Organizational and leadership psychology:
Lecture 2: 10 meta theories of leadership and the most
important figures of leadership theory :
1., The great man theory /Thomas Carlyle/:
“Great leaders are born, not made.”
This quote sums up the basic tenet of the Great Man theory of leadership, which suggests
that the capacity for leadership is innate.
Great man, because at the time, leadership was thought of primarily as a male quality,
especially in terms of military leadership.
This theory become popular in the 19th century.
In the early research of leadership, scientist usually looked at people, who achieved their
position through birth right. Because people of a lesser social status had fewer
opportunities to practice and achieve leadership roles, it contributed to the idea that
leadership is an inherent ability.
Even today, people often describe prominent leaders as having the right qualities or
personality for the position. This implies that inherent characteristics are what make these
people effective leaders.
This theory centres on two main assumptions:
Great leaders are born possessing certain traits that enable them to rise and lead.
Great leaders can arise when the need of them is great.
2., The trait theory of leadership (1930’s-40’s) :
This theory assumes, that there are distinctive physical and psychological characteristics
accounting for leadership effectiveness. Due to this, it focuses on identifying the different
personality traits and characteristics that are linked to successful leadership across a
variety of situations.
According to Carlyle’s theory leadership was based on the rationale that:
- Certain traits produce certain patterns of behavior.
- Patterns are consistent across different situations.
- People are "born" with leadership traits.
Ralph Melvin Stogdill suggested that leadership is the result of the interaction between
the individual and the social situation and not merely the result of a predefined set of
traits.
Traits that a leader possesses:
1. Personality:
Patterns of behavior, such as adaptability and comfort with ambiguity, and
dispositional tendencies, such as motives and values, are associated with
effective leadership.
2. Interpersonal attributes
These relate to how a leader approaches social interaction. According to
Hoffman and others (2011), traits such as extroversion and agreeableness are
included in this category.
3. Task competence:
, This relates to how individuals approach the execution and performance of
tasks. Hoffman groups intelligence, conscientiousness, openness to
experience, and emotional stability into this category.
▫ Emotional stability: An effective leader must be able to find ways of
overcoming personal feelings when they need to make rational
decisions. Emotional stability also increases employee trust in their
leader.
4. Communication and charisma:
Effective leadership is based on the ability to properly communicate all
plans and ideas to other team members. The leader must be highly
articulate, convincing, and charismatic, therefore able to communicate
complex ideas in ways that other team members understand and adopt.
5. Willingness to accept responsibility:
Effective leaders take responsibility for their own actions and for the
actions of the people they supervise without excuses.
6. Action-oriented thinking:
Leaders tend to make decisions and take action with the aim of moving
the entire group forward. They actively seek new ways of bettering
themselves, the people under their supervision and the entire department
or organization.
7. Competence :
Effective leaders have the ability to lead by example. They are highly
skilled and capable of doing what they are specialized to do and constantly
work to maintain their high level of competency. They serve as a direct
example to subordinates and benchmark process within the organization.
8. Understanding:
Being an effective leader requires high levels of empathy for the needs
and challenges of subordinates. Good leaders understand that the best way
for the entire organization to move forward is to help each member
overcome the various difficulties they are faced with and use the best of
their concentration and abilities to move the company forward.
9. Ambition and need for success:
Successful leaders have a constant need for achievement and success.
They seek personal success but also understand that that their successes
are derivative of the achievements and successes of their employees and
team.
10. Motivational skills:
A leader must not only be naturally motivated but also equipped with the
ability to inspire those around them to work to do their best.
11. Courage and resilience:
In addition to taking responsibility for both successes and failures, leaders
must embrace challenges and take on ambitious projects with a strong
belief that they can succeed.
12. Perseverance:
Setbacks will happen in the life of any organization, so the leader's ability
to persevere when faced with adversity is crucial to the overall success of
the group. Even when faced with especially big obstacles, strong leaders
still manage to perform to the best of their ability and inspire those around
to follow their lead.
13. Moral standing:
Team members must be certain that their leader's actions are exclusively
for the good of the organization and maintain high ethical standards.
14. Confident decision-making:
An effective leader will regularly face difficult decisions and must have the
self-belief and determination to make the right calls, even in difficult
situations. Subordinates will be inspired by the leader's self-assurance and
encouraged to be more confident in their own abilities.
Lecture 2: 10 meta theories of leadership and the most
important figures of leadership theory :
1., The great man theory /Thomas Carlyle/:
“Great leaders are born, not made.”
This quote sums up the basic tenet of the Great Man theory of leadership, which suggests
that the capacity for leadership is innate.
Great man, because at the time, leadership was thought of primarily as a male quality,
especially in terms of military leadership.
This theory become popular in the 19th century.
In the early research of leadership, scientist usually looked at people, who achieved their
position through birth right. Because people of a lesser social status had fewer
opportunities to practice and achieve leadership roles, it contributed to the idea that
leadership is an inherent ability.
Even today, people often describe prominent leaders as having the right qualities or
personality for the position. This implies that inherent characteristics are what make these
people effective leaders.
This theory centres on two main assumptions:
Great leaders are born possessing certain traits that enable them to rise and lead.
Great leaders can arise when the need of them is great.
2., The trait theory of leadership (1930’s-40’s) :
This theory assumes, that there are distinctive physical and psychological characteristics
accounting for leadership effectiveness. Due to this, it focuses on identifying the different
personality traits and characteristics that are linked to successful leadership across a
variety of situations.
According to Carlyle’s theory leadership was based on the rationale that:
- Certain traits produce certain patterns of behavior.
- Patterns are consistent across different situations.
- People are "born" with leadership traits.
Ralph Melvin Stogdill suggested that leadership is the result of the interaction between
the individual and the social situation and not merely the result of a predefined set of
traits.
Traits that a leader possesses:
1. Personality:
Patterns of behavior, such as adaptability and comfort with ambiguity, and
dispositional tendencies, such as motives and values, are associated with
effective leadership.
2. Interpersonal attributes
These relate to how a leader approaches social interaction. According to
Hoffman and others (2011), traits such as extroversion and agreeableness are
included in this category.
3. Task competence:
, This relates to how individuals approach the execution and performance of
tasks. Hoffman groups intelligence, conscientiousness, openness to
experience, and emotional stability into this category.
▫ Emotional stability: An effective leader must be able to find ways of
overcoming personal feelings when they need to make rational
decisions. Emotional stability also increases employee trust in their
leader.
4. Communication and charisma:
Effective leadership is based on the ability to properly communicate all
plans and ideas to other team members. The leader must be highly
articulate, convincing, and charismatic, therefore able to communicate
complex ideas in ways that other team members understand and adopt.
5. Willingness to accept responsibility:
Effective leaders take responsibility for their own actions and for the
actions of the people they supervise without excuses.
6. Action-oriented thinking:
Leaders tend to make decisions and take action with the aim of moving
the entire group forward. They actively seek new ways of bettering
themselves, the people under their supervision and the entire department
or organization.
7. Competence :
Effective leaders have the ability to lead by example. They are highly
skilled and capable of doing what they are specialized to do and constantly
work to maintain their high level of competency. They serve as a direct
example to subordinates and benchmark process within the organization.
8. Understanding:
Being an effective leader requires high levels of empathy for the needs
and challenges of subordinates. Good leaders understand that the best way
for the entire organization to move forward is to help each member
overcome the various difficulties they are faced with and use the best of
their concentration and abilities to move the company forward.
9. Ambition and need for success:
Successful leaders have a constant need for achievement and success.
They seek personal success but also understand that that their successes
are derivative of the achievements and successes of their employees and
team.
10. Motivational skills:
A leader must not only be naturally motivated but also equipped with the
ability to inspire those around them to work to do their best.
11. Courage and resilience:
In addition to taking responsibility for both successes and failures, leaders
must embrace challenges and take on ambitious projects with a strong
belief that they can succeed.
12. Perseverance:
Setbacks will happen in the life of any organization, so the leader's ability
to persevere when faced with adversity is crucial to the overall success of
the group. Even when faced with especially big obstacles, strong leaders
still manage to perform to the best of their ability and inspire those around
to follow their lead.
13. Moral standing:
Team members must be certain that their leader's actions are exclusively
for the good of the organization and maintain high ethical standards.
14. Confident decision-making:
An effective leader will regularly face difficult decisions and must have the
self-belief and determination to make the right calls, even in difficult
situations. Subordinates will be inspired by the leader's self-assurance and
encouraged to be more confident in their own abilities.
