Leadership Theory

Leadership Theory Introduction

In the early years of 19th century, leadership theory was being focused mainly on the terms of the differential qualities between the leaders who lead and the followers who follow the leaders while in the further sequential pattern, other theories came into being focusing other variables like level of skills, situational factors, traits etc. The theory of traits regarding the leaders is known as “Trait theory of leadership”. At this time, a common phenomenon was believed, which stated “leaders are born not made”, meanings the traits of leaders are rooted in their blood, one cannot teach or train someone to be a leader (Kinicki. A. 2008).

In the years of 1940's and 1950's, many researches performed qualitative researches regarding this phenomenon of leadership. They were able to find radical results suggesting the different variables that may affect the leadership qualities of a person from time to time. A person who is performing as a leader in one situation might not be able to perform as a leader in a different situation. Latterly, it was concluded that leadership traits are not inherited or rooted in one's blood line, they might vary from situation to situations. This theory eclipsed the other leadership theories, in the next few decades (Kinicki. A. 2008).

These new developments in the leadership theory resulted in making the trait theory of leadership ultimately a vital approach to study of leadership. Moreover, in 1980's, through advanced researches the researcher were able to perform meta-analyses. In this analysis, researchers quantitatively through analyses and summarization were able to cater a wide range of researches done in the past upon the leadership theories & styles, in one research or combined researches. Through these advancements in researches and technologies, many new research results and ideas were generated. New concepts regarding leadership included eight major categories, which I will be discussing in the paper below and this paper will also present different theories of leadership, my opinions regarding the Shriberg's assessment and various other sidelines related to leadership theories.

Discussion

The concept of leadership is not bound to a particular theory or just any one concept, but generally leadership is referred “A process of socially impacting others in a way, which motivates them to put their maximum efforts in achieving their goals (Kruse.K. 2013). Leadership role is played in many fields of life. Whether you are working in an organization or even at your house, skills of leadership makes you stand out amongst all odds. There are several theories that define the different aspects of leadership, but on the whole there are 8 major theories, which classifies almost all the other areas related to different leadership styles and theories into them. They are as follows:

1. "Great Man" Theories:

Great man theory stated, “The great leaders are born, they cannot be made”. Such theories often symbolize these great leaders as the mythic, majestic, heroes who were destined to be the leaders whenever their countries required them to ...