behavioral theories focus on other issues, like the behavior of leaders within their teams, in relationship with stakeholders, and within society. In accordance with these theories, these are several leadership styles, like autocratic or authoritarian, democratic, participative, laissez faire, and other styles. These theories state that the behavior of leaders significantly influences their and their teams' performance.

The development of collective goals and objects, as well as how to achieve them, 2. Instilling knowledge and appreciation in others, 3. Generating and maintaining emotions, 4. Encourage flexibility in decision making and change, 5. Establishing and maintaining a meaningful identity (5). Leadership is seen as a very complex phenomenon that involves many different important organizational, personal, and social processes (15). Leadership all depends on, the process of influence, whereas an individual influences individuals to achieve a goal, not through coercion, but rather through personal motivation (15). Leadership can be seen in many different ways, therefore there are many different theories that attempt to define leadership. There are many different definitions for leadership, all depends on your own personal opinion as to

There are eight major leadership theories that were developed to identify the characteristics that made a leader. The Great Man theory declares that leadership is a natural and ingrained trait in an individual. This theory is based on the premise that great leaders are born

During this course, the focus has been on leadership and the different theories of leadership. There are either eight to ten leadership theories, depending on the source. Those leadership theories describe different aspects of what it take to be a leader and the skills and traits of people who are considered leaders. There are two different sets of leadership theories. According to Cherry (2012), when it comes to leadership theories, “most can be classified as one of eight major types.” Those eight major types are called the “Great Man” Theories, Trait theories, Contingency Theories, Situational theories, Behavioral theories, Participative theories, Management theories, and Relationship theories. Those eight leadership theories are similar to the ten leadership theories discussed by Zigarelli. According to Zigarelli (2013), There are ten leadership styles that all have useful aspects to them, and the more that a person learns about all ten theories, they better equipped they will be to become a leader. The ten leadership theories are identical in some areas to the eight leadership theories, but there are some differences. The ten leadership theories are the Great Man Theory, The Trait Theory of Leadership, The Skills Theory of Leadership, The Situational Leadership Theory, The Contingency Theory, Transactional Leadership, Transformational Leadership, Leader-Member Exchange Theory, and the Servant Leadership Theory. After

Theory of leadership states that are three basic ways to explain how people become leaders (Stogdill, 1989; Bass, 1990). The theories are some personality traits may lead people naturally into leadership roles this is the Trait Theory (Stogdill, 1989). A crisis or important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person (Bass, 1990). People want to be guided by those they

Trait theory is similar in nature to that of the great man approach in that traits of personality are considered to be inherent. Trait theory was explored in the early 20th century and was built on from the great man theory. Tead (1929) discussed trait theory as someone who held a specific group of traits that would evolve followers to complete a chosen task.

People’s beliefs on how individuals become leaders affect the way they evaluate leadership potentials. If people believe that leaders are born, it is likely to result in selecting or identifying the right people for leadership positions rather than developing the leaders. Leadership refers to the exercise of influence over others on behalf of a specific purpose, goals, and aims of the leaders. Some leadership theories such as Trait theory and Great Man theory believe that individuals inherit some traits and qualities that make them suited for leadership (Lussier & Achua, 2015). However Gentry, Deal, Stawiski & Ruderman (2012) believes that a good leader is developed through constant growth, mentoring, experience, and learning. Such leaders

As many people point out, leadership is a complex topic to discuss. Leadership can mean many different things to different people. Leadership can be a combination of something a person is born with as well as something that someone acquires. On a very basic level, leadership can be defined as a process that involves influence, occurs

The Contingency Theory applied to factors unique to each situation to determine whether specific leader characteristics and behaviors will be effective. Researched findings credit Fiedler 's contingency theory as the first to specify how situational factors interact with leader traits and behavior to influence leadership effectiveness. This theory suggests high interest in the situation determines the effectiveness of task- and person-oriented leader behavior.

Trait theories were first of the four most common leadership theories. The foundation of trait theory is; leaders are born with the innate ability to lead. In essence, leadership traits are inherent in the genetic makeup of an individual and are natural, not learned predispositions. On the contrary, current research has found leadership traits to be external behaviors emerging from development of cognitive discipline and knowledge growth.

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.

Leadership theories are attempts to answer some of the question people have about leadership. These theories range from simple “armchair philosophies” about the personal characteristics and effect relationship between leaders and followers and situations.