Leadership Theories

Leadership is the process whereby an individual influence a group of individuals to achieve a

common goals.
Great Leaders are born, not made? According to the point of view, great leaders
are simply born with the necessary intrinsic characteristics such as charisma,
confidence, intelligence, and social skills that make them natural-born leaders. People
often describe prominent leaders having right qualities/ traits for the position
implying by inherent characteristics which make them effective leaders. Researcher
criticized that leadership is based on hereditary factor, they believed to remake
society because great leaders were only made cause of the atmosphere and society
around them.
Traits Theory believes that People are born with inherited traits and have the right
amalgamation of traits. Emotional stability, admitting error, Good interpersonal skills
and Intellectual breadth are primary traits are benchmarks for what we need to look
for if we want to be leader. Limitations that no universal traits that can predict
leadership in all situations.
Behavioral theory attempts to describe leadership in terms of what leaders do?
People can learn to become leaders through teaching and observation. Managerial
Grid is based on five leadership styles under two dimensions: Concern of production;
achieving organizations tasks and Concern of people; relationship with team
members. A leader who uses role-playing acting out in a way that is representative
of any specific social position in the society. Role-playing helps in resolution of
conflict and explaining social positions in the community. Role conflict occur when
leaders have different ideas about what they should be do and what are the expectations
from them.

Contingency theories focus on particular variables related to the environment that

might determine which particular style of leadership is best suited for the situation.
Fiedler's contingency theory specify how situational factors interact with leader
traits and behavior to influence leadership effectiveness. The theory based on the
"favorability" of the situation determines the effectiveness of task and relationship
oriented behavior of the leader. There are three factors are identified: Leadermember relations, Task structure and Leader position power.
Hersey and Blanchard suggest leaders should adapt and develop leadership style
(maturity), which is on based on how willingly the follower is to perform required
tasks. Four leadership styles are: Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating based
on development level of the follower. Vroom-Yetton Model of Leadership focuses
upon decision making as how successful leadership emerges and progresses by
using parameters shaping a decision which are quality, commitment of group or
organization members, and time restrictions. There are five types of leader decisionmaking styles, which are labeled AI, AII, CI, CII, and GII, ranging from strongly
autocratic (AI), to strongly democratic or group-based (GII).
Path-goal theory proposes that characteristics of subordinates and the work
environment determine which leader behaviors will be more effective. These
characteristics of subordinate are locus of control, work experience, ability, and the
need for affiliation. The theory includes four different leader behaviors, which
include directive leadership, supportive leadership, participative leadership, and
achievement-oriented leadership.
Tannenbaum and Schmidt Model shows the relationship between the level of
freedom that a manager chooses to give to a team, and the level of authority used
by the manager.
Transactional leadership is a style of leadership in which the leader promotes
compliance of the followers through both rewards and punishments. Leader-

Member Exchange Theory describe how leaders in groups maintain their position
through a series of tacit exchange agreements with their members. The LMX
process follows three stages: Role taking, Role Making and Routinization. Theory
suggest that it is important to recognize the existence of in-group and out-group
within organization.
Leadership Skills Strataplex captures the stratified and complex nature of leadership
skills requirement and their relationship with level of organization. There are four
skills requirement: Cognitive Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Business Skills and Strategic
Skills.