Table of Contents

Definitions:..........................................................................................................................................- 2 -
Leadership Theories............................................................................................................................- 3 -
Trait Theories:.................................................................................................................................- 3 -
Leaders are born:.................................................................................................................................- 4 -
Case 1: Benito Mussolini (29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945)...................................................................- 4 -
Case 2: Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)..................................................................................................- 6 -
Case 3: Price William..........................................................................................................................- 6 -
Example to clarify the Great man theory.............................................................................................- 7 -
Leaders are made:................................................................................................................................- 7 -
Case 1: Martin Luther King’s..............................................................................................................- 9 -
Case 2: KWS Management:..............................................................................................................- 10 -
Conclusion:.......................................................................................................................................- 12 -
REFERENCES:.................................................................................................................................- 13 -

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Definitions:

Leadership:

Art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly towards achieving set goals.

Process of leading people in the right direction in order to achieve goals.

Kouzes, James M. & Posner, Barry Z. (1987). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-
Bass.

Leader:

A person who rules or guides or inspires others.'

Someone others are willing to follow, almost without question.

Northouse, G. (2007). Leadership theory and practice. (3rd ed.) Thousand Oak, London, New
Delhe, Sage Publications, Inc.

Characteristics of a good leader:

 One who has an excellent and admirable character A leader has to be trustworthy and
must fulfill promises made. He must also take responsibility for his own actions.

 One who takes work seriously A good leader is one who takes his work and role as a
leader seriously. He motivates his followers towards a common objective.

 One who is confident and calm in a crisis A leader must display self-confidence and
exude a clam disposition so that people will believe in him. He is able to adapt to
situational changes.

http://www.bukisa.com/

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Leadership Theories

Great Man Theory; According to Great Man theory, a leader is born and cannot be made. This
theory believed that leaders are people who have inborn exceptional qualities and are destined to
lead. Here the term "Man" is used since leadership was considered as a concept that would be
primarily dominated by males. Great leaders would arise only when there is an urgent need of it.
It also suggests that leadership qualities are inherent.

Trait Theories:
Similar in some ways to "Great Man" theories, trait theories assume that people inherit certain
qualities and traits that make them better suited to leadership. Trait theories often identify
particular personality or behavioral characteristics shared by leaders.

Contingency Theory; this theory focuses on variables that are related to environment and that
would determine which style of leadership is suitable for a particular situation. It says that it is
impossible to determine which leadership style will suit best for any situation. Success depends
on qualities of followers and other variables.

Situational Theories; this theory suggests that on the basis of situational variable, leaders
should choose the course of action. Diverse styles of leadership will me more suitable to make
certain types of decisions

Behavioral Theories; this theory believes that great leaders are not born but are made. The
prime focus of this theory is on actions of leaders. The focus is not on internal states or mental
qualities. This theory believes that people can become leaders through the process of teaching,
learning and observation.

Participative Theory; this theory defines ideal leadership style. An ideal leadership style takes
into consideration the input of its associates. Such leaders encourage contribution and
participation from group members. The leader also has the right to say no to any suggestion of
other team member.

Management Theories; this theory gives more importance to the role of organization,
supervision and most importantly the group performance. This theory is based on the system of
punishment and reward. Managerial theory is often used in many companies. When employee's
performance is very good, he or she is given a reward. If the employee's performance decreases
below a certain level, he or she is punished.

Relationship Theory; This theory also called Transformational theory focuses on the
connections that are formed between followers and leaders. These leaders inspire and motivate
people. They also help group members in case of any difficulty. Such leaders focus on
performance of members of group. These leaders have high moral values.

Path Goal Theory; this theory focuses on what leaders should do to motivate and inspire people
so that the employees can perform well.

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Leaders are born:

The idea that Leaders are born is supported by Great Man theory as well as Trait theory.

An individual's personality is the unique combination of psychological characteristics that affects

how a person reacts and interacts with others.” (Robbins, S etal. 2006, p. 462). This can be
clearly seen in the people who are born with the makings of a leader - there are certain traits that
differentiate leaders from non-leaders.

“To suggest that leaders do not enter the world with extraordinary endowment is to imply that
people enter the world with equal abilities, with equal talents.” (Cawthon, D L 1996, p. 2)

In reference to the great man theory of leadership popularized by Thomas Carlyle (1840),
popular in the 19th century according to which history can be largely explained by the impact of
"great men", or heroes: highly influential individuals who, due to either their personal charisma,
intelligence, wisdom, or Machiavellianism utilized their power in a way that had a decisive
historical impact.
In support of this theory we can cite examples of some of the few men who made history such as

Case 1: Benito Mussolini (29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945)

Benito Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with
being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism.

Over the issue of Italy’s entry in the First World War a section of revolutionary syndicalists
broke with the socialist. Mussolini took this opportunity to establish his ambition when he joined
their group of Fasci d’azione rivoluzionaria internazionarialista in the year 1914. He founded a
new newspaper II Popolo d’italia with the help of his mistress Margherita Sarfatti. He was
impressed by the idea of the ancient roman idea of fasces, the symbol of life and death power of
state. Mussolini was called of for military services but couldn’t continue longer as he was
wounded in a grenade practice and thus return to edit his paper in the year 1917.

He started fascism in a organized way by forming the Fasci di Combattimento and making it into
a political movement. Although he lost the election in 1919 but he managed to enter the

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parliament in the year 1921. This was probably the beginning of a new era of terror and social
disrupter. The fascisti formed armed squads of war veterans called squadristi to terrorize and
control the anarchist, socialist and communist which was never being stopped by the
government. This squad was often utilized by the industrialist for their own personal benefits like
strikebreaking on Mussolini’s approval.

The full turndown came in the year 1922 when the then government of Giovanni Giolitti, Ivanoe
Bonomi and Luigi Facta failed to stop the spread of anarchy and Mussolini was invited to form a
government by Victoria Emanuele III on a threat of Marcia su Roma or march on Rome. Thus
Mussolini became the youngest ever premier in the history at the age of 39.

Mussolini became the 40th Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by
1925. After 1936, his official title was "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government,
Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire". Mussolini also created and held the supreme
military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy,
which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini
remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death, he
was the leader of the Italian Social Republic.

He was soon called by the king Vittorio Emanuele III in his palace and was stripped of his power
of dictator followed by an arrest and isolation in Gran Sasso. The fall which was now inevitable
and which cannot be averted by any means took its shape on April 27, 1945 near the village of
Dongo. Mussolini and his mistress Claretta Petacci were caught by the Italian communist
partisans just before the time they were heading for Chiavenna so that they can escape to
Switzerland. On April 28th 1945 Mussolini and his mistress along with sixteen other officials
and ministers of Italian social republic were both executed in the village of Giulino di Mezzegra
which was conducted by Colonnello Valerio, Walter Audisio. The next day the bodies of those
executed were hung upside down in Piazzale Loreto, Milan to confirm every body the end of the
dictator. This was also to discourage any further fascist activity.

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Case 2: Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)

Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of
Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry,
theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. In
his Politics, Aristotle states that only one thing could justify monarchy, and that was if the virtue
of the king and his family were greater than the virtue of the rest of the citizens put together.

Aristotle felt that people were more or less born as a barbarian (someone not fit to lead) or a
noble (someone fit to lead). While his views might seem extreme in our modern view of things,
there may be some benefit in that type of approach. Some do well, but others find themselves
poorly equipped for their new responsibilities. They are basically taken out of the area where
they perform well and are highly skilled and put into an area where they don’t perform well and
have no skills. Leadership skills can be taught, but it is not necessarily beneficial to everyone.

Aristotle was the most practical and business-oriented of all philosophers who asked ethical
questions. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle concludes that the role of the leader is to create
the environment in which all members of an organization have the opportunity to realize their
own potential. He says that the ethical role of the leader is not to enhance his or her own power
but to create the conditions under which followers can achieve their potential.

If you translate Aristotle into modern terms, you will see a whole set of questions about the
extent to which the organization provides an environment that is conducive to human growth and
fulfillment. He also raises a lot of useful questions about the distribution of rewards in
organizations based on the ethical principle of rewarding people proportionate to their
contributions.

Case 3: Price William

Prince William of England, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei and Emperor Akihito of Japan are
examples of leaders who are born into power. Regardless of their characteristics or personality,
these people were born into positions of leadership. They are exposed to various leadership
situations, causing them to be influential and in their own rights.

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Example to clarify the Great man theory

If you’ve ever seen an eagle try to run, you’ll know that it isn’t something they are good at. Since
they don’t do it much, they aren’t quite balanced and usually compensate by sticking out their
wings.

One point of view would be to look at the eagle and decide that, with a little training, he can
become a better runner. With a little practice, the eagle should be able to keep his wings at his
side and balance more naturally while running. I’m not sure how much work it would take, but
with persistence you could at least make some improvement.

The other point of view would be to make sure eagles aren’t put into situations where they are
required to run. Even if you could train them to be twice as good at running, that really isn’t
much improvement.

Leaders are made:

In reference to this school of thought, Behavioral theories of leadership are based upon the belief
that great leaders are made, not born. Rooted in behaviorism, this leadership theory focuses on
the actions of leaders not on mental qualities or internal states. According to this theory, people
can learn to become leaders through teaching and observation.

Knowledge and skills contribute directly to the process of leadership, while the other attributes
give the leader certain characteristics that make him or her unique.

We can seek to explain that leaders are made by looking at the four factors of leadership which
revolve around Leader, Follower, Situation and communication. People can choose to become
leaders. People can learn leadership skills. This is the Transformational or Process Leadership
Theory. It is the most widely accepted theory today and the premise on which this guide is based.
Warren Bennis (a leading leadership researcher) believes that one cannot be taught to become a
leader but one can learn to become a leader over the years through life and work experiences,
through mentors, personal reflection.

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The research of Dr. Carol Dweck lends strong support to this. People with a growth mindset
(versus a person with a fixed mindset) believe that their most basic abilities can be developed
through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates
a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great
people have had these qualities.

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply
fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing
them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.

Dr Dweck proved that they’re wrong. So, what this means is that qualities like optimism and self
efficacy can be developed if one adopts a growth mindset. For example, if I’m aware that I am
not optimistic enough and tend to think of the downside more often than the upside, I can learn
to become more optimistic because I know doing so helps strengthen that leadership trait in me.
As a side point on the topic of optimism, evidence from decades of research by Dr Martin
Seligman shows that people can learn to be optimistic. The topic is examined in great depth in
his bestseller "Learned Optimism” – another excellent book I would recommend as well.

Effective leaders are made, not born, Powell said. They learn from trial and error, and from
experience. When something fails, a true leader learns from the experience and puts it behind
him.

“You don’t get reruns in life,” he said. “Don’t worry about what happened in the past.”Good
leaders also must know how to reward those who succeed and know when to retrain, move, or
fire ineffective staff. “When you get all these together the place starts to hum,” he said. “You
know you’re a good leader when people follow you out of curiosity.

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Case 1: Martin Luther King’s

He was born on 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. King’s inspiration came from Howard Thurman, a
civil rights leader, and Mahatma Gandhi, with his philosophy of non-violence to fight injustice
and inequality. He was instrumental in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which came to a head
when Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus.  King’s house was bombed
and he was arrested, but the segregation on buses in Montgomery ended. 

King was involved with the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which
fought injustice with non-violent techniques.  King and other leaders of the Civil Rights
Movement organized the biggest march of all; the March on Washington in 1963.  The march
was protesting racial discrimination in employment, racial separatism in schools, and they
demanded minimum wage for all workers.  It was the largest gathering in Washington, DC’s
history, and the site of King’s most famous speech, “I Have a Dream.” A memorable quote from
this speech is:"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character".     

This movement lasted from around 1955 to 1968.  Its goals were to abolish racial discrimination
in many areas including public transportation, employment, voting, and education. Non-violent
protests and civil disobedience during this time caused many crisis situations where the
government had to take action.  These showed the inequities and injustice that was happening to
Blacks. 

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The protests were done with sit-ins, marches, and boycotts. Notable legislation during this time
included the: 

 Civil Rights Act of 1964 - This banned discrimination in employment and public
accommodations based on "race, color, religion, or national origin".    

 Voting Rights Act of 1965 - This act restored and protected the right to vote.

 Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 - This allows immigration from groups
other than those from the traditional European countries.

 Fair Housing Act of 1968 - This banned housing discrimination for sales or rentals.

Case 2: KWS Management:

Once seen as parastatal in tatters and dogged by controversy, KWS, can now be used as a case
study. When he became the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Director in 2005, an organisation in
management shambles, no one expected he would turn it around. Critics predicted that the stocky
and ever smiling dimpled gentleman would be shown the door soon after his appointment. After
all, he was not a conservationist.

KWS had become almost an unmanageable organisation. Since 1990 to the time he took over, it
had a record 13 directors, including well known individuals like palaeontologist and
conservationist Dr Richard Leakey, scientist David Western, Joseph Kioko, Nehemiah Rotich
and Dr Evans Mukolwe. Not one to cause ripples, many probably heard of him for the first time
when at the height of the referendum campaigns in 2005, he objected publicly to the President?s
plan to hand over Amboseli National Park to Kajiado County Council."If I was to get fired, I
would rather it be for doing good as opposed to something negative," he says.

Dr. Kipng’etich, not only fought for the organization in Kenya but last year he led other 21
African countries to the Cites meeting at The Hague against ivory trade. "Many countries were
looking up to us to provide leadership and we did. We got the ban on ivory trade to be extended
for another nine years," he says.

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To underscore the success of the organization KWS won the Company of the Year Award
(Coya) in the environment category last year. "One thing about management is that it is
universal, the principles are all the same no matter the place," he says.
Chief among the challenges he encountered were the financial mismanagement and the low staff
morale."The quality of the institution’s financial management was poor," he recalls. It was so
bad that the institution was at the mercy of conservation NGOs, individual well-wishers and
international bodies, to keep it afloat."We had to reorganize how expenditure was done and
upgrade the accounting system," he says.

By the end of last financial year, KWS had registered Sh2.6 billion turnover, the highest in the
parastatal’s history. Within a short time he made sure he had visited every conservation and
shared the experience of the rangers and other members of the staff.

"Management is not alive until you bring it to the lowest level, this is where the rubber meets the
road," he explains. This, he argues, is the kind of leadership that avoids the use of middlemen.
"The workers are able to hear ideas and instructions from the director himself and not from
others and this reduces the chance of misinformation," he says.

Dr. Kipngetich’s management style could be seen as early a when he was acting director at
SWA. He turned things round at this organization that catered for students? Welfare that when he
his time was up, the students rioted and went to then Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Richard Leakey
that he be reinstated at the University. Kipngetich was however at this time ready for a different
environment. At this time he joined the Investment Promotion Centre. The parastatal was
tottering on its knees and could hardly sustain itself. Kipngetich, however, was able to turn into a
profits making body that could support itself.

Dr. Kipngetich likens management to running a family. "It’s about knowing what to do and when
to do it. Realizing that as an individual you cannot do everything and working closely with
others for the betterment of the institution," he notes.

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Conclusion:

After carefully and thoroughly reading through the leadership theories and analyzing the
behavior of the various leaders used a case studies it is evident you cannot really support a side
and negate the other when it comes to the discussion of whether leaders are born or made. In my
honest opinion after a thorough review I wish to take the side that as much as leaders are born
with the ability leading is an art and process that continued to be acquired each single day.

Leadership can be learned by anyone with the basics. But an awful lot of leadership cannot be
taught. That’s because leadership is an apprentice trade. Leaders learn about 80 percent of their
craft on the job. They learn from watching other leaders and emulating their behavior. In
addition, a leader chooses role models and seeks out mentors. They ask other leaders about how
to handle situations. Leaders improve by getting feedback and using it. The best leaders seek
feedback from their boss, their peers and their subordinates. Then they modify their behavior so
that they get better results. Leaders learn by trying things out and then critiquing their
performance. The only failure they recognize is the failure to learn from experience.

Leadership learning is a lifetime activity. You're never done because there's always more to
learn. There are always skills you need to improve on .Good leaders seek out development
opportunities that will help them learn new skills. Those might be project assignments or job
changes. What they have in common is that the leader develops knowledge and skills that can be
used elsewhere. Good and effective leaders also seek out opportunities that will increase their
visibility. The fact is that great performance alone will not propel you to the top in your career.
You also have to be visible to people who make decisions about promotions and assignments.

After completion of my M.A in Project planning and Management, when I get assigned to lead a
project and project team I will be applying and putting into practice the skills I have acquired
over and over again from book authors, observing successful leaders as well as experience
acquired over time. The basis of good project management is having the knowledge and skills
necessary to perform the job. A project manager is generally defined as the person responsible
for working with the project sponsor, the project team, and the other people involved in a project
to meet project goals (Schwalbe, 2004).

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Being a project manager requires knowledge in the core skills such as time management, risk
management, scope management, cost budgeting, and a basic knowledge of requirements. A
project manager must have skills in addition to the basics of project management to succeed.
According to David Foote “It requires all these soft skills that have to do with getting things that
you want (and) adjudicating issues between people, managers, egos and agendas. It's how to get
a job done without annoying people”. Another important aspect of project management is the
ability to communicate effectively. It is essential for me as a project manager to have the
capacity to listen and understand the people on their project team as well as the customers of
their project. “A project manager needs the ability to question without alienating – to listen and
watch people’s body language and really see what’s happening” (Melymuka, 2000). This will
allow me as the project manager to better communicate with the team and the organization.

REFERENCES:

Blake, R. & Mouton, J. 1964. The Managerial Grid: The Key to Leadership Excellence. Gulf
Publishing Co: Houston.
Northouse, G. 2007. Leadership Theory and Practice. 3rd Edition. Sage Publications: London.
Stogdill, R. & Coons, A. 1957. Leader Behavior: Its Description and Measurement. Ohio State
University, Bureau of Business Research: Columbus.
Cawthon, D L, 1996, ‘Leadership: the great man theory revisited, Business Horizons, May-June,
and pp. 1-4
Robbins, S, Bergman, R, Stagg, I & Coulter M, 2006, Management, 4th edn, Pearson Prentice
Hall, Australia.
Interview extract of Dr, Julius Kipngetich Director, Kenya Wildlife Services from Daily nation
2010
Project Planning and Management class notes by Miss Susan irungu
http://www.threestarleadership.com/). 
http://www.performancetalk.com/)

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