Leadership has been described as "a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the

aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task".

[1]
For example, some
understand a leader simply as somebody whom people follow, or as somebody who guides or
directs others,
[citation needed]
while others define leadership as "organizing a group of people to achiee
a common goal".
[citation needed]
!tudies of leadership hae produced theories inoling traits,
["]
situational interaction, function,
behaior, power, ision and alues,
[#]
charisma, and intelligence, among others.
Contents
[hide]
1 $heories
o 1.1 %arly western history
o 1." &ise of alternatie theories
o 1.# &eemergence of trait theory
o 1.' (ttribute pattern approach
o 1.) *ehaioral and style theories
1.).1 +ositie reinforcement
o 1., !ituational and contingency theories
o 1.- Functional theory
o 1.. /ntegrated psychological theory
o 1.0 $ransactional and transformational theories
o 1.11 2eader3member exchange theory
1.11.1 /n4group members
1.11." 5ut4group members
o 1.11 %motions
o 1.1" 6eo4emergent theory
" !tyles
o ".1 %ngagement
o "." (utocratic or authoritarian
o ".# +articipatie or democratic
o ".' 2aissez4faire or free4rein
o ".) 6arcissistic
o "., $oxic
o ".- $ask4oriented and relationship4oriented
o ".. !ex differences
# +erformance
' $raits
) 7ontexts
o ).1 5rganizations
o )." 8anagement
o ).# 9roup
o ).' !elf4leadership
o ).) +rimates
, :istorical iews
- 8yths
o -.1 2eadership is innate
o -." 2eadership is possessing power oer others
o -.# 2eaders are positiely influential
o -.' 2eaders entirely control group outcomes
o -.) (ll groups hae a designated leader
o -., 9roup members resist leaders
. (ction4oriented enironments
0 $itles emphasizing authority
11 7ritical thought
o 11.1 ;arieties of indiidual power
11 %xecuties
1" !ee also
1# &eferences
1' %xternal links
Theories[edit]
Early western history[edit]
$he search for the characteristics or traits of leaders has been ongoing for centuries. +hilosophical
writings from +lato<s Republic to +lutarch<s Lives hae explored the =uestion ">hat =ualities
distinguish an indiidual as a leader?" @nderlying this search was the early recognition of the
importance of leadership and the assumption that leadership is rooted in the characteristics that
certain indiiduals possess. $his idea that leadership is based on indiidual attributes is known as
the "trait theory of leadership".
$he trait theory was explored at length in a number of works in the 10th century. 8ost notable are
the writings of $homas 7arlyle and Francis 9alton, whose works hae prompted decades of
research.
[']
/n Heroes and Hero Worship A1.'1B, 7arlyle identified the talents, skills, and physical
characteristics of men who rose to power. /n 9alton<s Hereditary Genius A1.,0B, he examined
leadership =ualities in the families of powerful men. (fter showing that the numbers of eminent
relaties dropped off when moing from first degree to second degree relaties, 9alton concluded
that leadership was inherited. /n other words, leaders were born, not deeloped. *oth of these
notable works lent great initial support for the notion that leadership is rooted in characteristics of
the leader.
Rise of alternative theories[edit]
/n the late 10'1s and early 10)1s, howeer, a series of =ualitatie reiews of these studies Ae.g.,
*ird, 10'1C
[)]
!togdill, 10'.C
[,]
8ann, 10)0
[-]
B prompted researchers to take a drastically different
iew of the driing forces behind leadership. /n reiewing the extant literature, !togdill and 8ann
found that while some traits were common across a number of studies, the oerall eidence
suggested that persons who are leaders in one situation may not necessarily be leaders in other
situations. !ubse=uently, leadership was no longer characterized as an enduring indiidual trait, as
situational approaches Asee alternatie leadership theories belowB posited that indiiduals can be
effectie in certain situations, but not others. $he focus then shifted away from traits of leaders to
an inestigation of the leader behaiors that were effectie. $his approach dominated much of the
leadership theory and research for the next few decades.
Reemergence of trait theory[edit]
6ew methods and measurements were deeloped after these influential reiews that would
ultimately reestablish the trait theory as a iable approach to the study of leadership. For example,
improements in researchers< use of the round robin research design methodology allowed
researchers to see that indiiduals can and do emerge as leaders across a ariety of situations and
tasks.
[.]
(dditionally, during the 10.1s statistical adances allowed researchers to conduct meta4
analyses, in which they could =uantitatiely analyze and summarize the findings from a wide
array of studies. $his adent allowed trait theorists to create a comprehensie picture of preious
leadership research rather than rely on the =ualitatie reiews of the past. %=uipped with new
methods, leadership researchers reealed the followingD
/ndiiduals can and do emerge as leaders across a ariety of situations and tasks.
[.]
!ignificant relationships exist between leadership emergence and such indiidual traits asD
intelligence
[0]

adEustment
[0]
extraersion
[0]

conscientiousness
[11]

[11]

[1"]

openness to experience
[11]

[1#]

general self4efficacy
[1']

[1)]

>hile the trait theory of leadership has certainly regained popularity, its reemergence has not been
accompanied by a corresponding increase in sophisticated conceptual frameworks.
[1,]
!pecifically, Faccaro A"11-B
[1,]
noted that trait theories stillD
1. focus on a small set of indiidual attributes such as *ig Fie personality traits, to the
neglect of cognitie abilities, moties, alues, social skills, expertise, and problem4soling
skillsC
". fail to consider patterns or integrations of multiple attributesC
#. do not distinguish between those leader attributes that are generally not malleable oer
time and those that are shaped by, and bound to, situational influencesC
'. do not consider how stable leader attributes account for the behaioral diersity necessary
for effectie leadership.