Strengths and Limitations of Leadership Theories - Essay Example

Running Header: Leadership Theories First Names: Student Number: Institution: Course Number: Course Name: Assignment Due Date: 1.0 Introduction In many years leadership has been one of the issues of interests in institutions. This is perhaps because of the role it plays in realizing the stated organizational objectives and goals. Leadership is very critical in showing the way on how individuals should behave and react to different organizational changes in order to produce expected results. Leadership is part of the management that is supposed to oversee the formation and enactment of different polices as part of ensuring available resources are well utilized for working towards the institution objectives. Leadership is more particularly concerned with the management of employees by providing a framework that should be followed by each and every employee. In ensuring that performance is enhanced, leadership is expected to work on issues such as performance development, training of employees and providing regular feedbacks on performance so as to enhance the efforts towards performance (DuBrin 2010, pp 67). Leadership has been explained using different theories and how they apply to working environment. However, the objective of this essay is to critically review the three main leadership theories: contingency theory, trait theory and situation theory. The intention is to contrast them and relate them in terms of providing effective leadership at workplace. 2.0 Trait leadership theories Trait leadership theories at workplace are related to ‘Great Man.’ This theory assumes that people who make good leaders at workplace relate to those characteristics that are inherited by individuals. In other words, individuals naturally posses certain capabilities that enable them make great leaders who can inspire and motivate individuals towards working hard to achieve the organizational objectives. These capabilities according to ‘Great Man,’ are identified with certain personalities and behaviors that are portrayed by individuals. This theory even though can be very important in causing change and enhancing good performance, it does not address the issue of people with great personalities and traits but do not have the abilities to lead as illustrated by (James and Burgoyne 2001, pp.164). Trait leadership theory is very critical in explaining the reasons as to why some leaders are very successful while others fail even after they have been assigned very small assignments which are complex and does not require a lot of attention to complete. This is because together with knowledge acquisition certain traits and personalities can be transformed to great leadership in the 21st century when the world has become so complex and issues need to be addressed from different perspectives. Several scholars have made different attempts in order to determine how individual attributes such as physical appearance, age and education as well as socioeconomic background, personalities, confidence, intelligence and achievement oriented affect leadership effectiveness. It’s believed that great leaders are associated with certain characteristics such as individual interests, capabilities and personalities (James and Burgoyne 2001, pp.143). These characteristics have a major role to play in ensuring effectiveness of leadership in an organization. Several researches conducted in the 20th century, have managed to identify various traits that are core and directly related to effective and great leadership. However, many of the researchers agree that these traits alone cannot be used to mean that the person is capable of making a good leader. But they are seen as major conditions that can contribute to making and providing appropriate leadership. Among those traits that have been identified as core traits include: the achievement drive, leadership motivation, honesty and integrity, self confidence, cognitive abilities, individual knowledge about the business and emotional maturity. The other traits include: charisma and creativity as well as flexibility (Perren and Burgoyne 2001, pp. 34). Achievement drive for instance, describes the individual willingness to put more effort towards what is being done and by demonstrating great ambitions, strength and initiative. 2.1 Strengths of traits theory Like any other theory, trait leadership model has also weaknesses and strengths. In terms of strengths, the theory looks interesting and pleasing to the leaders. This because of the perspective it takes to address the issue of leadership in an institution. The theory into depth seeks to relate personal traits to their capabilities in making leadership more effective at workplace. Second, this theory has been widely studied on and various researchers have tried to validate the relevance of this theory. Wide research is aimed at providing complete evidence that could support the importance of this theory. Third, this theory is important in providing the foundation under which various leadership traits can be accessed. While trying to determine who can make an effective leader, the theory can be very useful in assessing various leadership traits. Finally, this theory is very critical in providing detailed knowledge and deeper understanding of individual traits that can have the influence on the leadership process (Rodgers et al 2003, pp. 234). 2.2 Limitations of trait theory On the other hand, the traits theory has also some weaknesses that have continue to cause several questions on its relevance with regard to leadership in institutions in the 21st century. First, this theory is subjective in determining who is likely to be a successful or good leader. This is likely to lead to a scenario where other important factors such as knowledge and experience are overlooked on determine who is to lead a time. Second, the traits that are used under this theory to explain who can make a good leader are numerous and can be more than 100. This means that these traits are applied as generalities and therefore do not address specific traits and the specific working environments where they are likely to affect the leadership effectiveness. Finally, there is total disquiet among different researchers on whether the traits are worthy in determining who is a successful leader. This is likely to cause concern about the credibility of the theory (James and Burgoyne 2001, pp.117). In summary, the traits theory approach to leadership has managed to provide very constructive elements of elements. This theory is applicable to all levels of leadership. This is a very important theory that can be utilized by the leaders in the institution to evaluate their positions and ways in which their leadership effectiveness can be enhanced. This is especially important in identifying individual capabilities and how they affect others within the team. 3.0 Situational leadership theory Unlike the trait leadership theory, the situational theory requires that individuals in leadership apply different styles that are specific to certain situation. This means that leadership style must never be stable but continue in respect to different contexts. This theory was first developed in 1969 by Hersey and Blanchard from the Reddin’s 3-D management theory. According to this theory, the work of the leader is to try and adapt to different leadership styles that will meet the members’ needs and at the same provide reasonable direction that is geared to accomplishing a certain task. In other words the leader is expected to diagnose the skills and willingness of individuals to perform certain functions as prescribed (James and Burgoyne 2001, pp.94). Even though this theory can presented graphically by making use of the four-square matrix which have distinct phases, the theory does not have the end to movement and its continues to move to both directions along the continuum as long as it involves the movement from unskilled and unwillingness to work to highly skilled and willing to work and with various combinations on the way. The leader in this case is expected to continually balance the amount of directions provided and the relationships built because individuals’ skills and levels of motivation continue to vary with time. Balancing is especially important in this era of technology when leadership has become very dynamic. Passion, honesty and communications skills are very critical for any leader. I believe this because the leader is expected to provide good example of what he wants to be done by the members. Communication is particularly important in communicating various roles and responsibilities at every situation (2004, pp. 53). 3.1 The strengths of situational leadership theory First and foremost, the situational leadership is very flexible and directive and therefore allows one to employee skills in different situations. This is because the theory tells the person in leadership what is expected of him given a certain situation. The situation leadership is especially important in helping one to who is able, who has the will and who can do what. This is important in assigning specific roles in order to tackle different aspects of the situation. In this case therefore it implies leadership is change and situational leadership is all about adapting to change. Change is eminent in every situation given that there are both external and internal pressures and therefore leaders are expected to respond accordingly to meet the changing demands. Second, situation leadership is easy to define, easy to use and very logical. For example, a new team member is able to have great enthusiasm even though he may not have the skills or competencies required for the task as illustrated by Raelin (2003, pp. 34). In this case direction is more critical than motivation especially at the beginning of the project. Once the team members have mastered the work, less direction will be required. However, motivation is likely to come likely to come later when the tasks performed have become more repetitive and less challenging. Third, situational leadership is able to recognize and value differences that exist among different team members and how they can be utilized to perform different tasks. Fourth, situational leadership has passed the test of the day. This is because this type of leadership has been put into use both in large and small teams in education, business, military and family settings. In other words, this theory has been widely accepted and is now used as a training tool in various institutions. 3.2 Limitations of situational leadership First and foremost, this leadership theory for it to be applied, there is need to make incredible judgments based on knowledge that individuals have towards certain tasks. This is because not everyone has the required vision, personality, strength, tenacity and perceptions as well as constituent buy-in that can allow him lead in every situation. If these individuals’ abilities and willingness are misdiagnosed, there is always a possibility that the team’s progression can easily be disrupted and consequently affect the self-esteem of the individuals. Second, situational leadership theory requires that every leader be familiar with the intellect levels of those that he is leading. However, the model does not provide tools to asses these aspect and thus making it more difficult for the leader to provide adequate leadership. Third, even though this model has been widely used in various contexts, very little research has been done on it to ascertain its effectiveness. In summary, this type of leadership theory requires critical understanding of individual intellects and capabilities required to provide personal attention. However, this sometimes cannot be easy given the diverse background of the individuals as illustrated by Northouse (2004, pp. 32). 4.0 Contingency leadership theories The contingency leadership theory argues that there is no single model that is best suited to all scenarios. In other words there are always shortcomings of each leadership that must be addressed. The approach given by this theory is that leaders are expected to plan well ahead the actions that will be taken where tasks have to be performed differently. This model is especially applicable where tasks are done in a known environment and repeatedly. In this case leadership is always based on the expected scenarios. In this case the leader is expected to have known what factors that can influence performance and how they can be managed according to Bass and Stogdill (1990, pp. 233). For this type of leadership to be effective, one is expected to have clear understanding of the relationship that exits that between the team members. This is particularly important in getting to understand how individuals get along. In addition, the task structure is very important in this case. The leader must know if the work is highly structured, fair or somewhere between. There is also need for the leaders to understand the amount of powers they have and what is within their jurisdiction. Unlike the trait and situation theory, under this theory, the leaders are task oriented. In other words they are well acquainted with their roles as argued by (Thomas et al 2002, pp. 12). This type of leadership tends to work well where leader-member relationship is good, where tasks are well structured and where either strong or weak power exists. This theory seeks to create a combination of various variables in a weighted sum referred to as favorable from one end and unfavorable to the other end. In other words, contingency leadership is preferable where both favorable and unfavorable environments exist. Another aspect with this theory is that the relationships that exist between the team members, the task structures and the position of power dictate how one will take control of the situation. Position powers refer to the authority that the leader has in terms of directing and rewarding as well as punishing the team members. These powers greatly depend on whether the environment is favorable or unfavorable. 4.1 The strengths of the contingency theory This theory is associated with several strengths. First and foremost, this theory has proved by different empirical researches to be very reliable in explaining how effective leadership can be achieved. Second, this theory is very critical in broadening the leadership understanding by allowing individuals to focus on the impacts of various situations to their leadership. This is particularly importing in sorting out issues that relate to ineffective leadership. Finally, this theory is based on the predictive approach and therefore can be used to access very important information with regard tow what leadership is expected of as illustrated by Bernard (1998, pp. 123). 4.2 Limitations of contingency theory This theory is also said to have its weaknesses that affect effective leadership. First, this theory has not managed to explain in details why different people that have different leadership styles are more successful in some situations than others. Next, this theory is associated with the Least Preferred Co worker (LPC) scale since its perceived not to be varied from the outlook. Finally, this theory has failed to explain in detail what the organizations should do incase there is a disconnection between the team leader and the situation that exist at workplace according to Bass and Stogdill (1990, pp. 147). 5.0 Conclusion Based on this review, the author has managed to discuss extensively the different theories of leadership namely: trait theory, situation theory and contingency. What has been discovered is that all these theories have some relevance in explaining what effective leadership in an institution is all about. However, these three theories given the fact that they have their areas of strength and weaknesses, they cannot be exclusively used as alternatives. In general terms, leadership is a very complex process and therefore requires one to understand the trends involved and the situations that affect its effectiveness in order to provide adequate leadership. References DuBrin, A 2010, Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills (6th Edition), Mason, OH, South Western Cengage Learning.  Bass, B & Stogdill, R 1990, Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research and Managerial Applications, New York, The Free Press. Bernard, M 1998, Transformational Leadership: Industrial, Military, and Educational Impact, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. James, K and Burgoyne, J 2001, Leadership Development: Best practice guide for organizations, London, Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership. Online at: http://www.managementandleadershipcouncil.org. Northouse, P 2004, Leadership: Theory and practice, California, SAGE Publications. Perren, L and Burgoyne, J 2001, Management and Leadership Abilities: An analysis of texts, testimony and practice, London, Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership. Online at: http://www.managementandleadershipcouncil.org/reports/r30.htm. Raelin, J 2003, Creating Leaderful Organizations, San Fransisco, Berrett-Koehler Inc. Rodgers, H., Frearson, M., Holden, R. and Gold, J 2003, The Rush to Leadership. Presented at Management Theory at Work conference, Lancaster University, April 2003. Thomas, W & William, L 2002, Bainbridge: Sharing the Glory, Journal of Leadership, Vol.31, No.3, pp. 12-15. Read More