What makes specific individuals thrive in leadership positions? Leadership theories attempt to explain how and why certain individuals become leaders. Such theories often concentrate on leadership attributes, but others seek to pinpoint the actions individuals may adopt to enhance their leadership talents in various situations.
What is a Leadership Theory?
A leadership theory explains how and why some people become leaders. The emphasis is on the qualities and actions that individuals may acquire to improve their leadership abilities. According to leaders, strong ethics and high moral standards are vital traits of a successful leader.
To explain why certain people are destined to take on leadership roles, we need to look at leadership theories. The emphasis is placed on attainable traits and practises that may improve one’s leadership skills. Ethics and moral rectitude are seen as crucial traits in a leader.
What Makes a Trustworthy Leader?
Successful leaders are charismatic, courageous, visionary, and ambitious. Inspiring peak performance from their team is one of the primary ways a good leader contributes to the success of a business.
Qualities All Great Leaders Must Possess
- Have empathy and show it
- Maintain open channels of communication.
- Being able to make choices
- Effective planning
- Collaborate.
10 Important Leadership Theories You Must Know
1. The Management or Transactional Theory
The transactional theory was created at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to increase business output. It is a style of management that sees hierarchy as a means to better the company. These bosses put a premium on order and discipline and don’t hesitate to use their position to demand strict adherence to the rules to get the most out of their employees. According to this theory, compensation should be based on how well employees perform against specified goals. The idea also assumes that employees have to follow instructions from their superiors.
Managers that use transactional leadership keep a close check on their teams, providing praise and consequences when needed. Contrary to popular belief, these execs do not act as a catalyst for a company’s growth. Instead, they try to ensure the company’s rules and procedures are followed to a tee.
Transactional leadership is practised by leaders who:
- Focus on the here and now.
- Promote uniformity in procedures and rules
- New developments
- Prevent people from thinking for themselves
- privileging one’s concerns above those of others
- Motivate People to Do Better
Transactional leadership is effective when there are well-defined obstacles to overcome and the primary objective is completing a task.
2. Transformational Theory
According to the transformational management theory, an effective leader-follower connection is crucial to the success of any business. According to this school of thought, great leaders motivate their teams to perform higher than they believe they can. Leaders inspire their followers to work towards a shared goal.
Leaders who can motivate and inspire their teams to greater heights are called transformative. Supervisors who lead by example inspire their teams with their actions rather than empty platitudes.
Transformational leaders are those who:
- Self-manage
- Show the way
- Make communication a top priority.
- Use initiative in your job. Encourage employee growth
- accepting new ideas
- Bet yourself and make the tough decisions.
In contrast to transactional leaders, transformational leaders emphasize fixing broken procedures and building cohesive teams to achieve organizational goals. In addition, successful leaders put the needs of the business and its workers ahead of their own.
3. The Contingency Theory
The contingency theory suggests that there is no optimal method for managing a company. Both internal and external factors should be considered when deciding on the best plan for driving a firm to success. According to contingency theory, the ideal candidate would be the one who best fits the given circumstances.
Following contingency theory, the following factors affect a leader’s approach to leading:
- Management Strategy
- Work speed
- Policies and culture in the workplace
- The morale of employees, the maturity of employees
- The connection between team members or colleagues
- The goals of the organization
Setting and routine at work The leader selects the management approach that will best assist the company in achieving its goals under the given conditions.
In this perspective, leaders’ efficacy is contingent on external factors. The theory emphasizes that it doesn’t matter how effective a leader is; challenging circumstances will always come. It highlights that the leaders understand that their success depends on a mix of luck and skill.
4. Situational Theory
This approach, like the contingency theory before it, stresses the importance of context and insists that a leader should adapt to changing circumstances to accomplish goals and make judgments. These leaders’ leadership styles may be influenced by the skill and commitment of their team members.
According to situation theory, leaders should adapt to changing circumstances.
- Create a bond with the working world.
- Motivate Staff Members
- Learn to identify the circumstances that call for a different approach to leadership.
- Build up your groups and departments.
- Four distinct leadership styles may be identified using this concept:
Staff employees are told by their managers what to do and how to accomplish it.
A leader’s ability to sell their team on their ideas is a key skill.
Effective leaders foster an environment where all team members find solutions to problems and make decisions.
Limiting their engagement, CEOs delegate most of the job to their staff. These leaders allow the group to make decisions but are constantly available with guidance.
Problem-solving skills, trustworthiness, flexibility, insight, and coaching are the only qualities of the leadership theories identified as necessary for a situational leader.
5. The Great Man Theory
The idea that leaders are born and not made or developed is central to one of the first views on the topic. This theory proposes that leaders have common traits, such as those listed below.
- Glamour
- Decisive
- Wisdom
- Daring
- Assertiveness
- Appeal
To those who hold this opinion, training someone to become a good leader is impossible. You cannot learn it; you’re either born with it or aren’t. These skills are inborn. Thus there is no way to hone them via practice or instruction.
These attributes are essential for every successful leader, regardless of the industry in which they work. Another element of this leadership concept is that outstanding leaders appear at the right time.
6. The Trait Theory
The trait leadership theories build on the excellent man hypothesis by postulating that successful leaders have distinctive character traits. Because of these traits, they may take charge in various situations. Furthermore, it supports the view that specific individuals are more apt to take on leadership roles than others. Successful people are marked by distinct interests and characteristics not shared by the average Joe or Jane.
Some of the essential traits of an effective leader are:
- Stability of feelings
- admitting one has a responsibility
- Competence
- Recognizing Challenges
- Putting thoughts into motion
- Capacity for inspiration
- Abilities in expression
- Adaptability and tenacity
- Making choices with confidence
This kind of leadership may assist you in better understanding your weaknesses and capabilities. Then you may work on improving those areas. Many businesses use the usual method to find their next great leader.
7. Behaviourist Theory
An individual’s potential for leadership is seen as a result of their upbringing under this theory. Effective management relies on a wide variety of skill sets. In contrast to the leadership paradigm, the behavioural theory posits that leaders may be made rather than born. Therefore, leadership skills are not based on an individual’s innate characteristics but on their actions. With the correct guidance and education, anybody can take on a leadership role.
The hypothesis posits that managers may increase productivity and morale by paying closer attention to their actions. Following the many types of leadership recognized by this theory, the following groups of managers have been established:
- Task-oriented supervisors
- Leaders that prioritize their followers
- Disinterested leaders
- Achieving success as a leader
- Authoritarian rulers
- Current Powers That Be
- True leaders
- Clever merchants
- Managers who act like father figures
- Club Presidents
Using behavioural theory, evaluating the management techniques of construction experts, team leaders, or any competent manager is easy.
8. Behavioral Theory
According to behavioural leadership theory, followers may learn to emulate their leaders by observing and imitating their behaviour. The design idea argues that, contrary to popular belief, practical leadership skills can be taught to anybody with the right attitude and practice. Behavioural leadership theories heavily emphasize a leader’s observable actions, with the idea that this is the greatest measure of the leader’s effectiveness.
According to the behavioural learning theory, actions are more important than characteristics. In line with this theory, distinguishable behavioural patterns are categorized as “leadership styles.” Leaders may take on a variety of focuses, from task-oriented to club-oriented to people-focused to authoritarian to maintaining the status quo and beyond.
9. Functional Theory
The functional leadership theory places more weight on how an organization or workplace is directed than on its nominal head. Instead of relying on a single person, the functional leadership style trusts a group’s collective behaviour to get things done.
10. The Theory of Integrated Psychology
A possible new kind of leadership, “integrative leadership”, seeks to bring people from different backgrounds to work together for the greater benefit. It incorporates business, government, organizations, the media, and community leadership practises and philosophies.
What Role Do Leadership Theories Play?
Leadership theories explain the conditions that foster the growth of leaders in specific individuals. They focus on what individuals can do and how they may change to become better leaders. Top attributes that executives identify as vital to good leadership include Moral compass and ethical standards.
The value of a strong leader cannot be emphasized enough. Leadership is a key factor in the success of any company. The state has gained autonomy, growth, affluence, and strength thanks to its leadership. The quality of its leadership also influences a company’s or its industrial organization’s growth and prosperity.
Different Types of Leadership Styles
- The bureaucrat
- The Autocrat
- The diplomat
- The expert
- The quarterback
Leadership ideas, as you can see, are grounded in several philosophies. Some of these theories focus on leaders’ inherent characteristics, while others highlight the significance of contextual factors. Leadership, like many other behavioural concepts, is very complex, and there are many aspects to consider when deciding who will fill the shoes of a leader. Leaders will always be in high demand in the corporate world since the human element is one of, if not the essential, factors in determining an organization’s success or failure.
