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"Some Popular Leadership Theories"

    - by Simon Hazeldine MSc BA (Hons) FInstSMM
 

(c) Simon Hazeldine. All Rights Reserved.


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SOME POPULAR LEADERSHIP THEORIES


“Leadership is a combination of strategy and character.
If you must be without one, be without the strategy."
- General Norman Schwarzkopf


Throughout history (both ancient and recent) there have
been different fashions in leadership theories:

Some of these include:

Plato who believed that effective leaders are ‘philosopher
kings’ who wielded power with values.

Niccolo Machiavelli whose book “The Prince”, espoused the
view that effective leaders are devious power wielders who
employ manipulation and exploit people to achieve their
ends.

Management guru Peter Drucker wrote about effective
leadership as being about carrying out the key functions
of management – planning, organizing, and directing.
A sort of “cut the crap - leadership is just good
management” approach!

Douglas McGregor in his book “The Human Side Of Enterprise”
proposed that effective leaders understand the human side
of organisations. He formulated two models (the famous
Theory X and Theory Y approach) and believed that people
will contribute more to an organisation if they are
treated as responsible and valued employees.

Peter Block the author of “The Empowered Manager” believes
that effective leaders empower others.

Amongst the myriad of theories about effective leadership
some of the key ones are:

Great Man Theory. 
This was popular in late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It focuses on the innate characteristics of, exceptional
“hero” leaders. Although it is now largely viewed as
invalid, however, it is still often alluded to and to this
day much of the literature on leadership remains focused
on the ‘great’ or ‘hero’ leader e.g. Jack Welch, Winston
Churchill, Margaret Thatcher etc

Trait Theory.
Once you have identified the ‘great’ or
‘hero’ leaders the theory goes that you can study and
scrutinise their personalities and behaviour. From this
it was hoped to identify the traits of effective leaders.
However, because there is so much contradictory evidence
(what one ‘great’ leader has another equally ‘great’ leader
lacks) there has never been any true consensus on what the
traits are.

Style Theory.
This takes the approach that different
situations demand different forms of leadership. This
approach is not reliant on individual personality.
A well know example of this is Situational Leadership. 
Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey developed a theory and a
practical model that is based on the concept that an
individual’s leadership style should vary based upon the
situation and the skills of the individuals involved. 
A sort of ‘different strokes for different folks’ approach!

Behavioural Theory.
This theory focuses on what leaders do
and how effective they are at doing it. It focuses on the
behaviours that leaders use in their day to day working
life. 

Transactional Theory.
This approach is where the leader
communicates a very clear goal and targets to their
followers and then motivates them to achieve these.
Rewards are given in exchange for achievement and loyalty.

Transformational Theory.
This is where the leader focuses
on the relationship between themselves and their followers.
The leader will inspire people without using coercive
power and authority.  The leader is focussed on gaining
commitment from their followers rather than compliance.
The transformational leader is often visionary, innovative
and inspiring.

If one or more of these theories appeals to you, then you
may wish to learn more about it and see what it has to
offer you.

One of the most important things that a leader can do is
to develop their own model, theory or approach to
leadership.  This is a very valuable thing to do.

Whilst there are many different theories, models,
approaches and research into effective leadership one
thing is certain.

Every effective leader is unique. There may be some common
factors, but each leader is a unique individual with a
unique approach.  Clarifying your own unique approach to
leadership is an important thing to do.


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Simon Hazeldine is a best selling author, professional
speaker and performance consultant. He is passionate
about helping individuals and organisations improve
their performance.

Simon has run leadership development programs in over
15 countries across 4 continents.

Simon is the bestselling author of Bare Knuckle Selling,
BareKnuckle Negotiating, Bare Knuckle Customer Service
and The Inner Winner

For more valuable information on improving your
sales, profits and performance (including sample chapters
from all of Simon's best selling books) at zero cost to you
visit: http://www.simonhazeldine.com today!
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