Leadership Theories

Research has unveiled the many different aspects of the increasingly applicable and popular phenomenon-Leadership.The leadership styles, traits and theories, all are the result of the variety of analysis and different experiences.
The leadership theories are the result of such great effort. There lie the diversities of theories, depending on the varying situation and circumstances; the three most distinct are the trait theory, behavioral theory and contingency theory.
Trait Theory Of Leadership
Trait theory is derived from the “Great Man” theory and, it is based on the characteristics of people. It gives the impression that the effectiveness of leadership depends on the individual’s leadership characteristics. It deals with the personality, character and skills of the leaders.
Studies has shown that the effective leadership is deeply connected to the mental alertness of the leader, communication skills, confidence, thinking, time management and the persistence in his actions and plans.The more visionary the leader, the higher the probability is of success. The theory also emphasizes on the responsible behavior of the leader.
However, the trait theory is not universally applicable for the recent studies have unveiled the weak link between the leadership traits and the effective leadership. Moreover, the more advanced research are conducted, the different traits crop up. There can not be made the clear cut line of what traits a leader should acquire.
Also, the statistics reveal that the effective leader of the history did not possess all those traits and skills. It can be said that the choice of traits and skills to be exercised varies with the situation but, this theory does not outline these traits.
Based on this theory, it is concluded that leadership is the in born capability rather than the acquired one.
The leadership traits long with some necessary skills if applied well, keeping in view the situation leads to the overall success. Overall, there needs to be balanced approach in applying those possessed skills.
Behavioral Theory Of Leadership
Behavioral theory of leadership deals with the behavior of the leaders towards its subordinates.The autocratic leadership style, the democratic style, the employee-centered style etc; all are based on this leadership theory.
This theory focuses on the actions of the leaders rather than mental capabilities of the leader or their general traits. This theory creates the impression that the leadership is “learning” process. It leads to the idea of the “leadership Development” process.
This theory is universal for it highlights the behavior to be adopted subjected to different challenging situations and, the success factor can be well analyzed and can be polished for greater outcome.
Contingency Theory Of Leadership
The trait theory and the behavioral theory have not catered best to the diversified needs of the today’s fast-pace developing world as the time proved that the effective leadership does not only rely on the personality traits and behavior on an individual, the surrounding situation matters too. This evolved the contingency theory of leadership which concludes that the leadership styles to be adopted, differs with varying situations.
The leaders can not exercise the particular traits or behavior when dealing with all the situations, there needs to be change in the approach and the behavior based on the situations for an effective leadership. The situational variables include the extent of power granted to the leader; the nature of task, i.e. whether the goals are well explained or distorted and, the relationship between the leader and the followers.
Based on this theory, these situational factors are analyzed. If the power to be exercised by the leader is greater and the relationship between the followers and the leader consists of mutual understanding and good communication and the goal is clearly outlined, the democratic style is to be preferred. If there lays the contrary situation, the theory advises the leader to adopt the autocratic style.
However, if the situation is overall favorable with one missing element i.e. the authority to be exercised by the leader ranges widely and the communication between the followers and the leader is appreciable, too; and the goal is not well defined, then the employee-centered style is generally preferred, which focuses on the human relationships to attaining the task.