Academic Analysis and Application of Leadership Theories with Self-Evaluation of Leadership Traits: A Case Study of Joe Biden

This report discusses various leadership theories and their application in the case of Joe Biden. It also includes a self-evaluation questionnaire to help readers determine their own suitable leadership style. The report is relevant for students studying leadership, management, and political science.

Individual leadership
Presentation

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Different types of leadership theories.....................................................................................1
The Leadership theory applicable to the personality of Joe Biden........................................2
Self-Evaluation of learning about leadership.........................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Leadership refers to the ability of an individual to influence others in order to achieve
certain objective effectively and efficiently. Leadership is very essential quality of a person who
wants to get success in any field, such as fashion, politics, retail, media, technology, sports etc.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician who is currently the 46th President of US,
born in the year 1942. The following report will be describing about various leadership theories
that is suitable for certain organisational setting. Moreover, this report will be demonstrating
about a particular leadership theory that is suitable or applicable to the traits, behaviour and style
of Joe Biden’s leadership. At the end, this report will be providing a self-evaluation of learning
about suitable leadership style with the help of a questionnaire.
MAIN BODY
Different types of leadership theories
The understanding of leadership theories and styles of leadership can help an individual to
become more effective in their role. The leadership theories help an individual to analyse and
discover the common qualities among the good leaders and apply those in their styles to become
effective and efficient leaders. The leadership theories are formulated after understanding
personality traits, decision making, actions, input and output, environment and situation of an
individual.
The most recognised theories of leadership are as follows:
 The great man theory: according to the theory of leadership, the excellent leaders
possess the skills by their birth and do not develop it. It is a popular concept of the early
20s which states that leadership is inherited from one person to another. This theory states
that the leader possesses natural attributes of courage, intuition, intelligence, charm and
confidence.
 The trait theory of leadership: this theory states that there are certain qualities that occur
naturally in a good leader. In contrast of this theory, having certain qualities like
communication and listening does not necessarily mean that someone has strong
leadership skills.
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 The behavioral theory of leadership: this theory of leadership focuses on the
development of a leader occurs through the environment they live in, that may not be
possessed by birth. This theory explains that a person is more likely to act, behave or lead
in a certain manner in response to a particular environment.
 The transitional theory of Authoritative of leadership: according to this theory of
leadership a person works with the system of rewards and penalties. This leadership
focuses mainly on the hierarchical or management of leadership in a particular order and
structure, instead of creativity.
 The transformational theory situational theory of leadership: according to this theory of
leadership which is also known as "the relationship theory" leader tends to work with its
team members. The transformational leaders are more likely to inspire, motivate and
influence people by their charismatic personality, enthusiasm and passion. This leaders
serve as a role model for their teams and hold themselves at the same level at which they
expect others to perform.
The Leadership theory applicable to the personality of Joe Biden
Matrix leadership (Transformational and Democratic Leadership Theory)
Joe Biden is a people-person that makes him a leader who is more oriented towards the
people. The leadership of Joe Biden is a matrix that combines transformational, empathetic and
democratic theory of leadership with his personality. Joe Biden has an ability to connect to
people, listen to them and take part in their sufferings and success. As a president, engages
empathy for action to work together with the single purpose rather than cross-hassles. Job done
also involves active participation of people in the decision making process that makes him a
democratic leader.
Biden is actively involved in his political career and has developed a clear relation with its
team members in order to do their work effectively and efficiently. Joe Biden has faced many
issues and challenges in his career, but his ability to rebuild and reshape relations with others has
helped him to stand against all negatives, which makes him a transformational leader. Joe Biden
tries to inspire, influence and motivate others by his dynamic personality, courage, decision
making and passion that makes him a role model for the people.
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Self-Evaluation of learning about leadership
S.
No.
Exact
same(3)
Much
Similar
(2)
Less
similar
(1)
No
Match
(0)
Total
1 Improve teams work by involving everyone
in taking decisions
☺ 3
2 Ability to bring out the best in other people ☺ 2
3 take on a leadership role when needed, but
don’t consider myself a ‘leader’
☺ 2
4 Willingness to act as the spokesperson for our
group
☺ 1
5 Ability to adapt different situations ☺ 3
6 Determination to push projects forward and
get results
☺ 3
7 Realising that people should be allowed to
make mistakes in order to learn
☺ 1
8 Willingness working on committees ☺ 2
9 Thinking that the most important thing for a
group is the wellbeing of its members
☺ 1
10 Ability to see situations from many different
perspectives
☺ 3
11 Allow continuation of long discussions last,
until every angle is considered
☺ 1
12 Ability of organising other people ☺ 3
13 Thinking that all group members should abide
by formal decisions, so long as we follow
proper procedures
☺ 2
14 Setting self-high standards and expect others
to do the same for themselves
☺ 3
15 Choosing role-playing exercises ☺ 3
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16 Willingness to help other people to develop ☺ 3
Question No. Total Score Obtained Suitable Leadership Style
4,6,12,14 10 Authoritative/ Transactional
1,8,11,13 8 Democratic
2,7,9,16 7 Behavioural
3,5,10,15 11 Situational/ Transformational
According to the above self-administered questionnaire I am able to determine that
transformational leadership theory is most suitable to my personality. This approach of
leadership shows that the leader is able to adapt and behave according to the needs of changing
situation and inspire, influence and motivate people.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that leadership is very important aspect of an
individual as it helps them to influence the activities of others in order to achieve the objectives
effectively and efficiently. It had been described in the above report that understanding of
various leadership theories helps an individual to identify the qualities of a good leader and
common aspects among them to be a good leader. Moreover, this report had been explaining
about a particular leadership theory that suits the ability of a political leader in order to influence
its people successfully. Further, this report has demonstrated self-analysis questionnaire for
evaluating the suitable leadership style applicable to individual’s ability.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ionela, S., 2021. Leadership: from classic theories to the 21th century’s challenges. In SHS Web
of Conferences (Vol. 120). EDP Sciences.
Ospina, S.M., and et. al., 2020. Collective dimensions of leadership: connecting theory and
method. Human Relations, 73(4). pp.441-463.
Schedlitzki, D. and Edwards, G., 2021. Studying leadership: Traditional and critical
approaches. Sage.
Sørensen, E., 2020. Interactive political leadership: The role of politicians in the age of
governance. Oxford University Press.
Sy, T. and van Knippenberg, D., 2021. The emotional leader: Implicit theories of leadership
emotions and leadership perceptions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(7). pp.885-
912.
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