What is Leadership?
There are many leadership theories but nothing can exactly pinpoint the theory behind perfect leadership.
It can be seen as maybe a combination of the main leadership theories and what the modern business world identified and accepted.
The theory that leaders are born is a misconception by the ones who think they are "chosen" and the ones who use it as an excuse not to develop themselves into real leaders.
Over a range of successful leaders observed and interviewed it became clear that there is not one single theory that you can allocate their characteristics to.
It all comes down to having the ability to manage and direct people towards the same long-term goals through leading by example as one unified team.
You can, however, find characteristics in each of the core leadership theories used by industry today.
With the rate of innovation and development, we experience today these core theories also changed through time and other theories are emerging.
My personal favourite is "The 5 Levels of Leadership" presented by John C Maxwell.
To me, it covers the core theories but most importantly includes the human factor and ethical obligation that great leaders should possess.
Behavioural theory focuses on the way that a leader behaves when working in a team environment. Do they demand people to follow only or do they involve people in decision making and develop their full potential.
Contingency theory claims that there is no specific way to lead but the leader must have the ability to change and adapt to both internal and external demands as they come along.
The Power and influence theory is defined as the ability of a leader to use either one of the two to build a high-performance team that is unified in its end purpose.
The Trait theory can be seen as not one specific skill by a leader but rather a wide combination of personal skills that are used to lead highly effective teams.
But as it goes with theories, not everyone will agree because even here different power types can have positive or negative outcomes depending on how it is used.
Developing leadership theories
With the rate of innovation and development, we experience today these core theories also changed through time and other theories are emerging.
My personal favourite is "The 5 Levels of Leadership" presented by John C Maxwell.
To me, it covers the core theories but most importantly includes the human factor and ethical obligation that great leaders should possess.
Most popular theories today
The popular core Leadership Theories today
- Behavioural Theory
- Contingency Theory
- Power and influence Theory
- Trait Theory
Behavioural theory focuses on the way that a leader behaves when working in a team environment. Do they demand people to follow only or do they involve people in decision making and develop their full potential.
Contingency theory claims that there is no specific way to lead but the leader must have the ability to change and adapt to both internal and external demands as they come along.
The Power and influence theory is defined as the ability of a leader to use either one of the two to build a high-performance team that is unified in its end purpose.
The Trait theory can be seen as not one specific skill by a leader but rather a wide combination of personal skills that are used to lead highly effective teams.
But as it goes with theories, not everyone will agree because even here different power types can have positive or negative outcomes depending on how it is used.
Once again it comes back to the individual's skills and other leadership influences.
Positive power comes through experience and respect in the industry because of the knowledge and achievements displayed by the specific leader.
Negative power comes into play when the leadership relies only on position to influence events. The effect might be vice versa depending on a leader who knows when and where to apply this theory correctly.
It's all about the timing but not all the time.
Fortunately, through time, we were able to identify some of these qualities and we now know that it is something that can be taught and developed as a skill.
Born with it or not it does not mean you will be a good leader just by possessing most of these personal traits.
There are just too many outside factors that influence human behaviour and the way our thinking develops.
Three familiar leadership styles
a) Autocratic - Does not involve anyone with decision-making and will rule by their own decision.
Can be useful when the business needs quick decision-making without input needed but can also have a negative effect when decision-making should be approached with caution due to its impact on overall performance.
b) Democratic - The team plays a bigger role in daily decisions and consultation before the leader finalizes decisions is the norm.
The success of this leadership depends on the strength and experience of the leader's support team.
It can be a problem if the team is not working together and there is too much difference of opinion in trivial matters.
c) Laissez-faire - The team is left to make their own decisions most of the time.
Only successful where team members are highly competent and responsibilities are assigned correctly.
Not successful if the leader is lazy or not competent to make decisions.
Can be useful when the business needs quick decision-making without input needed but can also have a negative effect when decision-making should be approached with caution due to its impact on overall performance.
b) Democratic - The team plays a bigger role in daily decisions and consultation before the leader finalizes decisions is the norm.
The success of this leadership depends on the strength and experience of the leader's support team.
It can be a problem if the team is not working together and there is too much difference of opinion in trivial matters.
c) Laissez-faire - The team is left to make their own decisions most of the time.
Only successful where team members are highly competent and responsibilities are assigned correctly.
Not successful if the leader is lazy or not competent to make decisions.
Leadership Theory Summary
Time has proven that most real leaders possess characteristics from all of the theories and that only came about through learning these skills.
Nobody is born with all of it. Learn these skills and what is more important to learn when to use which characteristic.
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