32. Leadership Schools, Theories, and Models
Great man: Leaders are great people born with natural leadership qualities. History is shaped by the leadership of these great men.
Trait: Leadership is best learned by studying the traits of successful leaders which are usually hereditary. Traits include motivation, values, personality, and natural talents.
Behavioral: Leadership is best learned by studying the behavior of effective leaders, which can be learned. Skills include managing work and managing people.
Situational: Leadership is primarily a matter of situational demands. Leaders have surprisingly little effect on performance.
Power-influence (leader-followers): Leadership is the result of relationships between the leader and the followers, which involves two-way influence on behavior.
Contingency (leader-followers-situation): Leadership is a process which is a function of the leader, the situation, and the followers. Specific contingency theories:
- Normative decision (Vroom & Yetton)
- Situational leadership (Hersey & Blanchard)
- LPC contingency (Fiedler)
- Path-goal (House)
Contingency Theories (continued)
- Leader substitutes (Kerr & Jermier)
- Vertical dyad linkage or LMX
- Cognitive resources
- Multiple linkage model (Yukl)
- Leader-environment-follower-interaction
Charismatic: Leaders who have a profound and unusual effect on followers based on the leaders traits and behavior, and the followers’ needs and attributions.
Transformational: The process of radically changing an organization by focusing on its vision, culture. empowerment, values, and customers.
Group Effectiveness: A model for effective group decisions and relationships.
Prescriptive: Principles of leadership based on the combination of personal philosophy and experience. Not commonly accepted by the academic community. Examples of prescriptive theories:
- Heifetz (leadership and authority)
- Covey (principle-centered leadership)
- Greenleaf (servant leadership)
- DePree (The Art of Leadership)