The Great Man Theory
The great man theory of leadership is a 19th-century idea that states a person is either a natural-born leader or not. Some people are born with the necessary leadership attributes that help them create a great impact on society, politics, or the military. The theory focuses on identifying the innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great men.
What is Great Man Theory?
This theory is linked to the work of the historian “Thomas Carlyle” and was proposed during the 19th century (1840’s) according to which history can be largely explained by the impact of great men or heroes and that great leaders are born and not made. According to this theory capacity for leadership is inborn that is a person is either a natural born leader or not. These born leaders are highly influential individuals, gifted with divine inspiration and the right characteristics like charisma, intelligence, wisdom, political skill etc. with a capability to have a decisive historical impact. The theories that were developed were called “great man” theories because they focused on identifying the innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great social, political, and military leaders.
Great Person Theory:
In earlier times leadership was considered mainly as a quality associated with the males however with the emergence of many great women leaders in future, this theory was recognized as the great person theory in place of great men theory.
Quotes on Great Man Theory:
“The history of the world is but the biography of great men” - Thomas Carlyle
"The goal of humanity lies in its highest specimens" – Nietzsche (Untimely Meditations)
Overview of Great Person Theory:
As much of the literature available on Theories of Leadership is a product of last two centuries, early research on leadership was primarily based on the study of people who were known as great leaders. Hence this theory is based on the assumption that leaders are born and not made and that the great leaders will arise when there is a great need for them, as the right man for the job seems to emerge almost magically to take control of a situation and lead a group of people into safety or success.
This theory presented a primary view of leadership as it was said that history is nothing but stories of great men. Advocates of this theory believed there were a few exceptional men in each generation who were born with qualities and characteristics that caused other individuals to follow them. These great men were believed to be born with the necessary attributes that set them apart from others and that these traits are responsible for their assuming positions of power and authority.
A leader is a hero who accomplishes goals against all odds for his followers. From an early age, these leaders could attract followers through the magnetism of their personalities and had the ability to direct the group in ways that produced significant changes to society. This theory was also supported by American scholar Frederick Adams Woods who in his work investigated 386 rulers in Western Europe from the 12th century till the French revolution in the late 18th century and their influence on the course of historical events.
One of the main reasons for evolution of this theory was that in those times people of a lesser social status had fewer opportunities to practice and achieve leadership roles, and research looked only at people who were already successful leaders. These successful heroes were either aristocratic ruler, who achieved the position through birthright or individuals with personal charisma that they emerged great against all odds. Their ability to lead others was not found in a set of skills that could be learned, but was thought to be a unique, internalized characteristic that was inherent in personality to such a degree as to be part of a leader's genetic structure. This fact contributed to the idea that leadership is an inherent ability. Leadership is believed to be provided by people possessed of special skills and/or qualities distinguishing them from other people who don’t have these.
Criticism / Arguments against - The Great Person Theory of Leadership
The great person theory was popularized in the 1840s by Thomas Carlyle, and in 1860 Herbert Spencer formulated a counter-argument that has remained influential till present. He argued that such great men are actually the products of their societies, and that their actions would be impossible without the social conditions built before their lifetimes. Leaders were the products of the society in which they lived. Spencer wrote, "You must admit that the genesis of a great man depends on the long series of complex influences which has produced the race in which he appears, and the social state into which that race has slowly grown....Before he can remake his society, his society must make him." – The Study of Sociology.
Until the last years, similar in some ways to "Great Man Theories” another theory gained popularity that assumed that people inherit certain qualities and traits that make them better suited to leadership. These theories were known as “Trait Theories of Leadership”, our next article in this section discusses these theories in detail.
Related Links
You May Also Like
-
The development of teams is an ongoing process because the composition of the team may keep on changing. The new members may join and the old members may leave the team. The team members pass through several stages for the development of the team and there has been a lot of research to identify these stages. In this article, we discuss the common theories of team development.
-
Socio-technical theory of leadership focus on the presence of two subsystems in every organization, the interrelatedness of social and technical aspects of an organization. Theory pertains to the social aspects of people and technical aspects of an organization, which means structure and processes within the organization.
-
The style approach emphasizes that one style of leadership behaviour cannot be effective in all situations. Earlier theories treated leadership exclusively as a personality trait and behavior approach has widened the scope by including the behaviors of leaders and what they do in various situations. Explore how you can benefit from the concepts to understand your own behaviors and what are some of the leadership tools based on the style approach to leadership.
-
Leadership Traits – A great List
What are the qualities and characteristics of a good leader? Great leaders possess core leadership traits and skills. The list includes the most important leadership qualities and skills to look for in a great leader. These are must-have traits of a powerful and successful leader, the qualities a leader possess to be great.
-
Contingency Theories of Leadership
Contingency theories of leadership focus on both the leader's persona as well as the situation/environment in which that leader operates. These theories consider the context of leadership which means whether or not the leadership style suits a particular situation and states that a leader can be effective in one circumstance and a failure in another one. A leader will be most effective when he applies the right leadership style to a given situation and environment around him. Contingent leaders are flexible and adaptable.
-
The two-factor theory also known as Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory and dual-factor theory. This motivator-hygiene theory states that certain factors cause job satisfaction whereas certain separate factors cause dissatisfaction in the workplace. An organization can adjust these factors to influence motivation. These factors are respectively termed as motivators and hygiene factors.
-
In the field of communication studies, there are numerous models. No one model is suitable for all purposes and all levels of analysis. Some common models are known as Lasswell Model, George Gerbner Model, David Berlo Model, Shanon and Weaver Model, Osgoods Model, and Schramm Model. All these describe the four components of the communication process, namely, the source (communicator), the message, the channel, the receiver (audience).
-
Burns Transformational Leadership Theory
Transformational leadership theory has been defined by James MacGregor Burns as a process where both leaders and followers mutually raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation. The concept of transforming leader works with teams to garner trust, respect, and admiration while reaching to higher moral positions. The transformational theory of leadership was developed while studying political leaders and how they use charismatic methods to attract people to the values.
-
Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid is a style leadership model that identified five manager styles based on two dimensions viz concern for people and the concern for production. Managerial Grid uses concern for production style which is largely based on McGregor's Theory X.
-
Michigan Leadership Studies led to behavioral Leadership Theory as a result of a leadership study conducted at the University of Michigan. Michigan studies identified three important behaviors of leadership called task-oriented behavior, relationship-oriented behavior, and participative leadership. Two leadership styles associated with studies are employee orientation and production orientation.
