Leadership Theories

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Leadership Theories

• HSoB Leadership

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Great Man Theory

• Leaders are born and not made.
• Great leaders will arise when there is a great
  need.

Turn to your teammate and discuss Do you agree
or disagree with this theory? Why? Can you think
of an example? Write your findings in your notes.
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Trait Theory

•  People are born with inherited leadership
  traits.
• People who make good leaders have the right
  stuff. If you find people with similar traits,
  they too can be great leaders.

Turn to your teammate and discuss What traits
can you think of? Write your findings in your
notes. Now, compare your list to this list.
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Trait Theory (cont.)

• For example

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Trait Theory (cont.)

• Emotional stability and composure Calm,
  confident and predictable, particularly when
  under stress.
• Admitting error Owning up to mistakes, rather
  than putting energy into covering up.
• Good interpersonal skills Able to communicate
  and persuade others without resort to negative or
  coercive tactics.
• Intellectual breadth Able to understand a wide
  range of areas, rather than having a narrow (and
  narrow-minded) area of expertise.

Turn to your teammate and discuss Do you agree
or disagree that people are born with traits?
Why? Write your findings in your notes.
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Behavioral Theory

• Leaders are made rather than born.
• We all define roles of what a leader should be.
• Successful leadership is based on learning the
  behaviors associated with those roles.

Turn to your teammate and discuss Can you think
of a time that you have defined a role of what a
leader should be? Have you ever learned to be a
leader in any role? Write your findings in your
notes.
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Participative Leadership

• Working together to achieve a common goal.
• People are more committed.
• What does synergy mean?

Turn to your teammate and discuss Can you think
of a time that you have shared leadership?
Explain. Can you think of a situation in which
participative leadership might not work? Write
your findings in your notes.
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Situational Leadership

• Leadership style changes depending on the
  situation.
• Situational leaders focus on things that effect
  the group.

Turn to your teammate and discuss Can you think
of an example of how changing outside situations
would effect a the group? Would you handle the
situation differently? How? Write your findings
in your notes.
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Contingency Theory

• Contingency theory is similar to Situational
  theory in that there is an assumption of no
  simple one right way.
• The main difference is that situational theory
  tends to focus more on the behaviors that the
  leader should adopt , contingency theory takes a
  broader view that includes contingent factors
  about leader capability and other variables
  within the situation.

Turn to your teammate and discuss Do you think
it makes more sense to focus on leader behavior
or to look at the bigger picture ? Write your
findings in your notes.
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Transactional Leadership

• Assumptions
• People are motivated by reward and punishment.
• When people have agreed to do a job, a part of
  the deal is that they cede all authority to their
  manager.
• The transactional leader creates and manages the
  structure.

Turn to your teammate and discuss Can you think
of an example of this type of leadership? Do you
believe that this brings out the best in people?
Why or why not? Write your findings in your
notes.
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Transformational Leadership

• People will follow a person with vision who
  inspires them.
• A person with vision and passion can achieve
  great things.
• The way to get things done is by injecting
  enthusiasm and energy.
• Working for a Transformational Leader can be a
  wonderful and uplifting experience. They put
  passion and energy into everything. They care
  about you and want you to succeed.

Turn to your teammate and discuss What happens
when the visionary leader leaves ? How can the
vision be sustainable? Write your findings in
your notes.
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Putting it all together

• What leadership theories do you agree with?
• What theories do you disagree with?

Turn to your teammate and discuss Discuss the
theory that most agree with and disagree with ?
Prepare a brief presentation to the class
describing and justifying your decision.
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Citations

• Information in this presentation was taken from
• Changing Minds, Leadership Theories
• http//changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/th
  eories/leadership_theories.htm