Leadership Theories

The following are significant leadership theories:

• Trait theories
• Behavioral theories
  • Ohio state studies
  • Michigan studies
  • The managerial grid
• Contingency theories
  • Fiedler’s contingency theory
  • Path-goal theory

Trait Theories of Leadership

According to trait theories, characteristics separate leaders from nonleaders. One can learn traits.

• High levels of personal desire and motivation to work toward objectives.
• Need for power to sway followers in order to have a desire to lead.
• Personal honesty in interactions with followers.
• Being confident in one's own abilities and abilities to accomplish goals.
• Cognitive ability: The capacity to comprehend information analytically.
• Business expertise: practical expertise
• Charisma: move listeners toward a goal.
• Creativity is the result of originality and wisdom.
• Flexibility and adaptability: capacity for situational adaptation
• Friendly disposition, feeling of good will, and warmth with followers.
• Successful leadership is not always a result of traits. However, some characteristics set leaders apart from followers. They raise the possibility of leadership success.

Trait Theory Limitations

• There are no characteristics that can be used in all circumstances.
• Effective leaders cannot be distinguished from ineffective leaders based on traits.
• It's unclear how one thing causes another. For instance, do leaders have self-confidence, or does success as a leader increase confidence?
• The value of this hypothesis in forecasting behavior is minimal.

Behavioral Theories of Leadership

• According to these views, certain acts set leaders apart from followers.
• Leaders can be developed through training.
• The following are significant behavioral theories of leadership:
  • The studies at Ohio State
  • University of Michigan research
  • The organizational grid

The Ohio State Studies

These studies separated group behavior into two dimensions:

• Structure: How task-focused and concerned a leader is with using resources wisely to achieve group objectives. The definition of the roles and subordinates as designed for goal attainment.
• An important factor to take into account is how employee-focused a leader is and how concerned he is with the quality of his connections with subordinates. A relationship is considered to be of high quality when:
• Building friendship and mutual trust through teamwork
• Respect for ideas from subordinates (consultation)
• Regard for the fillings of the underlings (recognition)
• Frank dialogue with subordinates
• Assistance from subordinates
• Representative of the interests of subordinates.
• High-structure and thoughtful leaders frequently achieve high staff performance and happiness. They lead with success.

Relationship between Leadership Studies at Ohio State

Structure

• Planning
• Coordinating\sDirecting
• Finding solutions
• Role definition
• Critiquing subpar work

Consideration

• Mutual respect and friendliness
• Advisory sessions with subordinates
• Acknowledging subordinates
• Honest dialogue
• Supportiveness
• Defending the interests of subordinates