Taxonomy of Leadership Theories
Yvette Primous-Flowers
Walden University
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Taxonomy of Leadership Theories
The term “leadership” has been inflated for many years by countless scholars from various disciplines such as sociology or philosophy, psychology or business. Extensive research has been done revealing new and innovative theories explaining the sensation of “leadership”. As with any new theory or science solving the task to identify or justify ones, opinion takes on a life of its own. This taxonomy is intended to provide an overview of four leadership theories beginning with the earliest, mentioning influential authors of the particular theory.
I. Trait Theory
II. Year Introduced 1904-1948
III.
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The outcome of this constructive conservation was a list of 1,800 items describing various facets of leader behavior. Afterward, the different items were assigned, and a questionnaire was composed consisting of 150 questions for describing leader behaviors, the so-called “Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ)”, (p. 76).
Researchers at the University of Michigan identified two types of leadership behaviors: employee orientation and production orientation. The two concepts were built on clusters of characteristics, which showed a positive correlation with each other and criteria associated with effectiveness. Employee orientation behavior can be observed, when employees are essential to the leader, when he is considering their feelings in decision situations, when he is working on positive relationships between him and his employees. On the opposite side, the production orientation behavior displayed by a leader is only concerned with the production and technical aspects of it. Employees are only factors of the production, and not seen as individuals (Bosers and Seashores, 1966).
A third line of research was begun by Blake and Mouton in the early 1960’s; it explored how managers used task and relationship behaviors in the organizational setting (Northouse, 2013). The creation of the Managerial Grid was designed to explain how leaders help organizations to reach their purposes through two factors: concern for production and
The leader behavior approach is the focus of what people do as a leader or leadership style rather than the characteristics leaders inherit as a leader. It is the assumption that the actions of a person opposed to their innate mental state. Because leaders can learn through teaching and observation; specific behaviors are the focus of a leader. An important study of this theory was conducted by the Ohio State University, and the purpose was to identify common leadership behaviors. The study and research uncovered that there are two linked groups of behavior.
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”...
There a numerous leadership theories that help manage a successful business. These theories include techniques that have been developed and constantly improving since 1888. Theorists such as Thomas Carlyle, Kurt Lewin, and James Kouze, have developed characteristics they believe will shape the leaders of tomorrow. These characteristics are structured together to create theories based on personality, relationships, and developmental styles. The following will provided an organized overview of ten theorists and the characteristics they believe to develop successful leaders.
This paper will highlight the world's leading psychologist's thinking and research towards leadership who examined leadership as the psychological process (Bligh and Meindl, 2005) .This paper will cover the diversity of topics covered in this field including; psychological concept of leadership; major key psychological theories underpinning leadership behavior, power and influences; cognitive process that categorize individuals as leaders and
The principal aspects of leadership are oft debated; to attempt to define what leadership is would most certainly result in broad and varied definitions dependent on who is queried. Nonetheless, in the preeminent
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 aim of this article is to explore different leadership styles and the way they influence their work outcome.
The next big era of leadership theories was the Rational Management era. When the previous era failed to determine exact traits that could consistently be identified in great leaders, a shift occurred to begin looking at how these leaders behaved, and what made them into great leaders, rather than who they were in a specific sense. This was a major shift from thinking that people were born leaders, to now considering that perhaps leaders could be made, or trained to become leaders. The first of these theories, beginning in the early 1950’s, were the behavior theories. The focus of these theories was to study what these leaders do, and
In practice, Tyssen et al. (2013, p. 54) found that people in an organization usually receive periodic enrichment such as leadership training, On-the-Job Training (OJT) and/or a project which aims to foster a leadership behavior. However, a future leader in an organization may be getting experience on how chaired by using various types of leadership. For example, how their leader motivate them, how they deliver reward and punishment, and how they provide learning spaces in daily activities. So, from all those behavioral process above, it will form a leader who knows the problems that arise in the organization not only in theory, but also in practice; and this kind of leader can be specified as the effective leader (Daft & Pirola-Merlo 2009, p. 21).
Leaders have a profound effect on employee performance because they shape workers’ perceptions of the working environment. Consequently, some leadership styles are more effective with meeting particular objectives. Although personal attributes dictate a leader’s natural leadership style, effective leaders recognize the benefits and limitations of each style, understand the impact a style will have on the organization’s environment, and are capable of developing and incorporating a variety of styles to ensure the desired outcome is achieved.
Though the theories of leadership glorify factors, such as personal significance, timing, special skills, responsiveness, or power, as the qualities of a leader, I believe that neither of those factors are as essential as being personable. I believe being personable is the greatest determinant since a leadership position requires public speaking, either in the form of one-to-one conversations or to an audience. I believe that a leader should create an impression that will motivate and inspire others. Therefore, they should be able to create an impressive and enduring impression. Leaders should speak to others in a way that is respectful, friendly, and relatable. If they are unable to do so, then no matter how powerful or significant the individual, not a single person will follow, admire, or respect them.
An effective leader influences their employees in a desired manner to achieve goals and objectives. Different leadership styles can affect an organization’s effectiveness and performance. The objective of this paper is to analyze the review of literature on various leadership styles over the past years and how effective and ineffective different leadership styles are in the workplace.
A large amount of credit is given to Bass 's transformational leadership theory identifies four aspects of
Research on management and leadership in organizations over the past century shows there are still no clear definitions or answers about what counts as effective and successful leadership; the field remains varied and argued. Actual studies of leadership began in the early twentieth century. The research and studies on leadership have resulted in defining what characters, traits and attitudes are considered to be significant for leaders to possess. The early studies of leadership theories focused on the person and their behaviors, currently known as leadership trait theories and behavioral theories. It is important for organizational leaders and managers to understand what characteristics, traits and actions of an individual mark a great leader when forming a strong diverse workforce.