What are the main theories of leadership? To provide a context for the key skills highlighted later, it is useful first to look briefly at some main theories and styles of leadership which will be the focus of the first few questions in this section.
As with all aspects of management thinking, leadership theory continues to evolve in response to changing social and work dynamics. A review of the development of leadership theory shows that there has been a gradual shift away from the belief that leadership is an inherent ability, reserved only for the select few, to an activity within the reach of many.
The most well-known leadership theories include:
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1. Great Man and Trait theories:
The earliest theories of leadership focused on the notion that leaders were born not made; given the prevailing attitudes at the time, leadership also was seen as being primarily within the domain of men, hence the ‘Great Man’ concept. These theories either asserted that an individual was born to be an outstanding leader, or that they had to possess specific inherent qualities associated with effective leadership. What are the main theories of leadership?
2. Behavioural theories:
What are the main theories of leadership? These theories generally took the opposite view about leadership, in that they argued that leaders were made, not born. The focus here was on what leaders do, rather than who they were, and the case was made that success as a leader resulted from definable behaviours that could be learned.
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3. Contingency / Situational theories:
These theories broadly argue that leadership effectiveness is based on responding to particular variables or situations and, as such, no one approach to leadership is effective in all cases. Contingency theory thus defined leadership style, ranging from task orientation at one end to relationship orientation at the other. Situational leadership focused on the behaviours that leaders should apply in response to given situations.
4. Participative theories:
Participative leadership theories promote the idea that the best leadership approach is one that takes the ideas and contributions of team members into account.
5. Transactional theories:
These theories are based on the narrow belief that individuals are best led through a system of rewards and punishment, with full authority for how the work is to be done remains with the leader. The transactional leader views leading others as a form of transaction, whereby rewards are given for good performance and punishment meted out for underperformance
6. Transformational theories:
Transformational leadership is an approach to leading others where the leader motivates and inspires others through developing a compelling vision, charismatic nature and enthusiasm for the role, delivering positive results both for the organisation and those working within it. What are the main theories of leadership?
All these theories have contributed in some way to current leadership thinking; modern approaches to leadership essentially are a combination of many of them:
- The present focus on the attributes needed by leaders has its roots in the trait theories.
- The belief that a leader must have the ability to adapt their approach to different people and situations can be traced to contingency and situational leadership models.
- The promotion of the need for greater inclusivity, working closely with employees, relates back to the participative theories.
- The notion of a leader establishing clear vision and having some ability to inspire others is linked to transformational leadership and even the idea that leaders cannot ignore under performance, an rightly, so has undertones of transactional leadership.
