The Great Man Theory

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

  • Continuum of leadership

    Continuum of leadership

    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.

  • Trait Theory of Leadership

    Trait Theory of Leadership

    Trait Theory of Leadership is based on the assumption that people are born with inherited traits and some traits are particularly suited to leadership. The theory aims to discover specific leadership & personality traits and characteristics proven to predict the likelihood of success or failure of a leader.

  • Michigan Studies

    Michigan Studies

    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.

  • Trait Theories - Application

    Trait Theories - Application

    Trait theories of leadership explain the leadership traits that have been studied to determine what makes certain people great leaders. The practical application of the theory is looking at how the leader‟s behavior affects their subjects.

  • Social Learning Theories

    Social Learning Theories

    Social learning theory is a theory of learning process that states that most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling. Behavior change can occur in response to leader modeling and learning occurs through the observation of rewards and punishments. The focus of this approach has been teaching leadership across formal and informal settings.

  • Characteristics of Leadership

    Characteristics of Leadership

    There are four characteristics of leadership that help us to understand the character of leadership as a concept. 1. Leadership is a process, 2. Leadership involves influence, 3. Leadership always occurs in a group context and 4. Leadership involves goal attainment. These are the four components that make up the character of the 'leadership' term and help us to define the leadership concept. All of these components of leadership have common characteristics.

  • Theories of Team Development

    Theories of Team Development

    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.

  • Managerial Grid Theory

    Managerial Grid Theory

    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.

  • Kolb Learning Cycle & Change

    Kolb Learning Cycle & Change

    David Kolb produced this popular model for learning in 1984. The model suggests four stages of learning which most learners go through in order to learn effectively. Leaming is itself a process of change. Something is added to our perception and prepared us for the next impression, which will change our understanding yet more, however minutely. The Kolb contribution is a significant one because it practically equates change and learning.

  • Generating Ideas using Brainstorming

    Generating Ideas using Brainstorming

    The brainstorming technique was developed by Alex F. Osborn in 1957 and brainstorming means where a team of members generates a large amount of alternative fruitful ideas on a specific problem without any criticism and then evaluates each idea in terms of their pros and cons. Brainstorming techniques fall into four broad categories: visioning, exploring, modifying, and experimenting.

Explore Our Free Training Articles or
Sign Up to Start With Our eLearning Courses

Subscribe to Our Newsletter


© 2023 TechnoFunc, All Rights Reserved