Leadership Theories (Week 13–14)

What is the perfect meaning of the word leader? It I a person who lead the team, support them, guide them and work hand in hand with them to accomplish various things. But in present time the meaning of leadership is changed. One considers oneself as the superior compare others and feels to have a power over others. There were many theories which explains the correct meaning of leadership and its terms. We will discuss about the five main theories of leadership.

Trait Leadership

It is an earlier attempted theory of leadership. In trait leadership more focus is given to the physical appearance and strength of a person rather than their capabilities of leadership. This type of leadership is also associated with stardom and popularity. There were many examples from the past which can prove the theory. The examples includes the pictures of God and superheroes who have been considered to possess great physical power and strength. But in present world such type of leadership does not exist due to knowledge and education.

Leadership Style

This type of leadership mainly focuses on the power and authority. It talks about the amount of power a leader should have and how he should use them. Sometimes leaders uses their power in wrong ways for their personal benefits. So a leader should have a democratic power where all people are on same page and leader guides them. Leaders should not be very powerful which will make their co-workers insecure and they will resist to work with them.

Situational Leadership

It is a type of leadership which suggest that appropriate leadership emerges from various situation and conditions. It is one of the important quality which is required by each and every organization in present time. It shows how a person handles pressure and take responsibility in various condition. It teaches leader that they should be humble during good times, while they should be patient and not to blame people in times of failure.

Transformational Leadership

It emphasizes on transformation and organizational changes. It is considered to be essential task of effective leaders. A leader should bring positive change in the organization which can be anything like making connection with peer, arranging a get together, appreciating the employees with the work they have done and so on. Such steps can help a leader to be effective and it will make a work place to be a fun place.

Discursive Leadership

It is an interactional process where leaders communicate with the people whom they need to guide in certain ways. The communication between them should be clear and it should send a clear message. Sometimes it happens in the organization that the message delivered was not clear and it creates lot of problem among leaders and people. It also mean that leader should be a good listener. He needs to understand the feelings and emotions of the people talking to them and react accordingly. It is a two way process of listening and delivering the thoughts and ideas clearly.

Yesterday I was watching a sci-fi movie called Eagle Eye. I know many people have watched it. So I really like the use of technology and intelligence, but the whole movie started due to a wrong decision of President who ordered strike on the people whom he thought was a terrorist, but he was not. So the super computer call ARIIA who told President not to do air strike, but he did and then ARIIA take revenge on him. It is an example which can be compared to every work place now and then. So my question is how we can avoid such situation in our work place?