Theories Of Leadership

Improved Essays
The first thing to remember is if we polled ten different people regarding leadership and what is means to them, we would get ten different definitions. As an example, an excellent leader is one who models the behavior they want their followers to emulate and inspire others through their vision of the future. Also, leaders should communicate and demand feedback from their cohorts. According to the American Management Association(AMA), there are six must-have skills for all leaders they are: Management and Leadership Skills, Communication Skills Collaboration Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Finance Skills, and Project Management Skills. In a sense, there is not a correct or incorrect answer rather a general concept we accept as true. …show more content…
The trait theory of leadership espouses great leaders possess the suitable amalgamation of leadership traits and therefore will be effective. However, the paradigm shifted, and leadership emerged with a divergent view where values, opinions, and dialog rather than innate abilities are the most valuable leadership traits. The new methodology eradicated the idea that leadership cannot be taught but predicated on a series of rewards and punishments. Therefore, the great man and transactional theories of leadership are not valid. In addition, the new psychology of leadership negates the antiquated notion that leaders should dictate down to their followers and espouses leaders engendering themselves in the group rather than above it (Reicher, Platow, & Haslam, 2007). This approach encompasses the transformational, participative, contingency, and situational theories of guidance. For this reason, each event, environment, and individual determine the approach of the leaders. Ultimately, the relationship, group dynamics, and group psychology between the leaders and followers dictate the leadership style and theory employed. Finally, the new psychology of leadership allows us to believe management skills are teachable leading us to reason the behavioral theory of leadership is

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Effective leaders come from all sizes, colors and religions. There are countless qualities that build an impressive leader. The two that are crucial, in my opnion, are effective communication and respect. Displaying these and other qualities is important and doing so has impacted my life as well as the lives of the people around me. Effective communication is a key component of leadership because many problems arise from substandard communication skills and when appropriate commendation is handed out it is more likely that the entire group will thrive.…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Compassion In Practice

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages

    (Sullivan & Garland, 2009; Sherring, 2012) Sullivan & Garland underlines the limitations of this classical theory through the observation that not all people who possess these traits are necessarily inclined to become leaders. Also a leader who is accepted to be effective, may not in fact be gifted with any such characteristics (Sullivan & Garland, 2009). Contrastingly, behavioural theories focus on the actions, or behaviour of the leader in relation to goal achievement (Yukl, 1989; Sullivan & Garland, 2009; Kelly & Tazbir, 2013). An example of this would be charismatic leadership, whereby the leader motivates through their infectious enthusiasm and work ethic (Taylor, 2007; Sullivan & Garland, 2009; Kelly & Tazbir,…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    “Key Qualities of Leadership” Individuals involved within leadership roles can “make or break” a company. Without key qualities of leadership, an individual cannot fully provide their customers or its employees with the experiences they deserve. Without proper skills and reinforcement, leaders cannot foster a positive workforce or support their employees. Without certain key factors a leader or manager becomes just another employee, and not the leader they are required to be. Having leaders with the skills such as honesty, accountability, the ability to inspire and to delegate, and basic communication skills are all necessary parts to becoming proven and respectable leaders within a business.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Leadership Introduction of leadership While studying on leadership, I observed a number of opportunities to presence and explore the content and activities of leadership. I will try to identify the particular meaning of leadership and its theories. I will begin with the meaning of leadership that is an influence between the one lead person who does the right things and he has an ability to control the direction, built an inspiring vision, and always try to create something new. Moreover, he has a skill to build a culture of performance and a leader can intend the real changes and outcomes in the world. According to the Dwight D. Eisenhower “leadership is an art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it”.…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    George Washington Being born with some qualities a leader may have does not mean a person will make a great leader. However, as someone lives and gains wisdom, more qualities show and they have the ability to be a wonderful leader. Qualities such as honesty, the ability to delegate, communicate, commitment, and the ability to inspire others to a different point of view are just some of the qualities needed to make a great leader. George Washington was one of those amazing leaders, especially in his time period. However, Washington was not born with these qualities.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Transferable Skills Introduction Transferable skills are skills that you can use in jobs and these are skills that you pick up from previous jobs, voluntary work and any interests and hobbies that you have. These skills are needed when you are in a situation where you may need to change jobs. I will be outlining the evidence that I have used to show you my demonstrated skills and these all come from doing events in school to voluntary school out of work and the skills I will be talking about are: • Leadership • Teamwork • Communication • Commitment • Organisation • Problem solving Discussion Leadership Leadership skills are skills that people need to have to become a successful leader when they are in a job or even if they get asked to do…

    • 1730 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the seventh edition of “Leadership: Theory and Practice”, Peter Northouse presents and explains a variety of leadership approaches such as the Trait Approach, Skills Approach, Behavioral Approach, and Situational Leadership Approach. All of these appraoches attempt to answer the age old question: “What makes a leader a leader?” The first leadership theory that is mentioned in Northouse’s book is the Trait Approach, which was one of the first organized attempts to answer the questions about leadership (p. 19). The Trait Approach focuses exclusively on the qualities and characters of a person and measures their ability to be a leader.…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How Do I Become the Leader I Want/Need to Be? There are various definitions of leadership, the one that I feel as though I mostly relate to is "leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an organized group toward goal achievement (Katz & Kahn, 1978, p.538). The leadership role that I strive for is to be the best Patient Access Emergency Department Supervisor. I recently became promoted to this position after five years of hard work and dedication to UHS Inc. By observing other departments and even my own supervisor, I have learned that it is not only expected but is also a necessity to be a role model, have integrity, be able to motivate employees to achieve a goal, be very competitive but also be empathetic and understating…

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The behavioral theory is based on “what leaders do and how they do it,” and the theory does depend on what traits the leaders possess since “the behavioral theory goal is to try to prescribe how a leader should behave” (Allen & Sawhney, 2015 p. 225). The contingency…

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    (Peter, 2006, pp. 3) defined that leadership is the procedures where the individual influences a number of people to obtain a desired goal. The same author, emphasized that leadership happens in a group of people, where the people are the situation in which the leadership will happen. Moreover, the leadership takes part in influencing the group of people who have a common goal or target. As well, it’s contain the concern & important to achieving the goals and targets. From this point, having different models of leadership is essential, in order to deal with different situations, figure the strengths & weaknesses, and lead the people to achieve their common goal successfully.…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dear Mrs. Baker, Mr. Skinner and Mr. Griffin, I am writing to you to express why I think that I would make an ideal Head Girl candidate. I would like to be head girl for one simple reason, to make a difference, and as an active member of this school I believe that I can achieve that goal by becoming head girl. With this belief, becoming head girl would not only benefit me as a person but the school as a whole. The position of head girl is one that requires a very specific set of skills at a high level, leadership, communication, organisation, being a role model and approachability to name a few, each of which I have experience with.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Effective leadership skills are very important. This can be distinguished by personalities, such as ambition and energy, the desire to lead, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, intelligence, relevant knowledge, and a self-monitoring personality. Leading gives the appropriate authority and responsibility to organize and run the daily activities of the…

    • 1369 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction As I reflect on this course and the results of the Questionnaires, Reflection, and Action Worksheets I have learned many aspects of leadership. I have analyzed the definition of leadership and now have a clearer understanding of it. According to, Introduction to Leadership; concepts and practice, by Peter Northouse (2015), leadership can be composed of many variables such as relationship, trait, ability, skill, behavior, and influence process. He also elaborates on how the “leadership of an individual can be used to influence a group to accomplish a common goal”. In addition, he discusses how leadership is not the same as management (Northouse, 2015, pp. 3-7).…

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leader should possess good communication skills: Possessing good communication skills comes next in the list of good leadership qualities. One has to make a note of the fact that communication skills are not just restricted to oratory skills, but also include other aspects of communication, such as listening and writing. 15. Leader should possess good decision-making abilities: In the journey to the top, a leader has to take many crucial decisions on the behalf of the team and followers. At this point of time, his decision-making and analytical skills would be tested, as the decision he takes will decide the fate of the team as a whole.…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    What is needed to be effective manager? Leading people in an organization can be a very hard job. The skills it takes to lead people sometimes can be overwhelming. There are a hundred different management books out there that say this is what you should.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays