Leadership Theories & Styles

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it. Andrew Carnegie

What is leadership
Leadership can be defined as ones ability to

get others to willingly follow. Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow. Kouzes and Posner The ability of a superior to influence the behavior of subordinates and persuade them to follow a particular course of action. Chester Barnard

Great Man Theory Trait Theory Behavioral Theories Participative leadership Situational Leadership Contingency Theory Transactional Leadership Transformational Leadership

Theories of Leadership : Trait

Theory/Great Man (Woman) assumes the leader is different from the average person In terms of personality traits such as intelligence, perseverance, and ambition Assumptions People are born with inherited traits Some traits are particularly suited to leadership People who make good leaders have the
Trait

Stogdill's (1974) Traits and Skills

Traits Adaptable Alert to social environment Ambitious and achievement oriented Assertive , self confident Cooperative Decisive Dependable Dominant (desire to influence others) Energetic Persistent and tolerant to stress Skills Clever Conceptually skilled Creative Diplomatic and tactful Fluent in speaking Knowledgeable about group task Organized Persuasive Socially skilled

Strengths & weaknesses of Traits theory

Strengths/Advantages of Trait

Theory Naturally pleasing theory Validated theory

Weaknesses/ disadvantages:
Subjective judgment Very complicated to understand

BEHAVIOURAL THEORIES
Assumptions Leaders can be made, rather than are born Successful leadership is based in definable, learnable behaviour Description Behaviuoral theories do not seek inborn traits they look at what leaders actually do Success can be defined in terms of describable actions Implication: Leadership capability can be learned

BEHAVIOURAL THEORY MANAGERIAL GRID MODEL

Blake and Mouton in 1964, propounded the two dimensional view of leadership Concern for Production (task) and Concern for People(relationships) Impoverished style (1,1) Country club (1,9) Task style (9,1) Middle of the road style (5,5) Team style (9,9)

Participative Leadership Style

Encourages employees to be a part of decision making process Co-operation, team spirit and high morale Such leaders can get high quality and quantity of work done from their employees Used mostly when staff is highly skilled or experienced

Laissez-Faire Leadership Style

Known as hands off style

Giving all authority and power to staff with

little or no direction Minimizes the leader's involvement in decisionmaking Works best whenPeople are capable and motivated in making their own decisions and No requirement for a central co-ordination

Transactional Leadership Style

Transactional leader works through creating clear structures Work requirements are clear Reward structure is clear Punishments are not always mentioned, but they are also wellunderstood Formal systems of discipline are usually placed Negotiation of contract by the subordinate and the company related to salaries and

Contingency Theory
Fiedler's Contingency model Assumes that group performance depends on:

Task motivation and relationship motivation

Situational favourableness, determined by three

factors Leader-member relations - Degree to which a leader is accepted and supported by the group members Task structure - Extent to which the task is structured and defined, with clear goals and procedures

Situational Leadership style

Hershey & Blanchards situational leadership theory, 1977 which deals with task behaviour and relationship behaviour Telling (S1) tell your people what to do and how to do it. Selling (S2) provide information and direction, "sell" their message to get people on board Participating (S3) focus more on the relationship and less on direction, emphasis more on Team work and decision-making Delegating (S4) pass most of the responsibility onto the follower or group.

High levels of these three factors give the most favourable situation Low levels, the least favourable. Relationship-motivated leaders are most effective in moderately favourable situations. Task-motivated leaders are most effective at either end of the scale. Fiedler suggests that it may be easier for leaders to change their situation to achieve effectiveness, rather than change their leadership style

Transformational Leadership Style

Transformational leaders are CharismaticS Enthusiastic Energetic Visionary Transformational leaders are one who motivates individual more than individual expect himself to perform

One of the most charismatic and transformational leader Lord Krishna

Conclusion
Thus,

we conclude that there are number of leadership theories and styles developed over time. Various men gave theories on leadership which are used even today. There is no one best leadership style or theory leaders must adjust their style as per the situation and lead the people.

Resources http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leaders

hip/theories/leadership_theories.htm http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/bll eadershipquiz.htm The Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner Indian management Thoughts & Practices Pratibha Pai , Nitin Vazirani