Theories Of Leadership And Leadership Theories

STATEMENT 1: THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP PROVIDE PRACTICAL ADVICE ON HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE LEADER. EVALUATE THIS STATEMENT WITH REFERENCE TO AT LEAST TWO THEORIES OR MODELS OF LEADERSHIP.

Leadership is important because it helps followers reach a common goal. There have been several studies based on effective leadership. The definition of leadership has evolved over the years adapting to the different views of the world. Leaders have influence on their followers they are looked up to.

Situational and Authentic leadership are increasingly important skills to possess in today’s era of technological changes and availability and flow of information we have in this day and age. Leaders today must be able to adjust their leadership styles to the whatever situation arises as well as to the people who they are leading. Leaders are not limited to just use one style in one situation, being able to adapt appropriate styles to different situations will influence and help a leader succeed. A leader’s judgement, intelligence, cultural awareness, and self-control plays major roles in helping them choose the proper style and appropriate technique for the task at hand (Lau & Cronin, 1998).

Leadership is complex and, comprises of many definitions and qualities (Grimm 2010). One definition of leadership is ‘a multifaceted process of identifying a goal, motivating other people to act, and providing support and motivation to achieve mutually negotiated goals’ (porter-O’Grady 2003). Back in 1939 Kurt Lewin researched to identify different styles of leadership. According to his research, there are three major styles of leadership. Authoritarian or autocratic, participative or democratic and delegative or laizzes-fair. These three styles remain influential today. According to educational leaders.govt.NZ, leadership is about empowering, transforming and working together to meet schools and 21st century (www.tki).There are many leadership theories and from leadership theories comes leadership styles. the educational leadership model according to www.educational leaders.govt.nz identifies four qualities that build a leader 's capability to enhance teaching and learning outcomes for the school: manaakitangi- leading with moral purpose, pono- having self-belief, ako- being a learner, awhinatanga -guiding and supporting.

Leadership is an influential factor in the success and failure. If an organization is failing, look at the leader, not the economy; not the market; look at the leader. The movements and influence of a leader determines the fate of those under her or him. The importance of leadership cannot be underestimated. The importance of leadership has constantly been debated and a part argumentative discussion. There is no one approach to leadership, however leadership theories try to make sense of various approaches to leadership. James G. Clawson is considered an authority in leadership theories. His Level III leadership theory is about managing energy, first in leader, and then in those around the leader.

The leadership models/theories that will be demonstrated are skills-based leadership, situational leadership, and leader-member exchange theory.

Situational leadership has very little in common with the other models mentioned herein. This model revolves around the leader changing leadership behaviors to meet the needs in relationship to the follower (Kouzes, 2003, p. 111). The difference between situational leadership and charismatic, servant, and transformational leadership is the lack of an organizational vision and the empowerment of the followers. Situational leadership uses followers based on their readiness level that relate to their ability and willingness to complete the task (Wren, 1995, p. 208). This aspect coupled with the leader’s task and relationship behavior is used in relation to the

L., 1997). It seems that in an attempt to avoid criticism, Hersey and Blanchard (1988) explicitly declare that their Situational Leadership approach is not a theory. Instead, they say it is "a practical model that can be used by managers, salespersons, teachers or parents." The theory, as with others, cannot possibly encompass the behavior of leaders in multiple organizations and situations. The theory, or model, takes a more objective way of evaluating leadership behavior, when in fact, there are inherent subjective characteristics of leadership that can affect leadership styles and effectiveness.

Bass acknowledges that transformational leadership is not a panacea, and in certain situations other styles of leadership are indicated (Avery, Avery, Bell, Hilb, & Witte, 2004, p. 97). A flexible organization with leaders whose style is adaptable to meet the changing needs of employees and situation may ascribe the situational leadership model. Situational leaders rely on intuition and analysis of a given situation to lead in a way that makes sense based on that particular situation. The effective manager is able to utilize multiple leadership styles as conditions change. Blanchard and Hersey (Chapman, 2012) characterized the situational leadership style in terms of the amount of the direction, and the support, that the leader provides to followers. Depending on employees’ competencies in their task areas and commitment to their tasks, the leadership style varies from one person to another. This leader might lead the same person one way sometimes, and another way at other times.

This theory states that situational factors, rather than skills of leader, determine the effectiveness of leadership. Situational theories propose that leaders choose the best course of action based upon situational variables. Different styles of leadership are needed

These leadership theories are grouped in trait theories, behavioral theories, contingency theories, and power and influence theories. Trait theories focus on the traits and skills that successful leaders must have. Initially, these theories state that these skills are innate, but research shows that individuals can also develop such skills and become leaders. Behavioral theories focus on other issues, like the behavior of leaders within their teams, in relationship with stakeholders, and within society. In accordance with these theories, these are several leadership styles, like autocratic or authoritarian, democratic, participative, laissez faire, and other styles. These theories state that the behavior of leaders significantly influences their and their teams' performance.

‘Leadership’ is a term thrown around a lot in the modern world. It is said that leadership is the way to move forward and someone at all times need to appointed at this role. Sadly it is not clear to anyone what the term means and which leadership theory is the best. Theorists argue that ‘trait theory’ or ‘great man theory’ is the best for today’s world but I disagree with them. As I believe the ‘situational leadership’ is the best, not only for now but also the foreseeable future. In this essay I will analyse a leadership theory and evaluate its impact on my professional practice. I will do so by explaining what situational theory is, provide few strengths and weaknesses and evaluate how the theory informed my teaching practice. It is true that over the years theories have evolved and/or adapted themselves to fit the society. Let us all see if my chosen theory fits today’s technological world or not.

Situational Leadership is also called as Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory. Paul Hersey the author of "Situational Leader" and Ken Blanchard the author of " The One Minute Manager" are the one who introduced this theory (Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory, 2010-2015). The principle behind this theory is that every theory is not perfect in itself and the effectiveness of the theory is determined by the situation (Kreitner, 2013, p. 472). One of the important lesson that I have learned till this day is no one can be prepared for the upcoming problems. Problems may have same nature but may be different in the way it has to be solved. For instance: A Leader may motivate an employee by increasing salary but the same tactics may not work for another employee. Another employee may be seeking challenging job which may influence him/her to

A large amount of credit is given to Bass 's transformational leadership theory identifies four aspects of

Different theories of leadership classify leadership in different ways. Based on the use of authority, leadership is classified into three types as autocratic, democratic and laissez faire leadership styles (Adeyemi, 2013). Having gone through my free flow journey has helped me explore my entire life as a process of learning and evolution of my own leadership. This mandatory part of my journal has given me the opportunity to reflect on my personal values as they are the primary influencer to my leadership development. Since our behaviours determines our values, this mandatory journaling is a powerful tool to identify which of the four waves of values (1st and 2nd Wave Values, 3rd and 4th Wave Values) influences my leadership practices.