Leadership & Management Theories: Evaluation of Leadership Development Programmes

Leadership & Management
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT THEORIES...........................................................................1
EVALUATION OF THE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES...........................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5
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INTRODUCTION
Leadership & Management are two very different concepts which vary in essence but are
mistaken as one and the same thing most of the times. Managers are people under whom there
are some individuals or employees who work for them and there is a force which drives the
people to work under his supervision whether willingly or unwillingly whereas leaders are
people who have followers who exhibit a great deal of respect and dignity for the leader.
Leadership is a concept or a process which includes getting people to comprehend and believe in
the mission and the vision set by the leader for the organisation and encouraging employees to
work willingly for the realisation of that vision whereas management refers to the ascertaining
and supervision of the operations of the organisation and making sure that the operations are
being carried out according to the budgeted standards of performance. According to Birasnav
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(2014), Leadership and Management are two concepts which are different but complement each
other and are best executed when used simultaneously. Various theories of leadership and
management which have been proposed by many authors and scholars over the years help the
management significantly in development of leadership programmes in the organisation.
Inculcation and development of those qualities and traits which fundamentally helps in
distinguishment of a leader from an individual is highly aided by these theories of leadership as it
increases the effectiveness of leadership development programmes. Identification of key traits is
possible with the help of these theories of leadership. In this essay, different theories of
leadership with respect to their relevance in organisational context are being evaluated. Further,
this essay aims at ascertaining the usefulness of different approaches and theories of leadership
and management in development of leadership programmes in any organisation and impact of
such programmes in inculcation of traits and personality skills in the employees is being
measured.
LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT THEORIES
Management is a process which mainly includes setting an objective or a goal and
working towards its attainment whereas leadership deals with influencing someone’s behaviour
and getting desired results. Over the years, managers have been trying to include more of
leadership in their operational procedure and there have been many theories and concepts which
helps the management to determine the magnitude and impact of a particular style of leadership
and how to develop it. In this essay, few concepts and theories of leadership are being evaluated
to critically understand them better and implement in the approach by the management. Few of
the most important theories that hold a great relevance and importance in organisational context
are:
Trait theory of leadership:
To answer questions such as: Is there a specific way to effectively lead? Can successful
leadership be explained in terms of certain individual features? Trait theory of leadership came
into knowledge. Surely those who yield the power to make others follow them have more or
better qualities than those who are not able to successfully do so. According to this Trait theory
of leadership, productive leaders share a few personal characteristics owing to which they can
motivate and mobilize others in their direction of vision. According to Bryman (2013), this
theory of leadership has argued that the skills and traits of a successful leader is something that
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