The Leadership Theory Of Leadership

Leadership has been researched extensively but yet scholars are yet to find or compile an exact definition. As (Kent, Todd, 2004) explain there have been many efforts in defining leadership and several ideas have been compiled yet there is still a distinct discrepancy amongst scholars. Author Chelladurai breaks down leadership into three elements: "(1) leadership is a behavior process, (2) leadership is interpersonal in nature, and (3) leadership is aimed at influencing and motivating members toward group goals" (pg. 160). These are the ways he focuses leaderships and their intentions towards leading. Kent and Todd further discuss the importance of leadership and its distinct aspect to society and organizations, and that future successes are largely dependent upon it (2004). Another area in the domain of leadership styles is when (Zorn & Violanti 1993) define leadership as "patterns of behaviors, assumptions, attitudes, or traits exhibited by individuals in attempting to provide leadership" (pg. 70). Additionally we further examine (Bloom, Vallée, 2005; Chelladurai, 1990; Chelladurai & Seleh 1978; Zhang et. al. 1997) in which "they break down the different styles of leadership into five categories, autocratic, democratic, positive feedback, social support and training and instruction. They

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.

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

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.

As the early researchers ran out of steam in their search for traits, they turned to what leaders did - how they behaved (especially towards followers). They moved from leaders to leadership - and this became the dominant way of approaching leadership within organizations in the 1950s and early 1960s. Different patterns of behaviour were grouped together and labelled as styles. This became a very popular activity within management training ? perhaps the best known being Blake and Mouton?s Managerial Grid (1964; 1978).

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.

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.

There are many theories that explain leadership. Chapter 10 presents each of the leading theories. Each student will choose one of the theories he/she agrees with, one theory that he/she disagrees with, and one theory he/she finds interesting (pick three different theories). Each student will write a short paragraph for each of the above choices (agree, disagree, interesting). Each student will post his/her three paragraphs as one (1) response to the discussion board entitled “Leadership”.

There is no consensus that has been reached regarding this controversy, but many theories are centered on it. Chronologically, popular leadership theories include the great man theory, trait theory, behavioral theories, role theory, participative leadership, situational leadership, contingency theories, transactional leadership, and transformational leadership. Each of these theories presents a unique perspective of what comprises leadership. The main focus of this research paper is, however, the trait theory (Bass & Stogdill, 1990).

Leadership is about the relationship and utilization of influence in various communication forms applied in a process that allows individuals and groups to work together to achieve collaborative goals (Ziegler & Degrosky, 2008). If influence is the driver of leadership, then power, is the engine. Having influence and power alone is insufficient to create leadership much like having a driver and a vehicle do not automatically create transportation. There are other components necessary to make the car move from one place to another. Power and influence utilized in an ethical and efficient manner gains willing compliance and commitment. Contemporary leadership theories based on efficiently reengineering older theories

Leadership is a very broad topic; I never knew just how many different traits and skills that it takes to become an effective leader. Some of which I was familiar with, and others that I was not aware of, but now from taking this course, they all seem to be necessary for the role of leadership. The attached paper, will explain of some of the important theories and concepts that I thought were most important to be able to become and effective leader.

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.

This theory is based on the premise that there are certain personality characteristics that are essential for a person to possess in order to be a leader. The main emphasis is on what the person is in terms of a constellation of personality traits. This theory searches for that set of universal leadership traits that will assure success. Numerous traits have been suggested: courage, integrity, loyalty, charisma, ambition, intelligence, honesty, clairvoyance, persistence, arrogance, health, political skill, confidence and vision.

Research on leadership began with a search for inherited characteristics that differentiated leaders from non-leaders and