Leadership Theories - Sep 2019
Leadership Theories - Sep 2019
Leadership Theories - Sep 2019
Theories of leadership
There are many theories that have attempted to explain the characteristics required by individuals to be
effective leaders. There are three important theories that have attempted to explain leadership –
personality trait theories, behavior theories and contingency theories.
I) Trait Theories:
Initial research into leadership concentrated on the traits of the leaders. It was believed that there was
something unique about the individual that enabled him to emerge as a leader. This theory emphasizes
that leaders are born and not made and that leadership is a function of inborn traits. Some of these
inborn traits are intelligence, understanding, perception, high motivation, socioeconomic status,
initiative, maturity, need for self actualization, self assurance and understanding of personal
interpersonal relations.
One trait theory is the “great person” theory of leadership. According to this theory, leadership traits
can be acquired with training and experience. They may not be inborn. However, the trait theory of
leadership has suffered from lack of conclusiveness and oversimplifications. As Eugene E. Jennings has
concluded, “fifty years of study have failed to produce one personality trait or a set of qualities that can
be used to discriminate leaders from non leaders”. The critics have charged that the theory focuses
attention only on the leader and disregards the dynamics of the leadership process. Also, the theory
ignores the situational characteristics which may result in the emergence of a leader. History is replete
with non trained, non academics Fords, Edison‘s and Carnegies who could not even claim a grammar
school education, yet managed to become leaders whose influence was felt around the globe.
Since the trait theories failed to establish the relationship between traits and effective leadership,
researchers turned their attention to the behavioral aspects of successful leaders. They attempted to
identify the behaviors that were unique to leaders, and which distinguished them from non-leaders.
Behavioral theories of leadership are based upon the belief that great leaders are made, not born. 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. There are three
important behavioral theories – the Ohio State studies, the University of Michigan Studies and the
Managerial Grid – that have sought to identify the specific behaviors exhibited by effective leaders. Let
us see details of one such, the Managerial grid.
The managerial grid model (1964) is a behavioral leadership model developed by Robert
R. Blake and Jane Mouton. This model originally identified five different leadership styles
based on the concern for people and the concern for production. The optimal leadership
style in this model is based on Theory Y.
Figure 1.2 The Managerial Gid:
The strength of this model lies in its simplicity and intuitive appeal. Also, the model emphasizes on an
individual‘s ability and willingness to do a task. This factor was mostly ignored by most of the
researchers. However, the model ignores certain factors like leader‘s attitude that is the reason it is not
widely accepted by most researchers.