Summary of Leadership Theories

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.