Leadership Theories

Autocratic leadership, also known as authoritarian leadership is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their own ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers. Autocratic leadership involves absolute, authoritarian control over a group. It can also be derived

The next big era of leadership theories was the Rational Management era. When the previous era failed to determine exact traits that could consistently be identified in great leaders, a shift occurred to begin looking at how these leaders behaved, and what made them into great leaders, rather than who they were in a specific sense. This was a major shift from thinking that people were born leaders, to now considering that perhaps leaders could be made, or trained to become leaders. The first of these theories, beginning in the early 1950’s, were the behavior theories. The focus of these theories was to study what these leaders do, and

For centuries leaders have been analyzed in order to determine what the traits and characteristics of a successful leader are. Leadership, as defined by Koontz and Weihrich (2008) is “the art or a process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals” (p. 311). Leadership plays an important role in employee’s participation, creativity, recruitment to an organization, their commitment to the organization, and productivity levels. Over the years, there have been a number of theories surrounding leadership such as the “Great Man” theory, which, according to Riaz and Haider (2010), “assumes that leaders are born and have innate qualities, therefore, leaders

The leader behavior approach is the focus of what people do as a leader or leadership style rather than the characteristics leaders inherit as a leader. It is the assumption that the actions of a person opposed to their innate mental state. Because leaders can learn through teaching and observation; specific behaviors are the focus of a leader. An important study of this theory was conducted by the Ohio State University, and the purpose was to identify common leadership behaviors. The study and research uncovered that there are two linked groups of behavior.

In the 1930’s Kurt Lewin argued three major styles of leadership Autocratic, Democratic and Laissez-fair (Manktelow, n.d.). Kurt’s simple but effective categorized leadership models provided a foundation to many different leadership theories. An Autocratic leader is one who makes decisions without the help or input of others. Because this leader doesn’t consult with the team, team members may feel as though their opinion doesn’t matter thus losing a team oriented atmosphere. This type of leadership may be seem as demoralizing and lead to high turn over rates and absenteeism (Manktelow, n.d.). Team members may feel unimportant and therefore take less ownership of team outcomes. A Democratic leadership style however is the almost the exact opposite of

The theories or concepts of leadership such as the Great Man theory, collective leadership, and scholar-practitioner are ideas that transformed the way leaders lead. The comparisons of the leadership styles illustrated that direction does not change. Within the comparisons, leadership links from one theory or concept to another. Each theory or idea is a building block for what a leader needs to be successful. The Great Man theory depicts a person of great need that possesses the characteristics of a leader from birth. A leader has the features or traits of a great leader without

Early on in the study of leadership, it was believed that people were born with specific traits that made them great leaders. In other words, early

Throughout this course, I have learned a lot about leadership from the different leadership theories. One of these leadership theories is the behavioral approach. There are a few things I learned about leadership in regards to the behavioral approach. For example, I learned from this theory that there is not one universal style of leadership that fits every situation. In the past, I would think every leader should use the team management style. Instead, depending on the situation, a leader might need to use authority compliance or use country-club style.

The leadership theory that best describes me as a leader is the psychodynamic approach theory. The psychodynamic approach theory focuses on a leader’s personality on how they develop their energy, comprise information, make decisions, and if they are organized or

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.

When the leader 's behaviour differentiates them from their supporters, it is referred to as behavioural theories of leadership, (SOURCE). According to (SOURCE) behavioural theory states that leaders are made and not born.

The full spectrum of leadership styles is broad. The leadership styles continuum ranges from very directive to very non-directive: Autocratic, Benevolent Autocratic, Consultative, Participative, Consensus, and Laissez-Faire (Gibson, 1995). The autocratic leader an authority who make decisions or set goals and does not feel the need to explain them. The benevolent autocratic leader also rely on authority for decision-making, but may explain the thought process behind the decisions. Meanwhile, the consultative leader will obtain feedback from employees after developing their own ideas and will consider their subordinates input before making the decision. A consensus-building leader asks for democratic decision-making process where all members’ votes in the group are at least nominally equal. A laissez-faire leader will let subordinates make decisions for themselves (Gibson, 1995).

The best leaders are those have the adaptability to flex their behavioral style, and choose the right style suitable for each situation. According to this theory, people can learn to become leaders through teaching and observation and certain behavioral patterns may be identified as leadership styles. Advantages of Behavioral Theory of Leadership: Behavioral theory promotes the value of leadership styles with an emphasis on concern for people and collaboration. It promotes participative decision making and team development by supporting individual needs and aligning individual and group objectives. It helps managers evaluate and understand how their behavioral style as a manager affects their relationship with the team and promotes commitment and contribution towards organizational goals. This theory helps managers find the right balance between different styles of leadership, and helps them decide how to behave as a leader, depending on concerns for people and for productivity. Criticism / Arguments against - Behavioral Theory of Leadership: As there were inherent limitations with the Trait approach to leadership, when early researchers ran out of steam in their search for traits, they turned to what leaders did, how they behaved and came with behavioral theory of leadership. This became the dominant way of approaching leadership within organizations in the 1950s and early 1960s but this

Autocratic/ authoritarian leaders lead with a firm hand. There is zero involvement of other employees and display less creativity. May shows results of a short period but overtime employees feel dissatisfied and may begin to leave their organizations as they begin to feel inferior. Iqbal, N., Anwar, S., & Haider,N. (2015) Effect of Leadership Style on Employee Performance. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review 5: 146.

Leaders are born and not made. Great leaders possess genetic characteristics that allows them to be successful.