Theories of Leadership: Reviewing Current Research on Evolution and Applicability

This article reviews current research on the evolution and applicability of leadership theories, including the trait theory, behavioral theory, contingency theory, transactional theory, and transformational theory of leadership. It also explores the impact of gender on leadership and how leaders can continuously develop their skills.

Running Head: THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP 1
Theories of leadership – reviewing current research on the evolution and applicability of
leadership theories
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Theories of leadership – reviewing current research on the evolution and applicability of
leadership theories
Existing literature illustrates leadership as the capability of leaders to influence a group
towards achieving the visions and goals in mind. The leader needs to have the ability as the
superior for them to have an impact on subordinates and lead them to a certain direction.
Leadership is also the key driver in showing employees direction that can allow them to achieve
the goals of an organization. Research conducted by Cooper, (2012) claims that leadership is
important to the organization because it fuels change for the growth of the business. What
leaders do is to establish the future of the organization by coming up with a vision. Later they
pass the vision to the people in the organization. The leader then synchronizes the people with
the mission and vision of an organization, hence inspiring employees to focus on corporate
objectives. A person may assume the leadership position using the formal or informal way.
Formal leadership as pointed out by Nawaz & Khan (2016) entails the person assuming the
leadership role on the basis of the position in the organization. On the other hand informal
leadership deals with the person getting the leadership post without authority. Leadership
theories offer an insight in understanding the different forms of leadership according to Derue,
Nahrgang, Wellman, & Humphrey (2011). The theories explain what the leader can do and
behave in accordance to a particular situation. Furthermore, theories of leadership are also
looked into through the gender lens. Competence of the woman is also considered to be
fundamental in playing the role as a leader. The gender of women comes with advantages and
disadvantages in reaching leadership positions (Kunchynkova, 2013). Women are given high
profile leadership just because of gender and on the contrast a woman may lack the chance in
becoming a leader on basis of credentials. This can make it hard for her to resolve the challenges

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imposed on her. In addition, in evaluating leadership another focus shall be on how women face
few representations mainly in corporate management and finance sector. Essentially, women are
less favored in being elevated to leadership positions than men who have the same experience
and background. Based on the theories of leadership, Bass & Avolio, (1993) highlights them as
follows: the trait theory, the behavioral theory, the Contingency theory, the transactional theory
of leadership and the transformational theory of leadership.
Trait Theory is also known as Great Man Theory. To illustrate this theory, the analysis
will focus on leaders that have portrayed some exceptional leadership skills. Some strong leaders
of the past have been identified as great because of the traits they possessed. The examples of
such leaders include, Mahatma Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandela and Steve Jobs, the
apple founder. With focus on Margaret Thatcher, as the prime minister of Great Britain, she had
qualities like being confident, determined and iron-willed. By considering Margaret Thatcher
one can see how the trait theory underscores the personal characteristics and qualities that set the
boundary between leaders and non-leaders. Leaders are not born but are made according to the
trait theory. The concept behind the statement is largely referred to as ‘Great Man Theory’ of
leadership. Thomas Carlye proposed it in the year 1949 and an idea that great leaders will come
up, when there is need. Trait Theory also shows that a leader does not portray qualities of a
normal person and has to be different from the others. Derue, Nahrgang, Wellman, & Humphrey,
(2011) believes that a leader must portray personality traits that make them unique. Such traits
include perseverance, intelligence, knowledge, courage, determination, indefatigability and
ambition. Unfortunately, this theory only entails the male gender because women were not
considered during research. Generally, the traits essential for a leader requires them to leader to
adapt to situations, to bw very ambitious, cooperative with others, assertive, alert to the social

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environment and decisive. Luissier, & Achua (2015) further mentions that a leader should be
dominant with the urge to influence others, show high level of activity, persistent in times of
difficulties and more willing to take responsibility. Other than the traits the leader ought to have
a number of skills which comprise of being bravery, creativity, conceptual skills, fluency in
speech, knowing about the group task, socially skilled and diplomacy. Additionally, the leader
should have skills like the administrative ability of being organized and being persuasive.
Individuals who love being around a group of people, who look at the comments they make,
disciplined individuals and individuals who are flexible and creative have an advantage over
others when leadership steps in and thus concluding that good leaders have key traits in them.
When a leader lacks emotional intelligence he will automatically become a leader even if he has
a compelling vision endless ideas and high training.
The behavioral theories also have an influence in the leadership. Behavioral Theory
concentrates on the actions of leaders, contrast to the trait theory which emphasizes on what the
leaders are. Physiologists have done a number of research on the behaviors exhibited by the
leaders. According to Bryman (2013) the behavioral patterns of leaders can be gotten through
experience in leadership and learning. In understanding the behavioral theory, it is important to
look into the research on how behavioral patterns of leadership are dealt with. The studies
conducted by Ohio State University looked into two categories such as consideration and
initiating structure. Initiating structure generally aims at organizing of work and goals and the
leader’s main focus is the task, performance and meeting deadlines on time. The consideration
category implies that the leader main concern is the employee wellbeing, satisfaction and
comfort (Lusch, & Vargo, 2014).Equally, the study by the University of Michigan looked into
factors of leaders which include the leader oriented to employees and the leader oriented to

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production. The Employee-oriented leader main focus is the interpersonal relationship with
employees where they accept the difference present among the members. The production-
oriented leader focus mainly on technical aspects of the job and the work assigned to employees
rather than the employees. The Managerial Grid Theory which was developed in 1964 by Robert
Blake show the concern of people in leadership. Furthermore, the managerial framework
provides an avenue in understanding leadership the behavioral theories of leadership.
Fundamentally, the behavioral theories are not the utmost option, but one should look at the
success of the leaders. Sometimes the situation present has a major part in defining the efficiency
of leaders.
In the research by Ellyson, Nichols & Doerr (2012) the contingency or Situational
theories are claimed to show the success of leadership. According to the theory, the manner
which a leader shows his or her traits, the behavior may not be suitable in handling of different
situations the leader faces. Therefore, the effectiveness of a leader according to the contingency
theory is based on situations that present to a leader. The theory views leadership from the
perspective of interaction with a range of situation and variables like the followers, situation,
environment and the leader himself. According to Huang & Jestice (2010) situational theory is
explained by various models which include Fielder’s model and the Leader Participation model.
Fred Fielder came up with a comprehensive model for Situational theory in the year 1967 where
his core point was that the exemplary performance of a collection of people mainly depends on
the style used by the leader in governing and the extent in which a condition gives power to the
leader. Fielder came up with three situational factors which have an influence to leadership.
First it was the Leader-Member Relations (Ellyson et al., 2012). It is depicted as the level of
confidence members have to their leaders. It can also be described as the respect and trust

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members give to the leader. Second, is the Tax Structure and is defined as the extent in which
assignments to jobs are structured and unstructured. Finally, fielder came up with the position
power which is the extent in which the leader can exercise the powers of hiring new employees,
disciplining, firing and increment of salaries. The degree in relations varies from good to poor.
Furthermore, task structure is demonstrated with high to low whereas in position power is
demonstrated from strong to weak. Fielder explains that a leadership has more control of the
organization when the leader-member relations are excellent (Ellyson et al., 2012). Furthermore
the model shows that the organization will be unfavorable if the relation between leaders and
members are poor and it will be depicted by weak position power and unstructured task
assignments according (Yuki, 2011). Although the model has a number of useful features the
practical side arouses many questions. It is hard to know how the leader relates to followers, how
the task is structured and how and the extent which the leader has the position power in practical
life.
Another leadership theory is the transactional theory. The theory was first illustrated by
Max Weber in the year 1947.later it was expounded by Bernard M Bass. The theory contains a
number of assumptions. According to McCleskey (2014) the assumptions that encompass the
transactional theory include, people perform to the fullest if the command chain is very definite
and clear to everyone. The second assumption is that workers are always motivated the use of
motivation as well as punishment. Furthermore, it states that the subordinate’s primary goal is to
obey the instruction and commands of their leaders (Lai, 2011). Finally subordinates ought to be
monitored carefully so that their expectations are met. The theory explains the role of employers
is to guide and motivate the followers to the way of achieving established goals. The leaders also
clarify the role and requirement of task of each employee. Lai (2011) states that the features

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shown by transactional leaders comprise of the contingent reward. There is a linkage of the goals
of the organization to rewards given. The leader sets SMART goals to the subordinates and gives
the needed resources. Second characteristic of a transactional is management by exception. The
leader should look into the performance of subordinates, looks for deviation in standards and
prevent mistakes from happening by employing corrective actions. The last characteristic is
Laissez-Faire. Here the leader provides subordinates an environment which they can make
decisions hence abdicating from decision making and responsibilities. The transactional theory is
not suitable for all occasions especially where problems of the organization are simple and well
explained. When studies were carried, it came to the notice that employing the transactional
leadership style women put their focus on rewards and on the other hand men focused on the
punishment component.
The transformational Theory of Leadership. Zhu, Riggio, & Yang (2012) allude that to
some extent this type of leadership is equated to charismatic leadership. The charisma of the
leader is a key component to bring about transformation of the followers interest. The leader
encourages the subordinates to improve their respective self-interest so as to better the
organization. Nohria & Khurana, (2010) claims that the leaders pay a lot of attention to the needs
that lead to development of subordinates. Transformational leadership entails motivating and
inspiring followers to achievement of the goals set by the organization by offering them a new
perspective. Zhu, Sosik, & Riggio (2012) argue that there are four dimensions to
transformational theory of leadership. The first is idealized influence. Here the leaders act as role
models to followers. The leaders display high levels of morals and ethical standards. Second, it is
inspirational motivation. Here leaders stimulate followers by giving sense to their work and
introducing enthusiasm and challenges. Third, it is intellectual stimulation and leaders arouse the

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intellectual ability of their followers. The leaders try to influence the way of thinking of their
followers. Finally there is individual consideration. Here the leaders put much focus on the
developing subordinates so as to achieve success (Kuchynkova, 2013) after research was done it
was noted that women had a higher rating in transformational leadership compared to men.
Higher outputs were also gotten by women compared to men.
In essence, the leadership evolution shows how a leader or the type of leadership is
perceived by assessors. The leadership styles are compared and looked at based on how they lead
to others. The assessors of leaders show their strength and the areas which need development.
Based on Lusch, & Vargo (2014) the data from the leadership evolution helps leaders to
continuous development by coming up with an action plan. In this development, the leader is
taken to a password protected website. The leaders are asked to select values that represent their
style of operating and finally asked to rate themselves against set leadership behaviors. Assessors
then look at the data of the leader and help them become the best version of leaders they can. In
addition, the assessors rate the leader and give comments against the leadership behavior to help
one evolve into a greater leader.
In conclusion, various theories have been used to influence the people of an organization
towards achieving goals. Various leaders deploy different theories in their administration
because one theory of leadership may not be applicable to dissimilar organizations with a
different set of objectives. The theories of leadership such as the trait theory states that leaders
are not made but they are born. The behavioral theory looks at the behavior of the leader while
the contingency theory shows how leaders should react to different situation. The transactional
theory shows that leaders motivate and guide followers. Lastly, the transformational theory is

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where the leader inspires followers to pursue common goals. Hence, the evolution of dominant
leader services has come up so as to improve the leadership skills of a leader and identify
strength and weaknesses.

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