Introduction
Trait Approach
The trait approach comprehends the prevalence of the qualities and characteristics that are found among the military, social and political leaders. In the 20th century, the scholars believed that individuals who possess such traits become great leaders and hence, leaders are differentiated from their followers due to the prevalence of such traits. These traits comprise of Intelligence, Self-Confidence, Determination, Integrity and Sociability and thus, it is believed that leaders possess a high IQ than their followers and are confident enough to make people believe in their objectives and are determinant towards their ambitions (Northouse, 2015). The leaders are honest with their followers and are able to maintain pleasant relations due to their sociability. Moreover, emotional intelligence of the leader also helps in maintaining the diplomatic relations and express oneself. Emotional intelligence is considered to be the combination of social and personal traits and competencies due to which the leaders can remain confident and motivated, and maintain empathetic relations with their followers (Nohria & Khurana, 2013).
Trait Approach – Strengths and Weaknesses
The trait approach enlightens the leadership traits that are consistent with the perception of one’s leading competencies in which the leaders are considered as the differentiated persons who possess extra-ordinary traits. The notions in the trait approach are supported by a large number of scholar researches which eventually proves the credibility of research results. The trait approach is focused on the leaders and hence, provides the most detailed and conceptualized phenomenon to understand the characteristics of leaders. The prevalence of these traits helps in the identification of the leaders and their leadership skills (Northouse, 2015).
However, there exist weaknesses in the trait approach because it provides a wide list of the leadership characteristics and fails to provide comprehensive determinants of leadership. Similarly, the researches in this instance are conducted for over a century and their results are not found consistent. The trait approach fails to address the differentiated situations in accordance with the identified traits and hence the consistency in the effectiveness of traits in various situations and among groups remains unanswered (Northouse, 2015; Martin, 2006).
Skills Approach
The leadership characteristics are considered as the developable skills and the leader’s capabilities are focused on the leader’s extent of problem solving in the organizations. Initially, the skills approach was focused on three basic skills, which incorporated the technical, human and conceptual skills. The technical skills indicated the knowledge and proficiency in work, whereas, human skills indicated the individual’s ability to carry out work related tasks in groups. Similarly, the conceptual skills indicated the individual’s adherence towards the ideas and concepts in order to carry out the work related tasks (Nohria & Khurana, 2013). The skills approach is modified in the competencies, comprising of problem solving skills, social judgment skills and knowledge. These competencies address the leader’s ability to perform the complex situations, understand people and possess adequate knowledge to address the pertaining situations. It is also indicated that the leader’s personal attributes effect the extent of skills and hence, the prevalence of the skills ensures the leader’s ability to work in the complex environment (Northouse, 2015).
Skill Approach – Strengths and Weaknesses
The skills approach incorporates the leader-centered model and enlightens the skills that can be developed in order to develop the leaders. It also addresses the management levels comprising of junior, middle and senior management and enlightens the required skills. It provides the practical approach in which the predetermined skills can be learnt and provides the foundation for the leadership educational programs. The skills of the leaders are enlightened in accordance with their environment, career and knowledge and hence, a comprehensive view related to the skills and their effectiveness in the organization is provided (Martin. 2006).
However, the skills approach is criticized due to its generalized concepts of problem solving in the organization and the skills model also cannot provide the predictive value to determine the social judgment and problem solving skills. The model enlightens the skills in the presence of the traits which indicates that in order to learn leadership skills, one must possess the leadership traits and the model fails to address the leaders in the multi-dimensional and military contexts (Northouse, 2015).
Behavioral Approach
The behavioral approach incorporates the leader’s behavior in which leader’s actions are enlightened. It provides the leaders with the systematic pathway in order to provide them with the clear understanding about the actions that they should comprehend in the organization. The behavioral approach accounts for the leader’s ability to become task oriented and relationship oriented in which the leader has to maintain balance in accordance with the followers’ need. In this way, the leaders identify if they have to provide the technical or task related guidance or they have to provide the followers with support to meet the organizational objectives (Nohria & Khurana, 2013). The leaders can select their role in accordance with the organizational and followers’ needs and hence, can select the adequate behavior to support the required results. The leaders learn the extent to which they impact and direct their followers’ performance on the basis of their task and relationship oriented behavior (Northouse, 2015).
Behavioral Approach – Strengths and Weaknesses
The behavioral approach has disregarded the prevalence of the traits in the leadership and has addressed the leader’s behavior in accordance with the different situations. The scholar researches have also proved the credibility of the behavioral approach. The approach focuses on the leader’s task and relation orientation and hence, the leaders tend to balance these behaviors in order to remain effective in the workplace. It provides the leaders with the ability to enlighten their decisions and evaluate their actions and improvise in accordance with the follower’s needs and organizational objectives (Martin. 2006).
However, the behavioral approach fails to determine the quantitative and the qualitative relation between the performance outcome and the leaders’ behavior. Similarly, the relation between the task and relationship oriented behavior and the subordinates’ extent of job satisfaction is not identified. The behavioral approach also fails to provide the generalized leadership style that can be implied in the numerous situations. The behavioral approach is focused on maintaining high task oriented behavior with high relationships, however, scholars have proved that followers may not require the extremeness in both behaviors (Northouse, 2015).
Situational Approach
The situational approach incorporates that different type of leadership is required in the different situations and the effective leaders need to change his leadership style in order to address the various situations. In this manner, the situational approach requires the leader to adjust his leadership style in accordance with the need of the followers. The leadership style comprises of the directive and supportive behaviors in which, the directive behavior accounts for the leader’s extent of providing guidance and directions to the followers whereas, the supportive behavior accounts for the leader’s extent of incorporating communication and social support to the followers (Martin. 2006). The leader needs to maintain the balance between directive and supportive behavior in accordance with the need of the followers. The followers’ ability to complete the assigned tasks and duties are based on the skills and motivation that they possess and therefore, the leaders are required to change their leadership style in accordance with the skills and motivation extent that is possessed by the followers (Northouse, 2015).
Situational Approach – Strengths and Weaknesses
The situational approach provides the practical implications for developing and training leaders in the organizations. The situational approach provides the comprehensive and practical concepts that are able to be implied in the multi-dimensional settings. It provides the clear understanding and guidelines to the leaders about the steps that they should take in certain situations, which eventually enhances the leaders’ effectiveness. It determines the followers’ behaviors and provides the leaders with the idea that they have to change their leading style in order to keep pace with the followers’ inclinations and focuses on the skill development of the followers (Martin. 2006).
However, the weaknesses in the situational approach accounts for the fact that it is not supported by the scholar researchers which eventually questions the credibility and effectiveness of the situational approach in the broader context. The situational approach also fails to provide a clear understanding about the factors that motivate the followers and makes them committed. Similarly, the changes in the followers’ development level and their motivational level are theoretical and do not provide any practical ground. It addresses the followers’ needs, regardless of their demographic differences and considers a group of followers as one entity rather than different individuals (Northouse, 2015).
Path-goal Theory
The Path-goal theory focuses on the motivation of the followers in order to increase the extent of performance and satisfaction of the followers. In this manner, it enlightens the association between the organizational context, leadership style and followers’ characteristics. The leaders in this instance, determine the factors that motivate the followers and use the adequate leadership style in order to keep the followers motivated and help them in the achievement of the organizational objectives. The leaders tend to help their followers in order to achieve their goals by adapting the leadership styles that meet the followers’ expectations so that they succeed and remain satisfied (Nohria & Khurana, 2013). It is indicated that when followers are authoritarian then directive leadership should be comprehended by the leaders under the unclear organizational objectives. When organizational objectives are structured then the supportive style should be comprehended in order to nurture the followers whereas, ambiguous tasks require the participative leadership or achievement-oriented leadership so that followers can understand the ambiguous goals (Northouse, 2015).
Path-goal theory – Strengths and Weakness
The path-goal theory illustrates the theoretical framework which helps in understanding the impact of the leadership behaviors in the different organizational settings. It provides the leaders with the directions to select the adequate leadership style in order to become effective leaders and achieve the organizational objectives. It provides the leaders wit the criteria to enlighten the current organizational situation and followers’ extent of motivation and satisfaction so that they can adapt their leadership style in an effective manner. It also provides the practical approach in which leaders can help their followers to achieve their objectives and enhance their performance (Martin. 2006).
However, the path-goal theory is considered complex in the organizational setting and is based on the predictions developed by the leaders in the practical approach. The research scholars have provided the partial support for the effectiveness of the path-goal theory when eventually questions its effectiveness in a broader context. The researchers also cannot determine the empirical relation between the selected leadership style and followers’ performance and depends on the leaders in order to determine and enhance the performance of the followers (Northouse, 2015).
How any of these approaches apply to a nurse and to a police officer
The skills approach can be applied to a nurse and a police officer in an effective manner because these individuals tend to work under the stressful environment and incorporate a higher accountability at their work place. The social judgmental skills can help the nurse to determine and understand the patient’s physical and behavioral concerns and address them effectively by developing the relevant healthcare plan. The nurse can also utilize the problem solving skills in the stressful emergency situations and can perform in an effective manner. Similarly, the police officer can also utilize these skills to investigate and enlighten the illicit social situations. The social judgment skills can help the police officer to determine the thinking of others during investigations and understand the criticality of the situational concerns, whereas, the problem solving skills can help the police officer to work under the stressful environment and solve the complex situations in an effective manner (Martin, 2006; Nohria).
References
Martin, B. (2006). Outdoor leadership: Theory and practice. Human Kinetics.
Nohria, N., & Khurana, R. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of leadership theory and practice: An HBS centennial colloquium on advancing leadership. Harvard Business Press.
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
