TOC Leadership Theories Trait Theories

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Definitions: PAGEREF _Toc284331034 - 2 -Leadership Theories PAGEREF _Toc284331035 - 3 -Trait Theories: PAGEREF _Toc284331036 - 3 -Leaders are born: PAGEREF _Toc284331037 - 4 -Case 1: Benito Mussolini (29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) PAGEREF _Toc284331038 - 4 -Case 2: Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) PAGEREF _Toc284331039 - 6 -Case 3: Price William PAGEREF _Toc284331040 - 6 -Example to clarify the Great man theory PAGEREF _Toc284331041 - 7 -Leaders are made: PAGEREF _Toc284331042 - 7 -Case 1: Martin Luther King’s PAGEREF _Toc284331043 - 9 -Case 2: KWS Management: PAGEREF _Toc284331044 - 10 -Conclusion: PAGEREF _Toc284331045 - 12 -REFERENCES: PAGEREF _Toc284331046 - 13 - Definitions: Leadership: Art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly towards achieving set goals. Process of leading people in the right direction in order to achieve goals. Kouzes, James M. & Posner, Barry Z. (1987). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Leader: A person who rules or guides or inspires others.' Someone others are willing to follow, almost without question. Northouse, G. (2007). Leadership theory and practice. (3rd ed.) Thousand Oak, London, New Delhe, Sage Publications, Inc. Characteristics of a good leader: One who has an excellent and admirable character A leader has to be trustworthy and must fulfill promises made. He must also take responsibility for his own actions. One who takes work seriously A good leader is one who takes his work and role as a leader seriously. He motivates his followers towards a common objective. One who is confident and calm in a crisis A leader must display self-confidence and exude a clam disposition so that people will believe in him. He is able to adapt to situational changes. http://www.bukisa.com/ Leadership Theories Great Man Theory; According to Great Man theory, a leader is born and cannot be made. This theory believed that leaders are people who have inborn exceptional qualities and are destined to lead. Here the term quot;
Manquot;
is used since leadership was considered as a concept that would be primarily dominated by males. Great leaders would arise only when there is an urgent need of it. It also suggests that leadership qualities are inherent. Trait Theories: Similar in some ways to quot;
Great Manquot;
theories, trait theories assume that people inherit certain qualities and traits that make them better suited to leadership. Trait theories often identify particular personality or behavioral characteristics shared by leaders. Contingency Theory; this theory focuses on variables that are related to environment and that would determine which style of leadership is suitable for a particular situation. It says that it is impossible to determine which leadership style will suit best for any situation. Success depends on qualities of followers and other variables. Situational Theories; this theory suggests that on the basis of situational variable, leaders should choose the course of action. Diverse styles of leadership will me more suitable to make certain types of decisions Behavioral Theories; this theory believes that great leaders are not born but are made. The prime focus of this theory is on actions of leaders. The focus is not on internal states or mental qualities. This theory believes that people can become leaders through the process of teaching, learning and observation. Participative Theory; this theory defines ideal leadership style. An ideal leadership style takes into consideration the input of its associates. Such leaders encourage contribution and participation from group members. The leader also has the right to say no to any suggestion of other team member. Management Theories; this theory gives more importance to the role of organization, supervision and most importantly the group performance. This theory is based on the system of punishment and reward. Managerial theory is often used in many companies. When employee's performance is very good, he or she is given a reward. If the employee's performance decreases below a certain level, he or she is punished. Relationship Theory; This theory also called Transformational theory focuses on the connections that are formed between followers and leaders. These leaders inspire and motivate people. They also help group members in case of any difficulty. Such leaders focus on performance of members of group. These leaders have high moral values. Path Goal Theory; this theory focuses on what leaders should do to motivate and inspire people so that the employees can perform well. Leaders are born: The idea that Leaders are born is supported by Great Man theory as well as Trait theory. An individual's personality is the unique combination of psychological characteristics that affects how a person reacts and interacts with others.” (Robbins, S etal. 2006, p. 462). This can be clearly seen in the people who are born with the makings of a leader - there are certain traits that differentiate leaders from non-leaders. “To suggest that leaders do not enter the world with extraordinary endowment is to imply that people enter the world with equal abilities, with equal talents.” (Cawthon, D L 1996, p. 2) In reference to the great man theory of leadership popularized by Thomas Carlyle (1840), popular in the 19th century according to which history can be largely explained by the impact of quot;
great menquot;
, or heroes: highly influential individuals who, due to either their personal charisma, intelligence, wisdom, or Machiavellianism utilized their power in a way that had a decisive historical impact. In support of this theory we can cite examples of some of the few men who made history such as Case 1: Benito Mussolini (29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) Benito Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism. Over the issue of Italy’s entry in the First World War a section of revolutionary syndicalists broke with the socialist. Mussolini took this opportunity to establish his ambition when he joined their group of Fasci d’azione rivoluzionaria internazionarialista in the year 1914. He founded a new newspaper II Popolo d’italia with the help of his mistress Margherita Sarfatti. He was impressed by the idea of the ancient roman idea of fasces, the symbol of life and death power of state. Mussolini was called of for military services but couldn’t continue longer as he was wounded in a grenade practice and thus return to edit his paper in the year 1917. He started fascism in a organized way by forming the Fasci di Combattimento and making it into a political movement. Although he lost the election in 1919 but he managed to enter the parliament in the year 1921. This was probably the beginning of a new era of terror and social disrupter. The fascisti formed armed squads of war veterans called squadristi to terrorize and control the anarchist, socialist and communist which was never being stopped by the government. This squad was often utilized by the industrialist for their own personal benefits like strikebreaking on Mussolini’s approval. The full turndown came in the year 1922 when the then government of Giovanni Giolitti, Ivanoe Bonomi and Luigi Facta failed to stop the spread of anarchy and Mussolini was invited to form a government by Victoria Emanuele III on a threat of Marcia su Roma or march on Rome. Thus Mussolini became the youngest ever premier in the history at the age of 39. Mussolini became the 40th Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by 1925. After 1936, his official title was quot;
His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empirequot;
. Mussolini also created and held the supreme military rank of First Marshal of the Empire along with King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, which gave him and the King joint supreme control over the military of Italy. Mussolini remained in power until he was replaced in 1943; for a short period after this until his death, he was the leader of the Italian Social Republic. He was soon called by the king Vittorio Emanuele III in his palace and was stripped of his power of dictator followed by an arrest and isolation in Gran Sasso. The fall which was now inevitable and which cannot be averted by any means took its shape on April 27, 1945 near the village of Dongo. Mussolini and his mistress Claretta Petacci were caught by the Italian communist partisans just before the time they were heading for Chiavenna so that they can escape to Switzerland. On April 28th 1945 Mussolini and his mistress along with sixteen other officials and ministers of Italian social republic were both executed in the village of Giulino di Mezzegra which was conducted by Colonnello Valerio, Walter Audisio. The next day the bodies of those executed were hung upside down in Piazzale Loreto, Milan to confirm every body the end of the dictator. This was also to discourage any further fascist activity. Case 2: Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. In his Politics, Aristotle states that only one thing could justify monarchy, and that was if the virtue of the king and his family were greater than the virtue of the rest of the citizens put together. Aristotle felt that people were more or less born as a barbarian (someone not fit to lead) or a noble (someone fit to lead). While his views might seem extreme in our modern view of things, there may be some benefit in that type of approach. Some do well, but others find themselves poorly equipped for their new responsibilities. They are basically taken out of the area where they perform well and are highly skilled and put into an area where they don’t perform well and have no skills. Leadership skills can be taught, but it is not necessarily beneficial to everyone. Aristotle was the most practical and business-oriented of all philosophers who asked ethical questions. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle concludes that the role of the leader is to create the environment in which all members of an organization have the opportunity to realize their own potential. He says that the ethical role of the leader is not to enhance his or her own power but to create the conditions under which followers can achieve their potential. If you translate Aristotle into modern terms, you will see a whole set of questions about the extent to which the organization provides an environment that is conducive to human growth and fulfillment. He also raises a lot of useful questions about the distribution of rewards in organizations based on the ethical principle of rewarding people proportionate to their contributions. Case 3: Price William Prince William of England, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei and Emperor Akihito of Japan are examples of leaders who are born into power. Regardless of their characteristics or personality, these people were born into positions of leadership. They are exposed to various leadership situations, causing them to be influential and in their own rights. Example to clarify the Great man theory If you’ve ever seen an eagle try to run, you’ll know that it isn’t something they are good at. Since they don’t do it much, they aren’t quite balanced and usually compensate by sticking out their wings. One point of view would be to look at the eagle and decide that, with a little training, he can become a better runner. With a little practice, the eagle should be able to keep his wings at his side and balance more naturally while running. I’m not sure how much work it would take, but with persistence you could at least make some improvement. The other point of view would be to make sure eagles aren’t put into situations where they are required to run. Even if you could train them to be twice as good at running, that really isn’t much improvement. Leaders are made: In reference to this school of thought, Behavioral theories of leadership are based upon the belief that great leaders are made, not born. Rooted in behaviorism, this leadership theory focuses on the actions of leaders not on mental qualities or internal states. According to this theory, people can learn to become leaders through teaching and observation. Knowledge and skills contribute directly to the process of leadership, while the other attributes give the leader certain characteristics that make him or her unique. We can seek to explain that leaders are made by looking at the four factors of leadership which revolve around Leader, Follower, Situation and communication. People can choose to become leaders. People can learn leadership skills. This is the Transformational or Process Leadership Theory. It is the most widely accepted theory today and the premise on which this guide is based. Warren Bennis (a leading leadership researcher) believes that one cannot be taught to become a leader but one can learn to become a leader over the years through life and work experiences, through mentors, personal reflection. The research of Dr. Carol Dweck lends strong support to this. People with a growth mindset (versus a person with a fixed mindset) believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities. In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. Dr Dweck proved that they’re wrong. So, what this means is that qualities like optimism and self efficacy can be developed if one adopts a growth mindset. For example, if I’m aware that I am not optimistic enough and tend to think of the downside more often than the upside, I can learn to become more optimistic because I know doing so helps strengthen that leadership trait in me. As a side point on the topic of optimism, evidence from decades of research by Dr Martin Seligman shows that people can learn to be optimistic. The topic is examined in great depth in his bestseller quot;
Learned Optimism” – another excellent book I would recommend as well. Effective leaders are made, not born, Powell said. They learn from trial and error, and from experience. When something fails, a true leader learns from the experience and puts it behind him. “You don’t get reruns in life,” he said. “Don’t worry about what happened in the past.”Good leaders also must know how to reward those who succeed and know when to retrain, move, or fire ineffective staff. “When you get all these together the place starts to hum,” he said. “You know you’re a good leader when people follow you out of curiosity. Case 1: Martin Luther King’s He was born on 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. King’s inspiration came from Howard Thurman, a civil rights leader, and Mahatma Gandhi, with his philosophy of non-violence to fight injustice and inequality. He was instrumental in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which came to a head when Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus. King’s house was bombed and he was arrested, but the segregation on buses in Montgomery ended. King was involved with the formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which fought injustice with non-violent techniques. King and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement organized the biggest march of all; the March on Washington in 1963. The march was protesting racial discrimination in employment, racial separatism in schools, and they demanded minimum wage for all workers. It was the largest gathering in Washington, DC’s history, and the site of King’s most famous speech, “I Have a Dream.” A memorable quote from this speech is:quot;
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their characterquot;
. This movement lasted from around 1955 to 1968. Its goals were to abolish racial discrimination in many areas including public transportation, employment, voting, and education. Non-violent protests and civil disobedience during this time caused many crisis situations where the government had to take action. These showed the inequities and injustice that was happening to Blacks. The protests were done with sit-ins, marches, and boycotts. Notable legislation during this time included the: Civil Rights Act of 1964 - This banned discrimination in employment and public accommodations based on quot;
race, color, religion, or national originquot;
. Voting Rights Act of 1965 - This act restored and protected the right to vote. Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 - This allows immigration from groups other than those from the traditional European countries. Fair Housing Act of 1968 - This banned housing discrimination for sales or rentals. Case 2: KWS Management: Once seen as parastatal in tatters and dogged by controversy, KWS, can now be used as a case study. When he became the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Director in 2005, an organisation in management shambles, no one expected he would turn it around. Critics predicted that the stocky and ever smiling dimpled gentleman would be shown the door soon after his appointment. After all, he was not a conservationist. KWS had become almost an unmanageable organisation. Since 1990 to the time he took over, it had a record 13 directors, including well known individuals like palaeontologist and conservationist Dr Richard Leakey, scientist David Western, Joseph Kioko, Nehemiah Rotich and Dr Evans Mukolwe. Not one to cause ripples, many probably heard of him for the first time when at the height of the referendum campaigns in 2005, he objected publicly to the President?s plan to hand over Amboseli National Park to Kajiado County Council.quot;
If I was to get fired, I would rather it be for doing good as opposed to something negative,quot;
he says.Dr. Kipng’etich, not only fought for the organization in Kenya but last year he led other 21 African countries to the Cites meeting at The Hague against ivory trade. quot;
Many countries were looking up to us to provide leadership and we did. We got the ban on ivory trade to be extended for another nine years,quot;
he says. To underscore the success of the organization KWS won the Company of the Year Award (Coya) in the environment category last year. quot;
One thing about management is that it is universal, the principles are all the same no matter the place,quot;
he says.Chief among the challenges he encountered were the financial mismanagement and the low staff morale.quot;
The quality of the institution’s financial management was poor,quot;
he recalls. It was so bad that the institution was at the mercy of conservation NGOs, individual well-wishers and international bodies, to keep it afloat.quot;
We had to reorganize how expenditure was done and upgrade the accounting system,quot;
he says.By the end of last financial year, KWS had registered Sh2.6 billion turnover, the highest in the parastatal’s history. Within a short time he made sure he had visited every conservation and shared the experience of the rangers and other members of the staff.quot;
Management is not alive until you bring it to the lowest level, this is where the rubber meets the road,quot;
he explains. This, he argues, is the kind of leadership that avoids the use of middlemen.quot;
The workers are able to hear ideas and instructions from the director himself and not from others and this reduces the chance of misinformation,quot;
he says. Dr. Kipngetich’s management style could be seen as early a when he was acting director at SWA. He turned things round at this organization that catered for students? Welfare that when he his time was up, the students rioted and went to then Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Richard Leakey that he be reinstated at the University. Kipngetich was however at this time ready for a different environment. At this time he joined the Investment Promotion Centre. The parastatal was tottering on its knees and could hardly sustain itself. Kipngetich, however, was able to turn into a profits making body that could support itself. Dr. Kipngetich likens management to running a family. quot;
It’s about knowing what to do and when to do it. Realizing that as an individual you cannot do everything and working closely with others for the betterment of the institution,quot;
he notes. Conclusion: After carefully and thoroughly reading through the leadership theories and analyzing the behavior of the various leaders used a case studies it is evident you cannot really support a side and negate the other when it comes to the discussion of whether leaders are born or made. In my honest opinion after a thorough review I wish to take the side that as much as leaders are born with the ability leading is an art and process that continued to be acquired each single day. Leadership can be learned by anyone with the basics. But an awful lot of leadership cannot be taught. That’s because leadership is an apprentice trade. Leaders learn about 80 percent of their craft on the job. They learn from watching other leaders and emulating their behavior. In addition, a leader chooses role models and seeks out mentors. They ask other leaders about how to handle situations. Leaders improve by getting feedback and using it. The best leaders seek feedback from their boss, their peers and their subordinates. Then they modify their behavior so that they get better results. Leaders learn by trying things out and then critiquing their performance. The only failure they recognize is the failure to learn from experience. Leadership learning is a lifetime activity. You're never done because there's always more to learn. There are always skills you need to improve on .Good leaders seek out development opportunities that will help them learn new skills. Those might be project assignments or job changes. What they have in common is that the leader develops knowledge and skills that can be used elsewhere. Good and effective leaders also seek out opportunities that will increase their visibility. The fact is that great performance alone will not propel you to the top in your career. You also have to be visible to people who make decisions about promotions and assignments. After completion of my M.A in Project planning and Management, when I get assigned to lead a project and project team I will be applying and putting into practice the skills I have acquired over and over again from book authors, observing successful leaders as well as experience acquired over time. The basis of good project management is having the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the job. A project manager is generally defined as the person responsible for working with the project sponsor, the project team, and the other people involved in a project to meet project goals (Schwalbe, 2004). Being a project manager requires knowledge in the core skills such as time management, risk management, scope management, cost budgeting, and a basic knowledge of requirements. A project manager must have skills in addition to the basics of project management to succeed. According to David Foote “It requires all these soft skills that have to do with getting things that you want (and) adjudicating issues between people, managers, egos and agendas. It's how to get a job done without annoying people”. Another important aspect of project management is the ability to communicate effectively. It is essential for me as a project manager to have the capacity to listen and understand the people on their project team as well as the customers of their project. “A project manager needs the ability to question without alienating – to listen and watch people’s body language and really see what’s happening” (Melymuka, 2000). This will allow me as the project manager to better communicate with the team and the organization. REFERENCES: Blake, R. & Mouton, J. 1964. The Managerial Grid: The Key to Leadership Excellence. Gulf Publishing Co: Houston. Northouse, G. 2007. Leadership Theory and Practice. 3rd Edition. Sage Publications: London. Stogdill, R. & Coons, A. 1957. Leader Behavior: Its Description and Measurement. Ohio State University, Bureau of Business Research: Columbus. Cawthon, D L, 1996, ‘Leadership: the great man theory revisited, Business Horizons, May-June, and pp. 1-4 Robbins, S, Bergman, R, Stagg, I & Coulter M, 2006, Management, 4th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall, Australia. Interview extract of Dr, Julius Kipngetich Director, Kenya Wildlife Services from Daily nation 2010 Project Planning and Management class notes by Miss Susan irungu http://www.threestarleadership.com/). http://www.performancetalk.com/)

TOC Leadership Theories Trait Theories

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