The Concepts of Leadership Theories

This essay begins with how the concept of leadership starts with understanding what leadership means. According to Robbins and Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 15th edition states that leadership is the ability to influence a group towards the achievement of a vision or set of goals (p, 402). A good leader is more likely to accomplish this task through knowledge and skill.

Knowledge to know about how to use what is known to influence workers in an organization to reach the goals of a company and skill to put in the effort to actually do what is meant to be done well to achieve organizational goals. In other words an effective leader should be capable of inspiring and motivating even the most inefficient employees to strive towards attaining the goals of the organization. Organizational effectiveness is critical to success in any business.

In order to achieve increased and sustainable business results, organizations need to execute strategy an engage employees. T he validity of the statement ‘’an organisations performance and effectiveness are directly related to its leadership,” can be further explained by drawing a little focus on the theories of leadership. These theories include situational theory, participative leadership model, the path-goal theory and the transformational leadership theory. Situational theories focus on the followers.

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Situational theories propose that the effectiveness of a particular style of leadership is dependent on the context in which it is being exercised. For example, in a situation where the leader is the most knowledgeable an experienced member of a group, an authoritarian style might be most appropriate but in other instances where group members are skilled experts, a democratic style would be more effective. Fieders situational theories identify effective leadership style under changing situations (Fieder, Chemers and Mahon, 1977). These can be either relationship motivated or task motivated.

A leader participative model is a leadership theory that provides a set of rules to determine the form and amount of participative decision making in different situations. These leaders encourage participation and contribution from groups members and helps members feel more relevant and committed to the decision making process. Persons are less competitive and more collaborative when they are working on joint goals. It has been proven that when decisions are made together, the social commitment to one another is greater and increases the commitment to he decision rather than when decisions are made by one person alone. Participative leadership can be effective in unstructured situations because it can increase role clarity and it can also be very effective for people who have a high need to control their environment. The path-goal theory which was developed by Robert House is a theory that states that it is a leader’s job to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide the necessary direction and support to ensure that their goals are compatible with the overall objectives of the group or organization. Robbins and Judge 15th Edition) Effective path-goal leaders must recognize the needs of those they manage and try to satisfy their needs through the workplace by rewarding persons for achieving their goals, helping subordinates to identify the most effective path they need to take to reach their goals and clear the paths so that these subordinates can reach their goals. The transformational leadership theory focuses on the connections formed between leaders and followers.

Transformational leadership is a process in which the leaders take actions to try to increase their associates' awareness of what is right and important, to raise their associates' motivational maturity and to move their associates to go beyond the associates' own self-interests for the good of the group, the organization, or society. Such leaders provide their associates with a sense of purpose that goes beyond a simple exchange of rewards for effort provided. The transformational leaders are proactive in many different and unique ways.

These leaders attempt to optimize development, not just performance. Development encompasses the maturation of ability, motivation, attitudes, and values. Such leaders want to elevate the maturity level of the needs of their associates (from security needs to needs for achievement and self-development). They convince their associates to strive for a higher level of achievement as well as higher levels of moral and ethical standards. Through the development of their associates, they optimize the development of their organization as well.

High performing associates build high performing organizations. A transformational leadership is more effective when in a smaller, privately held firm than in a complex organization because the personal nature can directly interact with the workforce and make decisions than when they report to an external broad of directors or deal with a complex bureaucratic structure. I conclude that each of these theories offers some insights into the qualities of successful leaders.

The different leadership styles will differ depending on the type of organizational structure being used but they are all important for the effectiveness and performance of any organization. Bibliography Bass, B. M. (2005). Transformational leadership theory, In J. B. Miner. Organizational behavior Fiedler, (1967) A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness. NewYork: McGraw-Hill. Langton, N. , ; Robbins, S. (2007). Leadership. In N. Langton ; S. Robbins. Organizational Behavior: Concepts, controversies, applications Toronto: Prentice Hall Canada

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