Analysis of Leadership Capabilities

Running head: ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES
ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES
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Author Note

1ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES
Question 1 – What is involved in being a successful leader?
Answer –
Individual perspective
The successful leaders show some major traits that are related to the ways by which
they are able to manage the employees in the organization. The different traits that are shown
by the leaders can be defined by three theories which are, Big Five Personality, Stogdill’s
Traits and Great Man theory.
Big Five Personality traits which is also known as the five factor model or FFM is
based on various characteristics of the leaders. This model is mainly related to the descriptors
of common language. The Big Five Personality Test is used by the human resource
professionals for placing the employees in organizations. The dimensions of this test are
considered to be the underlying traits that can make up the overall personality of an
individual. The Big Five Personality traits are, openness, conscientiousness, extroversion,
agreeableness and neuroticism (Amanchukwu, Stanley and Ololube 2015).
Stogdill’s Traits theory – The leadership traits that are described in the traditional
method have been challenged and further researched by Ralph Stogdill. A paper written by
Stogdill in the year 1948 has caused doubts about the trait theory. The research that was
conducted by Stogdill has shown many disagreements with the key traits. The main point that
was raised by Stogdill was that the traits that are obtained by the leader are not always
enough to define his or her character. The argument was raised by Stogdill that the
characteristics of a successful leader are based on the situation of leadership. The challenges
that are faced by leaders in the organization can be faced with the help of proper leadership
traits (Balon 2014).

2ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES
Great Man’s Theory – This theory had gained popularity in the 19th century. The
mythology that is present behind the most famous leaders like, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma
Gandhi, Julius Caesar has further contributed to the to the notion that the great leaders are
born and not made. The Great Man Theory of leadership traits was proposed by the famous
historian named Thomas Carlyle who had an opinion about the great men who lived.
According to Carlyle, the great are gifted from their birth and their qualities cannot be
developed externally. The leaders who have been able to achieve their position from birth are
the defined by the Great Man theory of leadership. The social status of people has also been
given importance by the Great Man leadership theory. The prominent leaders are thereby said
to have the best qualities which can help them in motivating the employees to show their best
behaviour (Bolden 2016).
The skills that can be developed by managers to become a successful leader are as
follows,
Katz’s Three Skills model – The managerial skills have been described by the famous
social psychologist named, Robert L. Katz in the year 1974. The three types of skills that
have been defined by the psychologist are, technical skills, human skills and conceptual
skills. The technical skills are mainly required for the lower management levels, human skills
are required for all the levels of the management and conceptual skills are developed by the
top management level managers (Paliszkiewicz, Gołuchowski and Koohang 2015).
Skills Based model – The skills based leadership theory is also an important part of
the leadership style which relates to three different types of skills. The skills that are relevant
to particular fields are developed in an effective manner by the leaders. The leaders who
belong to different levels of the organizational management thereby require different types of
skills. The leadership based skills need to be developed by the managers of all levels so that

3ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES
they are able to solve the issues that are faced by the companies and the employees (Cox
2016).
The styles that are followed by the successful leaders are,
Lewin’s leadership style – The different leadership styles have been explained by
Lewin which help the leaders to manage the employees in an effective manner. The
autocratic leaders take decisions without taking the opinion of the subordinates. For example,
the previous CEO of Apple followed an autocratic style of leadership where the employees
were compelled to follow the orders of the CEO. On the other hand, democratic leaders take
the decisions based on the opinions and ideas that are provided by the subordinates or the
individual employees. For example, the democratic style of leadership style is followed by
Sundar Pichai who is the current CEO of Google. The laissez faire style of leadership is
followed where the involvement of the leaders in the organizational decisions is low. The
employees are responsible to make their own decisions that help them to achieve the goals
and objectives (Mumford, Campion and Morgeson 2007). For example, the laissez faire style
of leadership is followed by Bill Gates the CEO of Microsoft where the employees are
involved in the decisions that are taken by the company as a whole.
Managerial Grid – The managerial grid model has been proposed by Robert R. Blake
and Jane Mouton. The model is based on five different styles of leadership which is related to
the concern of the people and production.
Contextual perspective
The leadership styles also play an important role in deciding the ways by which the
leaders can develop leadership qualities. The three different styles of leadership that are help
the leaders to develop their qualities are,