Leadership is defined as the process of influencing other people to align their actions towards the attainment of common goals. Leadership is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the world. On the contrary, it is applied in everyday life. Besides, it is a common theme in social and political discourse. Over the years, leadership has been understood in various terms and philosophies. The early thinkers understood leadership in terms ‘superman’ and his distinctive traits. Plato for instance advanced the view of philosopher kings. He believed that only philosophers would provide effective leadership. ‘The great man’ approach to leadership was rejected because it elitist view of leadership. Nonetheless, the theory is still influential in the conceptualization of leadership. Since 1950s, leadership has been seen as interaction between traits, behaviors and situational factors. There are a number of theories that have influenced the debate on leadership from early years to contemporary times. It is, however, important to note before mid 20th century leadership was thought to be inborn (Kalargyrou, Anthony and Emmanuel 41). Consequently, most leadership approaches revolved around ‘great man’ theory. This theory emphasized that leaders were born with leadership qualities. These qualities included commanding personality, charisma, charm, intelligence and courage. This theory was gave rise to trait theory. The trait theorists sought to distinguish leaders and non leaders on the basis of personality, intellectual, physical, and social traits. They considered leaders as people who manifest traits that include ambition, energy, foresight and intelligence, honesty, desire to lead and job knowledge and intrinsic motivation. Other qualities included fairness, objectivity and acceptance of responsibility. Although these qualities contributed to effective leadership, there were no universal traits that were found to predict leadership in all situations. This was a key weakness of trait theory. The most acceptable and influential theories about leadership today are behavioral and contingency and situational theories. Behavioral theory departed from trait theory in that it focuses on what leaders do rather than who leaders are. According to this theory, leadership is more manifested by individual actions than traits. Consequently, the theory holds the view that leaders and non leaders are differentiated by specific behaviors (Meng et al, 21). These specific sets of behaviors are referred as leadership skills. The other contemporary theory on leadership is contingency and situational theory. Under these theories are numerous models that examine the environment in which leadership is practiced as a component of leadership. Fielder model’s looks at three dimensions namely; leader- member relations, task structure and position structure. There are two contemporary styles of leadership that have been developed from situational theories to respond to organizations need to cope with changes. These styles are transactional and transformational leadership. Transactional leadership is a type of leadership where a leader together with the followers determines what can be done to achieve desired level of performance. The leader comes up with the reward for the desired performance and shows the follower how to achieve the reward through path goal concepts. After showing the follower what to do, the leader does not get involved unless the goals are not achieved. On the other hand, transformational leadership is more concerned with achieving positive changes through motivation and inspiration (Hartog, Jaap and Paul 24). It based on three personality attributes of the leader. These attributes are charisma, individual attention and intellectual stimulation. Transformational leader take risks, looks for opportunities, foster collaboration, enlist others, celebrate achievements, strengthen others and set the example.
References
Hartog, Deanne N. Den, Jaap J. Van Muijen, and Paul L. Koopman. "Transactional Versus Transformational Leadership: An Analysis Of The MLQ." Journal Of Occupational & Organizational Psychology 70.1 (1997): 19-34. Business Source Complete. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
Kalargyrou, Valentini, Anthony T. Pescosolido, and Emmanuel A. Kalargiros. "Leadership Skills In Management Education." Academy Of Educational Leadership Journal 16.4 (2012): 39-63. Business Source Complete. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.
Meng, Juan, et al. "A Test Of Excellent Leadership In Public Relations: Key Qualities, Valuable Sources, And Distinctive Leadership Perceptions." Journal Of Public Ree lations Research 24.1 (2012): 18-36. Business Source Complete. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
