Stepping into Leadership

1.2 Leadership theories

 

It can be useful to be aware of some of the main theories relating to leadership. Not in an academic study way, but to help identify the kinds of leadership that we experience every day - and give them a name!

Some writers use slightly different terms from each other and there is some overlap of ideas. Please remember, as with all the things on this course, that the ideas are not offered as the "right" or "best" answer. They are here to stimulate your thinking and help you come to your own conclusions.

Kendra Cherry identifies Eight Major Leadership Theories and provides a broad overview of some key theories in a nutshell:

 

1. Great Man
2. Trait
3. Contingency
4. Situational
5. Behavioural
6. Participative
7. Management (transactional)
8. Relationship (transformational)

There is also a Quiz: What’s Your Leadership Style?

 

It might be useful to have the Eight Leadership Theories as a printout or as a separate screen when watching the following presentation. This has 10 theories - and all in 5 minutes!

 

 

The fact is that there are lots of theories; many of them are variants on others (or just the same, with a different name).

The video presentation has the additional theory of Servant Leadership, a term coined by Robert K Greenleaf. It emphasises collaboration, trust, empathy, and the ethical use of power, rather than hierarchy.

 

Simon Sinek

Although it isn't quite the same as Greenleaf's philosophy, Simon Sinek's ideas in his book Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't connect to some of the values of Servant Leadership. This interview with him on CBS television covers so much in just a few minutes.

 

 

This starts to take us into the arena of leadership styles. Before we do that in the next section it is worth looking back at Trait Theory.

It is easy to dismiss the Trait Theory. It emerged from the Great Man Theory and tends to the "born" rather than "made" end of the spectrum. If we substitute the word characteristics or attributes for 'trait' it could be more attractive and more useful.

Kendra Cherry in Traits Associated With Great Leadership identifies 16 key traits or characteristics associated with effective leadership:

• Intelligence and action-oriented judgement
• Eagerness to accept responsibility
• Task competence
• Understanding their followers and their needs
• People skills
• A need for achievement
• Capacity to motivate people)
• Courage and resolution
• Perseverance
• Trustworthiness
• Decisiveness
• Self-confidence
• Assertiveness
• Adaptability and flexibility
• Emotional stability
• Creativity

We would want all of these some of the time, and some of them all of the time.

 

Reflection

Where are your own strengths in relation to these characteristics?

Which of these characteristics do you think you need to develop to be more effective?

You can use the Stepping Into Leadership Course Workbook to record your thoughts.

 

Continue the course with 1.3 Leadership styles