Examination of Leadership Theories Past and Present Essay

Leadership is complex and, comprises of many definitions and qualities (Grimm 2010). One definition of leadership is ‘a multifaceted process of identifying a goal, motivating other people to act, and providing support and motivation to achieve mutually negotiated goals’ (porter-O’Grady 2003). Back in 1939 Kurt Lewin researched to identify different styles of leadership. According to his research, there are three major styles of leadership. Authoritarian or autocratic, participative or democratic and delegative or laizzes-fair. These three styles remain influential today. According to educational leaders.govt.NZ, leadership is about empowering, transforming and working together to meet schools and 21st century (www.tki).There are many leadership theories and from leadership theories comes leadership styles. the educational leadership model according to www.educational leaders.govt.nz identifies four qualities that build a leader 's capability to enhance teaching and learning outcomes for the school: manaakitangi- leading with moral purpose, pono- having self-belief, ako- being a learner, awhinatanga -guiding and supporting.

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.

Throughout the entire course of this class, I have been asked to fill out different self-assessments related to whatever topic or approach to leadership Peter Northouse (2013) was discussing in his book Leadership Theory and Practice. Each one of these self-assessments were intended to help me in discovering who I was as a person and a leader. Some of the leadership self-assessments included the Least Preferred Coworker Measure from the Contingency Theory chapter, the Leader-Member Exchange Questionnaire from the Leader-Member Exchange Theory chapter, and the Servant Leadership Questionnaire from the chapter that discussed Servant Leadership. Many of these questionnaires I found to be very effective in helping me discover more about my personality traits and leadership style.

The belief of leadership is constantly changing, with many theories and frameworks available. Today’s organizations face ever-increasing change, which includes increased patient demands and work needs, which requires a more adaptive flexible leadership that is becoming increasingly important in the 21st century. Leadership theory and philosophy can be divided into several well-known styles. Within this paper, we will discuss the basis of autocratic, democratic, laissez faire, servant, charismatic, transformational, and situational styles of leadership within the nursing profession, then conclude the writer’s personal philosophies of leadership.

The leadership models/theories that will be demonstrated are skills-based leadership, situational leadership, and leader-member exchange theory.

Different leaders have different ways of handling their role as leader of a group, particularly in the workplace. Whatever style a particular manager chooses, however, it is expected that, as leader, that he makes the final decision. Even in a more participatory work environment, it is expected of him or her to cast the deciding vote when there is a tie.

The trait approach is clearly flawed because it only takes into account one side of leadership; however, it does provide valuable insight on the leadership side. Trait theory provides an outline for feedback. Subordinates can quickly pick up on qualities that a leader does or does not have. This feedback can provide individuals with a good understanding of where they stand as a leader. Simple surveys such as the leadership trait questionnaire can be conducted to translate feedback into tangible evidence. I have distributed this questionnaire and collected results for myself to grasp my perceived leadership trait levels. For my example as a plebe, I had a clear perception of where the firstie stood as a leader. I unconsciously recognized many leadership traits without having a solid understanding of what I saw. This illustrates the nature of the approach. It identifies people who have demonstrated leadership traits and has no description for how a leader should act in an environment or situation. It is extremely easy to conceptualize but fails to take the leadership situation and context into account. The trait approach provides important concepts to better understand leadership but is clearly is not enough be used exclusively as a guiding theory.

In the text it explains a problem with trait leadership is it never explains which traits are the ones that make a leader and which one maintains one as a leader. I disagree with this statement as a leader may not possess the traits of a leader currently or yet but through life or circumstances that effect their decisions and personal qualities may change them and form a leader.

The Renaissance was a rebirth of cultural awareness and learning that took place during 1400 - 1500. Art became a branch of learning during the Renaissance. It was a period of time when art was very important. Artists had finally recaptured the amazing detail and realism that the Greeks and Romans perfected. Artists broke boundaries with new exciting mediums and bright colors. Filippo Brunelleschi permitted artists to decide the proportional size of a figure by inventing the vanishing point perspective. This made it possible to put everything into perfect proportion. Many elderly people are found in the paintings. Such as Man in a Red Turban on page 270 fig. 15.34 or online at http://www.abcgallery.com/E/eyck/eyck3.html.

At the present time, leadership, especially effective leadership plays an increasingly significant role in the organization, which can be regarded as the process of affecting activities of an organized group in its efforts forward target setting and target achievement (Daft, 2011). From this perspective, organizations in every walk of life are in pursuit of effective leadership in order to ensure the competitive advantage (Schriesheim et al., 1999). Although there is no unique definition about effective leadership, precisely, in light of Lussier & Achua (2007), there are two basic requirement on effective leadership: for one thing, effective leadership will ensure that reach the target of the group can be reached effectively; for another, leadership can impose positive influence on the group members, and motivate them to Maximum their potentials.

Though the theories of leadership glorify factors, such as personal significance, timing, special skills, responsiveness, or power, as the qualities of a leader, I believe that neither of those factors are as essential as being personable. I believe being personable is the greatest determinant since a leadership position requires public speaking, either in the form of one-to-one conversations or to an audience. I believe that a leader should create an impression that will motivate and inspire others. Therefore, they should be able to create an impressive and enduring impression. Leaders should speak to others in a way that is respectful, friendly, and relatable. If they are unable to do so, then no matter how powerful or significant the individual, not a single person will follow, admire, or respect them.

Although trait and skill theories have ideas that can be intertwined and can be compared

Chapter sixteen discusses various leadership theories which can implemented by leaders to achieve success. The choice of leadership theory differs from leader to leader as they possess different vision and way of managing. A theory isn 't always perfect in itself, it is the endless effort of the leaders which makes the theory a perfect one. Two approaches of leadership that I prefer are Situational Leadership Theory and Servant Leadership Theory. Among many theories I prefer these two because I tend to practice those principles most of the time and I assume these are theories that I truly tend to continue in a long run.

In today’s world, leaders are not defined by age, race or gender. They can be a high school basketball coach, the shift supervisor at the local coffee shop, or even the President of the United States of America. In as many ways that leaders can vary by appearance and responsibility, there is also a variance in the ways that they lead. This case study aims to compare three of the more popular theories of leadership. These leadership theories are situational leadership, trait theory and transformational 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.