Theories of Leadership

The very essence of leadership is its purpose. And the purpose of leadership is to accomplish a task. That is what leadership does - and what it does is more important than what it is or how it works. ~ Colonel Dandridge M. Malone

This is so true. A successful leader is one who is able to get the work done, irrespective of the leadership style he follows. In simple words, leadership can be defined as an art of motivating and inspiring others so that they believe in a particular cause and give their best to achieve the goal.
There have been different leadership theories, with each of them making one assumption or the other to define what constitutes effective leadership. Presented below are the main theories of leadership.

Theories of Leadership Development

Transactional Theory
According to this leadership theory, the success of a leader in getting things done through others in the best possible manner, depends upon a system of rewards and punishments, which is pre-formulated. According to this theory, a leader can be successful if he defines the role and expectations from each and every employee clearly, supervises their performance from time to time and then takes appraisals to evaluate their performance. Most corporates today, follow this business leadership theory.

Participative Theory
According to this theory of leadership, the leader should take into account the opinion of his followers, before arriving at a decision. The leader should encourage participation of his teammates in the decision-making process and give their inputs due importance, in order to win their loyalty and co-operation.

Great Man Theory
According to this leadership theory and style, leadership qualities cannot be developed in individuals as these are inherent i.e. a person is born with leadership qualities. Such a person exhibits these qualities when the situation demands.

Behavioral Theory
According to such theories of leadership and motivation, leadership traits and behavior can be learned by individuals with training and experience. This theory rejects the assumption of the great man theory that leadership traits are inherent.

Trait Theory
This theory of leadership in education or business proclaim that there are certain leadership qualities which are common to all leaders. Another assumption of this theory is that people who possess the various leadership traits in them are bound to become good leaders.

Transformational Theory
According to transformational leadership theory, leaders can successfully get work done through others if they are able to motivate and inspire them. This theory assumes that a good relationship between the leader and his followers, where he is looked up by them, helps in getting done the work. An inspirational leader should be ethical and work towards the benefit of each of his followers, thus winning their commitment and co-operation for the cause.

Contingency Theory
Such theories of leadership style are based on the assumption that the success of a leader depends upon various variables such as the kind of followers he has, the situation the leader finds himself in and the kind of leadership style followed by him to deal with the situation. According to this theory, a leader cannot rely on the same kind of leadership style. He has to adapt it according to the circumstances.

Situational Theory
Quite similar to the contingency theory, this theory proclaims that the way a leader leads, the kind of styles and qualities he exhibits, depends a lot on the situation he has to deal with. Some of the factors that affect the behavior of the leader are - ability of his followers, the kind of relationship he shares with them, the resources available to the leader, the kind of co-operation that is there between the team, etc.

These are the theories of leadership development. As can be seen, most stress that leadership is a trait which can be learned through observation and experience. Having a well placed structure in place and sharing a good relationship with the followers are the two other things that contribute to the success of a leader. Businesses today have adapted their working models keeping the various assumptions of these leadership theories in mind, in order to achieve the organizational goals.