2.0 Introduction
The literature review is a written, analytical summary of research findings on a topic of interests. In this chapter, the literature review is used to explain the definition of leadership and leadership effectiveness, past finding related to the factors of leadership effectiveness, the important of these factors and the related experience of practitioners. This chapter is important because it helps researcher to develop the theoretical and framework or model to explore the context of the study.
2.1 Theoretical Review
The theoretical review is discussed in the theory and model which provide the guidance for this research. The theories that will be discussed are Trait theory leadership and Situational theory leadership while the model discussed is Contingency model.
2.1.1 Trait Theory Leadership
Trait theory of leadership was first developed in the early 20th century. It assumes that leadership is innate rather than learn (Stogdill, 1974). Leaders are born with certain inherent traits that are particularly suited for leadership (Qutob, 2013). The trait is the individual attributes, including the aspect of personality, temperament, needs, motives and values (Bendell, 2016).
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Trait theory of leadership is focused on individual’s physical, mental and personal characteristics which associated with successful leadership and use those traits to identify them from effective leadership (Bertocci, 2009). This theory proposed that an individual is born with predisposed to the characteristics or qualities of successful leadership (Nevarez & Wood, 2010). In other word, people are inherited with the certain personality which underlying the effective leadership such as cognitive ability. The others biological traits included height, race or ethnicity, gender and perceived
The situational leadership theory is one of the theories that consider the leader function which suggests that there is no “one size fits all” approach to leadership. Depending on the situation, varying levels of “leadership” and “management” are necessary. However, leaders must first identify their most important tasks or priorities. Second, leaders must consider the readiness level of their followers by analysing the group’s ability and willingness. Depending on the level of these variables, leaders must apply the most appropriate leadership style to fit the given situation. Among the theories that suggest the role of a leader to promote the organisational group behaviours the Fred Fielder model which has introduced in 1960s and called the ‘contingency theory of leadership” in which the main idea of this early theory is that leadership effectiveness (in terms of group performance) depends on the interaction of two factors: the leader 's task or relations motivations and aspects of the situation. This is measured through the Least Preferred Co-worker scale (LPC) which has been set up to measure the leaders to identify a an individual they work with least well and to characterize this individual with ratings on a series of 8-point bipolar
The traits that effective leaders have has always been a scientific study, the understanding of trait theory is that effective leaders are born that way, not made, in early study it was called “The Great Man” theory. Many scientific studies were done in from the 1930’s to the 1950’s.
Is the “traits” approach to the study of leadership valid? If so, in what ways? How does recent research on the links between personality and individual behavior contribute to our understanding of leadership?
As was mentioned earlier, the trait theory contains highly subjective perspectives. It means that the perception of leadership traits is associated with the assessment of leadership. Barry et al (2003) conducted an
Throughout time the question of “ Are leaders born or made?” continues to be debated. This question has been part of several myths that try to explain what makes a person a leader. According to the trait approach theory, it sets a benchmark for what certain traits an individual must possess in order to make them a leader. Before leadership traits were considered innate. However, as time has progressed research has indicated that situations differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Therefore, an individual does not possess certain traits, rather it is the relationship between the person and its society that make him/her leader. All leaders must have a set of skills that help them lead subordinates to reach an overall vision. A vision must originate from both the leader and its followers, and it is the leader's job to articulate the vision. Furthermore, leaders demonstrate the capacity to lead their followers and
The leadership models/theories that will be demonstrated are skills-based leadership, situational leadership, and leader-member exchange theory.
Trait Approach consists of leadership theories looking to identify what qualities great leaders possess so future leaders can be identified based on these qualities. These theories have been referred to as the “Great Man” theories because the traits were based from research of readily identifiable extraordinary leaders (Northhouse, 2016, p. 19). Researchers believed all great leaders must share certain qualities, which makes them able to distinguish themselves above all others. This seemed like a logical approach, however it became apparent determining an absolute required set of traits for leadership proved difficult. Traits which make one an effective leader may only work in certain situations or with certain followers. Intensive studies were conducted during the 20th century with several theories identifying varying sets of traits
The traits theory of leadership relies on the assumption that people are endowed with certain qualities or
In the research carried out by Bass (1990), they found out that trait leadership theory believes some people are born to lead because of their personal qualities, while others are not. Trait theory also suggests that leadership is only accessible to the chosen ones and not available to all. In the past researchers focused on traits that were able to measure such as physical characteristics, aspects of personality and aptitudes. The current trait research has pointed the focus to more specific traits like stress tolerance, energy level, emotional maturity, integrity and self-confidence. Reviews of the trait research have found all of the above traits to be related to managerial effectiveness Bass (1990) and Marques (2010). When looking at the results of
The history of trait theory has…(still working on this part). The leadership traits that are involved in trait theory can be defined as relatively coherent and integrated patterns of personal
The Trait Approach was the 1st systematic attempt to study leadership. In the 20th century it was known as the “great man” theory. This approach takes a look at the leaders personal attributes such as but not limited to: motivation, energy, intuition, creativity, persuasiveness and foresight. Some of the traits that are essential to this list include: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability. Thus it focuses mainly on the leader and not on the followers or situations. The strengths of the Trait Approach includes: 1) it is intuitively appealing, 2) it has research to back it’s theory, 3) it highlights the leader, 4) it identifies what the traits of a leader should have and whether the traits we do
Trait leadership theory suggests that all leaders are born with or display certain key personality characteristics. Certain characteristics are particularly suited to leadership. People who make good leaders have a sufficient combination of these character traits. Most of the time the traits are considered to be naturally part of a person’s personality. Hence, leadership trait theory tends to assume that people are born as leaders or not as leaders. However, according to Shead (2007), the idea that leadership traits are inborn and unchangeable appears to be incorrect. He posits that it is true that many of our dispositions and tendencies are influenced by our personalities, but most people will acknowledge that it is possible for someone to change their character traits for the worse. Someone typically known for being honest can learn to be deceitful. Stogdill (1974) identified the following traits and skills as critical to leaders.
If we focus on the idea that people can poses different personality and characteristics can be linked to successful leadership across various situation this would be defined as the trait theory of leadership. Some researcher believe that the ability to lead was something that a person was born with and not something that could be developed or learn. Many people still believe that leaders just have an intuition that makes them good at making decision and developing
Moreover, the trait approach gives a deeper understanding of the leader element in the leadership process by emphasising exclusively on the leader, (Gore et al, 2011). The trait theory does not offer hypotheses about the role of situational variance or characteristic of the followers. Instead, this approach provide information about leaders, and about which traits cause which behaviours and that certain set of traits are central to the leadership process and play an indispensible part of effective leadership.
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.