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.
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.
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.
“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)
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.
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.
Power is the ability to exercise influence or control over others. Leadership involves authority and it is very important for leaders to understand what type of power they're using. The 5 Types of Power in Leadership are Coercive power, expert power, legitimate power, referent power, and reward power. Authority is the right to command and extract obedience from others. It comes from the organization and it allows the leader to use power.
Neo-Emergent Leadership theory supports that leadership is created through the emergence of information. Leaders can only be recognized after a goal is met. Follower’s perception of leaders is influenced by the ways these goals were accomplished.
Management theories are the recommended management strategies that enable us to better understand and approach management. Many management frameworks and guidelines were developed during the last four decades.
The Fiedler Model of leadership is a contingency theory and states that a leader's effectiveness is based on the situation. There is no one best style of leadership and the effectiveness of a leader in an organization depends on matching the leader to the situation. Leaders should determine the natural leadership style and assess the situation to flex the style.
Transformational Theories of Leadership
Transformational leadership theories focus on the leadership approach where the leader encourages, inspires employees to innovate and create positive and valuable organizational change. A transformational leader works towards “transforming” the culture to one that cultivates trust, mutual admiration, loyalty, and respect with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. Transformational leaders are known to be visionary, inspiring, daring, risk-takers, and thoughtful.
Continuum of leadership is a leadership theory based on the relationship between the level of freedom given to the team and the level of authority used by the manager. The chosen leadership style will depend on multiple factors, including the leader's personality.
McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y
McGregor created Theory X and Theory Y of human work motivation and explained two styles of management known as authoritarian (Theory X) and participative (Theory Y). Theory X management assumes most people will attempt to avoid work whereas Theory Y managers trust their people to take ownership of their work.
The four theory of leadership was formulated after studying hundreds of leaders and the model includes four basic dimensions of effective leadership - support; interaction; facilitation; goal emphasis, and work facilitation. This model was tested as a predictor of an organization's effectiveness.
Role theory is a concept in sociology and the role theory of leadership borrows these concepts to explain how people adapt to specific organizational and leadership roles. How the leaders and followers in an organizational context define their own roles, define the roles of others, how people act in their roles and how people expect people to act in their roles within the organization.
The Psychodynamic Approach to leadership focuses on leaders building an understanding of their personality characteristics to know why they act or react in certain ways. Psychodynamics theory aims to explain the dynamics of human behavior in which lies the essence of leadership, by analyzing various motives that govern a person's behavior. This information can be used to develop leaders and followers by understanding their responses based on their personalities.
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