Leadership and Governance

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE 1
Leadership and governance
Name
Institution

LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE 2
Leadership and governance
Introduction
Without good leadership and governance at all levels in public and civic organizations, it
is impossible to achieve goals, provide first-rate services and sustain effective leadership
(Aleksandar, 2017). In his leadership, Robert Hawke showed a lot of compassion and this made
him be one of the most creative and innovative leaders in Australia (Melissa, 2010). Robert
Hawke was a former Australian politician who served as 23rd prime minister and a leader of the
labor party from 1983-1991. Hawke was born in 1929 in South Australia but later moved to
Western Australia. According to Ken (2014), He is the only person who served the longest time
as labor party prime minister in Australia.
Literature Review
Leadership theories are studies which try to explain why certain people are chosen
leaders (Aleksandar, 2017). In most cases, people tend to think that leadership skills are not
acquired rather inborn. A leader is important for the success of every team. These leadership
theories emerged so that they can give answers to question like what makes leaders who they are
and what makes some people to be selected leaders while others followers (Williams &
Muenich, 2013). In this case, there are a number of theories which gives answers to these
questions.
One of these theories is the great man theory. This theory states that leaders are born with
the right skills and abilities for leading like good communication and social skills, intelligent and
confidence (Busse, 2014). The theory, therefore, suggests that leaders are born but not made.

LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE 3
This theory has sense in it because most leaders lack the traits and behaviours of a good leader
whereas some non-leaders have them.
Great man theory is similar to trait theory. Trait theory tries to look at the characteristics
of both successful and unsuccessful leaders (Hamid, 2015). It is therefore used to foretell
effective leadership in a particular leader. If the characteristics or traits of a certain person does
not match those of a potential leader, it means that he or she cannot have effective leadership and
vice versa. The researchers of this theory identified leadership characteristics from various
backgrounds (Busse, 2014). These include physiological traits like height, weight and
appearance, demographic attributes like family background, age and intelligence.
Another theory that explains why some people are chosen leaders is a behavioural theory.
This theory focuses on particular behaviours and actions of a leader rather than his or her
attributes/characteristics (Aleksandar, 2017). The theory suggests that a person needs technical,
human and conceptual skills to lead others. Technical skills include leaders understanding of the
process or technique, human skills are the ability to interact well with others while conceptual
skills enable a leader to come up with ideas for running the organization smoothly.
Teamwork plays an important role in the success of a business. It means a group of
people working together to achieve a common goal with each member positively contributing to
it (Chao-chien, 2010). According to Joy & Tanya (2013), Bruce Tuckman came up with four
team stage models which have been applied in various organizations since 1965. These four
stages occur in a team development hence performance. The first phase in team development is
formation. In this stage, members of the group try to work where they fit (Semiral & Zehra,
2013). This includes being in a group of people where one would like to be. In this stage,
members try to figure out who their members are and their areas of specialization. This is the