An Analysis Of The Great Leadership Theory And Theories

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ANALYSIS OF THE VARIOUS LEADERSHIP THEORIES AND STYLES
One of the earliest studies of leadership, Galton’s (1869) Hereditary Genius emphasized a basic concept that informed popular ideas about leadership (Zaccaro, 2007). The idea is that leadership is a characteristic ability of extraordinary individuals. This conception of leadership, known as the great man theory, evolved into the study of leadership traits, only to be supplanted later the theories under discussion here (Landis, Hill, and Harvey (2014). Bass and Wren expressed leadership theories as they related to the nature of leadership and the different variables involved.
Landis, Hill, and Harvey (2014) in their article a synthesis of leadership theories and styles outline the following …show more content…

The Great Man theory evolved around the mid-19th century. According to William James (1880) great men brought about change to the society by creating what the masses could accomplish. In these times, women leaders were not recognized. The early theorist pointed out that leadership was directly related to inheritance, however, Dowd (1936) maintained that there is no leadership by the masses (bass, 1990, p37). The theory assumes that the traits of leadership are intrinsic meaning that great leaders are born they are not made. The Great man theory was made known by Thomas Carlyle, a writer and teacher who believed that the Great Man theory was inspired by the study of influential heroes. However, Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher in the 1860, disputed the great man theory by stating that these heroes are simply the product of their times and their actions the results of social …show more content…

The other one is the behavioral theory where a leader emerged because they made a decision that was dependent on the situation that is they made a quick decision to offer free add ons to a service rendered to a client without asking the team, they made collected input from the team when they wanted to come up with a new product to suit all clients and let the team decide on who deserved a departmental award for good customer

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