Leadership and its Theories

Leadership and its Theories

Part 1

Leadership

The term leadership can be defined as an individual's ability to influence other people's behavior and guide them to a path that ultimately leads to the accomplishment of desired objectives. The five major theories of leadership include the following (Northouse, 2010);

Theories of Leadership

Trait theory

According to the trait theory of leadership, an individual's intrinsic characteristics that make up his personality determine his potential to demonstrate leadership qualities, whereas, their later interactions with the environment plays a little role, comparatively.

Behavioral Theory

This theory postulates that leaders who exhibit behaviors that are more considerate and structured in nature appear to be more proficient leaders.

Contingency/ Situational Theory

According to the contingency theory, the dynamics of every particular situation determine the display of one's leadership skills and qualities.

Leader-Member Exchange Theory

This theory ponders on the quality of relationship and expectations of a leader from his subordinates, which influences their performance and the resulting overall outcomes as well.

Normative Decision Theory

This theory integrates a leader's decision making strategies with the situational factors which essentially includes the involvement of the subordinates. Based on this, a leader may or may not consult the subordinates before making decisions.

Comparatively analyzing the various leadership theories, in my opinion, the theory that can be most effectively applied in a criminal justice organization is the Contingency Theory as it takes into consideration the varying situational factors. An unvarying method would not be much appropriate for such an organization as they deal with complex and a diverse variety of people who need to be dealt differently as per the requirements.

Source Cited

Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Fifth Edition. Data retrieved from http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=SOjzvJfSPycC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false on August 28, 2013.

Part 2

Charismatic Leader

Charismatic leaders are individuals who are exceptionally esteemed and possess exemplary qualities with a clear sense of purpose. Such people usually tend ...