The Five Approaches to Leadership

Leadership
The five approaches to Leadership

Introduction
• The presentation discusses the five approaches
or theories to leadership
• Leadership theories provide important insights
into the ways to become a great leader
• These theories or approaches of leadership are
applicable in different contexts
• The presentation shall also highlight the
strengths and weaknesses of each theory
• Examples from different contexts shall be used
to demonstrate the effectiveness of each
approach

Situational Leadership
• The theory of Situational Leadership “evolved
from a task-oriented versus people oriented
leadership continuum”.
• Task-oriented leaders are more concerned towards
identifying followers’ roles, providing specific
instructions, forming organizational patterns and
building proper communication channels.
• People-oriented leaders on the other hand,
demonstrate worry for others, try to lessen
emotional differences, look for pleasant relations,
and order equal participation

Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
• As highlighted by McCleskey (2014) , Situational Leadership Theory is popular
amongst organizations to rain leaders. Further, it is a practical approach, easily
understandable and could be applied to various settings.
• Situational Leadership Theory is prescriptive in nature and demonstrates the way
leaders must act in order to achieve perfection and effectiveness
• It lays stress on flexibility as the leadership style is not fixed and depends on the
requirement of the situation
Weaknesses
• Tyssen, Wald and Spieth,(2013) point out three flaws within the Situational
Leadership Theory that include “consistency, continuity and conformity”.
• Further, it has also been found that behavioral theories depended largely on abstract
leadership styles that were hard to identify.
• It does not in any way address the leader’s development in the process of leadership